Chapter 362: Unwelcome Request]

After hearing this, General Xu couldn't help but sigh.

The queen was deposed and exiled, and finally pardoned and was about to be brought back to the palace, but she happened to encounter the devastating epidemic in Youzhou City, and her appearance was completely destroyed...

"I wonder what your Majesty has come to see me today. What is your command? I will certainly satisfy you within the scope of my duties."

The order he received before he came was to surround Youzhou City and not release a single person.

If necessary, you can even set fire to the city!

The memorial from the imperial envoy and the epidemic in Youzhou City had already been reported to the palace.

Unfortunately, the emperor did not send doctors and supplies to provide disaster relief just because the queen and the ninth prince were in the city.

Thinking of this, General Xu couldn't help but feel guilty again.

Although he also knew that in the face of the plague, any act of kindness might kill more people, the emperor's heartlessness towards his own wife was truly chilling.

Unfortunately, he was just a small garrison general and could only act within the permitted scope.

After hearing this, Qin Mengyue pulled Xiao Yunhao forward and knelt down: "General Xu, please accept my greeting first!"

"My Lady, I can't do that! I can't afford it!"

Upon seeing this, General Xu quickly knelt down!

Seeing this, the soldiers beside him also knelt down hurriedly.

For a moment, there was a sea of ​​people kneeling outside the city gate, which was quite a spectacular sight.

Qin Mengyue didn't stand up, but said, "General Xu, I offer this great gift with a truly unforgiving request. Although plague ravages Youzhou City, there happens to be a miraculous doctor in the city who knows how to treat this disease. Otherwise, I wouldn't have survived. Although I know my face is ruined and I'm afraid of disturbing the emperor, I don't dare to hope to return to the palace. But the Ninth Prince has not contracted the serious illness. General Xu, could you please inform the emperor to take the Ninth Prince from the city and escort him back to the palace according to the imperial decree? If you agree, General Xu, I will be deeply grateful!"

After saying that, Qin Mengyue subconsciously grabbed Xiao Yunhao's hand.

When Xiao Yunhao heard that his mother was going to send him back to the palace alone, he couldn't help crying: "Mother, I don't want to go back to the palace alone! I want to cry with you..." Qin Mengyue whispered to comfort him: "Don't cry, Hao'er. Mother is doing this for your own good. Your father will definitely be happy if you return to the capital..."

In the city, Yuan Xu asked worriedly: "Your Highness, Your Majesty, will General Xu really not agree to the Queen's request? If he agrees, won't he send the Ninth Prince to the palace as a hostage?"

Chen Fenghe shook her head and said confidently, "No. The new prefect is the Sixth Prince's man, and although General Xu was once a subordinate of the old Marquis Qin, he had already joined the Second Prince's camp many years ago, just like Qu Wenmin. Otherwise, he would not have been sent to replace Qu Wenmin. Although the Second Prince and the Sixth Prince are fighting openly and secretly, they have probably reached a tacit consensus on the matter of the Queen and the Ninth Prince returning to the palace. How could they let the Queen and the Ninth Prince return to the palace when such a sudden plague happened to occur in Youzhou City? Of course, even if there was a one in ten thousand chance, General Xu agreed..."

Xiao Yunshuo looked at Chen Fenghe with appreciation, then took over the conversation and said, "I will also intercept him before the Ninth Prince returns to the palace. Nothing will go wrong." Chen Fenghe looked at Xiao Yunshuo, staring at his steady and reassuring eyes, and couldn't help but feel warm in her heart.

She had originally thought that she would find a way to rescue the Ninth Prince when the time came, and the method was naturally to use space.

Xiao Yunshuo, however, had already mentioned the solution, as if to encourage her to go ahead and do it without any worries. He would take care of everything...

Sure enough, General Xu looked embarrassed when he heard this.

Before he led his troops to besiege the city, he had consulted the prefect about this matter. There were still the empress and the prince in the city. Did they really want to besiege the city to death?

The prefect glared at him coldly and sneered, "I have heard that General Xu was once a subordinate of Concubine Meng's father and brother. Seeing Concubine Meng in trouble, it is only natural for him to want to help. However, the epidemic in Youzhou City is so severe that even the doctors of the Imperial Hospital have searched through all the medical texts and ancient books, but they still have no clue. If General Xu insists on saving Concubine Meng and the Ninth Prince, and if the epidemic spreads and harms the people of Dayu, then I can only report the truth to His Majesty. Who will bear the blame will be decided by His Majesty!"

With these words, General Xu dared not agree rashly, and could only answer loudly: "Your Majesty, this is the only matter that I really have no right to decide. I beg Your Majesty to forgive me..."

Hearing General Xu say this, Qin Mengyue, Chen Fenghe, Xiao Yunshuo and others all breathed a sigh of relief.

Qin Mengyue felt relieved, but at the same time, she couldn't help feeling a little heartbroken.

She and Emperor Yucheng were young couples, from when he was just an unpopular prince to when he ascended the throne. They had been together for so many years, and Hao'er was his own flesh and blood, yet he could be so heartless. How could she not be sad?

Fortunately, after learning the truth about the death of a direct descendant of the Qin family in battle, Qin Mengyue had given up on Emperor Yu Cheng. Therefore, she closed her eyes tightly to bury this emotion.

From then on, she and he were just passing each other by and had nothing to do with each other anymore.

There is no need to have any expectations of him anymore.

The people in the city knew that Qin Mengyue, the former queen, now Concubine Meng, was negotiating with the soldiers besieging the city on the city wall. Therefore, except for those who had not yet recovered from their illnesses and those who were responsible for preparing medicine and taking care of patients, the rest of the people stayed under the city wall, waiting for the latest news.

There was also someone specifically responsible for transmitting messages, who would report the negotiation situation on the city wall to the people below as soon as possible.

At this moment, the people waiting outside the city had already learned that General Xu had refused to release the Ninth Prince from the city, and they could not help but feel extremely disappointed.

"This...isn't the Ninth Prince the Emperor's own flesh and blood? How could the Emperor be so cruel as to watch his own son die without saving him?"

"It's more than just watching someone die without helping. He ordered the city to be surrounded. We can't even get out. If anyone dies, it's because of him!"

"Hush! Are you trying to kill yourself? How dare you criticize the current emperor?"

"Bah! Old Zhang, shut up! Don't think I'm afraid of you just because you're a government official! After the plague broke out in Youzhou City, what did your government do? Didn't everyone flee back home to protect themselves? If it weren't for the former Crown Princess's superb medical skills and some righteous people in the city who organized the people of the city to work together to make medicine and distribute food, medicine, charcoal, etc., I'm afraid most of the people in the city would have died by now, and the rest are just waiting to die! Tell me, when we were saving ourselves, what did the emperor do? He ordered a large army to besiege the city, trying to trap us to death in the city!"

After hearing this, everyone couldn't help but get excited.

"That's right! Our illness has been cured, why won't the city be opened to release us? The emperor didn't even save his own son, so how could he allow us to leave Youzhou City alive!"

"Damn it! I barely managed to save my life from the plague god, how can I starve to death in this city! Since the emperor is unkind, we have no choice but to be unjust. Why don't we all go together and break down the city gates so we can escape together!"

"Yes! Yes! I agree too!"

"Count me in too!"

Just as the crowd was about to lose control and rush towards the city gate, someone suddenly spoke up, "The Crown Princess is here! Everyone, please be patient! The Crown Princess has something to say."

Chen Fenghe, with a veil on her face, walked into the crowd under the escort of Yuan Xu and others.

After Xiao Yunshuo felt a little better, she began to personally inject antibiotics into patients, give acupuncture and prescribe medicine, etc., so almost half of the people in the city recognized her.

"Everyone, please be patient. If we lose control and rush to the city gate, even if the soldiers outside the city no longer want to attack their compatriots, they will probably be forced to turn their weapons against us. If we do this, we will most likely be charged with treason and buried forever in this Youzhou city!" Chen Fenghe stated in a clear and cold voice.

Yuan Xu also added, "News just came down from the city walls. The soldiers outside the city have prepared a large number of arrows, pine oil and firewood, and even two siege cannons! If we act rashly, it will just give the outsiders an excuse. But we, with our flesh and blood, will never be able to defeat the cannons and arrows!"

"Rebellion? I...we have no other choice...what should we do? Are we just going to be trapped here? If this goes on for too long, even if we don't die of illness, we'll starve to death!"

"Pine tar and dry wood? What do they want to do? Are they planning to burn the city down?"

"And there are cannons... If one of them comes, won't we be instantly shattered to pieces?!"

"Her Majesty, you are such a skilled doctor and so intelligent. Can you please save us? We have been cured, so why are we trapped to death?"

Chen Fenghe said, "For now, we can only slowly convince the people outside the city that the plague in our city has been controlled and cured, and only then will they feel at ease to release the people."

"But if that's the case, how long will it take? Will we have enough food?"

Chen Fenghe smiled and said, "This is another reason why Your Majesty went up to the city wall and negotiated with the soldiers outside the city..."

At this moment, on the city wall, Qin Mengyue took a deep breath and continued, "General Xu, most of the sick in the city have been cured, and the plague is under control. Every word you say is true. I am willing to guarantee it with my life and the lives of my son! Even so, does General Xu really want to trap and kill all the people in the city, including over 5,000 households and nearly 20,000 people? How could the current emperor allow such a thing to happen?"

After hearing this, General Xu couldn't help but show uneasiness on his face.

Although the imperial edict he received was indeed to trap and kill everyone in the city.

But now, what Qin Mengyue said on the city wall was heard by thousands of soldiers besieging the city outside.

If he ignored it and continued to act according to the original imperial decree, he would probably become a scapegoat in the future...

"Your Majesty, this matter... I really can't make a decision. Please give me some time to consult with my superiors..."

Qin Mengyue breathed a sigh of relief when she heard this.

Everything developed as Shuo'er and Fenghe had expected.

"I know General Xu is also doing his duty and can do nothing about it. I am deeply grateful to you for your willingness to consult your superiors on behalf of the people of this city! However, there is one more thing: the food and medicinal herbs in the city are almost gone. I wonder if General Xu could purchase some for us to hold out until His Majesty sends us a new decree? If General Xu is willing, the people of this city have voluntarily raised three thousand taels of silver to give to you to purchase food and medicinal herbs. I hope you will grant this."

When the soldiers outside the city heard that there were three thousand taels of silver, their eyes lit up.

After the money passed through their hands, they would be able to make some money. Moreover, they already had food and supplies with them, so they could embezzle some of it. When the time came, they would just say that there was a shortage, and let the supply officer replenish it without anyone noticing. This part of the money would then fall into their hands.

Therefore, everyone couldn't help but waver.

"General, I think what Her Majesty has requested is reasonable. If we ignore it, and people really starve to death in Youzhou City, I'm afraid we might be convicted..." The deputy general leaned over and whispered to General Xu.

General Xu had the same consideration. He nodded upon hearing this and replied to Qin Mengyue, "Your Majesty, I will obey your orders and send people to collect food and medicinal herbs immediately!"

Qin Mengyue finally let go of the worry in her heart.

Her previous proposal to send the Ninth Prince out of the city and back to the capital was actually paving the way for the ultimate goal of raising food and medicinal materials.

"If we directly ask General Xu to raise food and medicinal materials, there will be no room for maneuver if he refuses. So, we can first propose something he can't agree to. After he refuses, we can then offer the next best thing, raising supplies. That way, out of guilt, he generally won't refuse unless it's absolutely necessary. Doing so will also allow the trapped people in the city to see the current emperor's cold-bloodedness and ruthlessness, and perhaps it will be of some benefit to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in the future. It can be said to kill two birds with one stone."

This is what Shen Fenghe said when discussing this plan.

"Of course, we can't just rely on this. We also need to give some benefits to the people in the outer city as a double guarantee."

The three thousand taels of silver were raised by the people in the city. The wealthy people in the city contributed more, and the others contributed less.

At that moment, the city used ropes to hang the silver and banknotes from the city wall and handed them to General Xu.

General Xu was a man of his word, and indeed he managed to raise food and medicinal materials within three days.

However, he did not dare to open the city gate without permission, so he sent soldiers to cover their mouths and noses tightly, put the food and medicinal materials into large wicker baskets, and placed them on the city wall. As usual, the people in the city lifted them up little by little with ropes and brought them into the city.

In this way, the urgent need for food supplies was solved.

A few days later, Qingzhou City finally responded to General Xu's request.

General Xu opened the letter, took a look at it, and his eyes trembled involuntarily.