Chapter 440 Preparing to Adopt Wei Jia as His Goddaughter
Min Qiao patted Li Sanqi's hand to comfort him.
Seeing the King of Chu's protective attitude towards Min Pan'er, Madam Min Qiao knew that she could no longer harm Min Pan'er.
Therefore, when the King of Chu turned his attention to her again, Lady Min Qiao relented.
"Since His Highness the King of Chu has spoken, I cannot press him further."
"How about this, let Min Pan'er kowtow three times to A Jiu's ashes and sincerely repent, then let this matter be over."
Didn't the King of Chu say that Ajiu was a lowly maid and Min Pan'er was a noble lady, superior to others?
Then she would make Min Pan'er kowtow to A Jiu and admit her mistake!
"Isn't Madam's request a bit too unreasonable? Could you perhaps..."
Upon hearing this request, the King of Chu almost instinctively wanted to object.
In his view, this was a matter of personal dignity; making Min Pan'er kowtow to A Jiu was a blatant insult to her. Min Pan'er would absolutely not agree to it.
However, before he could finish speaking, Min Pan'er had already agreed: "I agree!"
"Miss Min?" The King of Chu looked at Min Pan'er in disbelief.
Min Pan'er gave him a sad smile, "I don't want His Highness the Prince of Chu to be humiliated for no reason because of me."
"Moreover, I have indeed failed Miss Ajiu, so it is only right that I kowtow to her a few times."
Without hesitation, he faced the earthenware jar containing Ajiu's ashes in Zhen Huan's arms and kowtowed three times.
"I'm sorry, Miss Ajiu, I shouldn't have hurt you just to vent my emotions! It's all my fault, I'm the one who killed you!"
"I'll kowtow to you and apologize!"
"If there is an afterlife, I will definitely make it up to you!"
After saying this, he kowtowed three times in quick succession. The sincerity of his words and the earnestness of his attitude truly moved those who saw him and resonated with those who heard him.
Of course, the most moved person was His Highness the King of Chu!
After Min Pan'er finished kowtowing and apologizing, he strode forward and personally helped her up. He didn't seem to care at all about the strange looks he received from those around him.
With the help of the King of Chu, Min Pan'er struggled to her feet, took the cane from Jiang Hongling, smiled sweetly at the King of Chu, and then gently pushed him away.
"Thank you for helping me up, Your Highness!" Min Pan'er reminded him earnestly, "However, Your Highness, please don't do this again in the future, or others will criticize you."
"My reputation is already ruined, I don't care about these things."
"But Your Highness is of noble birth and cannot be given any reason to criticize you."
Min Pan'er spoke softly and gently, her words full of care and sincerity.
It moved the King of Chu almost instantly.
He said nonchalantly, "We have done nothing wrong, so why should we fear what others say? You have suffered a lot of injustice in Da'e, and Dayan has a responsibility to treat you well. Besides, you have difficulty walking, and I was just helping you up. What is there to say?"
...
The two were still being affectionate, but Madam Min Qiao no longer wanted to watch.
She turned around and thanked Uncle Enping, then went into the inn with Li Sanqi.
The Earl of Enping glanced at the King of Chu and, seeing that he had no intention of leaving, had someone inform the King of Chu's guards before leaving alone with his own guards.
Before leaving, he left a squad of soldiers for Min Qiao to follow his orders.
They actually got people to help carry the injured and unconscious old woodcutter into the inn, and also sent someone to fetch a doctor.
Wei Jia also had Qiao Jingyuan's coffin removed from the carriage, preparing to place it in a shady spot.
As a result, the innkeeper immediately objected when he saw the coffin was about to be brought into the shop.
Although fighting on the border meant that people died almost every day, the innkeepers were used to seeing dead. However, being used to it didn't mean they weren't bothered by it.
Moreover, the weather was hot, and after three days, the corpse had begun to smell faintly.
When Wen Xiu came to report this matter, Min Qiaoshi and Li Sanqi had just gone up to the second-floor side room.
Upon hearing this, Li Sanqi asked Min Qiaoshi curiously, "Why did you bring back a corpse?"
Min Qiao spoke, but did not directly say that Qiao Jingyuan was her nephew, nor did she say that Qiao Jingyuan was Emperor Xiaozhao's spy. She only said, "He is Weijia's husband."
"Wei Jia got married?" Li Sanqi was slightly shocked.
Wasn't Wei Jia the head maid of Madam Min Qiao? How come she suddenly got married? And not only that, how come she died?
"Yes, it must be fate. She was determined to marry me."
Madam Min sighed for a moment before saying, "Speaking of which, we were able to return safely from Da'an thanks to Weijia's husband who risked his life to save us."
"Therefore, after returning to the capital, I would like to adopt Weijia as my goddaughter. At that time, I would like to ask the Seventh Princess to grace us with her presence at the family recognition banquet and support us."
Li Sanqi nodded: "The old lady is kind and righteous. I will definitely be there when the time comes."
"Then I'll thank you in advance, Seventh Princess."
Madam Min thanked her with a smile, then asked Wenxiu, "What are Weijia's plans?"
Wenxiu hesitated for a moment, but still said, "Sister Weijia wants to find some ice to freeze the body. However, ice is hard to find, and even if she finds it, there probably won't be much."
"Therefore, Sister Weijia would like to ask the old lady if she can take her husband's body back to Huizhou City for burial first."
After a moment's thought, Madam Min Qiao nodded: "Go and tell her that I have agreed. Also, please tell her that she has sent people to find as much ice as she needs, and she doesn't care about the money."
"Yes," Wen Xiu replied happily.
“Furthermore,” Madam Min Qiao added, “I won’t stop her from returning to Huizhou first. But we can’t let her travel alone. Send someone to the garrison headquarters to talk to Earl Enping about this matter. Tell him my suggestion and ask him to send someone to escort her.”
"Yes, this servant will take care of it right away."
"Go."
Wen Xiu left happily.
After everyone left, Li Sanqi frowned and asked Min Qiaoshi, "Why are we going back to Huizhou?... Shouldn't we be returning to the capital?"
However, before he could finish the sentence, Li Sanqi realized something.
Madam Min gave a wry smile. "Without His Majesty's decree, I cannot return to the capital for the time being. These maids who follow me will naturally have to stay in Huizhou as well."
Li Sanqi nodded, then pouted and glared at Madam Min, "Didn't the old lady just say that we'd hold a family reunion banquet after we return to the capital?"
Madam Min looked embarrassed. She had just blurted it out without thinking.
In fact, given the current situation, she must remain at the border and obey the imperial court's orders.
If Emperor Xiaozhao had no other decree, she would have no choice but to return to Huizhou once the affairs between the two countries were settled.
However, because of Min Ji's betrayal, she was certain that Emperor Xiaozhao would summon her back to the capital this time.
That's why I let it slip earlier.
When Li Sanqi exposed the matter, Madam Min Qiao could only explain, "The marriage alliance failed, almost leading to war between the two countries. As the person in charge, I'm afraid I'll be summoned to the capital by the Emperor for accountability and punishment."
"However, I don't think he'll be sentenced to death, but he'll definitely be punished."
In the end, Madam Min couldn't help but look dejected.
Seeing this, Li Sanqi quickly comforted her, "Don't worry, Madam. The Prince of Chu has promised me that he will do his best to plead for you after returning to the capital."
"I can do that too." Li Sanqi smiled bitterly to herself, provided that her words would be of any use.
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