Zhao Qingyao said loudly, "Good! You have made such a great contribution, yet you remain humble and modest. I will have someone report this to His Majesty!"
Upon hearing this, Yun Tian almost cried. He knelt down with a thud and pleaded, "Your Highness, please rescind your order! I can grant Lü Tu a military rank, but please do not submit a petition to His Majesty!"
Even Prince Duan stepped forward and advised, "Second sister, Yun Tian is right. We need to think this over carefully. We must not tell our royal brother."
Ye Qingyu was certainly aware of the implications of this matter. If the emperor were to learn about this rebellion and delve deeper, he would naturally discover that Yun Ao was also involved. This would bring trouble for Yun Tian. If Yun Tian fell, their faction's control over Wuchuan would be handed over to someone else, which was certainly not what they wanted to see.
How could Zhao Qingyao not understand the crux of the matter? Yet she deliberately shook her head: "What do you mean by this? How dare you not report such a major matter to the Emperor?"
Prince Duan kicked Yun Tian in the backside, making him stumble. Yun Tian quickly cried and confessed, "This is what happened..."
He then recounted how Yun Ao had also participated in the rebellion that day, but he embellished the story slightly, saying that Yun Ao was threatened by Zhou Taishan and that's why he did such a rebellious thing.
Zhao Qingyao frowned: "Commander Yun, your son was actually involved in this matter? This is a big deal! If His Majesty finds out, he might be furious!"
Ye Qingyu glanced at the disappointing Yun Tian and thought to himself that at his age, he was still like this. He was a good-for-nothing who hadn't improved at all after decades in Wuchuan!
But now is not the time to teach Yun Tian a lesson. Ye Qingyu spoke up at the right moment: "Your Highness, Yun Ao has already been killed. Besides, Yun Tian was also taken hostage. He should not know anything about it."
Yun Tian pleaded, "This humble servant truly knew nothing about it. This humble servant was forced into this situation. Please, Your Highness, understand!"
Zhao Qingyao nodded: "I can understand your situation, but this matter is not up to me; it has to be decided by His Majesty."
Yun Tian kowtowed repeatedly, his forehead already bleeding: "Your Highness, spare my life! This humble servant is willing to give away all my wealth for disaster relief!"
Zhao Qingyao stared at him coldly: "Didn't Commandant Yun just say that you are penniless and have no family wealth?"
Yun Tian dared not argue at this point. He immediately ordered the steward, and soon a dozen boxes of gold and silver were brought in.
After counting the money, the Imperial Guards reported, "Your Highness, this amount to approximately 15,000 taels of silver."
Enraged by this, Prince Duan stepped forward and kicked Yun Tian in the stomach again: "Didn't you just say you had no money? You just pulled out 15,000? Do you have any more?"
"That's all, that's all. This is all the property I have. This is the dowry I'm leaving for my daughter."
Ye Qingyu snorted coldly: "So, you're saying that making you pay this much money is unfair to you?"
“This humble servant would not dare to do that. I did not mean that. My son did something wrong, so it is only right that I pay for it.”
Lu Tu coldly witnessed the scene before him. No matter how powerful Yun Tian was in Wuchuan, there were always people more powerful than you. When you use your power to coerce others, there will come a day when you will be coerced by someone even more powerful.
Zhao Qingyao said softly, "Yun Tian, find a grain merchant in Wuchuan to exchange this silver for grain and send it to Lu Tu. Can you do that?"
"Your subordinate obeys!" Yun Tian secretly breathed a sigh of relief. As long as he could keep his head, he would be willing to call Lu the Butcher, let alone 15,000 taels of silver.
Zhao Qingyao then looked at the Imperial Guards beside her and said, "You don't need to tell the Emperor about what happened today. He's busy with countless affairs every day, so let him rest more."
"Yes, sir!" The Imperial Guards bowed.
This really frightened Prince Duan and Ye Qingyu. The Embroidered Uniform Guard symbolized imperial authority and privilege. Now, Zhao Qingyao had just said one sentence and the Embroidered Uniform Guard could prevent the matter from being reported to the capital. How much power did that take? Even Prince Duan found that he could not quite understand his second sister.
Yun Tian quickly withdrew and personally led people to carry the gold and silver to buy grain. After all, he had promised Zhao Qingyao something, and if he couldn't do it, he would really lose his head!
At this moment, Zhao Qingyao looked at Lü Tu and said, "Captain Lü, with this batch of grain, how long are you confident that you can cure the plague in Wuchuan?"
"It will definitely work within three months!"
"That's more than two months at most!" Prince Duan said confidently. Yun Tian had already suffered heavy losses, and if Lü Tu was allowed to drag things out for so long, who knows what kind of trouble Lü Tu might cause next time.
For Prince Duan, Lü Tu was indeed very capable, but also very troublesome. He had dared to kidnap him before and even almost killed him, but he was also extremely easy to use. So he wanted to use these rules and regulations to restrain Lü Tu and then force Lü Tu to work for him. This was a compulsory course for every member of the royal family.
Even Zhao Qingyao, who had always helped Lü Tu, shook her head this time, which was unusual: "Three months is indeed too long. Two months, I guess. I will have to set off in two more months."
Upon hearing the word "departure," Zhao Qingyao and the palace maid beside her both looked north with somber expressions. If the Great Yu Dynasty were stronger, even in the early days of the late emperor, the Wuhuan people would not have dared to act recklessly. But there are no "what ifs" in this world.
Lu Tu knew this was the limit, so he simply cupped his hands and said, "This subordinate obeys! Within two months, the smallpox epidemic in Wuchuan will be contained!"
Ye Qingyu said in a deep voice, "Is this a military order?"
"Yes! Military orders are absolute!"
"Good! Lu Tu, you're quite the man. I, Ye Qingyu, guarantee in front of Princess and Prince Duan that if you can cure the Wuchuan plague within two months, I will forgive and forget your past actions. On the contrary, I will even let you join my Shence Army!"
Lu Tu secretly curled his lip. Your so-called Shence Army is nothing more than being better equipped and closer to the emperor. For Lu Tu, it's just that it's easier to rebel. In other aspects, it's really not as good as his Kuishan Village.
At this moment, Zhao Qingyao got up and walked into the mansion. She turned around and gave Lü Tu a look. Lü Tu saw it but didn't dare to go.
Seeing this, Prince Duan reminded him, "My second sister is calling you, do you dare not go?"
Lu Tu then quickened his pace to catch up. Zhao Qingyao was, after all, a princess, and he couldn't approach her too directly, otherwise Prince Duan might find an excuse to make things difficult for her. But if it came out of his mouth, it would be fine.
Upon entering a room, Zhao Qingyao had a palace maid serve tea to Lü Tu before sighing softly, "Lü Tu, would you dare to accept another secret mission from me?"
Lu Tu paused, holding the teacup, and asked without changing his expression, "Princess, is this official business or a private matter?"
"It's both a business matter and a personal matter. After observing you for several days, I think you're the most suitable."
"Please speak, Princess."
Since he couldn't refuse, Lü Tu had no choice but to agree. After all, he was currently surrounded by powerful enemies, and only Zhao Qingyao could serve as his temporary support.
"I want you to not only cure the smallpox epidemic in these two months, but also to provoke conflict between Dayu and Wuhuan, so that relations between the two countries will deteriorate again and break out into conflict!"
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