jdhmnovel Chapter 1226 Find a place to relieve myself
Chapter 1226 Find a place to relieve myself
For Yanzhou, which had just experienced a major disaster, there was not much food left. If there was anything new, it was the locusts that the people of Yanzhou hated to the bone.
"Locusts..." A soldier from Yanzhou Prefecture glanced furtively at the burnt pit and answered in a voice only Shen Zheng could hear, "Many people in the prefecture have eaten locusts..."
Upon hearing this, Shen Zheng's heart sank immediately.
Xin Shunyun had been observing her expression, and as soon as he noticed something was wrong, he immediately asked, "Lord Shen, what's wrong? Have the people of Yanzhou eaten something they shouldn't have?"
"Locusts." Shen Zheng looked at the burning pit, her tone becoming urgent: "Lord Xin, please immediately issue an order to Yanzhou to prohibit the people from eating locusts. These beasts are not to be eaten!"
Locusts are inedible?
Upon hearing this, not only Xin Shunyun but also the soldiers of Yanzhou Prefecture standing nearby were stunned.
Although locusts are pests, they are still a piece of meat, so why can't we eat them?
“Lord Shen, I seem to… not quite understand what you mean.” Xin Shunyun frowned: “After the locust plague, the people are short of food, so it is understandable that they would use the locusts they catch as food. Why can’t they eat them? Besides, before the locust plague, the people often caught them and roasted them for food, and there was nothing wrong with that. Why can’t they eat them now?”
Although Xin Shunyun voiced his doubts, he knew deep down that Shen Zheng would not make baseless accusations.
Under Xin Shunyun's gaze, Shen Zheng remained silent for only a moment before choosing a shield: "Doctor Li from Tong'an County told me that the locusts that have caused a plague cannot be eaten."
"Doctor Li Shiyuan?" Upon hearing the name Li Shiyuan, Xin Shunyun believed Shen Zheng's words to a great extent and hurriedly asked, "Lord Shen, did Doctor Li explain why these locust plagues are inedible? And what would happen if people ate them?"
The night wind carried the acrid smell of burning pits. Shen Zheng raised her hand to cover her mouth and nose and began to speak: "When Doctor Li was traveling in his early years, he personally experienced two locust plagues. He told me that during these two plagues, many people caught and ate locusts. After eating them, they suffered from mild symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea and unbearable abdominal pain, and in severe cases, their hearts and internal organs were attacked and their lives were endangered."
As she spoke, Shen Zheng paused deliberately, and then added in Xin Shunyun's increasingly frightened eyes, "Doctor Li also said that scattered locusts, which are commonly known as 'grasshoppers', are indeed non-toxic and edible. However, once locusts gather and cause a plague, they will produce a kind of foul poison in their bodies. This poison is vicious and cannot be dissolved by boiling or extinguished by fire. It must never be eaten."
"Gathering...gathering will produce poison?" This was the first time Xin Shunyun had heard this statement, and he found it hard to accept at first.
Shen Zheng thought he didn't believe her, so after thinking for a moment, she added, "After locusts produce this poison, they're like they've been injected with chicken blood; their temperament changes drastically, they become extremely agitated, and their destructive power increases. Lord Xin, please think about it carefully, is that true?"
"After gathering and generating poison... he became extremely excited?" Xin Shunyun was stunned.
Scattered grasshoppers are clumsy.
The swarming locusts were frenzied.
I thought it was just a coincidence, but I never imagined... it was inevitable!
"That's right, that's right! That's exactly it!" After realizing this, Xin Shunyun broke out in a cold sweat and regarded Li Shiyuan, who was far away in Tongan County, as his lifeline: "Lord Shen, I estimate that many people in Yanzhou have eaten the poisonous locusts. Has Doctor Li said anything about how to cure this poison?"
Shen Zheng knew Xin Shunyun would ask.
Unfortunately, she didn't know how to treat hydrocyanic acid poisoning, after all, she wasn't an encyclopedia.
Does it really matter whether she knows how to detoxify?
It's alright.
The system knows, right?
It's not like she doesn't have points to exchange for.
Under the expectant gazes of Xin Shunyun and the soldiers of Yanzhou Prefecture, Shen Zheng raised her hand to her forehead, pretending to ponder: "Doctor Li seems to have... mentioned it."
"Don't say 'it seems'..." Xin Shunyun's voice was so loud it was almost hoarse, and he even used a respectful title for Shen Zheng, who was of the same rank: "Lord Shen, please think about it again, don't rush, please don't rush..."
Shen Zheng lowered her eyes and thought for a moment.
Xin Shunyun thought she was thinking about an antidote, but in reality she was thinking about where to look for the system.
"Hiss—" Shen Zheng made a sound.
Xin Shunyun was overjoyed: "You remembered?"
Shen Zheng was devastated: "Thinking about it makes my stomach hurt."
"How can your stomach hurt like this!" If Shen Zheng hadn't looked so pained, Xin Shunyun would have thought she was playing a trick on him.
After a brief standoff, Xin Shunyun took the initiative to back down: "Then, why don't you go and rest for a while?"
Shen Zheng rubbed his stomach: "I'll go find a place to relieve myself, and while I'm at it, I'll think about the antidote prescription."
Even with his thick skin and extensive knowledge, Xin Shunyun couldn't help but feel embarrassed at this moment: "...It's only human nature, please do as you see fit, Lord Shen."
After saying that, Xin Shunyun couldn't help but roar in his heart.
She's a woman!
She's a young woman!
How could she just casually say something like "convenient"?
"You, go back immediately!" After roaring in his heart, Xin Shunyun turned to the soldiers and roared, "Go back and tell Wei Shunzhi that the locusts are poisonous. Tell him to immediately issue an order prohibiting the people from eating locusts. I will come as soon as I get the antidote!"
Before the soldiers could answer, the farmers of Yanzhou erupted in an uproar: "What? The locusts are poisonous?!"
A man screamed, his face deathly pale as he clutched his stomach: "I...I ate dozens of locusts yesterday, and my stomach has been cramping ever since this morning. I thought the locusts weren't cooked, but actually...it's poisonous? What happens when it's poisonous? Will I...will I...?"
It would have been better if they hadn't said anything, because once they did, everyone in Yanzhou panicked.
Some people said their stomachs had been hurting all day.
Some people also said they felt dizzy and lightheaded starting from noon.
Some people even vomited on the spot, their faces covered in tears and snot.
"Poisonous..." Luo Hou clutched his stomach and staggered to Xin Shunyun's side: "Your Excellency, we catch grasshoppers to eat every year and have never had any problems. How could locusts be poisonous?"
Xin Shunyun watched the departing figures of the Yanzhou soldiers and whispered, "Grasshoppers and locusts are not the same."
At this moment, all he could do was pray in his heart that Lord Shen would still remember the prescription.
Otherwise, we can only send someone on horseback to Liuyang Prefecture to invite Doctor Li.
......
Shen Zheng led Hua Duo, and after navigating the foot of Wangyue Mountain, they finally found a "convenience" spot nestled between the rock walls.
"This will do." Shen Zheng took a torch and gestured for Hua Duo to wait for her outside.
Hua Duo hesitated, "Master, it's getting dark, and it's not safe in the mountains. Let me stay here and guard you. I... will not look around recklessly."
"..." Shen Zheng tugged at her waistband, her face full of refusal: "No, you can't come out while I'm using the restroom."
Hua Duo felt that Shen Zheng had changed.
It wasn't like this before.