— Plague!
Jiangdong Wujun is currently experiencing... the first and most turbulent plague in its history!
As its name suggests, this is a type of epidemic.
Tracing its origin, back to the years when the land and sea Silk Roads were established... while trade flourished, humans and livestock also brought various diseases.
The West brought mainly smallpox and measles to the East, while the East brought the plague to the West!
In the second year of Yongning of the Han Dynasty, a plague pandemic broke out in Rome, causing over three million deaths...
During the "Plague of Justinian" three hundred years later, the city lost forty percent of its population.
Although the Han Dynasty was plagued by disasters, the plague was not too severe. Only during the Yuan Dynasty did a major plague occur in Hebei, causing over five million deaths!
"Can the plague cause such serious consequences?" Sun Quan looked at the urgent report, his pair of emerald green eyes narrowing tightly.
Lu Xun nodded gently. "Records show that several plague outbreaks occurred in the Western Regions, but none of them ultimately formed a scale. However, this time in Wujun, tens of thousands of people have contracted the plague, which is unusual!"
The Lu family's industries were spread throughout Jiangdong, making Lu Xun even more sensitive to the plague.
In contrast, Zhou Yu's expression was also extremely solemn.
He sighed, "Just after the Crown Prince's wedding, such a thing has occurred. It's inevitable that Great Wei will have opinions about Jiangdong."
As these words left his mouth...
Sun Quan's brow furrowed even tighter.
Yes...
The most crucial point is that the plague outbreak in Jiangdong occurred during the Crown Prince's wedding. Not to mention that it's inauspicious, but if it were exploited by someone with ulterior motives, how would Jiangdong... how would the Sun clan face the King of Wei? How would they face the Crown Prince?
Could Sun Xiaomei still maintain her position in the Eastern Palace?
"Boyan..." Zhou Yu acutely sensed something. "You just said that the plague records were only from the Western Regions?"
Lu Xun nodded. "At least, according to the ancient texts I have read so far, there are no plague records from other cities and prefectures."
"Then it's strange..." Zhou Yu's brow furrowed. "How could the plague in the Western Regions... reach Jiangdong?"
Indeed...
This is an invasive species!
Sun Quan waved his hand. "I can't wait any longer... this matter concerns the safety of Jiangdong. In emergencies, we must act. I will go and request an audience with the King of Wei!"
"Wait!" Zhou Yu grabbed Sun Quan and reminded him, "This matter should be discussed with the Crown Prince first!"
"The Crown Prince?"
"The Crown Prince is our Jiangdong's son-in-law. Finding him will be much more useful than finding the King of Wei!" Zhou Yu continued to remind him.
Sun Quan finally realized this and intended to find Lu Yu...
However...
Zhou Yu once again blocked the door.
Sun Quan was almost driven to despair. "Gongjin, at this hour, why are you still stopping me?"
"I heard that the Crown Prince was not in the bridal chamber tonight, but in Miss Cai Yan's room. Miss Cai Yan is suffering from abdominal pain, and it would be too rude and unconventional to go directly to her. Perhaps..." Zhou Yu's eyes fixed. "It's better to find Sun Xiaomei first. She is the Crown Princess, so let her go..."
As soon as his words fell...
"Report..."
Another messenger from Jiangdong rushed over, his hands trembling as he held a letter. "General Sun, the two governors... it's bad, the Grand Empress Dowager... she has contracted the plague!"
Upon hearing this...
Sun Quan's pupils widened again. He dared not hesitate any longer and rushed towards the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace. He had to see Sun Xiaomei... it was urgent!
...
...
In Jiangdong, Wujun, the sky was overcast.
At dawn, there were still dog barks.
But as night fell, those energetic dogs lay on the ground, listless, occasionally rolling over as if suffering from some disease, in unbearable pain.
Sharing the same fate as these "dogs" were tens of thousands of commoners in Jiangdong. These people swarmed into medical clinics, but the clinics could not accommodate them all. Faced with this first outbreak of "plague," the doctors were helpless.
No one would have thought that this city and prefecture, where "plague" had never broken out before.
Now, it was shrouded in a great haze.
For a time...
The once prosperous Jiangdong Wujun could no longer see birds flying, hear the rustling of trees, or even... even a shred of fresh air was now a luxury.
Everywhere there were the squeaking sounds of rats, fearful commoners, and tightly shut doors and windows.
"How is it? How is it?"
Sun Yi was a filial son. Ever since the Grand Empress Dowager fell ill, he had been guarding the door of his mother's chamber.
"Reporting to General Sun... this plague, we... we are also helpless!"
The imperial physician's face was tightly contorted.
This expression and reply made Sun Yi's mood even more somber.
"I don't care, you must... you must save my mother, otherwise... otherwise..."
Sun Yi was about to draw his sword...
His personality was very much like his elder brother, Sun Ce, always ready to draw his sword if words failed.
Suddenly, there were continuous "clattering" sounds...
A group of imperial physicians knelt on the ground. "We heard that the Jiangdong Princess married the Great Wei Crown Prince, and the Wei Crown Prince Yu is known as a divine physician of the era, renowned for his skill in saving lives... even Jiangdong has heard of him. General Sun, why not... why not ask him!"
The imperial physicians' desire to survive was at its peak.
Lu Su, standing nearby, also quickly advised, "General Sun, what the imperial physicians said is right... this plague is appearing for the first time in a hundred years in Jiangdong. The doctors here have no experience, but the Wei Crown Prince is a divine physician of the era. He was able to solve the plague during the Battle of Red Cliffs and the lingering cold diseases that troubled the entire Han Dynasty, so... perhaps this plague also... can be..."
Without waiting for Lu Su to finish speaking...
Sun Yi quickly shouted, "Where is the messenger? Has the messenger been sent out!"
The surrounding guards quickly replied, "It was sent out two days ago... a dispatch of seven hundred miles. It has probably... it has already arrived at Luoyang City!" At this moment...
"Ah... ah..." a weak voice came from the room. These sounds... were more like the Grand Empress Dowager's pained moans!
"Mother... Mother..." Sun Yi clenched his fists. At this moment.
He suddenly realized...
He, the nominal "Lord of Jiangdong," was so powerless in the face of the plague and the separation of life and death from his mother!
Report...
At this moment.
A guard reported, "General Sun, the plague is spreading everywhere in the city. It seems that some villains are spreading rumors..."
"What rumors?" Lu Su was the first to ask...
"It's..." The guard stammered, clearly hesitant to speak.
Sun Yi tightened his grip on his sword.
"Speak!"
"Rumors are flying, saying... saying that Jiangdong surrendered to Wei, and the Jiangdong Princess married the Wei Crown Prince... causing this... this ominous plague!"
This...
As the guard's words fell, Sun Yi and Lu Su were stunned on the spot.
What was this all about?
How did the plague get linked to the Wei Crown Prince?
"Zijing..."
Before Sun Yi could speak, Lu Su bit his lip. "Three men can make a tiger. People's words are frightening... this matter must be reported to Luoyang immediately, so that the Wei Crown Prince knows!"
Speaking of which...
Lu Su let out a long sigh. "Jiangdong has just surrendered, the Princess is getting married... why did this happen at such a time!"
...
...
At the fifth watch, Cai Zhaoji's sleeping quarters were very quiet.
Because she was pregnant, Cai Zhaoji had trouble sleeping at night. Lu Yu was worried that she wouldn't sleep well, so he demanded absolute silence. Even the palace maids in the quarters were forbidden to make any footsteps.
Lu Yu slept beside Cai Zhaoji, also restless... always feeling that there was a little one in her belly, and he was afraid of touching him.
Occasionally, Lu Yu would mutter in his sleep... saying all sorts of random things.
Before, he was the Marquis of Nan Shou, with fewer worries and no fatigue...
But after becoming the Crown Prince, it was a completely different situation. He was constantly thinking about Great Wei, the unification and continuation of the dynasty.
It was precisely because of this...
That Cai Zhaoji slept even more restlessly.
Looking at her adopted brother, who was sleeping by her bedside on his wedding day, Cai Zhaoji felt a great deal of emotion.
Recalling the journey so far, her brother had grown up, grown taller, and had even become capable of "bullying" her. This change in mindset made Cai Zhaoji even more emotional, muttering to herself that this was a gift from heaven.
Just then...
There was a faint sound of footsteps outside the hall.
These footsteps were already very light, but they still reached the sleeping quarters...
The palace maid outside the door also whispered inaudibly, "How dare you... at this hour..."
Another voice, filled with anxiety, said, "Something has happened, something has happened in Jiangdong! The Jiangdong Princess, Madam Sun, is waiting outside the courtyard. In this dark and windy night... what if she gets cold..."
Suddenly, Cai Zhaoji woke up from her sleep. She first glanced at Lu Yu, who was still fast asleep... then she slowly put on her clothes and moved towards the door.
"What's so important? Can't it wait until tomorrow..." The maid's female voice outside came again. "Miss Zhaoji is already having trouble sleeping. If she is disturbed and her pregnancy is affected... then..."
"Please inform her, Sister. Jiangdong has just become Great Wei's territory, and the Jiangdong Princess has just become the Crown Princess. The matter is of great importance... if it were not absolutely necessary, why would I come to report it?"
Speaking of this...
With a "creak," the door was pushed open, and Cai Zhaoji slowly emerged from the room. At this sight... the two maids turned pale with fright.
"What is it? So urgent?" Cai Zhaoji quickly asked. "Is Madam Sun outside?"
The maid who ran over quickly nodded. "The plague has broken out in Jiangdong, that's why Madam Sun..."
"Plague?" Cai Zhaoji recalled the few plague outbreaks recorded in ancient texts and documents in the Western Regions. Although they were not large in scale, each outbreak caused many deaths.
"Such strong wind, first invite Madam Sun to the side hall..." Cai Zhaoji whispered her orders, then turned her head to look at the sleeping Lu Yu. "As for the Crown Prince, I will wake him!"
Saying that, Cai Zhaoji turned around... Who would have thought that these sounds had already woken the sleeping Lu Yu.
"Plague? How could it be the plague?" Lu Yu asked urgently...
The maid lowered her head. "Your maidservant does not know!"
Lu Yu's brows furrowed slightly. "Take me to see her!"
...
...
In the side hall!
"Plague? How could it be the plague?" Lu Yu frowned, his face turning ashen.
Mentioning these two words...
Lu Yu instinctively thought of the thirteenth century, when three to four tenths of Europe's population died from the plague, equivalent to... over twenty million people, especially between the "Romantic Kingdom" and the "Bullfighting Kingdom," where eighty percent of the population was lost, almost leading to the country's demise!
Even more terrifying was that the plague was accompanied by rumors of "Jews poisoning the wells," which led to a survival crisis for the Jews, and even the emergence of "witch hunts"...
This was still in Europe...
In Dragon Country, in the nineteenth century in Yunnan, rats on ships docked in Hawaiian ports caused a plague that destroyed Chinatown on Oahu. Due to the uncontrollable plague, Hawaii did not hesitate to burn down Chinatown, and under this fire... four thousand people were left homeless.
As for this period in the Great Han...
Based on Zhang Qian's opening of the Silk Road... there did exist "plague," which originated from the "plague bacillus" near Issyk-Kul Lake in northwestern Kyrgyzstan in the Tianshan Mountains. It could also be said to be a disease spread by fleas parasitizing rodents, which could travel anywhere with rats.
However... the natural host of the plague bacillus is the marmot... Where are there marmots in Jiangdong?
This is similar to... the later appearance of alligator gars in artificial parks, which is an invasion of an alien species...
What is going on?
Lu Yu fell into thought, while Sun Shangxiang was weeping uncontrollably.
"I know tonight... I shouldn't disturb Sister Zhaoji, but... but the safety of tens of thousands of commoners in Jiangdong and the safety of my mother are all dependent on the Crown Prince..."
As she spoke, Sun Shangxiang began to sob.
"Cough..."
Lu Yu coughed lightly. "What did you call me?"
"T-T-..." Sun Shangxiang immediately realized she had said the wrong thing...
She had already performed the great ceremony with Lu Yu and signed the marriage contract... even if the final step had not yet been completed, she was already Lu Yu's wife!
To still call him Crown Prince now felt somewhat distant...
"H-husband..."
Sun Shangxiang gritted her teeth...
Lu Yu's brows gradually relaxed a little. He immediately ordered, "This matter may not be simple. Summon your second brother Sun Quan, along with Lu Xun and Zhou Yu..."
As these words left his mouth...
Dian Wei, who was standing beside him, reminded him, "Your Highness, it is late at night... it may not be in accordance with the rules."
Indeed, how could an outside minister enter the Wei King's palace late at night?
Lu Yu pulled Sun Shangxiang up and wiped her tears with silk. "In emergencies, we must act. I hope Madam will lead the way, and we will leave the palace to see your second brother!"
M-Madam?
This sudden address made Sun Shangxiang tremble. She inexplicably felt a touch of nervousness...
However, at this moment, her concern for her homeland outweighed all nervousness.
"Okay... Crown..."
After all, the word "Crown Prince" did not escape her lips this time. Sun Shangxiang, with a hint of shyness, uttered those two words – "Husband!"
...
...
Jiangdong, Wujun.
A libationer was reporting something to Zhang Qiying. ... "Reporting to the Saintess, according to the deployment of the previous Chief Libationer, the plague is rampant in Jiangdong, and rumors are flying... Great Wei will inevitably shift its attention to Jiangdong."
After his report, Zhang Qiying did not reply...
She was still writing something on the bamboo slips.
After writing a letter for a long time, she sighed with a long breath and handed the bamboo slips to the libationer.
She ordered... "Send this letter to my father!"
The letter Zhang Qiying handed over was unfolded, so the libationer could see it clearly...
But as he looked, large beads of sweat dripped down the libationer's forehead like rain.
"Saintess... Saintess is this..."
The libationer's words became somewhat hesitant, accompanied by infinite horror.
Because this letter was sharp in its language, and every word was like a knife.
— "My father is far away in Hanzhong, how would he know... what Jiangdong has become?"
— "The Chief Libationer's slaughter of living beings has caused the suffering of Jiangdong and is contrary to the doctrines and covenants of my Five Pecks of Rice sect and the righteous alliance. This Saintess earnestly requests that Father apprehend the Chief Libationer and subject him to the torment of ten thousand ants gnawing at him!"
For a moment...
Zhang Qiying's eyes... radiated with a chilling light!
And the libationer stood frozen in place, unable to speak for a long time...
One must know that in Zhang Qiying's writing, the Chief Libationer who was to suffer the torment of "ten thousand ants gnawing" was his uncle... and the biological brother of Zhang Lu, the leader of the Five Pecks of Rice sect!
Was this considered... exterminating relatives for the sake of justice?
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Niu Nai Tang Tang Tang reminds you: Remember to collect it after reading.