Duobao’s eyes were gloomy as he made a hand gesture.

The black-clad men behind him all drew out their crossbows. With several whooshing sounds, the garrison troops standing in front of Yun Ze fell to the ground.

Duobao drew the longsword from his waist and pointed it at Yun Ze. “Lord Yun, if you must blame someone, blame the fact that you are the Empress Dowager’s elder brother.”

The longsword gradually drew closer. Yun Ze pulled out the bamboo flute hanging at his waist and blocked Duobao’s attack.

Duobao knew that Yun Ze possessed martial skills, but was still slightly inferior to him. He pressed forward with an extremely fierce offensive.

He was extremely confident he could kill Yun Ze, so he didn’t let the twenty black-clad men behind him make a move at all. He was only worried that Yun Ze might escape, so he had the twenty men block the path down the mountain.

Yun Ze’s form fell backward, forced against an ancient tree.

He used the bamboo flute in his hand to block the longsword and spoke slowly. “Eunuch Duobao, how about we make a deal? If you pledge loyalty to the Empress Dowager, then my Yun family…”

“Enough nonsense,” Duobao said with gloomy eyes. “Receive my attack!”

“I gave you a chance—you’re the one who didn’t want it.”

Yun Ze didn’t receive the attack but instead dodged to the side.

Just then, dozens of shadow guards wearing dark-colored clothing surged out from the darkness, each one emanating killing intent.

The Yun family had long ago trained a group of death warriors—one thousand in total. When Yun Silin left the capital, he had entrusted all one thousand to Yun Chu and Yun Ze.

This time, when he came to suppress the bandits, knowing there was a trap, he didn’t dare be careless and brought a full two hundred death warriors.

Two hundred death warriors against the opponent’s mere twenty assassins—it was like child’s play.

In almost the blink of an eye, all twenty of the opposing side were dead.

“Lord Yun truly has excellent strategy!” Duobao gripped the sword in his hand tightly. “Indeed, our Prince underestimated you!”

The sky had already darkened. A group of people all wearing black clothing were quite inconspicuous in the dense forest.

Duobao was surrounded in the middle, with people on all four sides. He had no way to escape.

Yun Ze wiped his bamboo flute and hung it back at his waist, speaking gently. “Why doesn’t Eunuch Duobao listen to my conditions again?”

Duobao raised his sword, and before Yun Ze could react, plunged it into his own abdomen.

He spat out a mouthful of blood, and his body toppled to the ground.

Yun Ze walked forward. “He was also someone of unwavering loyalty—it’s just that he pledged it to the wrong person.”

He bent down and closed the eyes of Duobao, who had died with eyes still open.

The shadow guards behind him thought he intended to give Duobao a proper burial, because their young master had always been softhearted, presenting a gentle appearance to everyone.

“Wrap him in a straw mat,” Yun Ze stood up. “Throw him at the Prince Regent’s residence gate.”

He looked at those garrison troops who had died miserably. “Give them proper burials.”

That night, the moon was full.

Chu Rui had not fallen asleep. He found it increasingly difficult to sleep, often keeping his eyes open until dawn, constantly pondering various matters.

At this time, a府兵 residence guard came to report. “My Prince, someone has thrown a corpse at the residence gate.”

Chu Rui froze for a moment, then suddenly stood up.

He quickly walked toward the residence gate.

He walked too quickly and even stumbled, nearly falling to the ground.

Upon reaching the residence gate, by the light of the lantern, he saw the corpse wrapped in a straw mat. He crouched down, personally pulled back the straw mat, and saw a familiar face.

“Duobao…”

Chu Rui’s voice was trembling.

Duobao had not been someone by his side since childhood. He was a pitiful person Chu Rui had once encountered when he secretly escaped from the imperial palace.

He himself was a pitiful person, so he especially couldn’t bear to see others suffer. He had rescued Duobao from a group of thugs.

Duobao had no parents, no siblings, not a single relative in the world. Even though he possessed strong martial skills, he was unwilling to resist the thugs, harboring a will to die.

Duobao and he were so similar. So he kept Duobao by his side as a eunuch—but in reality, Duobao hadn’t truly become one.

He thought that one day, when he ascended to the throne, he would appoint Duobao as a court official, find him a wife, let him have his own children. With blood relatives, a person would have the will to live.

Everything had just begun—how could Duobao already…

“It’s all my fault…”

Chu Rui’s voice was extremely hoarse.

He had underestimated Yun Ze, thinking that sending just twenty men would be enough to take Yun Ze’s life.

How could he have been so careless?

It was his carelessness that had killed Duobao.

“Yun Ze!” He clenched his fists. “This Prince will definitely make you pay with your life!”

The night passed quietly.

At morning court the next day, it was the same old routine.

News came from Yun Ze’s side that he had eliminated the bandits and found the physicians and medicinal materials in a mountain cave. They had already been sent to Ningzhou.

Yun Chu breathed a sigh of relief.

However.

Although the medicinal materials and physicians had been dispatched, the epidemic showed no signs of improvement. Instead, Ningzhou’s main urban area had also been affected.

The people sent by the court tried their best to centrally manage the infected, but there were simply too many people—they couldn’t manage them all. The patients wandered about, causing tens of thousands of common people to contract the epidemic. Many people died miserably every day. It was said that Ningzhou City had been constantly filled with the stench of burning corpses during this time.

Because those who died had contracted the disease, if the bodies weren’t burned, the plague could seep into the water supply and infect even more people…

The situation grew increasingly severe, and the court officials dared not take it lightly.

“Your Majesty, Empress Dowager, at this rate, the plague will reach the capital in just half a month.”

“Even the physicians are helpless. This epidemic is too formidable. Since we cannot cure it, we should give up, otherwise who knows how many people will die.”

“Lord Qiu, what do you mean by giving up? Please explain more clearly.”

“If those patients weren’t wandering everywhere, the epidemic wouldn’t be getting worse. How about this—gather all the infected people together and dispose of them by burning…”

“Gasp! Those people are merely sick, not heinous criminals. This approach is improper, improper!”

“If we don’t do this, these people will bring the plague to the capital. Then we court ministers will also contract the disease. The consequences will be severe.”

“Though it’s the worst strategy, given the current situation, we can only do this. The court is not treating human life as worthless. On the contrary, it’s to protect more common people that we must do this.”

“This… alas…”

Those who objected couldn’t come up with new suggestions. Everyone continued discussing in low voices.

“Your Majesty, Empress Dowager, please make a decision quickly. This matter cannot be delayed!”

Everyone began applying pressure.

Although Chu Hongyu was intelligent, he was encountering such a situation for the first time and couldn’t think of any countermeasure at all.

But he still had his own ability to judge and spoke up. “No matter what, we cannot turn our blade on the common people. I do not agree.”

“Your Majesty, when a gecko encounters danger, it knows to sever its own tail to protect itself. People should do the same,” Lord Qiu advised. “If a person is poisoned, promptly cutting out the poisoned flesh can save their life. This is the worst strategy, but also the most complete strategy.”

“Since you know it’s the worst strategy, there’s no need to speak of it further.” Yun Chu spoke slowly from behind the pearl curtain. “This Empress Dowager has a method.”