Jiang Wan could only accompany her, and the two of them worked until dusk before finishing printing the stack of papers, a total of five hundred sheets.
While sitting next to Jiang Xiao during dinner, Jiang Wan used her abilities to restore her elder sister's stamina and alleviate her fatigue. Jiang Xiao felt completely refreshed after the meal.
With renewed energy, Jiang Xiao became restless again. "It's a pity we didn't buy more paper, otherwise we could have printed some more tonight."
Jiang Wan's scalp tingled. "Sister, those five hundred sheets are enough to post in many places. It will take quite some time to paste them all."
Jiang Pan also said, "Wan Wan is right. We might find Xiao Bao after posting just a few. What would we do with so many printed papers then? Burn them?"
Jiang Xiao's heart brightened, and she finally gave up the idea.
With the portraits ready, Jiang Wan and Jiang Pan set off with them the next morning.
The father and daughter rode an old eagle towards the prefectural city.
Xiao Bao was taken away in the prefectural city, so searching outwards from there was the most scientific approach.
The two of them weren't foolish enough to post the notices themselves. They were not familiar with the prefectural city, nor did they know which streets were crowded or where it was permissible to post things. Therefore, they spent some money and found several beggars to help them post the notices throughout the prefectural city.
To prevent these beggars from discarding the portraits and deceiving them, Jiang Wan secretly assigned "informants" to each beggar.
Fortunately, these beggars were quite professional. They took the portraits and posted them in all the visible places throughout the prefectural city.
When they came to collect their payment after finishing, Jiang Wan pointed to the portraits and asked, "You all know the prefectural city best. Have you seen this child?"
The beggars stared at the portraits for a long time and shook their heads. "Children all look alike. This child clearly looks like someone fleeing famine. There are many such children in the prefectural city recently, so we really didn't notice."
The number of people fleeing from the north had been increasing, indicating that the situation in the north was becoming more severe.
Jiang Pan's heart grew heavy, worrying that the Jiangnan region might also become unstable.
Jiang Wan, however, was not afraid. She had her abilities, and her family had established a foothold in Jiangnan. The current situation was far better than when she first transmigrated.
She hadn't panicked then, so why would she panic now?
"Then I'll trouble you all to keep a closer eye out. If you can provide information about this child's whereabouts, our family will offer a reward of fifty taels of silver. If you can deliver the child to our home unharmed, the reward will be one hundred taels."
"My home is in Xiaoshan Village, Yaoxian. My father works in the Yaoxian yamen. You can find out by asking in Yaoxian."
Upon hearing the generous reward, the beggars' eyes lit up.
Such a large sum of money! If they could obtain it, they could immediately turn their lives around and no longer have to beg.
So, the beggars looked at the portraits again and again, afraid that a single glance missed would make them unable to remember and thus miss out on the fortune.
After sending the beggars away, Jiang Pan suggested, "Let's go out of the city to take a look. I want to ask those fleeing people about the situation outside of Jiangnan."
Jiang Wan agreed, and she and Jiang Pan drove the rented carriage out of the city.
Fleeing refugees were not allowed to enter the city without a travel permit and an entry fee. The government did not want to cause unrest, so they designated an area outside the city for the refugees to gather. Wealthy families in the city set up porridge stalls, distributing porridge to the refugees twice a day.
The father and daughter also found people from the Jin Clan Medical Hall in the refugee gathering area.
"Uncle Liang, why are you here?"
Jiang Wan saw a familiar face and ran over to greet him.
The person she called Uncle Liang was Liang Tao, an outer disciple of the Jin Clan Medical Hall.
"Brother-in-law Jiang, Wan Wan."
Liang Tao was also surprised to see the father and daughter. "Why are you here?"
Jiang Pan replied, "Wan Wan and I came to the prefectural city for some business. We heard that many refugees from the north have been settled here, so we came to take a look. Brother Liang, what are you doing here?"
Liang Tao explained, "The prefect sent people to ask for help from our medical hall, saying there are too many refugees here and he fears that so many people gathered together might cause an epidemic. So, the master sent me and several other junior brothers here."
Although Jiang Wan respectfully called Liang Tao "Uncle," Liang Tao was not qualified to call Divine Doctor Jin his master.
Jiang Wan greatly approved of the prefect of Jiangning's foresight.
With so many refugees gathered together, who knew what viruses might spread through cross-infection. Sending physicians in advance to treat these people would greatly reduce the risk of infectious diseases.
Such a wise official was rare.
After exchanging pleasantries with Liang Tao, Jiang Pan walked towards the refugees.
Jiang Wan also wanted to go, but Liang Tao stopped her. "Wan Wan, you're still young. Don't go into that crowd of people, lest you catch something."
Jiang Wan thought about it and agreed. Although she wasn't afraid of getting sick, there was no need to deliberately go into a crowd of sick people.
"Uncle, it's not safe for you to be without protection. I suggest you find some clean gauze, stuff it with cotton, and sew it into a square. Make it large enough to cover your mouth and nose, and sew straps on both sides. Wearing this over your mouth and nose can block out a lot of unclean things and reduce the risk of infection."
Liang Tao's eyes immediately lit up. "Excellent idea! Wan Wan, I'll have someone get it right away."
After providing the idea for masks, Jiang Wan quietly sat aside, waiting for Jiang Pan.
After a while, Jiang Pan returned with a grave expression.
"Father, how is it?"
Jiang Pan shook his head. "It's a bit more serious than I imagined. There's been a war in Jianzhou, and all the civilians who could escape are fleeing towards Jiangnan. Some areas are also suffering from locust plagues. If those locusts have nothing to eat, they might come towards Jiangnan."
Jiang Wan said, "The weather in Jiangnan is about to turn cool. It will be even colder in the northern regions, so the locusts there must have all frozen to death."
Jiang Pan was not reassured. "Let's hope so."
"We must find Xiao Bao as soon as possible. Otherwise, if things truly fall into chaos, finding him will be harder than finding a needle in a haystack."
This was the truth.
Jiangnan was still relatively stable now, and it was difficult to find someone. If it truly descended into chaos, finding Xiao Bao would be as difficult as reaching the heavens.
Jiang Wan dared not be careless. She quickly said to Jiang Pan, "Then we'll set off for other surrounding areas tonight and quickly post all the printed portraits. We'll also buy more paper and print more."
They had brought the printing plates with them, intending to finish posting them all at once.
The father and daughter acted immediately. They drove the carriage back to the city, bought a pile of Xuan paper, and returned to the inn to print portraits late into the night.
After working for most of the night, Jiang Wan was too sleepy to continue. Jiang Pan then stopped and told Jiang Wan to go to sleep.
As soon as dawn broke, Jiang Pan picked up Jiang Wan, went downstairs to check out, and took Jiang Wan out of the city, heading towards the nearest town to the prefectural city.