Mountain and River Festival 221. Heartfelt Talk

Just friends?

In just one sentence, Xu Qingchen's attitude of rejection was clear. Ye Li could only sigh with regret in her heart. It seemed that her elder brother and Princess Anxi were indeed not destined to be together.

Ye Li threw down the chess piece in her hand, looked at Xu Qingchen and said, "In that case, Li'er won't tell big brother about this, but... if big brother really doesn't have this idea, it's better to make it clear with Princess Anxi as soon as possible." Xu Qingchen nodded and said, "I understand. Li'er, what else do you want to say?" Ye Li looked at Xu Qingchen seriously and asked, "Do big brother and uncle have any concerns about the prince and Prince Ding's Mansion?" Xu Qingchen was startled, and then put down the chess piece in his hand and looked at Ye Li and asked, "Why does Li'er think so?"

Ye Li pursed her lips and smiled and said: "Brother, Li'er grew up in the Xu family. When I was a child, my uncle and elder brother never dared or forgot the teachings of Li'er. Both my elder brother and uncle are talented people who can manage the world. It’s hard to find just one of them The Xu family is lucky to have two people. Many things in the northwest have been hard work for the eldest brother and uncle, but... with the abilities of the uncle and eldest brother, they don't need to be so hard, right?" Xu Qingchen lowered his eyes and smiled lightly: "It's Prince Ding. What do you mean?”

Ye Li shook her head and said, "How could the prince not see what Li'er could see? But he didn't say anything. Big brother and uncle are so reserved, are they worried about the prince and Prince Ding's Mansion?"

Xu Qingchen was silent for a moment, then shook his head and said, "No, I'm just a little tired."

"Tired?" Ye Li was puzzled. Xu Qingchen smiled and said, "Li'er, no matter how much suffering the Xu family has experienced in recent years, the reputation of the Xu family in Yunzhou as the top scholar of the time has lasted for hundreds of years. The Xu family has survived two dynasties and is still standing firm because of the trembling and fear of these generations of the Xu family. It's lonely at the top... If the Xu family doesn't want their descendants to be like us, then... the best option is for the Xu family's reputation to fade away." Ye Li lowered her head, "Brother, do you not trust Li'er?"

Xu Qingchen shook his head, "No, it's not that I can't wake you up, nor that I don't trust Prince Ding. But what about you and Prince Ding in the future? How will your descendants face the Xu family? After three dynasties, they have served the emperor for two dynasties. Who wouldn't trust such a family, and who wouldn't worry? How deep was the brotherly love between Emperor Taizu and the first Prince Ding? How did it end now?"

"Brother..." Ye Li sighed. How could she not know that the Xu family was in a difficult situation? Once the Mohist army really competed for the world and even finally established itself in the Central Plains, the Xu family would surely become the greatest founding hero. A family that has survived three dynasties. A family that betrayed the previous dynasty to support the Great Chu, and then betrayed the Great Chu to support Prince Ding, even if it has the reputation of being the best in the world, it cannot completely eliminate the suspicion of the people and the king. Xu Qingchen looked at her with a smile and said, "Li'er, don't worry. The Xu family will still stay in the northwest to support Prince Ding until Prince Ding is no longer needed." Ye Li frowned and said, "Brother, are you talking about being a conspirator?"

"Not bad." Xu Qingchen nodded with a smile.

"No!" Ye Li refused flatly, "Brother, you should know that those who have been strategists in all dynasties will never have a good ending." The so-called strategists are those who hide in the dark and make plans for the monarch. Because they know too many secrets, they are always the kind of people who hide their heads. Even the civil and military officials around the monarch generally don't have any good feelings towards this kind of people. The wise are suspected, and the incompetent are abandoned. If such an identity is imposed on the eldest brother and uncle, Ye Li would rather they retire to the mountains and forests now and not care about worldly affairs. Xu Qingchen raised his eyebrows and smiled, "Does Lier think that Prince Ding is a person who hides his head?"

Ye Li shook her head and said firmly, "It won't work anyway! Big brother, if you and uncle believe in Li'er, just stay in the northwest. No matter what happens in the future, Li'er is willing to guarantee with her life that the Xu family will retreat unscathed. If big brother and uncle don't believe, Li'er will go and ask the prince to let the Xu family retreat."

"Li'er..."

Ye Li shook her head and looked at Xu Qingchen with bright eyes and said, "Li'er knows that big brother and uncle are considering Li'er. If the prince relies too much on the Xu family, the old ministers of Dingwang Palace will definitely be dissatisfied with Li'er. However, Li'er must not let uncle and big brother suffer such grievances. Big brother and uncle are talented in governing the world, not scheming people who hide in the dark."

"Ali said it well." Before Xu Qingchen could answer, he heard Mo Xiuyao's approving voice from behind. The two turned around and saw Mo Xiuyao walking towards him, his white hair fluttering against his body. Just as Xu Qingchen was about to stand up, Mo Xiuyao had already walked up to him, raised his hand and pushed him back, saying with a smile: "I didn't expect Ali and Big Brother to be chatting here, and it just so happens that I also want to chat with Big Brother, so I'll join in the fun. Do you mind, Big Brother?" The consecutive calls of Big Brother made Xu Qingchen's mouth twitch, because Mo Xiuyao would never call him Big Brother at first. Xu Qingchen raised his head and smiled calmly: "Please sit down, Your Majesty."

Mo Xiuyao sat down next to Ye Li, looked at Xu Qingchen and said seriously: "I dare not guarantee that the Xu family will be rich for a hundred years, but as Ah Li said, I guarantee that the Xu family will get out of this unscathed during my lifetime. I wonder if you believe it, big brother?"

Xu Qingchen was silent for a while, then he raised his head and smiled, "How dare I not believe your words, my lord? But I'd better not call you big brother. Just call me by my name, my lord."

Mo Xiuyao raised his eyebrows, and Xu Qingchen shook his head and smiled, "It doesn't matter whether it's for Prince Li'er or not, it's fine to be clear about public and private matters."

Mo Xiuyao immediately understood what Xu Qingchen meant and nodded, saying, "I will serve tea instead of wine to Master Qingchen."

"Thank you."

With the prescription provided by the sick scholar, Shen Yang and Doctor Lin were naturally more efficient in making the medicine. Of course, Shen Yang and Doctor Lin first carefully checked that the prescription provided by the sick scholar was indeed an ancient prescription handed down from a thousand years ago. The two also used various means and their own knowledge of pharmacology to determine the authenticity of the prescription and the possible effects of the prepared medicine. It took a full half a month to finally refine this blue sky flower, which might be the only one left in the world, into a pill and send it to Ye Li and Mo Xiu Yao. The size of the blue sky flower is not small, and there are countless various precious medicinal materials, but in the end, there are only five pills refined. Once it is confirmed that the blue sky flower has indeed been extinct from this time, then these five pills can be said to be the only ones in the world.

Seeing the fragrant dark brown pills in front of them, everyone present couldn't help but show joy on their faces.

Shen Yang said with a faint smile on his face: "Your Majesty can take one pill first, and then take another pill three days later to completely eliminate the poison in your body. As for this sickly boy, his body can't bear it, so he can only take a quarter of a pill each time, and take it after dissolving it in water. Take it once every five days. Only one pill is needed, and then you just need to find a famous doctor to regulate your body." The sick scholar looked at him coldly and said, "You have refined five pills in total, and you give me one?" Doctor Lin sneered and said, "We only need two pills. Why not give you the rest? You try taking one pill at a time like King Ding? You blame the doctor for prescribing too light a medicine because you are weak?" It was obvious that the sick scholar was too weak to be replenished. The heavy medicine was indeed effective quickly, but the sick scholar's body couldn't bear it.

Ling Tiehan patted the sick scholar on the shoulder, put away the medicine bottle that Shen Yang handed over, and said with a smile: "Thank you, Mr. Shen and Doctor Lin, thank you both." The two doctors looked better, and Doctor Lin casually threw out two prescriptions and said: "Use these two prescriptions, and it should be enough for a year or so. Pay attention to self-cultivation and cultivate your character, otherwise it is inevitable to leave sequelae." Ling Tiehan carefully put away the prescriptions and thanked Doctor Lin carefully. Although the sick scholar did not say anything, after hearing what Doctor Lin said, the light in his eyes could not help but brighten.

The medicine made by the two great doctors was indeed extremely effective. After using only one pill, most of the poison in Mo Xiuyao's body had faded away. His face did not look as pale as before, and even his body temperature, which was always cold, became normal. I believe that after the toxins are completely eliminated, Mo Xiuyao's body will be fully recovered after a year or so of recuperation. However, since the toxins were eliminated, Mo Xiuyao's legs, which had been healed for more than a year, began to ache again. This forced Ye Li to pull Mo Xiuyao to Shen Yang for examination again. Obviously Shen Yang was not surprised by this situation. He stroked his beautiful beard and said, "I said last year that the reason why the prince could walk freely was because of the Phoenix Tail Grass. The fire poison of Phoenix Tail Grass is as fierce as the cold poison of the cold pond. It was also this fire poison that temporarily broke the meridians in the prince's legs that were originally blocked due to serious injuries. Now that the toxins in the prince's body are cleared, the original leg injuries will naturally recur."

Ye Li frowned and said, "Could it be that after the poison in the prince's body is completely cleared, the prince will still be unable to walk?"

Hearing this, Mo Xiuyao reached out and held Ye Li's right hand tightly. Ye Li turned her head and smiled at him faintly.

Shen Yang said, "That's not the case. The fire poison of the phoenix tail grass was planted in the prince's leg. It has some effect in opening up the meridians that were completely blocked. But the prince was seriously injured at the time. It was an old injury from ten years ago. How could there be no hidden dangers? Now the detoxification is not effective for the time being. When the poison in the prince's body is completely taken over, I will prescribe some medicine for the old injury. In the future, it will probably be a little troublesome when it is cloudy and rainy. Many people have this problem and it is not a big deal." After hearing what Shen Yang said, Ye Li was relieved. Indeed, even if it is such a serious external injury in the previous life, even after a long period of rehabilitation, it may not be 100% possible to leave no sequelae. Besides, Mo Xiuyao has been injured for ten years, and the leg pain when it is cloudy and rainy is already a good result. Nodding, Ye Li said: "Then it's Mr. Shen's turn."

Shen Yang packed his things while smiling and said, "Princess, you are welcome. After so many years, the prince is finally well and I am relieved." Ye Li also knew that Shen Yang had stayed in Prince Ding's Mansion all these years and did not go anywhere because of Mo Xiuyao's illness and the friendship between Shen Yang and Mo Liufang. She did not say more words of thanks at the moment. Shen Yang had paid for Mo Xiuyao and Prince Ding's Mansion all these years, and verbal thanks seemed hypocritical.

The confidants of Prince Ding's mansion were secretly happy that the prince would soon fully recover. However, the entire northwest was secretly surging with undercurrents. When the whereabouts of Tan Jizhi and the news of the imperial seal were suddenly leaked from nowhere, although the entire northwest was still calm on the surface, countless people secretly fought against each other. Among them, the most unfortunate person was none other than Tan Jizhi.

Originally, Tan Jizhi just wanted to come to the northwest to pick up Shu Manlin and cause trouble for Mo Xiuyao. But he didn't know that everything would go wrong after he entered the northwest. First, he didn't even see Mo Xiuyao and Ye Li, and then his whereabouts and identity were suddenly exposed to the world. So he was busy dealing with people who came to ask for the whereabouts of the imperial seal and treasure every day, so how could he have the energy to cause trouble for Mo Xiuyao?

Tan Jizhi also understood that his current situation was definitely due to the instigation of the Ding Palace behind the scenes, but it was he who immorally framed the Ding Palace to keep the imperial seal in its hands. Now that he was the victim of the instigation, he did not have the nerve to blame the Ding Palace for adding insult to injury.

In the dark night, Tan Jizhi looked calmly at the black-clad man who blocked his way and said calmly, "Which group are you from? How have I offended you?"

The leading black-clad man said coldly: "Tan Jizhi, there is no need to pretend. Hand over the whereabouts of the imperial seal and the treasure, and we can spare your life!" Tan Jizhi sneered and said: "You are not the first to ask me for the treasure, and you will not be the last. I don't know where you heard about the imperial seal and treasure. This young master has only two words: no!"

The man in black sneered and said, "Lin Yuan, you are the orphan of the former royal family. If we hadn't found out your identity, why would we come here? I advise you to tell us the whereabouts of the treasure honestly, otherwise, don't mind our rudeness."

Tan Jizhi closed his eyes in annoyance, looking at the black-clad men surrounding him. He had been annoyed by these people for the past few days, and his identity as the orphan of the former royal family made the news of the treasure's whereabouts more credible. Tan Jizhi himself had a hard time speaking out, and if he knew the whereabouts of the treasure, he would not have wandered around the northwest. He had killed all the previous groups of people, but now he was alone, and the black-clad men who surrounded him were obviously not something he could deal with alone.

After thinking for a while, Tan Jizhi said, "If you want to know the whereabouts of the treasure, that's fine. But how do I know you won't kill me to silence me if you get the treasure map?"

The man in black laughed and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Tan. We are only after money and not our lives. As long as you hand over the whereabouts of the treasure, we can leave at any time." Tan Jizhi raised his eyebrows and said, "What if what I hand over is fake?"

"Unless Mr. Tan plans to disappear for the rest of his life. You know, although the world is big, there are not many places for someone like Mr. Tan to hide." Tan Jizhi nodded and said, "Okay, I'll give it to you!" After that, he threw out a map from his sleeve. The man in black took it in his hand and unfolded it. It was indeed a map with special markings.

"I trust Mr. Tan. Goodbye." He waved his hand and quietly withdrew with a group of men in black. Standing in the open space, a cold light flashed across Tan Jizhi's eyes. He smiled lightly and said, "Since one copy of the treasure map has been given out, it doesn't matter if I give a few more points. Isn't it?"