Chapter 54: Autumn Wind Mistake (3) Another strange man beside Xie Yun...
Although Han Zhen's medical skills weren't very advanced, and she could only identify a few medicinal herbs, she could tell that these herbs contained extremely cold, blood-activating ingredients. If a woman took them, she would be very likely to suffer a miscarriage...
"Madam?!" Han Zhen's hand trembled slightly as he held the prescription, stunned. "But how can your body withstand it? This is extremely harmful to your body! Regardless of whether you care about children or not, even if you don't want children in the future, this will affect your normal life in the future!"
Xie Yun knew, of course, that excessive use of cold and cooling substances would be very harmful to her body. Women should not consume too many cold and cooling substances.
But this child came at the wrong time, and she could not and would not stop for this child.
Xie Yun was very resolute on this matter. "No need to say more, Han Zhen. I have my own things to do, and I take care of my own health."
"But..." Han Zhen's eyes couldn't help but turn red. She had always known that Madam had something she hadn't told her, and she hadn't asked. But she had guessed, and could tell, that Madam didn't belong here. She would have to leave one day.
But now she was more afraid that what happened in the palace would happen again, and she was more worried about her wife's life.
"Okay, I'll go buy it right now." Han Zhen finally compromised.
Even if one day in the future, she can no longer walk with the Madam, can no longer stand shoulder to shoulder with her, and can no longer serve by her side, Han Zhen still hopes that the Madam can be well. She hopes that she can be like a bird, having a branch to perch on when she is rich, and flying high when she yearns for freedom.
She hoped that the lady would always be well and was willing to trust the lady's choice.
But when he turned his back, Han Zhen couldn't hold back his tears. After leaving the room, Han Zhen wiped away his tears fiercely, and after wiping them clean, he took the prescription and left the house.
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Hall of Mental Cultivation.
There were memorials piled up like a mountain on Song Hongxuan's desk. He had been sitting in front of this desk from morning to night for three consecutive days, reading the memorials non-stop. Most of them revolved around the current situation between the two countries.
The Daliang envoys had the intention of seeking peace this time. To this end, they brought a BMW, a luxurious carriage, and more than a dozen carts of treasures to the Zhou Dynasty. They also revealed their intention to seek a marriage alliance.
But for a time, this situation caused the officials of the Great Zhou Dynasty to split into three factions: the pro-war faction, the pro-peace faction, and the neutral faction.
The war faction naturally believed that Daliang's evil ambitions were too obvious to truly seek peace. This request for peace was merely a delaying tactic due to the unstable political situation in Daliang, and they were worried about being caught off guard. We must not fall for their tricks. The Great Zhou army, after a year of recuperation, was now in high spirits, making it an opportune time to capture Daliang in one fell swoop. We should strike now.
The peace advocates believed that the two countries had been at war for years, and that the people along the border were suffering and exhausted. Since the other side was seeking peace, why not call a truce with Qingzhou and Wushan as the boundary and allow both sides to coexist peacefully?
The neutral faction is the conservative party headed by Han Ji. They only seek safety, but do not want to take sides and implicate themselves, so they have not made any comments yet.
Song Hongxuan: "Ziyou, your thoughts should be consistent with mine."
They naturally hoped to press on and defeat Daliang in one fell swoop. After all, they had all witnessed Daliang's shamelessness. They couldn't let themselves be toyed with like trapped beasts now that they were all grown up.
Yan Huinan pulled a letter from his bosom and handed it to the eunuch to show Song Hongxuan. "I've received news that, before this, the Daliang Crown Prince's subordinates embezzled military funds, the amount of which was close to the annual income of the Daliang treasury. The Liang Crown Prince was also implicated and found to be corrupt. He has now been removed from the throne. The Daliang Emperor is old and seriously ill and bedridden. I'm afraid he won't have much time left. State affairs are currently being handled by the Liang Third Prince Lou Cheng. If Lou Cheng ascends the throne in the future, he will definitely overturn the current peace agreement and raise troops north again."
After reading it, Song Hongxuan nodded. "Yes, he spent so many years in silence as a humiliating hostage, and finally took the opportunity to escape back to the country. He then climbed step by step from being an unpopular prince to his current position. How could he be satisfied with just this?"
He must avenge his previous humiliation, otherwise wouldn't all his years of sleeping on straw and eating bitter food be a joke?
And there's also the unknown factor of Xie Yun. If the two armies finally engage in battle, and Xie Yun obstructs Yan Huinan or interferes, he won't let her go, Song Hongxuan thought.
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Han Zhen bought the medicine, but Xie Yun never found a chance to take it. For some reason, even though the autumn hunt was the day after tomorrow, Yan Huinan seemed to have nothing to do and stayed at home all day.
If Yan Huinan caught her drinking medicine again, and it was abortion medicine, he would definitely not agree to her request to go to Jiangnan.
Maybe it would be like before. They had finally made peace with each other, and although their relationship wasn't exactly sweet, it was at least respectful.
Xie Yun didn't want to cause any more trouble, so she could only wait.
That day, Prince Rui was finally able to express the meaning of a complete sentence in sign language. Xie Yun gave him the leather quiver she had specially sewn for him. It was inlaid with several crimson gems that had been taken from one of Yan Huinan's weapons.
Ever since King Rui learned that the gem was taken from Yan Huinan's weapon, he wished he could carry the quiver all day long and sleep with it in his arms.
Xie Yun had never imagined that the Great Zhou's God of War would hold such a lofty image in the eyes of a child. Even a gemstone from a discarded weapon could make a child so happy.
She watched with satisfaction as King Rui used sign language to express his gratitude to her, showing how excited and overwhelmed he was, and that he would definitely win first place in the autumn hunt!
In the study not far away, Yan Huinan was writing a letter and happened to see Xie Yun, Prince Rui and others.
His pen tip couldn't help but pause. Among the golden autumn leaves, Xie Yun smiled gently. Yan Huinan cherished such a rare day especially.
If a war really broke out, it would last at least half a year, and at most several years. It was unknown when such a peaceful and mild sunny day would be seen again. Therefore, Yan Huinan had stayed in the mansion all these days and had never left.
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Autumn hunting.
The venue for this autumn hunt was chosen at the royal hunting ground outside the capital. The sky was clear that day, and the clouds above the capital were like giant towers, piled thickly in the distance and connected with the distant mountains.
In addition to the young men, soldiers, and princes of the Great Zhou, the Daliang envoys also included a young general, Qin Yang. He had served as Bai Jianren's vanguard and had fought Yan Huinan many times. He was an old acquaintance of Yan Huinan's, as the two were of the same age.
However, Yan Huinan was already a renowned war god in the Great Zhou, while Qin Yang was merely a vanguard in Daliang. Therefore, he harbored a deep resentment towards Yan Huinan. Furthermore, when he was a vanguard, he had fought Yan Huinan six times, losing each time.
In today's autumn hunt, he secretly made up his mind to win the city no matter what!
Yan Huinan was a typical wolf. Before a fight, he would always know both himself and his enemy. He knew Qin Yang and understood him. But he didn't see him as a threat. The reason was simple: Qin Yang wasn't worthy.
There is family honor and a desire for victory in Qin Yang's eyes.
But unlike him, Yan Huinan was a man who lived to the death. Just for this reason, Qin Yang had already lost when he met Yan Huinan.
The rules for winning the autumn hunt are very simple. Prey of different sizes and difficulty levels are awarded different points. For example, bears and rabbits are worth ten points, rabbits are worth two points, ordinary birds are worth one point, and so on... At the end of the hunt, the one with the highest points wins!
Today, Yan Huinan wore an indigo-colored brocade robe with bamboo leaf patterns. A black leather belt outlined his tight, straight waist, and the leather wrist guards were particularly neat. A small golden crown held his hair high, and he sat on horseback with high spirits and dignity.
The seats for the women were outside the hunting grounds, with Xie Yun's seat next to Princess Yu's. And ever since Liu Shijun's accident, the Queen had given up on her as a pawn.
However, Liu Shijun's appearance was ruined, and she couldn't help feeling angry and sad. The Queen also invited her here today to help her ease her grief.
Sitting in this audience seat, you can only see the scene when the contestants enter the venue. Afterwards, soldiers will travel back and forth between the venue and the audience seats outside to report the situation of the prey inside the venue and accumulate the total scores.
Xie Yun knew without hesitation that Yan Huinan would be the ultimate victor in such a competition. When he first set foot on the autumn hunting grounds, Yan Huinan was a renowned dandy in the capital. While talented in horseback riding and archery, he had never demonstrated his prowess to outsiders. No one believed he could defeat those battle-hardened warriors.
Even Xie Yun felt that she was pulled over by him to eat delicious food. At first, she really just followed the eldest princess to eat and drink, and didn't care about the score at all.
But when the sun was about to set and the total scores were reported for the last time, Xie Yun was surprised to find that Yan Huinan's score was far ahead, even 30 points ahead of the second place.
She was playing cat's tuck with Lusong at the time and became so sleepy that she fell asleep in the eldest princess's arms.
But just when everyone was not optimistic about Yan Huinan, he suddenly made a big splash.
At that time, Xie Yun turned her head to look at the eldest princess. She just smiled lightly. She had never doubted her son. So the victory was also within her expectations. She had no reason to be surprised.
Today, Xie Yun, strangely enough, is as full of confidence in Yan Huinan as the eldest princess was back then.
But now, in addition to Xie Yun, countless people have placed their chips on Yan Huinan.
He is no longer the boy he used to be.
Halfway through the competition, Xie Yun found an opportunity to leave. She had someone bring the medicine decoction utensils, and at this moment, she could boil the medicine and drink it, and then destroy everything on the spot, which was perfect.
Moreover, this matter cannot be delayed any longer. If it takes too long and the child grows up, taking the medicine will be even worse for her health.
Xie Yun had been here before, and although she hadn't been here for many years, she still remembered the general location. She knew exactly where people were and where there were no people.
She and Han Zhen found a deserted place and asked Fei Jing to guard it.
Xie Yun had already prepared the herbs. She threw the herbs in and boiled them, then just waited for them to be cooked.
But somewhere Xie Yun hadn't noticed, someone was watching her. Even before the match started, Liu Shijun's gaze had been following Xie Yun closely.
When she thought of Yan Huinan's ruthless rejection of her father that day, she felt angry and resentful, and her face was full of shame.
She was the one who harmed her father. Her father was a veteran of two dynasties and was respected and admired for half his life. He always acted uprightly. Back then, her father was determined to fight for her happiness at the cost of his reputation and even resorted to intimidation.
But Yan Huinan still refused, and in front of Xie Yun, which was a slap in Liu Shijun's face. She had completely given up on Yan Huinan, but she was really jealous. Whenever she saw Xie Yun, she would think of the humiliation that day.
She was unforgivable.
So when she saw Xie Yun and his men sneaking out of the audience, she became suspicious and asked someone to follow them from a distance.
The people who came back said that Xie Yun seemed to be decocting medicine.
"Decoction?" Liu Shijun couldn't understand. She didn't know much about Xie Yun's medical skills, but if it was normal to decoct the medicine, why couldn't she do it in the mansion? Why did she have to decoct it here? And behind people's backs?
There must be a ghost!
"Here's how. Wait until she finishes boiling the medicine and see what she does with the residue. Then collect it. I want to see what kind of medicine she boils." Liu Shijun was also cautious, worried that Xie Yun was going to harm them. "If anyone brings us anything to eat in the future, put it aside and don't touch it."
But the maid didn't finish her words. She first responded to Liu Shijun's words, and then said: "In addition to decocting medicine, I see that there is another man beside Madam Xie, whom we have never seen before."
"Never seen it before?" Liu Shijun asked again, "Are you sure?"
"Absolutely true. It's not the guard who followed her today, it's another man!"
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The author has something to say: I'm here with a sliding tackle! You can guess who it is, hehehe. After the reveal, the one who guessed correctly will receive a red envelope.
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