Chapter 78 "They're already divorced, why are they still..."

The initial negotiations between the two dynasties were tentatively scheduled to take place within the Honglu Temple.

The officials who participated in the negotiations were still touring the area with the Qiang officials. Ji Jinghe was burdened with heavy duties at the Censorate, and only after he had finished dealing with them did he ride his horse to the Court of State Ceremonies.

Wang Jie: "The matter in Lizhou involves many things. The Yan family has been prepared for this for a long time. It is estimated that a result cannot be obtained in a short time. You don't need to be at a loss."

Ji Jinghe: "Although we can't defeat the enemy in one move, we can at least find some clues."

The Yan faction orchestrated the downfall of the Xu, Chu, and Xia families, and their power had long since spread throughout the court and beyond.

The more difficult a disease is to treat, the more necessary it is to undergo painful and radical cure.

Even if the Yan family severed ties early, he would still have to sacrifice some of his beloved subordinates. With so many correspondences and so many testimonies and physical evidence from the Shen family, he couldn't escape them.

Wang Jie: "His Majesty must know the situation. If it weren't for the Qiang people's unexpected visit, Yan Jun would probably have already been dismissed by now."

Speaking of this, he couldn't help but remind you: "Hey, right now you absolutely must not make any mistakes. Be careful in everything you do. So many people in the court have suddenly appeared to impeach you. Although they are all just baseless rumors and trivial matters that are not worth mentioning, you can't be completely unprepared. Be careful that someone doesn't trip you up."

Ji Jinghe glanced at him, then lowered his eyes, silently agreeing in his heart.

Upon arriving at the entrance of the Court of State Ceremonial, and seeing the street as usual, Ji Jinghe decided not to go in for the time being.

"Let's stay here and wait."

"Alright," Wang Jie replied, and dismounted as well.

Just as I was about to order someone to take the horse away, a servant boy, panting heavily, suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"Sir, something's happened... My wife was ambushed on her way out and she's injured."

Ji Jinghe immediately panicked, "What happened? Where did she go?"

"My lady didn't say much about her departure. This is the message the carriage driver just brought back. He was covered in blood. I went to the Ji residence, but I heard the master wasn't there, so I came here to find you. Please, please go and save my lady quickly..."

"Where is your wife?" Ji Jinghe remounted his horse.

"In the east of the city, on the road leading to Changping, you pass through Tanzi Village."

Seeing that Ji Jinghe seemed to have gone mad, Wang Jie hurriedly stopped him: "Is this news true or false? The delegation is coming soon. Even if they are going, it shouldn't be you. Send a few guards instead."

Ji Jinghe: "I have one more hour. I'll go take a look first. I should be back in an hour. You keep an eye on things here for me..."

Before he could finish speaking, he hurriedly rode off on his horse.

Wang Jie glanced at the servant who was about to leave, feeling a bit strange. He tried to call out to him, but the servant had already run off.

"broken."

...

Seeing the official robes, Yu An frowned, straightened up, and looked at him. "Why are you here?"

"How are you?"

The two voices rang out at the same time, but neither could hear what the other was asking.

He dismounted, quickly glanced at her from head to toe, and brushed the dust off her. "Are you alright?"

"Why are you here?" Yu'an asked again.

Ji Jinghe, slightly out of breath, said, "Your servants sent word that you were ambushed on your way out. I happened to be outside, so I rode here on horseback. Wei Ji and the others are still on their way..."

"My servant?"

Yu An was puzzled, and an ominous premonition immediately welled up in her heart—

"We've fallen into their trap."

“My servants would never send you such a message. Today, only the carriage driver accompanied me; even Baozhu didn't come. This incident just happened; how could he know I was in trouble…”

"Go back quickly and get on with your business. They're definitely trying to lure you out by using me." Yu An pushed him, but the man in front of her wouldn't budge.

"The carriage overturned, and the horse lay on the ground for a long time without moving. It's probably too late to go. We can't leave you here. We'll go together."

As the two were locked in a stalemate, a group of masked men suddenly emerged from the roadside bushes.

Ji Jinghe shielded her behind him, but unfortunately they were unarmed, and the best course of action was to escape.

Seeing the enemy's dark, imposing formation, all armed with bows and crossbows, Yu An froze in place, unable to move.

The arrows in the crossbows are ready to be released. Even if you escape on horseback, where can you run to?

Since the other party didn't make a move, Ji Jinghe quietly moved her to the side of the horse, saying, "You run first, I'll stay here."

"Neither of us can escape..."

The only hope now is to get Wei Ji here quickly.

Suddenly, several arrows flew towards them, and Yu An was knocked to the ground and pulled to the back of the carriage to hide.

"Don't come out."

Ji Jinghe uttered a single sentence and rushed out.

She called out, but received no response.

A sharp pain shot through my shoulder. I turned my head and saw that my shoulder had been grazed by an arrow.

There were dozens of people on the other side; only a madman would dare to rush out without a care in the world.

Arrows kept piercing the carriage, making a constant "bang, bang" sound. Yu'an wanted to peek out, but the pain in her shoulder kept her focused. The more the wound hurt, the blurrier her vision became, and the weaker she felt.

Seeing a familiar figure rushing towards them in the distance, Yu An felt much more at ease.

With his eyelids growing heavier, his arm, which was supporting him on the ground, suddenly lost its strength, and he collapsed to the ground...

The blood on the sword tip had not yet congealed when it slashed down again, the movement swift and without blinking.

When Wei Ji arrived, most of the people on the ground were already lying down.

With aid arriving, Ji Jinghe was able to escape and go to check on the person hiding behind the car, who was already unconscious.

These people were not skilled in martial arts and had only average skills; they were all killed in no time.

Wei Ji strode over and saw Ji Jinghe carrying someone and about to mount his horse. "Master, you have important matters to attend to. Why don't you hand over your wife to me for now and go back to finish your business first?"

"After we return to the capital, I will hand the person over to you."

The implication is that they are still reluctant to part with it and are worried about it.

There's still plenty of time; we'll have two quarters of an hour after arriving in the capital.

Without waiting for further words, Ji Jinghe carried the person into the clinic.

The doctor took the pulse and could tell it was poisoning, but he couldn't figure out what kind of poison it was.

A mere scrape on the shoulder can quickly render someone unconscious; it could be some kind of deadly poison.

Ji Jinghe: "Will they be able to find out or not?"

The person on the bed had almost deathly pale lips, and looking at the black blood seeping from the towel used to wipe the wound, he couldn't calm down.

His urgent tone made the doctor, who was kneeling by the bed, also anxious, and a thick layer of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Seeing that the doctor did not respond, Ji Jinghe picked up the person without saying a word and took him to the Chu residence.

"Sir, is there anything else you need..."

"Send someone to the palace to fetch the imperial physician."

Ji Jinghe rode his horse toward the Chu residence, and the people in the residence panicked when they saw the scene.

Baozhu: "What's wrong, young lady?"

Ji Jinghe, his face dark and his robes still stained with the strong smell of blood, had just settled Yu An down when someone burst into the mansion.

"Yinchu!"

Ji Jinghe turned around to look, and Wang Jie lifted the curtain, so eager that he had already stepped in with one foot. But when he saw that there was someone on the bed, he retreated.

"I'll look after things here. You hurry up and get to the Court of State Ceremonial. It's time, the entire delegation has arrived, what are you still standing here for?!"

Ji Jinghe glanced back at the person on the bed, then walked towards the door.

Wang Jie: "When the imperial physician arrives, I will negotiate. You get out of here right now..."

Ji Jing and Mai took big steps, but Wang Jie still felt it wasn't fast enough and pushed him hard from behind.

The Emperor attaches such importance to this matter, yet he is still dawdling and delaying. I really don't know why this person has been so confused about things lately, unable to distinguish between what is important and what is urgent.

If I mess things up today, I won't have enough lives to die.

After finally seeing the person off, it took about half an hour for the imperial physician to arrive. Wang Jie stayed at the hospital until the afternoon before he was finally able to go home.

But before he could return home, Ji Jinghe was nowhere to be seen, so he went to the Court of State Ceremonial again, only to find out that something terrible had happened.

The person who had the accident was kneeling in front of the hall, with a broken teacup lying in front of his knees.

"Ji Jinghe, Ji Jinghe, what am I supposed to say to you? At this crucial moment for the medicine, you disappeared without a trace? The Qiang delegation waited for you at the Honglu Temple for a full half hour, but you didn't show up. We don't even know where you went. You know perfectly well that the envoys sent by the Qiang people love to stir up trouble."

Seeing the person before him remain silent, the emperor felt an even greater tightness in his chest.

"I'm asking you a question! Speak!"

"I have nothing to say," he said calmly.

The emperor was both shocked and furious; his anger surged up to his throat.

This is the wise minister he trusted wholeheartedly, the important minister he cultivated with his own hands... This is how he speaks to him.

"So I don't even have the right to ask where you're going?! I haven't even settled accounts with you for the trouble you've caused me! How insolent!"

The emperor pointed at him, "Fine, if you don't want to be the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, there are plenty of others who can. Get out of here, get far away, and never let me see you again..."

The eunuchs in the hall all knelt on the ground. Some of them had served the emperor since they were in the prince's residence and had never seen the emperor so angry, especially not with his favorite minister.

The hall was deathly still, so oppressive that it could trap a fly. No one dared to breathe loudly, for fear of getting into trouble.

Ji Jinghe slowly kowtowed on the ground, got up and left, kneeling in the hall for half an hour without uttering a word of explanation or begging for mercy.

The emperor glanced at the memorials on the table, his mood instantly soured. "Get out of my sight!"

The eunuchs inside the palace retreated one by one, and only breathed a sigh of relief after they left the palace gates.

"Ji Jinghe is too arrogant. He actually dares to go against His Majesty. He's asking for trouble..."

"Yes, whether he lives or dies is entirely up to His Majesty's word. He's truly fearless. The Qiang delegation was already clamoring to leave, yet he still dared to do this. He really wants to die..."

Mingjia, who happened to be passing by, overheard the conversation between a few eunuchs.

What are you guys talking about?

...

A few blurry lights seeped through my eyelids, and the darkness before me was no longer so thick. The familiar voice lingered in my mind, and familiar features appeared as if they would emerge in the next second.

It took a long, long time of struggling to open my eyes.

It was at home.

She tried to sit up, but touched the wound on her shoulder, and the intense pain brought her fully awake.

He opened his mouth as if to speak, but his voice was hoarse.

Looking at the bandaged wound, he regained some strength and was about to call out to Baozhu when he heard other noises outside.

"Princess, our young lady is still asleep. Please don't go in, or you might pass on her illness to her..."

"Your daughter has an external injury, not a cold, move aside!"

Duo Luo's domineering voice rang out, and Yu An put on her shoes and opened the door herself.

Duo Luo, who was about to push the door open, missed and almost strained her back. When she saw Yu An's pale face, she was stunned for a moment before she smiled.

"Isn't he awake?"

Yu An asked in a hoarse voice, "Why are you here?"

"I came to see you, to see if you're about to die."

Baozhu glanced at Yu'an, helpless against Duoluo's tyrannical power, and had no choice but to turn around and brew a pot of hot tea to serve it, before being sent out of the house.

Yu An found a place to sit down and said, "I'm fine, thank you for your concern, Princess."

Seeing that she was no longer being formal, Duoluo's smile deepened. "I heard from your maid that you slept for two whole days. You probably don't know what happened during those two days."

Do you know who brought you back?

Yu An was stunned and remained silent.

Duoluo: "Our revered Lord Ji has incurred the Emperor's wrath and has been dismissed from his post."

Why?

"It's all because of you." Duoluo took a sip of tea with ease. "If it weren't to save you, why would he have gone all the way from the Court of State Ceremonies to the outskirts of the city to see you? With negotiations between the two dynasties imminent, he insisted on sending you back to your residence before leaving."

Yu-an: "Why did you insist on having someone else come to take me when you could have had someone else do it?"

"Yes, I could have asked someone else to do it. We're already divorced, so why did I go looking for you? Why did I personally bring you back, delaying such a big thing for myself?"

Yuan:......

"This time, it's not just your Central Plains emperor who's angry; I've heard that the officials in the court have also followed suit by submitting memorials impeaching him. Not to mention that the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies can't continue, the Censor-in-Chief will probably be forced to step down soon as well."

Arrogant and disrespectful to the emperor, Ji Jinghe will fall out of favor once the emperor takes notice.

"When the Chu family got into trouble, the Ji family stood by and did nothing, and now they've ended up in a different situation. You should be happy about that, since you don't like him clinging to you, do you?"

After saying what she wanted to say, Duoluo stood up neatly and left.

Baozhu rushed in to check Yu'an's complexion. "Miss, how are you feeling? Does your wound still hurt?"