Chapter 651 - 492: The Crown Prince Returns Again

"Mr. Dong, what does the Crown Prince say in the letter?" Seeing the change in Pei Jian’s expression, Zhuo Qingfeng couldn’t help but ask.

Pei Jian slowly opened his mouth and said, "The Crown Prince is coming to Dongshan."

"Again?"

"This time it’s not a secret visit, but he’s coming under imperial decree to oversee the epidemic control in Dongshan," Pei Jian explained.

"Ah, what is His Majesty thinking? The ’Mahayi’ is so dangerous; if the Crown Prince gets infected, any mishap could shake the foundation of the nation," Zhuo Qingfeng exclaimed in surprise.

"If His Majesty wants him to come, can the Crown Prince refuse?"

"Why is His Majesty doing this? Isn’t he worried that the Crown Prince might indeed have a mishap?"

"Actually, for the Crown Prince, it’s not necessarily a bad thing. The Crown Prince has to travel for at least ten days to Dongshan, not to mention the preparation of epidemic control materials and medicines. It will take at least half a month to reach Dongshan. If we can control the epidemic during this time, or seal it off, it would be a tremendous merit for the Crown Prince," Pei Jian said.

"In that case, His Majesty’s intentions might not solely be about sending the Crown Prince away from the capital."

"King Qi’s wedding has been postponed. According to protocol, as King Qi’s elder brother, the Crown Prince must attend his younger brother’s wedding. Therefore, during this time, unless King Qi gets some unknown woman pregnant, he won’t have any leverage to compete with the Crown Prince."

"But the Crown Prince hasn’t made any moves for so many years, and King Qi is young, which makes the probability much higher..."

"Let’s just do our job well, extend the street ban order by five more days, and make sure that people’s basic needs are met. No one should starve; if anyone dies unnaturally in someone’s neighborhood, I’ll hold them accountable. This time, it doesn’t matter who is behind it!"

The Crown Prince was coming, so how could Pei Jian not be firm?

Originally, he was hesitant about whether to extend the lockdown for another five days. Now he had made up his mind to extend it further.

"Mr. Su from the Imperial Envoy should also receive the news quickly. Qingfeng, make a trip and convey the message to him."

"Mr. Dong, understood." Although Pei Jian had made the decision, this matter still needed the support of the Imperial Envoy Su Mobai.

Moreover, he was also trying hard to bring Su Mubai into the Crown Prince’s camp. It seemed that while he hadn’t been successful, he unintentionally caused Cui Xiang’s misunderstanding.

Although that guy had his methods in criminal interrogation, he had no political wisdom and was just a lackey. The higher he climbed, the worse his fall would be.

"Mr. Pei."

"Miss Liansuo, please serve tea!" Pei Jian dared not really treat Liansuo as Lin Miao’s concubine, given her status as a True Disciple of the Snow Mountain Sect.

In the martial world, even a local bigwig would have to show some respect when they met her.

"No need for tea, I’ve been sent by my master to deliver a letter to you." As always, Liansuo was delivering messages.

No one knew the official residence of Dongshan Prefecture better than her.

"Thank you." Pei Jian quickly cupped his fists; every time Lin Miao sent someone with a letter, it was a great help in offering advice and strategies.

If he weren’t too busy to leave, he would have gone to seek advice in person by now.

Liansuo handed the letter to Pei Jian and was about to turn and leave when Pei Jian called out, "Miss Liansuo, please wait a moment, I’ll write a reply to Mr. Lin for you to take back."

"Very well."

Pei Jian sat down, took out the letter from the envelope, and after reading the contents, frowned deeply. After a great plague, a great disaster was bound to follow, and various suspicious characters would emerge. He had anticipated this, but didn’t expect it to come so quickly.

Earlier, he and Lin Miao had a hunch that this "Mahayi" outbreak was unusual. Though they hadn’t found human evidence, the sudden multi-point outbreak of "Mahayi" in Dongshan City was completely unexpected, with the chain of infection appearing disorganized.

"Mahayi," unlike other epidemics, has a single traceable source, not multiple ones.

Now the source of infection appears in multiple unrelated places.

Either the connections haven’t been found, or the spread of the virus is deliberate.

The civet cat fur Lin Miao found in Erli Village confirmed that the source of the infection in villages like Erli and Xiayuan was this animal.

But how did this civet end up in the village temple of a defenseless scholar? It was very suspicious.

Mr. Cen fell ill and died, so it was impossible to ask about its origins, and the traces had long been erased. For now, finding relevant clues was difficult.

The city’s outbreaks were also based on livestock and poultry.

As a result, many stray dogs and cats in the city have been killed.

Now, the "Shenxiao Dao" emerged, claiming their "Rejuvenating Nectar" could cure all diseases and had special effects on "Mahayi."

These days, some people would do anything crazy for money.

But "Mahayi" has no cure; the only way to deal with it is to boost the body’s immunity and alleviate the symptoms until recovery.

If the "Rejuvenating Nectar" truly worked, it might be worth a shot, but the problem was that Lin Miao detected the presence of Yinghua in the "Rejuvenating Nectar," which is addictive.

Using this to treat illness is like drinking poison to quench thirst.

Eventually, the "Shenxiao Dao" could exploit these people who became addicted after using the "Rejuvenating Nectar," extorting whatever amount of money they wanted.

This is a poisonous bait.

If the "Mahayi" outbreak was indeed orchestrated by the forces behind the "Shenxiao Dao," using "Mahayi" to instill fear, and taking the opportunity to promote "Rejuvenating Nectar" while establishing an image of altruistic medical treatment, then desperate people would easily believe in them.