Chapter 278 Reward
Seeing that Princess Situ was so considerate, Prince Yan nodded in response, comforted her again, then stood up and went to Bichun Garden. The little maid at the door saw the prince coming from afar, and stood there politely to greet him.
Without looking at the crowd, Prince Yan walked into the courtyard. When the little maid saw him, she followed behind him and said:
"Go slowly, Your Majesty. I will pass the message to Your Majesty right away."
Prince Yan had walked through the corridor and pushed open the door to Xiu'er's bedroom. A smell of medicine mixed with a faint smell of blood hit his face. Prince Yan paused and a look of disgust appeared on his face.
Yu Xin was sitting on an embroidery cushion doing needlework. She was startled to see the prince come in. She didn't even bother to pick up the needlework that had fallen on the ground. She quickly stood up and greeted him, saying:
"Hello, my Lord."
Seeing the King of Yan coming in, Xiu'er, who looked haggard, did not notice his abnormality. Her eyes turned red and she could not help shedding tears. She said sadly:
"The prince is back, Xiu'er...Xiu'er's child is gone, please help Xiu'er..."
As Xiu'er spoke, she struggled to sit up and stretched out her little hand towards King Yan who had come to the bedside.
Staring coldly at Xiu'er for a long time, ignoring her extended hand, King Yan turned around and sat down on the chair. Yu Xin had already served the tea, King Yan took a sip, and then asked;
"Why is the child gone?"
"Xiu'er drank the pregnancy-preserving medicine sent by Empress Situ this morning, and then she miscarried. Xiu'er was murdered by someone. Please, Your Majesty, help Xiu'er!"
"Xiu'er is saying that the child was aborted by Princess Situ?"
"Please ask Your Majesty to make the decision for Xiu'er."
Seeing Xiu'er was still framing Princess Situ, Prince Yan could no longer suppress his anger. He stood up, lifted Xiu'er's chin, stared into her eyes and asked:
"Xiu'er, tell me why you told Xiao Jun about my marriage to a concubine in Jinyang?"
“Your Majesty…”
Xiu'er's face turned pale in an instant, a trace of panic flashed in her eyes, and she called out "Prince", but couldn't say anything else.
Seeing Xiu'er like this, King Yan confirmed his guess. His face darkened, and two cold rays of light shot out, and he said coldly:
"Xiu'er followed me, but she still couldn't forget her cousin, your old lover, right?"
Xiu'er shook her head desperately and said:
"My Lord, it's not true!"
"Nothing! Didn't you spread the news about Miss Li in the other courtyard? Do you want to ask Aunt Liu to come over and confront her?"
Seeing Xiu'er remained silent, King Yan shouted again:
"explain"
"Your Highness...it was...Xiu'er who said..."
After hearing this, King Yan was shocked, raised his hand , and slapped Xiu'er in the face.
"My Lord, Xiu'er didn't mean it..."
"Please, Your Majesty, spare Concubine Xiu!"
Yu Xin was so frightened that she fell to her knees and pleaded for Concubine Xiu. Looking at Xiu'er, who looked terrified and resentful, King Yan said:
"This king treats you well, and the etiquette of marrying you is comparable to that of marrying a principal wife. Just ask which concubine in the backyard has this honor. You, for the sake of an old relationship, not only ruined this king's plan, but also aborted this king's child, and even tried to frame the principal wife!"
"No, Your Majesty, it was not Xiu'er who aborted the child. Xiu'er was wronged. Xiu'er really wanted Your Majesty's child!"
After hearing this, the King of Yan's face turned cold. Just as he was about to speak, a little maid hurried in and replied:
"Your Highness, Xiao Shunzi is here to report that Guard Zhou has returned from the south and wants to see you urgently!"
King Yan glanced at Xiu'er and said:
"Since Xiu'er is in poor health, stay in this room and take care of yourself. You are not allowed to leave this courtyard without my order!"
"Your Majesty...Your Majesty...Xiu'er is innocent!"
Ignoring Xiu'er's cries, King Yan turned around and walked out.
I am under house arrest! Seeing the King of Yan leaving, Xiu'er was filled with resentment. She tore off the gauze curtain and said viciously:
"Xiao Jun! It's all your Xiao family's fault that I'm in this situation. I will never let you go even if I die! Yu Xin, go find the spy we planted in the Xiao Mansion..."
Yu Xin was so scared that she quickly got up and covered Concubine Xiu's mouth.
…
"Prince An"
"Have you caught Xiao Jun and Miss Li?"
As soon as Prince Yan entered the study, he saw Zhou Huairen coming to pay his respects. Without waiting for him to sit down, he asked directly.
Zhou Huairen saw it and replied carefully:
"My Lord, I am incompetent and let Xiao Jun escape?"
"Escaped! What about Miss Li?"
After hearing this, the King of Yan's expression changed drastically. He stood there and asked. Seeing Zhou Huairen remained silent, the King of Yan shouted angrily:
"I brought so many people with me, but they are just eating for free!"
Zhou Huairen shuddered with shock, fell to his knees, and said:
"Your Highness, we have been fooled. The person in the carriage brought by Xiao Jun is not Miss Li at all!"
Seeing that the prince had sat down, Zhou Huairen continued:
"According to the prince's order, I brought three times more troops than Xiao Jun and hijacked him at the border of Jiaozhou. Xiao Jun was hit by my sword twice and was protected by the Xiao family at all costs. After I hijacked the carriage, I found that there was no Miss Li in the carriage. There were two maids with similar figures to Miss Li that Xiao Jun bought temporarily. They sat in the carriage every day and covered their faces when going out and coming in, which led me into being deceived. I think Miss Li has been secretly sent away after so many days."
"I haven't caught anyone alive to ask if Miss Li is the Medicine God."
"I have captured the prince's guards among the people Xiao Jun brought with him, but they did not know Miss Li's identity. Under my questioning, they only said that the prince ordered them to follow Xiao Jun to rescue Miss Li and swear to protect her to the south without any mistakes. They also did not know that the person in the carriage was replaced by Xiao Jun, so every time they encountered me, they fought to protect the carriage. This made me believe that Miss Li was in the carriage?"
"The prince's guards!"
After hearing this, Prince Yan stood up suddenly. He had been fooled by the prince!
It was the prince and Xiao Jun who worked together to rescue Miss Li. There is only one possibility why the prince went to so much trouble: Miss Li is the God of Medicine.
It’s Xiu’er’s fault!
Thinking of missing out on the God of Medicine, King Yan was furious and shouted:
"Someone, throw Concubine Xiu into the dungeon!"
When Zhou Huairen heard this, he urged:
"Your Highness, this is absolutely impossible. You are in need of someone right now. If Censor Zhang finds out that you abused Concubine Xiu, he might turn against you and join the Crown Prince. Your great cause will be ruined."
After hearing this, King Yan sat down, panted for a long time, and asked in a deep voice:
"What's the news from the Crown Prince? Has he met up with Medicine God?"
"My Lord, I heard that the Crown Prince had already found the Medicine God and issued an order that the Medicine God had set up an 'epidemic prevention command center' and had begun treating the plague. I originally wanted to send someone to capture the Medicine God, but the Crown Prince had already implemented military control at the border of Chuzhou, so our large number of troops could not pass through, and only a few experts could go through. The Crown Prince's posthouse was heavily guarded, and it was simply wishful thinking for a few people to rob people from there. Moreover, the people who went there found that the Medicine God was not in the posthouse. Before I came back, I had not yet checked the whereabouts of the Medicine God and Xiao Jun."
Prince Yan slammed his fist on the table. Seeing the prince like this, Zhou Huairen advised:
"I have deployed to track down the whereabouts of Xiao Jun and Miss Li. Xiao Jun is seriously injured and can't escape far. As long as he passes Chuzhou, I will definitely find him. If I follow him, I may be able to find Miss Li."
"Okay, tell them, whoever catches Xiao Jun, dead or alive, will be rewarded with 5,000 taels of silver! Miss Li must be alive. Whoever catches her will be rewarded with 10,000 taels of silver."
Zhou Huairen responded, looked at King Yan, and said hesitantly:
"Your Highness, I... I suspect that Miss Li is the God of Medicine. I heard that the God of Medicine received an imperial decree around the time when Xiao Jun disappeared. I think Miss Li was secretly sent to the south at that time. Your Highness might as well wait patiently for some time until the God of Medicine has cured the plague. Then, Your Highness can ask His Majesty to reward the God of Medicine for curing the plague and ask His Majesty to order the God of Medicine to return to Pingyang to express his gratitude and treat the Queen Mother. Then, as long as we can verify whether the God of Medicine is a man or a woman, we will ask the Li family and the Xiao family to identify her at the same time. Once it is confirmed that the God of Medicine is Miss Li, not only the Xiao family and Yichun Hall, but even the Crown Prince will have committed the crime of deceiving the emperor. Then..."
After hearing this, the King of Yan laughed and said:
"Good plan, good plan, God will not let me down in the end! Let's follow Huairen's plan..."
…
It was the end of November in a blink of an eye. With the arrival of winter and the governance of Mengxi and others, after nearly three months, the plague was finally under control. Most of the isolated areas have been opened, and smiles appeared on people's faces again. Those who survived the disaster rushed to run, hugged, and set off firecrackers to celebrate. At the same time, they also remembered the name of the God of Medicine in their hearts.
The phenomenon of Mars guarding the heart disappeared on the 28th day. With the victory report of General Zhenwu in the north pacifying the Shanrong people, Emperor Jin and the Crown Prince breathed a sigh of relief. The rumor that the Crown Prince was punished by heaven for offering sacrifices to heaven was finally forgotten with the passage of time. Although he was on par with Prince of Yan, the Crown Prince finally got a chance to catch his breath and was no longer passively beaten.
In order to prevent the King of Yan from kidnapping Mengxi again, the prince did not arrange her in the post house after receiving her, but arranged her in a farmhouse outside the town. As soon as Mengxi entered the yard, she thought of the song Qingpingle:
The thatched eaves are low and small, and the grass on the stream is green...
So the farmhouse was named Qingping Courtyard.
Standing in the yard, looking at the dead vines in front of the door, although the plague was cured, Mengxi did not feel relieved, but his heart was getting heavier and heavier.
Seeing that the young lady was standing there motionless, Zhiqiu took out a cloak and tied it on her while saying:
"Sir, the ground is very cold. If you stand there for too long, you will catch a cold. The winter here is not as cold as in the north. It is very humid. You are weak, so go back to the house early."
"Where's Miss Cheng?"
"She disappeared early in the morning. I think she went to practice with the guards again. Miss Cheng is lively and can't stay still for a moment. She has been preparing to go back these days. Sir, the plague has been brought under control. You are not used to the winter here. Let's go back to Pingyang as soon as possible. My brother has sent letters to urge her several times. Gang leader Cheng is also anxious to urge Miss Cheng to go back for the New Year. She wants to go north with you and can escort you for part of the way."
After hearing Zhiqiu's words, Mengxi's expression darkened. Three months ago, after he arrived in Chuzhou, Xiao Jun encountered King Yan's troops again. This time, King Yan also made a huge effort. Xiao Jun escaped with injuries. Ouyang personally went to the place where he disappeared, but found no clues.
As per her request, the prince sent several people to inquire about him, but until now there is still no news, and his life or death is unknown. Li Du also searched all over the north, but there was no news. This made Mengxi more and more uneasy. He disappeared to protect her. Although the plague was cured, how could she return to Pingyang with peace of mind without news from him.
She always had a hunch that if he was still alive, he must be in the South.
This chapter is a little late because there are guests at home.
