Allure of a Country Maiden-Chapter 234 - 132

"Xiao’er, my cousin, your nephew will be born in a few months. You wouldn’t want him to be terrified by my face, would you?"

"You’re going to be a father?" Xiao’er asked, joy in her heart.

"The doctor said it’s been two months now. Jingshu can’t stop laughing whenever she sees me. She says if she laughs too much, she might harm the baby, so she’s banned me from appearing before her before the baby is born. How can that work? I need to be there to take care of her. Xiao’er, you have to help me out!"

"That’s certainly a serious problem. Let me think. What if you covered your face, only showing your eyes? Wouldn’t that allow you to help my cousin?"

Zhewei looked at Xiao’er with a dejected expression.

"Don’t like this idea? Let me think of another one. How about you go to a cosmetics shop, buy some rouge and powder, and apply a thick layer every day before you visit my cousin?"

Zhewei shivered at the thought of Matchmaker Wang’s face caked in thick powder, which crumbled off when she laughed.

Xuanhao also shuddered at the thought.

"Enough, girl! What would we, as men, look like with all sorts of powders on our faces?!"

If they had to do that, they might as well limit their social interactions. It would be so embarrassing!

"Why do you all care so much about appearances? This is your badge of honor for serving the people. It would be a shame to remove it!"

"Fame is not important when you do a good thing. Serving the people is my duty, I really don’t need this badge of honor." Zhewei was very frustrated. After being disfigured, he can’t even stand his own reflection in the mirror anymore.

"Look at you two, with your pockmarks! Don’t you have somewhere at home to rest and recover instead of running around, frightening others?" Xiaowei and Xuanyi walked in and, upon seeing the two, Xiaowei teased them, all the while stroking his smooth, perfect skin.

"Little girl, listen to what this man is saying. Please help me out! Otherwise I won’t be able to live on. I haven’t even gotten married and had kids yet! Who’d want to marry me in the future?" Xuanhao was desperate.

"Undeniably, it’s a sight for sore eyes. How could anyone be so hideous!" Xiao’er took a glance at Xuanhao and, rather callously, burst into laughter again.

Xuanhao gave Xiao’er a pitiful look and said nothing.

Feeling a bit guilty for continuing to tease them, Xiao’er finally agreed: "Alright, I’ll help you. Although I haven’t made the ointment yet, I’ll send it to you when it’s ready."

She won’t be giving them the ointment right away; it would be nice to meet and have a laugh at their expense when she is in a bad mood.

"I knew you’d have a solution. In the future, anything you need, just let me know." Xuanhao vowed magnanimously.

Ah, her sixth imperial brother, Xuanhao, really hasn’t done anything good in this life. The only good thing he has is this multi-talented little sister!

"You said so, and you’d better not go back on your promise. I simply need you to never show up before me again." Xiao’er brewed tea for everyone and began to fill their cups.

The others stifled their laughter upon hearing this.

"That doesn’t count!" Absolutely unacceptable!

"But that’s the only favor I need from you." With a joke hidden deep in her heart, Xiao’er replied with a straight face.

"Girl, that’s really not acceptable. Instead, how about this: if you ever marry into my family, and Xuanyi mistreats you, I’ll help you teach him a lesson!"

Xiao’er looked at Xuanyi with a nod, "That’s something to consider!"

Xuanhao smirked at Xuanyi.

"That opportunity will never come. If you need any help, you can ask me; there will be no need for conditions." Xuanyi handed a small dish of shelled sunflower seeds to Xiao’er.

As soon as Xuanyi arrived, he asked Xiao Fuzi to fetch water for him to wash his hands, and sat next to Xiao’er, shelling sunflower seeds. At this point, he had a dish full.

"That’s acceptable too."

Xiao’er took the dish with a pleased grin, thanked him, and started to munch on the seeds.

Once again, Xuanhao sat back, irritated at his brother for stealing his thunder.

"Xiao’er, what did you mean last time when you said that smallpox can be prevented?" Xuanyi refilled Xiao’er’s tea cup, then began to shell chestnuts.

Xiao’er knew that cowpox could be used to prevent smallpox, and that symptoms were much less severe when people were infected with cowpox than smallpox.

"I once heard an old lady say that when she was a child, everyone in her village died from smallpox, except her family. I asked her why her family was spared. She said it might be because they had all been infected with a type of cow’s pimple - cowpox. My brother contracted cowpox when he was little, so he didn’t fall ill this time, while Hao’er and Brother Ri both ran high fevers. It made me more certain that the old lady was speaking the truth."

The several people all pondered after hearing Xiao’er’s words.

Xuanhao, with his extensive knowledge in medicine, felt inspired by years of medical intuition that this was indeed the truth.

"I think it can work. We know, once a person contracts smallpox, they won’t contract it again; their body has thus developed the capability to resist it. If they’ve been inoculated with cowpox, they might develop the same resistance, suggesting that cowpox and smallpox are similar, just as some kinds of poison are stronger than others."

Xiao’er gave Xuanhao a big thumbs-up: "Smart!"

"So we could try preventing smallpox through inoculation with cowpox. The symptoms of cowpox are much milder than those of smallpox and easier to recover from. If citizens are all required to get inoculated, I believe smallpox will soon be eradicated in our nation." Xiao’er continued.

As Xiao’er knew, smallpox had indeed been eradicated in modern times through widespread vaccination. It began with inoculation with human smallpox, and later, it was discovered that cowpox could be used.

It took nine hundred years from the start of smallpox inoculation to the eradication of smallpox.

Nine hundred years were nine centuries!

Now, Xiao’er had brought with her the wisdom of several centuries into the past, which will lead to the eradication of smallpox, a ferocious disease.

Xuanhao could no longer sit still anymore, he despised smallpox deeply.

"I’ll immediately arrange for people to investigate. If there are cases in Shanghe County where those who’ve contracted cowpox did not contract smallpox, then we can begin testing cowpox inoculation to prevent smallpox. As for the specifics of how to proceed, after I find out more, I’ll come back to consult you, Xiao’er."

With that, Xuanhao ran off like the wind.

"Xiao’er, how confident are you about this?" Zhewei asked.

"Ninety percent."

Well, that’s pretty much a hundred percent, isn’t it?

"How wonderful!" Zhewei exclaimed.

Being able to find a way to prevent this virulent infectious disease and having the chance to eradicate it, isn’t that truly wonderful? Everyone heartily agreed with the word "wonderful" deep in their hearts.

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