Chapter 115 - Zhejiang may take action

On another day of fair weather, Yu Lexuan and Feng Long take the opportunity to exercise their artistic abilities. Zhang Kunyi and Zhang Yi just entered their faux competition as observers, giving their opinions about the artworks.
While Feng Long was finishing his painting, the bird sent by Bai Chongye landed just over his head. Yu Lexuan laughs:

-That's what I call a direct message, hahaha!

Feng Long smiles, and takes the pigeon, opening the container that protects the letter. He reads it out loud:

-"Greetings to his majesty. This is a request by Bai Chongye, emperor of Anhui. A new disease, or a variant of the ongoing one, was discovered in a town inside my kingdom. We are working on a medicine for it already, but Ding Qi told me that you have developed a new medicine that seems to be highly effective. The Anhui Health Bureau is trying to find similar components to replicate this, but this is step is likely to take several days or weeks. We are willing to buy enough compound to make a million doses for any sensible price, but it should be delivered as soon as possible. Only the raw materials are needed, we can prepare them on-site and save time. Again, this new disease has a fatality rate that is about an order of magnitude higher, and there's no plan to deter it today other than using mitigation strategies, which are costly and not as effective as the compliance of the population will much lower or delivering medicines. The town in question is crossed by a busy trade route, and it may be possible that infected individuals are already circulating in Zhejiang and nearby. Please, reply to it as quickly as possible. Sincerely, Bai Chongye, emperor of Anhui."

Yu Lexuan was stunned:

-It can't be real... Bai Chongye would never put himself in such a position!
-Maybe... But this letter has Anhui's official seal on it. Probably Bai Chongye saw the destructive power this disease has and decided to try to stop it. Can we help them, Zhang Yi?

Zhang Yi bows to Feng Long:

-Your majesty, our current inventory is pretty low... But we can deliver a million doses of it in a few days, given enough manpower is available to dig it out of the ground.
-Feng Long... Xia Chunyu may actually help us with that. There are significant deposits of the required components in Shaoxing, just close to Wuxi. This will cut journey times and provide a more direct and consistent path for the raw materials. If Bai Chongye can set up a factory even closer to Jiangsu, this will be ideal. Anhui has a large number of stud farms with strong, ready-to-go racing horses. 
Zhang Yi looks at Yu Lexuan:
-This is brilliant. Speed is crucial, the faster we could deliver it, the better.
-Excellent observations. I'll ask Bai Chongye to do it. But there's a caveat.
-A caveat? Which caveat are you talking about? - Zhang Yi looks at Feng Long.
-Xia Chunyu...
-Why would he... Oh, that's right! 
-Exactly. He does not like Bai Chongye. I don't think this is enough for him to decline our proposal, but is something that has to be factored in...
-Well, we got a problem. Sending it through Huangshan is also possible, but will slow things down considerably. - Yu Lexuan lowers his head.

Feng Long smiles, then take Yu Lexuan's left hand, caressing it:

-This is a matter I'll solve. I'm not really departing to Jiangsu, but I'll send another letter just for Xia Chunyu. We trust each other, and maybe he can understand that this is a key moment that requires old impressions to be put aside. Bai Chongye is willing to fight it seriously, he does have much more resources to do it than we do. We should help him this time to keep ourselves safe.

 

Yu Lexuan smiles back:

-I think you will succeed as you have always done, Feng Long.

Zhang Yi and Zhong Kunyi also move closer to Feng Long, touching his hand:

-Well, that's it. I'll write a letter for Bai Chongye, and another two for Jiangsu. Should we send it to Huangshan and Jiangxi?

-Do it as you wish, your majesty. - All bow to Feng long.

Feng Long smiles, helping everyone to rise:

-I'll send it to everyone. This is going to be very tricky, and we must move fast before the new disease has a chance to grow. 

Feng Long moves to the palace's aviary, taking a bunch of carrier pigeons with him, and writing different letters to be sent to various kingdoms, all at once. Once he finishes, the birds are freed and aim for their respective destiny. 

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