Although they were still in the horse carriage, the wax-sealed letters were handed to her one after another because of Long Tianyu’s instructions.

Lin Mengya’s eyebrows would always knit together every time she opened a yellow letter.

Beautiful as she was, her beauty had been overshadowed by the many worries she had.

Although Long Tianyu’s heart ached for Lin Mengya, he knew that she was working so hard because she could sense something fishy regarding the pandemic situation.

“You must be tired; you should take a rest.”

From the night until daybreak, apart from the time she ate and slept, Lin Mengya had spent the entire time meticulously studying the situation at the affected areas.

The more she understood the situation, the more she found it very strange in some ways.

The special characteristics of the pandemic included being highly contagious and a high rate of infection. However, the chances of infection depended on each individual.

Take for example smallpox, although it was widespread at that time, there were many lucky ones who managed to escape because of their natural bodily disposition.

However, something was different this time.

The letters brought to Long Tianyu mentioned that once the pandemic started to spread, no one was spared from the virus.

From newborns up to the aged as old as eighty years old would be infected. For this reason, the death rate should skyrocket.

However, this was not the case.

Apart from the spot in Yun State where the outbreak started, although there were many who were infected in the other states, the death rate was considerably low.

Normally, the virus of a pandemic did not usually die down in terms of the spread.

Unless it was as she guessed that the pandemic was not a disease after all. Rather, it was poison!

In that case, she would be able to explain the reason that apart from Yun State, the infection rate and death rate in the other states were greatly reduced.

The other states might well have merely been implicated.

“Long Tianyu, does the Yun State have any special local produce? Particularly something that the other surrounding states don’t produce or produce that are of inferior quality, so much so that people from these surrounding states have to go to the Yun State to obtain it.”

Lin Mengya turned her gaze at Long Tianyu, cocked her head, and asked the question with a puzzled look in her eyes.

The latter pondered for a moment and seemed to found an answer to that question.

“The Yun State produces good rice. The rice produced by the other states is not as tasty and fragrant as the ones produced in the Yun State. Moreover, the Yun State was given the title “The Barn of Dajin”. Almost all the shops selling foodstuff within the boundaries of Dajin carry rice produced in the Yun State.”

Lin Mengya let out a long breath. She finally found the answer to the matter.

However, the answer had made her heart heavy.

“I think I know the intention of these people. They want to destroy the place where the people of the Yun State store their grains. This way, there would be a shortage of food and the people of the country would go into a state of panic.”

As she spoke, Lin Mengya lifted her slender pointed finger to her face and gently massaged her temple.

This was such an insidious ploy.

They did not have to resort to doing this even if they wanted to cut off the food supply and produce from the Yun State.

The people of the Yun State were innocent. Almost all their families were broken up because of this evil ploy to fight for power.

After some thought, she supposed the only people who would do such a thing were the Crown Prince and the queen.

Regardless of how resourceful and powerful the Candle Dragon Cult was, it was not possible for these outsiders to be so savage without backing from the Crown Prince and the queen.

Moreover, this pandemic did not come any earlier or later, but it came when the emperor had just recovered and Long Tianyu was not in the country.

Moreover, at the time when the emperor was seriously ill, the Crown Prince was in charge of overseeing the matters of the entire nation.

A new dynasty might well have started if the aristocratic families in the Yun State had not been guarding themselves against the Crown Prince.

If she were the Crown Prince and the queen, she might also vent her anger on the aristocrats.

Now it could be said that the Yun State had been destroyed. Not only were the people in a panic, but the foundations of the aristocrats would also have been shaken.

Was this turbulent time the best chance for the Crown Prince and the queen to stir up more trouble?

Moreover, although the emperor had recovered from his illness, the number of trusted people around him was limited.

These aristocratic families which he could fall back on had been uprooted from their homes and were raging from the painful loss. With what was happening now, there were really very few people around the emperor who would be useful to him.

If the pandemic could not be effectively put under control, the common people would surely start to resent the imperial court.

The Crown Prince would watch for the right time to act by pretending to be concerned about the people. By then, it would be very difficult to salvage the situation.

This was like hitting three birds with one stone. In reality, he was the villain but pretended to be like a compassionate savior.

It appeared that the Crown Prince had resorted to unscrupulous means just so he could usurp the throne.

“I did make that guess earlier. He is a citizen of the Jin State after all. How dare he be so unscrupulous because of his greed for the throne!”

There was a frightening fury in his voice.

He rarely allowed himself to be thrown into such rage. Long Tianyu had always maintained the brotherly affection towards the Crown Prince.

Now, this little-left affection towards his brother was gradually disappearing due to the Crown Prince’s ruthlessness.

“Not only the Crown Prince. Don’t you feel that what he did was similar to how you were under the control of the Immortal Powder?”

At this instant, Lin Mengya could almost be certain.

This had to be the doings of the Candle Dragon Cult.

Only the extensive but mysterious organization was able to carry out such a perverse act.

The lives of the common people were nothing to them.

“Of course, I could sense this. Only they would do such harm to people. It seems there’s no escape from the misfortune for Dajin this time.”

Long Tianyu could feel a sense of helplessness rising in his heart.

However, that sense of helplessness was soon driven away by his unwavering determination deep within him, that he would never give up or admit defeat so easily.

So what if the Candle Dragon Cult was complicated and difficult to deal with? He would patiently dig out their rotten foundation bit by bit.

Then little by little, he would make sure they lose their nutrients and their grounds.

Regardless of how formidable they were now, they would slowly wither and eventually become dead twigs.

Only by doing so would their foundation be destroyed and the wings cut off. This way, there would not be any possibility of a revival in the future!

Lin Mengya cocked her head as she gazed anxiously at Long Tianyu, whose expression seemed to have changed.

This man always appeared to be immovable like a mountain on the surface, but he always had an outstanding sense of responsibility.

In fact, this was the strength of a man. Nevertheless, this sense of responsibility could also be a big boulder to a man sometimes.

If he was able to support it, he would be dauntless. On the other hand, if he was unable to support it so that it collapsed, he would not be able to start anew.

However, when Lin Mengya saw that the calm and mild expression on Long Tianyu’s face, Lin Mengya felt relieved.

After all, he was not fixated on the problem. Only so could he be able to be successful in great things.

“Be it being trapped in calamity or being able to escape, they would act sooner or later. Moreover, this is the right time to go back. The Nation of Lintian is already in chaos now. The news of our return would not be known in this chaotic state. Given that we’re leaving here in a hurry, the secret agents would be taken by surprise.”

The details Lin Mengya was able to think of surprised Long Tianyu. He could not help but admire her for that.

As he spied the same smug expression on her face whenever she tried to play tricks on people, Long Tianyu’s heavy-laden heart lifted considerably.

.

“That’s right,” responded Long Tianyu, as he pulled Lin Mengya into an embrace.

What could they do even if the Crown Prince truly collided with the Candle Dragon Cult?

With this cunning little fox by his side, he was ready to take the gamble, even if it concerned the whole world.

Moreover, it was only about the good-for-nothing Crown Prince and the evil queen.

The horse carriage traveled swiftly on the land of Lintian. Although the news of the Zuo Qiuchen, the new emperor, taking over the old powers by might, the common people’s daily lives did not seem to be greatly affected.

The only interesting thing was that there was a rise in the rumor that certain powerful aristocrat’s properties had been confiscated, certain royal relatives were imprisoned, or sent into exile. These rumors had become the talk at mealtimes.

Little did they expect that Lin Mengya, Princess Anle of the Nation of Lintian, who had stirred up a commotion there, had boarded a common-looking horse carriage and headed towards Jin State, without attracting anyone’s attention.

The horse carriage had not stopped even once. Only the coachman and the galloping horses were being changed once in a while.

Under the special protection from Zuo Qiuchen, Lin Mengya and her company did not meet with any obstacles but arrived at the border of the two countries smoothly.

They were travel-worn and weary. Once again, they were back at the Road of the Immortal where she almost lost her life. There, as the horse carriage stopped at one end of the road, Lin Mengya could not help but felt that a generation of time had passed.

“Baishao had arrived at Square Town and she’s waiting for us, so rest assured, she’s safe and sound.”

Long Tianyu stood behind Lin Mengya and put his big hand on her slender waist.

He spoke behind her ears with a gentle voice.

In the last few days, they had been hurrying on in their journey that she did not manage to get much rest.

Despite looking wan and sallow on her face, Lin Mengya was still rather energetic. She could still joke around with him although most of the time, she was snuggled up in his arms as she, sometimes falling into a fitful sleep, sometimes listening attentively to him talk about the pandemic.

At the sight of her skinny face, Long Tianyu could not help but felt an ache in his heart.

“Erm, I miss her too. I heard that Xiao Yixin has gone to the Capital City. I hope he is safe and sound. I believe it would be very useful for the pandemic situation if we could engage his help.”

They had only gone a few steps forward and a strong wind came swirling up from the cliff and caused her to sway to one side.

She shook her head and made a wry smile. She seemed to be in a very weak state after she traveled through time to come here.

At this instant, she really missed the fit and strong body she had in modern times, even when had to suffer many hardships.

Not to mention the remnant poison that had mutated that had not been purged out of the body. For this reason, she always felt a dark shadow over her mind.

It appeared that after handing the big affairs, she had to request for a time to be set aside every day to research her herbs.

“Phew—”

Lin Mengya exhaled gently. With Long Tianyu’s support, Lin Mengya took the first step onto the Immortal Road, the narrow natural barrier.