Chapter 205 Visiting the Sick

These words were both soft and firm. There was a long silence inside the door, and finally, the door creaked open a crack.

The eldest son of Imperial Censor Zhao stood wearily inside the door: "Father-in-law... my father is indeed seriously ill, and I fear it may alarm His Majesty..."

"It's alright, it's alright!"

Before he could finish speaking, Desheng led the imperial physician and squeezed in, heading straight for the inner room.

As expected, Imperial Censor Zhao lay on the bed, his face ashen, coughing incessantly.

The imperial physician stepped forward, took Desheng's pulse for a moment, examined his complexion, and gently shook his head.

Desheng immediately put on a pained expression: "Lord Zhao...you...alas!"

He leaned closer to the bedside and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear, "My lord... these are times when things are at a critical juncture, and your illness... is far too mild."

Censor Zhao opened his eyes wide and looked at Desheng: "You...you..."

He couldn't utter a single word.

Desheng patted him on the back with concern: "Please take good care of yourself, sir!"

He stood up and sighed to the eldest son of the Zhao family, "You must take good care of Lord Zhao!"

Having said that, he left with the imperial physician, leaving the entire Zhao household dumbfounded.

One after another.

Desheng was like a harbinger of disaster and plague, and wherever he went, the epidemic was diagnosed.

Panic spread wildly throughout Nanjing.

The people, hearing the rumors, were so frightened that they stayed indoors!

The next day, Desheng dragged his exhausted body back to the palace.

He didn't go directly to the warm pavilion to report, but instead rested in his duty room for a long time, then thoroughly fumigated his entire body with mugwort. Finally, pale-faced and unsteady on his feet, he came to the warm pavilion to request an audience. He knelt down on the ground through the thick curtain, his voice hoarse and fearful:

"Your Majesty...this old servant...this old servant is incompetent...this old servant deserves to die!"

Pei Yan, who was already impatient waiting inside the warm pavilion, immediately shouted upon hearing Desheng's voice, "Get in here and answer! How's the investigation going?!"

But remembering how Desheng had covered his mouth and coughed earlier, he added irritably, "Kneel and answer me from a distance!"

Desheng kept his head bowed low, his shoulders heaving, seemingly trying his best to suppress a cough; his voice was choked with sobs.

"Your Majesty... this old servant... this old servant was ordered to investigate the seven officials who have claimed illness... the situation is truly dire!"

"Speak!" Pei Yan's heart sank.

"Everyone has been diagnosed with the epidemic! Some officials' family members didn't believe it and insisted on breaking out, but this old servant ordered them all to be locked up in their residences and not allowed to leave!"

"Most importantly, the imperial physicians said... that the symptoms of the lords are indeed seven or eight parts similar to the symptoms of the Lin family when they first contracted the plague!"

Pei Yan suddenly stood up from the soft couch, his face instantly turning ashen, and veins bulging on his forehead!

"What?!"

He roared in a hoarse voice, "It's all plague?!"

An unprecedented fear gripped him instantly!

Disease! It really is a disease!

It has already spread to high-ranking officials in the imperial court!

Desheng trembled at Pei Yan's roar, banging his head on the ground repeatedly: "Your Majesty, please calm down! Your Majesty, please calm down! This old servant... this old servant was merely relaying the imperial physician's words... the imperial physician also said that it was only... only suspected... and still needs..."

"Suspected?! By the time it's confirmed, it will be too late!"

Pei Yan interrupted him furiously, pacing wildly in the warm pavilion like a caged beast driven mad. "No wonder! No wonder more and more people are reporting illness! No wonder they dare not report it! They are afraid! Afraid of being exiled by me like the Lin family! Afraid of being locked up and waiting to die! These selfish bastards! Do they want to drag the entire Jinling down with them?!"

The more he thought about it, the angrier and more frightened he became!

If the epidemic were to break out in Nanjing and among the officials... he simply couldn't imagine the consequences!

The court is paralyzed, order is broken, and even... the foundation of the nation is shaken!

"Your Majesty... this old servant deserves to die! This old servant stayed at the residences of several officials... and now... now I feel dizzy and lightheaded, and my throat is itchy. I'm afraid... I'm afraid I've also been contaminated by something unclean. This old servant dares not approach Your Majesty to serve you... I beg Your Majesty to allow this old servant to take my leave and self-isolate... Waaah..."

Desheng's illness was like the final spark, completely igniting Pei Yan's panic and anger!

"Damn it! They all deserve to die!"

Pei Yan roared, kicking over a low table beside him, shattering jade cups and wine pots on it onto the floor. "The Lin family! Xie Sangning! You two scourges! I will grind you to dust!"

He was panting heavily, his eyes bloodshot with rage, and he roared at the door, "Guards! Issue an imperial decree!!"

"First! Immediately seal off all residences of officials who have claimed illness! Regardless of rank, no one is allowed to enter or leave! Anyone who disobeys will be executed without mercy!"

"Second! All imperial physicians of the Imperial Medical Academy, gather immediately! Study this for me! No matter what, you must come up with a way to prevent and treat them! If you can't save them, I will have the Imperial Medical Academy executed!"

"Third! Conduct a thorough investigation! Investigate everything for me! All officials, nobles, and even palace servants who had contact with the Lin family after they left the capital! Once discovered, isolate them immediately! Better to kill a thousand innocent people than let one guilty person go free!"

"Fourth! Strengthen the defenses of Nanjing! Lock down all four gates! Check all people entering and leaving, and immediately detain and isolate anyone with symptoms such as fever or cough!"

"Fifth... Order the Western Hills Camp to dispatch 5,000 elite troops to garrison the outskirts of the Imperial City! To protect the palace! In case of unforeseen circumstances!"

Desheng lay prostrate on the ground, listening to Pei Yan's decree and feeling the emperor's soul-deep fear. A smile curled at the corner of his mouth from an angle unseen by anyone.

It's done.

His Majesty's sword, just as the young lady had planned, was stabbing viciously into his own heart!

That night, the city of Jinling was completely gripped by fear and unease.

The soldiers of the Five Cities Garrison were like wolves and tigers, brutally sealing off one official residence after another.

Terrified cries, pleas, and banging on doors echoed through the cold night.

The once magnificent and imposing mansion of the wealthy and powerful was transformed overnight into a strict prison.

The Imperial Medical Academy was brightly lit, and the imperial physicians looked worried. Faced with a non-existent epidemic, they scratched their heads and flipped through ancient books, haphazardly prescribing some calming and heat-clearing prescriptions, their hearts filled with despair.

Inside and outside the imperial city, the elite troops of the Western Hill Camp clattered in armor, their swords and spears stood in a forest, their cold eyes scanning the darkness, and an atmosphere of murderous intent permeated the air.

Panic, like a thick, tangible fog, completely engulfed the capital of the empire.

The central authority of power has been paralyzed.

But the real thunder is rolling in from the direction of Yuanyang!

Pei Yan sat on the cold dragon throne, feeling a chill run from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

When the epidemic spreads, there will inevitably be rumors that he is unworthy of his position and has incurred divine wrath!

He looked around the magnificent yet empty hall and felt a profound sense of loneliness and fear for the first time.

They're all despicable! The Lin family is despicable for spreading the epidemic, but Xie Sangning is even more despicable!

He returned to the secret room and looked at Lin Ruyue's fair and serene face before calming down.

She said softly, "Ruyue, you miss your daughter too, don't you? Shall I bring her down to keep you company?"

At this point, he suddenly frowned.

"No... Only I can be by your side, but I will kill her myself in front of you, so you can see her one last time, and the Imperial Advisor will lock her soul away forever..."

He lowered his head and kissed Lin Ruyue's forehead, his eyes filled with satisfaction, before leaving the secret room.