Can't a princess ascend the throne?

Chapter 289 Operation
After everything was explained, Emperor Jingtai returned to the banquet and continued to enjoy the festivities with his ministers. The envoys from the grasslands were initially delighted, as they could enjoy fine wine and food for free and even watch beautiful women dance. However, even with their boundless energy, they began to sense something was amiss when the banquet continued late into the night.

Most of them were drunk, but the chief envoy and the deputy envoy were among the few who remained sober. The chief envoy rolled his eyes and, emboldened by the alcohol, stepped forward to apologize.

"Your Majesty the Emperor of the Great Jing Dynasty, thank you for your hospitality. However, we are already quite drunk, so please forgive us and allow us to go back and rest."

"Hahaha, you warriors from the grasslands need not be modest. I know you are all top-notch warriors and excellent drinkers. You've only had a little wine, how could you possibly be drunk? You haven't tasted the most delicious wine in our Great Jing yet! Men, bring up those 'Hundred Years Spring' wines."

Emperor Jingtai gave the other party no chance to refuse. He clapped his hands, and immediately strong eunuchs carried up large jars of wine.

After the seal was broken, the envoy, who was originally about to refuse, immediately sat back down.

When can't one rest? After death, there's plenty of time for a long sleep. But if you miss such fine wine, you'll likely never taste it again in your later years. No warrior on the grasslands dislikes fine wine, and the envoy was no exception. He picked up the large bowl in front of him, filled it to the brim, and gulped down the entire bowl of wine in one go, letting out a satisfied burp, a blush immediately spreading across his face.

"Good wine! Good wine!"

The envoy was a heavy drinker, but even with his addiction, after consuming three large jars of "Centennial Spring" liquor, he still stumbled and collapsed onto the table covered in food and wine, soaking himself to the bone and looking quite disheveled. There were faint chuckles around him, but the envoy could no longer hear them. The grassland delegation had been safely escorted back to their rooms, which were heavily guarded, ensuring their safety.

As early as when Emperor Jingtai kept urging them to drink, the ministers of the Jingtai court sensed something was wrong. Therefore, even though they frequently raised their cups, the amount of wine in their cups did not decrease significantly. After everyone was alone, the ministers looked at Emperor Jingtai nervously. They knew something serious must have happened, but upon hearing the news about the epidemic, they couldn't help but be shocked.

Epidemic?

This term hasn't been heard in public for over a decade, so why is it appearing now? No wonder His Majesty just got the entire steppe delegation drunk. Even if this matter has nothing to do with them, if these steppe envoys want to use this opportunity to cause trouble, it will be an unpredictable disaster for the Great Jing. Moreover, this matter may not necessarily be unrelated to them.

Those who could attend the banquet were all veteran officials of the court, and even the least capable of doing so possessed absolute intelligence and wisdom. At this moment, everyone gathered together, their minds clear, and they discussed countermeasures in an orderly manner. In no time, one order after another was issued from the palace, and the entire capital entered a state of absolute martial law.

At this moment, everyone had only one thought in their minds: to protect the safety of the capital at all costs!

Of course, once the capital was stabilized, they would also need to set out to investigate whether there was any epidemic in the surrounding towns and even throughout the country, since epidemics are something that cannot be predicted by human beings. People didn't even know how it spread, only that it seemed to be quite contagious. After all the officials left the palace, the entire capital began operating at an unprecedented speed. All the pharmacies, clinics, and even medicinal herb merchants in the capital were forcibly requisitioned to serve the Imperial Medical Academy. In this era, sometimes the concentration of imperial power had its advantages.

Jiu Que barely slept a wink that night, constantly on the go. Few people get a full night's sleep. The next morning, Jiu Que finally obtained the complete data. She had to admit that upon seeing the news, her heart sank, but she also felt a sense of relief. The capital city had a population of approximately 1.2 million, and about 3,000 people were already showing obvious symptoms, such as dizziness and fever. This number sounded alarming, but relative to the large population, it was still manageable.

Her estate outside the city was quite large, capable of housing 3000 people, which should be sufficient. However, the problem now was that those with obvious symptoms, along with their families, absolutely refused to be moved to the estate outside the city. In the people's simple understanding, the government taking away the sick meant mass slaughter. If not, why were so few of those taken away by the government during past epidemics ever to return?

Of course, these are all memories of the previous dynasty held by the common people. Since Emperor Jingtai ascended the throne, although natural disasters and man-made calamities have been frequent, this is the first time a large-scale epidemic has occurred. However, the people are still wary of the court's handling of the epidemic, and how could they bear to watch their loved ones be taken away?

Chunyu Shuang, who came to report, also looked helpless.

As an official of the Ministry of Justice, she shouldn't have interfered in the management of the epidemic. However, the entire court was taking this epidemic very seriously, and almost everyone was involved, including her. The reason she came to report to Jiu Que was because the resistance from the sick and their families was so strong that they were almost about to clash with the soldiers.

If this isn't controlled, I'm afraid a bloody incident will occur before treatment even begins.

Jiu Que was also deeply troubled by this. It is said that prejudice in people's hearts is like a mountain. Those who are ill and their relatives do not know how the court will treat them, but only rely on the experience of the previous dynasty, which is really unfair to their emperor. Since this is the case, Jiu Que cannot sit idly by and wait for death. He must let these protected and treated patients and their relatives, as well as the whole world, know who is the person who took strong measures to protect them in this critical moment.

As for why they refused to leave with the soldiers, it was mainly because they didn't know where the soldiers were taking them or what they were going to do. Jiu Que, however, had a solution. When she led Chunyu Shuang and the others to the place where the conflict had occurred, it was already packed with people inside and out. People were secretly watching from both sides of the street, inside the houses, and even behind the gates.

However, upon seeing Jiu Que, the expressions on the faces of the initially furious people softened somewhat. Jiu Que's reputation among the people was far better than her reputation among the court officials. In particular, she had done many good deeds that benefited the people and were genuinely relevant to their lives.

At that moment, someone boldly shouted out from the crowd.

"Lord Ying, we know your character. It's not that we're not cooperating with the government, but we just want to know where the government officials are taking us. We can't just go with them without knowing why, can we? Who knows if we'll ever come back."

(End of this chapter)