His Rui

Xin was peaceful after the sudden chaos.

However, the peace didn't seem to last long.

Xi Ying had just returned from the Imperial Palace when An Si told him that there was a shadow guard who wanted to meet him urgently.

A few moments later, he was seated inside his study room with a not-so-good face. His forehead had a deep frown and he asked the shadow guard in a cold voice.

"Till now, how many people have lost their lives?"

"Approximately three hundred, My Lord."

Xi Ying's face went somber when he heard the figure. It was not a small figure.

"Is the disease contagious?"

"It seems to be, My Lord."

The shadow guard replied respectfully.

Xi Ying dismissed the shadow guard after a moment. After the door of the study room was closed, he exhaled sharply.

The newly added regions suddenly had a new kind of disease that the Imperial Physician sent there could not treat at all.

The disease was now killing people at a high speed.

Xi Ying knew that it was an urgent matter so he sent An Shing to Plum Courtyard to tell his wife that he would need to go to the Imperial Palace again.

Even without having his lunch, he went back to the Imperial Palace.

When Zhao Zhang Wei came to know of this, he also looked very grim.

"It is important to first stop the movement of people from that region. No new citizen should go inside the city and no new citizen should leave from there."

Xi Ying nodded his head informing Zhao Zhang Wei that he had already done so. fre𝙚𝓌𝒆𝚋noѵel.c𝚘m

Zhao Zhang Wei went silent.

It is not as if in the past there had been the occurrence of any widespread disease. Not in Xin but it had happened in other Empires.

As he pondered on their example, Zhao Zhang Wei wondered whether he should do the same.

These Empires would first try to control the disease but if they failed to do within a weak, they would start to kill all the people infected with the disease or leave these people in some particular region to die. That was the only way to stop the infection from spreading.

However, as an Emperor, he found this hard to do.

"Prime Minister Xi, send more physicians from the Imperial City. Ask them to identify the symptoms and then spread it all across the Empire. Anyone who feels the same kind of symptoms should be isolated immediately. The Empire will provide all the care for such people. Make an announcement that whosoever comes with the cure, Zhen will grant a huge amount of wealth to him."

Xi Ying left to follow all the instructions.

When he went back to Xi Manor, it was already night.

At Plum Courtyard, he found Li Rui sitting in the living room.

Though Xi Ying was slightly exhausted, he couldn't help but feel relaxed when he saw her.

"You should have gone to sleep."

He said in a slightly reprimanding tone hiding the happiness he felt to see that she had been waiting for him.

Li Rui looked at his face for a moment and then frowned.

"You didn't eat anything since morning."

Xi Ying indeed didn't have anything since morning. However, this time, he didn't say anything to comfort his wife.

Was he cruel to say that he felt joyous to see his wife worrying for him?

Hence, he was dragged to the dining room by Li Rui, where he had his meal under his wife's gaze.

"Did you have dinner?"

Li Rui hummed. Even if she didn't want to, her son didn't let her stay hungry.

After having his dinner, Xi Ying went to the room to see his daughter. Seeing her sleeping peacefully, he felt slight regret. He didn't play with her much today.

For the next few days, he could feel that he was going to be very busy.

"Ying"

Xi Ying turned to look at his wife when he heard his whisper.

"What kind of disease has spread there? Perhaps I can help."

Xi Ying blinked when he heard her words. For a moment, slight hesitation flickered in his eyes before he nodded his head and said

"By morning, I will get the list of symptoms. I will give it to you then."

Li Rui nodded her head.

After that, they slept together. Early morning, he really got the list of symptoms. Inside his study room, he looked at it as he wondered whether he should give it to his wife or not.

There was a bad premonition inside Xi Ying's heart that was the reason behind his reluctance. However, fate didn't seem to give him any chance to ponder on this as the next moment, the study room's door was knocked.

"Come inside."

He said coldly and was surprised when his wife stepped inside.

"Rui"

Xi Ying stood up from the chair he was seated on and tried to hide the paper behind his back. However, when she asked him

"Did you get the list? Let me see it."

He couldn't lie to her and had to give her the paper reluctantly.

Li Rui had a deep frown on her forehead as she read the paper.

A few moments later, she raised her head and looked at Xi Ying

"This is something I have heard for the first time. Their eyes are getting drier…and they are going blind slowly."

Li Rui whispered the last sentence to herself.

The body is going weak as the eyes are losing their eyesight and slowly losing a life.

She had never heard of something like this before.

A few moments later, she said to Xi Ying

"For now, we should let them drink more and more water. I will see if I can find some cure."

She said seriously.

Xi Ying opened his mouth to say something but in the end, said something else.

"Alright."

After Li Rui left, he sat back in his chair as a heavy sigh escaped from his lips.

It was alright as long as she was trying to look for some cure while staying here only.

He was afraid that she would ask him to send her here…something he couldn't agree to at all.

However, Xi Ying's relief didn't last for long.

That afternoon, when he returned from the Imperial Palace, Li Rui suddenly asked him

"Ying, I think I should go there. If I will look at them carefully then perhaps I can think of some cure."

It didn't take Xi Ying even a moment to say a firm 'no'. After denying her, he immediately left Plum Courtyard.

He was afraid that she would somehow make him agree.

He didn't want to give her any chance to do that.

How could he send her to a place where people are dying …where even he didn't know how he would be able to save her!

He was not going to do that.