The Dramatic Crown Princess Wants to Poison Me!-Chapter 284: Encirclement

The developments within the quarantine area, Shang Jingwang was also aware of, and he was very pleased, expressing his intention to include it in the report to the Capital City.

However, before he wrote the report, the entire Wangshan Town was suddenly surrounded by a large military force.

The road leading out of Wangshan Town was set up with checkpoints, prohibiting entry or exit. The disturbance caused by villagers a few days ago had passed, and now the place was quiet.

But the soldiers guarding here dared not relax in the slightest.

They watched the direction of the town vigilantly, fearing that the villagers’ uprising event would happen again.

However, they never expected that even they would be surrounded.

The town was surrounded by a large army, such a significant event was promptly reported to Shang Jingwang.

Shang Jingwang inquired about the situation and learned that the forces were Northern County garrison, numbering no less than five thousand. He gasped, had all of Northern County’s garrison troops been deployed?

The one who came, it was obvious who it was.

Shang Jingwang hurried to greet them.

Unfortunately, at the checkpoint, he saw an army as if facing a formidable enemy, surrounding the entire Wangshan Town, but did not see the person in charge. The leading officer was Wen Hao, Northern County Military Commander.

Wen Hao was a Fourth Rank Military Officer, while Shang Jingwang was only Fifth Rank; Wen Hao did not wish to meet him, and there was nothing he could do.

However, Wen Hao conveyed a message that any business would be discussed when Lord Yu arrives. He was only responsible for leading the encirclement, and knew nothing of the specific affairs.

Unable to meet anyone, Shang Jingwang felt uneasy.

The epidemic in Wangshan Town was already making people panic, and now with the army pressing in, wouldn’t it disturb the villagers even more?

But he had no solution at all.

He thought of the noble Young Master Jing from the Capital City and immediately went to find Huangfu Jingchen.

These past few days, Huangfu Jingchen was in the quarantine area; although he did not understand medicine, he was able to assist in other ways.

Shang Jingwang did not even have time to send someone to fetch him, he hurried anxiously towards the quarantine area. Huangfu Jingchen heard it was urgent, and wasted no time, knowing Shang Jingwang wouldn’t seek him unless it was serious.

Coincidentally, Xia Wenjin was preparing to go to the Light Epidemic Area, and promising progress had been made in resolving the epidemic, the outlook was promising. Though the effectiveness of the treatment had already been reported to Shang Jingwang, it was merely communicated verbally. Xia Wenjin, being the chief physician responsible for the entire quarantine area, needed to report to Shang Jingwang in detail personally.

During the waiting, Shang Jingwang was on pins and needles, no, he couldn’t even sit still, pacing back and forth, his anxious steps revealing his inner turmoil.

When Huangfu Jingchen came in, Shang Jingwang hurriedly greeted him, saying, "Young Master Jing, something terribly wrong has happened!"

Huangfu Jingchen was slightly stunned, said, "What happened?"

Shang Jingwang anxiously replied, "The Military Commander from Northern County has led an army, surrounding Wangshan Town. Lord Yu Shikui will arrive soon; it looks like they are up to no good!"

The footstep, Xia Wenjin was taken aback, "Surrounding?"

Shang Jingwang said worriedly, "Exactly, my office received the news and immediately sought to meet the Commander, but the Commander wouldn’t even entertain me. This high-profile deployment, almost mobilizing all the garrison troops from Northern County, doesn’t seem like a good sign!"

Xia Wenjin’s heart skipped a beat, with the army surrounding, even without past life experiences, she could tell it’s not a good thing, now it seems that Yu Shikui intends to act against Wangshan Town as in the past.

She turned to Huangfu Jingchen, "Do you remember what I said to you before?"

Huangfu Jingchen replied, "I remember, I also took precautions regarding this matter and took some measures! Also, the previous preparations should have results by now."

When he went to find Miss Mo for information, he had already instructed Jiang Ning to handle it.

"Is there any feedback?"

Huangfu Jingchen shook his head, as Xia Wenjin’s illness flared up, he sought the Undying Poison Doctor, and the epidemic remedy wasn’t immediately developed, during which Xia Wenjin’s condition fluctuated, teetering on the brink of life and death, all his attention was placed here, unaware of whether Jiang Ning had sent back any information.

Previously, when Xia Wenjin talked to him, it was all speculation, considering the worst-case scenarios, whereas Huangfu Jingchen felt things might not escalate to that extent.

But now, with the whole county’s garrison deployed to encircle a small Wangshan Town, this clearly wasn’t straightforward.

Shang Jingwang said, "Young Master Jing, this matter is serious, with Lord Governor involved and the Commander arriving together, deploying all troops; normally, this indicates a significant bandit situation, but Wangshan Town has no bandits, only an epidemic, it’s targeted at this pandemic!" 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

He stared at Huangfu Jingchen with a burning gaze, "Young Master Jing, could it be that Lord Yu knows about the villagers’ uprising a few days ago trying to escape, realizes we lack manpower here, fears unexpected incidents, our defense is insufficient, allowing villagers to stealthily leave, so troops are sent to support?"

Xia Wenjin said with a faint smile, "Lord Shang believes that possible?"

Shang Jingwang, having served as an official for many years, understood the sordid affairs in certain places, aware of how naive his previous thoughts were.

If that was true, why such a large force?

Why such a state of alert?

Why did the Lord Governor and Military Commander come together?

Xia Wenjin asked, "Lord Shang, your first report should have reached the Capital City long ago, correct?"

Shang Jingwang nodded, saying, "On the second day of my arrival here, I wrote and sent the report to the Capital City, requesting the dispatch of Imperial Physicians, considering the timeline, it should have reached the Capital City days ago!"

Local reports should typically be sent directly to the Prefectural Governor, who would report to the Governor, and then reported layer by layer to the Capital City.

But when it comes to pandemics, given the severity, Shang Jingwang’s status as Prefect allows him to directly report to the Capital City, although still simultaneously reporting to the Prefectural Governor.

Given the intention for Shang Jingwang’s handling of this pandemic to serve as a stepping stone for promotion, Huangfu Jingchen wouldn’t let him report to the Northern County Magistrate immediately.

He advised Shang Jingwang to directly submit the report to the Capital first, requesting Imperial Physicians, then simultaneously reporting to the Northern County Magistrate upon reaching the Capital.

The Capital is far, Northern County is near.

As long as the Capital receives the report first and provides instructions, the Northern County Magistrate naturally couldn’t erase or replace Shang Jingwang’s merit. After all, Yu Shikui had done this before. Doing it again is nothing to him.

This matter couldn’t be too obvious, it’s all about timing.

Originally, this subtle maneuvering wasn’t very spacious in terms of timing, but once the report reached the Capital, fate was left to chance.

The report might not necessarily be delivered to the Holy Emperor’s hands immediately, nor might it be processed immediately. After all, Wangshan Town, a mere town, holds little significance in the grand scheme of Nanxia.

Therefore, Shang Jingwang had concerns.

If the report gets delayed upon reaching the Capital, or the Holy Emperor, swamped with myriad affairs, prioritizes matters more significant than this town’s issues, postpones the processing, or deems dispatching Imperial Physicians unnecessary...