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"Yes." Wu Xin smiled bitterly. "I believe in the general's character. As long as Qi withdraws its troops, the general will not take the initiative to attack. No matter what, Daqi is now the problem that Qi must solve. Smallpox has broken out in several places in Daqi. Daqi must not be allowed to pass through the Devil's Tomb and go south. Regardless of whether the general is willing to help Qi or not, as His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Qi, I cannot let the people be in danger. Daqi must be rushed back. If reason cannot be used, then we have no choice but to fight."

After Wu Xin said this, he fell silent. Polo beside him also lowered his head, as if waiting for the verdict. You could hear a pin drop in the tent.

After a long moment of contemplation, Bei Zhenting said, "His Highness Wu Xin must have come here without having eaten. Come, prepare a good meal for them."

Li Qingyun came in from outside, walked to Wu Xin and Polo, made a gesture of invitation, and took the two men out.

The food was placed in an empty tent. Li Qingyun led his people over, ordered them to serve the steaming hot food, brought two pots of wine and left the tent.

After Li Qingyun left, Wu Xin breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed his shoulders slightly.

Polo: "Your Highness, I was unaware of the situation at Daqi. I am guilty of negligence. Please punish me!"

Wu Xin glanced coldly at Polo, who was kneeling on one knee, then turned his head and said in an icy voice, "Serve this prince dinner."

"Yes!" Polo carefully poured wine for Wu Xin.

Looking at the glass of cold wine, Wu Xin frowned, "Your Highness doesn't want to drink wine, he wants to drink that soup."

"Yes!" Polo was embarrassed and quickly picked up an empty bowl to fill half a bowl of rice wine, glutinous rice balls and egg drop soup for Wu Xin.

The egg drop rice wine glutinous rice balls are small and exquisite, with a sweet taste blooming on the tip of the tongue, and the temperature is just right. After drinking it in one sip, you will feel that all your fatigue is cured.

After drinking half a bowl, the cold expression on Wu Xin's face relaxed, and the small cut on his cheek that he had received at the gate of Loushan City also softened.

The outside world had always said that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was gentle and kind, but all Polo had ever seen was the stern and cold-hearted Prince Wu Xin. Now, for the first time, he saw a different expression on this cold little prince's face, and he couldn't help but be slightly stunned.

Just as he stared at Wu Xin's face, Wu Xin frowned.

Polo touched his head and smiled awkwardly. His stomach, which had been hungry for a long time, suddenly started to protest and made two sudden noises.

Wu Xin's brows were furrowed into a frown, with a hint of obvious disgust between his eyebrows.

Polo grinned and felt even more embarrassed.

Wu Xin ate his meal slowly and leisurely. Half an hour later, he felt full and put down his chopsticks.

He couldn't lose his image in front of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, so Polo, who was standing aside watching Wu Xin eat, felt dizzy with hunger.

There was still a lot of food left, and the rice wine and egg drop dumplings that looked so warming and chilly… Wu Xin’s Adam’s apple moved slightly, and he thought, it would be a waste not to eat them! He glanced at Wu Xin, who was warming his hands in his pockets, and without waiting for Wu Xin’s consent, Polo took the initiative to sit next to Wu Xin, “Your Highness, are you full?”

Wu Xin nodded.

"Your Highness, if you are full, I will not be polite. Food is precious and cannot be wasted..." Polo said this as he picked up the new soup bowl, scooped soup, put down the spoon, and held the bowl. He quickly drank two bowls of warm rice wine, glutinous rice balls, and egg drop soup, and breathed a sigh of relief, his face full of satisfaction.

Wu Xin looked at this general who had no sense of boundaries with a strange look.

The general pretended not to notice Wu Xin's cold eyes, picked up the bowl and filled it with rice, then picked up Wu Xin's chopsticks and started eating.

"How rude." Wu Xin curled his lips and turned his head away, looking outside the tent through the gap in the tent.

With his mouth full of braised pork, Polo asked vaguely, "Your Highness, is tonight's event over?"

Wu Xin nodded indifferently.

The two chatted dryly for a while, asking and answering questions, and then Li Qingyun entered the tent.

"Your Highness, the Prince invites you."

Wu Xin stood up and started to leave. Polo, who was still eating, hurriedly picked up the remaining half bowl of egg drop rice wine dumplings and drank it all, then got up and followed him.

The negotiations lasted for more than two hours, and by the time Wu Xin was sent out of Loushan City, it was already past midnight.

The next morning, the Da Qi military camp changed its appearance overnight. A large number of soldiers evacuated, leaving only a small number of troops guarding the border to take care of the soldiers and civilians who were wounded in the battle.

A fierce battle broke out between Qi and Daqi at the Devil's Tomb. After two days of fighting, the Daqi army finally called off the battle and retreated to its own territory.

During these two days, victory reports and urgent reports flew in from the Dacheng Palace in Jingzhou, and news from dozens of frontier regions was delivered one after another.

News of explosives being discovered within Qi's borders spreads. Princess Yong'an is secretly colluding with the traitorous Prince Qi. General Zhenbei deserts his post and leaves Hanzhou for the northwest...

Bei Zhenming was so angry that he flew into a rage in the court, but soon more frightening news came.

The northwest fell, and smallpox broke out across the country. Bei Zhenting and Princess Yong'an left their posts to personally investigate the situation in the northwest. Meanwhile, news of Qi's desire to cooperate with Dacheng reached Bei Zhenming belatedly.

Bei Zhenming looked at the letter written by Bei Zhenting and stood up from the dragon throne in shock. The ministers in the hall were furious when they learned about the epidemic in the northwest.

"Daqi bastard, how shameless!"

"What should we do? Smallpox is a terminal disease that is certain to kill us!"

Before Bei Zhenming could investigate the truth of the news, and without knowing who spread the news, the news that Bei Zhenqing was seriously ill and his life or death was unknown reached the ears of the Empress Dowager.

The old man had been in poor health since he was frightened at his birthday party two years ago. When he heard the news, he fainted.

When the person woke up again, he seemed to have lost his soul and his condition deteriorated rapidly.

The Empress Dowager passed away in just one month. The national tragedy came so quickly that the whole country was in grief.

The national tragedy and smallpox plunged the city into depression in just two months.

Despite the entirety of Xizhou being sealed off, the people remained in a state of panic. To escape the smallpox epidemic, many families from the counties surrounding Xizhou migrated south.

So many things happened that I didn't know how much time had passed in a daze. The funeral ceremony and the empress dowager's burial just passed by.

When Bei Zhenming pushed open the door of Longxin Palace and saw the desolate scene inside, he suddenly came to his senses as if he had been disconnected.

"Your Majesty, there's good news from the northwest. Vaccination with cowpox can prevent smallpox. We're waiting for you... Your Majesty?"

"Cowpox?" Bei Zhenming muttered to himself, and it took him a long time to react.

Zhu Shengyuan: "Yes, Your Majesty, this is the method proposed by Princess Yong'an. It has been verified using death row prisoners. People who have been vaccinated with cowpox will not contract smallpox again. Princess Yong'an sent an instruction manual that records the verification process in detail..."

"I see... Then let them all be vaccinated..." Bei Zhenming murmured.

"Your Majesty, don't you want to take a look at the instructions?" Zhu Shengyuan asked tentatively.

Bei Zhenming ignored Zhu Shengyuan's words and walked forward on his own.

"Your Majesty, there's one more thing..." Zhu Shengyuan hesitated, "Prince Yong'an should only have two antidotes left..."