Chapter 216: Pregnant (Part 2)

A group of people hurriedly ran back. Those who had come before them were very surprised when they noticed that they were chasing them.

"I didn't expect this Wen guy to be so alert!"

The subordinate asked, “What should we do now?”

"Kill Shen Mingchang immediately. The Duke said, if we can't see him alive, then we'll have to see his body!"

"yes!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he swung his sword, and the prisoner cart flew apart. Immediately afterwards, several people stabbed the people in the prisoner cart with swords.

Xue Gang saw this from afar and immediately jumped off his horse. He first threw three darts to knock down three people, and then flew over to fight with the rest.

Seeing that they were in trouble, the assassins' leader took out his hidden arrows and fired several arrows at the prison van.

Xue Gang turned around and tried to stop it, but it was too late. The arrow from his sleeve had already penetrated the prisoner's body.

Just at this moment, another group of people came on horseback.

The leader saw this and shouted, "Retreat!"

But in an instant, the assassins retreated completely.

When Wen Liangye and others caught up, the place was already in a mess, and the prisoner who was carefully escorted in the prison van was shot by an arrow and fell to the ground.

"This..." He was so scared that his face turned pale, his teeth chattered, and he could hardly speak.

Subconsciously turning his head to look back, he saw a man in purple and crimson official uniform riding a horse towards him not far away.

Pei Xingju looked at this scene with a bad expression.

He dismounted, squatted in front of the prisoner, and checked his breath.

"How is it?" Xue Gang came over and asked, "Can the person be saved? I don't think the hidden arrow hit any vital parts, maybe..."

"This is a poison arrow!"

"Poison arrow?" Xue Gang immediately ripped open the prisoner's clothes and saw that the skin around the wound was indeed turning blue.

"Then... wouldn't my escort all this time be in vain?"

Wen Liangye walked over with a heavy heart: "Master Xue, I am sorry for you. I trusted the bad guys. I..."

He was filled with regret, and his face showed a look of sadness as if he was about to die.

Like him, all the escorting soldiers had pale faces, and some of them were crying softly. The prisoner was killed by them, and they could not escape death either.

Xue Gang was annoyed by what he heard, and his heart was filled with anger. "You dare to release a stranger who claims to be the Minister of Justice? You really want to die!"

"That person has the seal of the Ministry of Justice," Lord Nie said from the side. "We have checked it, and it is indeed the seal of the Ministry of Justice."

"Whose seal?"

"Pei Xingju, Master Pei's."

Xue Gang sneered and pointed at Pei Xingju, who was squatting on the ground: "Look carefully, Master Pei is here."

Upon hearing this, Wen Liangye and Lord Nie were shocked.

Pei Xingju remained silent, observing the injuries for a moment before standing up and calmly saying, "The Ministry of Justice did receive a verbal order from the Emperor to transfer the individual to the Ministry of Justice, but someone clearly got wind of the situation and forged the order."

"The real order," Pei Xingju took it out from his sleeve, "is here with me."

When Wen Liangye heard this, he staggered back two steps.

"But..." Pei Xingju added, "Things haven't reached the worst point yet."

After he finished speaking, everyone looked at him.

Pei Xingju: "No vital injuries, just poison. In that case, find someone to detoxify."

Xue Gang thought of Lixia and immediately said, "I'll go get Lixia right away."

Wen Liangye looked towards Pei Xingju and asked hopefully, "The prisoner won't die, right?"

"It's hard to say. It depends on whether he is lucky or not."

.

On this side, Zhuang Wan came out of the shop and was about to get on the carriage with Lixia when they saw a familiar person running towards them.

Looking closely, it turned out to be Xue Gang, whom I hadn't seen for a long time.

She got out of the car, bowed, and asked happily, "Master Xue, I didn't expect to see you again. Is Jingzhe feeling better?"

Xue Gang was anxious and clasped his fists at her: "I'll tell Miss Zhuang about this matter later. Right now, I have something urgent to ask and I need your help."

Lixia guessed something when she heard it and looked at Zhuang Wan: "Miss, I can't go with you, I have to..."

"Go ahead," Zhuang Wan said, not daring to delay seeing Xue Gang's anxious expression. "It's urgent. I'll go to Yangdong Lane by myself."

"Yeah." Lixia nodded and quickly left with Xue Gang.

Zhuang Wan also got into the carriage and told the driver, "Let's go."

In the Yangdong Lane courtyard, Liang Yixin sat in the garden, playing the qin. It was a rare sunny day, and the maidservant urged her to take a walk in the garden. However, Liang Yixin didn't want to go any further, so she asked someone to bring the qin stand over.

Not long after, the maid came to report that Zhuang Wan had arrived.

She stopped and watched Zhuang Wan approach from a distance with a smile on her face.

Ever since Liang Yixin moved into this villa, Zhuang Wan would come to visit her whenever she was free, and every time she would bring some strange but delicious food.

"Miss Zhuang, what is it this time?" she asked when Zhuang Wan approached.

Zhuang Wan nodded at her, raised the food box in her hand, and winked. "I'm sure you've had Li Ji's freshly baked roast duck before, but today I'll teach you a new way to enjoy it."

Liang Yixin laughed: "Isn't roast duck just eaten by tearing it apart? Are there any other new ways to eat it?"

"Oh, it would be a waste to eat such a delicious roast duck."

Zhuang Wan walked to the stone table, opened the food box, and took out a roast duck, a plate of pancakes, a few shredded side dishes, and a dish of inky black sauce.

"What are these?" Liang Yixin walked over and wanted to sit on the stone bench but was stopped by the maid.

"Miss, please be careful." The maid hurriedly brought a cushion and placed it on the stone bench, and Liang Yixin sat down.

When Zhuang Wan saw this, she looked puzzled.

Liang Yixin said, "I don't know if it's because I'm weak or what, but I always feel a bit tired. I even had some signs of catching a cold when I woke up this morning. I have to be more careful."

Zhuang Wan nodded and asked her, "How did you eat and drink today?"

"Strangely enough, my appetite has actually increased significantly recently. Sometimes I can eat four or five meals a day." Liang Yixin blushed slightly and looked at the table. "Do you have any particular way of eating this roast duck?"

"That's quite a bit of attention," Zhuang Wan said. After wiping her hands, she picked up the quick-fried pancake and said, "Add some shredded vegetables and a few slices of duck meat. It's best to have the meat and the skin on; that way it's rich but not greasy, and still fragrant."

"Then do it like me..." She demonstrated by scooping a spoonful of dipping sauce and spreading it evenly on the top. Then she wrapped the pancake up and put it in her mouth. "Eat it with big mouthfuls. It feels so good!"

Liang Yixin was amused by her appearance and words.

"Then let me try it?" She imitated Zhuang Wan's method. After wiping her hands, she also took a piece of pancake, put shredded vegetables, shredded green onions, and duck meat on it, and dipped it in sauce.

Then he politely took a bite and chewed it in his mouth.

"How is it?" Zhuang Wan asked, "How does it taste?"

Unexpectedly, Liang Yixin chewed for a while, his expression changed, and he suddenly lowered his head and spit it out.

"Oh! What happened to Miss?" the maid was shocked.

Zhuang Wan also stood up and saw Liang Yixin holding onto the stone table and retching. Apart from the food she had just chewed, she could not vomit anything else from her stomach.

She felt strange.

At this time, the maid shouted: "Go and get the doctor!"

"No!" Zhuang Wan hurriedly stopped him, "You can't go get a doctor!"

The maid turned around and said, "Miss Zhuang, our young lady vomited after eating your roast duck, and I haven't even questioned you about what you did. You actually stopped us from calling a doctor. What's your intention?"

"It's not that I don't want to call a doctor, but this matter is of great importance and it's not appropriate to ask an outsider. It's best to report this to the emperor and have him send someone."

When the maid heard this, she didn't understand what he meant.

Zhuang Wan's heart was pounding with fear. She looked around and saw that the other maids were standing farther away. She walked over and whispered, "Miss Liang, have you been having your period regularly lately?"

When Liang Yixin heard this, she immediately understood.

Her face turned pale and she was stunned for a long time before she said to the maid, "Miss Zhuang is right. We can't go outside to ask for a doctor. Report this to the emperor immediately."

.

A group of doctors gathered in the backyard wing of the Ministry of Justice. Some were treating wounds, some were prescribing medicine, and Lixia was also busy inside.

Shen Yi stood aside and watched for a while, then turned and walked out.

"How dare he use my name to kill someone?" He walked in furiously. "I'll skin him alive when I find out."

Looking up, he saw Pei Xingju sitting calmly at the desk. He couldn't help but ask, "Shen Mingchang's life is hanging by a thread, aren't you worried?"

"There's no point in being anxious."

Chen Yi sat down, annoyed. "If Shen Mingchang dies, there will be no witnesses to Duke Xin's actions in Minzhou. We've been planning this for so long, and Xue Gang has been escorting him day and night, but we didn't expect something to go wrong when we arrived in the capital."

He wondered, "Where did the other party get the information?"

Pei Xingju put down the document and said slowly, "It was Duke Xin who proposed that Shen Mingchang be transferred to the Ministry of Justice."

Upon hearing this, Shen Yi's mouth dropped open. "So... Duke Xin wasn't actually trying to clear himself, but was trying to use the Ministry of Justice to kill Shen Mingchang?"

Pei Xingju nodded.

After court yesterday, Duke Xin met with the emperor and proposed that Shen Mingchang be transferred to the Ministry of Justice for investigation. Everyone assumed he was trying to avoid suspicion, as he had his men in the Dali Temple, while Pei Xingju was in control of the Ministry of Justice.

At that time, Pei Xingju was unable to guess his intention. He did not expect that there was such a hidden meaning.

"How dare he!" After a long pause, Chen Yi spoke, "This is in the capital, in front of the emperor. He dared to pretend to be someone from the Ministry of Justice in broad daylight and even forged a decree. Isn't he afraid?"

"What is he afraid of? I bet those people are also assassins. Once the deed is done, there will be no witnesses. Who can identify Duke Xin?"

"What about the Emperor? I don't believe that the Emperor can't see that this is the work of Duke Xin."

Pei Xingju smiled and said, "As I said before, there is no evidence after death."

The Emperor was furious when he learned that Shen Mingchang had been assassinated at the foot of the capital, but what could he do? Without evidence, he still couldn't arrest Duke Xin.

"I can only say..." Chen Yi said slowly, "Duke Xin is really risking everything."

At this time, Guard Lu came in and said, "Sir, Miss Zhuang has a message."

"What?"

"Miss Zhuang said she just went to Yangdong Lane. The man there was retching non-stop and hadn't had his period in a long time. Please diagnose him, sir."

Before Shen Yi could understand the meaning of these words, Pei Xingju's expression suddenly changed.

"What's wrong?" Chen Yi asked, "What happened? Who is that person from Yangdong Lane?"

"I'm afraid our plans will have to change. Miss Liang... is pregnant."