In Lin'an City, Yu Mansion.
It was almost the evening hour, and the courtyard on the east side of the mansion was filled with a pungent smell of medicine. This smell had never disappeared since the birth of the son of the Yu family. The son of the Yu family was born with congenital deficiencies, which was a well-known secret in the martial arts world. However, he was a genius, and three years ago he led the eight major sects to the Western Regions to wipe out the evil sect Chongguang Sect and rescued the Central Plains martial artists who had been imprisoned in the Demon Sect's headquarters.
But few people know that every spring, this sickly young master of the Yu family has a close call with death.
"Miss Mu is here." The person who came was Mi, the wet nurse who had raised Yu Linzhi since childhood. She raised the door curtain of Yu Linzhi's bedroom and stepped aside to welcome Mu Lingsu in. "Young Master vomited blood in a spittoon two incense sticks ago. He is unconscious now. I helped him eat ginseng slices and waited for Miss Mu to save him."
Mu Lingsu arrived at Yu Linzhi's bedside, and after a thorough inspection, she concluded that the previous violent coughing had injured his lungs, causing blood stasis in the lungs and vomiting blood. She quickly wrote a prescription and asked Mi to boil the medicine, while she stayed by Yu Linzhi's side and gave him acupuncture to remove the blood stasis. It took half an hour for Yu Linzhi to wake up.
"Mr. Yu, have you seen the Black and White Impermanence?" Mu Lingsu caught a glimpse of Yu Linzhi opening his eyes while sorting out the pulse case, and couldn't help but joked with him, "I don't know how many times you have been to the underworld ."
Although Yu Linzhi was awake, he was still very weak. He barely had the strength to speak, and his breath was almost weak: "I am very strong, and ordinary gods don't dare to take me." Thinking of Mu Lingsu rushing all the way from her home in Suzhou overnight, he felt a little sorry, "She has been traveling for several days in a row, I am afraid she didn't get enough rest ."
Mu Lingsu carefully folded the written pulse record and put it into the leather bag she carried with her. Then she walked to the bedside and felt Yu Linzhi's pulse: "It's much better now. The pulse has regained some strength."
"Now that you're feeling better, please ask His Royal Highness Prince Yi Yang to come in. I have something to entrust to him." When Yu Linzhi heard that he would not die for the time being, he immediately remembered the most important matter.
"Take a break. You just woke up. Don't bother yourself. " Mu Lingsu took a piece of ginseng and stuffed it into his mouth. "If you waste your energy any more, you will die quickly. You won't be able to do anything serious by then. You'd better conserve your energy first and make long-term plans."
Last year, Yu Linzhi had just gotten better and went out to discuss something, but he collapsed before he had walked far. He had a high fever for more than half a month and was almost unable to be saved. Mu Lingsu still has lingering fears about this incident, fearing that he would repeat the same mistake.
"Even if she dies, your medical fee won't be a big deal, Miss Mu, don't worry." Seeing that she was uncooperative, Yu Linzhi rang the bell at the bedside to call the wet nurse and asked her to invite Prince Yi Yang.
Mu Lingsu was about to speak to him, but Yu Linzhi quickly interrupted: "I really have something important to do. My body can wait, but my father can't. Human life is at stake, Miss Mu, please spare me this time." As he spoke, Yu Linzhi made a gesture for mercy.
When Mu Lingsu heard that it was about Wulin Alliance Leader Yu Jianwu, she knew that this matter was no small matter. When she thought about the fact that the person who could help was Prince Yiyang, she felt that this matter should not be a trivial matter. The court and the martial arts world are said to have no connection, but they are closely related. After thinking about it, she had only one guess in her mind: "Are you going to rob the execution ground?"
Although Yu Jianwu was sentenced to beheading, the execution date had not yet been announced. As long as there was no news, he would have a chance to survive. As his son, Yu Linzhi had an absolute obligation to rescue him.
Yu Linzhi tried to stand up and lean against the bedpost with his hands, but his wrists went limp and he almost fell down again. Mu Lingsu was quick to support him and put a cushion behind him. Yu Linzhi said "thank you" and took a few breaths: "Who said we were going to rob the execution ground? Smart people usually rob the prison."
Mu Lingsu was mocked by him, and she felt unhappy. But she never liked the disputes among the people in the martial arts world, and she didn't want to ask too much. She turned around and saw Shen Qingyu coming in, so she wanted to leave.
"Why are you going out? You should listen too." Yu Linzhi saw Mu Lingsu trying to hide and immediately asked her to stop. "When we go to the capital, you have to follow me. It's okay to listen."
Mu Lingsu then realized that Yu Linzhi had set a trap for her here. He had probably been planning to force her to agree to accompany him from the very beginning.
Mu Lingsu was both depressed and angry: "Why did you tell me now?"
"Because I know you won't agree, I might as well just pull you on board." Yu Linzhi looked contented. Although he was still sick, he was much better. I guess the ginseng tablets worked. He stretched out his hand and gestured a number, "I'll give you another 300 taels of medical fee. Do you think that's okay?"
In fact, Mu Lingsu wanted to refuse. She always believed that she was not someone who would easily bow down to money, but three hundred taels was a lot of money for her who had to support her family. It could provide food and drink for the Mu family for a long time. In the face of reality, she had to bow down.
Mu Lingsu sat at the window far away from the bed and said, "Just talk, and I'll write down what you need me to hear."
Shen Qingyu watched the show for a while and said with a smile, "Mr. Yu really spends a lot of money." Then he pulled out a blueprint from his sleeve, "This is the topographic map of the Heavenly Prison. Let's study it."
After listening to Shen Qingyu's plan, Mu Lingsu realized how risky their plan was. Disobeying the imperial order and offending the prison were not important. The most terrible thing was that Shen Qingyu, a prince, actually betrayed his king and father for the sake of loyalty. She put down the pen in her hand: "Isn't this dragging the prince into the water?"
"What's the big deal?" Prince Yi Yang and Yu Linzhi smiled at each other, looking calm and indifferent. "Your Majesty and I haven't seen each other for many years. If I were not the Queen's son, I'm afraid he would have forgotten me long ago." Since he came of age, Shen Qingyu has been traveling around doing business. He has shops all over the country, selling everything from food, clothing, housing and transportation to ironware, gold and silver, both official and private stores have a complete range of products.
He smiled and said, "Our dynasty values ​​agriculture over commerce, and regards merchants as lowly. Your Majesty will certainly not want to admit that he has a son who engages in a lowly trade."
After years of no contact, Mu Lingsu didn't know anything about Shen Qingyu. She thought he had entered the court as an official and came here secretly. In Mu Lingsu's memory, the emperor's favorites were the two sons born to the queen, one was her brother-in-law, the crown prince, and the other was Shen Qingyu. I didn't expect that after these years, the father-son relationship between the two had become so indifferent.
Yu Linzhi leaned on the bed, his eyes moving back and forth between the two of them, and he boldly guessed that they had some stories before they met. He thought about it and decided to send Shen Qingyu away: "Your Majesty, please take a bath and rest first. You must be very tired after traveling for several days. Let you relax today, there will be many things to trouble you in the future."
Shen Qingyu was indeed tired, so he said a few polite words to Yu Linzhi and left.
After the others left, although Yu Linzhi's facial expression did not change, his eyes were extremely nonsensical. He looked at Mu Lingsu and said, "I actually created an opportunity for you to reunite with your old love after a long separation. Why don't you quickly return the consultation fee to me as a reward."
When Mu Lingsu mentioned Shen Qingyu, she would think of the years in the palace. She was scared when she talked about those days when she was walking on thin ice. Her mood suddenly became bad. She picked up the pulse pillow and smashed it on Yu Linzhi's head: "Thank you, big head ghost."
"You don't like him?" Yu Linzhi was suddenly very happy when she said that. He almost wanted to stand up and applaud. "But you are like a different person in front of him. You are well-behaved, just like an old palace maid."
He actually wanted to say that she was very quiet in front of Shen Qingyu, not at all like she was in front of him. But the two of them had never had a good conversation in the years since they had known each other, always mocking each other, and he was not used to speaking his mind directly.
When Mu Lingsu heard Yu Linzhi describe her as an old palace maid, she became even angrier: "You don't understand at all. When I see him now, I think of his father and mother, and I subconsciously treat him politely." She thought about it and was still angry. She took the pulse pillow and hit him again, "You old eunuch."
Mu Lingsu had nothing to do after dinner, so she went to Yu Linzhi's room to take his pulse and then went to the Yu Mansion Garden. Before she had even walked around, Prince Yi Yang's personal eunuch came to her and said that Prince Yi Yang wanted to see her.
"Long time no see." Shen Qingyu seemed to have been waiting for her in the pavilion for a long time. When he saw her walk through the corridor and enter the pavilion, he smiled. He pointed at the cakes on the table and said, "I remember that when you were in Fengzao Palace, you liked to ask the cook in the small kitchen to make you jujube paste cakes. I bought some specially for you to try."
"...Thank you, Your Highness." Mu Lingsu nodded, and agreed, but her body did not move, still standing at the door of the pavilion. She didn't know how to face the man who she once regarded as the only person in the deep palace who could confide in each other and trust, but in the end left her alone to face all the dangers.
Mu Lingsu knew that after so many years, Shen Qingyu must have thought that the past had faded with time. But she could not forget that in order to overthrow Concubine Lu De, the queen deliberately asked her adoptive father to check Concubine Lu De's pulse, and later reported to the emperor that Concubine Lu De was pregnant. In the end, Concubine Lu De was falsely accused of faking pregnancy, and her son, the third prince, lost the qualification to be appointed as the crown prince. Then, the emperor saw the clues and found out that Mu Lingsu's adoptive father was guilty of deceiving the emperor, and the hat of deceiving the emperor was put on him.
Shen Qingyu had no idea what she was thinking. He thought she was restrained by the number of followers around him, so he asked all the eunuchs and servants around him to leave. "There is no one available now, so let's do as before. These jujube paste cakes will become stale if we don't eat them now, so eat some quickly."
Mu Lingsu had eaten several pig's trotters for dinner, and she couldn't eat any more even if she was given another stomach. She looked at Shen Qingyu who was expecting her to eat a plate of jujube paste cake, and she felt conflicted and embarrassed . She wanted to tell Shen Qingyu that she was full, but she was too embarrassed to refuse him directly.
To eat or not to eat?
"What's wrong?" Shen Qingyu noticed her strangeness and asked, "Do you think this is not as delicious as the one from Fengzao Palace?"
"I really can't eat any more." Mu Lingsu admitted directly. She knew that Shen Qingyu had called her over so late at night, and it was definitely not to ask her to come and eat the jujube paste cake, so she asked tentatively, "Excuse me, Your Majesty, what do you want me to do?" The implication was that if there was nothing serious, she would leave first, after all, her stomach was full.
Shen Qingyu wanted to continue this topic, but she quickly got to the point. It was obvious that she didn't want to chat with him. She looked a little embarrassed and laughed dryly a few times: "Nothing serious, I just want to..." He hesitated for a moment, "I just want to reminisce with you."
Mu Lingsu didn't want to talk about the past, but suddenly she remembered that when she left, Shen Qingyu asked Mei Liaoliao to give her some money . Mu Lingsu remembered that she hadn't thanked him properly yet: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your timely help and the money you gave me."
"No need to thank me, it's just a small favor. It was Concubine Lu De who tricked you into leaving, and I just couldn't bear it so I gave you some money." Shen Qingyu remembered that he had sold the ornaments given by the Empress Dowager to get the money, so he smiled and continued, "You are a girl leaving alone, so you should have some money on you."
Shen Qingyu didn't want to exchange pleasantries with Mu Lingsu, so he found another topic: "How come you can get along so well with Yu Linzhi?"
How did they get so close?
When Mu Lingsu heard this question, she was a little dazed for a moment.
That's right. He is the grandson of the prime minister and is a member of the Defei party; she is the daughter of the director of the Imperial Hospital and is a member of the Queen's party. It is obvious that they are two people who are irreconcilable. Moreover, it was the prime minister Gu Cheng's strong remonstrance that led to the exile of Mu Lingsu's adoptive father, which indirectly led to her adoptive father's death. To put it bluntly, the hatred between them is irreconcilable.
But it was only Yu Linzhi who saved her when she was in the most embarrassing moment.
Before she left the palace, the news that the grandson of Prime Minister Gu's family, whose origins were unknown, had severed ties with him quickly spread throughout the capital. Everyone knew that the grandson of the Prime Minister's mansion was going to meet his father, who was a traitor. Not long after, Mu Lingsu was expelled from the palace by the Queen. Although she had enough money, she was alone after all. A few days after leaving Nanjing, she was robbed by bandits.
Yu Linzhi happened to pass by at that time and saved her. In order to repay him, she treated him once. As time went by, the two of them became closer and closer. Now, as long as no one deliberately mentioned it, they would tacitly forget the family grudges in the past. This is the best way. Both of them said goodbye to their past one after another. It happened that neither of them liked to owe favors to others, so they became friends after repaying each other.
"It's a bit unbelievable." Mu Lingsu said, "He still has my father's life on his shoulders, and I was able to save him so many times. Don't think I'm crazy." She smiled and simply sat down against the pillar of the pavilion.
I think people who know the inside story would think so. They are obviously enemies, but yet they are so close. Only someone must be insane to forget the deep hatred.
Shen Qingyu looked at Mu Lingsu pretending to be relaxed, and didn't know how to answer for a moment. The person in front of him was obviously the one he had liked since childhood, but why was it that her every frown and smile, and every word she said, were different from before?
In Shen Qingyu's mind, the eight years of separation did not seem very long. Mu Lingsu should be exactly the same as when she was fifteen, innocent, sunny, and would smile sweetly and talk to him when she saw him. But he forgot that eight years meant a change in Mu Lingsu's fate.
In the past eight years, Mu Lingsu lost her father who raised her, lost the glory of her family, and lost her originally stable life. She had to wander around the world, relying on her family's reputation to open a clinic and live on the medical skills she learned. If Yu Linzhi hadn't appeared in time, she might have died in the hands of bandits.
It is true that Yu Linzhi owed her a life, but in the past few years, it was also because of Yu Linzhi that she was able to make a living on her own. The cruelty of fate has completely killed the fifteen-year-old Mu Lingsu. Now Mu Lingsu is used to blood and blood, and does not have so many requirements for the future, and seems to no longer be arrogant.
"You seem to have changed ." Shen Qingyu narrowed his eyes, trying to see the difference between Mu Lingsu now and her past. "In eight years, you have changed so much."
Mu Lingsu really didn't want to continue this topic, so she hurriedly left the pavilion without even saying goodbye.
In her opinion, it is better to forget the past than to face it. Yesterday is like yesterday's death, and it is useless to linger on the past. No matter how much she misses it, she can't recall the friendship she and Shen Qingyu once had. The hurt caused by youth and inexperience will only be more serious.
Therefore, she chose to forgive Yu Linzhi who helped her, but she could not let go of her resentment towards Shen Qingyu who chose to ignore her when she was in trouble.
A few days later, Yu Linzhi's condition stabilized, and the first decision he made was to rush to the capital with Shen Qingyu. In order to take care of Mu Lingsu, he specially arranged a carriage for her.
Not long after they left the city, a girl riding a maroon donkey came towards them quickly from a distance, raising a cloud of dust. She looked like she was riding a horse, and she did not slow down all the way until she stopped in front of Shen Qingyu's mount.
The girl was bright and beautiful, with a lively and lovely temperament. She was obviously a noble. As expected, when she saw Shen Qingyu, she said loudly: "Eleventh Brother, Yongjia has been looking for you for a long time!"
This is the adopted daughter of the current queen, the former princess of Prince Jing’s Mansion, Princess Yongjia Shen Hanyan.
Hearing Princess Yongjia's voice, Mu Lingsu, who was sitting in the carriage and was drowsy from being shaken, was scared away. She immediately lifted the curtain and found that it was really the young lady herself. She screamed in her heart, got off the carriage in a flash, and ran to Yu Linzhi: "I'll ride with you."
Princess Yongjia Shen Hanyan is the most arrogant girl in the harem. Ever since she was adopted by the Queen, she has been at odds with Mu Lingsu. She has been trying to find ways to drive her out of the palace all day long, and she often speaks ill of her in front of the Queen. She doesn't want to confront her outside the palace again.
"What's wrong?" Yu Linzhi asked in confusion.
Mu Lingsu raised her chin and looked towards Shen Hanyan: "Prince Yi Yang's cousin is here, let me hide for a while, no need to add the three hundred taels of medical fee."
Every time Shen Hanyan troubled her, she had no way to express her grievances. If she refuted her, Princess Yongjia might quietly kill her. If she didn't refute, she would be made the scapegoat for no reason and she felt upset.
Unexpectedly, she met her again today. Mu Lingsu was unlucky. She was so scared that she quickly found a place to hide from her and have some peace and quiet. Her Royal Highness, a princess, would definitely be arranged to ride in a carriage, so she took the initiative to let Shen Hanyan sit alone.
Yu Linzhi didn't expect that Mu Lingsu was still afraid of Shen Hanyan until now. In order to avoid her, she didn't even want the huge sum of three hundred taels. He knew that Mu Lingsu was really hurt by her, so he suddenly had a bad intention. He stretched out his hand to her, as if to help her get on the horse, and joked, "You are a girl and you don't know martial arts, so just take the carriage. She was still a child a few years ago, but now she has grown up, maybe she won't embarrass you."
"I won't." Mu Lingsu refused flatly.
In the distance, Shen Qingyu seemed a little angry, and said something to Shen Hanyan with a serious expression. After a while, he brought Shen Hanyan over to introduce her to Yu Linzhi: "You still remember, Princess Huayang from Prince Duanjing's family. Now my mother is raising her in Fengzao Palace. She was still a child when you left."
Yu Linzhi nodded and immediately greeted her in a fake manner.
Shen Hanyan ignored Yu Linzhi, but recognized Mu Lingsu who was also on the horse. She pointed at her and said arrogantly, "You bold woman, why don't you kneel down and greet me when you see me?"
Shen Qingyu glanced at the woman on the horse awkwardly, pulled his sister back, and said angrily: "Are you afraid that others don't know that you escaped, so you are waiting for the government to send you back to the palace?" Shen Hanyan was originally full of grievances, but after hearing what her brother said, her arrogance subsided a lot, and she obediently hid behind Shen Qingyu.
Yu Linzhi arranged for her to go to the carriage and said to Shen Qingyu, "Princess, why is she still like this? It would have been fine if she was ignorant when she was a child, but now she is sixteen years old and still so unruly and willful, yelling at Xiao Mu."
"I would like to take care of her. I am so busy with business on weekdays. If I have time, I will watch her every day." Shen Qingyu was also troubled by Shen Hanyan. The queen always wanted a daughter, and finally got an adopted daughter. Under all the pampering, Shen Hanyan developed a arrogant personality and could do nothing except act like a spoiled child.
Yu Linzhi always looked down on Shen Qingyu for being indecisive towards women. Whether it was the Queen or Shen Hanyan, he obeyed them and did everything as they said. But before, he didn't say a word to Mu Lingsu, who had suffered all kinds of grievances, and let the Queen decide. Thinking of this, Yu Linzhi rolled his eyes at Shen Qingyu in his heart, and said nothing, and let everyone go together.
The group arrived at Huzhou City in the evening, and there was a wanted poster posted at the city gate. Shen Qingyu sent someone to check and found that it was a wanted poster issued by the court against Yu Linzhi. Unlike ordinary wanted posters, the signature at the end was the name of the prime minister Gu Cheng.
The implication was too obvious. Gu Cheng was neither the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple nor the Minister of Justice, but he was able to sign the wanted warrant, which meant that arresting Yu Linzhi was entirely his personal intention.
Yu Linzhi felt irritated by the words "Gu Cheng" .
"You are so old and still worry about my whereabouts. It's hard for the Prime Minister." The sarcasm in Yu Linzhi's tone was revealed. Although he remained expressionless, Mu Lingsu could clearly feel that he was angry and disdainful.
In fact, Yu Linzhi's life story is one of the most pitiful in the world. His biological mother is the eldest daughter of the prime minister of the dynasty. She should have entered the palace to be selected as a concubine, but because she eloped with Yu Linzhi's biological father and gave birth to him, she could not marry even if she voluntarily returned to the prime minister's mansion. She could only use the power of the prime minister to enter the palace to be a maid beside the queen and to be a whistleblower for the family.
Yu Linzhi had never seen his mother since he was a child. In order to see his mother, he entered the palace to be Shen Qingyu's companion, and broke up with his grandfather. It seemed that in the first half of his life, family affection was always incomplete. What he lost was never regained, and what he gained was lost again.
Thinking of this, Mu Lingsu's sympathy for Yu Linzhi increased even more.
"I advise you to go back to Lin'an first." Shen Qingyu stepped forward and advised, "It seems that if we don't catch you, Leader Yu will not be beheaded. However, they will definitely intensify the investigation to catch you along the way. I'm afraid we will be arrested before we even reach Nanjing."
Yu Linzhi thought so too. Right now, the situation was at its peak. If they continued to advance recklessly, they would lose both the army and the wife. Not only would they not be able to save the people, but they would also involve other people. He turned his horse around and set off on the return journey with Shen Qingyu and his men.