Isolated town in northern border region

First stop, Qingzhou.

Qingzhou is located south of the northern frontier and is a large prefecture in the central part of the Great Chu.

According to the normal route, it would only take three days to travel from Cangzhou to Qingzhou, but as soon as Xiao Lie entered Qingzhou territory, he began to feel that something was wrong.

Along the official road, scattered groups of refugees began to appear.

At first, it was just a few ordinary people with their families, dressed in rags, looking pale and thin. When they saw the government's procession, they hid in the bushes by the roadside.

Xiao Lie wanted to send someone to ask, but as soon as the soldiers of the Trapped Camp walked toward the civilians, they scattered and fled like frightened wild deer.

In order not to frighten the people, Xiao Lie could only suppress his curiosity and prepare to go to Qingzhou to ask directly.

"What's going on? Why are the people acting like they've seen a ghost?"

"Could it be that the general of Qingzhou has allowed his troops to plunder?"

"But we haven't seen any soldiers or officers along the way!"

The further south they went, the more refugees they encountered, and eventually even the official roads were mostly blocked.

Some people sat by the roadside, holding their children, their eyes vacant; some lay on the ground, covered with a tattered straw mat, motionless; some walked south with difficulty, stopping to catch their breath after a few steps.

Bisu covered her mouth, her voice trembling.

"Your Highness... what... what happened?"

Please help them!

Xiao Lie reined in his horse, his brows furrowed.

"Rest assured, how could I stand by and watch the people suffer?"

He dismounted and walked over to an old man who was resting by the roadside.

The old man was holding a five- or six-year-old child in his arms. The child had a sallow complexion, chapped lips, and half-open eyes.

"Grandpas, where are you from?"

The old man looked up and saw Xiao Lie dressed in fine clothes, with soldiers guarding him. He was so frightened that he immediately tried to kneel down.

Xiao Lie caught him.

"Don't be afraid. I am Xiao Lie, the King of the Northern Frontier of the Great Chu."

"Passing by this place, I saw that the people along the way were all...very strange, so I asked the old man for some advice."

The old man was somewhat dazed, turning his head to look at the dragon-patterned banner on the carriage.

"Your Highness! You are the Prince of Ning who reclaimed the northern frontier?"

Xiao Lie nodded and reached out to the child in the old man's arms.

The old man exclaimed in surprise and quickly took a few steps back.

"Your Highness! You mustn't touch her!"

"You absolutely mustn't touch it!"

Just as Xiao Lie was puzzled, the old man's tears suddenly welled up.

"Your Highness! Your Highness, save us! Qingzhou... Qingzhou is struck by plague!"

"It started in three villages, then spread to ten, and now the entire eastern part of Qingzhou is infected!"

"The government said they were going to burn down all the villages that were infected! We...we escaped..."

Xiao Lie's heart sank.

He turned to look ahead, and sure enough, he could vaguely see billowing dust at the end of the official road. Just as he was about to ask again, he heard the rapid sound of horses' hooves behind him.

A troop of fully armed soldiers galloped from the front, their horses kicking up clouds of dust.

"Get out of the way! Everyone get out of the way!"

The leading officer brandished his whip, driving away the vagrants lining the roadside.

"You lowly people, do you want to spread the plague throughout Qingzhou? All of you, head east! Anyone who dares to run away will be killed without mercy!"

A migrant was walking too slowly and was whipped on the back. He screamed and fell to the ground.

The soldiers drove the people to both sides like livestock. Some fell down, some cried out, and some were trampled. The scene was chaotic.

Bisu's face turned pale, and her big eyes filled with tears as she looked at Xiao Lie.

"Your Highness! Will they die?"

"We...we still have dry rations..."

Bisu's voice grew softer and softer.

She was kind, but when she heard it was a plague, she was also a little scared, and even more afraid that her own prince would insist on taking care of her and would also get infected with the plague!

Jiang Min lifted the carriage curtain, her brows furrowed.

She glanced at Xiao Lie's back, then at the soldiers, and whispered to the maid behind her.

"Pass down the order: have the people from the Bureau of Folklore disperse along the road and find out where this plague came from."

Xiao Lie's mind went blank for a moment; the plague was a problem he had never encountered before.

After a moment of silence, he mounted his horse, flicked the reins, and chased after the group of soldiers.

"stop."

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable chill.

The leading officer reined in his horse, glanced back, and saw that it was a young man. Just as he was about to reprimand him, his gaze fell on the jade pendant at Xiao Lie's waist.

"The King of the Northern Frontier of the Great Chu!"

The officer's face changed instantly, and he quickly dismounted and knelt on one knee.

"This humble general...this humble general pays his respects to Your Highness!"

Xiao Lie looked down at him.

"Who gave you permission to drive the people away here?"

Cold sweat broke out on the officer's forehead.

"Your Highness, it is the order of the Governor of Qingzhou."

"A plague has broken out in three counties east of Qingzhou. The governor has ordered the roads to be blocked and all infected villages to be sealed off..."

"What should we do with all the villages that are infected?"

The officer swallowed hard.

"It's burned...it's burned..."

Xiao Lie originally thought that these soldiers would isolate these people to prevent the spread of the plague, but he never expected that they would burn these people alive!

Xiao Lie gripped the hilt of his sword, and the Wolf Riders and the Trapped Camp behind him instantly went into battle ready!

The chilling aura emanating from the carnage made the junior officer in front of him tremble with fear.

But a moment later, Xiao Lie loosened his grip on the hilt of the sword and simply sighed softly.

Because he knew that in ancient times, plagues were something that could only be left to fate!

If the prefect of Qingzhou is not ruthless, and the plague continues to spread, the entire Qingzhou will become a dead zone!

He dismounted and tossed the reins to the wolf riders behind him.

"By my order, everyone shall set up camp on the spot and cover their faces with cloth."

"The Azure Wolf Cavalry split into two teams. One team set up cooking pots and boiled water, while the other team went to the prefecture to recruit doctors and medicinal herbs, the more the better."

"The Trapped Camp is responsible for guarding all the crossroads. Without my order, no one is allowed to take another step forward."

"Any patient who trespasses...will be killed without mercy!"

The junior officer from Qingzhou was stunned.

"Your Highness, what's wrong...?"

Xiao Lie turned around and looked at the road leading to Qingzhou City with a cold gaze.

"I must save people."

"If the governor of Qingzhou blames you, give him this token. I will take full responsibility for any consequences!"

The little schoolboy's Adam's apple bobbed up and down.

"Your Highness! This is a plague!"

"This is truly beyond human control. If something were to happen to you in Qingzhou..."

"Shut up!"

Before the junior officer could finish speaking, Bisu rushed over and slapped him across the face.

"You! You...you're undermining morale!"

Bisu was so anxious that she couldn't think of a suitable word for a long time, so she actually imitated Xiao Lie's way of training soldiers and put a huge accusation on this junior officer!

Xiao Lie couldn't help but roll his eyes and pulled Bi Su behind him.

"Take your men and gather all the people together, then set up camp behind my camp."

"If even one person escapes from my camp before the plague is completely over, shoot them dead with arrows!"

The junior officer was completely stunned, his eyes glazed over.

"Your Highness...you are...how could this humble general dare..."

"Military orders are absolute!"

"yes!"

The officer scrambled onto his horse and led his men to gather the people.

Xiao Lie took a deep breath, suppressing the instinctive fear in his heart.

He walked up to a homeless man slumped on the ground by the roadside, squatted down, and reached out to feel the man's forehead.

It's very hot.

He then lifted the man's eyelids to look at his pupils, and pried open the man's mouth to examine his tongue.

His brows furrowed more and more deeply.

It wasn't smallpox, it wasn't the plague; he was very familiar with these people's symptoms.

Severe diarrhea, dehydration, chapped lips, and loss of skin elasticity.

He searched through his memories of his past life for a while, and a word came to mind—cholera!

Xiao Lie stood up, exhaled, and his voice was somewhat hoarse.

"Bisu, bring a cloth and cover everyone's mouths and noses."

"Boil water! Everyone must drink boiled water! Anyone who dares to drink unboiled water will be killed!"

Bisu ran out, and a moment later, everyone in the group covered half of their faces with cloth, leaving only their eyes exposed.

Jiang Min lifted the carriage curtain.

"Your Highness, you are of noble birth, why must you share the fate of the common people?"

"Even if Your Highness is benevolent, simply instruct the officials of Qingzhou, both high and low, to properly treat the people..."

"Shut up!"

Xiao Lie stared coldly at Jiang Min.

"I will send someone to escort the Jing Kingdom delegation out. You only need to quarantine outside Qingzhou City for three days. If you have no symptoms, you may leave on your own."

Jiang Min was taken aback by the shout.

This was the first time Jiang Min had ever been treated so badly since she was old enough to understand.

Before she could even react, Zhang Quan and Jiang Min's personal maids, who were accompanying her, were already furious and about to step forward to reprimand Xiao Lie for his rudeness.

"Shut up!"

It was Jiang Min who shouted that.

"The Jing Kingdom delegation will proceed according to the Prince's wishes. I am betrothed to the Prince, and thus I shall stand by him through thick and thin!"

"Princess……"

Zhang Quan was unwilling to agree. If something happened to Princess Minyue, he wouldn't need to return to Jing Kingdom!

"Didn't you hear what the Prince said?"

"Military orders are absolute!"