sbdcsierra Chapter 445 What kind of madman would do such a thing!
Chapter 445 What kind of madman would do such a thing!
Prefect Ling chuckled, then swiftly reached over and covered her mouth.
Lu Yangyang: "..."
Prefect Ling glared at her and lowered his voice: "You dare to say anything? What if word gets out? My prefectural residence isn't an impenetrable fortress, you brat! How come you haven't changed at all after all these years in the capital!"
Lu Yangyang blinked innocently.
Prefect Ling released her.
Lu Yangyang leaned closer and whispered, "Don't worry, I'm just wondering...did His Highness tell you about Yingzhou? I encountered pirates on my way there. I was thinking of capturing them and taking them to the authorities to investigate their identities and warn them to be on guard. But as soon as they were captured, one of the pirates committed suicide by poisoning himself. Qingqing and I discovered that those pirates had been taking cinnabar for a long time, leading to cinnabar poisoning. They also carried deadly poisons that could kill instantly. If anything happened, they would immediately take the poison. These aren't pirates; they're clearly suicide squads!"
"As soon as I arrived in Yingzhou, I was targeted by these pirates. I handed them over to the authorities, but they turned around and released them. Even on the day the pirates came ashore, they killed anyone they saw, and the authorities didn't take any action! If His Highness hadn't invited the navy, all the thousands of people on the dock that day would have died there."
"Based on what you've said, I'm almost certain that those pirates were sent by that Taoist priest Shangqing. He's not content with Yuzhou anymore; he's already extending his reach to Yingzhou! What kind of place is Yingzhou? It's the largest port for sea cargo, with countless ships coming and going every day. Have you thought about the consequences if we let them run rampant like this?"
"Also, do you know what happened to us last night? It was raining last night, and we were thinking of finding a village to stay overnight. But we happened to run into that village that was going to hold some kind of sacrifice today, sending a bride to the celestial palace. Their bride ran away, so they wanted to secretly drug me and Qingqing so they could capture us to take us to the sacrifice."
"These people are all taking cinnabar. They'll do anything, no matter how heinous, for this stuff! Cinnabar is medicine, but if you take too much or take it for a long time, you'll get poisoned. And there's no cure for this poison. If the symptoms are mild, you're fine, but if the symptoms are severe, you won't live more than a few years and you'll definitely die. If this continues, the whole of Yuzhou will be finished. All the people are taking a slow poison."
Lu Yangyang gritted her teeth, growing angrier as she spoke, her voice extremely low, "What else is this but rebellion?"
What kind of madman could do something like this!
Prefect Ling was also terrified when he heard what Lu Yangyang said.
His brows furrowed involuntarily: "The reason I was able to come here was due to His Highness's arrangement, but I was only here to fill a vacancy. I've been here for less than two months, and the affairs of Yuzhou Prefecture alone have caused me a huge headache. I've sent out the letter, but I haven't even seen a county magistrate. All the files in the prefectural office related to elixirs are completely empty. There haven't been any serious cases in the past few years. Most of them are just passing merchants arguing with each other. The prefectural magistrate hasn't taken office yet, and the assistant prefect is claiming illness and staying at home. I went to see him once, and I saw that the assistant prefect was only about my age, around thirty years old. His eyes were sunken and he was skin and bones, as if he had been drained dry. He was breathing more than he was breathing out, and he looked like he was about to die. I was thinking of sending a doctor in, but his whole family knelt down and begged for their lives, refusing to let the doctor in no matter what."
“I’ve been busy here for over a month, just to figure out the situation in Yuzhou Prefecture. But I haven’t had time to deal with the situation in the subordinate districts yet. I don’t know much about the cinnabar poison you mentioned. I only know that at least ten people have died this month alone, and they were all wealthy and influential people. I asked a doctor, and he suspected it was poisoning. So when I encountered someone having an attack, I brought them back and secretly found a doctor to induce vomiting. They were saved, but I didn’t dare to let them out, for fear of something going wrong. I also didn’t dare to let the doctor show his face.”
Prefect Ling's face grew increasingly grim: "I truly never expected that these people's reach would extend so far. His Highness only met with me briefly before leaving, saying he would deal with the person behind it all first. He must know that person's identity, but I'm afraid His Highness is unaware of the true situation in Yuzhou."
He only heard His Highness mention the pirates and instruct him to send men to keep an eye on the coast.
As for the matter of the elixir, although he informed His Highness, he thought that Daoist Changqing was just taking advantage of the situation to make a profit. He never expected that these people would be so lawless!
Prefect Ling was extremely anxious and couldn't help but get up and pace back and forth in his study. If he didn't know the seriousness of the matter, he could have waited for His Highness to deal with the person behind it before making his own plans. But now that he knew that not only Yuzhou City, but the entire Yuzhou Prefecture had fallen because of a so-called small elixir, how could he sit still?
That's not some kind of elixir, it's clearly a poisonous pill!
Lu Yangyang watched him walk around a few times, then stood up and grabbed him, saying, "Lord Ling, please stop pacing back and forth. We need to think of a solution quickly, otherwise more and more people will die because of this!"
Prefect Ling stopped in his tracks, repeatedly clenching his fists: "Let me think about it, let me think about it."
Lu Yangyang looked at him quietly.
Just then, there was a knock on the door. "Sir, someone is looking for Miss Lu and is waiting outside."
Prefect Ling snapped out of his daze, strode over, and asked, "Who goes there?"
The doorman replied, "He's a big guy, and he looks a bit fierce."
"It's Uncle Luo!" Lu Yangyang walked over from the door and said to the doorman, "Please invite him in first."
Prefect Ling nodded: "Go quickly."
The gatekeeper quickly ran out to fetch someone.
Lu Yangyang explained to Prefect Ling, "Uncle Luo came with us. Yesterday, we encountered that runaway girl on the road. Fearing that we would be discovered, we asked Uncle Luo to take the people and hide first. He came to the prefectural city to meet us this morning. When you and I came back just now, I asked the servant to find the guard and leave a message. I didn't expect Uncle Luo to find us so quickly."
"I see," Prefect Ling replied.
As they were talking, the doorman led Luo Jing in.
When Lu Yangyang saw that Luo Jing was alone and did not see the girl who had run away from the wedding last night, she asked in surprise, "Uncle Luo, why are you alone? Where is the girl named Huanniang from last night?"
Luo Jing looked somewhat serious. He didn't rush to reply and glanced at Prefect Ling.
Lu Yangyang quickly explained, "This is Prefect Ling, an old acquaintance of mine, and also my elder."
Luo Jing cupped his hands in greeting: "Luo greets Your Excellency the Prefect."
Prefect Ling hurriedly raised his hand: "Don't be so polite, please tell me quickly, what happened?"
Luo Jing looked at Lu Yangyang and said in a deep voice, "That girl has gone back."