My reborn husband and son are thinking about how to kill me every day.

The money issue was quickly resolved, but how to send it over and how to negotiate with Ji Yunshuang to obtain the pills to treat the plague were still matters to be discussed.

The fact that the plague spread to Daqi indirectly proved that General Yao was not a traitor who sold out his country.

Therefore, King Jing of Qi released General Yao and his family back home. He also sent a royal physician to treat General Yao's illness.

General Yao has only dealt with Ji Yunshuang before, so he will definitely need to be present during the negotiations.

However, General Yao's health is not as good as before.

Thinking of General Yao's current state, many people felt regret. They should have believed General Yao's words.

If we had planned ahead, we wouldn't be in such a passive position now.

But regret is useless now. All we can do now is hope that the negotiations between the imperial court and the Zhou Kingdom go smoothly and that we can successfully obtain the medicine to cure the plague.

*

Ji Yunshuang led her men across the border secretly under cover of night.

It's already deep winter.

The State of Qi is located in the north and is even colder than the State of Zhou. The temperature is even lower at night than during the day, and with the roads icy, it is very difficult to travel at night.

Although Ji Yunshuang was anxious, she still found a place to rest first.

On this journey, Ji Yunshuang brought only highly skilled martial artists with her. Whether crossing the border stealthily or traveling quickly, everyone used their agility and lightness skills.

Therefore, everyone's energy expenditure is particularly high.

It's even more important to find a good place to rest and replenish energy at night.

Fortunately, Ji Yunshuang had considered this before setting off. She prepared dried meat, special nutritional supplements, and nourishing pills for everyone.

After stopping to rest, everyone immediately took out their dry rations and started eating.

The soldiers knew that following Ji Yunshuang on missions was dangerous, but they were willing to risk their lives to follow her. Besides admiring her, they also appreciated how kind she was to them.

Unlike their previous masters, who also risked their lives but never got a decent meal, they were different.

But Ji Yunshuang put herself in their shoes and thought of them.

For example, Ji Yunshuang prepared a lot of dried meat for them, which tasted good and was very filling.

And what about nutritional supplements, tonic pills...?

They don't understand these things, but they all know they are good things, and they feel refreshed after eating them every time.

Sometimes, even after taking the pills given by Ji Yunshuang, his hidden ailments would improve.

In the past, those high-ranking officials and nobles would only keep the good things for themselves and would never let others use them.

In their eyes, these people's lives are not even worth mentioning. They are not considered human beings at all.

But with Ji Yunshuang, it was clearly different.

Ji Yunshuang always took them on adventures and carried out very dangerous missions.

But she herself was at the forefront, and she brought them out because she genuinely wanted to bring them back safely.

Besides admiration and loyalty, everyone also had an extraordinary level of trust in Ji Yunshuang.

After a simple meal of dry rations, everyone took turns resting.

Ji Yunshuang was not supposed to keep watch, but she couldn't sleep tonight.

They were rushing along the way and it was inconvenient for Lu Yinheng to contact them again, so she didn't know how things were going on his end.

She habitually anticipates the worst-case scenario.

Then we should think about how they should act next.

After tossing and turning in her mind for a while, Ji Yunshuang forced herself to fall asleep.

The next day, Ji Yunshuang led the group to continue their journey.

Just as Ji Yunshuang was leading her people on their journey, General Yao also set off with his men, escorting a large amount of gold, silver, horses, and other valuables.

He was tortured in prison for many days, and his injuries have not yet healed.

However, given the current situation, he couldn't wait for his injuries to heal before setting off. Therefore, to avoid delaying things, he dragged his injured body onto the carriage. To take care of his health, King Qi Jing assigned him several imperial physicians.

In addition to caring for General Yao's health, these imperial physicians also carried out a secret mission to research a pill to treat the plague.

Although General Yao repeatedly said that they had never seen the pills given by Ji Yunshuang before, the military doctors in the camp had no idea what kind of medicinal materials or how those pills were made.

But King Jing of Qi did not believe it.

He believed that the military doctors in the camp were incompetent, so he sent the best royal physicians from the palace to handle the situation as it came.

We must get our hands on the recipe.

His Great Qi must never be manipulated again.

In addition, he sent Zhu Qi, who was the one he trusted most, and several other important ministers to accompany him.

He was still unwilling to give so much back to the Zhou Kingdom, unwilling to let the Qi Kingdom lose so much face...

Therefore, several trusted ministers were also dispatched to negotiate, hoping to turn the tide.

In fact, King Qi Jing wanted to go there in person to meet Ji Yunshuang. Now, he no longer underestimated her, but regarded her as a formidable enemy of the Great Qi.

However, firstly, as the ruler of a nation, it would be too humiliating for him to personally deliver the gold and silver as compensation. Secondly, he was worried that Ji Yunshuang might try to play tricks after learning his identity, and doing so would be too risky.

Therefore, he ultimately gave up the idea of ​​going there in person.

General Yao and his party had not traveled far from Qiong when they encountered a large number of refugees.

As a large number of refugees surged towards them, the accompanying troops immediately went on alert. General Yao also forced himself to get off the carriage.

"General!" Zhu Qi cupped his hands in greeting to General Yao and said, "These refugees are very likely to have escaped from Shengcheng. Could they also be carrying diseases?"

General Yao, his face full of worry, said, "Very likely!"

Upon hearing General Yao's affirmative words, the accompanying officials all showed expressions of worry and anxiety.

"Now what?"

"Should we change our route and avoid these refugees?"

……

General Yao frowned deeply and did not answer their questions immediately.

They chose this route mainly to shorten the travel time, quickly deliver the goods to Zhengcheng, negotiate with Ji Yunshuang, and obtain the medicine to relieve the suffering of the people afflicted by the plague.

The road they are taking now is the fastest way to get to Zhengcheng.

If you take a different route, you can still get to Zhengzhou, but the other routes are more circuitous and may take a very long time.

The current situation is that with every day of delay, tens of thousands more people could die and more areas could fall into enemy hands...

After much deliberation, General Yao decided to take the risk and give it a try. "Let's continue along the original route, minimize rest, and make every effort to get to Zhengcheng."

However, his decision was met with opposition from many ministers.

"General Yao, isn't your decision too hasty? You yourself said that the plague is extremely aggressive, and one could easily get infected if one is not careful."

Now that we know a large number of refugees are fleeing from Shengcheng, if we still head in that direction and make contact with them, wouldn't that put everyone in the most dangerous situation?

Envoy Fan twitched his beard, striking a fearless pose, "I'm old, I'll die if I die."

But we came out here on the king's orders, bearing the fate of the entire Qi state on our shoulders.

If the accompanying soldiers also contract the plague and are unable to protect the valuables, resulting in looting and ultimately failing to negotiate with the Zhou Kingdom for the cure, then we will both be sinners for all time.