The Eastern Ling Kingdom’s imperial house was in extreme chaos, with severe internal strife.
The Great Jin Kingdom’s soldiers took the opportunity to land on Eastern Ling Kingdom’s territory. In just three days, they occupied three coastal cities.
Although the Eastern Ling Kingdom had a small territory, it still possessed over thirty cities. If they were to flatten them one by one, casualties would inevitably be severe. Now, General Weiwu’s intention was to force Eastern Ling to surrender and take the opportunity to subjugate them.
“We’ll follow General Weiwu’s strategy,” Yun Chu said. “We must be careful to ensure that provisions and supplies keep pace on all fronts. Don’t fight a prolonged war.”
The soldier who brought the message took his orders and left.
Yun Chu thought about her previous life—it seemed she had never heard of the Eastern Ling Emperor being assassinated.
But back then, she was a woman in the Xie family’s inner quarters, not particularly concerned with court affairs. She wasn’t sure if she had remembered incorrectly.
She withdrew her thoughts and continued listening to the court ministers’ memorials.
Now that spring had arrived, farmers were plowing fields and sowing seeds. The situation was excellent, but some water conservancy facilities needed to be built to prevent flooding in the summer…
Various matters concerning the people’s livelihood were brought forward for joint discussion. After reaching a consensus, they would implement the decisions.
At this moment, a high official stepped forward and said, “Reporting to Your Majesty and the Empress Dowager, an unidentified epidemic broke out in Changgan County half a month ago. It wasn’t a major concern initially, but in just half a month, the epidemic has spread to six or seven counties, and the number of sick people continues to grow…”
Chu Hongyu frowned. “Where is Changgan County?”
“Changgan County is within Prince Cheng’s fief,” the Minister of Revenue replied. “The epidemic first appeared in Changgan County, but now it has spread beyond Prince Cheng’s fief to other territories, and it shows signs of continuing to spread.”
Yun Chu spoke up, “Since the epidemic is spreading so rapidly, we must quickly isolate the infected, otherwise the situation will be difficult to control. Minister Zhu, shall we entrust this matter to you?”
Minister Zhu stepped forward. “Yes, Your Majesty the Empress Dowager.”
Although the Ministry of Revenue had no money, they had to prioritize the epidemic, because if the illness spread further, the consequences would be severe.
Minister Zhu selected someone from the Ministry of Revenue—a fourth-rank official who was not part of his direct faction. He had this person take ten thousand taels of silver, along with medicinal materials and twenty physicians, and rush overnight to Ningzhou, Prince Cheng’s fief.
Prince Cheng was the former Sixth Prince, who had been secretly harmed and lost an ear. Later, after committing errors, he was punished by the Late Emperor and sent to his fief.
Ningzhou wasn’t too far from the capital, nor was it some remote backwater. From this, one could see that the Late Emperor had been relatively partial to this disappointing son.
In the past two years, Ningzhou had been governed fairly well, which made Yun Chu view Prince Cheng with somewhat new respect.
Who would have thought that the next day, before morning court, news reached Kangning Palace—
The group that had set out yesterday with medicinal materials and physicians for Ningzhou had been robbed by bandits on the road.
When this matter reached the court, the entire hall erupted in uproar.
“There are actually bandits on the official road from the capital to Ningzhou?”
“Weren’t all the bandits in Great Jin already killed off by Emperor Shizong?”
Emperor Shizong was the title posthumously conferred by Chu Hongyu after his ascension—it referred to the Grand Emperor Chu Yi.
“Back when Emperor Shizong was at his peak, those bandits were all scared into hiding. Now that Emperor Shizong is gone, they’ve regrouped and risen again. These vicious bandits are truly despicable—those were life-saving medicinal materials and physicians!”
“The number of infected people in Ningzhou increases every day. Each day of delay means hundreds more deaths. This matter cannot be postponed—we must suppress the bandits and recover the medicinal materials and physicians!”
“Is there anyone in the court who can suppress bandits…”
The assembled ministers discussed among themselves.
Chu Rui stepped forward, cupping his hands. “This minister recommends Lord Yun to suppress the bandits. Lord Yun comes from a family of military generals, with Yun family blood flowing in his bones. He will surely make those bandits flee in terror and be defeated without a fight. I wonder if Lord Yun is willing to make this trip?”
Chief Minister Li disagreed. “Lord Yun is merely a civil official…”
“Although this humble official is a civil official, I do possess martial skills,” Yun Ze said with a smile on his face. “As the Prince Regent said, this humble official will lead people to suppress the bandits.”
His grandfather was a great general, his father was also a great general, and he had loved practicing martial arts since childhood. Later, to maintain a low profile, he had switched to the path of civil officialdom.
Now the Yun family no longer needed to maintain a low profile, and he no longer had to hide his abilities.
Only after achieving merit could he be promoted legitimately.
Only then would he have the ability to protect Yun Chu and the young emperor.
Therefore, he absolutely had to make this trip.
Chu Rui displayed an appreciative expression. “Excellent! Lord Yun truly possesses the Yun family spirit!”
The matter was thus decided.
The court had Yun Ze lead three hundred capital garrison troops to suppress the bandits, because scouts had sent back word that there were only a dozen or so bandits on the mountain—three hundred garrison troops would be enough.
“Elder Brother, be careful in all things,” Yun Chu said, seeing him off at the palace gate. “Since Chu Rui proposed that Elder Brother suppress the bandits, he must have harbored ill intentions. Besides the garrison troops on the surface, Elder Brother should also bring some Yun family shadow guards—the more the better.”
Yun Ze nodded. “Don’t worry, Chu’er, I have my own plans.”
That very afternoon, Yun Ze led people to suppress the bandits.
A force of three hundred men was neither too many nor too few.
They traveled all the way to the most remote section of the official road from the capital to Ningzhou.
“This is the place,” said the person who had escaped to report the incident, pointing to the mountain ahead. “They came down from this small path.”
Yun Ze looked up at the mountain and spoke. “You all split into ten groups and go up the mountain to investigate the situation. It would be best if you could find the bandits’ hideout.”
Two hundred garrison troops divided into ten groups and ascended the mountain, while Yun Ze led the remaining one hundred men to examine the terrain at the base.
In less than an hour, the scouts returned and reported, “My Lord, there is only this narrow sheep track on the mountain, with no other traces of human presence. There is no bandit hideout on the mountain—we couldn’t even find a single grass hut.”
The person who had brought the report immediately said, “Impossible! I saw those dozen bandits come down from the mountain with my own eyes. I’m not mistaken!”
Yun Ze frowned. “I’ll go up the mountain myself to take a look.”
Someone beside him advised, “My Lord, it’s already getting late. Why not investigate tomorrow morning?”
“There’s no time to spare,” Yun Ze shook his head. “Over a thousand patients in Ningzhou are waiting for medicinal materials to save their lives. We cannot delay.”
He strode up the mountain.
By the time he reached the summit, the sun had gradually disappeared.
After walking a circuit on the mountain, he indeed found nothing.
He curled his lips in a cold smile.
In reality, there were no bandits at all.
He turned around, looking toward the depths of the dense forest. “You’ve been following me for so long—aren’t you tired? Come out.”
There was a rustling sound in the forest, and immediately after, a person dressed in black leaped down from a large tree.
More than twenty garrison troops following behind Yun Ze immediately moved forward to shield him, drawing the swords from their waists.
“Why is it only Eunuch Duobao alone?” Yun Ze smiled. “Is it that Chu Rui has too much confidence in your abilities, or does he underestimate me?”
“Lord Yun is the Yun family’s legitimate eldest son—naturally our Prince would not dare to underestimate you.” The black-clad young eunuch Duobao clapped his hands lightly. From the large tree behind him, at least twenty more black-clad figures leaped down simultaneously. He smiled. “With so many people coming to see Lord Yun off on his final journey, Lord Yun shouldn’t find it shabby, should he?”