Jun Huailang’s high fever continued for three days, without showing the slightest sign of improvement.
The longer the fever lasted, the harder it was for a person to remain conscious. By the third day, Jun Huailang felt as though his very mind had been set ablaze. He could no longer tell east from west, and at times he even began to hallucinate.
He could only force himself to remain awake for a few moments at a time, just long enough to fetch the food and medicine that Jinbao had left outside the screen, and then, after taking his medicine, listen to the officials outside report to him on the situation within the city.
Fortunately, they had responded in time. Although the epidemic was still spreading throughout the city, the sick had been gathered together immediately. After Jinling Prefecture temporarily blocked off the dam, it had devoted all its silver, provisions, and supplies to dealing with the epidemic. As a result, there had not been any large-scale unrest within the city.
However, quite a few commoners were still falling ill every day, and even some officials in Jinling Prefecture had contracted the epidemic. Just yesterday, several feverish servants had been carried out of the Governor’s residence. Although Jinling Prefecture had not yet descended into chaos, everyone was still terrified and on edge, each person fearing for their own life.
Some commoners had even begun searching for folk remedies, secretly inviting people into their homes to perform rituals and sorcery. Once one or two households began doing so, more people quickly followed suit.
As the number of people performing rituals increased, so did the rumors.
Why had an epidemic suddenly broken out in Jinling for no apparent reason? It was because a calamity star had come to Jinling this year. That calamity star was destined to bring misfortune upon his parents and siblings, and wherever he went, disaster would suddenly arise.
When he had originally been in Yanyun, the Yan region had inexplicably suffered a defeat and fallen into the hands of the Turks. Fortunately, there had been the true dragon in Chang’an to suppress the disturbance, so no great disaster had occurred. Now that the calamity star had come to Jinling, the epidemic had naturally followed.
The rumor spread like wildfire. It was practically saying outright that this disaster had been caused by Prince Guangling, Xue Yan.
However, the rumor did not circulate for long before Duke Yongning forcefully suppressed it.
And at this moment, Xue Yan had already reached the northern bank of the Yangtze River.
Just as he had expected, once their group arrived in Shandong, they immediately caught the local officials off guard. They had traveled extremely quickly, arriving in Shandong two days earlier than an ordinary forced march would have allowed.
At that time, the supplies had only just arrived in Shandong. The Prefect of Shandong was in the middle of frantically using the excuse of inspecting and reorganizing the supplies to unload the grain and provisions from the carts and move them into the prefectural storehouses, then stuff the carts with straw to make up the weight.
When Xue Yan arrived, he happened to catch them red-handed. After notifying the Shandong Governor, they arrested the entire group. The officials responsible for transporting the supplies, together with the memorial, were personally escorted overnight to Chang’an under urgent dispatch.
He had ridden two horses to death in a single night. Finally, just as dawn broke, he bound that entire group of corrupt officials and brought them into the Golden Hall, presenting them, along with the memorial, before Emperor Qingping.
Just as expected, Emperor Qingping was furious.
He immediately issued an imperial decree in court, ordering that the officials be taken to the Ministry of Justice prison and have the Minister of Justice and Grand Tutor Jiang jointly interrogate them. He demanded that every person behind the scheme be uncovered.
This essentially placed the officials belonging to the Xu family faction directly into the hands of the Jiang family.
After dealing with all of this, Xue Yan did not stay long. He mounted his horse and prepared to hurry back.
Emperor Qingping insisted on keeping him behind. Originally, he had sent Xue Yan to Jiangnan because he did not trust Duke Yongning. Now that an even greater disaster had occurred, Emperor Qingping finally came to his senses and realized that the Jiang family had played him.
Since that was the case, he naturally could no longer bear to let his own son travel another thousand li back to the disaster-stricken region.
“Stay here and, while you’re at it, help Me interrogate the prisoners you brought back,” Emperor Qingping said.
Xue Yan glanced at Grand Tutor Jiang, who stood to the side, neither servile nor overbearing.
Officials like him—high-ranking scholars who had risen through the imperial examinations—might ordinarily be troublesome, difficult to deal with, and fond of forming factions to eliminate their political enemies. But at a time like this, people like him were also the ones most deserving of trust.
A man as powerful and influential as Grand Tutor Jiang absolutely would not be placed in danger over this matter. Otherwise, the Xu family would have brought him down long ago.
Likewise, he would never show favoritism, leaving Xue Yan with nothing to worry about.
“Since Father Emperor trusts Grand Tutor Jiang, there is no need for Your Majesty’s son to say anything more.” Xue Yan cupped his fists and bowed. His voice was somewhat hoarse from traveling through the night. “There is an emergency in Jiangnan. Now that the officials in charge have also run into trouble, Your Majesty’s son truly cannot feel at ease remaining in Chang’an.”
There was naturally nothing in particular in Jiangnan that he was worried about.
What he was worried about was that Jun Huailang might take advantage of his absence to stop eating properly and stop sleeping properly.
At that thought, he could not feel at ease.
Emperor Qingping’s eyes reddened with emotion upon hearing this.
At this morning’s court, Xue Yan had suddenly returned and brought back such a major case. If Xue Yan had not been concerned about the common people while in Jiangnan, and had not hurried north to meet the incoming provisions, he would never have exposed these officials embezzling supplies in the midst of a crisis.
If something truly serious had happened in Jiangnan, endangering the nation’s economy and the livelihood of its people, what face would he have had to stand before his imperial ancestors?
Fortunately, there was Xue Yan. Only because of him had Jiangnan managed to retain the grain and silver that could save countless lives.
But because of this incident, all the civil and military officials had become as silent as cicadas in winter. No one dared touch this already troublesome situation that had begun as a natural disaster and had now even dragged the Xu family into it.
Seeing the situation, Emperor Qingping also found himself in a difficult position.
The disaster in Jiangnan was so urgent that finding someone willing to take responsibility in such a crisis was truly difficult.
Unexpectedly, Xue Yan stepped forward again at this moment.
This time, Emperor Qingping was no longer worried at all.
Compared with the civil and military officials, he still trusted his own son more. And among all his sons, the one he found easiest to rely upon was Xue Yan.
Thus, without even thinking about it, Emperor Qingping immediately issued an imperial decree, placing Xue Yan entirely in charge of the flooding disaster in Jiangnan. He was to personally escort the provisions there and oversee disaster relief.
The entire court was instantly shaken. The officials exchanged glances, each making their own calculations.
Prince Guangling had personally apprehended the corrupt officials this time, and now he was being given full authority over the flooding disaster in Jiangnan. As long as nothing went wrong and he successfully handled the floods, the merit and reputation he would gain would be enormous.
Originally, there had still been the Fourth Prince in Chang’an who could contend with him. Now, there was no longer any prince whose influence could surpass his.
For a time, everyone began making their own plans and calculations.
Xue Yan, however, had no time whatsoever to concern himself with their thoughts. He cupped his fists, bowed slightly, and calmly thanked the Emperor for the favor, then turned around to leave.
But at that moment, a eunuch hurried over with an urgent report.
“Reporting! Your Majesty! An urgent memorial from Jinling! It says an epidemic has broken out in Jiangnan, and the situation is critical. We ask Your Majesty to make a decision!”
Xue Yan’s footsteps stopped.
Immediately afterward, a sharp light burst from those amber eyes, tinged with murderous intent, as they swept directly toward the eunuch.
The eunuch shuddered all over, feeling as though the King of Hell himself had seized him by the throat. He cautiously glanced toward Xue Yan, only to see those sharp eyes staring straight at the urgent memorial in his hands.
Bloodlust suddenly flashed within that gaze.
——
No one had ever attempted to ride from Chang’an to Jinling in three days.
But on the third day, Xue Yan’s horse had already reached the banks of the Yangtze River north of Jinling City.
For three consecutive days, he had neither slept nor rested, traveling through the day and straight on through the night. Even the well-trained Embroidered Uniform Guards accompanying him could barely endure it, let alone the Imperial Physicians and famous physicians from the capital in the carriage behind them. They had long since been jolted half senseless, each of them looking sickly and exhausted.
Xue Yan, however, seemed completely unaffected. He simply continued riding.
More than half of the Embroidered Uniform Guards had remained in Shandong to escort the provisions. The rest had followed Xue Yan, bringing the Imperial Physicians with them to return and provide disaster relief.
They had changed horses several times along the way, barely maintaining their speed, but the people themselves were reaching their limits.
Even so, none of them dared say a word.
Because they had all noticed how terrifying their master’s condition had been these past few days.
He had gone several days without sleep or rest and still showed no signs of fatigue. The only abnormality was his pair of eyes, which were bloodshot and filled with red veins.
He had not spoken a single word throughout the journey. He simply kept his head down and rode. Even though the Embroidered Uniform Guards were mostly slow-witted, straightforward men, they could still make out some of the reason.
When they reached the Yangtze and waited for the ferry, one of the Embroidered Uniform Guards nudged the squad leader beside him and whispered, “Hey… do you think the girl His Highness likes is in Jinling?”
The squad leader immediately glared at him, signaling for him to keep quiet.
But right afterward, he looked toward Xue Yan.
Xue Yan stood with his back to everyone, silently staring at the Yangtze, as though he wanted to see straight through the vast, surging river before him.
The squad leader gave a tiny nod, deeply agreeing with his subordinate’s suspicion.
Early that morning, once the sun was fully up, Xue Yan entered Jinling City.
The city was filled with a grim, oppressive atmosphere. Even though it was broad daylight, there were hardly any pedestrians in the streets, and the air carried the bitter, medicinal smell of herbs.
The only people moving about were groups of masked officials. They went from door to door, taking the silver left outside each household, then leaving rice and provisions in its place.
——This was also the method Duke Yongning’s heir had come up with two days earlier.
On the solemn, silent streets, the only sound was the clatter of Xue Yan’s horse’s hooves. From the city gate, they passed straight through Jinling Prefecture without stopping at all, charging directly into the Governor’s residence.
Inside the main hall of the Governor’s residence, Duke Yongning and Prefect Shen were discussing affairs.
How many people had developed high fevers each day, how much medicine needed to be distributed, how much silver and grain had to be allocated—everything had to be calculated clearly every single day.
With the situation in the city now so urgent, the two of them had been constantly running about, barely getting a few hours of rest each day.
And Shen Liufeng was here as well.
“Stop fooling around with me!” Prefect Shen snapped angrily. “The epidemic in the city is this serious, and you still want to run off somewhere? Where exactly are you going?!”
For the first time, Shen Liufeng stood his ground against his uncle, refusing to back down.
“You let me go to Yangzhou. I’ll definitely be able to find that miracle physician again!”
Prefect Shen was furious.
“Why are you still fooling around?! All the famous physicians in Jiangnan are in Jinling right now, and the capital will be sending Imperial Physicians here soon as well. What trouble are you trying to cause?”
Duke Yongning sat to the side, a ledger held in his hands, without saying a word.
If one looked closely, one could see his reddened eyes and tightly pressed lips.
His own child had contracted the epidemic. Naturally, he was the most anxious and heartbroken of all.
But Jun Huailang himself had issued a strict order forbidding anyone from going to see him. Duke Yongning knew that his son was worried about spreading the epidemic from himself to others. He already held a position of great power, and the people he came into contact with were the most important officials in Jinling. If he became infected, Jinling would lose even the person in charge of its affairs.
Thus, Duke Yongning could only endure it in silence, waiting for them to bring the epidemic in Jinling under control, find a cure, and save his life.
Duke Yongning was anxious, but he also knew that the miracle physician Shen Liufeng was talking about had no real basis. It was simply an unfounded hope.
Shen Liufeng, however, continued to argue forcefully.
“How am I causing trouble?!” he shouted. “Huailang has been sick for several days already. If he keeps burning like this, won’t the fever damage him—”
Just then, a sound came from the doorway.
Several people looked over and saw Xue Yan standing there, covered in dust from his journey.
His robes were not particularly disheveled, but his eyes were filled with blood vessels, and his lips were cracked. He stared intently at the people inside the room, both hands hanging at his sides, the veins on the backs of his hands standing out starkly.
For a moment, the entire room fell deathly silent.
The Embroidered Uniform Guards and horses were still outside the door. Xue Yan had actually ridden his horse straight through the courtyard just now and all the way into the council hall.
His gaze swept tightly across everyone present. He did not move, yet he seemed like a wild beast locked inside a cage, driven completely mad.
Finally, his eyes fixed on Shen Liufeng, and he spoke.
“You just said… what happened to Jun Huailang?”
His voice was frighteningly hoarse.
“Where is he?”