Edited: 11.26.2023
Early the next morning, the governor sent someone to the post house to invite Gu Yan over in order to discuss the treatment of the epidemic with him. Gu Yan dismissed the attendant who came to deliver the message and quietly walked into the inner room. Ye Zi was still curled up in the quilt, his whole body covered tightly and only the soft and fluffy back of his head was exposed.
When he heard noises, Ye Zi opened his eyes in a daze and turned over: “What’s wrong?”
Gu Yan took his outerwear and put it on, leaned over, and kissed Ye Zi on the forehead: “The governor wants to see me, I’m going to go now. It’s still early, you can sleep for a while longer.”
Ye Zi made a low, animal-like sound from his nose and said nothing more as he closed his eyes again.
Gu Yan rubbed a handful of his hair and turned his head to leave the bedroom.
The room was quiet for a while. After Gu Yan left, Ye Zi didn’t feel that sleepy anymore. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, feeling dazed on the bed. Half an hour after Gu Yan had left, Ye Zi still didn’t see his shadow in sight. In the end, he couldn’t wait any longer. He got up, put on some clothes, and went out.
Walking around, the sound of a shallow silver bell rang around the room.
Ye Zi raised his hand to look at the silver bell tied with the red rope on his wrist and sighed helplessly.
In order to prevent him from changing into his original form and running around again, Gu Yan once again put this thing on his wrist. And no matter how much Ye Zi begged him, he refused to untie it, causing Ye Zi to hear the sound of the bell before he could see it wherever he went.
Ye Zi hid the silver bell in his sleeve and was about to go downstairs to find someone to ask about Gu Yan’s whereabouts when the door next to him suddenly opened.
Gu Yi walked out from inside.
Ye Zi subconsciously backed up half a step, but Gu Yi just leaned on the side of the door, laughing softly: “I knew it was you when I heard the sound of the silver bell, little Ye’er, where are you planning to go so early? Oh, I know, you want to go and find Zicheng, right?”
Ye Zi looked at him and nodded: “Mnn.”
Gu Yi smiled: “In the morning, I saw the governor’s men coming to look for Zicheng, perhaps at this time they should still be at the government office, you can go and look for him there.”
“Many thanks, Imperial……” Ye Zi didn’t finish his sentence. He subconsciously looked toward the room and changed his words: “Many thanks, Prince Jing.”
Gu Yi knew what he wanted to say and explained: “Don’t worry, no one is in my room. Although I’m interested in beauty, I only like looking from afar. What’s more, with a beauty like little Ye’er in front of me, there’s no time to look at others.”
Just as Gu Yi said those words, a noise suddenly came from the corridor behind Ye Zi. Ye Zi turned back to look and A Chu was standing in the stairway, looking somewhat embarrassed.
Ye Zi looked at him and averted his gaze, whispering: “Prince Jing, please stop talking nonsense.”
Gu Yi naturally saw A Chu. He straightened up and walked out of the bedroom: “So it’s A Chu. Why don’t you come over?”
He turned his head to look at Ye Zi: “Little Ye’er, I was just joking with you. It just so happens that I have something I need to talk to the governor about. How about we go together and I will lead the way.”
Ye Zi subconsciously shook his head: “No need, I……”
Gu Yi interrupted him: “What do you mean ‘no need?’ Didn’t you want to find Zicheng? Guangling City is so big, it will be difficult for you to find him yourself. Having me lead the way saves you some trouble.”
“I……” Ye Zi was silent for a moment.
He could never figure out what Gu Yi wanted to do. Just like now, he didn’t understand why this man insisted on taking him to find Gu Yan. Ye Zi instinctively felt that something was wrong. Just as he was about to refuse, he saw the smile in Gu Yi’s eyes fade away.
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Gu Yi faintly said: ”So after following Zicheng, you don’t even put my words in your eyes anymore? Little Ye’er, don’t forget, even if Zicheng is standing here, he wouldn’t dare to disobey me.”
Although Gu Yi and Gu Yan were both Princes, Gu Yi was, after all, the brother of the current Emperor and had a higher seniority than Gu Yan. Even Gu Yan didn’t dare to disobey him, not to mention Ye Zi, who was just Gu Yan’s princess consort.
Ye Zi was helpless and could only say: “Then thank you, Prince Jing.”
Gu Yi walked down the street with Ye Zi and A Chu and then turned his head to the two of them: “By the way, there are a lot of outsiders in Guangling City these days, and it’s not very peaceful. You guys have to stay close to me, if anything happens, don’t run around.”
A Chu busily nodded but Ye Zi only frowned without any trace.
Today happened to be a market day and both sides of the road were crowded with vendors. Gu Yi rarely encountered such a lively scene so he walked slowly, looking left and right with interest.
Ye Zi and A Chu followed him without a word.
There were more and more people on the long street and the crowd was so crowded that they had separated without noticing. When Ye Zi turned around, Gu Yi and A Chu were no longer around him.
“Your……” Ye Zi was about to open his mouth to call out when he suddenly felt something strange coming from behind him.
Ye Zi subconsciously turned aside and grabbed the man’s hand: “Who are you?”
That person was just dressed as an ordinary civilian and didn’t even have good martial arts. Ye Zi narrowed his eyes and was about to ask again when someone beside him suddenly sneaked at him.
They were now in the middle of a crowd and Ye Zi didn’t dare to fight back for fear of hurting innocent people. He dodged while observing the situation nearby and made some calculations in his heart. There were about four or five people who attacked him and none of them were experts. However, they were hiding in the crowd, which made it quite tricky.
Ye Zi circled around with these people for a moment and finally found an opening and rushed out of the crowd.
He walked into an alleyway but before he could breathe a sigh of relief, someone suddenly threw some white powder at him.
Ye Zi was unprepared and inhaled a lot of it in a moment.
As the dust cleared, Ye Zi finally saw the person in front of him.
He was also dressed as a civilian and at a glance, he didn’t look like he had much experience doing this. After throwing him the powder, he stared blankly at Ye Zi with a somewhat anxious and expectant look. With a face full of white powder, Ye Zi was confused until he heard footsteps behind him.
As soon as the man who threw the powder saw someone coming, he immediately said urgently, “Brother Wang, why is he still awake?”
Ye Zi: “……”
He forgot that mortal medicine was useless to him.
Ye Zi thought for a moment and didn’t resist anymore. His body went limp and he pretended to fall and was caught by the man behind him.
The man who threw the powder was relieved: “He finally fainted. This medicine can easily knock out a cow, I thought it was ineffective.”
The man beside Ye Zi said: “Stop talking and give me a hand, beware of being discovered.”
“Yes!”
Ye Zi’s eyes were closed and he was hurriedly picked up and put into a carriage. As soon as he entered the carriage, Ye Zi’s wrists were tied with hemp rope and his eyes were covered with a black cloth. He couldn’t see anything and could only sense that the carriage was moving forward.
Ye Zi closed his eyes as he lay in the carriage, listening to the people who had kidnapped him whispering around him.
These people all spoke the Wu dialect unique to the Jiangling area. If they spoke slowly, Ye Zi could understand one or two sentences, but if they spoke quickly, Ye Zi couldn’t understand what they were saying at all.
The people gathered around Ye Zi and chattered a lot. Ye Zi became more and more dizzy as he listened and sleepiness gradually came over him. Mortal drugs didn’t do much for him, but the effect was still there. Ye Zi gradually felt that his body was becoming weak so he stopped struggling and closed his eyes to rest.
He wasn’t sure whether his kidnapping had something to do with Gu Yi, but looking at the man’s eagerness to take him out, he couldn’t escape the suspicions.
But Ye Zi didn’t understand. If it really was Gu Yi who did it, why would he find such half-assed kidnappers? His business ability was too worrying.
Ye Zi’s wrist was a little painful from the rough hemp rope, so he struggled slightly but didn’t dare to exert too much force.
——With this method of tying someone up, he could break free with just a little bit of force.
Just as Ye Zi was thinking this, the carriage suddenly shook and stopped. Ye Zi was soon carried off the carriage.
This should be a courtyard that had been abandoned for a long time. As soon as they entered, a smell of decay greeted him. Ye Zi was carried into the room and roughly thrown onto the ground. Ye Zi’s shoulder hit the ground, causing raw pain, and he couldn’t help but move slightly.
Luckily, the people who kidnapped him didn’t seem to realize Ye Zi’s abnormality and left the room, leaving Ye Zi alone in the room.
No, he wasn’t the only one here.
Ye Zi held his breath and clearly heard a low wheezing sound and a deliberately suppressed cough coming from a short distance away.
Ye Zi waited patiently for a while. The people who kidnapped him were making some noise outside and didn’t pay any attention to the situation in the inner room.
Ye Zi finally couldn’t bear it any longer and intentionally let out a low cry, pretending to have just woken up.
He struggled a little but found that he couldn’t move. He huddled in the corner in panic and asked at the place where the coughing came from just now: “Who is there? Why did you bring me here?”
After a while, a haggard voice rang out: “So the little gentleman is awake? Don’t be afraid, we won’t hurt you.”
The man spoke in the official language, although with some accent unique to Wu, but at least communication was not a problem. He didn’t sound too old, probably no more than thirty years old, but his voice was hoarse and haggard, as if he was suffering from a serious illness.
Ye Zi put on a look of fear and asked in a trembling voice: “What are you going to do, I……I am with Prince Rui, aren’t you afraid that he will come for me?”
“Come for you? We are all about to die, wouldn’t him coming here be perfect?” The one who answered was another voice, equally hoarse.
Ye Zi then came back to his senses. There were far more people hiding in this room than he had imagined. After experiencing what happened in Yi’an, how could he not hear that all these people had contracted the epidemic?
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But wasn’t it said that no traces of the epidemic had been found in Guangling City?
Ye Zi vaguely realized something.
The person who originally spoke lowered his voice and coughed twice: “Don’t be afraid, little gentleman, we are here to ask you to do us a favor. Cough, I believe you can tell that the few of us hiding in the abandoned courtyard are all suffering from the epidemic and will not live long. However, we want to survive.”
Ye Zi was silent for a moment and said: “If you want to survive, you can go to the government for help. The government will naturally save you, what did you kidnap me for?”
“The government?” The man laughed softly in a hoarse voice: “The government will not save us, if we fall into the hands of the government, there is only death.”
Ye Zi frowned: “What do you mean by that?”
The man said no more. At this moment, a person from outside came in. He tore off a jade pendant from Ye Zi without any explanation and turned to the seriously ill man: “Big brother, we have written the letter and will send it to the post house to have Prince Rui bring medicine in exchange for this person.”
“Very well.” That person coughed gently two more times, as if he was not in good spirits, and no longer said anything more.
Ye Zi leaned against the wall with his head lowered, feeling confused about whether to laugh or cry.
Using medicine in exchange for him? He was now even more worried that after receiving the letter, Gu Yan would directly lead his people here to destroy the place. But now it seemed that it wouldn’t be a bad thing if he really did find this place.
People were coming in and out and Ye Zi didn’t know how much time had passed before someone walked up to him and helped him up.
Ye Zi subconsciously struggled a little and that person said: “Don’t be afraid, I will help you onto a chair. The ground is cold.”
Ye Zi could tell immediately that this was the person who had thrown the white powder at him before. His official language had a heavy accent and he didn’t speak it very well. Ye Zi found it difficult to understand him.
Ye Zi didn’t struggle anymore and obediently allowed him to bring him to a wooden chair. Ye Zi maintained this position for a long time. His arms tied behind his back were starting to become a little numb because of the loss of blood circulation. He moved impatiently and noticed that the man seemed to want to come over to help him, but stopped his movements and just remained silent.
Ye Zi’s eyes were covered with black cloth. He couldn’t see his expression but could feel that person’s uneasiness.
Ye Zi suddenly chuckled: “With me being tied up like this, there is no way I can escape. You don’t have to guard me like this.”
The man urged: “No, no, big brother said that we have to guard you closely, in case you escape, everything will be in vain.”
Ye Zi had never seen such a weak-minded and timid kidnapper. He paused for a moment and asked: “Who are you all? Why are you guys hiding here?”
The man was silent for a long time before he responded: “We fled from various places and came to Guangling to make a living more than a month ago.”
“Since this is the case, why are you living here in groups and how did you catch the disease?”
The man replied: “It’s because……”
“A Qing, shut up.” The patient who had spoken to Ye Zi earlier opened his mouth and shouted.
The man called A Qing hastily agreed and didn’t dare to say more.
Ye Zi pondered for a moment and said, “Actually, His Majesty’s intention in returning to Guangling is to find out the source of the epidemic and to cure the people who have been affected. You guys could tell me what you encountered so that I would be able to help you guys with His Majesty.”
The man snickered: “We appreciate your kindness, but we can’t trust the government, sorry.”
Seeing that he couldn’t get anything out of this person, Ye Zi thought for a while, then turned around and asked: “I’m very curious. The Prince and I just arrived in Guangling yesterday. How did you find out the relationship between me and the Prince so quickly and was able to kidnap me? Is there someone secretly helping you?”
“Naturally, otherwise how could we have known that you would pass through there, we……”
“A Qing!”
A Qing was silent for a moment and asked tentatively: “I can’t even say this much?”
Responding to him was a heavy cough from the other party.
A Qing urgently said: “I’m sorry big brother, don’t be anxious, I won’t say anything again……Big brother, you coughed up blood! I’ll get the medicine for you——”
After he finished, he immediately rummaged around the room.
Ye Zi vaguely realized that something was wrong and asked: “Medicine?”
A Qing’s movements stalled for a moment and then without another word, he fumbled for the medicine and fed it to the man. The man ordered something to A Qing, who responded and left through the door.
The room returned to silence and Ye Zi suddenly asked: “How long have you been like this?”
The man coughed a few times and hoarsely responded: “More than a month.”
“You……”
The man whispered: “……I’m afraid I won’t last the night.”
In just these few moments, his voice seemed to have aged several years again.
“I’m not the first, but let’s hope I can be the last.” The man said, “Our hometown had a flood and less than thirty people survived in the entire village. Now that we’ve come to Guangling, those who’ve gotten sick have gotten sick, and those who’ve died have died. There are less than ten of us left.”
Ye Zi didn’t feel good in his heart and asked in a low voice: “Did someone poison you?”
The man fell silent and didn’t answer.
Ye Zi knew that he might have guessed right and asked again: “Is the person who poisoned you related to the government? And where did your medicine come from?”
The man still did not answer. Just as Ye Zi wanted to ask something else, he suddenly heard a loud clunking from outside the door and it was immediately followed by the sound of scattered footsteps. Ye Zi listened carefully and estimated that there should be no less than a hundred people coming.
Ye Zi was about to get up when he was suddenly pressed back down by someone on his shoulder and a coolness could be immediately felt on his neck.
A sharp dagger was placed at his throat.
Gu Yan walked into the inner room just in time to see this scene. His eyes sank as Ye Zi suddenly spoke: “Zicheng, don’t——”
The middle-aged man who tackled Ye Zi was very thin with a face as pale as paper and there were even some blood stains dripping from the corners of his mouth. He put the dagger against Ye Zi’s throat and his fingers trembled slightly, as if he would cut through the delicate skin there if he was not careful.
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Gu Yan stared at Ye Zi for a moment, took half a step back, and patiently said: “Whatever you want is negotiable, let go of him first.”
The man said: “Your Majesty, what we want is clear enough in the letter we sent.”
“I know.” Gu Yan glanced around the room. There were several patients crowded in the dark room, all of them looked pale and haggard. He withdrew his gaze and said calmly: “You want medicine that can cure the disease.”
“Give me the medicine!” The man said hoarsely, “Or I will kill him!”
As he spoke, his hands shook even more violently and Ye Zi felt a slight sting, which must have been his flesh being cut by the dagger.
A hint of viciousness suddenly flashed in Gu Yan’s eyes. Before the man could recover, he suddenly stepped forward and kicked the man on the shoulder.
Ye Zi only felt a sudden whistling wind in his ears, followed by the sound of something heavy falling to the ground. He knew that Gu Yan must have been enraged and hurriedly said: “Zicheng, don’t kill him!”
What responded to him were fingers that gently landed on his neck. Gu Yan gently touched his injured area with his fingertips, as if to confirm whether the injury was serious or not. Then Gu Yan bent down, untied Ye Zi’s hand, and then pulled off the black cloth from Ye Zi’s eyes.
Ye Zi was about to open his eyes but heard Gu Yan say: “It’s been some time since you last saw the light, don’t open your eyes yet. Let me take you back first.”
“But……”
Gu Yan said: “Don’t worry, I didn’t kill him, he just fainted.”
Ye Zi nodded and didn’t say anything else. He closed his eyes and buried his head in Gu Yan’s arms as he carried him out the door.
The courtyard was full of people. Ye Zi narrowed his eyes and looked towards the courtyard. Several people dressed like civilians were pinned to the ground by the guards and unable to move. The rest of the people stood there, waiting for Gu Yan to speak.
Gu Yan didn’t even take a look at them as he carried Ye Zi straight onto the carriage.
It was already afternoon outside, the sun was shining brightly, and the light stung Ye Zi’s eyes. He closed his eyes and leaned in the carriage while Gu Yan helped him apply some medicine to the wound on his neck.
It was only after a while that Ye Zi regained his ability to see, he blinked and saw the face that was close at hand.
Gu Yan lowered his eyes to look at him: “Are you uncomfortable anywhere else?”
“No.” Ye Zi shook his head and rubbed his arms that were sore from being tied up for too long, “Why did you come so early, any later and I would have been able to get him to speak.”
“Couldn’t wait.” Gu Yan pulled his arm over and gently kneaded it, “You’re going to worry me to death.”
Ye Zi pursed his lips: “Didn’t you send someone to follow me, what’s the worry?”
In a place like this, Gu Yan didn’t dare to let Ye Zi act alone. Therefore, when he left this morning, he left many secret guards to protect Ye Zi’s safety.
Even though he knew that Ye Zi wasn’t in danger, he still didn’t feel comfortable with him being trapped alone in a place like this.
Ye Zi leaned forward and kissed Gu Yan’s lips flatteringly. Their lips parted as soon as they touched, but Gu Yan didn’t let him hide. He grabbed Ye Zi’s waist and pulled him back, pressed him on the soft cushion, and kissed him.
Ye Zi was breathless from his kiss. He turned his head and gasped a few times: “Your Majesty, stop…..we still have business to do.”
Gu Yan looked deeply at him, as if somewhat dissatisfied with him spoiling the fun.
Ye Zi bit his lower lip and whispered something to him. Gu Yan’s eyes darkened and Ye Zi hurriedly pushed him away as his face turned slightly hot: “Okay, let’s talk about business, don’t move around anymore.”
The corner of Gu Yan’s lips hooked up into a smile as he let go of him: “Okay, let’s talk about business.”
Gu Yan got up, poured a cup of tea for Ye Zi, and handed it to him: “What have you found out? Who are those people?”
Ye Zi took a sip of tea and told Gu Yan what he had just learned from those kidnappers, as well as his own guesses.
Gu Yan thought for a moment: “Are you saying that those people were poisoned?”
Ye Zi nodded: “They didn’t directly admit it, but judging from their reactions, that should be the case.”
Gu Yan said, “According to you, those people have been sick for more than a month, but according to the symptoms of the epidemic, if there is no palliative medicine, they would have died in less than seven days. They were poisoned, but they found a palliative medicine, why do you think this is?”
Ye Zi didn’t answer.
Gu Yan said: “It doesn’t matter. I have asked people to imprison all those people. I will go interrogate them soon. I believe I will be able to find out something.”
Ye Zi answered and added: “Also, we have been ignoring some issues before. Where did the epidemic come from and why is it so similar to the epidemic that happened in Chang’an twenty years ago? And………Why does Sixth Imperial Uncle know these things so clearly?”
Gu Yan said: “There is only one explanation that makes sense and that is that Sixth Imperial Uncle knew the ins and outs of the epidemic that year and is determined to find a solution. Over the years, I have been trying to find a cure for the epidemic, but I don’t know the cause of the epidemic, so I haven’t made much progress. But if Sixth Imperial Uncle knew what the poison was early on, it wouldn’t be impossible to find the cure in advance.”
“But why did he……” Ye Zi paused and didn’t say any more.
From start to now, Gu Yi’s behavior was too strange.
It was clearly Gu Yi who lured Ye Zi out of the post house today, and according to what A Qing said, Ye Zi could almost conclude that kidnapping him to ask Gu Yan for medicine was Gu Yi’s idea for the refugees.
It seemed……like he was leading them to discover this group of refugees and to learn that someone was secretly poisoning them.
Gu Yan thought for a moment and suddenly asked: “Wait, when did you say they were poisoned just now?”
Ye Zi replied: “More than a month ago.”
“More than a month ago.” Gu Yan murmured: “That’s a few days earlier than when the epidemic broke out in Yi’an.”
Edited: 11.26.2023
Early the next morning, the governor sent someone to the post house to invite Gu Yan over in order to discuss the treatment of the epidemic with him. Gu Yan dismissed the attendant who came to deliver the message and quietly walked into the inner room. Ye Zi was still curled up in the quilt, his whole body covered tightly and only the soft and fluffy back of his head was exposed.
When he heard noises, Ye Zi opened his eyes in a daze and turned over: “What’s wrong?”
Gu Yan took his outerwear and put it on, leaned over, and kissed Ye Zi on the forehead: “The governor wants to see me, I’m going to go now. It’s still early, you can sleep for a while longer.”
Ye Zi made a low, animal-like sound from his nose and said nothing more as he closed his eyes again.
Gu Yan rubbed a handful of his hair and turned his head to leave the bedroom.
The room was quiet for a while. After Gu Yan left, Ye Zi didn’t feel that sleepy anymore. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, feeling dazed on the bed. Half an hour after Gu Yan had left, Ye Zi still didn’t see his shadow in sight. In the end, he couldn’t wait any longer. He got up, put on some clothes, and went out.
Walking around, the sound of a shallow silver bell rang around the room.
Ye Zi raised his hand to look at the silver bell tied with the red rope on his wrist and sighed helplessly.
In order to prevent him from changing into his original form and running around again, Gu Yan once again put this thing on his wrist. And no matter how much Ye Zi begged him, he refused to untie it, causing Ye Zi to hear the sound of the bell before he could see it wherever he went.
Ye Zi hid the silver bell in his sleeve and was about to go downstairs to find someone to ask about Gu Yan’s whereabouts when the door next to him suddenly opened.
Gu Yi walked out from inside.
Ye Zi subconsciously backed up half a step, but Gu Yi just leaned on the side of the door, laughing softly: “I knew it was you when I heard the sound of the silver bell, little Ye’er, where are you planning to go so early? Oh, I know, you want to go and find Zicheng, right?”
Ye Zi looked at him and nodded: “Mnn.”
Gu Yi smiled: “In the morning, I saw the governor’s men coming to look for Zicheng, perhaps at this time they should still be at the government office, you can go and look for him there.”
“Many thanks, Imperial……” Ye Zi didn’t finish his sentence. He subconsciously looked toward the room and changed his words: “Many thanks, Prince Jing.”
Gu Yi knew what he wanted to say and explained: “Don’t worry, no one is in my room. Although I’m interested in beauty, I only like looking from afar. What’s more, with a beauty like little Ye’er in front of me, there’s no time to look at others.”
Just as Gu Yi said those words, a noise suddenly came from the corridor behind Ye Zi. Ye Zi turned back to look and A Chu was standing in the stairway, looking somewhat embarrassed.
Ye Zi looked at him and averted his gaze, whispering: “Prince Jing, please stop talking nonsense.”
Gu Yi naturally saw A Chu. He straightened up and walked out of the bedroom: “So it’s A Chu. Why don’t you come over?”
He turned his head to look at Ye Zi: “Little Ye’er, I was just joking with you. It just so happens that I have something I need to talk to the governor about. How about we go together and I will lead the way.”
Ye Zi subconsciously shook his head: “No need, I……”
Gu Yi interrupted him: “What do you mean ‘no need?’ Didn’t you want to find Zicheng? Guangling City is so big, it will be difficult for you to find him yourself. Having me lead the way saves you some trouble.”
“I……” Ye Zi was silent for a moment.
He could never figure out what Gu Yi wanted to do. Just like now, he didn’t understand why this man insisted on taking him to find Gu Yan. Ye Zi instinctively felt that something was wrong. Just as he was about to refuse, he saw the smile in Gu Yi’s eyes fade away.
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Gu Yi faintly said: ”So after following Zicheng, you don’t even put my words in your eyes anymore? Little Ye’er, don’t forget, even if Zicheng is standing here, he wouldn’t dare to disobey me.”
Although Gu Yi and Gu Yan were both Princes, Gu Yi was, after all, the brother of the current Emperor and had a higher seniority than Gu Yan. Even Gu Yan didn’t dare to disobey him, not to mention Ye Zi, who was just Gu Yan’s princess consort.
Ye Zi was helpless and could only say: “Then thank you, Prince Jing.”
Gu Yi walked down the street with Ye Zi and A Chu and then turned his head to the two of them: “By the way, there are a lot of outsiders in Guangling City these days, and it’s not very peaceful. You guys have to stay close to me, if anything happens, don’t run around.”
A Chu busily nodded but Ye Zi only frowned without any trace.
Today happened to be a market day and both sides of the road were crowded with vendors. Gu Yi rarely encountered such a lively scene so he walked slowly, looking left and right with interest.
Ye Zi and A Chu followed him without a word.
There were more and more people on the long street and the crowd was so crowded that they had separated without noticing. When Ye Zi turned around, Gu Yi and A Chu were no longer around him.
“Your……” Ye Zi was about to open his mouth to call out when he suddenly felt something strange coming from behind him.
Ye Zi subconsciously turned aside and grabbed the man’s hand: “Who are you?”
That person was just dressed as an ordinary civilian and didn’t even have good martial arts. Ye Zi narrowed his eyes and was about to ask again when someone beside him suddenly sneaked at him.
They were now in the middle of a crowd and Ye Zi didn’t dare to fight back for fear of hurting innocent people. He dodged while observing the situation nearby and made some calculations in his heart. There were about four or five people who attacked him and none of them were experts. However, they were hiding in the crowd, which made it quite tricky.
Ye Zi circled around with these people for a moment and finally found an opening and rushed out of the crowd.
He walked into an alleyway but before he could breathe a sigh of relief, someone suddenly threw some white powder at him.
Ye Zi was unprepared and inhaled a lot of it in a moment.
As the dust cleared, Ye Zi finally saw the person in front of him.
He was also dressed as a civilian and at a glance, he didn’t look like he had much experience doing this. After throwing him the powder, he stared blankly at Ye Zi with a somewhat anxious and expectant look. With a face full of white powder, Ye Zi was confused until he heard footsteps behind him.
As soon as the man who threw the powder saw someone coming, he immediately said urgently, “Brother Wang, why is he still awake?”
Ye Zi: “……”
He forgot that mortal medicine was useless to him.
Ye Zi thought for a moment and didn’t resist anymore. His body went limp and he pretended to fall and was caught by the man behind him.
The man who threw the powder was relieved: “He finally fainted. This medicine can easily knock out a cow, I thought it was ineffective.”
The man beside Ye Zi said: “Stop talking and give me a hand, beware of being discovered.”
“Yes!”
Ye Zi’s eyes were closed and he was hurriedly picked up and put into a carriage. As soon as he entered the carriage, Ye Zi’s wrists were tied with hemp rope and his eyes were covered with a black cloth. He couldn’t see anything and could only sense that the carriage was moving forward.
Ye Zi closed his eyes as he lay in the carriage, listening to the people who had kidnapped him whispering around him.
These people all spoke the Wu dialect unique to the Jiangling area. If they spoke slowly, Ye Zi could understand one or two sentences, but if they spoke quickly, Ye Zi couldn’t understand what they were saying at all.
The people gathered around Ye Zi and chattered a lot. Ye Zi became more and more dizzy as he listened and sleepiness gradually came over him. Mortal drugs didn’t do much for him, but the effect was still there. Ye Zi gradually felt that his body was becoming weak so he stopped struggling and closed his eyes to rest.
He wasn’t sure whether his kidnapping had something to do with Gu Yi, but looking at the man’s eagerness to take him out, he couldn’t escape the suspicions.
But Ye Zi didn’t understand. If it really was Gu Yi who did it, why would he find such half-assed kidnappers? His business ability was too worrying.
Ye Zi’s wrist was a little painful from the rough hemp rope, so he struggled slightly but didn’t dare to exert too much force.
——With this method of tying someone up, he could break free with just a little bit of force.
Just as Ye Zi was thinking this, the carriage suddenly shook and stopped. Ye Zi was soon carried off the carriage.
This should be a courtyard that had been abandoned for a long time. As soon as they entered, a smell of decay greeted him. Ye Zi was carried into the room and roughly thrown onto the ground. Ye Zi’s shoulder hit the ground, causing raw pain, and he couldn’t help but move slightly.
Luckily, the people who kidnapped him didn’t seem to realize Ye Zi’s abnormality and left the room, leaving Ye Zi alone in the room.
No, he wasn’t the only one here.
Ye Zi held his breath and clearly heard a low wheezing sound and a deliberately suppressed cough coming from a short distance away.
Ye Zi waited patiently for a while. The people who kidnapped him were making some noise outside and didn’t pay any attention to the situation in the inner room.
Ye Zi finally couldn’t bear it any longer and intentionally let out a low cry, pretending to have just woken up.
He struggled a little but found that he couldn’t move. He huddled in the corner in panic and asked at the place where the coughing came from just now: “Who is there? Why did you bring me here?”
After a while, a haggard voice rang out: “So the little gentleman is awake? Don’t be afraid, we won’t hurt you.”
The man spoke in the official language, although with some accent unique to Wu, but at least communication was not a problem. He didn’t sound too old, probably no more than thirty years old, but his voice was hoarse and haggard, as if he was suffering from a serious illness.
Ye Zi put on a look of fear and asked in a trembling voice: “What are you going to do, I……I am with Prince Rui, aren’t you afraid that he will come for me?”
“Come for you? We are all about to die, wouldn’t him coming here be perfect?” The one who answered was another voice, equally hoarse.
Ye Zi then came back to his senses. There were far more people hiding in this room than he had imagined. After experiencing what happened in Yi’an, how could he not hear that all these people had contracted the epidemic?
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But wasn’t it said that no traces of the epidemic had been found in Guangling City?
Ye Zi vaguely realized something.
The person who originally spoke lowered his voice and coughed twice: “Don’t be afraid, little gentleman, we are here to ask you to do us a favor. Cough, I believe you can tell that the few of us hiding in the abandoned courtyard are all suffering from the epidemic and will not live long. However, we want to survive.”
Ye Zi was silent for a moment and said: “If you want to survive, you can go to the government for help. The government will naturally save you, what did you kidnap me for?”
“The government?” The man laughed softly in a hoarse voice: “The government will not save us, if we fall into the hands of the government, there is only death.”
Ye Zi frowned: “What do you mean by that?”
The man said no more. At this moment, a person from outside came in. He tore off a jade pendant from Ye Zi without any explanation and turned to the seriously ill man: “Big brother, we have written the letter and will send it to the post house to have Prince Rui bring medicine in exchange for this person.”
“Very well.” That person coughed gently two more times, as if he was not in good spirits, and no longer said anything more.
Ye Zi leaned against the wall with his head lowered, feeling confused about whether to laugh or cry.
Using medicine in exchange for him? He was now even more worried that after receiving the letter, Gu Yan would directly lead his people here to destroy the place. But now it seemed that it wouldn’t be a bad thing if he really did find this place.
People were coming in and out and Ye Zi didn’t know how much time had passed before someone walked up to him and helped him up.
Ye Zi subconsciously struggled a little and that person said: “Don’t be afraid, I will help you onto a chair. The ground is cold.”
Ye Zi could tell immediately that this was the person who had thrown the white powder at him before. His official language had a heavy accent and he didn’t speak it very well. Ye Zi found it difficult to understand him.
Ye Zi didn’t struggle anymore and obediently allowed him to bring him to a wooden chair. Ye Zi maintained this position for a long time. His arms tied behind his back were starting to become a little numb because of the loss of blood circulation. He moved impatiently and noticed that the man seemed to want to come over to help him, but stopped his movements and just remained silent.
Ye Zi’s eyes were covered with black cloth. He couldn’t see his expression but could feel that person’s uneasiness.
Ye Zi suddenly chuckled: “With me being tied up like this, there is no way I can escape. You don’t have to guard me like this.”
The man urged: “No, no, big brother said that we have to guard you closely, in case you escape, everything will be in vain.”
Ye Zi had never seen such a weak-minded and timid kidnapper. He paused for a moment and asked: “Who are you all? Why are you guys hiding here?”
The man was silent for a long time before he responded: “We fled from various places and came to Guangling to make a living more than a month ago.”
“Since this is the case, why are you living here in groups and how did you catch the disease?”
The man replied: “It’s because……”
“A Qing, shut up.” The patient who had spoken to Ye Zi earlier opened his mouth and shouted.
The man called A Qing hastily agreed and didn’t dare to say more.
Ye Zi pondered for a moment and said, “Actually, His Majesty’s intention in returning to Guangling is to find out the source of the epidemic and to cure the people who have been affected. You guys could tell me what you encountered so that I would be able to help you guys with His Majesty.”
The man snickered: “We appreciate your kindness, but we can’t trust the government, sorry.”
Seeing that he couldn’t get anything out of this person, Ye Zi thought for a while, then turned around and asked: “I’m very curious. The Prince and I just arrived in Guangling yesterday. How did you find out the relationship between me and the Prince so quickly and was able to kidnap me? Is there someone secretly helping you?”
“Naturally, otherwise how could we have known that you would pass through there, we……”
“A Qing!”
A Qing was silent for a moment and asked tentatively: “I can’t even say this much?”
Responding to him was a heavy cough from the other party.
A Qing urgently said: “I’m sorry big brother, don’t be anxious, I won’t say anything again……Big brother, you coughed up blood! I’ll get the medicine for you——”
After he finished, he immediately rummaged around the room.
Ye Zi vaguely realized that something was wrong and asked: “Medicine?”
A Qing’s movements stalled for a moment and then without another word, he fumbled for the medicine and fed it to the man. The man ordered something to A Qing, who responded and left through the door.
The room returned to silence and Ye Zi suddenly asked: “How long have you been like this?”
The man coughed a few times and hoarsely responded: “More than a month.”
“You……”
The man whispered: “……I’m afraid I won’t last the night.”
In just these few moments, his voice seemed to have aged several years again.
“I’m not the first, but let’s hope I can be the last.” The man said, “Our hometown had a flood and less than thirty people survived in the entire village. Now that we’ve come to Guangling, those who’ve gotten sick have gotten sick, and those who’ve died have died. There are less than ten of us left.”
Ye Zi didn’t feel good in his heart and asked in a low voice: “Did someone poison you?”
The man fell silent and didn’t answer.
Ye Zi knew that he might have guessed right and asked again: “Is the person who poisoned you related to the government? And where did your medicine come from?”
The man still did not answer. Just as Ye Zi wanted to ask something else, he suddenly heard a loud clunking from outside the door and it was immediately followed by the sound of scattered footsteps. Ye Zi listened carefully and estimated that there should be no less than a hundred people coming.
Ye Zi was about to get up when he was suddenly pressed back down by someone on his shoulder and a coolness could be immediately felt on his neck.
A sharp dagger was placed at his throat.
Gu Yan walked into the inner room just in time to see this scene. His eyes sank as Ye Zi suddenly spoke: “Zicheng, don’t——”
The middle-aged man who tackled Ye Zi was very thin with a face as pale as paper and there were even some blood stains dripping from the corners of his mouth. He put the dagger against Ye Zi’s throat and his fingers trembled slightly, as if he would cut through the delicate skin there if he was not careful.
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Gu Yan stared at Ye Zi for a moment, took half a step back, and patiently said: “Whatever you want is negotiable, let go of him first.”
The man said: “Your Majesty, what we want is clear enough in the letter we sent.”
“I know.” Gu Yan glanced around the room. There were several patients crowded in the dark room, all of them looked pale and haggard. He withdrew his gaze and said calmly: “You want medicine that can cure the disease.”
“Give me the medicine!” The man said hoarsely, “Or I will kill him!”
As he spoke, his hands shook even more violently and Ye Zi felt a slight sting, which must have been his flesh being cut by the dagger.
A hint of viciousness suddenly flashed in Gu Yan’s eyes. Before the man could recover, he suddenly stepped forward and kicked the man on the shoulder.
Ye Zi only felt a sudden whistling wind in his ears, followed by the sound of something heavy falling to the ground. He knew that Gu Yan must have been enraged and hurriedly said: “Zicheng, don’t kill him!”
What responded to him were fingers that gently landed on his neck. Gu Yan gently touched his injured area with his fingertips, as if to confirm whether the injury was serious or not. Then Gu Yan bent down, untied Ye Zi’s hand, and then pulled off the black cloth from Ye Zi’s eyes.
Ye Zi was about to open his eyes but heard Gu Yan say: “It’s been some time since you last saw the light, don’t open your eyes yet. Let me take you back first.”
“But……”
Gu Yan said: “Don’t worry, I didn’t kill him, he just fainted.”
Ye Zi nodded and didn’t say anything else. He closed his eyes and buried his head in Gu Yan’s arms as he carried him out the door.
The courtyard was full of people. Ye Zi narrowed his eyes and looked towards the courtyard. Several people dressed like civilians were pinned to the ground by the guards and unable to move. The rest of the people stood there, waiting for Gu Yan to speak.
Gu Yan didn’t even take a look at them as he carried Ye Zi straight onto the carriage.
It was already afternoon outside, the sun was shining brightly, and the light stung Ye Zi’s eyes. He closed his eyes and leaned in the carriage while Gu Yan helped him apply some medicine to the wound on his neck.
It was only after a while that Ye Zi regained his ability to see, he blinked and saw the face that was close at hand.
Gu Yan lowered his eyes to look at him: “Are you uncomfortable anywhere else?”
“No.” Ye Zi shook his head and rubbed his arms that were sore from being tied up for too long, “Why did you come so early, any later and I would have been able to get him to speak.”
“Couldn’t wait.” Gu Yan pulled his arm over and gently kneaded it, “You’re going to worry me to death.”
Ye Zi pursed his lips: “Didn’t you send someone to follow me, what’s the worry?”
In a place like this, Gu Yan didn’t dare to let Ye Zi act alone. Therefore, when he left this morning, he left many secret guards to protect Ye Zi’s safety.
Even though he knew that Ye Zi wasn’t in danger, he still didn’t feel comfortable with him being trapped alone in a place like this.
Ye Zi leaned forward and kissed Gu Yan’s lips flatteringly. Their lips parted as soon as they touched, but Gu Yan didn’t let him hide. He grabbed Ye Zi’s waist and pulled him back, pressed him on the soft cushion, and kissed him.
Ye Zi was breathless from his kiss. He turned his head and gasped a few times: “Your Majesty, stop…..we still have business to do.”
Gu Yan looked deeply at him, as if somewhat dissatisfied with him spoiling the fun.
Ye Zi bit his lower lip and whispered something to him. Gu Yan’s eyes darkened and Ye Zi hurriedly pushed him away as his face turned slightly hot: “Okay, let’s talk about business, don’t move around anymore.”
The corner of Gu Yan’s lips hooked up into a smile as he let go of him: “Okay, let’s talk about business.”
Gu Yan got up, poured a cup of tea for Ye Zi, and handed it to him: “What have you found out? Who are those people?”
Ye Zi took a sip of tea and told Gu Yan what he had just learned from those kidnappers, as well as his own guesses.
Gu Yan thought for a moment: “Are you saying that those people were poisoned?”
Ye Zi nodded: “They didn’t directly admit it, but judging from their reactions, that should be the case.”
Gu Yan said, “According to you, those people have been sick for more than a month, but according to the symptoms of the epidemic, if there is no palliative medicine, they would have died in less than seven days. They were poisoned, but they found a palliative medicine, why do you think this is?”
Ye Zi didn’t answer.
Gu Yan said: “It doesn’t matter. I have asked people to imprison all those people. I will go interrogate them soon. I believe I will be able to find out something.”
Ye Zi answered and added: “Also, we have been ignoring some issues before. Where did the epidemic come from and why is it so similar to the epidemic that happened in Chang’an twenty years ago? And………Why does Sixth Imperial Uncle know these things so clearly?”
Gu Yan said: “There is only one explanation that makes sense and that is that Sixth Imperial Uncle knew the ins and outs of the epidemic that year and is determined to find a solution. Over the years, I have been trying to find a cure for the epidemic, but I don’t know the cause of the epidemic, so I haven’t made much progress. But if Sixth Imperial Uncle knew what the poison was early on, it wouldn’t be impossible to find the cure in advance.”
“But why did he……” Ye Zi paused and didn’t say any more.
From start to now, Gu Yi’s behavior was too strange.
It was clearly Gu Yi who lured Ye Zi out of the post house today, and according to what A Qing said, Ye Zi could almost conclude that kidnapping him to ask Gu Yan for medicine was Gu Yi’s idea for the refugees.
It seemed……like he was leading them to discover this group of refugees and to learn that someone was secretly poisoning them.
Gu Yan thought for a moment and suddenly asked: “Wait, when did you say they were poisoned just now?”
Ye Zi replied: “More than a month ago.”
“More than a month ago.” Gu Yan murmured: “That’s a few days earlier than when the epidemic broke out in Yi’an.”
