A Foodie Transmigrated into the Palace Chapter 1496 - 1494: Coincidence?

Chapter 1494

After careful consideration, he indeed turned around and walked back.

Li Deming took a long breath, only then realizing that the inner clothes on his back were completely soaked.

Fortunately, the Emperor finally returned, it was not in vain he broke out in a sweat.

The situation outside was chaotic, the Emperor must not go out at this time, and absolutely cannot have any incident!

...

Zhao Qichen returned to his study, sitting at his desk with a heavy heart.

Li Deming followed him inside, trembling with fear.

"Emperor... Emperor, though this servant is foolish, I can still run errands!"

Meaning if there’s anything this servant can go on your behalf?

Zhao Qichen glanced at him indifferently.

"Forget it, you may leave first!"

People outside are panic-stricken, anyone going now would be dangerous, better wait for now.

Li Deming was about to turn to leave, when Zhao Qichen suddenly called him back.

"Go notify all the Imperial Physicians to see me immediately!"

Li Deming responded affirmatively and turned to go out.

...

Only after a full Shi Chen did the Imperial Physicians arrive belatedly.

Not because they were neglectful towards the Emperor, but because they were unable to break away.

For one, the number of patients in the epidemic area was too many, they were overwhelmed.

Additionally, to come see the Emperor, one cannot just come directly; they must first bathe, change clothes, cleanse hands with alcohol, thoroughly cleansing themselves of germs before being able to come.

Going back and forth like this inevitably led to the current delay.

Fortunately, Zhao Qichen was also not anxious.

He buried himself in analyzing the terrain and situation in Guangnan.

By the time all the Imperial Physicians came over, he had sorted through all the materials.

Putting aside the book at hand, looking at the Imperial Physicians kneeling in a row below, Zhao Qichen sighed and waved his hand.

"Rise, all of you!"

"You’ve worked hard!"

Gladly he had considered the epidemic early enough, bringing along a sufficiently large number of Imperial Physicians.

Otherwise... he could hardly imagine what to do now.

After expressing thanks, the dozen Imperial Physicians stood up in a solemn and respectful stance.

Zhao Qichen did not mince words, asking directly.

"How is the situation now?"

The leading Imperial Physician stepped forward, cupped his hands, and reported.

"Reporting to the Emperor, the situation is not optimistic!"

"Most of the cases discovered in the past two days had passed away last night, this morning over fifty similar cases have been found again in the south of the city!"

"They first suffer vomiting and diarrhea, become rapidly dehydrated, then develop high fever, eventually convulsions and coma!"

"Regarding the time from onset to death"

"According to current case statistics, the fastest is two to three days, the slowest is only five days!"

Zhao Qichen’s brows furrowed tighter, as he asked again.

"Is there any possibility for a cure?"

The Imperial Physicians shook their heads one by one, looking dejected.

"Report to the Emperor, this old minister is useless, finding a remedy for such a vicious epidemic in a short time is almost impossible!!"

Another Imperial Physician stepped forward and cupped his hands.

"Emperor, this disease is not only difficult to cure, but also extremely contagious!"

"This old minister has secretly noted the locations of these patients, they are almost all in the same area!"

"Meaning, once one person contracts the epidemic in this place, it’s difficult for the entire street or even two streets to escape!"

Zhao Qichen was greatly shocked upon hearing this, got up suddenly and asked squinting.

"If you intend to quarantine, does the whole area spanning three to five Li need isolation?"

The Imperial Physicians unanimously nodded.

"Indeed, should you wish to block the epidemic’s progression, it should be done this way!"

Zhao Qichen gritted his teeth, his gaze cold.

"If the quarantine area is expanded by three to five Li, can it guarantee isolation of the epidemic?"

The Imperial Physicians bowed their heads, pondering for a moment, murmuring amongst themselves before replying.

"This old minister cannot be certain, but not quarantining is definitely not an option, please consider carefully, Emperor!"

Zhao Qichen thought it over.

Matters of epidemics, who dares to guarantee one hundred percent?

He thought for a moment before giving orders.

"You will act separately in a group of ten or so!"

"Find some people to first investigate the patients’ locations, I will dispatch people to assist with quarantine!"

"The others are to thoroughly study the disease!"

"Even if the chance of finding a cure is minimal, you cannot give up!"

The Imperial Physicians promptly knelt and kowtowed.

"This old minister obeys the decree!"

Zhao Qichen gestured for them to rise, cautioned them to be extremely careful, then let them leave.

...

Once all the Imperial Physicians left.

He rose and walked to the window, standing with hands behind his back, eyebrows furrowed with perplexity.

Li Deming came up to offer tea, carefully persuading.

"Emperor!"

"How about having some tea to relax your mood!"

Zhao Qichen turned, his defined bony hands cradling the teacup, pacing slowly around the room.

His tightly furrowed brows still showed no sign of easing.

Li Deming again persuaded.

"Emperor, Guangnan suffered from floods, washed away many people, outbreaks of epidemics are inevitable!"

"We brought many Imperial Physicians, surely we will handle this properly! Please don’t worry too much!"

Zhao Qichen heard this, said nothing, and continued pacing.

Li Deming dared not speak further, standing quietly with head bowed.

After a long while, Zhao Qichen suddenly asked.

"What did you just say?"

Li Deming abruptly raised his head, looking puzzled.

"Emperor, you... just now this old servant said..."

He anxiously racked his brains, piecing together what he had said earlier and hurriedly repeated it.

Zhao Qichen listened, then frowned in contemplation.

"That’s not right!"

"What you said makes sense!"

"Guangnan has suffered disasters, floods, and landslides, with many injuries and deaths!"

"But the bodies were washed away or buried by landsides and mudslides; Guangnan City wasn’t affected..."

"So how did the epidemic start?"

It’s widely known that only when bodies are concentrated in one place, and cannot be processed timely, they decay massively, bacteria multiply causing an epidemic to arise.

But there are no corpses in Guangnan City!

Even if a few starved to death, the Imperial Court collected bodies, or escaping families found places to bury them, making it impossible for the streets to become strewn with decaying bodies to the point of an epidemic.

Therefore...

This matter obviously has something very suspicious.

Although Li Deming was not smart, he could also guess some oddities.

"Emperor, could it be..."

Zhao Qichen waved his hand.

"This matter is merely speculation, do not make it public for now!"

"Go investigate the locations where the epidemic has appeared, the sooner the better!"

Li Deming received orders, bowed, and retreated.

Zhao Qichen took out a highly detailed map of Guangnan, bending over to study it.

Initially, he always thought it was an epidemic outbreak.

Now, it appears this matter has a new avenue.

...

Li Deming, indeed able to match Zhao Qichen’s grooming, executed tasks with first-rate efficiency.

Within less than two Shi Chen, he had hurried back from outside covered in dust.

After tidying himself up, he presented the first-hand data before the Emperor.

"Pardon me, Emperor! This servant arrived late!"

Zhao Qichen gestured indicating no problem, allowing him to rise, then took the information and quickly reviewed it.

For every place name he flipped to, he marked on the map with a pen.

In this fashion, after half Shi Chen.

The data was analyzed, and the map of Guangnan City became covered with one black circle after another.

Zhao Qichen used these black circles as centers to draw quarantine zones of three to five Li.

Then... he was completely startled.