The deposed empress married a prince, and the dog emperor wept with regret!

Chapter 228 Prefect of Yunzhou

"Hahaha!" the officer burst into laughter. "You don't actually think they'll listen to you, do you? These are the soldiers I trained!"

"Think carefully, everyone. Do you get to drink water every day, or are you only given a small sip today?"

As soon as Bai Sanyuan finished speaking, one of the soldiers put away his knife.

With him taking the lead, the others also put away their knives.

The officer, incredulous, roared at them, "What are you doing! Did I tell you to put your swords away! Draw them!"

But no one listened to him.

As he said, there is no order left in Yunzhou City.

"Those who want water, come and line up. Two bamboo tubes for one coin, buy four and get one free. That little jar from before is five coins each."

So people moved over to queue up, their eyes revealing a hint of impatience.

They actually wanted to just rob them, but given their current physical condition, how could they possibly compete with these people?

Bai Sanyuan hired only tall, strong men, and they ate and drank well along the way. Despite the long journey, they didn't lose weight; in fact, they became even healthier.

Compared to these people, these weaklings wielding knives were like little chicks. Therefore, they dared not actually confront Bai Sanyuan's men head-on.

Seeing his men obediently line up over there, the officer was furious. He immediately stepped forward and stretched out his leg to kick over a jar of water on the oxcart.

However, just as he kicked out, his entire body seemed to be pulled backward as if by an invisible thread. His broken body crashed to the ground with a thud, making a sound that sent a chill down one's spine. Then his limbs began to tremble violently, and clear saliva spilled from the corner of his mouth.

"It's poisonous! The water you're selling is poisonous!"

Bai Sanyuan glanced indifferently at the person on the ground and said, "The person who bought water from me just now is fine. He was dehydrated for a long time and drank too much water at once, so his body couldn't handle it. If you buy water, remember not to drink it like he did."

The crowd was skeptical, but seeing that everyone who bought water from his bamboo tubes was fine, and unable to resist the urge to drink, they all lined up to buy water.

After selling all the water, Bai Sanyuan pulled his oxcart back and said to them, "We will come again tomorrow, but if you want water, you have to follow our rules!"

The soldiers were overjoyed and dragged the officer's body back to the city.

Bai Sanyuan and his group drove the oxcart back home. One of the big men scratched his head and said, "I never thought water could be sold for money in my life!"

Yes, water actually costs money! In the capital, they just get water whenever it rains.

The group walked along the official road, their presence standing out conspicuously under the blazing sun. Equally conspicuous were the cavalrymen approaching them from the opposite direction.

Seeing the dark mass in the distance, Bai Sanyuan and the others pulled the oxcart aside and saw the people riding horses galloping towards Yunzhou City. They were all dressed in black soft armor, wearing black gauze hats and curved swords at their waists.

"It's the Imperial Guard." Bai Sanyuan waved his hand to clear the dust, then led his men away.

The arrival of the Imperial Guards in Yunzhou City indicates that the Emperor is aware of what is happening in the city.

Once the imperial court intervenes, the people of Yunzhou should be better off.

He draped a straw hat over his head to shield himself from the scorching sun. Originally, he had only followed the carefree princess to find a patron and make a living.

Only now does he see the hardships of the people from what he has done. Those who hold power cannot think of the poor who are destitute, the learned scholars cannot think of the people who are starving, and the emperor who sits on the highest throne cannot lower his proud head and cannot see his people struggling in dire straits.

But it doesn't matter, someone will always think of it, and someone will always do it.

Sitting on the oxcart, a feeling he had never experienced before suddenly welled up in his heart—a sense of pride in dedicating everything to something.

A 40-man squad of Imperial Guards, led by Cheng Cheng, was dispatched to Yunzhou City to assess the disaster situation. The task itself was simple, yet undeniably difficult.

Why was the news of the drought in Yunzhou not spread to the city in a timely manner?

Naturally, the local officials covered it up.

How did you cover it up?

The simplest solution is to lock down the city, preventing people from leaving, thus blocking communication within the city.

The soldiers guarding the city had just finished drinking water and were resting at the city gate, thinking they would close the gate later. After all, they hadn't eaten for a long time, and the city gate was so heavy that it would take more than a dozen people to close it.

Unexpectedly, a troop of cavalry suddenly sped towards the city like flying arrows.

By the time they realized they needed to close the city gates, they were almost at the foot of the city.

"Hurry! Hurry up!" Someone pulled on the iron lock, trying to close the city gate as quickly as possible.

As mentioned above, if the imperial court finds out what happened in Yunzhou City, their entire family will be exterminated!

However, their bodies simply couldn't keep up with the speed of the enemy. The city gate was only half closed when the squad had already reached the entrance!

The horses' hooves thundered past them with the force of trampling mountains and rivers, heading straight into the city.

The imperial guards had a clear objective: head straight for the prefectural government office. Along the way, the city streets were deserted, a desolate scene at every turn.

The horses' hooves could even kick up yellow paper on the ground.

"How many people have died here!"

Along the way, almost every house had a white banner hanging in front of it.

Chengcheng reined in his horse at the entrance of the prefectural government office, drew his long sword from his waist, stabbed it into the crack in the door, and slashed down hard. The wooden splinter inside the door snapped, and he kicked open the gate of the government office.

A constable who rushed over upon hearing the commotion was so frightened by their appearance that his legs nearly went weak.

"Who are you! How dare you trespass into our prefectural government office!"

"Where is your prefect!" Chengcheng held a long sword to his neck.

The constable was so frightened that his legs trembled, and he knelt down with a thud.

"My lord, spare me! My lord, spare me! Our prefect... he's escaped! I don't know where he went!"

Chengcheng frowned and immediately led his men to search the prefectural government office.

When it hadn't rained for half a month and many crops had withered from the sun, the prefect thought he couldn't ruin his career over such a small matter, so he suppressed the issue and invited many Taoist priests and monks to perform rituals to pray for rain.

Unexpectedly, not only did not a drop of rain fall, but the sun grew increasingly terrifying. Seeing that crops were dying and people were dying everywhere, he began to panic.

The options are either report the disaster to superiors and be dismissed for dereliction of duty, or continue to cover it up and wait for the rain to come...

The prefect knew the temperament of the Great Chen Emperor well. He knew that if he submitted his memorial, it would surely incur the Emperor's wrath, and he and his entire family would be doomed. After thinking it over, he decided to keep it a secret for as long as possible. He immediately ordered the city to be sealed off, and then one day he fled with his whole family!