Chapter 674: Vitality Soup

It had been a few days since Yan Liqiang last entered the Imperial Capital. When he came back again on the carriage, he noticed a commotion in the city. Two long queues that went on for several hundred meters had formed on the streets. In the queues were people of all ages and genders, ranging from two years old to eighty years old.

Since there were too many people, the queues were inevitably chaotic. People scrambled after one another, some were cutting queues and causing arguments. There were a few law enforcers trying to maintain order. They shouted loudly with iron rulers in their hands, “Don’t cut in line! Come one by one! Everyone will get their share! Those who don’t follow the rules shall get a serving from this iron ruler…!”

As one of the law enforcers was speaking, he spotted a figure pushing his way toward the front of the queue. He promptly walked over to the figure and pulled him out of the queue by his collar. “Zhu Laoba, what are you doing?”

Zhu Laoba was a thug in the Imperial Capital, so he wasn’t scared of being pulled out by a law enforcer. He put on a big smile on his face and cupped his fist, “Brother Hong, this was my spot. I just came back from a toilet break.”

“Scram now! Don’t find trouble here. If anything goes wrong, I’ll break your f*cking leg! Get back in line!” The law enforcer glared at the thug and threw him on the street. The thug fell hard in a pathetic way, but didn’t dare to make a fuss. He stood up, dusted his pants, then ran quickly to the end of the queue.

“Eunuch Li, what are these people doing?” Yan Liqiang questioned ‘Little Li’ who was seated beside him in astonishment.

Since it was a request from Eunuch Liu, Little Li came all the way to personally bring Yan Liqiang to his residence. Yan Liqiang couldn’t turn down his offer, so he ended up riding on Little Li’s four-wheeled carriage to Eunuch Liu’s residence.

Little Li squinted his eyes and watched the scene on the street out of the carriage window. He seemed to have matured quite a lot. In fact, the expression on his face bore an uncanny resemblance to Eunuch Liu when he squinted his eyes too. Little Li turned his head when he heard Yan Liqiang’s question, “The imperial court is handing out Vitality Soup for the citizens in the Imperial Capital.”

“Vitality Soup?” Yan Liqiang was surprised. “What is that?”

“Hasn’t the White Lotus Society been making trouble lately by dumping blood corpses everywhere and spreading rumors about pestilence? The citizens in the capital region feel anxious, including the Emperor and court ministers. They had the Imperial Academy of Medicine think up something and see if there was any medicinal soup that could prevent or cure pestilence. I heard the imperial physicians rummaged through countless ancient records. After a few days of discussion, they finally came up with the formula for this Vitality Soup. It is said that by drinking this soup, one will gain immunity toward the pestilence. So the bureaucracy ordered every citizen to line up for a bowl of Vitality Soup at the distribution point…”

Yan Liqiang nodded. From the sound of the soup’s name, it seemed like it could enhance the immune system. Although Yan Liqiang had no idea if it was effective against the pestilence, he knew it was surely better than nothing. Most importantly, this could at least assure the citizens in the Imperial Capital. But still, the queue was too long. “Can people brew this Vitality Soup at home? Why do they need to line up here to drink it?”

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“I heard that it is not easy to prepare this Vitality Soup. Some of the herbs in the recipe are not sold in regular medicine shops, but the Imperial Academy of Medicine happens to have a large stockpile. His Majesty is compassionate enough to let the Imperial Academy of Medicine brew enough to distribute it to all local authorities and citizens!”

“Oh, I see!” While they were talking, the carriage reached the beginning of the queue at the western gate and Yan Liqiang saw a few bailiffs in their uniforms. A table was placed at the entrance of a restaurant. On the table was a large wooden bucket the size of a bathtub, filled with dark brown-colored medicinal soup. A few officers were continuously refilling the medicinal soup into a row of bowls with wooden wine scoops. Everyone in queue got their turn to drink a bowl. No one knew exactly how many people drank from the same bowl, but at a time like this, no one really bothered to care.

Next to the table with the large bucket of medicinal soup on it, a person was holding a box of red ink. Whoever drank the Vitality Soup would get the back of their hand stamped. “Remember, do not wash your hands before the ink dries! We will be checking in another two days. Those who don’t have a mark on the back of their hand means they didn’t drink the Vitality Soup. These people are most likely to be infected by the pestilence. If they are seen on the streets, they will be arrested by law enforcers and be flogged…!”

While the officer was speaking, a middle-aged man who had a mark made on the back of his hand after drinking the Vitality Soup nodded to him, then smiled broadly. “My lord, would you spare another bowl of soup for me please? My house is not that far from where they previously discovered the blood corpse. I will certainly feel more at ease if I can have some more soup!”

“Go away, go away!” The officer who was distributing the Vitality Soup waved the man off impatiently and chased him away. “Do you think you can drink as much Vitality Soup as you want like the carrot soup you make at home? The Imperial Academy of Medicine has stated that each person may only have one serving…”

Yan Liqiang frowned slightly at the situation outside, feeling that the imperial court seemed to be a little too extreme in their method. But thinking about the current situation in the capital region, he could kind of understand. After all, things might go wrong if they weren’t strict enough.

Not long after they went past the distribution point, a cavalry of about five hundred men riding under the Imperial Cavalry Unit’s banner passed by Yan Liqiang. They were escorting more than ten four-wheeled carriages. The carriages were carrying large wooden buckets that looked exactly the same as the one he saw at the medicinal soup distribution point. All of them had the Imperial Academy of Medicine’s mark on them. The troop rode swiftly out of the western gate. It would seem like they were going to deliver the buckets of medicinal soup outside the city.

“Eunuch Li, are those Vitality Soups going to be delivered outside the city?”

“It seems like they will be delivering some to Hui Provincial City for the officers and troops stationed there to pacify them first. It is estimated that it will take another two days for the Vitality Soup to be distributed to places outside the Imperial Capital. For these two days, they will take care of the people in the city first!”

“Other than the Imperial Capital, will the other four capital regions be given the Vitality Soup too?”

“Of course. Who knows where the pestilence outbreak will happen?!”

Yan Liqiang remained silent.

During their journey on the street, Yan Liqiang could see either highly congested spots or long queues forming at the Vitality Soup distribution points every few hundred meters. All the citizens of the Imperial Capital seemed to have come out onto the streets to queue for a bowl of Vitality Soup that could prevent pestilence.

The newspaper children were also waving the newspapers in their hands and shouting along the street, “Extra! Extra! The imperial court is giving out the Vitality Soup that the Imperial Academy of Medicine has brewed! You won’t be infected by the pestilence if you drink it! Hurry up and queue for a bowl before it runs out…!”

The night watchmen were also working despite the fact that it was daytime right now. They were hitting their gongs as they shuttled through the streets, shouting the same things as the newspaper children.

The slightly warm day in the Imperial Capital turned even warmer because of the Vitality Soup. Citizens of the Imperial Capital shed tears of gratitude as they lined up to drink the soup that the Imperial Academy of Medicine concocted…