105 Chapter 105
◎The Princess Returns to Beijing◎
The person who was most happy to learn that he was going back to Beijing was King Xie Peng of Shu.
Previously, the princess borrowed his palace soldiers to intimidate the chieftain of Guizhou. This was a temporary measure and did not constitute a violation of the rules. However, when the princes entered the capital, they could only bring a maximum of 500 personal guards, and the rest had to be sent back to their fiefdoms.
He was just about to find the princess to report this matter, but he couldn't find anyone after searching for a long time.
"Miss Caiyu, where is the princess?"
Feng Caiyu was packing her bags when she looked up and asked politely, "What does the King of Shu want to see the princess about?"
"Ask her if she still wants my soldiers. If not, I'll send them back."
Feng Caiyu had no say in such matters, so she could only say, "The princess just went out and should be back around noon."
"Okay, I'll wait for her."
The suburbs of Guiyang Prefecture.
Lin Fan stood in front of three nameless graves. The graves were weeded and cleaned all year round, keeping them clean and tidy. There was still some paper ash left in front of the tombstones, which should have been left by tomb sweeping during the Qingming Festival.
"Brother Song, thank you very much." He turned around and bowed deeply to Song Qianmu beside him.
Song Qianmu quickly lifted him up and said, "Lin Wei saved Aqi's life. How could I bear to see him and his uncle and aunt die tragically without even a grave? It's just that Uncle Lin was wronged, so I'm sorry I can't carve a tombstone."
Lin Wei is Lin Fan's older brother. He is proficient in the art of medicine and once saved Song Qianqi when he was ill. Lin Fan also learned the basic medical skills from him.
"No matter what, you have been incredibly kind to our Lin family."
Lin Fan knew how great a risk Song Qianmu was taking. If he wasn't a chieftain with deep roots in Guiyang Prefecture, he would have been exposed and dismissed from his job, or even imprisoned, and he wouldn't even be able to save the three tombs without words.
"The Lin family's grievances have been redressed. I've instructed the craftsmen to carve a new stele. It will be erected this afternoon." Song Qianmu changed the subject. "What are your plans for the future?"
The tomb has been there for ten years and it is impossible to move it easily. Moreover, his ancestral home is in Shandong. Moving from Guizhou to Shandong is a long journey and there is a fear of accidents.
If he had no ties, he would stay in Guiyang, find a job, and visit his parents and brother often.
only……
Lin Fan looked towards the direction of Guiyang City, with affection in his eyes.
"Sir!" Suddenly a servant came to report, "Sir, someone from the village has come to the government office to make trouble. Please go and administer justice!"
Song Qianmu had no choice but to bow and say goodbye.
Even in April when summer comes, Guiyang's climate is still as cool as spring. The wind in the forest blows slowly, brushing against the pines and cypresses on both sides of the tombs, making rustling sounds, as if relatives are whispering in your ears.
Lin Fan's eyes gradually turned red and tears rolled down.
Song Qianmu was beside him just now, and he had long been accustomed to not showing vulnerability in front of outsiders. Now that there was no one around, he cried his heart out.
After a long time, he wiped away his tears and sorted out his thoughts. Suddenly, his ears moved slightly and he turned around to look. He was stunned and turned his head away hurriedly to prevent the person from seeing his embarrassment.
"Princess, why are you here?"
Xie Mingzhuo held three bouquets of flowers and placed them in front of the tombstone.
"I want to kidnap their son and brother, so I have to come and say hello."
Lin Fan: “…”
It sounds a bit strange, but inexplicably heartwarming.
Xie Mingzhuo just came to see her and didn't want to disturb Lin Fan's time with his family. He placed the flowers and was about to leave, but was caught by the hand.
"Let's go back together?"
"You don't talk to them anymore?"
Lin Fan's eyes were slightly red and swollen, and he was dressed in mourning. His smile seemed quite fragile and broken.
"Everything that needed to be said has been said over the past ten years. You seem to have lost some weight these days. Are you not used to the food? I'll go back and make lunch, and then come back to erect the monument this afternoon."
Yes, it’s almost noon, it’s time to eat.
Xie Mingzhuo nodded and let him hold his hand until they were near Guiyang City.
The truth of the Lin family case was revealed, and the culprit was already in the prison van. Lin Fan no longer had to hide his identity. After moving into the residence with Xie Mingzhuo, people who didn't know him, such as Gao Quan and Xie Peng, all knew that he was the only survivor of the Lin family.
When Xu Qinglang saw him, he was surprised, but also excited to meet an old acquaintance.
During the meal, she couldn't help but ask, "Team Leader Lin, your real name is 'Lin Xizhou'. What will you be called from now on?"
The others pricked up their ears; they wanted to know too.
Lin Fan's attention was originally on Xie Mingzhuo, but when he saw that she had a good appetite, his heart seemed to be filled with soft cotton, almost overflowing.
Hearing this, he subconsciously said, "From now on, I'll call you 'Lin Fan', with 'Xizhou' as my courtesy name."
Everyone nodded, this is not bad.
The next morning, the team set off back to Beijing.
In order to prevent the chieftains from rebelling and counterattacking, the Shu King's troops were not sent back until they left Guizhou, leaving only 500 personal guards.
After rushing all the way, they arrived at Linshuiyi, Henan after a few days.
When passing through Huguang, Gao Quan had stopped with his troops. Now the princess was accompanied by only the several hundred personal guards she had brought with her when she came, as well as the five hundred personal guards of the King of Shu.
Before night fell, more than a thousand guards gathered outside the post station to ensure that not even a fly could fly in, and they took shifts every hour.
The guards brought their own food for the march, and only water needed to be supplied from the post station.
The chef of the post station only needs to prepare meals for the distinguished guests in the hotel. In view of the princess's extremely noble status, he must show his utmost cooking skills today.
He stood by the cooking table and instructed the other chefs to keep their hands clean and free of any dirt, and to cut the vegetables into uniform lengths and thicknesses.
Finally, he looked at the girl who was lighting the fire: "Pay attention to the heat, understand?"
The guy who originally kept the fire fell ill these two days, so he asked him to let his distant niece take over the job so as not to lose his salary.
Out of pity for him, the cook agreed.
Fortunately, this girl is a good cook, is well-behaved and obedient, and tidies up neatly, so she won't bring shame to the kitchen.
The girl nodded timidly and stammered, "I'll remember that."
After a busy day, the chef served the meal himself. The dish was more exquisite and perfect than any he had ever made before. He couldn't help but feel proud that he was also someone who had cooked for Her Royal Highness the Princess.
He handed the insulated food box to the postman who came to deliver the meal.
The postmen had all changed into new clothes and washed them thoroughly, but he still warned them earnestly: "Be very careful not to tilt the plates and spill the soup, it would be ugly."
The postman agreed repeatedly.
This might be the only time in their life that they will serve Her Royal Highness the Princess, so shouldn’t they be extra cautious?
Although they could only be sent to the door of the upper room and handed over to the gatekeeper, and could not see the princess at all, no matter what, such an experience was enough for them to brag about for the rest of their lives.
The food was delivered to the upper room, and Feng Caiyu and others were responsible for setting the table.
Xu Qinglang said, "Let me try it first."
Tasting the food is fake, trying the dishes is real.
She was the one who checked whether the food was abnormal throughout the trip, and even though it was safe every time, she never let her guard down.
Jiang Qing poured her a bowl of soup and said, "Just smell it, don't put it in your mouth."
She is a doctor and has a keen sense of smell. Although it is inappropriate to say this, it is most appropriate to let her "taste the food".
Rumor has it that the princess dislikes strong flavors and prefers light dishes. This was also a rumor Xie Mingzhuo had deliberately spread: light dishes wouldn't be overshadowed by strong spices, making it easier to discern the medicinal flavor.
Xu Qinglang took the bowl of soup, leaned in and sniffed it, "It tastes a bit strange."
Several people's expressions changed immediately.
"Let me try." Lin Fan took the soup bowl, sniffed it carefully, his eyes slightly fixed, "It does have a strange smell."
He has been handling cases for several years and has encountered some cases where people were harmed by drugs. He is not unfamiliar with drugs, but he cannot tell whether they are drugs or not at the moment.
"Interesting." Xu Qinglang raised his eyes. "Princess, I can only smell something unusual, but I can't be sure if it's a problem with the water quality or if they really have drugs in it."
Xie Mingzhuo said calmly, "Aqing, secretly pass on the order that the guards do not drink the water in the posthouse. The prisoner carriage may move unusually tonight."
"Someone's trying to rob a prisoner?" Xu Qinglang raised his eyebrows. "I've only seen this in operas, but I never thought I'd experience it myself."
Feng Caiyu: "Besides the officials from Shu and Guizhou, the only ones in the prisoner car who are special are Shen Zhen Yao Dao and Yang Dan. The Yang chieftains are unlikely to follow from Guizhou to Henan to rescue the prisoners. So the only ones left are the remnants of the Sun and Moon Sect."
"Princess, should we try to catch the tortoise in a jar?" Jiang Qing asked. "Those prisoners aren't very useful. Should we arrange for someone to stand guard in secret?"
Xie Mingzhuo shook his head: "We must make the prisoner rescue a success."
"Princess, are you planning to play the long game and catch a bigger fish?" Meng Fan asked in surprise, "But the demonic master of Shenzhen is an expert in making opium. If we really let him go, wouldn't that be like letting a tiger return to the mountain?"
After his trip to Sichuan and Guizhou, Meng Fan became bolder and more independent-minded, and he no longer kept his thoughts to himself.
Xie Mingzhuo wasn't at all offended by her objection. He smiled and replied, "It's not about catching a big fish. It's just that for some reason, the prisoner capture must succeed, but Shen Zhen and his accomplices must also die."
Others: ???
Only Feng Caiyu understood that last year in Jiangxi, the princess deliberately let Li Ping'er and Lou Kun go. Lou Kun wanted to be an accomplice and redeem himself for his crime in order to gain a glimmer of hope for the Lou family.
The princess may have learned the news long ago, and in order to protect the "insider", she deliberately let the other party go, making them think the plan was successful, and then taking their lives.
Meng Bandu and Master Lin were both unaware of this matter. Ah Qing was a straightforward person, and Qing Lang did not understand Lou Kun's intentions at first, so they had not yet figured out the princess's intentions.
Fortunately, several people were obedient.
"I'll do as you say, Princess," Xu Qinglang said without hesitation, "but this medicine is a little special. I want to take it away and study it."
Xie Mingzhuo smiled: "Take them all."
Outside the kitchen, the cook and a group of kitchen servants squatted in the open space outside the door, waiting until the postman brought back the food box.
When he opened it, he saw that a lot of the dishes had been touched, but they were not finished, so the meat inside was wasted.
It's because the princess has a small appetite, not because the food he cooks is not tasty.
"Give the rest to you all." He waved his hand and sat down on a stone block, bored. "By the way, don't forget to boil some water after you finish eating. Where's that girl?"
"Li Xiaoya? She said she felt uncomfortable in her stomach and went to the restroom."
The night is filled with darkness and floating clouds cover the moon.
The guard on duty shouted, waking up everyone inside and outside the inn.
After the postmaster learned about the situation, he was almost going crazy. Someone actually managed to rob a prisoner in the middle of the night and succeeded amidst layers of guards!
Someone put drugs in the well water and water tanks, and when the guards fell asleep in the middle of the night, they were able to kidnap the prisoners quietly.
If it was not to rescue the prisoner but to assassinate the princess, would his nine clans still exist?
Who did this?!
After some inquiries, they found out that a fire-making girl was missing. The girl stole an axe and chopped the wood around the prison car. She not only rescued Shen Zhen, but also took Liu Zhaoyu away.
The cook was so frightened that he peed his pants and his head was bleeding.
The same was true for the postmaster and the other postmen.
Although they were not the ones who gave the poison, they were the ones who recruited the person. Even if the princess chopped off their heads, it was what they deserved.
Xie Mingzhuo certainly wouldn't chop off people's heads at will, but there were indeed problems with the management of the post station. Even if she had learned the information in advance, she couldn't absolve them of their mistakes.
Punishment must be imposed.
She sent a team of cavalry to search for the prisoners overnight, and also ordered the local government to make every effort to arrest the prisoner kidnappers.
It was not until the afternoon of the next day that the government reported that three bodies, two men and one woman, were found on a mountain path fifty miles away from the post station. They must have been robbed and killed by bandits.
Thanks to the efforts of Zongdutai, the bandit problem in southern Henan has been greatly reduced, but there are always bandits emerging from a few hilltops. It can only be said that these three people are destined to die.
No one knew that after the princess arrived in the capital, three people were secretly taken to the imperial prison. Even the Sun and Moon Sect in the dark thought that these three people were just too unlucky.
On April 12, the princess returned to the capital.
The princess' birthday banquet will be in two days. Recalling last year, there was heavy snow in the three places, and the princess only held a simple party. Later, she calculated the value of the gifts and donated the same amount of silver to the disaster area.
This year may be different.
"Of course it's different," Meng Qi hugged Lixia, "Our Shao Shao will be eighteen in two days."
Xie Changfeng said seriously, "That's right, eighteen years old means you're an adult. Shao Shao, the heavy burden on my shoulders has to be handed over to you."
"..." Xie Mingzhuo picked up the bright red cherry and said, "Dad, you've got a pretty good plan."
Xie Mingshuo leaned close to her and whispered, "You haven't returned to the capital yet, and he has already written the imperial edict."
"What do you mean old man? I'm in my prime!" Xie Changfeng picked up a cherry stem and hit him on the forehead.
Xie Mingxuan hit the nail on the head: "You lie down every day, and people who don't know you would think you are already collecting your pension."
"Ahem." Xie Changfeng looked ashamed. "Isn't it only after retirement that I have time to start a new business?"
Xie Mingzhuo smiled and said, "Okay, I'll give you this chance."
"Hey, it's settled then!" Xie Changfeng was ready to go, wishing his birthday would come right away.
Meng Qi tugged at her sleeve and asked stealthily, "When are you going to bring that Lin family kid to see us?"
"You're not an adult yet, so you can't fall in love too early." Xie Mingzhuo said calmly.
"You sly thing!" Meng Qi knocked her on the head. "What's going on? Are you trying to play tricks on me? Not only are you refusing to give me the status, you're also refusing to let me see you?"
Xie Mingzhuo covered his head and explained helplessly: "I have some things to finish these days, let's talk about it after the 15th."
"You said it, don't back down again."
The next day, Xie Mingzhuo attended classes in Wenhua Hall.
Since she came to Sichuan, the teacher had lost some weight and was not as gaunt as before, but his eyes were still calm and deep.
"That's all for today's lecture." Chang Wei did not leave as he did before, but continued to sit behind the desk.
"teacher?"
Chang Wei: "The other day, His Majesty summoned me to the Palace of Heavenly Purity to discuss matters. He said that the princess had made great achievements and was worthy of great responsibilities. She had the support of the Empress, the Prince of Qi, and the Prince of Jin, and he intended for the princess to oversee state affairs."
The title of Princess Regent is much more honorable than that of Princess Rong'an.
This is a clear decentralization of power.
"Teacher, there's something else behind your words." Xie Mingzhuo was calm and composed.
"This is unprecedented. Once the imperial edict is read, there will be bloodshed both inside and outside the court. Princess, are you prepared?"
Xie Mingzhuo rested his chin on one hand, stroking the smooth white paper, and said, "Teacher, don't worry. Since I have chosen this path, I have made sufficient preparations."
Bloody storm?
It's not like she made a trip to Sichuan and Guizhou in vain. Every case involves a wide range of people, and those people will have the opportunity to bark in front of her.
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