Chapter 32 Helping and Trusting

Adults react differently to inoculation than children do.

Indeed, older children are easier to deal with during variolation, but this three-year-old, because of his age, sneezed when something foreign was inserted into his nose and accidentally pulled it out with his hand.

"Why don't we do it this way?" Miss Jun suggested. "Smallpox spreads by contact and through the five orifices that connect to the inside of the body; if we don't use the orifices, then we make a cut."

Before the crowd could understand what she meant, Miss Jun had already pulled up the boy's ragged clothing to expose his arm and took a file to cut it.

An instant later, a small cut appeared; before it even bled, Miss Jun attached the smallpox-infected kernel from the copper pipe to the cut and swiftly wrapped the boy's arm with cloth.

It was only then that the child reacted, starting to cry with his mouth agape.

The cut made by the file wasn't large and quickly stopped bleeding once bandaged, but the doctors were still startled and shook their heads with a bitter smile.

Miss Jun was already patting the child on the shoulder.

"Be good, don't cry," she said and, as if pulling off a magic trick, presented a piece of candied fruit in front of the child's eyes.

The child immediately stopped crying, gazing at the candied fruit with tear-filled eyes.

"Apricot candied fruit," he said in his milky voice.

He recognized the sweets at first glance; it was apparent that he used to eat them often. The Zhou Family was wealthy in Zhending Prefecture, and their children naturally ate the finest foods.

However, the child did not reach for it, instead swallowing hard and turning to look at the girl beside him.

"Sister, it's apricot candied fruit," he said eagerly. "I haven't had it for so long..."

People awaiting death in prison cells don't get to eat candied fruit.

The doctors nearby sighed inwardly.

The girl looked at Miss Jun, biting her lower lip.

"Thank you, Doctor," she said, nodding at the little boy.

Only then did the little boy happily reach out and grab it.

"Thank you, Doctor," he repeated after his sister, eagerly stuffing the candied fruit into his mouth.

He then seemed to remember something, quickly spit it out, and handed it to the girl beside him.

"Sister, you eat too," he said.

The girl hastily shook her head.

"I won't eat, I won't," she said.

One of the doctors couldn't bear to watch any longer.

"There's more, there's more," he said. "There's plenty of candied fruit; we will bring you some later, there will be enough for both of you."

The other doctors nodded in agreement.

They all had children of similar age at home and couldn't bear to see them suffer.

"That's enough. Take them away, just like last time," Miss Jun stated.

Doctor Feng and the others called the children and asked if the other room was ready. Only then did Seventh Chen, who had been hiding by the door, come out to respond and led them away.

The Buddhist Temple quieted down as people dispersed.

Hundred-man commander Jiang, standing not far away, couldn't help but frown.

"Lord, we've actually brought out the members of the Zhou Bentang family..." he said. "Are we not going to take care of it?"

"We follow His Majesty's orders," Lu Yunqi replied.

Indeed, without the emperor's permission, Zhu Zan could not have brought these people out no matter how capable he was.

Hundred-man commander Jiang folded his arms and furrowed his brows.

So this lad was up to this; I thought he had run off.

Really slick, bringing out a condemned criminal to awe these grumbling doctors.

Lu Yunqi said nothing more but watched the girl step closer and stand in front of Zhu Zan.

"Does this count as another favor I've done for you?" Miss Jun asked with a smile.

Zhu Zan raised an eyebrow.

"You're really good at twisting the truth," he said. "Who's helping whom here?"

Miss Jun watched him purse his lips and smile, then suddenly raised her hand to pat his chest.

Zhu Zan, caught off guard, stepped back with a cry.

"What are you doing? Stop that," he shouted.

Miss Jun had already walked past him, and upon hearing his words, looked up and laughed silently without looking back as she walked away.

---

"Doctor Feng, Doctor Feng."

The anxiety in the doctors' voices once again broke the early morning quiet of the temple.

"The youngest child has developed a fever."

The doctors, following their arrangement from last time, had taken turns caring for the five children, and now, after just one night, one of them had started to show fever symptoms.

Last time, it had taken several days before this occurred.

Doctor Feng also felt some tension as he nodded.

"Miss Jun said that children and adults react differently to the pox virus, adults are not easily infected, but it is the children who are prone to the pox," he said.

As they were talking, Miss Jun, hearing the news, also came over and agreed.

They all went to see the child together.

The child lay on the bed, his face slightly flushed and his breathing rapid, but he was still conscious, blinking at the doctors surrounding him to examine him.

"I'm sick, I need medicine, I want preserved fruits," he even said.

The doctors had indeed brought them delicious food and drinks the day before, but hadn't allowed the children to eat much of the preserved fruits.

Hearing the child say this, the doctors couldn't help but smile with a mix of amusement and sorrow.

"You are sick, but it's alright, you don't need medicine," Miss Jun said, patting his head and carefully inspecting the few shallow pox marks on his body, "You'll be better by tomorrow, and then you can have preserved fruits once you're well."

After comforting the child, Doctor Feng walked out feeling somewhat uneasy.

"Can he really get better by tomorrow?" he asked in a low voice, "And why are there so few pox marks on the child's body?"

Before Miss Jun could answer, they saw several children peering out from the neighboring room near the window, their expressions betraying their unease.

Miss Jun thought for a moment and then walked over.

"Don't worry, it's normal for your brother to be like this, he will be better by tomorrow," she said.

The children all shook their heads in unison as they looked at her.

"We're not worried, we trust the Princely Heir..." one child suddenly blurted out.

As soon as he spoke, he was immediately glared at by the others, and someone even nudged him from behind.

"We're willing, we agreed to this, no regrets," Zhou Jing hurriedly said.

Miss Jun smiled, while Doctor Feng turned his head away as if he hadn't heard their words, surprised in his heart.

The Zhou Family trusts the Duke of Chengguo's heir?

Logically speaking, given that the Zhou Family's collaboration with the enemy had damaged the Duke of Chengguo's reputation, the Duke should be the one who hates the Zhou Family the most, so why does it seem like the Zhou Family is quite familiar with and trusts the Duke of Chengguo's heir?

Do they trust the heir to ensure a progeny for the Zhou Family?

The Duke of Chengguo's heir does as he says, but why would he do such a thing? There are plenty of inmates on death row in the prison, and there are certainly children among them – why choose the Zhou Family's children?

These matters are too complex, not for a doctor to speculate upon, and they have nothing to do with him.

"Doctor Feng," Miss Jun's voice rang out beside him.

Doctor Feng quickly turned his head.

"You asked why the fever came on so quickly; it's because of his young age," Miss Jun said, then glanced at the other children by the window, noticing they were listening intently, "And I think it's also due to the method."

"Method?" Doctor Feng asked.

The other doctors gathered around as well.

This was no longer just about testing a medicine; it also involved the doctors' understanding and trials with this new treatment.

---

Special thanks to mu2004, _momo_lina, Toris_Xue, "The Last Shot", Jing San Shao, and md12 for their rewards and for He's Bi.

Although many things don't go as desired, we still need to keep trying! Fight on! Fight on!