Chapter 84 Go early and return early
Shen Huixue stayed at Achan's place until evening. Before leaving, Achan even packed some chicken jerky made by Chen Hui for her.
As she saw Shen Huixue to the door, she held Achan's hand and said reluctantly, "I'll come find you again in a couple of days after I've convinced the young master."
"Okay, remember to come before the Mid-Autumn Festival, so you can still eat mooncakes made by Hui Niang herself."
"knew."
After seeing the person off onto the carriage and watching it gradually drive away, Achan turned around, her pink skirt swirling in a beautiful arc, like a flower blooming.
She returned to the shop with light steps and said to Chen Hui, "Hui Niang, let's go on a long trip."
"Where to?" Chen Hui became interested in her suggestion.
“Xiling. The heir of the Duke of Liguo is going to Xiling, and Huixue wants to go with him. I was thinking, since we have nothing else to do, why don't we go and relax?”
“Alright, it’s been many years since I’ve left Shangjing.” Chen Hui agreed without much thought. “I’ve heard that Xiling is adjacent to Yongzhou, and the Ji River passes through both places. Once you reach Yongzhou, you can take a boat and arrive at Xiling in no time.”
"Hui Niang, you know so much," A Chan exclaimed sincerely.
"If you read fewer storybooks and more travelogues in your daily life, you will know more."
Because they lived next to the bookstore, Ah Chan especially loved buying books. Whenever Mr. Xu said something was interesting, she would buy it and take a look.
She really loves storybooks, holding them all day long. She can fall asleep after reading a few pages of a travelogue; people who don't know her might think that there's a sleep bug hiding in the book.
Achan shook her head: "If a family only needs one person who is well-read, I don't need to work hard. It's a pity that the novels I read lately aren't very good."
She had begun to miss the days when Yan Qingtian was all the rage; at least his cases were quite interesting.
Some people just can't stand being nagged. Two days before the Mid-Autumn Festival, news suddenly spread through the streets that the former upright official Yan Qingtian had been bedridden for many days and died in his mansion two days ago.
Yan Liru had a good reputation as an official and had indeed helped some people. When many people heard the news, they set up a roadside memorial for him on the day of his funeral.
These stories were told to me by Mr. Xu next door. Mr. Xu also went to see Yan Liru off this morning. He said that only the servants of the Yan family attended Yan Liru's funeral. For some reason, none of his relatives and friends came. It looked quite desolate.
After saying that, he lamented to Achan that Yan Liru had first lost his wife, then his only son, and finally himself. Perhaps Lord Yan had unknowingly offended some evil spirit.
Ah Chan thought to herself, "They didn't rush in without knowing what was going on; they were clearly aware of it."
She sat in the bookstore until noon when the "evil spirit" that the Yan family had encountered came to call Achan home for lunch.
As they left the bookstore, Achan said to Chen Hui, "Boss Xu said Yan Liru is dead."
A look of surprise flashed across Chen Hui's face: "Dead?"
"What's wrong? Is something the problem?" Her reaction puzzled A-Chan.
"He died earlier than I expected; I thought he could have lasted at least another month."
"Could it be that he finally couldn't bear his body rotting away and committed suicide?" Achan wondered.
Chen Hui shook her head: "A person like him, even if he lived to his last day, would probably be thinking about how to keep him alive rather than choosing death."
Yan Liru was actually a very tenacious person. Once he set a goal, he would do everything in his power to achieve it, even if it meant crawling or kneeling. His life was so important to him, how could he bear to give it up?
"Has something gone wrong?"
King Ming was also curious about the same question.
The King hadn't attended court for the past few days; he'd been painting in his residence with nothing to do. Hearing a knock at the door, he didn't even look up: "Come in."
The study door creaked open, revealing a man dressed in a sky-blue, wide-sleeved, round-necked robe, wearing a jade crown, who appeared refined and cultured.
He took another look and confirmed that it was his son, and not someone else impersonating him.
"When did they arrive? Why didn't anyone inform them?" King Ming put down his pen and asked casually.
"He climbed over the wall; the people in the manor don't know." Bai Xiuming lifted his robe and sat down in the chair opposite the desk. "Yan Liru's funeral was this morning; does Father know?"
King Ming sat back in his chair: "I've heard about it. How did the person die?"
"Two days ago, the Marquis of Zhenbei went to see Yan Liru outside his residence. After he left, Yan Liru died." Bai Xiuming's words were concise and to the point, and anyone could understand the deeper meaning behind them.
"It seems that the father-in-law and son-in-law have had a conflict?" King Ming asked with great interest.
"Yan Liru tried to contact Bai Yichen a few days ago, but Bai Yichen did not go to see him. It seems that he wanted to use the Demon Seal in his possession to beg Bai Yichen to save his life."
King Ming sighed softly, "Desperate times call for desperate measures. If we had given the Demon Seal directly to Marquis Zhenbei, he might have lived a few more days."
Yan Liru wanted to bypass the Marquis of Zhenbei and go directly to the Prince of Xiling. He could guess that this matter was related to the Prince of Xiling, which meant that his years of official service had not been in vain.
Unfortunately, he failed to recognize his own worth; the King of Xiling had his eye on the Marquis of Zhenbei, who was in charge of the four border regions.
The King of Xiling wanted to use this deal to completely bind the Marquis of Zhenbei to his side; he would only do this deal with the Marquis of Zhenbei.
"When a person is on the verge of death, they always want to take a gamble."
"The Demon Seal should be in your brother's hands by now, right?" King Ming asked.
"Hmm, Bai Yichen exchanged a Nine Yuan Pill for the Demon Seal from the Marquis of Zhenbei." Bai Xiuming raised his lips. "I heard that the Nine Yuan Pill came from the hands of the former Demon Emperor and can help people break through to the fifth realm. The demon race only has a few. It seems that the demon race really wants to obtain the Demon Seal. Are they planning to restore their kingdom?"
King Ming shook his head: "It is extremely difficult to establish a country. The demon race is difficult to tame. When the Demon Emperor was born, he suppressed the demon race, but even so, he was unable to establish a country."
"So how was the country established later?" Bai Xiuming asked with interest.
"Later, he met a fox demon from Qingyu Mountain. The fox demon helped him unite the demon race and eventually establish a demon kingdom. Only then did the demon race recognize him as their emperor."
"How did Father find out about these inside stories?"
The King of Light would not lie, but this history about fox demons was not recorded in any book, not even in the books of the demon race, which Bai Xiuming had also read.
"Because... I know that fox demon."
"I see." Bai Xiuming did not ask any further questions.
Seeing his son suddenly become indifferent, Mingwang shook his head helplessly. He did not have much hostility towards the demon race, nor did he ever hide his past interactions with them. His enmity with the demon race was more due to a matter of stance.
However, Bai Xiuming's hostility towards the demon race stemmed from his childhood experiences. That past was too unforgettable for him, and the scars it left behind would probably never heal in this lifetime.
The King of Xiling may never have taken Bai Xiuming's childhood experiences to heart, which is why he dares to call him back now.
Perhaps he felt that Bai Xiuming was not yet worthy of his fear.
Some people just like to think they're clever.
King Ming pulled himself out of his thoughts and sighed, "Now that you're gone, who knows when you'll be able to return?"
With his diligent son gone, only Qin Heng, who seemed to want nothing more than to collect his salary without doing any work, remained in the capital, causing King Ming even more headaches. He was already so old; did he really have to go and oversee the Mingjing Division?
Bai Xiuming said calmly, "Winter in Xiling is damp and cold, and the wind is strong. I will get things done before winter arrives."
Hearing his son say this, King Ming was finally satisfied: "Then go and return as soon as possible."
"Understood." Bai Xiuming got up and left.
On the day before the Mid-Autumn Festival, Achan had not seen Shen Huixue for the past few days and thought that she had failed to persuade the heir of the Duke of Liguo. However, she arrived at the shop in a carriage just after noon.
"I thought you weren't coming." Achan greeted Shen Huixue, and when she got closer, she saw that Shen Huixue's complexion was not good and she seemed a little haggard.
"Are you sick?" Achan asked.
Shen Huixue shook her head: "I'm not sick, I'm just a little tired these past few days."
The day after Zhang Jinghuai's engagement, she found an excuse to call him back to the house. She used every means at her disposal and finally got him to agree.
As she was seeing Zhang Jinghuai off, she bumped into his fiancée, with whom he had just gotten engaged, as soon as the door opened.
It seems that someone in the Duke's mansion wanted that young lady to know of her existence, so they deliberately leaked the information.
Shen Huixue no longer wanted to recall the scene. She only remembered that the young lady from the Vice Minister's mansion left without saying anything, and Zhang Jinghuai followed her, but then disappeared without a trace.
The news quickly reached the Duke's mansion, and that very day the Duchess sent two governesses over to teach her manners.
These past few days, she's been scolded by those two old women from morning till night, and hasn't had a chance to come out at all.
She only had a chance to catch her breath today because Zhang Jinghuai came over.
Seeing the worry in Achan's eyes, Shen Huixue shook her hand in return: "It's really nothing. It's just that recently the young master got engaged, and some people in the Duke's mansion don't like me. It will be fine once we leave the capital."
Achan twitched the corner of her lips and didn't continue the topic.
Shen Huixue said to Achan, "I have already spoken with the young master. We will depart at the end of Chenshi the day after tomorrow. I will come to pick you and Huiniang up then."
"Okay, then I'll wait for you at home."
After Shen Huixue finished speaking, she seemed to remember something and hurriedly said, "By the way, the young master told me that he is going back to Xiling with the second young master of the Xiling Prince's Mansion this time. However, the young master is not familiar with them, so I don't think they will have any interaction on the way."
After hearing this, Achan simply nodded to indicate that she understood, and did not take the matter to heart.
Shen Huixue seemed to have other matters to attend to today and could not stay at Achan's place for long. After finishing her business, she hurriedly left with the freshly baked mooncakes that Chen Hui had wrapped for her.
After she left, Chen Hui stood beside A Chan and whispered, "Her life in the Duke's mansion doesn't seem to be very good."
Chen Hui heard what they were saying, but pretended not to hear it for fear of embarrassing Shen Huixue.
"Humans are always hypocritical and greedy. They covet the beauty of demons, yet feel that their status is unworthy of them." Achan turned around. "Such people will pay a heavy price for their arrogance sooner or later."
Chen Hui turned to look at A Chan, feeling that she wasn't just talking about Shen Huixue.
The day before their departure, Achan and Chen Hui returned to Chongmingfang and entrusted their only living creature, the horses, to Lin Sui's house.
When Lin Sui heard that they were going to Xiling, she also had the idea of going with them. Unfortunately, she was at a critical stage of cultivation and could not leave the capital, so she had to give up the idea.
The next morning, just as dawn broke, Achan was woken up by Chen Hui.
While she was washing up in the backyard, Chen Hui had already moved their luggage to the door, and another large bag contained food.
At the beginning of Chen Shi (7-9 AM), two carriages bearing the insignia of the Duke's Mansion stopped outside the shop.
Chen Hui put the luggage in the carriage behind, and then the two of them got into the first carriage.
The carriage was very spacious; three people could sit comfortably inside.
Shen Huixue pulled Achan to sit at a low table, on which was a plate of meat buns.
Seeing Ah Chan looking over, she smiled and said, "I guessed you hadn't had breakfast yet. I happened to see a meat bun shop on the way, so I bought a few to try."
Outside the carriage, two fine horses pulled the carriage toward the west gate. Inside the carriage, two people were enjoying their steamed buns.
It wasn't until the carriage left the city gate and she heard the coachman's voice outside that Shen Huixue lifted the curtain and peeked out.
Zhang Jinghuai had arrived at some point and was talking to another person on horseback not far away. Upon seeing the person's face, a hint of fear flashed in Shen Huixue's eyes.
"What's wrong?" Achan noticed her strange expression and curiously peeked outside.
Then I saw Bai Xiuming?
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