When Xie Heng said that, the villagers stopped talking immediately.
"Kill them?" Li Jiang thought he had made a mistake and heard Xie Heng wrongly.
"My lord, your original intention was to kill these people. Everyone in Lengshui Village must die. Since this is the case, even if you keep both of us alive to test the medicine, they will still have to die two days later if the medicine is not effective. Why don't you just kill them now to save yourself the trouble?"
Zhao Chuchu looked at Xie Heng in surprise.
He did not sound like he was joking.
He did not think twice when the officials wanted to kill the villagers. Now, he was even encouraging them to do so.
"He's really ruthless!" Zhao Chuchu thought.
"Scholar Xie, you are all from the same village."
"Chuchu had pleaded with you to let her try using her prescription to treat the villages. Yet, these people insisted that Chuchu is out to harm them. I don't care to live for another two days. My lord, you don't have to make them do anything against their wishes."
Xie Heng's voice was not loud, but he spoke every word deliberately and clearly. The villagers looked around nervously.
"Xie Heng, how can you be so vicious?" Madam Yang shouted.
Xie Heng's tone was light and casual. "Chuchu has the cure. Since you want her to die, doesn't it mean that you all want to die as well?"
Madam Yang was dumbfounded.
"Chuchu, we trust you. We trust Scholar Xie too. We'll accept it if the cure is ineffective. We'll take it that these two days are a bonus."
"We are willing to give Chuchu's prescription a try."
"Please, my lord, please give Chuchu a chance. Please also give us a chance."
The villagers who had not vented their frustrations on Zhao Chuchu earlier knelt and bowed with their heads on the ground.
Li Jiang did not say a word. He was, after all, not a heartless person. He instructed his men to separate the villagers into two groups. He then found some paper and gave them to Zhao Chuchu.
Zhao Chuchu wrote out two prescriptions. As she did not know if the names of the herbs in the Wei Dynasty were the same as those in her previous life, she had to describe each one of them to Li Jiang.
Li Jiang was shocked but did not show his astonishment outwardly.
A young girl like Zhao Chuchu knew so much about the herbs. He was convinced that she had to be be well-versed in medicine.
Once Li Jiang got hold of the prescription, he instructed his men to keep a close watch on the villagers of Lengshui Village before making his way to the town center. He wanted to buy the herbs personally.
The owner of the pharmacy was shocked when he saw the two prescriptions. "My lord, where did you get these two prescriptions? Don't be fooled by anyone. These herbs are not to be used for an epidemic."
"Don't talk nonsense. Do you have these herbs? If so, just give them to me. If you don't have them, return the prescriptions to me." Li Jiang slammed his hand on the counter impatiently.
The owner's face turned pale and he hurriedly went to get the herbs.
"Give me whatever you have."
If the prescription worked, then everyone would be saved, including his family. If it was not effective, he was doomed.
He wanted to take a gamble when he saw how confident and determined Zhao Chuchu was. However, he would admit defeat if they lost. He was willing to perish with his family.
After Li Jiang took the medicine, he rushed back to Lengshui Village, to the two separated groups of villagers. One group consisted of those Zhao Chuchu had personally named, and the other group consisted of the ones who had accused Zhao Chuchu.
Li Jiang watched closely as Zhao Chuchu prepared the medicine, refusing to let her leave his sight.
Zhao Chuchu was not bothered.
While Zhao Chuchu was watching the medicine brew, she mentally pounded the medicine that she had stored in the space into powder. When the medicine was cooked, Li Jiang went to send for the villagers. During this time, she poured the powder into the brew according to the stipulated proportions.
The two types of medicine could be consumed together. It would not produce any side effects.
When the villagers arrived, Zhao Chuchu had already prepared the soup.
She looked at the villagers empathetically. A small illness like the influenza had cost them a big part of their health.
"Everyone will get a bowl of medicine each." Zhao Chuchu pointed to the bowls of medicine laid out on the table. There was a total of sixteen bowls.
"Why are there two extra bowls?" Li Jiang frowned.
Zhao Chuchu said, "There are for my husband and his brother."
It was only then that Li Jiang remembered that Zhao Chuchu was already married. He ordered his men to bring Xie Heng and his brother over.
After the villagers drank the medicine, they tried to find a place to sit in the yard where Zhao Chuchu brewed the medicine.
"Da Lang, drink the medicine." Zhao Chuchu did not want to expose Xie Heng's pretense of being blind, so she helped him to take a seat and fed him the medicine personally.