Chapter 83 Preparation, Xun Xiao, Wen Xuan and Sweetness
The snow began to fall again, getting heavier and heavier. The north wind roared across the snowy plains of Bashui, rolling up countless snow foam and ice flowers. The momentum of the galloping horses was gone, just like the tomb owner's life without regrets.
Xie Ci took Gu Wan's hand and stood beside the tombstone. He placed his hand, which was wrapped in black gauze, on the hard tombstone.
At that moment, the sound of horse hooves clattered through the ice and snow in the distance. Zhang Qing, who had escorted Qin Ying, Xie Feng, and the others back to their manor, arrived at the small village. He and Xie Ping, who had stayed behind, rode quickly towards the village. They dismounted from their horses, trotted forward, knelt, and kowtowed three times before the tombstone. Then, turning to Xie Ci, he announced excitedly, "Pang Li is here! He's resigned his official post and is here to join his master."
A group of horses galloped across the snowfield and the official road. The crackling snow particles mixed with the cold wind hit people's heads and faces. They rushed against the wind violently, but there was a feeling that their blood was roaring and rushing forward.
Xie Ci was reluctant to leave, so he finally said goodbye to his father and brother after hearing the news. He changed into casual clothes, led his men on horseback through the west gate into Zhongdu, and returned to the Duke's Mansion through the tunnel.
Pang Li had just arrived from the stronghold. Xie Ci had left him a base at Sigan Mountain, where he could contact others if needed. Unexpectedly, he arrived just after Pang Huai was buried.
Pang Li carried his old mother on his back. Both mother and son were wearing simple blue cloth robes. He tied the mourning belt around his wrist and tucked it into his sleeve. Pang's mother had poor eyesight and looked a bit like she was suffering from dementia. In her hand she held a blue and white porcelain jar, which was tightly wrapped in a blue cloth.
Pang Li's fair face was a little red from the cold. He, his mother and a carriage, found Xie Jiawei's contact point in a low-key manner.
"I don't want to be that official anymore!"
He came to seek refuge with Xie Ci. Not to mention how heartbroken the mother and son were, his father and brother both died young. Without his brother's protection, he felt that he could not handle the imperial guards and was unwilling to stay any longer. He simply resigned from his post on the pretext of being injured and taking care of his mother, packed up his house, and pulled a carriage with his widowed mother to seek refuge with Xie Ci.
Pang Li said: "No matter what the future holds, whether it's life or death, light or darkness, I will follow you anyway!!"
The young face showed an unswerving determination. The court made him extremely disappointed and sad. He didn't want to stay in the imperial guards and be swept away by the muddy current. He was not as smart as his brother. His brother thought that the Xie family and Xie Ci were good, and he thought so too!
Pang Li carefully put his mother down. Xie Ping and Gu Guan hurried forward to support the trembling old lady and took her into the house to warm her up.
The indigo door curtain was lifted and lowered. Under the cool and spacious eaves of the main hall, Pang Li lifted the hem of his green robe and knelt on one knee on the hard, water-polished bluestone corridor with a "pop". He looked up and said, "Pang Li, from now on, I will obey your orders!"
Xie Ci took a quick step forward, lifted up Pang Li, and said, "Good brother!"
Pang Li is Pang Huai's younger brother, his brother. "From today on, your mother is my mother. As long as I live, I will take care of her until the end of her life!"
Pang Li was overjoyed. His last worry was gone. He was so excited that he wanted to kneel down again, but Xie Ci held him back, saying, "That's not necessary."
This is what I should do.
Only in this way can I live up to your decision of giving up everything to be with me.
The snow was heavy, covering the sky and was blown into the corridor by the biting north wind. Xie Ci looked up at the gray sky and took a deep breath.
Dusk has arrived and the night of another day is about to fall, but today he has a new understanding of the rotation of the sun and the moon.
The rotation of sunlight and moonlight, day and night is eternal and unchanging. The sky does not change, but people can change.
He had never felt so deeply as at this moment that what his father and brother left him was never just this seven feet of flesh and blood and half of his body of martial arts.
As a member of the Xie family, he must have the spirit of the Xie family!
…
The study is large and brightly lit.
The sound of military boots hitting the ground was heard as he entered the courtyard and stepped onto the terrazzo steps. After settling Pang Li and his mother, Xie Ci returned to the study.
Pushing open the heavy partition door, Xie Ci saw a simple yet majestic long desk and a large bookshelf. He took off his cloak and quickly returned to the desk.
There is a secret compartment behind the armchair, which contains rolls of intelligence from all over the country, large and small. After Xie Jiawei found Xie Ci, he started to develop rapidly again and put many of the old intelligence points back.
There are also Liuyunwei.
Most of Xie Jiawei's intelligence points are in the north, mainly used to monitor whether there are any abnormal fluctuations in various places, such as unusual public opinion caused by Northern Rong spies. In the past, the military used them for this purpose, and also took the opportunity to understand the local people's conditions and official style. However, after Xie Ci took over, he also arranged some in Zhongdu, Central Plains and Jiangnan.
Gu Guan had read this intelligence, and Xie Ci had, of course, too. He had never spoken a word, but Xie Ci was aware of it. The Wei Dynasty was gradually becoming increasingly ill. It wasn't just one or two problems, but a general decline. Not everyone was affected. Even some good officials who served the people were working in this environment, like Qin Xian. It was not easy for him to squeeze out some food to rescue Guiyi Prefecture.
Xie Ci was born with a keen sense and didn't even need anyone to teach him many things. After several years of being involved in worldly affairs, military affairs and politics, he learned everything by himself.
He reviewed the information one by one today, pondered for a long time, and finally judged that the dynasty would only last for another 20 to 30 years.
If there was a person with strong skills like Feng Kun, the disease might have lasted longer, but it is difficult to reverse the disease after all.
Of course, the above judgment is based on the assumption that no accidents occur.
Xie Ci lowered his eyes for a long time. He already had a rough idea of how to negotiate with Feng Kun.
He didn't want to get deeper and deeper into the vortex of party struggles, and he wanted to get out of it as soon as possible.
All this did not take too long. Xie Ci discovered that he had actually been paying attention to these matters subconsciously all along. Now he suddenly understood that it was just that all those dots that he had understood before were brought together into a coherent line.
He was a little dazed, with a lot of thoughts in his mind, and finally he breathed a sigh of relief.
Xie Ci began to clear the things on his desk and picked up the Beirong pile. As part of their duties, the Xie family also collected letters and reports from Beirong. After the Xie family's incident, these overseas locations were fine. A small number of them were released, but the majority remained. Beirong letters arrived from each location every one or two months, and the pile was quite thick.
When Xie Ci was thinking, Gu Wan did not disturb him. She carefully arranged people to take care of Pang Li's mother, and then went to see Xu and Qin Ying. After that, she returned to the large study in the middle road. Xie Ci had already stood up.
She drank a bowl of brown sugar ginger soup herself and scooped a bowl of it onto his desk. Xie Ci picked up the stack of Beirong letters and frowned, "Beirong is too peaceful."
After Huyan De was defeated and fled to Yinshan, the various tribes returned to their territories. He led the royal court's troops back to Yincheng and proceeded according to procedure. Everything was quite peaceful.
But Xie Ci felt that it was too calm. He ordered someone to try to investigate more deeply, but the results showed nothing unusual.
However, Xie Ci was very sensitive, and he always felt that something was wrong because Huyan De was too honest.
Next to the porcelain jar sat a bowl, the same one Gu Wan was using. Xie Ci couldn't help but glance at the bowl as he spoke. He picked up the bowl and spun it halfway around, finally circling it precisely to the spot where Gu Wan had taken a sip. Gu Wan chuckled and glanced at him, and the heavy atmosphere in the room suddenly relaxed with her arrival.
Xie Ci finally smiled for the first time today. He exchanged glances with her, his cold, dark eyes softening. "Let's rescue your uncle first, and then Feng Kun and I will..."
Before he could finish his words, he heard familiar footsteps. Someone was talking to Zheng Ying Xieping at the gate, then walked in casually. After going up the stairs, he knocked twice on the door curtain in a pretentious manner, and a pair of eyes appeared in the gap. It was Zhang Ningyuan. He took a look and saw no restricted scenes, so he immediately lifted the thick curtain that was blocking the snow.
"Thank you! I forgot to tell you that I saved two people on the way. They're stranded in a dilapidated temple. Send someone to get them quickly, or they'll freeze to death!"
Zhang's parents stayed in the small village. The three of them had already discussed that they would stay in the small village for the time being, and when spring came and flowers bloomed, they would go to Shuofang.
As for Zhang Ningyuan, he was already ready to do something big. He waved goodbye to his parents excitedly and followed them back to the city.
"Who is it?"
When asked, Xie Ci didn't seem to care much. Zhang Ningyuan brushed off the snow on his body and took off his cloak. He ran to the round table to drink ginger soup. There was no bowl. He wanted to drink the whole pot, but when he was halfway through, he remembered Gu Wan and finally picked up a teacup, emptied it, and drank from it. "A man and a woman, unconscious, as if poisoned."
He was too nervous to think about anything else at the time, so he melted some tea into a cake and he and his mother fed it to the two of them. He wasn't afraid of starving to death, but he was afraid of freezing. He sighed, "That man was quite scary. His burns were very severe, covering half his face and even one of his hands."
Gu Wan: “???”
Gu Wan was so shocked that she even knocked over her brush washer, spilling water all over the table and floor. She hurriedly picked up the two piles of information on the table and threw them over to the dry area. She and Xie Ci, who suddenly looked up, exchanged a glance, and then they both looked at the stunned Zhang Ningyuan: "What did you say?!"
"Where is he? Quick, quick, tell us!" Gu Wan was anxious, "Why didn't you tell us earlier?"
Zhang Ningyuan:...Fuck, these two are still our own people?
"I don't know!"
He ran out, "I picked them up at the Ta Cui Temple outside the city. I put them in the dilapidated land temple a few miles away."
…
Zhongdu is prosperous. After going out of the outer city gate, there is still a large residential area and spontaneous quarters, which is like a city outside the city. It has the prosperity of the outer city but without the strict division and regulations of the outer city. It is very lively. It is not until you go more than ten miles away that it gradually becomes sparse, and the difference between towns and suburbs begins to become obvious, with large tracts of farms and fields appearing.
Tacui Temple is located more than fifty miles out of the east city gate, at the foot of Tacui Mountain, a branch of Yunling Mountain. Nearby there is a dilapidated land temple made of rammed earth. It is very small and is only big enough for two people to lie down behind an altar made of yellow mud.
Xie Ci and Gu Guan personally led the group, rode out of the city quickly, and under the guidance of Zhang Ningyuan, they soon found Xun Xiao and Qin Wenxuan. The two were unconscious, lying silently with their eyes closed in the land temple. Their hands and feet were cold all day, and their faces were pale with a slight bluish tint, and a faint dark gray color. They really looked like they had been poisoned.
Xie Ci and Gu Wan brought the palace doctors with them. After feeling his pulse, Xie Ci breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Let's go back home first."
Gu Wan didn't bother to ask, and quickly ordered everyone to load onto the carriage, and then hurried back to the mansion before the city gates were closed.
The huge room was brightly lit.
Several court doctors and medical assistants were already waiting. As soon as they arrived, they immediately came forward carrying their medicine boxes.
Two green bed curtains were drawn up, and Xun Xiao and Qin Wenxuan lay side by side on the bed. The railing on the other side of the bunk bed was directly removed to make it easier for the court doctor to diagnose Qin Wenxuan who was lying inside.
Under the bright light, the black bruises on their faces from the frost gradually faded, and their faces became very pale, but the gloomy feeling remained and became clearer.
Qin Ying was extremely anxious. She didn't care about being sad when she received the news and ran over quickly. Even Chen Yan came over. A group of people stood behind Xie Ci and Gu Wan, waiting anxiously.
"How could this happen? How could this happen?!"
Chen Yan didn't care about the difference between men and women. He was already old and kept looking around. This was the only daughter of his old friend, so he hoped nothing would happen to her.
Qin Ying was extremely anxious. "Didn't they go to Beirong? Why are they back to Zhongdu?"
He was poisoned and fell in the wild.
"Could it be that Xun Xun has sneaked into Zhongdu?!"
Fortunately, I met Zhang Ningyuan and his family of three, otherwise I would have frozen to death.
Xun Xiao and Qin Wenxuan's diagnosis results came out not long after. The old military doctor was not very good at diagnosing poisons, but among the doctors Qin Xian and others had recruited, there was one who was very good at poisons. The five court doctors discussed in a low voice for a while and quickly came to a conclusion.
The situation is neither good nor bad.
"The poison in there is a blended poison." A blended poison is a compound poison. The Seven Insects and Seven Flowers are examples of blended poisons, meaning several different poison powders are blended into one. The old doctors, based on Xun Xiao and Qin Wenxuan's pulses, physical symptoms (which Gu Wan had personally examined), and the poisonous blood released from their fingertips, finally reached a rough conclusion.
"It's based on drugs like Mandala, and the dosage is very high, meant to be inhaled. It should also contain opioids."
Gu Wan: "Opium?"
The forty-year-old court physician stroked his chest-length black beard. He was the doctor who specialized in poisons. Clearly, he was extremely knowledgeable and could even identify opium. The opium here was an extract of opiates, not found in the local area.
He nodded, "But the quantity is slightly lighter. There are also big red pills, mountain arsenic, aconite, red letter, etc."
Inhaled poisons are quite toxic, but unlike poisons that kill on impact or are taken orally, the former's toxicity is generally not comparable to the latter, and they focus more on inducing coma. After being poisoned, Xun Xiao had apparently been evacuated quickly and administered an antidote pill, as well as undergoing bloodletting and forced poison removal. Qin Wenxuan's poisoning was much less severe, and her current level of poisoning was similar to Xun Xiao's after bloodletting and forced poison removal.
Xun Xiao was treated in time and his life is not in danger, otherwise Zhang Ningyuan would not have temporarily placed them in the land temple. The court physician has just started to prescribe medicine. Take three doses a day for five consecutive days, and the other toxic properties will be largely alleviated.
"The only thing is the poison of Mandala and opium. The decoction is not very effective. We can only wait for them to wake up on their own."
Xie Ci frowned: "How long will it take?"
The court doctor said, "It shouldn't be short. The chances are very small, three to five days. Ten days, half a month, or even longer, it's hard to say."
Xun Xiao and Qin Wenxuan had traces of rolling down the hillside. They must have fainted and fallen while escaping. Their hair had just been uncovered, and there were bruises on it.
The court physician used acupuncture and bleeding, and the two men's breathing became noticeably stronger.
Therefore, the court physician believed that the injuries also had a certain impact. Taking the two into consideration, Xun Xiao and Qin Wenxuan's coma period should be longer.
Anyway, all the poisons that can be identified have been identified. The compound poison is troublesome, but it is not a big problem at the moment. As long as the person is sober, the remaining poison can be eliminated according to the symptoms, and it should be fine.
This complex and powerful poison made Xie Ci and Gu Guan immediately think of the "Gelsemium elegans".
"It must be the work of the Northern Rong." The correct statement should be the work of Xun Xun, right? There was no other person who could have caused Xun Xiao to track him down for such a long distance.
Xun Xiao and Qin Wenxuan were fine, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. After giving a few instructions, they did not stay in the room any longer to interfere with the feeding of medicine. They walked out of the room and stood at the steps. Xie Ci had already instructed Xie Feng in the Tu Temple to check the Ta Cui Temple and the surrounding area to see if he could find any clues.
Zhang Ningyuan clapped his hands. "Well, I told you there were Northern Rong spies in Zhongdu, and that the winery was just a hideout, and you didn't believe me!"
Xie Ci did not order an investigation into the winery. After two rounds of searches by the imperial court, everything that needed to be evacuated had already been evacuated.
Zhang Ningyuan didn't need to be asked; he began to describe it with gestures: "It was cold and dark, and the wind was extremely strong! The snow made it hard to see. I took the small paths, and there were few people on them. I walked east, passed the farm, and couldn't see a single person. I was starting to feel a little uneasy."
Xie Ci glanced at him. He was so old, but he was still afraid of ghosts. How shameful!
Zhang Ningyuan was dressed in a dark purple warrior uniform. He was tall and thin. Compared to Li Yi, he was less reserved and more unrestrained than others. He glanced at Gu Wan and felt that he couldn't lose face in front of his younger brother and sister-in-law. He straightened his chest and said, "I wasn't scared, actually! It was mainly because my parents were there. I was worried about them and I had to protect them." He quickly got to the point. "Then, I suddenly saw a snow-covered hand in the ditch beside the road!"
He was so frightened at that time. After he came to his senses, he quickly stopped the carriage, looked around, and then jumped out with his sword in hand.
Then Xun Xiao's appearance shocked him again. This was also the reason why he didn't dare to put the car in his parents' car. If the grudges and vendettas implicated his father and mother, he would have no place to regret even if he killed himself.
As long as it wasn't a ghost, he was quite brave, so he carried the person onto the cart and discussed with his parents. There happened to be a rammed earth temple a few miles ahead, which was relatively safe. He fed the two of them with tea made from cakes and placed them in the temple. He planned to go back and meet up with Xie Ci, and then ask him to arrange someone to come.
As they were talking, Xie Feng also came back. Ta Cui Mountain was not very big, so he searched the nunnery thoroughly. Xie Feng bowed and said, "Master, I didn't find anything unusual."
This was a preliminary search. He also arranged for a more in-depth search and assigned a few people to stake out the area. However, if nothing unusual was found the first time, the likelihood of subsequent searches would not be very high.
Xie Ci nodded, asked Xie Feng to try to continue the investigation, and let him go down.
Gu Wan speculated, "I wonder if there's a Beirong stronghold nearby, or if something happened on the road?"
The three of them walked along the winding corridor and came out of the third courtyard on the east road where Xun Xiao and Qin Wenxuan were housed. Gu Guan felt a little regretful. Mainly because according to the original trajectory, Xun Xun was still serving as the Grand Protector in the north at this time and had no contact with Zhongdu.
Maybe there is a connection, but Gu Wan doesn't know.
In fact, the old emperor had passed away at this time in the previous life. I don’t know why he is still alive now. Anyway, because of Xie Ci’s strong joining, many things have become unrecognizable.
Father-in-law Lin is on the verge of collapse, and the fight between the old emperor and Feng Kun has reached a climax, but they no longer want to get involved and should just take care of themselves first.
Gu Guan thought about it. Xun Xun was quite powerful, but he couldn't possibly control Feng Kun and the old emperor. Let's ignore him for now. Anyway, everything would become clear once Xun Xiao and Wen Xuan woke up.
Zhongdu is their territory, maybe they can turn around and kill him, and help Xun Xiao avenge his mother's murder.
It would be even better if we could also postpone the fall of the Wei Dynasty.
Influenced by Xie Xinzhong, Xie Xian, and his son Pang Huai and Xie Ci, Gu Guan's attitude became more positive, and she no longer thought about the need for destruction before construction.
Xie Ci thought so too. He would wait until Xun Xiao and Qin Wenxuan woke up before making a decision. The most urgent thing was to get away from Feng Kun.
"Xie Ci" and his group have already entered the capital area. If they delay any longer, it will be one or two days at most. Given the current situation in Zhongdu, it may be too late if they don't withdraw.
Gu Wan was a little worried: "Will he agree?"
"He will."
Xie Ci said lightly.
When he spoke those two sentences, he spoke in a plain and straightforward manner with a hint of coldness and solemnity. His nimble body in a black narrow-sleeved warrior uniform stood with his hands behind his back, like a sword drawn from its sheath.
But then he changed his tone and softened his tone, "But before that, we have to rescue your uncles first."
When passing by Zhang Ningyuan's yard, Xie Ci kicked him inside and walked along the corridor back to the study courtyard. The white snow covered the eaves and treetops. The yard was quiet. There were only the two of them left. Xie Yun and others had already escaped to somewhere unknown.
It was originally a simple sentence, which was also briefly discussed on the road before, but now he lowered his head and spoke softly, but there was a feeling that was even softer than the pale moonlight.
"You have to come first" and "that's the only way", Qingqian said it, and there was a feeling that it had to be like this all the time, putting her first in his heart.
All of it was hidden in his very light and natural words.
Tenderness and sweetness arise spontaneously.
The more you savor it, the sweeter it becomes.
Xie Ci asked her, "Did you deal with Kou Chong?"
The breeze blew light snow, which was rustling all over the place. The lanterns under the eaves swayed gently in the wind, and the warm yellow light enveloped the two of them. Gu Guan raised the corners of her lips, and she tasted this gentle sweetness.
After coming back from Sigangshan, I always feel particularly sticky.
She curled her lips and glanced up at him. Her big warm brown almond eyes reflected the snow, beautiful as stars, and her smile became sweet.
Gu Wan tapped the ground with her feet and turned around. She ran away, looking back at him with a smile on her lips, "It's almost done."
"I'll go wake him up right now!"
The author has something to say:
Kou Chong: What did I do wrong? QAQ
Here I come! Good afternoon, my dears~ I give you a huge kiss! See you tomorrow, haha~ (づ￣3￣)づ
Finally, I would like to thank "sasa" for throwing the mine, pen refill, pen refill!
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And all the big babies who watered Wenwen, muajiujiujiu~
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