Chapter 77 Preparations Before the Trip
“You were my father’s mentor! He respected you like a father, but when he was in trouble, you stood by and watched! You watched him fall into the dust, lose everything, and lose his life!”
"When you wake up in the middle of the night, do you still remember my father, who was once your most outstanding disciple?"
Grand Secretary Zhao sighed heavily, his voice weak and feeble as he argued, "I know I was selfish back then and didn't plead for your father. But you must understand, he had already crossed the late emperor's line and was despised by him. Whoever pleaded for him would be punished along with him! I was only trying to protect myself!"
Zhao Yan scoffed and said sarcastically, "Should I thank you for not kicking my father when he was down?"
"Sigh!" Grand Secretary Zhao sighed again, finally ceasing to dwell on the past and changing the subject, saying, "I don't want to argue with you about the past anymore."
"I just want to tell you that whether you want to take revenge on the Marquis of Xuanping's mansion, or on the royal family, or even on my Zhao family, that is your freedom."
"But let me tell you, the Zhao family will absolutely not become a tool for your revenge!"
"Do you think that if you send someone to assassinate Zhiheng, the Zhao family will suspect the Dowager Lady of the Xuanping Marquis's Mansion, and then the Zhao family will become enemies of the Xuanping Marquis's Mansion and become your pawns in your revenge against the Xuanping Marquis's Mansion?"
"If that's really what you think, then you're underestimating me and the Zhao family!"
Upon hearing Zhao Ge Lao's words, Zhao Yan laughed instead of getting angry, and said in a flippant tone, "I knew from the beginning that you wouldn't believe that the assassination of Zhi Heng was done by Min Qiao Shi."
"But does it matter whether you believe it or not?"
"As long as Zhiheng dies, the rumors throughout the capital will plunge Marquis Xuanping into dire straits!"
"Moreover, everyone in the capital knows that I dote on Zhiheng. Tell me, if I use the pretext of avenging my nephew to suppress the Xuanping Marquis's Mansion and make things difficult for Min Qiaoshi, wouldn't that be perfectly legitimate?"
With a cold expression, Grand Secretary Zhao asked in a strained voice, "So, you really intend to kill Zhiheng?"
Zhao Yan smiled, looking at Grand Secretary Zhao with an expression as if he were looking at a fool, "Otherwise what? I wouldn't just send an assassin to amuse you, would I?"
At this point, Zhao Yan looked at Grand Secretary Zhao meaningfully, "Alright, don't pretend to care so much about Zhiheng. You're probably secretly cursing that assassin for being useless, aren't you?"
"If Zhiheng were really killed, you'd probably have to thank me for rid your Zhao family of a scourge! Now you're pretending to be a filial grandfather? Tsk tsk!"
"You're insane! You're absolutely insane!"
Grand Secretary Zhao shook his head, his tone grave. "You've gone mad! I can't let you continue! I'm going to see the Emperor and expose your true identity!"
As he spoke, Grand Secretary Zhao was about to leave.
However, Zhao Yan remained calm and composed, sitting as still as a mountain.
"Don't forget, I entered the palace as a daughter of the Zhao family. Exposing my true identity would prove that you deceived the emperor back then, wouldn't it?"
"Let me remind you, deceiving the emperor is a serious crime!"
"You don't want the Zhao family, which you've worked so hard to protect your whole life, to be destroyed because of your momentary impulse, do you?"
Grand Secretary Zhao stopped in his tracks, slowly turned around, his eyes filled with undisguised regret and resentment. "Lu Yan! Don't go too far!"
Zhao Yan smiled gently and reminded him, "Father, you are mistaken. My name is Zhao Yan."
Grand Secretary Zhao's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot, and his heart sank to the bottom as well.
From the moment he softened his heart and helped Zhao Yan enter the palace, he could never break free from Zhao Yan!
***
Inside Songhe Hall, Madam Min Qiao, Wei Jia, and Granny Fang were busy again.
In a few days, it will be Min Hui's wedding day. This also means that soon, Min Qiao will be setting off south.
The people who will be with us were already arranged earlier.
First of all, Granny Fang will definitely be going along.
When traveling, it's essential to have a man to make arrangements. Therefore, Yang An decided to go along as well.
With Yang An and Min Qiaoshi gone, the capital city is now without anyone in charge.
Therefore, Wei Jia had to stay and help look after Songhe Hall, and also take over some of Yang An's affairs, and manage the affairs in the capital.
Since Wei Jia couldn't go, A Yi was responsible for taking care of her personally, A Shuang was responsible for helping pass the time on the road, A Si was responsible for the food along the way, and A Qi was responsible for serving tea and also helping to manage Min Qiao's money bag.
After all, now that they need to detoxify Ajiu, they need to be careful with their money. And Aqi, who is known for being stingy, is perfect for managing the money!
The last person was Ajiu.
There was no other way; Ah Jiu was just too skilled. No one else could handle the job of providing close protection except her.
Aside from these people, Yang An was in charge of managing the accompanying servants, guards, escort agencies, and bodyguards. Min Qiao only needed to manage the Songhe Hall staff and the things she was going to take with her on her trip to Jiangnan.
Actually, she had already started arranging her departure from Beijing right after the Lunar New Year, and had packed most of her things.
At that time, the news of Ajiu's poisoning had not yet been revealed, and the matter of detoxifying Ajiu had not yet been put on the agenda.
Now we have to consider Ajiu's situation.
This trip will take at least six months. Gathering all the necessary medicinal herbs for six months is not something that can be done in a short time.
Madam Min had her private treasury searched, and they found more than a dozen ginseng roots.
Apart from a thousand-year-old ginseng that she wanted to keep to take to Jiangnan as a birthday gift for her mother, all the others were used by Ajiu for medicinal purposes.
There were also quite a few precious medicinal materials such as deer antler, lingzhi, and cordyceps found in the warehouse.
Besides, Madam Min Qiao had been in charge of the Marquis's mansion for many years, so she naturally knew that although the mansion's storerooms were practically empty, there were still some usable medicinal herbs. Therefore, she also sent someone with silver to exchange for them.
Those who went there were prepared to be made difficult, but things went surprisingly smoothly.
Not only did the warehouse deliver all the medicinal herbs that Madam Min Qiao needed, but Aunt He also had a lot of extra herbs sent over as a token of her appreciation and an apology.
After having the medicinal herbs sent by Madam He inspected and confirming that there were no problems, Madam Min Qiao accepted them as well.
Whether He Shi genuinely wanted to reconcile with her or was just pretending, she didn't care.
There's no such thing as too many medicinal herbs to detoxify Ajiu, so why not take them?
After scouring the Marquis's residence for all the medicinal herbs, Madam Min Qiao then sent people to purchase more from various medical clinics and pharmacies.
Because the quantity purchased was so large, the news spread quickly.
People were talking about what the Marquis of Xuanping's mansion was planning to do by suddenly purchasing so many precious medicinal herbs.
Could it be that Madam Min is ill again?
Or is this a preparation for Miss Min to recuperate?
You don't need so many expensive medicinal herbs to nourish your body, do you?
For a time, opinions were divided.
Upon hearing the news, Madam Zheng of the Duke of Jin's mansion also ordered her men to ransack the mansion's storerooms and then brought the loot to the Marquis of Xuanping's residence.
"I heard you were buying a lot of these medicinal herbs. Luckily, I still have some stored at my residence, so I brought them to you."
Madam Zheng had the items carried to Madam Min Qiao's side before asking curiously, "Are you ill? Or are you planning to hoard goods for speculation and profiteering?"
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