The grass in the factory should be plucked

Yin Jiu frowned. "His Majesty has summoned me urgently. Let's go to the palace to discuss this."

Jiang Li then asked Chai'er, Huan'er, and Aunt Lian to inform them, and together with four guards, Qingfeng and Mingyue, she entered the palace with Yin Jiu.

On the way, Yin Jiu revealed to her: "There seems to be an epidemic, which started in the Jiangzhe area and is spreading northward."

Jiang Li asked in surprise, "What did Brother Shen say?"

Yin Jiu frowned: "After reviewing the medical records, the Marquis of Ruian asked His Majesty to summon you to the palace for a meeting."

Jiang Li was even more surprised.

If it is indeed an epidemic, Shen Muchun and the Longmen Medical Bureau can handle it, so why summon her to the palace for a meeting?

In this light, the arrival of this "epidemic" seems rather strange!

Yin Jiu took her directly to the Imperial Study.

"Your Majesty, Prince Jing'an has arrived."

"Ah Li is here? Let her in quickly."

Jiang Li stepped into the Imperial Study and saw Shen Muchun, Mo Qilang, and Cui Jue all present, but the three Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet, including Chief Minister Liang, were nowhere to be seen.

She already had a guess in her heart. It seemed that something was amiss, perhaps involving supernatural forces. Therefore, Nangong Qinghe did not summon the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet, as they would not understand it either!

Jiang Li stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Your Majesty."

Nangong Qinghe smiled and said, "No need for formalities, please take a seat."

After Jiang Li took her seat, Nangong Qinghe gestured for Yuanbao to hand her several memorials.

Jiang Li unfolded the documents and examined them closely; they were all urgent reports from local officials to the imperial court regarding the epidemic.

Related cases have been reported from Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces to Anhui, Henan, and Shanxi provinces.

The last one was from Cangzhou, Hebei.

Jiang Li's expression turned solemn. Cangzhou in Hebei was already very close to the capital!

"Brother Shen, what do you think?" She turned to Shen Muchun.

"It doesn't seem like an epidemic." Shen Muchun frowned.

What are the symptoms?

Jiang Li was quite surprised. Given Shen Muchun's medical expertise, if he said it didn't resemble an epidemic, then it definitely wasn't an epidemic.

"What's strange is that the symptoms are all different."

"Some people catch a cold and then fall seriously ill; others suffer from a relapse of an old illness, and the illness strikes suddenly; still others are usually healthy but suddenly feel extremely tired for no reason..."

Shen Muchun said, "Whether it is transmitted from person to person is still inconclusive, but the only common point is that all of them are ineffective with medicine!"

Jiang Li was shocked: "Since the symptoms are different and it cannot be determined whether it is transmitted from person to person, why are the local officials all saying in unison that it is an epidemic?"

Mo Qilang unfolded a map.

"Little Sixteen, look, the places circled in red ink are the places where the epidemic was reported this time."

Jiang Li stepped forward to take a closer look.

Mo Qilang picked up his pen and connected these places. "Does this line seem familiar?"

Jiang Li blurted out: "Huichang Canal!"

“That’s right, the places where the epidemic was reported were along the Huichang Canal.”

The location circled in red on the map is clearly the place through which the Huichang Canal passes!

Food is the paramount necessity of the people, and the Huichang Canal is related to agriculture, so it has always been a key focus of the imperial court and local officials.

Along the Huichang Canal, people fell ill with a strange disease, which is why local officials believed it to be an epidemic.

In addition to human-to-human and animal-to-human transmission, some diseases are also transmitted through water sources.

"Could someone have poisoned it?" Cui Jue raised another possibility.

Mo Qilang turned to Shen Muchun: "What kind of poison can spread rapidly over thousands of miles via water sources?"

Shen Muchun said, "No matter what kind of poison it is, if it is to spread thousands of miles through water, the dosage must be extremely large, enough to poison at least a city! By the time it spreads downstream, the people upstream will have all died."

Nangong Qinghe nodded in agreement: "Shen Qing's words are absolutely right."

The Huichang Canal runs through the north and south of the Chu state, covering thousands of miles, and its water volume is roughly equivalent to that of a major river.

Imagine how much poison would be needed to poison the Yangtze or Yellow River.

This is almost impossible!

Nangong Qinghe turned to Jiang Li, "What are your thoughts, A-Li?"

Jiang Li pondered for a moment and said, "If there was a problem with the water in the Huichang Canal, why didn't the Tianji Camp's aquatic army discover it?"

Nangong Qinghe nodded: "Yes, I was just about to ask you, have you received any reports from the Tianji Camp about the unusual water quality?"

Jiang Li shook her head: "No."

Her delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly. "I will contact Wuchou and Brother Jiao right away."

Jiang Li first contacted Jiaolong, "Brother Jiaolong, has there been any unusual activity at the Huichang Canal lately?"

Jiaolong quickly replied: "No, the aquatic tribes have a small team patrolling the Huichang Canal every day, everything is normal."

"What happened?" He had a vague sense of unease.

Jiang Li received an urgent report from local officials along the Changqu Canal that an "epidemic" had occurred in the area.

Do you think someone might be poisoning the water?

"An epidemic?" Jiaolong was shocked.

"It's unlikely to be poisoning. If it were poisoning, the patrolling aquatic team would be the first to be poisoned."

“Yes, that’s what I find strange.” Jiang Li frowned and pondered.

If the water is poisonous, it will attack indiscriminately. Why didn't the aquatic creatures get affected?

The dragon said, "I'll go and see for myself."

"Alright, Brother Jiao, please be careful."

Jiang Li contacted Mingzhu again. Since she couldn't sign a contract with her own daughter, she had to use Mingzhu to relay her message.

Mingzhu was also surprised to hear this. Neither he nor Xie Wuchou had received any reports of abnormal water quality, and neither the aquatic nor the sea creature armies had been affected.

“I sent Dandan to pick up Wuchou and tell her to return to the capital immediately.”

As the General of Martial Virtue who commands the armies of the sea and water tribes, Xie Wuchou would be held responsible if the water in the Huichang Canal was indeed the problem.

Mingzhu also realized the seriousness of the problem, "Okay, I'll go and inform her right away."

Jiang Li reported the situation in both places to Nangong Qinghe.

Hearing that neither the aquatic nor the sea creatures were affected, Nangong Qinghe's tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly.

"In this light, it may not necessarily be a problem with the Huichang Canal."

Jiaolong is right. If there is a problem with the water in Huichang Canal, the aquatic creatures in this area will be the first to be affected.

"Brother Jiao went to see for himself. Let's wait for his news."

Shen Muchun also said, "We need to see the medical records before we can draw a conclusion. Cangzhou is not far from the capital; it can be reached in a day by fast horse. I will lead the Longmen Medical Bureau staff to Cangzhou now."

“Okay.” Nangong Qinghe nodded in agreement.

“Brother Shen, I’ll have Jifeng personally follow you. Send back any news as soon as possible,” Jiang Li said.

Shen Muchun cupped his hands in thanks: "Thank you for your trouble, General Jifeng."

Jifeng and Zhufeng are now registered fifth-rank generals, and they also have a group of peregrine falcons under their command. They diligently fly around the territory of the Great Chu every day, forming an extremely rapid intelligence network.

Shen Muchun accepted the order and left, while Jiang Li and the others stayed behind to await news from the dragon.

Jiang Li contacted Xie Chang'an through the Heart-to-Heart Pact, asking him to return to the manor as soon as possible. If Xie Wuchou returned, she would take him to the palace to meet the emperor.

Upon hearing this, Xie Chang'an became extremely anxious. If there really was a problem with the Huichang Canal, wouldn't Xie Wuchou be guilty of dereliction of duty?

His precious little daughter is not even sixteen years old yet. How can he let her shoulder such a heavy responsibility?

He made up his mind that once this matter was resolved, he would quickly let his two beloved daughters "retire from the military and return to their hometowns." His two beautiful daughters should stay in the Prince's Mansion and live as noble and precious county princesses.