“What’s so special about it?” The Crown Prince sized up Erniu. “It’s just bigger than other dogs, meatier, and uh, seems to have some trouble with its legs—”
Erniu could no longer contain itself and bared its teeth: “Woof!”
Did they think it was a rabbit because it hadn’t shown its might? This person needed a bite!
The large dog’s gaze fell on the Crown Prince’s posterior.
That was its favorite spot to bite.
The Crown Prince felt unsettled by Erniu’s stare and unconsciously moved closer to the accompanying officials, complaining, “Seventh Brother, this might be a mad dog that bites people. Better send it back to your mansion.”
“Woof!” Erniu barked once and raised itself on its hind legs.
The Crown Prince’s face turned pale with fear. “Quick, get this dog away!”
Standing up, Erniu nearly reached an adult’s shoulders, making it easier for Yu Jin to pat its head.
He gently stroked the dog’s fur and smiled. “Second Brother is wrong again. A qualified dog should certainly know how to bite—otherwise what use would it be? To be cooked and eaten?”
“I don’t care if it bites or not, just get it away quickly!” the Crown Prince shouted, face white.
Yu Jin’s expression turned serious. “Second Brother, please don’t make things difficult for your younger brother. This is a dog official accompanying me on this journey.”
“Dog official?” The Crown Prince was stunned.
Yu Jin pointed to the bronze badge visible on Erniu’s neck. “This is an imperially bestowed badge. Erniu holds the rank of General Xiaotian, fifth rank. If Second Brother doesn’t believe me, feel free to look closer.”
As Yu Jin explained, the large dog nodded and took two steps forward on its hind legs.
The Crown Prince suddenly understood: so when the dog stood up earlier, it was to show him its badge.
This dog was truly extraordinary.
Realizing it was an intelligent dog that wouldn’t dare bite him without its master’s command, the Crown Prince immediately lost his fear and instead became interested in Erniu.
“Interesting. I didn’t know Seventh Brother had a dog that was appointed general,” the Crown Prince said, stroking his chin.
Several accompanying officials secretly shook their heads.
Earlier, when they saw a dog mixed in with the traveling party, they thought Prince Yan was being foolish. But now they remembered that years ago, the Emperor had indeed appointed a dog as General Xiaotian, reportedly because it had saved Prince Yan’s life.
The capital had buzzed with discussion about this for a while, but as Prince Yan rarely returned to the capital, people gradually forgot about it.
The Crown Prince’s complete ignorance of this matter was rather inappropriate—it showed how little attention he paid to state affairs.
People are like this—when the Crown Prince was deposed and the position of heir apparent was empty, officials worried about the stability of the empire and urged Emperor Jingming to quickly establish a Crown Prince, rejoicing at his reinstatement. Now that the Crown Prince was still the same hopeless case as before, they had begun sighing in disappointment again.
Fortunately, they had been sighing like this for many years and had mostly grown accustomed to it.
“Seventh Brother, besides bringing this dog—”
Yu Jin corrected him: “Erniu.”
The Crown Prince’s mouth twitched, but not wanting to offend this unpredictable brother, he forced a smile and said, “Besides bringing Erniu, did you not bring anything else?”
“What else would I need to bring?” Yu Jin asked in confusion, looking down at himself.
“You should at least bring some changes of clothes and daily necessities.” The Crown Prince was quite dissatisfied thinking about the few things the Crown Princess had packed.
“The soldiers are carrying spare clothes and weapons. There’s nothing else to bring,” Yu Jin said, looking up at the sun. “Second Brother, shouldn’t we get going?”
The Crown Prince sighed: “Fine, let’s go.”
This wasn’t a pleasure trip—why such a hurry!
The party accompanying the Crown Prince to Qianhe County was a grand procession carrying medicines, clothes, and other supplies. They reached the borders of Qianhe County three days later.
Officials managing disaster relief had received urgent reports and waited outside the city, staying until the sun began to set without seeing anyone arrive.
“What’s going on? They should have arrived an hour ago.”
“Who knows? Perhaps they encountered some delay?”
“They’re just coming to comfort the people—what could delay them?”
Everyone discussed and speculated about the reason for the Crown Prince’s party’s delay.
A single rider galloped up and quickly reached them, cupping his hands in greeting: “Distinguished officials, His Highness the Crown Prince has stopped at White Poplar Field, ten li away.”
White Poplar Field was a gentle hillside covered in white poplars, a necessary passage between the capital and Qianhe County.
The officials exchanged glances.
White Poplar Field had no villages or inns nearby—what was the Crown Prince doing stopping there?
As the Crown Prince was the heir apparent and represented the Emperor, regardless of his reasons for stopping, everyone had to hurry over.
From a distance, they could see a group stopped among the hills, with wisps of smoke rising.
Were they cooking?
Everyone hurried forward to pay their respects to the Crown Prince: “We pay our respects to Your Highness. Your Highness must be tired from the journey.”
The Crown Prince surveyed everyone and asked, “Are you all officials participating in disaster relief in the county?”
The lead disaster relief official was Vice Minister Zhao of the Ministry of Revenue, who replied, “I am Right Vice Minister Zhao Ruqing of the Ministry of Revenue, the chief official for this disaster relief effort. These are officials who came with me from the capital, and these are the officials of Qianhe County…”
The Crown Prince nodded slowly, though in truth he remembered few names besides Vice Minister Zhao.
“How is the situation in Qianhe County now?”
Vice Minister Zhao’s expression darkened somewhat: “The situation isn’t good. This earthquake was the worst Qianhe County has seen in a century, with over ten thousand casualties. Moreover, it’s the hot season, and the epidemic has become somewhat difficult to control…”
The Crown Prince concealed his disgust and asked, “Then how do you ensure you don’t contract the epidemic?”
Everyone’s mouths twitched at this question.
Vice Minister Zhao said, “After each inspection of the city, we follow the Imperial Physician’s instructions to take medicinal decoctions, bathe in herbal water, and fumigate our clothes…”
The Crown Prince’s scalp tingled as he listened.
His worries were indeed justified—if entering the city once required so many precautions, it showed how serious the epidemic was.
Better safe than sorry—he had no intention of taking such risks!
“How are the citizens in the city being accommodated?” a clear voice rang out.
Such a proper question left Vice Minister Zhao momentarily speechless. After a pause, he looked at the young face that bore no resemblance to the Crown Prince yet was far more handsome.
Yu Jin hadn’t expected that asking such an ordinary and appropriate question would create an awkward silence, especially when Minister Zhao had answered the Crown Prince’s foolish questions so smoothly.
He coughed lightly, reminding Vice Minister Zhao of his impropriety.
Vice Minister Zhao came to his senses, looking at Yu Jin with some excitement: “Currently, the city is divided into eastern and western zones. Those without the illness are gathered in the West, while those who have sick family members and refuse to leave remain in the East. We are registering the number of dead and injured. All discovered bodies are being buried together, with families receiving one tael of silver as compensation… However, the epidemic is growing more severe, and the disaster victims gathered in the west have repeatedly blocked the city gates, demanding to leave…”
Typically, in places with epidemics, people are allowed in but not out, especially since Qianhe County was so close to the capital. These officials particularly didn’t dare let the disaster victims leave the city.
If disaster victims carrying the epidemic were to leave, it could cause major chaos.