Chapter 130: The Appearance of the Buboes

Time passed day by day. After the bustling world outside celebrated the Spring Festival, the Lantern Festival was immediately approaching. Everyone in the valley, except for Cai Cong, was happier with each passing day. They ate and drank well, and there was no danger whatsoever. What a life! They wouldn't trade it even for the life of an immortal!

Cai Cong, however, still had no clue. His messy hair was greasy, and he couldn't even remember the last time he washed it. Right now, he was in no mood to care about such trivialities. Over the past two months, his chubby little face had shrunk to a sharp chin.

"Marquis! This life is impossible to go on! It's one thing for those corrupt officials to send sick cattle, but now the cattle they sent are actually infected with the plague! The entire cattle shed is full of plague-stricken cattle now, what is the meaning of this?"

Before the person even arrived, an explosive voice entered the room first. This was the academy's physician. At a time like this, only those imbued with the noble aspiration of saving the world would persist in studying cattle and thus harbor such a fiery temper.

"You, what did you say?" Upon hearing this voice, Cai Cong felt a sudden intuition that the fog shrouding his mind had been peeled back by a giant hand, revealing the secret of smallpox.

"This old man said those corrupt officials gave us plague-stricken cattle, and now all the cattle in the shed have contracted the cattle plague!"

"Quickly, I need to go and take a look! A blessing in disguise, a blessing in disguise! I hope I haven't guessed wrong." Cai Cong muttered incoherently. Before the physician could react, Cai Cong had already rushed out of the room.

The cattle in the shed stood listlessly, ignoring the dry grass in their troughs entirely. Several cows lay on the ground, and if not for the sound of their breathing, one would have thought they were already dead.

Seeing this scene, Cai Cong felt no sorrow at all. He squatted on the ground, examining the yellowish, pus-filled blisters swelling on the cattle's bellies. On some where the ulceration was severe, the flesh had rotted away, yet Cai Cong felt no disgust whatsoever; instead, he burst out laughing heartily.

"Someone come! Where is the flag bearer?"

"This subordinate is here!"

"Immediately signal the outside! This Marquis has discovered the source of smallpox and must now conduct preventive testing. Have them ride at whip-crack speed to report this news to His Majesty."

Cai Cong said excitedly. This time, he truly had to thank those pedantic officials in the Ministry of Revenue; if not for them, who knew how much longer it would take him to uncover the secret of smallpox.

"Everyone assemble! Assemble immediately! A merit as vast as the heavens lies right before our eyes, and you are still fooling around?" Months of worry and misery were resolved in a single moment, and Cai Cong was so excited he became incoherent.

"For months, we have made no progress regarding smallpox. Now I have finally found the root of smallpox and we are about to begin human trials on medicinal test subjects. I only hope that the cozy life of these past few days has not eroded your courage. I need ten people to accompany me as test subjects. Who dares?"

Cai Cong shouted loudly. The first person to eat a crab always reaped the greatest reward, but sometimes the first person to eat a crab also got their lips cut by the shell.

"This subordinate is willing to take the Marquis's place as a test subject."

"Get lost, I don't need anyone to take my place. But you count as one." Cai Cong said with a smile, his tone brimming with amusement.

Before the physicians could speak, Cai Cong smiled and said, "The four of you don't even think about it. When the time comes, we will all depend on you to prescribe medicine. If you all fall ill, even if we aren't killed by smallpox, we will be finished off by fevers."

The ten volunteers were gathered in no time. Each of them stood tall and proud like veteran warriors of Qin, wearing expressions of heroic self-sacrifice. The others looked at them with admiration. Li Tai felt an intense surge of envy; for the first time in his life, he felt such envy toward a group of commoners, wishing so deeply that he too could be standing among that crowd at this very moment.

"This smallpox was originally brought to us by cattle from the Western Regions. Cattle plague is essentially smallpox, though a weaker strain. As long as the cattle survive a period of weakness, they recover, and they will never contract smallpox again.

Humans are the same. Once someone has contracted smallpox once, they will never catch it a second time in their entire lives. What we need to do now is to transfer the smallpox from the cattle onto ourselves."

Cai Cong said solemnly while looking at the cattle. Terror filled the eyes of everyone else; until today, they never realized that the cattle they routinely ate could be so terrifying.

A small blade made a tiny incision on the arms of the eleven men, and the yellowish pus from the cattle was scooped out and placed directly into the wounds, which were then wrapped with cloth. With that, the procedure was complete.

Once bandages were applied, Cai Cong instructed them to go about whatever they pleased. Next, they would simply wait for the smallpox to manifest before deciding on the next step.

However, those ten men sat upright with sacred expressions on their faces, daring not to go anywhere, wearing the look of martyrs sacrificing themselves for the country. The others did not leave either, staring at them intently as if they could bloom flowers right before their eyes.

Cai Cong took a book and sat nearby to read as well. An hour passed with no incidents, then two hours passed safely. Just when everyone began to think the method was ineffective, all eleven men simultaneously developed high fever during the night, crying out about being freezing cold.

The four physicians were well-prepared. Fever-reducing medicine was promptly brought out and fed to them. It was still uncertain whether this was truly smallpox, as none of them had yet developed spots or pus blisters; they had to wait and observe the physical manifestations over the next few days.

Nevertheless, no one dared to lower their guard. The flag bearer sent a message out of the valley late into the night, instructing the people outside to take extra precautions and strictly forbidding any humans or livestock from entering or leaving the valley.

Deep in the night within the palace, Empress Changsun knelt before Emperor Taizong, weeping bitterly and refusing to stand up no matter what he said. Her heart was already shattered, but after all, that was her older brother—how could she possibly watch him die with folded arms?

Li Xiaochang had colluded with Changsun Anyie, Liu Deyu, and Yuan Hongshan at the end of the year, plotting to stage a coup d'état at the Xuanwu Gate emulating Emperor Taizong's past deeds. Unfortunately for them, just a few days after Li Xiaochang rushed from Lizhou to Chang'an, and while the group was still plotting how to seize the imperial palace on New Year's Eve, they were apprehended by Emperor Taizong.

"Your concubine knows that my eldest brother has committed crimes for which being put to death ten thousand times over would not suffice. Yet years ago, he drove us siblings out of our family home—a fact known to all under heaven. If he is executed now, what will the people of the world say? They will surely say that Your Concubine is relying on Your Majesty's favor to take revenge for the grievances our brother inflicted back then... How could Your Concubine possibly have the face to linger on in this world from this day forward?"

Empress Changsun wept like pear blossoms drenched in rain, breaking Emperor Taizong's heart. Looking at his wife kneeling and refusing to rise, he conflictedly said, "All the others have already been sentenced. Only your brother is the one whose punishment I have yet to decide. Dai Zhou just left; this was already his fourth time coming to admonish me. We cannot disregard the majesty of national law on account of personal sentiments."

Upon hearing Emperor Taizong's words, Empress Changsun closed her eyes in near despair. However, Emperor Taizong pulled her up into his arms and gently said, "Nevertheless, to preserve Guanyinbi's reputation, I will spare his life and place his entire household under house arrest within their estate. How does that sound?"

Empress Changsun was overjoyed. As long as he stayed alive, everything would be fine. She nodded repeatedly, finally breaking into a smile.

Just at that moment, the messenger dispatched by Meng Baolai had already passed through numerous palace gates and arrived outside the Lizhen Hall. To minimize the frequency of encounters between Emperor Taizong and Emperor Gaozu (Li Yuan), Empress Changsun had moved into the Lizhen Hall, which was further away from the inner palaces and much closer to the Liangyi Hall where Emperor Taizong worked.

Just as Emperor Taizong wanted to whisper some intimate words to Empress Changsun, Yan Dong pushed the door open directly and reported with a mix of sorrow and joy on his face, "Your Majesty, an urgent message has arrived from the mountains! The messenger is waiting outside right now!"

Emperor Taizong immediately asked, "What news? Good news or bad news?"

Empress Changsun also pressed urgently, "How is Tai? How is Cai Cong?"

Seeing Yan Dong shake his head, Emperor Taizong immediately commanded, "Have him enter."

"Greetings, Your Majesty. Greetings, Empress."

"Rise and speak! What is the situation in the mountains? What news do you bring?" Emperor Taizong asked slowly. Before outsiders, the majesty of an emperor had to be maintained, no matter how anxious he felt inside.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, the Marquis has already discovered the root of smallpox and has begun human trials with medicinal test subjects. When this subordinate set out, the Marquis and ten comrades had already inoculated themselves with smallpox. The rest of the situation remains unknown."

"And what about the Prince of Ji?" Empress Changsun's heart felt as though it would leap out of her chest. What was Cai Cong trying to prove by showing off like this? With so many test subjects available, did he really need to risk his own life as a dignified marquis?