Gu Yuzhi looked up and saw Mr. Huo's piercing gaze, which startled him so much that he took two steps back.

He gently patted his chest: "Mr. Huo, how did you wake up?"

But it's good that you're awake.

He smiled and took two steps forward: "Mr. Huo, you've had a hard time these past few days. Please go back to your room and rest. We can talk about it tomorrow."

Mr. Huo then hummed in agreement, exchanged a few more words with him, and strode back to his room.

Actually, Mr. Huo had already woken up when Gu Yuzhi entered the room, but he was still very tired and wanted to sit still.

But who knew the young prince would stare at him for so long, it would be embarrassing if he didn't wake up.

Because he went to bed early the night before, Gu Yuzhi woke up on time the next morning. After Qin Yuanpan changed his medicine, he happily ran towards the main hall.

It happened to be mealtime at the mansion, and Gu Yuzhi looked at the table full of food and sat down much faster.

At this moment, not only Xie Changshi and his entourage, but also Qi Shizi, whom they had not seen the previous night, entered the room.

Seeing that Gu Yuzhi and the others bowed, they then sat down.

Prince Qi said in a low voice, "Your Highness, I have received the latest news that the imperial edict issued by His Majesty accusing the Prince of Chu of treason is already on its way."

This indicates that Jiang Kangming's message has been sent out, and the imperial army will soon be assembled and set off for Jiangnan.

Seeing Gu Yuzhi staring at him with wide, surprised eyes, he continued, "Although it was an urgent dispatch, every time the imperial guards carrying the edict passed through a city, they would enter the city to see the prefect and inform him of the Prince of Chu's rebellion, the stripping of his princely title, and his demotion to commoner status, so that the prefect could post a notice."

"Therefore, I estimate that it will take about half a month for the news to reach Jiangnan."

But from the moment the imperial edict left the palace, the King of Chu was no longer a prince, but a criminal who had committed treason.

Although the imperial edict has not yet reached Jiangnan, the news has already spread, and Jiangzhou and Yangzhou are likely to be in chaos.

Therefore, their initial plan was definitely not going to work.

Gu Yuzhi hadn't initially considered this aspect; he simply felt that since his elder brother's decree had already been issued, then his brother, the Prince of Chu...

He shook his head and spat. He had been stripped of his title and demoted to a commoner. He could no longer call him Brother King of Chu.

Gu Yuzhi thought to himself, "Now we should call the criminal Gu Yufan..."

He clapped his hands vigorously: "Now that we have a legitimate reason to attack, can we immediately contact the prefects and garrison commanders of other prefectures in Yangzhou and order them to surrender immediately!"

Gu Yuzhi proudly raised his chin: "If they don't surrender, we'll wipe them out!"

Seeing the young prince's confident demeanor, Prince Qi couldn't help but laugh.

Yeah, why think so much now?

The Emperor's decree has been issued, and the suppression of the rebels is perfectly justified.

Chief Secretary Xie stroked his beard and said, "Your Highness is quite right. However, Your Highness, Yangzhou and Jiangzhou should also know about this news. I'm afraid these two prefectures will take the opportunity to attack Huizhou."

If nothing unexpected happens, the combined garrison forces of Jiangzhou and Yangzhou number three thousand on the surface, but the number behind the scenes is hard to say.

Roughly speaking, their troop strength should be comparable.

Gu Yuzhi's eyes widened with anger as he said, "They still dare to take this opportunity to attack Huizhou? Don't they know that if they continue to follow the criminal Gu Yufan, it will be a crime of treason, punishable by the extermination of their entire family!"

These people can't be that stupid, right?

Chief Secretary Xie explained softly, "Your Highness is unaware of the fact that the criminal Gu Yufan initially set up the Prince's residence in Jiangzhou. I'm afraid the prefect of Jiangzhou has already colluded with Gu Yufan."

"And the prefect of Yangzhou was specially transferred from Lingnan by Gu Yufan, so he should have already pledged allegiance to Gu Yufan. Therefore..."

Gu Yuzhi nodded knowingly and said, "I understand! They can't stop working for him now, can they? Because they did a lot of terrible things that could lead to the extermination of nine generations of their families!"

Seeing Xie Changshi nod, Gu Yuzhi frowned and said angrily, "I wonder if my brother sent someone to secretly investigate these two scoundrels when he issued the decree."

He sighed in frustration, regretting that he should have had his elder brother demote those two people as well when he sent the message.

Upon thinking about it, Gu Yuzhi suddenly straightened his small back and wondered if he should tell his elder brother to exile the families of these big bad guys who were implicated to the northern desert.

Let them repair canals, plant trees, and build city walls.

In Teacher Shu's words, these people are free laborers who don't need to be paid.

Gu Yuzhi pursed her lips, suppressing the anticipation and joy in her heart, her little face showing a particularly conflicted expression.

These things haven't been done yet, I can't say, I can't say.

The most important thing now is to arrest Gu Yufan and the others.

Seeing his expression, Chief Secretary Xie assumed he was angry with the two prefects of Yangzhou and Jiangzhou. After thinking for a moment, he continued, "Your Highness should know that this is not the worst thing."

Gu Yuzhi's furrowed brow immediately relaxed, and his eyes widened again: "What? What? This isn't the scariest part?"

What could be more terrifying than these two prefects rebelling?

Chief Secretary Xie sighed deeply: "The news of His Highness's arrival in Huizhou has reached even Yunzhou, the farthest prefecture in the Jiangnan region, and the prefects of Yunzhou and Ningzhou have already rushed to Huizhou. But the other prefectures..."

Chief Secretary Xie pointed south: "For example, Shenzhou. Shenzhou is adjacent to Huizhou, but the prefect of Shenzhou has not made any move so far, which means that the prefect of Shenzhou is very likely also a member of the rebels."

This may not only be the case in Shenzhou, but also in the remaining three states.

If that's the case, the problem won't be with these people, but with themselves.

Gu Yuzhi thought about Xie Changshi's words for a moment and naturally understood.

He covered his mouth and gasped, but quickly lowered his hand.

At such a crucial moment, he must not show any weakness, not even in front of Chief Secretary Xie and the others.

If you show weakness, it could very likely frighten the people around you.

Gu Yuzhi pursed his lips tightly, and after a long while, he said, "Then what should we do? We can't just sit here and wait to die!"

Just like they did with the Northern Barbarians, they could also take the initiative to attack!

If Jiangzhou and Yangzhou don't work, then attack Shenzhou first.

His little face suddenly broke into a smile: "That's right, that's right. We're not completely isolated! We still have the prefects of Yunzhou and Ningzhou! We can have their garrisons deal with the neighboring prefectures of Ningzhou."

Wouldn't that turn three prefectures into two?

Gu Yuzhi's big eyes darted around, his face full of confidence: "Besides, didn't we bring all the weapons from Houhu Island back with us? Compared to us, they should be the ones who are afraid!"