Chapter 136 Taking You to a Place
Leaving the city, the two rode westward into the mountains.
Although it's in the mountains, you can see buildings and houses nestled among the trees.
Qiu Heng followed Xue Han into the valley and stopped by a pool of water.
The pool is made of white jade, and its depths are so clear that the bottom can be seen.
"This is—" Qiu Heng reached out and stirred the water, her gaze towards Xue Han changing, "A hot spring?"
Under such gazes, Xue Han suddenly felt embarrassed that his thoughts had been exposed, but he didn't show any emotion on his face: "Yes, the water here is always warm. Some people in the capital buy land here to build villas and come to stay for a while when they have free time in winter."
"They really know how to enjoy life," Qiu Heng remarked.
"This is also living water, and it should be able to relieve Qiu Liu's discomfort when her old illness flares up, just like Qinglian Lake."
Qiu Heng was silent for a moment after hearing this, then revealed a bright smile: "Thank you, Lord Xue, for considering so much for me."
"You're too kind, Miss Qiu. This place is usually unused. If we can help you, that would be wonderful."
There was no point in thanking her back and forth, so Qiu Heng got down to business: "What has Lord Xue found out about Consort Yu?"
"According to the current investigation, Consort Yu has no grudges with the Lin family."
“There’s no grudge between us,” Qiu Heng murmured.
"I've investigated Consort Yu's situation. Right Chancellor Yao Zhen incurred the Emperor's displeasure by advising him against indulging in pleasures with his concubines, and was subsequently dismissed. Apart from this, no other officials have lost their positions or been punished because of Consort Yu. As for the inner palace—"
Xue Han took out a letter and handed it to Qiu Heng: "Many things in the deep palace will not surface, and what can be found is limited. Judging from the information we have, the punishment of some concubines and palace servants because of Consort Yu was not for anything serious, but more like bad luck, running into Consort Yu's unpredictable temper..."
Qiu Heng took the letter, opened it, and slowly read it. Just as Xue Han said, it seemed that Consort Yu wasn't targeting any specific person, but rather acting as she pleased.
Qiu Heng didn't think her suspicions were necessarily correct. Since Consort Yu hadn't found any problems yet, she decided to wait and see.
"I'll tell you about the Changqing Master that Miss Qiu is looking for after I've investigated all the Taoist temples in the capital region."
In Daxia, Taoist priests must hold an ordination certificate issued by the government. If you want to find information about Taoist priests in the capital region, the Ministry of Rites will keep records.
Xue Han used the pretext of searching for foreign spies to go to the Ministry of Rites to look through the relevant registers, but in order to ensure there were no omissions, he still needed to send someone to check.
Laws are made by people, but there will always be people who don't follow them. It would be naive to completely trust the roster.
Qiu Heng thanked her again and suggested returning home.
As they parted, Xue Han hesitated for a moment before asking, "Tomorrow is the fifteenth. Does Miss Qiu's old ailment often flare up around this time?"
He was in a hurry to take Qiuheng to the mountain hot springs because tomorrow would be the full moon.
"Not necessarily... Lord Xue, don't worry, I know my own body." Qiu Heng mumbled and got into the carriage.
The wheels turned, the carriage moved forward, and the plain blue curtains of the carriage were suddenly lifted, revealing the pretty face of a young girl.
Xue Han was indeed still standing in the same spot, leading his horse.
The girl, who was peeking back, waved to him, and the carriage gradually drove away.
Fangzhou, carrying a food box, stopped the carriage halfway through the journey.
Uncle Zhang was very puzzled: "Why didn't you go out with Sixth Miss?"
As Fangzhou got into the car, he said, "I had to make desserts back then, so I couldn't leave."
Uncle Zhang shook his head.
Nowadays, young maids are quite something; making desserts takes precedence over serving their masters.
"Uncle Zhang, have a taste." Before entering the carriage, Fangzhou took out a serving of rice noodle rolls drizzled with sauce from the food box and handed it to him.
Uncle Zhang had never eaten this kind of southern snack before, but it looked delicious. After taking a bite, his eyes widened in surprise.
"Delicious, delicious!" Uncle Zhang exclaimed in the simplest of praises, instantly understanding that making pastries was even more important.
It was really delicious. He, a coachman, was able to eat such delicious snacks thanks to the Sixth Sister!
"I'll make some other snacks for Uncle Zhang next time," Fangzhou said with a smile, before entering the carriage.
For a young woman who travels frequently, cultivating a good relationship with the driver would undoubtedly make things much easier.
"Girl, take a look."
Fangzhou opened the food box, inside which, besides rice dumplings, there were also osmanthus cakes and ox-tongue pastries.
"Thank you for your hard work."
"Have you had lunch yet, young lady?"
Qiu Heng thought of the sesame seed cakes Xue Han had given her when she returned to the city, and unconsciously smiled and said, "I used them."
Those sesame seed cakes were really dry, but luckily Xue Han gave her some water to drink.
Fangzhou saw the smile on Qiuheng's lips and felt relieved: "It seems that you had a good lunch, Miss."
Qiu Heng paused for a moment, then said without refuting, "Yeah, it tastes pretty good."
The carriage stopped shortly afterward; they had arrived at the Prime Minister's residence.
Qiu Heng left Fang Zhou in the carriage and went into the Prime Minister's residence alone.
"Miss, Miss Qiu Liu has arrived." The maid who had been keeping a close eye on things reported the news to Fang Rui.
After what happened yesterday, Fang Rui had no desire to invite her friends to come and laugh at her, nor did she want to provoke that crazy girl any further.
Anyway, Qiu Liu's evil deeds of letting his servants hurt people will definitely spread, and she doesn't believe that someone with such a reputation has any future.
"Keep a close eye on her and don't let her cause any more trouble."
When Qiu Heng saw Granny Su, she smiled at her and said, "Granny Su, have you been waiting long? Let me apply the medicine for you."
Thinking of Fang Rui's instructions, Granny Su forced a smile and said, "Thank you for your trouble, Miss Qiu."
In her opinion, the girl was too concerned about her reputation, which is why she was manipulated by such a despicable person.
Granny Su waited with a straight face until Qiu Heng applied the medicine, then thanked her demurely.
"It's my pleasure." Qiu Heng wiped her hands and placed the food box she had brought in front of Granny Su. "My maid injured Granny Su, and I felt really bad about it, so I brought some homemade snacks for Granny Su to try."
Granny Su glanced at the food box, quickly suppressed the disdain in her eyes, and refused, saying, "Sixth Miss Qiu, you're too kind. I don't like sweet and greasy pastries."
Qiu Heng smiled and said, "What a coincidence. I brought three kinds of snacks today, two of which are savory."
As she spoke, she opened the food box and laid out the pastries one by one: "Ox tongue pastry, osmanthus cake, and rice noodle rolls. The ox tongue pastry and rice noodle rolls are both savory. Has Granny Su ever tried rice noodle rolls? They're a special pastry from the south..."
Granny Su's gaze lingered on the plate of pink dumplings, and she secretly pursed her lips.
She was a prominent nanny in the Prime Minister's household, and she had eaten everything imaginable.
Rice dumpling is a nice southern dessert; the young master had eaten it and found it delicious, so he specially hired a chef to make it after returning to the capital. She also found the chef's rice dumpling to be quite good, but unfortunately, the young master didn't like it much.
"Pink dumplings—" Granny Su vaguely recalled some unpleasant events from her trip to the south, but she couldn't remember what the ungrateful pastry chef looked like.
There are so many things like this, and so many people like this, who has the time to keep them all in mind?
Granny Su quickly put this insignificant memory behind her and refused Qiu Heng again: "I just had lunch not long ago, I'm not hungry yet."
Qiu Heng looked disappointed and stared straight at Granny Su: "Granny Su doesn't want to eat, so you're probably blaming me, aren't you?"
Granny Su felt uneasy under Qiu Heng's staring gaze. Remembering Fang Rui's instructions, she reluctantly picked up the snacks.
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