The Emperor had already heard about the tonics she had given the Empress Dowager and the Empress, and was very grateful to her. Therefore, he readily agreed and said he would have Yang Rui escort them back.
He knew that Yang Rui had dealings with the Prince of Yun, and he wanted the Prince of Yun to mentor Yang Rui more in the future, so he gave Yang Rui this opportunity.
Li Mai agreed and thanked the Emperor. At the Emperor's request, she took his pulse and discovered that there was some stagnation in his body. If it was not expelled, the Emperor would fall seriously ill within two years. As for what kind of illness it would lead to, it was hard to say, but it would most likely affect his liver and kidneys.
She told the emperor the truth, and when he heard that she and Chief Physician Feng had said the same thing when they took his pulse, the emperor was relieved.
Originally, he thought it wasn't a big problem and took the herbal medicine, but he didn't feel anything and thought he was fine.
After thinking for a moment, Li Mai gave the emperor the spiritual herb from her medicine box and asked him to arrange for someone to find a flowerpot. She planted it in the flowerpot on the spot, poured in a bottle of spiritual liquid, and then added ordinary water. She told the emperor to arrange for trusted people to guard it and personally taught them how to water the spiritual herb and how to protect it on a regular basis.
Normally, the emperor could pick a leaf to make tea, and one leaf could be used for several days. He only needed to pick a leaf once every ten days, and new leaves would grow. He must not pick them all at once, otherwise, new leaves might not grow.
Because the emperor uses ordinary water for watering, it won't grow as fast as the plants she grows in her space, but she can't say that.
The emperor had witnessed the power of this thing that day and naturally knew it was a good thing. He was very grateful and thanked Li Mai for giving it to him, promising to drink it regularly.
Li Mai returned to the Yunwang Mansion with many more rewards, and the emperor happily summoned Chief Feng to admire his spiritual herb.
Chief Feng was almost green with envy. His mind raced, trying to figure out how he could ask the emperor for a single leaf to do his research.
The emperor was unaware that Chief Feng had his eye on the leaves of his spiritual herb and was trying to find ways to steal them. He only saw Chief Feng's envious gaze and was content.
Yang Rui was very happy to be ordered to escort Li Mai and the others back to their hometown. He was very grateful for Li Mai's help to him. Therefore, after receiving the imperial decree, he first went to pay his respects to Xu Changhuan and Li Mai.
After confirming that they would be leaving on February 20th, he went back to make preparations.
His maternal grandfather and the Chu family head and his wife also heard about it. They met with him again and instructed him to bring more people with him and to ensure the safety of Li Mai and the others along the way, since they were traveling with three children.
Yang Rui agreed.
On the eve of last year's Mid-Autumn Festival, Yang Rui got engaged to the daughter of the Minister of War. The engagement between the Ministry of War and the General's Mansion was considered a double blessing. The marriage was set for this year's Mid-Autumn Festival.
Xu Changhuan originally wanted to wait until Li Mai celebrated the two children's birthdays before leaving Beijing, but Li Mai said it was okay, she could celebrate with them on the way.
She discussed it with Zhou Quan, and they decided to celebrate the children's first birthday when they got back, which would also avoid the actual first birthday. She was worried that it might be bad if they transformed during the day.
The baby will still have their first birthday celebration. They'll prepare it in their online space and let the two children do it that evening.
The child is special and should be treated specially, and Zhou Quan had no objection.
On the morning of February 20th, they set off early to leave the capital.
This time, Li Mai and Xu Changhuan were riding in a spacious carriage with their three children, where they could either lie down or sit.
Fu Bao spends most of his time sleeping, while Yan Bao and Yu Bao study the pile of toys in front of them and fall asleep when they get tired.
Most of the time, Li Mai would take them to play in the space.
Zhuzhu and Xique sat in another carriage, and the whole journey was basically spent learning to recognize acupoints, because their master would test them when they got back.
The head of the Xu family rode in a carriage by himself, and sometimes Zhou Quan would come up and sit with him, and the two of them would play chess and drink tea.
Zhou Quan spent most of his time on horseback, protecting the group.
Their group consisted of ten carriages, making them quite a conspicuous target.
Fortunately, with Yang Rui and his three hundred imperial guards protecting them along the way, the journey was relatively smooth.
The Song Dynasty is now in a peaceful and prosperous era. There are few people in the martial arts world who kill and rob, and bandits generally do not provoke the government, let alone the Imperial Guards.
Along the way, Yang Rui did not allow them to rush, and the journey was relatively slow. He took good care of Li Mai and Xu Changhuan's group.
On the 22nd, it was Yanbao and Yubao's first birthday. At noon, they arrived at a large town called Qiujia Town. Yang Rui and Zhou Quan found a local government-run inn, prepared a few courtyards, and settled in.
In the afternoon, Zhou Quan went to Hongfulou, the best restaurant in town, and booked twenty tables of food. That evening, he treated everyone he had met along the way to a lively meal.
Including those three hundred Imperial Guards soldiers.
Everyone was very grateful to Li Mai and Zhou Quan.
Yes, the Imperial Guards were arranged by Yang Rui to go to Hongfu Restaurant in shifts.
The large table at their main table contained food they brought back to eat in the courtyard of the inn.
Before dinner, Li Mai held a first birthday ceremony for her two children. Yang Rui and the head of the Xu family also came and gave them first birthday gifts.
Xu Changhuan, on behalf of Yun Chang, also placed the first birthday gift given by the couple, which was a pair of jade pendants with a pattern of green dragon scales and red phoenix tails.
This was originally a gift from the emperor to Yun Chang, and Yun Chang gave it to her two nephews this time. It's not a complete dragon and phoenix set, so the two children can wear it too.
Moreover, the patterns on these jade pendants are quite unique. On the white jade pendant, the green portion is carved into green dragon scales, a testament to the craftsman's ingenious design. The same applies to the phoenix tail pendant; a patch of red is carved into a blooming red phoenix tail, a truly breathtaking sight.
Li Mai didn't know the origin of the jade pendant, but thanked her sister-in-law and brother.
Zhou Quan glanced at it but didn't say anything. He had heard of this thing before. It was said to have been carved by a skilled craftsman a thousand years ago. Originally, it was carved for his own grandchildren, but by chance, he saw the emperor traveling incognito with the crown prince and princess, who were twins. The craftsman then presented it to the emperor. The emperor was grateful for the stonemason's kindness and granted his son, who was already a scholar, an official position and a hundred acres of fertile land, which brought his family generations of wealth and honor.
This legend later became a popular story, and the jade pendants were known as the "Wealth and Prosperity Pendants."
Yanbao and Yubao looked around. Yanbao chose a red dagger, while Yubao chose a golden abacus that Zhou Quan had secretly placed there.
By the time Li Mai saw it, it was too late to hide.
Zhou Quan chuckled to herself. Hehe, her son chose the abacus, he'll definitely like doing business when he grows up. Let him learn business early and take over his mother's job, so his wife won't have to worry about business anymore and can just travel the world with him.
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