Lock and secure

Hearing this, Bei Zhenting frowned slightly, and then the three of them walked out of the room together.

In the courtyard of the main hall of the palace, an old man was pacing back and forth anxiously.

"What should I do? The smallpox in this county town is so serious now. Now that the prince is gone, I am all alone..."

"My lord, although the epidemic in the county city is serious, it has gradually returned to normal under the guidance of the prince and princess. His Majesty must have important matters to arrange when he summoned the prince back to the palace!"

The speaker was a frail-looking man who was under thirty and wore a long robe.

This man's name is Du Jingyu, and he is the county magistrate of Huyan County.

Bei Zhenting happened to hear him say this when he came over.

"Jingyu, you have followed me around these days and you have seen that the smallpox in Huyan County is still spreading. Two alleys were blocked yesterday. I... I, ah!" The old man held his forehead and sighed. He looked up and saw the prince and princess coming over. He held the box in Du Jingyu's hand with both hands, cleared his cough twice, and respectfully presented it with both hands.

"This is a letter from His Majesty to the Prince."

"This prince's?" Bei Zhenting narrowed his eyes. "Why is the letter His Majesty wrote to this prince in your hands?"

"Your Majesty...this..."

The old county magistrate hesitated and was at a loss as to how to explain.

This thing was placed on his desk when he returned to the yamen, and he had no idea who put it there.

Bei Zhenting opened the letter and saw the contents. His brows furrowed into a chasm. He looked at the old man seriously and asked, "Who else knew that His Majesty had summoned me back to the palace?"

"Only... only this humble official... and..."

The old man hesitated. After seeing the letter, he immediately consulted Du Jingyu. Now he knew that he couldn't publicize this matter. He was so nervous that cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

Seeing the old man looking at the young man next to him, Bei Zhenting shifted his gaze to the young man's face.

"Your Highness, I am also aware of this matter." Du Jingyu hurriedly bowed to Bei Zhenting.

Although it was a submissive gesture, Bei Zhenting didn't feel much respect from this person.

Du Jingyu is the emperor's man.

Bei Zhenting's gaze quietly shifted away from Du Jingyu, and his expression returned to normal.

Seeing Bei Zhenting's calm expression, Liu Chang thought of the letter from the emperor summoning the prince to leave, and he became anxious. He hurriedly said, "Prince, the smallpox in Huyan County is still spreading... Now..."

Luo Yao didn't know what was written in the letter. He was confused by what they were saying and leaned over to look at the letter in Bei Zhenting's hand.

Bei Zhenting raised the letter higher without making any expression.

Don’t show it?

Luo Yao stood on tiptoe slightly, and Bei Zhenting grabbed his restless hand the moment he reached out.

The dignified Princess Yong'an cannot lose her manners and dignity and bring shame to the prince.

Luo Yao had a lot of thoughts in his mind. He wanted to snatch the letter but was stopped by Bei Zhenting, so he gave up. He lowered his head slightly and stood on tiptoe to cover it up. The two of them were so close that others didn't notice anything fishy.

However, Old Man Liu had sharp eyes and was looking at Luo Yao strangely.

Luo Yao remained calm.

Bei Zhenting: "The smallpox epidemic has not yet been resolved, and the Northwest cannot do without me."

Du Jingyu bowed and said, "Your Highness, please rest assured. Leave everything to us."

The number of infected people is still increasing. Although the spread has slowed down, Huyan County is still in chaos...

In the past few days, the prince and princess have been gradually handed over to the county magistrate's office. Only then did Liu Chang realize how hard the prince and princess had worked in the past few months.

Not only do they have to take care of the affairs of the county town, but also the affairs of the villages, towns, counties and townships under its jurisdiction, as well as consultation letters from other county towns.

This involves more than just vaccination and grain purchases. There is also disaster relief due to the impact of the epidemic, pensions for relatives of the deceased, and the blockade of the disaster area where people are unable to go to work in the fields, resulting in missed spring planting.

The pandemic lockdown has prevented people from working in the fields, leading to missed spring planting. For the people, this is a devastating blow. Not planting means no harvest, a reduced harvest. For most people, who rely on their tiny plots of land for survival, this is like the sky falling. Some villages have already seen riots because of this. If this continues, if civil unrest breaks out, it will be beyond the control of a county governor like him...

Liu Chang had a lot of things to say, but when he heard Du Jingyu's words, he wanted to say something but couldn't. He could only shake his sleeves, sigh, and bow to Bei Zhenting.

Bei Zhenting frowned and said in a cold voice: "You two adults are truly the parents of the people of Huyan County! With you two here, I feel much more at ease. Now that the epidemic is raging, the situation is extremely serious, and all kinds of complicated affairs are overwhelmed. Now that the letter has been delivered to me, I believe that you two adults still have many important matters to deal with, so I will not keep you two adults any longer." After that, he waved his hand gently, indicating that the two could leave.

After the county magistrate and the county magistrate left, the letter sent by the emperor also arrived in Luo Yao's hands.

"The Emperor summoned me back to the capital, probably because of the antidote. It seems the Emperor won't send the antidote over. He wants me to go get it myself."

"He doesn't want to give me the antidote!" Luo Yao.

"Xizhou and Jingzhou are so far apart. It will take at least a month to get back to Beijing. Besides, the epidemic in Xizhou is so severe right now that we can't leave anyone behind. I think he just doesn't want to give me the antidote."

"Don't worry about what the emperor wants to do. The emperor's order is hard to disobey. Returning to the capital is inevitable." Ye Qing stroked his non-existent beard. "When will the prince leave?"

Bei Zhenting: "I can't leave anyone in the Northwest for now. I'll make arrangements for everything in Xizhou and then return to the capital."

Bei Zhenting was about to leave, and Luo Yao subconsciously pouted.

Ye Qing: "We can reach Jingzhou in a month if we gallop. If we can delay for half a month, my antidote will be halfway done. If the princess is worried that the prince will be in danger during this trip, then the prince should take the half-finished antidote with him. Although it cannot completely suppress the toxicity, it can save his life in a critical moment."

Luo Yao's expression was so easy to understand. Although he looked very carefree, he was also very fidgety... Just like the hand Luo Yao was hiding in his sleeve, pinching the corner of Bei Zhenting's clothes...

Bei Zhenting raised his hand.

The sleeve in his hand flew away, and Luo Yao looked up at Bei Zhenting.

There was confusion and obvious grievance and sadness, but these expressions only appeared for a moment before being taken away by the owner.

But this could not escape Bei Zhenting's eyes, Bei Zhenting could always know what Luo Yao was thinking.

His Yaoyao is so fragile. He can't stand any grievance. He doesn't show anything on his face, but I'm afraid he is thinking about all kinds of things in his mind now, and then secretly deducting points from him!

So cute.

Bei Zhenting raised the corner of his mouth slightly, and leaned forward slightly, "Yaoyao, do you want to go back to the capital with me?"

Let's go back to Beijing together? Luo Yao turned his head and wanted to ask, "Really?" But when he turned around, Bei Zhenting's handsome face was right in front of him. Luo Yao swallowed hard, turned his head stiffly, and said haltingly, "Xizhou can't do without someone. After the prince leaves, Xizhou still needs someone to look after it... County Magistrate Liu is old, his memory is not very good, and..."

Bei Zhenting tilted his head slightly and looked at Luo Yaoshu.

There are many things going on in Xizhou. The victims need to be comforted, and the single consumption of food in Xizhou can only barely keep Xizhou running. The number of cowpox cases is too small and the vaccination is not enough, and cows with cowpox need to be bred, etc.

Bei Zhenting looked at the moving red lips so close to him and just wanted to hold them in his mouth.

But... there are so many people around... it's hard to take action.

Bei Zhenting held Luo Yao's hand, interrupting him. He turned to Ye Qing, who was walking beside him, and said, "I have decided to return to the capital in half a month. You go and prepare the medicine."

Ye Qing nodded, "In that case, I will go back first."