Chapter 8
When Xie Qinghong got home, she belatedly realized that she had scraped her knee, which was even more serious than the injury to her forehead, with blood showing through the cut. Liang Yu was heartbroken, scolding her for running around and blaming herself for not keeping a closer eye on her. When asked how she got hurt, she said she couldn't remember, only that the Prince of Nan had saved her life.
Xie Qinghong only remembered that Pei had deliberately scared her by saying there was a snake in the water after she applied the medicine. Her legs went weak and she bumped into a rock. At that moment, the shock was far greater than her physical sensation, so she didn't even realize she was injured.
After applying the medicine, she flopped onto the bed, feeling so sleepy she was about to fall asleep. Suddenly, she remembered something, jumped up, went to the table, opened her grudge notebook, and without thinking, wrote down the fourth item: "Prince Pei used a hemp rope to scare me, mistaking it for a water snake, causing me to injure my knee. His heart is despicable!"
But thinking of the kindness he showed her by helping her escape today, she considered it for a while and crossed out the first charge of hitting the car driver. After all, she wasn't disfigured, so the two charges canceled each other out.
"Miss, the eldest son and the second son have returned." Ah Xing reported as she entered the house.
Xie Qinghong threw down his pen, put the grudge notebook under his homework, and happily went out to greet his elder brother: "Brother, you're back so early?"
Xie Qingya noticed at a glance that she seemed to be walking a little awkwardly, and asked with concern, "What happened to your leg? Did you hurt it today?"
"It's nothing, I just bumped into a rock by accident, I don't feel anything. I just applied some medicine. Are Sister Luo and the others alright?" After the chaos at Jitian, the Cui family quickly returned to the city by carriage. Xie Qinghong hadn't seen Cui Luo and was still a little worried.
Xie Qingzhou, who was in charge of taking stock of the wounded, nodded and replied, "The Cui family is all fine. The assassin was not much of a threat today, but there were too many people there, which caused trouble and some people were indeed injured. His Majesty was considerate and personally visited them to offer his condolences."
"Who is it? Is the injury serious?"
"It was a woman disguised as a man, with a wounded arm, but not a serious one." Xie Qingzhou still felt quite speechless as he spoke, because he had watched her charge towards the arrow. Although the arrow was aimed at His Majesty, His Majesty was surrounded like an iron barrel, with shields tightly encircling him. Even if the arrow had eyes, it would never have been able to get close. He was about to swing his sword to cut the arrow when a young man suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Fearing that he might hurt the man, he quickly withdrew his sword. The young man was even shouting "Watch out!" as he rushed towards him.
If Qin Sanlang hadn't introduced this young man to her earlier, he would have thought she was colluding with the assassins from the inside. He sheathed his sword quickly; arrows don't have eyes, and it was only thanks to his quick reflexes that he pulled her back, the arrow grazing her arm and falling away, otherwise the young man would have been pierced through the chest.
After all the assassins were killed, His Majesty saw that the young man was injured and praised her for her courage. Then the old scoundrel, the Censor-in-Chief, quickly stepped forward, knelt down, and begged for forgiveness, saying, "Please forgive me, Your Majesty. This is my unfilial daughter who pretended to be the young man to play and disturbed Your Majesty. It was my fault."
Emperor Xingde immediately became interested: "Is this the talented woman who wrote 'Who knows that every grain on the plate is the result of hard work?' Your daughter is not only courageous, but also has outstanding literary talent. It is not easy for a young lady to be like this. She is pardoned."
Xie Qingzhou recounted the whole story, and seeing his sour expression, Xie Qinghong could sense the absurdity of the scene. He also felt that Song Lingxi was somewhat out of line. How could a girl who could write "Ode to Tea" and "Sympathy for the Farmers" not see that His Majesty was not in danger? Her rushing to save the emperor might have won His Majesty's favor on the surface, but given His Majesty's suspicious nature, it was hard to guarantee that he wouldn't suspect her of harboring malicious intentions.
Even Xie Qingya, a man of such composure, shook his head and said, "Too hasty. Imperial Censor Song is not usually such an impatient person."
Xie Qingzhou snorted coldly: "I'm afraid they can't wait to take over because the Imperial Censor is about to retire."
Apart from Song Lingxi, who deliberately ran into the arrows, the other wounded were all people who twisted their ankles or fell while running. This assassination attempt came and went quickly, and nothing serious happened. However, judging from the machetes they used, they seemed to be crescent blades commonly used by the nomadic peoples of the northern frontier.
Your Majesty's throne is not secure. To the north lies the Hu people, who are ferocious by nature, legendary as primitive barbarians who eat raw meat and drink blood. They are completely uncivilized and know nothing of manners or shame. The late Emperor personally appointed two kings, one for the north and one for the south. King Zhou Xian of the north was stationed in the north and made great contributions in resisting the Hu people's invasion.
But heroes grow old, and the Northern King is old and frail. The Northern King's heir is not as majestic as his father. Furthermore, after the death of the late emperor, Emperor Xingde ascended the throne and ruled the world with virtue, advocating against war. As a result, the Hu people often led troops to harass the border, and the border soldiers had long suffered from this.
Xie Qinghong felt distressed when he heard his brother talk about the northern barbarians with a slightly worried tone. Even the emperor said, "If you repay evil with good, how will you repay good?" But His Majesty was unwilling to start a war and preferred to send a member of the imperial family to marry a foreign ruler rather than engage in warfare.
Just before the New Year, His Majesty made peace talks with the Hu people, sending the only princess in the imperial clan to the north for a marriage alliance, along with a large dowry, all for the sake of "mutual non-aggression" for a mere ten years. However, judging from the Hu people's attitude, although the princess was taken back, their petty tricks have not diminished at all, and now they even dare to cause trouble at the Spring Ploughing Ceremony.
"If, if we have to send another woman from the imperial family to marry into a foreign power, then shouldn't we choose from among the women of our own household?" Xie Qinghong suddenly thought.
Xie Qingya and Xie Qingzhou's expressions both changed. They couldn't even guarantee that their sister wouldn't be chosen, because that princess already had a fiancé who had been sent away for peace talks. If even their niece was disregarded, how could they expect His Majesty to make an exception for their daughter?
"These barbarians are wolves in sheep's clothing, how can we just seek peace!" Xie Qingzhou angrily punched the pillar, but just like when facing the supreme imperial power, his strength and resentment were nothing more than ants to the solid pillar.
Xie Qinghong quickly said, "I was just saying it casually. Who can predict what will happen in the future, right?"
If she were truly chosen for a marriage alliance, it would only mean that His Majesty was already very dissatisfied with the Xie family and intended to teach them a lesson. In that case, it would probably just be considered that she was unlucky and became the first sword His Majesty wielded against the aristocratic families. Thinking about it this way, a marriage alliance with a barbarian would be worse than marrying the Prince of the South, at least that would be respectable.
Xie Qingya suddenly asked, "I heard from my mother that it was the Prince of Nan who saved you today? If that's the case, then I must pay a visit to express my gratitude."
"Hmm... According to etiquette, yes." Xie Qinghong felt a little guilty for some reason, and didn't even want to tell his closest brother about the long sword that gleamed with cold light and the blood that dripped during their escape.
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