Chapter 79 The Prince Who Failed to Revolt
"Your Majesty!"
Jiang Hao: "You yourself said, 'If even a mosquito flies out, I'll chop off its head!'"
He raised three fingers to the sky, "The three hundred secret agents of the Wude Division are still disguised as beggars in the porridge stalls to maintain law and order. Deputy Envoy Chen could bake pancakes with the soot smeared on his face!"
Zhang Xiaojia suddenly burst out laughing, the gold and jade-inlaid medical bell on her wrist jingling. She grabbed the back of Jiang Hao's official uniform like a livid cat and said, "Master Jiang, have you forgotten the 'blue-tailed carrier pigeon from the Wude Division'? It can reach the capital in one day."
As if in response to her words, a green figure suddenly flashed through the twilight. A snow-white letter floated slowly to the tip of He Fei's boot, the seal clearly printed with "800-li express delivery."
The three of them stared at the intact lacquer seal, the express letter from the emperor sent over eight hundred miles, and the wind on the city wall suddenly became biting.
"It's all over," Zhang Xiaojia said with a sad face. "I'm afraid my brother has even decided where to bury us."
He Fei closed his eyes and pressed his throbbing forehead. In a trance, he seemed to see the dragon-carved rosewood desk in the imperial study. The last time he led troops into the palace, his brother had only punished him to guard the imperial mausoleum. This time, he had secretly mobilized troops and sealed off the city, even though he said it was to treat smallpox. But he had forgotten to report it, and he would be beaten by the emperor when he returned.
"Princess, all the smallpox in Xiangyang City has been cured..." Jiang Hao suddenly raised his hand tremblingly, "How many months will it take?"
Zhang Xiaojia weakly raised two fingers.
"Two months?!" Jiang Hao was horrified. "That's enough time for the Emperor to turn the Wudesi Yamen into a stable!"
Jiang Hao tumbled down the city wall to write a memorial, which he would immediately submit to the emperor, asking for mercy and apology.
"Jia Jia." He chuckled through his teeth, his fingertips entwining the silk ribbon around her waist. "When we return to Beijing and are beaten, I will make a chain out of black iron to tie us up..."
"Report!" A sudden roar came from the city wall. A Ferghana horse reared up, a messenger on its back holding a golden-edged imperial edict: "The Emperor's oral order! Prince Xuanjing and his wife are not allowed to travel to Jiangnan after their smallpox treatment. They must return to Beijing immediately!"
The silk ribbon snapped, and Zhang Xiaojia suddenly felt a dull pain in his buttocks.
They rode their horses at top speed for four hundred miles to reach the palace. The sound of horse hooves echoed outside the palace walls, raising dust.
When the urgent memorial was presented to him, he slowly unfolded it, his eyes wandering between the lines.
Suddenly, his brows furrowed, and shock and anger flashed in his eyes.
The memorial described in detail the actions of the Fourth Imperial Concubine. She actually secretly spread the smallpox virus, attempting to use the panic of smallpox to shake the people's hearts, even at the expense of the lives of innocent people.
An irrepressible anger surged in the emperor's heart.
If Jiaer doesn't know how to treat smallpox, he will have to order a city lockdown to stop the spread of the virus.
However, the lockdown meant locking up countless people, including his younger brothers and sisters, in the city ravaged by smallpox, leaving them to struggle in fear and despair.
Thinking of this, the emperor's hands trembled slightly. He seemed to see the helpless eyes of his younger brothers and sisters in pain and hear their painful groans.
His eyes turned red. As the king of a country, if it really happened, he would definitely make the most difficult decision - to lock down the city. This decision would make him bear the guilt and regret for the rest of his life.
At the same time, the situation in Xiangyang City also reached the emperor's ears.
Jiaer has mastered the method of treating smallpox.
Under the careful care of the doctors she brought, the patients' conditions gradually improved and people were no longer anxious.
The whole city was mobilized, and all those who had not contracted smallpox were vaccinated against the horrible disease.
People infected with smallpox do not become ill immediately, but instead go through an incubation period of eight to fourteen days.
During this period, Zhang Xiaojia has made preparations for early treatment. As long as the patient takes the medicine in time, he will not experience the pain of the early stage of the disease.
On the first day, the patient might experience chills, shivering, a high fever, headache, backache, nausea, loss of appetite, and inability to sleep. On the second and third days, the fever intensifies, the pulse becomes weak and erratic, the throat becomes red, swollen, and painful, the tongue becomes covered with a thick white coating, and patches of red spots appear on the body, which gradually fade within 24 hours. On the fourth and fifth days, a rash appears on the head, hands, feet, chest, and back. Initially, it resembles measles, then becomes raised, like small boils, quickly developing into blisters and then into pustules, while the fever continues. None of this happened.
Zhang Xiaojia breathed a sigh of relief.
He Fei grabbed the Wude Sishi who was busy at the desk, slammed a thick stack of receipts on the table, and gave an unquestionable order: "This is the receipt of the Jiangnan Casino. You take people to Jiangnan immediately and bring back all the money I won!"
Wu Desi was stunned, looked down at the stack of receipts, flipped through a few pages, and when his eyes swept over the amount of silver, the corners of his mouth twitched involuntarily.
That number was astonishingly large. No wonder Prince Jing and Zhang Xiaojia went to Jiangnan in person. He muttered to himself, Prince Jing is quite clever, actually winning such a huge amount of money in the Jiangnan casino.
However, a higher rank can crush a lower rank, and the Emperor had already issued an order that the Wude Division, from top to bottom, must obey Prince Jing's orders. The Wude Division's envoy replied, "As you command, I will lead my men to Jiangnan immediately, and I will give 10% to the Wude Division."
He Fei patted Wude Sishi's shoulder, with a warning in his tone: "This king warns you, this gambling is legal, this king did not embezzle, this king used his own tax money to gamble, but this king cured smallpox and was ordered by the emperor to return to the capital, so he couldn't go to Jiangnan, so he had to ask you to get the silver.
Remember, not a penny less of silver can be given. If something goes wrong, I will not let you off easily. The maximum I can give the Wude Division is 500,000 taels."
Wudesishi bowed and said, "Your Highness, at least half of it is done."
He Fei thought for a moment and said, "Okay. Remember to spend one million taels on food, and another one million taels on medicinal herbs. Brag along the way that it was the emperor who used his private treasury to buy food for the people of Yongzhou City. If you don't want to get beaten when you return, tell the people of Yongzhou City that the emperor loves his people like his own children."
The Wudesi Envoy nodded.
He secretly went to Jiangnan through the Wude Division and secretly confiscated the gambling money.
Then, in the name of the emperor, he publicized his benevolent behavior and purchased a large amount of food and medicinal materials to provide relief to the victims.
They spread the news that the emperor had mastered the method of treating and preventing smallpox, and the whole of Jiangnan was thrown into turmoil. The smallpox virus was a life-threatening disease, and no one could survive it, even if they were rich and powerful.
Memorials flew into the Kyoto Imperial Palace like snowflakes, and the emperor read through them.
He snorted coldly, "Jingwen, do you think that if you spend money, I won't beat you when you return to the palace? Don't think that you won't be punished if you publicize my benevolence."
But everyone was in a good mood. This time, a smallpox outbreak occurred in Yongzhou City, and ten people died.
The people said he was benevolent, and he felt that he was a truly good emperor. If he had not trusted Jingwen, and if he had not kept saying it was his will when the censor impeached Jingwen, there would probably have been chaos.
The emperor willfully gave the credit only to Jiaer.
The emperor decided that he would give Jingwen a good beating after he returned to the palace. He had already prepared the sticks for beating Jingwen. It was said that beating someone with a bamboo stick was quite painful.
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