Inside the Earl's mansion, the Li family members were gathered in one room.
Li Lao Er stayed at the small courtyard in the south of the city with Mr. Wen last night. However, when Mr. Wen went to court, he received news from home that his niece had been urgently taken to the palace last night.
He immediately rushed back to the Earl's mansion to ask his daughter-in-law if she knew the details.
Coincidentally, Jia Huan also returned to the Earl's mansion to retrieve some items, and upon hearing about this matter, he also became concerned about it.
Seeing that her father-in-law and brother-in-law both looked unwell, Wan'er offered some words of advice.
"Father, Huan-ge'er, my sister is intelligent and surely knows that the family is worried. She will probably send someone back with a message soon. Besides, the Third Princess treats my sister like her own sister, so she can take care of her if anything happens."
"Let's not panic for now, let's see how things go first."
Li Lao Er and Jia Huan naturally understood, but the palace was a place of trouble. They had finally managed to get away from it, and now Jia Yin had been summoned back in, and it was an emergency summons in the dead of night. How could they not be worried?
Just then, the front yard suddenly became lively. The maid guarding the second gate rushed in, shouting, "The princess is back!"
"Really?" Everyone was pleasantly surprised and quickly went to greet them at the door.
Sure enough, Jiayin walked ahead in plain clothes, her hair slightly disheveled, her eyes a little red, and her usual cheerful expression was gone, replaced by a look of sorrow.
Shui Ling and Shui Yun followed behind her, also looking bewildered.
Everyone's hearts were in their throats, and they couldn't put them down any longer.
Wan'er rushed forward a few steps, helped her sister-in-law up, and quickly went into the house.
Following Li Lao Er, Jia Huan directly instructed Chun Xiu, "All idlers, step back and guard the gate."
Chunxiu immediately chased away the maids and servants and closed the door.
Jiayin was settled in a chair, holding a cup of warm tea in her hand. She drank it all in one gulp before she could recover.
She looked up at her worried family members and said with a bitter smile, "The Empress passed away yesterday. In order not to delay the appointment of the Crown Prince and the selection of consorts, the Emperor decided to keep the death a secret. The Third Princess was devastated, and I was taken to take care of her. But the Princess did not want me to stay in Kunning Palace, so she insisted on sending me out."
Everyone gasped in shock, speechless with astonishment.
An empress of a nation, in such sweltering heat, couldn't even be buried after her death?!
How long are you going to keep the news of someone's death a secret?!
I've heard that the living should give way to the dead, because the dead are respected.
But when did the dead have to make way for the living?
"He's gone mad, he's really gone mad!" Li Lao Er cursed under his breath, without naming names, but everyone knew who had gone mad.
Even someone like Wu Cuihua received the dignity she deserved when she passed away.
Moreover, after the burial, the family would always go to pay their respects and make offerings during festivals and holidays, without fail.
All grudges will vanish with the coming of death.
However, the mother of a nation is not as good as a peasant woman.
He died without his death being announced, without a proper burial; he could only lie hidden in the courtyard, waiting to rot. His young daughter and servants were the only ones keeping vigil over his body. It was truly…
Wan'er sighed and replied softly, "The imperial family is the most ruthless; that's absolutely true. In that case, it's better to be an ordinary citizen."
Jia Huan felt sorry for the girl and looked her up and down several times, afraid that she might be frightened.
He stepped forward and patted the girl on the shoulder, comforting her, "Little sister, were you frightened? Don't be afraid, those people are crazy, they're capable of anything. Try not to go to the palace again, or you might get implicated again, understand?"
“You are the apple of our family’s eye. If anything happens to you, not only us, but also Grandma and Aunt in Quanzhou, and Uncle and the Marquis who are fighting on the front lines will not be able to bear it.”
Jiayin nodded, hugged her brother's waist, and whispered, "I know, brother. I just feel sorry for the Third Princess. She's only a few years older than me, and she has to go through all this. It's so pitiful."
Everyone sighed; they hadn't really liked the Third Princess before.
But after so long, seeing that the Third Princess truly cared for Jiayin and treated her like a younger sister, they were grateful and happy.
If they can help, they are naturally willing to lend a hand.
Unfortunately, this matter involves too many things, so let alone helping, the whole family has to pretend they don't know anything.
After a few more casual words, Li Lao Er instructed, "I will inform Mr. Wen and the Liu family about this matter. Please remember not to let the news leak out and to be extremely cautious."
Now, he is vastly different from before; all his thoughts are focused on appointing a crown prince and selecting a consort. Anyone who dares to disrupt his plans will face utter disaster.
Everyone nodded and agreed.
Li Lao Er then got up, intending to go out.
No sooner had the door been opened than Mu Xu entered from the front yard, looking travel-worn and with his lips cracked from thirst.
Everyone was overjoyed and quickly welcomed him inside.
Even Jiayin couldn't care less about being sad and quickly poured Mu Xu a cup of herbal tea.
Mu Xu scrutinized her for a few moments, then downed the tea in his cup in one gulp, followed by chugging the teapot down his throat before letting out a long sigh.
Li Lao Er, unusually anxious, asked, "Xu Ge'er, how is it? How is the war in Jiangbei? Have the Marquis and the Fourth Prince sent back any news?"
Mu Xu dragged his aching legs and sat down next to Jia Yin before saying, "The situation in Jiangbei is rather complicated, which caused a two-day delay. Otherwise, I would have been back much earlier."
"I was originally thinking about the grain and medicine stored in Jiangbei and planned to go and check on them when I had some free time, but I ran into Uncle Shan being chased. The first wave of people must have been sent by that person there, trying to cut off the Marquis's contact with his family."
He pointed in the direction of the palace, and everyone guessed what he meant, and they all frowned.
"Why did that man cut off the Marquis's contact with the family? Has he begun to fear our family?"
Li Lao Er went straight to the heart of the matter, saying that this issue was crucial. If that person was wary of their family, the family needed to take immediate action to avoid being caught off guard and falling into a passive situation.
Mu Xu shook his head. "It's not a problem with our family. It's that his mind has changed. He probably wants to wait until the major events in Xindu are completed before making other arrangements for the Northern Expeditionary Army. So he not only withheld military supplies but also issued official documents ordering the Northern Expeditionary Army to postpone its attack."
"But the Marquis believed that the time for a decisive battle had come, and he also wanted to drive out the barbarians as soon as possible and return to the new capital. So the Marquis sent Uncle Shan back to contact his family, hoping to use the grain and medicine from the Jiangbei Valley. As a result, Uncle Shan was intercepted."
"Uncle Shan risked injury to kill all those men, but the group that had been robbing the grain earlier also appeared. Luckily, I helped half of them, otherwise Uncle Shan would have been in danger."
Jiayin imagined how dangerous it must have been at the time, and her heart grew increasingly agitated. She replied, "Uncle Lao Hei and the others have only been gone a short while. Should we chase them back, take some men to Jiangbei, and kill them all? Otherwise, if these people cause trouble at this crucial moment, it could ruin everything."
Li Lao Er was also concerned and chimed in, "I'm afraid Lao Hei and the others aren't enough. We should gather a few dozen more from the second village, and it would be best to go to the Marquis's mansion to find the head steward and borrow a few dozen guards. Together we'll have two or three hundred, which should be enough to handle the situation."
Mu Xu smiled, a hint of smugness in his expression.
“My lord, my princess, there’s no need for such trouble. Uncle Shan and I have already taken care of those people, and we even caused some trouble for their master along the way.”
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