The Dramatic Crown Princess Wants to Poison Me!

Chapter 285: Chapter 285: Passive

Huangfu Jingchen was also somewhat worried. What if Xia Wenjin’s speculation turned out to be true?

For the sake of their political achievements, if the local Prefectural Governor adopted extreme measures, then the thousands of lives in Wangshan Town, the sick, the innocent, as well as all the doctors they had gathered—including Shang Jingwang, himself, and Xia Wenjin—would likely become cruel numbers, part of the prefectural governor’s political accomplishments.

But all those are living human lives.

The remedy for the epidemic has been developed, but due to the complexity of the epidemic, it takes a few more days to see results. At this time, being surrounded by a large military force is indeed not optimistic.

They had nothing convincing at a glance to present.

Moreover, he promised Shang Jingwang that as long as he was willing to take action, he would pave a way for him, allowing officials who genuinely worked for the people to be seen by Grandpa.

He said so and did so.

When Shang Jingwang wrote a memorial to the Capital, he also wrote a letter, instructing Jiang Ning to send someone to deliver it to the Capital City.

But the Capital City is far away, and now it’s completely unknown what the situation is over there, while here, they were already surrounded.

Huangfu Jingchen slightly furrowed his brow and said, ”I’m going out for a moment.”

He had been in the quarantine zone; he wanted to see if there was any news.

The town mayor, Wang Bolao, was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. He was just a small town mayor; when had he ever seen such a grand occasion? The Prefecture Lord personally coming to Wangshan Town to oversee matters was one thing, but even the Lord Governor was coming.

Was Wangshan Town blessed or cursed in terms of feng shui?

In normal times, having so many high officials visiting would have him burning incense at his ancestor’s grave, as this small Wangshan Town had garnered the attention of so many dignitaries.

But now, it was because of the epidemic.

Furthermore, the Lord Governor and the Military Commander were both Fourth Rank officials, even higher than the Prefect. Initially, Wang Bolao was worried that his town mayor’s mansion was too simple and might offend those dignitaries.

But since they didn’t even enter the town, it wasn’t a matter of offense anymore.

He had a bad premonition, a premonition of impending disaster.

Upon hearing from the housekeeper that Huangfu Jingchen had arrived, Wang’s feet felt like they were on fire, and he hurriedly went out to greet him. When he reached the mansion gate and saw Huangfu Jingchen, he didn’t beat around the bush and quickly said, ”Young Master Huang, I heard that the Lord Governor has arrived, just outside the town.” He rubbed his hands, somewhat at a loss, and said, ”Look at us, it’s just a small epidemic; how did it alarm so many high officials? Could there be something wrong?”

Previously, he hadn’t taken Huangfu Jingchen and Xia Wenjin seriously. After all, he was the head of a town, and they were just outsiders.

But after seeing the Prefect’s regard for Huangfu Jingchen and Xia Wenjin, he knew he was mistaken.

Even though the young man in front of him was young, his status was clearly not simple; even the Prefect treated him with respect, so Wang had to accommodate him carefully.

Moreover, Huangfu Jingchen hadn’t made things difficult for him and didn’t require special treatment; he was busy running around for the matters of Wangshan Town.

Huangfu Jingchen glanced at him and asked, ”Do you have my letter?”

He had instructed Jiang Ning to deliver any messages directly to the town mayor’s mansion.

Upon hearing this, Wang Bolao quickly said, ”There was a letter for you early yesterday morning. Since you were always in the quarantine area, and they don’t allow people to enter there, I figured you would come back to get it, so I didn’t send anyone to bring it over.”

”Bring it to me!” That Wang Bolao, having his letter without notifying him. If it were any other time, it wouldn’t matter, but now his letter was no ordinary letter.

Wang Bolao quickly ordered the housekeeper, ”Quick, bring the young master’s letter from my study!” At this moment, he couldn’t care less about Huangfu Jingchen’s tone or attitude.

The housekeeper hurried off, while Wang Bolao accompanied Huangfu Jingchen inside. He intended to ask about the situation, but knowing that Huangfu Jingchen had been in the quarantine zone and might know less than he did, he probably couldn’t find out much.

He only hoped that the high officials weren’t specifically coming for Wangshan Town or the epidemic and would leave in a couple of days.

The housekeeper scurried off to fetch the letter, and by the time he reached the door of the study, Huangfu Jingchen had arrived.

He took the letter and opened it immediately.

The letter was from Yan Nan, who mentioned that after the Northern County Magistrate Yu Shikui received the memorial from Huainan Prefect Shang Jingwang, he didn’t report it to the Governor immediately but instead discussed it with the Military Commander, instantly mobilizing troops to rush to Wangshan Town.

Yan Nan had used the message channel of Jifeng Tower.

Jifeng Tower, initially a security firm, was well-known throughout Nanxia, delivering letters and items for people. As long as you could afford it, they would deliver the items to the destination as fast as possible.

If it were gold or silver that needed escorting, it would naturally be slower, but for lightweight items like letters, it could arrive within two days within a thousand li, and within one day within five hundred li, though the fees were astonishingly high.

Judging from the date of Yan Nan’s signature, the letter was sent three days ago and arrived early yesterday morning without delay.

Today, the Northern County’s stationed troops had already arrived at Wangshan Town. Commander Wen Hao had brought the troops on a forced march.

If he had seen this letter early yesterday morning, he could have made some preparations. Now that Wangshan Town was surrounded, the letter no longer held much significance. They were already at a disadvantage.

His cold gaze fixed on Wang Bolao, truly somewhat annoyed in his heart.

As a town mayor, being so unclear in doing things.

But now was not the time to speak of these things. Huangfu Jingchen took the letter and ran straight to the quarantine area.

Now that even Wen Hao from the Northern County Military Command didn’t meet with Shang Jingwang, it was clearly due to the epidemic here. Additionally, he didn’t know what Wen Hao and Yu Shikui’s plans were.

Since he couldn’t meet the people, he would of course go and get some information from Shang Jingwang first.

Receiving this letter and learning it had been delivered yesterday yet delayed in reaching Huangfu Jingchen’s hands, Xia Wenjin was left speechless.

She had always feared a repeat of the past life’s tragedy. Aside from devoting herself entirely to combatting the epidemic, she also kept an eye on external matters. But Wang Bolao’s delay had cost them the timing.

Perhaps Shang Jingwang and Huangfu Jingchen didn’t realize how seriously this delay affected them, but Xia Wenjin understood and was anxious about it.

They were now surrounded and could only take it one step at a time.

Shang Jingwang called Huangfu Jingchen and Xia Wenjin aside, his expression grave as he said, ”Young Master Jing, Doctor Xiao Xia, the situation doesn’t seem optimistic. As local officials, we are duty-bound, but you two were only passing by, and these matters shouldn’t involve you. Now that Doctor Xiao Xia has recovered, you two should find a chance and leave by yourselves!”

Xia Wenjin said, ”Lord Shang thinks we can still leave now?”

Not to mention she had once contracted the epidemic. Even without that, as long as they’re at Wangshan Town, regardless of their distance from the epidemic, they probably won’t be able to leave now.