Phoenix Rising

061

"Are you out of your mind? Why would you volunteer to swallow those bugs to test the prescription on yourself? Even if you're trying to woo the girl, surely there should be some limits?"

Zhenghuan's deputy and best friend, Mingshen, had arrived in Zhuiya at daybreak, and was not at all pleased with the news he had received. He stared at Zhenghuan incredulously, not quite believing what he just heard.

The Shadow Lord leaned across the table and smacked Mingshen across the head. "Stop spouting nonsense," he chided. "I'm not doing this because of her." Not only because of her anyway.

"Then get someone else to do it. There's a whole city of infected people, why can't you test the prescription on one of them?"

"Because we don't know whether or not the prescription will work, and even if it does, what the side effects might be. We cannot use the innocent city folk as dispensable tools to test something that we're not confident of."

Mingshen groaned, banging his forehead against the table. "So you're going to be the dispensable one? The king will be livid when he finds out," he said. "You're saying that you don't know whether it'll work, and that there might be severe side effects, so please, I'm begging you, get someone else to do it. This kingdom cannot do without the Shadow Lord."

Zhenghuan shook his head. "We do have a few willing volunteers, but I will still be the first to test the remedy. That is the quickest way to instil trust in it. The last thing we want is for there to be a riot within the city because the people think that we're feeding them poison to kill them sooner," he said.

Even with the seven days of borrowed time, tensions were still high within Zhuiya and already several scuffles had broken out around the city gates. Things had only settled when it was publicly announced that the Shadow Lord would personally test the gu-du remedy, before anything was administered to the people.

"And what if it fails? What if it really doesn't work?"

"Then there is no hope for Zhuiya. If that happens, I want you to evacuate all the healthy people from the city and place them in quarantine. I've already instructed the men to start setting up the quarantine camp two miles north of the city." Zhenghuan stared soberly across the table at Mingshen. "And then I want you to lock Zhuiya from the outside."

Mingshen's jaw dropped. "Everyone left behind will die—including you."

"If this fails, then everyone infected is dead anyway. When that moment comes, our priority is to stop the gu-du from spreading beyond Zhuiya. Containment is the only way."

Yes, it was cruel, because it meant that all hope had been discarded and they were no longer going to try to save those infected, but such was the harsh reality of life. This was already the best that he could do.

He smiled and got up from his seat, patting Mingshen on the shoulder as he moved past and walked over to the window. "But it's too premature to worry about all that. We still have some time. I believe Zi-ning will be able to produce a remedy that works," he said.

"I'm afraid I don't share the same trust in her abilities," Mingshen replied drily. "I suppose this is what they mean when they say love clouds your judgement."

Zhenghuan turned and shot his friend a disdainful glare, but he did not deny anything. Mingshen was not altogether wrong. While the people of Zhuiya might be left with no other options if the remedy failed, he—Du Zhenghuan—did have a choice now. He did not have to be here. His instructions were to escort Zi-ning and the imperial physicians to the city, and after that, he was free to continue on his way to Anyang to reunite with his adopted father and the Du family army. It was his choice to do otherwise.