Tang Dynasty: Father, if you don't rebel, I will!

The battle in Zhangzhou City began quickly, but ended even faster.

Facing the Chu King's personal guards, who could be considered the most elite and luxurious force in the world, let alone the fact that these garrison troops of Zhangzhou City had become lax in their training due to the incompetence of their commander.

In terms of weaponry and combat strength, they were no match for the Chu King's personal guards, who came from the Six Guards of the Eastern Palace.

In just over an hour, Li You, under the command of his naval commander Du Ling, stormed into the prefectural governor's mansion in Zhangzhou. However, the situation inside the mansion shocked Li You, a prince who was quite knowledgeable.

For a moment, they didn't know what to say.

Where is Qi Shilu?

Du Ling grabbed the gatekeeper of the prefectural governor's mansion and questioned him fiercely.

His soldiers searched the entire prefectural government compound, and even the navy at Zhangzhou port outside the city reported a victory, having completely taken control of the port, but so far they still haven't found the figure of Qi Shilu, the prefect of Zhangzhou.

On the contrary, these officials from the prefectural governor's office...

Li You walked silently among the bound "evil spirits" with a gloomy expression, listening to the panting and hoarse shouts around him.

The hand gripping the revolver tightened involuntarily.

Suddenly, a voice that seemed somewhat familiar reached his ears, and he turned his head abruptly.

"King Chu, Your Highness King Chu, oh dear..."

His eyes widened, and he quickly walked up to the man, staring at his thin, sallow face and deep-set, dark eyes. He gripped the man's shoulder tightly.

However, it was only then that they discovered that beneath the wide robes of the agricultural official, the other party's body was almost skin and bones.

"Jiang Cheng!? You're Jiang Cheng?!"

He stared wide-eyed and asked incredulously.

When the official named Jiang Cheng heard Li You call his name, his dazed eyes seemed to try to focus, but his body trembled even more violently, as if he were being attacked by a cold wind.

"Woo, woo, woo..."

Saliva and snot gushed out in a disheveled manner as the other person trembled, looking quite disgusting.

However, Li You's eyes were filled with anger and regret.

While shouting for people to find cotton blankets and quickly wrap him up, he also yelled for people to quickly go outside the city to call the ship's doctor.

During this process, Dr. Jiang Cheng, the agricultural expert, seemed to have finally recovered somewhat.

Trembling, she stared at Li You with tear-filled eyes.

With a sob, she burst into tears.

"Your Highness!!! Waaaaah... I'm ruined, I'm ruined!"

"They lied to me! They lied to me, saying that stuff was a good medicine for strengthening the body! They lied to me! Waaah! I'm a sinner! I'm a sinner!"

He cried loudly, but Li You's brows furrowed deeper and deeper.

"What exactly happened in Jiangnan? Why are you all looking like this?! Who are you referring to as 'them'?"

Jiang Cheng was sobbing uncontrollably, but he managed to hold onto his last shred of rationality and began to recount the story in a trembling voice.

He is a PhD in Agriculture from Zhangzhou Port.

In recent years, the Tang Dynasty encouraged trade and issued orders to collect rare plant and crop species from overseas.

Jiang Cheng was responsible for cultivating improved varieties of sugarcane in Zhangzhou and new rice in Champa, as well as identifying and inspecting overseas crops entering through Zhangzhou Port.

Jiang Cheng spoke haltingly, and sometimes even went off-topic, but Li You could tell that he was struggling against something.

"That stuff, I... I asked the physicians... they said it does have medicinal value, and it could be used to modify and improve anesthetic powder... so I cultivated a batch, I..."

At this point, Jiang Cheng seemed unable to hold on any longer, and his body began to convulse violently.

"Medical officer! Medical officer!!!"

Li You shouted in shock and anger, and at this moment, the naval doctor who had accompanied him finally arrived from outside with a medicine box.

"Quick, save him!"

The physician dared not waste any time. However, when he had someone hold the patient down, examined his eyes, tongue, and pulse, his expression became increasingly grim and troubled.

In the end, he looked at the King of Chu, who was staring at him with a face full of despair.

Why are you looking at me like that? Save him!

The physician stammered, his expression more grim than tears: "Your Highness, this person's pulse is the most disordered I have ever seen in my life. Even when I was studying medicine in Chang'an, I never encountered anything like it. The pulse is weak, large, and scattered; the tongue is thick and toxic; the body shows signs of true cold with false heat; and the breath smells of rotten fruit..."

"Your Majesty, your medical skills are shallow."

At this moment, Jiang Cheng began to wail just like the officials of the surrounding prefectural government. His voice was sharp and shrill, making even the personal guards of the Chu Prince's mansion feel their scalps tingle.

Many people were whispering among themselves, wondering if the prefect's mansion had been tainted by some evil spirit.

Li You's face was extremely gloomy.

If this is the case in Zhangzhou, then it's highly likely that the situation is similar in Quanzhou, Fuzhou, Wenzhou, and other similar places.

At this moment, he, who had initially thought that some people were tired of living and had no brains and wanted to rebel, finally realized the critical nature of the situation.

"Immediately search the entire city of Zhangzhou, especially the residences of these officials. Gather all the poisonous substances and forbid anyone from stealing them!"

Steal?

Looking at these once well-dressed scholars and literati, now they've all become such a wretched sight.

How could any of the guards in the Chu King's mansion possibly want to hoard such a monstrous thing?

While Du Ling led his troops to conduct a thorough search of Zhangzhou City, Li You solemnly wrote down the details of what had happened on a letter and tied it to the leg of the golden eagle.

"Xiao Wu, quick, quickly send this letter to my brother!"

With a cry, the golden eagle soared into the sky.

At almost the same time, Kong Bai, the governor of Yingzhou in Henan Province, looked at the urgent order sent from the Six Ministries and the imperial court with suspicion and uncertainty.

Various troop deployment orders and temporary dispatch orders from officials.

Finally, it all boiled down to one order: "Advance south to attack Gwangju, swiftly occupy and arrest all officials of Gwangju, including the governor of Gwangju County, and ensure the stability of the people of Gwangju..."

If it weren't for the fact that all the seals were complete, and even the crown prince's seal had not been confirmed to be correct.

Kong Bai was starting to think that someone in the court was plotting rebellion.

"My lord, what should we do now...?" The Prefect of Yingzhou was waiting for him to make a decision.

Kong Bai glared at him: "The imperial court's orders and procedures have all been arranged. Do you think I would disobey orders? Go! Quickly gather the soldiers of Yingzhou and march south with me to quell the rebellion!"

Li Chengqian, accompanied by Prince Wei, Li Tai, had already traveled along the inland waterways to Hebei Province. As they turned to enter Henan Province, two golden eagles flew down from the sky.

After circling in the air for a while and letting out a few cries, it seemed that it finally spotted Li Chengqian in the procession.

Then it fell from the sky.

Li Tai quickly stepped forward, took off the letter, and handed it to Li Chengqian.

Then, Li Tai saw that his elder brother's face instantly turned gloomy and terrifying, as if water could drip from it.

The unprecedentedly intense killing intent caused the surrounding warhorses to raise their heads uneasy and thump their hooves.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..."