Chapter 204 Lancheng
Seeing that the princess had not slept all night, her eyes were bloodshot, and there were dark circles under her eyes, Qi Yuxuan's heart softened.
"Mother, you should go and rest. You don't need to stay with me anymore."
But the princess seemed not to hear, and personally took the medicine that Lanxin brought over, scooped up a mouthful, blew on it to cool it down, and fed it to her.
"After your mother feeds you your medicine and sees you fall asleep, she will leave. Be good."
Qi Yuxuan couldn't refuse her, so she had no choice but to drink the medicine sip by sip. Then she was given a sweet osmanthus candy to cleanse her mouth of the bitter taste before being helped to sleep.
Hearing that the princess had left, she opened her eyes, her gaze clear and bright.
Of course I need to sleep, but not now.
She instructed her maid, "Go and fetch Ren Shun; I want to see him."
Half a moment later, several maids went to the outer room without saying a word. The familiar, slender young man knelt outside the curtain and called out "Master" in a weak voice.
"What’s wrong with you?"
“Please punish me, Master. I failed to complete the task assigned to me.”
Qi Yuxuan lifted the curtain slightly and glanced at him.
Ren Shun's wheat-colored skin didn't reveal anything, except for his dry, cracked, and pale lips and unfocused gaze, clearly indicating that he had come to apologize despite being seriously injured.
His former arrogance and conceit were gone; now he looked like a wilted eggplant, listlessly hanging his head with a look of utter defeat in his eyes.
Last night, he thought that Xiao Yuyao was doomed after being pierced by the silver needle, but this morning, as he dragged his injured body and watched the Xiao family leave from afar, he realized that Xiao Yuyao was not dead. Her right hand was wrapped up like a rice dumpling. Ren Shun immediately understood that she had sacrificed herself to save her life!
It was all because he underestimated her, thinking she was just a frail young lady who had been confined to her chambers for a long time. So he was not fully prepared and acted rashly, giving her a chance to escape.
However, because of the black-clad man who suddenly appeared, Ren Shun didn't think that the Xiao family would hire such a skilled person to protect Xiao Yuyao so carefully. There must be some inside story they didn't know.
Qi Yuxuan didn't blame him; she remained silent for a while before saying:
Tell me everything that happened last night, in great detail.
Ren Shun had the same idea, and after succinctly reciting his prepared statement, he also raised his own possible guesses:
“I suspect that the man must be extremely familiar with the poisons of Southern Vietnam, otherwise he wouldn’t have made such a quick decision to sever Xiao Yuyao’s hand.”
Qi Yuxuan: "Continue."
Ren Shun: "That person is either a Nan Yue person himself, or his master is a Nan Yue person. Either way, he is related to Prince Duan."
Qi Yuxuan had also considered this possibility.
Since Prince Duan dared to escape and take great risks to abduct Gu Linyan, he would definitely take care of Gu Linyan's daughter. Therefore, it is only natural that he would send people to protect Xiao Yuyao.
She just couldn't understand why Prince Duan would do such a thing.
She had already found out Gu Linyan's secret. She had no connection with Prince Duan, so why would Prince Duan protect her and Xiao Yuyao?
Even if protection is necessary, it shouldn't be for a master like Ren Shun, who is no match for him; it's a waste of talent.
Qi Yuxuan: "That's enough. If this attack fails, Prince Duan and Gu Linyan will definitely be on high alert, making it difficult to make another move in the future."
It's too lenient to only sever Xiao Yuyao's hand. We must find an opportunity later, plan carefully, and then take her life.
Ren Shun felt even more guilty and changed from kneeling on one knee to kneeling on both knees:
"It's all my fault for not handling things properly. Please punish me, Master."
Now that things had come to this, Qi Yuxuan didn't dwell on that point anymore:
"If you can learn from this experience, even if I don't punish you, you will learn from your mistakes in the future; if you don't take it seriously, punishing you will be useless and will only make you resentful. Three years later, you will come to me to settle all the old and new scores."
Ren Shun: "No."
"I won't hold you accountable in three years..."
Qi Yuxuan ignored him, only lazily waving one hand at him, signaling him to leave.
The news that Xiao Yuyao had lost a hand did not spread. After all, the Xiao family had left the capital, and few people even knew about it. It was only when people heard about Princess Chang Le over tea that they asked why the Xiao family had disappeared for so long.
The matter at Jici Temple was eventually dropped. When the monk Hua and the young novice were discovered, they were already dead. Neither of them had any household registration in the capital, so it was clear that they had deliberately hired outsiders to commit the crime.
Knowing that the eldest princess and Qi Yuxuan had been wronged, the emperor specially bestowed upon them countless treasures and gold and silver, including a hot spring resort near the Nanyuan, where the royal family would spend the winter every year.
Having received interest from Xiao Yuyao and a reward from the emperor, Qi Yuxuan's anger had subsided somewhat. She gladly advised the princess not to dwell on the matter, lest it escalate and become a laughingstock in the capital.
The eldest princess couldn't persuade her otherwise, so she had to give up.
Three months later, the lively and energetic Qi Yuxuan was finally allowed by the Princess to set off for Lancheng.
Besides the four head maids, there was also a team of fifty guards and ten skilled members of the Qilin Guard assigned by the Crown Prince.
The emperor initially had some objections to the unauthorized transfer of the Qilin Guard to Lancheng, but considering that if something happened to Qi Yuxuan again, the eldest princess would have to come to the palace to complain, disturbing his sleep for several days, he reluctantly agreed.
On the day of departure, Princess Chang Le's carriages almost formed a convoy, with guards clearing the way in front and behind, which amazed the onlookers.
"Where is the princess going? Why such a grand entourage?"
"It's said she's going to Lancheng... I remember that's the Lin family's ancestral home. Is the princess going to her maternal grandmother's place?"
"But she has already recognized the eldest princess as her mother, so logically she doesn't need to go to the Lin family to fulfill her filial duties to her maternal grandmother anymore. Why did she suddenly decide to go to Lancheng?"
Qi Yuxuan didn't care what the people said in private. At this moment, she was playing cards with Zheng Yanling, whom she hadn't seen for a long time, in a spacious and comfortable carriage.
Ever since Old Master Zheng and Princess Pingyin went on a trip, Zheng Yanling has been confined to the home to arrange marriages. She has been receiving landscape paintings from her grandparents and has long been itching to get married. Taking advantage of Qi Yuxuan's upcoming trip, she used the excuse that Qi Yuxuan would be tired from the journey and need a companion to persuade the princess to ask her to take her away.
"Thank goodness no scars were left, otherwise we would have felt terribly guilty!"
Zheng Yanling played a card and, looking at Qi Yuxuan's increasingly healthy and delicate face, couldn't resist pinching it.
"It's a pity we didn't catch the mastermind! Those two who did evil deserve to die!"
As they talked, the conversation drifted back to something unpleasant, so Qi Yuxuan quickly changed the subject:
"So much time has passed, I'm not angry anymore. But what I'm more curious about is, what kind of ideal husband is Aunt Zheng planning to find for Sister Zheng?"
She covered half her face with a leaf card, and the teasing look in her eyes made Zheng Yanling blush.
"What nonsense! You're just a little girl who hasn't even reached the age of marriage, how can you say such things without shame!"
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