In the North Canal section, a group of rats suddenly appeared with their tails tied together, attracting countless people to watch.

Older people always say: When mice cross the river, there will be a disaster.

When Emperor Longfeng received the report from the prefect of Shunfeng, he became hesitant for a moment.

He summoned the supervisor of Qintianjian to inquire about it. After the old supervisor of Mai spoke a lot of profound and ambiguous words about the celestial phenomena, Emperor Longfeng finally became impatient and said, "Tell me something useful. What exactly is this celestial phenomenon?"

The warden bowed and said in a trembling voice, "The heavens are warning us that there will be a great evil this year."

Emperor Longfeng paced anxiously with his hands behind his back, staring at the supervisor with a pair of cloudy eyes and asked, "Does the heaven have any solution for this?"

The supervisor stared at the sky for a long while, then counted on his fingers for a moment, then said hesitantly, "The north is very dangerous, the lucky position is in the south. Go south to get rid of it."

Emperor Longfeng smacked his lips for a long while, frowned and said, "Going south? Are we going to Nanjing?"

Shanxi is right next to Zhili. If the epidemic in Shanxi is really that serious, Zhili will probably not be spared.

Moreover, once an epidemic breaks out on a large scale, it will not be able to be controlled in a short period of time.

Emperor Longfeng pondered for a moment, but still hesitated. Although Nanjing was the secondary capital, it was no small matter for the emperor to travel. Now that the epidemic had not spread, he proposed to go to Nanjing to avoid the epidemic, which was somewhat embarrassing and gave people something to talk about.

Besides, this epidemic may not be as terrible as Sun Yao described in his memorial.

In the past, plagues were always described as extremely horrific, but after a group of people died, they would subside.

The most important thing is that if he went to Nanjing, someone would be needed to keep the capital in check. If the crown prince was left behind to supervise the country, the boss's reputation would probably rise to a higher level. But if he was replaced by someone else, he would not have the crown prince to reassure him.

Emperor Longfeng was caught in a dilemma. He hesitated for a long time but could not make up his mind. Finally, he decided to wait and see.

He first sent officials to Shanxi to verify the epidemic.

Shortly after the officials who were responsible for verifying the epidemic in Shanxi set out, the forty Xichang guards who were left behind by Xue Shu in Shanxi returned, bringing back Master Ziyuan with them.

After Xue Shu met the person in person, he invited the person into the palace the next day to meet Emperor Longfeng.

Master Ziyuan had white hair like snow, but he looked only about 40 years old. He was lithe and walked briskly, not at all old.

As soon as Emperor Longfeng saw the man, he called him "old immortal" and, with a look of joy on his face, invited him to the Xuanqiong Palace to discuss Taoism.

The two of them talked from lunch time until dusk, when Emperor Longfeng reluctantly stopped talking.

He also ordered people to clean up the Xuanqiong Palace and wanted to keep Ziyuan Zhenren in the palace to discuss Taoism.

Unexpectedly, Master Ziyuan shook his head and refused: "I don't want to stay in Beijing for long. If something strange happens today, a disaster is coming. I will go south to find a solution."

His words made Emperor Longfeng's heart move: "Why do you say that, Master?"

Ziyuan Zhenren said: "I have recently observed the stars at night and found that strange phenomena are happening frequently in the north. The Ziwei star is surrounded by evil spirits, which is a sign of great danger. The south has pure and positive energy. If we want to break the evil in the north, we need to draw the pure and positive energy from the south to drive away the evil spirits."

"How to lead it?" Emperor Longfeng asked.

"It takes a person with a very noble destiny to sit in the south and promote the pure and upright energy in the south. The yin and yang energy of the weather rotate with each other. When the pure and upright energy in the south is strong, it will rotate to the north. Evil cannot suppress good. If the evil energy in the north subsides, the great disaster will be eliminated and the great catastrophe will be resolved."

Emperor Longfeng pondered for a while and said, "Isn't that person with a very noble fate me?"

Is there anyone in this world whose fate is more precious than that of the True Dragon Emperor?

Ziyuan Zhenren nodded and shook his head: "Yes and no. Your Majesty is naturally the most noble person. If you can go south, it will naturally help to promote the spirit of integrity. But Your Majesty is worth millions of gold and cannot leave the capital easily. The poor can only find more people with noble fates to replace you."

The more he said this, the more Emperor Longfeng was tempted.

The words of the Qintian Prison Supervisor had already made him think of going south, but he was still a little hesitant. Now, Master Ziyuan's words made him more determined to go south.

According to Master Ziyuan, his trip to Nanjing was not to avoid disaster, but to decipher the omen of a great evil in the north.

The more Emperor Longfeng thought about it, the more he felt it was feasible. He shook his head and said, "Even if we find hundreds or thousands of people, they may not be able to replace him. It would be better for me to go south and take charge of the situation to help maintain the atmosphere of justice."

Ziyuan Zhenren was still hesitant: "That's good, but..."

"Don't worry, sir. I will solve it myself." Emperor Longfeng waved his hand to interrupt him. He had already made up his mind, so he ordered people to set up the carriage and return to the Qianqing Palace.

Master Ziyuan looked at his back and waited cautiously for half an hour before he asked someone to invite Xue Shu over.

When he faced Xue Shu, he no longer had the immortal demeanor he had when facing Emperor Longfeng. He smiled wryly and said, "Look, Supervisor Xue... I did everything you said."

"You did a good job." Xue Shu saw the anxiety on his face and did not beat around the bush with him: "You don't need to do anything at the moment. As long as you have the ability to make His Majesty happy, you will deserve all the glory and wealth."

Master Ziyuan still looked a little hesitant: "That's His Majesty, what if he's discovered..."

"When you were deceiving the people in Datong Prefecture, did anyone discover your plan?" Xue Shu asked before he could finish.

"No." Master Ziyuan was quite confident in his abilities. He stroked his neatly groomed snow-white beard, straightened his chest and said, "The people of Datong Prefecture all call me 'Old Immortal' and they always respond to my requests."

If the Xichang guards had not suddenly brought him here by force, he would still be in the Taoist temple in Datong being worshipped by people.

There has been a serious epidemic in Shanxi recently, and many people have come to the temple to ask for talismans to ward off evil spirits. If he wasn't afraid of contracting the epidemic, he might have opened a temple to perform rituals.

"Then what do you think of His Majesty compared to the common people?" This question was a bit treasonous.

Master Ziyuan looked hesitant: "This..."

Xue Shu, however, did not hold back and said in a sly way: "Just treat His Majesty as one of the common people. Even if you have tens of thousands of followers, the wealth and glory you bring to them may not be as great as this one person."

Master Ziyuan opened his mouth but couldn't say anything.

Thinking about it carefully, Xue Shu was right. Your Majesty is no harder to fool than the common people.

He looked at the Xuanqiong Palace, which looked simple and elegant, but in fact even the most inconspicuous incense burner in the corner was inlaid with gems. Then he thought about his small Taoist temple that he had run for a long time but still couldn't even build a golden statue of a god. Greedy thoughts surged up in his mind.

Fortunes are found in danger.

"I hope Supervisor Xue will take good care of me in the future."

Xue Shu nodded with satisfaction: "Must-have."

After Emperor Longfeng returned to the Qianqing Palace and pondered for two days, on the third day he proposed to go to Nanjing City to pray for the people.

He repeated what Master Ziyuan had said.

He probably said it too much, and he himself believed it. When he mentioned it to the emperor, he was quite confident.

All the civil and military officials in the court were stunned for a moment, and no one objected.

No matter how you distort it, it is hard to believe that the emperor had to go south to avoid the disaster when the epidemic in Shanxi had just broken out.

It's just that no one dares to speak out.

After all, Emperor Longfeng had done many absurd things before, it was just that this time was even more absurd.

The officials below all looked at the four cabinet scholars subconsciously, while the four cabinet scholars looked at each other, and no one spoke out to dissuade them.

The southern officials headed by the deputy minister Shao Tian would not be the first to offend the emperor. After all, their roots were in the south. No matter how many northerners died, the Qinling Mountains and the Huai River separated them, and the impact on the south was not great. Moreover, the emperor's residence in Nanjing was obviously beneficial to the south.

Grand Secretary Lu Jing wanted to dissuade him, but the Minister of Personnel behind him pulled him back and reminded him: "This is a good thing."

The emperor is gone, so someone has to stay. Who else could that person be other than the crown prince?

This is indeed a good thing for Shanxi today.

Lu Jing quickly figured it out and kept silent.

As a result, the court reached a rare consensus, and no one opposed Emperor Longfeng's proposal to go to Nanjing, and it was implemented smoothly.

At the end of April, Emperor Longfeng, accompanied by his favorite concubines, princes and princesses, headed for Nanjing City under the protection of 50,000 imperial guards.

Crown Prince Yin Chengyu stayed behind to oversee the country.

Before leaving, Emperor Longfeng was still worried, so he kept Xue Shu and ordered him to lead 20,000 soldiers from the Four Guards Camp, ostensibly to help the prince protect the capital, but actually to monitor him.

On the day the team set out, Yin Chengyu went to the city gate to see them off.

Seeing the Huagai team gradually go away, Yin Chengyu finally showed a happy smile and said to Zheng Duobao: "Send the order to summon a few great scholars to the palace to discuss the matter."

The famine in Shanxi has dragged on until today, and he can finally do what he wants without any scruples.

Including Yu Shoufu who had taken sick leave, five ministers gathered in the Hongren Hall of Ciqing Palace to discuss the disaster relief in Shanxi.

The officials who went to verify the disaster situation have returned and said that the disaster in Shanxi is more serious than what Sun Yao said. If it continues for a long time, the population may be reduced by half. In addition, the epidemic in Shanxi has spread to the surrounding Damingfu and other places.

Now that the national treasury still has a surplus, it is easy for the Ministry of Revenue to allocate money and grain, but it is difficult to ensure that the money and grain are delivered to the local people.

Moreover, the Shanxi governor Zhou Weishan was dismissed from his post and punished, and a replacement had to be found.

But Shanxi is a hot potato at the moment. People like Shao Tian have ulterior motives. They want money and food for disaster relief, but don't want to shoulder the burden of Shanxi. There are officials like Yu Huaian and Lu Jing who care about the people, but they are either too old or too weak and inexperienced.

The issues that had been debated in the court were debated again in the Hongren Hall, but still to no avail.

Yin Chengyu listened for a while, then let the people go with a headache.

After staying alone in the Hongren Hall for a while, Yin Chengyu called Xue Shu over.

"I want to go to Shanxi. Please make the arrangements."

The epidemic in Shanxi concerns the fate of the entire Dayan. Yin Chengyu thought about it and felt uneasy about sending anyone, so he decided to go there himself.

With his grandfather in charge of the court, he doesn't need to worry too much.

"The epidemic in Shanxi is serious. Your Highness's precious body should not be put at risk," Xue Shu frowned and objected before he finished listening.

But Yin Chengyu didn't want to hear his opinion. He slowly approached him and pressed his lips: "I didn't call you here to hear your opinion. I'll give you one night to prepare, and we'll set out early tomorrow morning. No need to prepare a carriage. I'll ride with you, and we'll go to Shanxi to investigate first. The rest of the relief forces will follow."

To control the epidemic in Shanxi, we need to find out the whole story of the outbreak of Shanxi lumpy plague, so that we can prescribe the right medicine and contain it as soon as possible.

Xue Shu's persuasion was futile and he could only follow his advice and arrange his men.

The next morning, Yin Chengyu and three young imperial physicians, escorted by Xue Shu and 104 elite soldiers from the Guard Battalion, rushed to Taiyuan Prefecture in Shanxi.

Yin Chengyu said that he didn't need a carriage, so he really gave up the carriage and rode fast to Shanxi.

The three imperial doctors were not good at riding, so they had to be led by the soldiers in turns.

The group left Wangjing City early in the morning and did not stop to rest until late at night when they found a sheltered place.

In order to save time, Yin Chengyu did not let anyone set up a tent, but only built a few campfires, quickly ate some dry food to fill his stomach, and then rested on the spot with his clothes on. When it was light, he would continue on his journey.

Xue Shu saw him biting a cold, hard dry cake with a frown on his face, so he handed him a slightly warm water bag that he had baked over the fire: "It will be easier to swallow with warm water."

Yin Chengyu took it, took a sip, and swallowed the hard dry biscuit before asking, "Why don't you sleep?"

Xue Shu shook his head and said he couldn't sleep.

Then he asked, "Does your leg hurt?"

Yin Chengyu hesitated for a moment, but still nodded: "It is a little sore. I have been living in such a pampered state for so long that I am inevitably lazy."

In fact, it wasn't just his legs that hurt. After a day of bumpy ride, his whole body ached as if all the bones were falling apart, and he was mentally exhausted. But the pandemic was like a tiger chasing after him, forcing him to not rest, nor did he dare to.

My body was extremely tired, but my mind was still tense and I couldn't fall asleep.

"Can I give Your Highness a massage?" Xue Shu said, without waiting for his answer. He sat down on the ground, patted his legs, and motioned him to put his legs up.

Yin Chengyu was just hesitating when Xue Shu said, "It will take two or three days to get to Taiyuan Prefecture. If I don't relieve the pain, Your Highness may have to ask me to carry you for the next two days."

Yin Chengyu no longer hesitated after hearing this. He leaned against the rock, took off his boots, and put his legs on it.

Xue Shu lowered his eyes and controlled his strength to massage him.

There was a bonfire burning behind him. The firelight outlined his figure, but his face was hidden in the night and could not be seen clearly.

Yin Chengyu looked at him for a moment and touched his leg with his toes: "Why don't you feel any pain?"

"I am a martial artist." Xue Shu raised his eyebrows and looked at him. His eyes were dark.

Yin Chengyu didn't quite believe it. He leaned forward, raised his hand and pinched his leg hard. Seeing that he frowned and showed his patience, he sneered: "Pretending."

The elite soldiers of the four guard camps who were accompanying him also trained every day, but they were still exhausted after traveling for so long. Xue Shu was not made of iron, so how could he not feel pain or fatigue? He was just being stubborn.

Yin Chengyu squinted at him and said, "No more pressing. Put on my boots for me. I'm going to sleep."

The author has something to say:

Gou Gou: Your Highness cares about me, Your Highness really loves me!