Haishan's worries about Zhou Shengsheng running away were clearly unnecessary.
After all, he couldn’t have imagined that their Emperor himself would personally follow her.
"Shengsheng, where are we going?" Jiang Zhiyu asked, her voice muffled as she bit into an apple.
Zhou Shengsheng wiped the juice from the corner of her mouth and replied, "To a place called the borderlands. I need to go there to cure an illness."
Bringing Jiang Zhiyu along was Zhou Shengsheng's only request. Although Ming Siran didn’t understand why she insisted on it, he still permitted it.
Even though the plot of this story had completely derailed, Zhou Shengsheng cared more than anyone else about securing her chance for reincarnation.
Jiang Zhiyu didn’t understand why Shengsheng needed to go there to cure an illness, but she nodded obediently nonetheless.
"Aren’t we riding in the same carriage as Xiao Ming?"
Zhou Shengsheng looked at her seriously and said, "From now on, don’t call him Xiao Ming. You must address him as 'Your Majesty,' or you could lose your head."
Jiang Zhiyu was startled. "Will they cut off Shengsheng’s head?"
Zhou Shengsheng nodded.
Jiang Zhiyu immediately straightened up and said solemnly, "I understand. I’ll call him 'Your Majesty' from now on."
---
This was Zhou Shengsheng’s first time visiting the borderlands since her transmigration. It was a desolate place, yet it carried an air of solemnity and tension.
The situation with the plague was worse than Zhou Shengsheng had anticipated.
Despite the risks, Ming Siran ignored all the warnings and, with a cloth covering his face, personally visited the infected soldiers.
His actions deeply moved the surrounding troops.
Ming Siran summoned the imperial physicians and, pointing to Zhou Shengsheng behind him, declared, "The responsibility for dealing with the plague now rests entirely with her. You are to assist her."
Zhang Imperial Physician was dumbfounded. He couldn’t believe that His Majesty would entrust such a life-and-death matter to a young girl.
"Your Majesty, this is absolutely unacceptable! The plague is no trivial matter!"
Ming Siran remained silent, but Zhou Shengsheng stepped forward and bowed to Zhang Imperial Physician. "This humble servant guarantees with her life that she has a way to cure the plague."
Hearing her refer to herself as a servant, Zhang Imperial Physician felt even more exasperated.
She was just a palace maid, a girl no older than his granddaughter, claiming she could cure the plague. It was utterly absurd!
Ming Siran ignored Zhang Imperial Physician’s objections and waved his hand, signaling Zhou Shengsheng to proceed.
She nodded and turned to leave, but Ming Siran suddenly grabbed her hand.
Zhou Shengsheng looked back in confusion.
Ming Siran, who had been expressionless, now held her arm with a hint of concern in his deep eyes. "Don’t push yourself too hard," he said.
Zhou Shengsheng pulled her arm free and replied coolly, "Your Majesty need not worry."
He pursed his lips, his eyes betraying a faint sense of loneliness as he watched her walk away.
[Pang, do you have a treatment for the plague?] Zhou Shengsheng asked.
This time, she remembered not to use futuristic medicine to cure everyone instantly. She had to take it step by step.
[Yes, Host. Please wait while I exchange it...]
"Miss Zhou, I don’t know what you told His Majesty to deceive him, but you must understand that lives are not playthings, nor are they tools for you to curry favor with the Emperor."
As Zhou Shengsheng entered the imperial physicians’ tent, Zhang Imperial Physician spoke up amidst the skeptical gazes of his colleagues.
His words caused an uproar.
"What? His Majesty’s solution is her?"
"I’ve been practicing medicine for over forty years, and even Zhang Imperial Physician, the head of the Imperial Medical Bureau, can’t solve this problem. How could she possibly do it?"
"This is sheer nonsense!"
"To think His Majesty would use a young girl to placate us..."
"Zhang Imperial Physician, please take me to see the patients," Zhou Shengsheng said calmly amidst the controversy.
Though it wasn’t strictly necessary, Zhou Shengsheng couldn’t just write a prescription without examining the patients.
This world already had some basic understanding of the plague.
They knew to isolate patients and had implemented excellent disinfection measures. At least they weren’t resorting to bloodletting, as Zhou Shengsheng had feared.
Alone, dressed in simple protective clothing, she spent a long time in the tent where the patients were housed.
Most of the patients were young soldiers, their bodies burning with fever and their breathing labored—clear symptoms of the plague.
Zhou Shengsheng asked Zhang Imperial Physician for paper and a brush, then wrote down the prescription Pang dictated to her.
It was a formula created by a renowned physician from another similar world, one who had become famous for curing the plague and was hailed as a miracle healer.
"Zhang Imperial Physician, if the patients take this medicine, they will be cured of the plague."
Zhang Imperial Physician took the prescription skeptically, and the other physicians gathered around to examine it.
"This..." Zhang Imperial Physician’s previously impassive face gradually revealed astonishment.
"Brilliant! Truly brilliant! This might actually work!" The others exclaimed in amazement.
"It’s worth a try," Zhang Imperial Physician said after reading it, looking up at Zhou Shengsheng.
His earlier dismissive attitude was gone, replaced by respect and even admiration, as if he were gazing at a rare treasure.
The imperial physicians weren’t dismissive out of malice; they simply couldn’t afford to gamble with lives. Their medical ethics forbade it.
But Zhou Shengsheng had proven her worth, and they immediately apologized, hoping she would forgive their earlier disrespect.
What a group of admirable people, Zhou Shengsheng thought.
"This formula wasn’t created by me. It was developed by my teacher, so there’s no need to thank me," Zhou Shengsheng said.
"Might we ask the name of your teacher?"
Zhou Shengsheng shared the name of the renowned physician who had created the plague treatment.
Of course, no one recognized the name, but that didn’t diminish their admiration.
---
As it turned out, the renowned physician’s formula wasn’t just impressive on paper—its effectiveness left everyone in awe.
After taking the medicine, the infected soldiers stopped running fevers within half an incense stick’s time, and their conditions improved visibly.
Zhang Imperial Physician went straight to Ming Siran and praised Zhou Shengsheng to the heavens.
But Zhou Shengsheng was even more troubled now.
She had cured the plague, but how would Ming Siran get infected? How would the female lead care for him tirelessly? How would he develop genuine feelings for her, unrelated to her being a substitute?
This was a mistake. Beating her head in frustration, Zhou Shengsheng wished she could scream at the sky!
[What do we do, Pang? I brought the female lead here, but I completely overlooked this major issue!]
Pang was equally troubled. After a long moment of shared frustration, Pang suddenly had an idea.
[Host, besides the plague, smallpox is also considered incurable in this world!]
[Are you suggesting we have Ming Siran contract smallpox?]
Pang nodded eagerly.
Zhou Shengsheng thought it over and decided it was a viable plan.
Standing outside the door, Ming Siran, who had intended to check on her, silently withdrew his hand and listened as the two inside conspired to infect him with smallpox.
He sighed softly and turned away.
Fine. He owed her this much.
