Chapter 27: Are all guys in that family posers? Part I
After seven days, symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting were completely cured. However, fever still remained in villagers of both villages. Bai Hua and the group of royal doctors could only treat them by their symptoms, but not completely cure the sickness, until...a person died.
“Actually...there is another way.”
“What is it?”
“Acupuncture.”
The method Bai Hua suggested surprised everyone in the meeting since acupuncture was not often used in this world where magic existed.
Bai Yu who was standing in front of the tent could clearly hear the conversation inside because of her magic. She assumed that within, the discussion was going on in a serious tone. It was not that she was not allowed to join, but for her, she could not help anything no matter how long she took part in the meeting. In the end, she could only help prepare tea and snacks for the committee who had been inside for several shichens.
She believed that an army marches on its stomach. Furthermore, food hygiene was important, so she decided to personally handle the matter.
.....
The first beauty of Da Yang stood in front of the meeting tent. Her back was straight. Her long black hair reached her slim waist. She wore her hair half-up in the style of an unmarried noble lady, decorated with a jade hairpin and a small comb decorated with jewels. Her accessories were rich and beautiful to match her status, yet at the same time not too gaudy for the situation.
Xiao Xi watched her young miss’s slender back and felt dejected in her heart. Since young, her miss had never had to face this kind of hardship before. The noble lady like her now had to wake up at dawn to prepare three meals of food for the army and villagers. On top of that, she also had to go out alone to investigate the source of this disease.
Fortunately, the villagers from other several villages who showed symptoms of food poisoning did not have a fever or die.
For this matter, the Emperor had ordered Qin Wang and a large number of royal doctors to come and help. This benefitted the villagers, but when Bai Yu looked at it from the perspective of politics, this was equal to sidelining Ouyang Feilong by having Ouyang Mingxian take over his responsibility. In other words, he was blatantly stealing Ouyang Feilong’s thunder.
Now Ouyang Mingxian had arrived here, but Ouyang Feilong still had an indifferent air on him the same.
“Wangye, Bai Yu requests your audience.”
She said for formality’s sake, interrupting the sound of argument inside, and then waited until she received a silent acquiescence. The two soldiers who stood guard open the tent for Bai Yu and the other eight maids to go inside. She curtsied to greet those attending the meeting before the maids started preparing tea sets and snacks knowingly.
“I saw that the meeting had been going on for several shichens, so I decided to bring tea and snacks.”
“Miss Bai is too generous.” Ouyang Mingxian mannerly replied to her, while Ouyang Feilong sat still like every time she brought food to the meeting. This uncle and nephew pair was like night and day!
“Two Wangyes, please take care of your health.” The slender form in dark color clothes said sweetly. The new group of royal doctors who came with Ouyang Mingxian all praised this young miss’s kindness.
Ouyang Feilong said nothing as he let Ouyang Mingxian handle the woman. Since before, he had never cared about his image, yet this time the black dragon signaled a soldier to bring a chair for Bai Yu, implying that he wanted her to join the meeting as well. Bai Yu was secretly irritated by his indirect order, but could only smile and thank him before sitting down next to Bai Hua.
It seemed that the entrance of Bai Yu, the number one beauty, had decreased tension in the meeting. In fact, Bai Yu chose this moment to interrupt because she wanted to stop the opposition from royal doctors who did not accept an unfamiliar method of treatment such as acupuncture. Bai Yu knew that Bai Hua would successfully persuade them like in the series, so she did not want them to waste any more time arguing. The faster they could decide on treatment, the faster the villagers would be cured.
“Qin Wang, Your Highness, I am not confident in this method of treatment.” After the atmosphere had settled down and the meeting could progress, the royal doctor who came with Ouyang Mingxian said as he looked at Bai Hua with a distrustful glance.
“How about Miss Bai? How did you know acupuncture?” Ouyang Mingxian calmly turned to the woman who had saved his life. There was no sign in his manners that indicate closeness between them. It was as if they were mere strangers, which was opposite to the truth in their hearts.
According to the series, after the two leads knew each other’s status, Bai Hua was the one who asked Ouyang Mingxian to act like he did not know her, for fear that Bai Yu would be jealous. And so, everything that happened was kept a close secret between them.
Bai Yu internally pitied them...Being protagonists sure was hard.
“I studied from a book while I was staying here, Your Highness.” She replied to the second most powerful man in the room.
“Wangye, she is only a woman. How could she have any knowledge? Please allow us to find another way,” another royal doctor that came with Ouyang Mingxian said to him. He had no faith in Bai Hua, unlike the doctors who had been here from the start.
Anyone would know that the third miss of the Bai family was useless. She did not even have magic, how could she know medicine? Not to mention healing magic! The news that she was the one who thought of the treatment and stopped the spread must have been a rumor. It must have been the army’s royal doctor instead!
The male lead slightly frowned.
“Uncle, what do think of this matter?” Ouyang Mingxian turned to the man who was in a higher position than him. He could not make any decision without consulting Rui Wang of the former Emperor’s reign. Furthermore, Ouyang Feilong was currently the commander-general and his own uncle as well.
“Let her try,” the man in the dragon mask said in his usual cool tone. Still, the sternness in his voice made no one dare to oppose.
Royal doctors who came with Ouyang Mingxian were left with their mouth open, which was then closed without saying anything else. They could not argue with this man at all, as they knew that Rui Wang had the same personality as his brother Emperor. Everything that they said had already been thoroughly considered, and there would be no going back on their own words. They both were the most obstinate.
Bai Yu listened to his simple yet absolute decision with interest.
The uncle was nonchalant yet carried immense authority. The nephew was often cold toward others. Despite him having a more beautiful face than any lead actors in her former life, Bai Yu could not enjoy his appearance at all, because...Are all guys in that family posers?
“If there was a mistake, will you take responsibility with your life?” The man with silver eyes gazed at Bai Hua. Opposite to his indifference before this, right now he looked like the general giving command to his soldier.
The doctor from the future was so pressured by those silver eyes that she felt goosebumps breaking out. In her old life, she had met authority people, yet she had never felt this same level of pressure before. Bai Hua gripped her hand and took a deep breath. When her eyes met with Ouyang Mingxian’s, she received a slight smile at the corner of his mouth as an encouragement. It made her beam, and so she turned to answer the general with a firm voice.
“If there is a mistake, I will take responsibility with my life, Your Highness!”
“Very well.” Ouyang Feilong stood up to his full height. “From this moment on, benwang gives Miss Bai Hua full permission in treating the patients with acupuncture. Anyone who defies her will also be defying benwang’s order as well!”
“We humbly accept the royal command.”
“The Emperor ordered benwang to return to the capital. I will leave this to you.” The latter sentence was said by the uncle to his nephew.
“Yes, uncle.” Ouyang Mingxian bowed his head.
“Benwang will depart for the capital in one shichen. If you have anything about the treatment you want to discuss, feel free.” As he finished his words, he turned away with a flutter of his black cloak.
“Farewell to Wangye.”
After sending off Ouyang Feilong, everyone returned to their discussion about the treatment method, including the matter about needles which were the main tool for this occasion.
Both the royal doctors and Ouyang Mingxian intently listened to Bai Hua’s explanation for over a shichen. Then, they all dissolved to go handle their own work in a hurry, leaving Bai Yu no opportunity to share her thought about finding the cause which she thought was as important as the cure.
It would be hard for her to ask for an audience with Ouyang Mingxian or talk to Bai Hua since both were in a rush to travel to another village. Her last option was to tell the general who had the power to make a decision, but when she left the tent, she saw Ouyang Feilong and his men riding their horses away with such a speed that he himself must have forgotten that he just recovered from an injury.
“What are we going to do now, miss?”
Xiao Xi asked her, now that there was no one left for them to ask for assistance. Today, Bai Yu wanted to talk about finding the source of the disease, since everyone had been working separately up until this meeting and they all did not pay much attention to the cause of sickness. Still, even when the two most important people participate today, her young miss did not have an opportunity to say anything at all.
“I guess I’ll have to do it myself.”
“But you already went to the river and found nothing, miss.”
“The villages that are sick all use water from this river. I’ll go back there again.”
“I will go get people from the Bai family to help you.”
“No need. Let them help with managing the food. As for guards, I’ll ask the captain who is stationing here.”
Right now, the person with the highest authority in the military was the captain who was staying in this village. Bai Yu wanted to examine the water from the river again thoroughly, so she needed to bring soldiers with her for safety.