"Your Highness, why are the Third Princess and Minister Li not here?"
The question asked by the man in black cloak startled everyone. Yes, where are the third princess and Minister Li?
They originally came to pick up the Third Princess and Minister Li.
Jiang Mo and Xue Luan were also stunned. They were planning to give Gu Jinke a surprise and let him meet the Third Princess. However, when they met Qiao Xi, they suddenly forgot the whole point!
Gu Jinke almost held her forehead in her hands. She was so shocked to see Jiang Mo and Xue Luan in Qingcheng Mansion. Coupled with her joy at the arrival of the third batch of supplies, she actually forgot about the third princess Gu Jinxiu and Minister Li Qi.
In my heart, I actually felt a little sorry for the Third Princess and Minister Li.
For a moment, everyone's attention shifted to Jiang Mo and Xue Luan.
Xue Luan and Jiang Mo met everyone's curious gazes. Thinking of the current conditions of the Third Princess Gu Jinxiu and Minister Li, they couldn't help but look away with a guilty look: "We caught up with the Third Princess on the way here, but when we met her, she was injured by bandits and fell into a coma again, so we combined into one team. The Third Princess and Minister Li are still in a coma with a high fever in the carriage."
Originally, no one had even a carriage for this journey, but the Third Princess did a good job of publicity, and kind-hearted people along the way gave her a discarded carriage early on. She and Li Qi recuperated in this carriage, and then arrived at Qingcheng Prefecture on a bumpy journey.
When Gu Jinke and a group of people followed Jiang Mo and Xue Luan's instructions and saw the Third Princess, they were also shocked and a little bit unbelievable.
The third princess Gu Jinxiu and Li Qi were still having high fever and were lying unconscious in the carriage. Compared with the last time Gu Jinxiu and Li Qi saw them, their cheeks had become thinner and they looked emaciated, and indeed looked very miserable.
Anyone who saw this would be unable to help but say that the Third Princess and Minister Li had indeed suffered a great sin by being ordered to escort supplies to provide disaster relief!
Gu Jinke looked at the two people's heavy breathing and couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and looked at Li Yuxin.
However, Li Yuxin's expression was hidden under the black robe, and Gu Jinke could not see clearly. He only saw the black robe shaking slightly.
In fact, Li Yuxin had to put a lot of effort to control his emotions and not laugh out loud out of gloating over other people's misfortunes.
Gu Jinxiu and Li Qi's current state is truly their own fault, which is exactly what Li Yuxin wants.
Now he could hold back from laughing out loud, which was already the limit of his ability, but he couldn't suppress the smile on his lips, causing the cloak outside to tremble along with him.
He admired it for a while, and heard Gu Jinke ordering someone to come over: "Go find two doctors who can treat sword and knife injuries, and treat the injuries of the Third Princess and Minister Li!"
A servant behind responded and hurried away.
Gu Jinke also ordered people to temporarily move the two of them to the cleaned-up house.
The minor officials who had set out with the Third Princess and Li Qi were all a little timid when they met Gu Jinke.
But they also heard that after Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess took over the first batch of supplies, she actually encountered two waves of bandits, but Her Royal Highness managed to come out with the supplies safely.
This was in stark contrast to what their team had experienced, making their team look particularly incompetent. Therefore, he worked very hard on promoting the reputation of the Third Princess and Li Qi on the road, but now in front of Gu Jinke, he couldn't help but feel nervous. He felt so guilty that he wanted to stay away from him.
This was also the reason why Gu Jinke naturally ignored Jiang Mo, Xue Luan and others when he greeted them just now, because no one dared to approach them.
But now that my boss is gone, I can’t avoid it anymore. One of the higher-ranking officials stepped out and saluted: "Your Highness, I greet you."
Gu Jinke nodded slightly.
The official's voice was trembling. "Your Highness, this time... the supplies that the Third Princess and I were transporting suffered a lot of losses due to bandits. However, Your Highness, Minister Li, I and the soldiers did our best to save some of them. Please count them. Here is the account book."
She handed over a booklet, which looked to be in very good condition. Xun Ji took it for Gu Jinke, opened the page, and saw a horrible sight inside.
Originally, each item listed the supplies and their value, but now, they have been crossed out one by one on the page with a red pen.
Gu Jinke had an unclear expression as he watched Xun Ji flipping through the pages. All the lines were crossed out with a red pen. Only occasionally would there be a single line that slipped through the net - this was the remaining one.
The minor official trembled and said, "All that is left in the book is what is left."
Gu Jinke chuckled and asked knowingly, "What was crossed out by the red pen is the remaining one?"
The young official's pupils shrank. This shouldn't be the booklet she gave to Her Royal Highness the Princess! In order to look better, they made a new account book, re-listed all the remaining information, and then gave it to Gu Jinke for review, but what Gu Jinke held in his hand was actually the original copy! !
Her heart was shocked and she fell to her knees in fear. The booklet was so tragic that anyone would be angry after reading it. What about the account books they wrote?
She felt her arms, and they were empty.
Seeing her reaction, the faces of the group of minor officials behind her turned pale.
Gu Jinke looked at the reaction of the young official, then looked at the account book in his hand, and his fingers moved slightly.
It seems that there is a flaw in this account book, but the flaw does not seem to have been successful?
But she smiled, pretending not to notice: "We are tired from escorting the food. Come, take the adults down to rest."
The official who escorted the second batch of supplies had just suffered another blow from the account books and was now feeling uneasy. He had almost no objection and was taken away. Xun Ji put the account books away.
Jiang Mo and Xue Luan were standing beside her and saw the second batch of account books from afar. They both gasped. This was truly a heavy loss. No wonder the empress was so furious and even rewarded them.
Jiang Mo also took out the account book on his body and handed it over: "Your Highness, this is the account book for the third batch of supplies."
Gu Jinke was slightly stunned: "Why are there two?"
Speaking of this, Xue Luan couldn't help but show his emotions, but he still held a grudge. He glanced at Josh, who was smiling on the other side, with a provocative look, and couldn't help showing off: "Of course, we have to do separate accounting for this."
He looked at Gu Jinke and said, "This account book is the account book of the donations organized by Brother Jiang Mo, me, the Five Princes, and a group of young masters in the capital. The other account book is the account book that the court made up based on the difference in our donations."
Gu Jinke opened it and saw that it was indeed the case. It was a fragmentary book, some large and some small, and it all started with a fundraising appeal. The other one was from the imperial court and was exactly the same as the one in the hands of the minor official before.
Gu Jinke couldn't help but be pleasantly surprised and looked at them: "What you raised? It's too much."
The amount of donations is indeed not small, no wonder the third batch of supplies was delivered so quickly!
Jiang Mo and Xue Luan couldn't help but feel their faces getting hot when she looked at them like this, but Xue Luan still looked up and said, "Yeah! Isn't that amazing!"
He shook Jiang Mo's arm: "This was organized by Brother Jiang Mo. He has always been concerned about the people of Qingcheng Prefecture. After hearing that the second batch of supplies encountered bandits, he came to invite us to raise funds together. Brother Jiang Mo is amazing!"
Jiang Mo pursed his lips, a hint of embarrassment flashing in his eyes when he was praised by Xue Luan, but Gu Jinke had already cast his gaze over to him, looking at him with gratitude and admiration.
Gu Jinke really didn't expect that someone as cold-hearted as Jiang Mo would take the initiative to take on these troublesome things and even take the initiative to find people to organize them.
Jiang Mo's heart beat violently as she stared at him. He couldn't help but look back at her with affection in his eyes.
The only person who could give him the courage to break his habits and do things he didn't like was Gu Jinke. He did sympathize with the people of Qingcheng Prefecture and would indeed raise funds for them, but he would definitely not be the leader or planner.
But the person here is Gu Jinke, so he is willing to do these trivial things, and even overcome his inner fear and come to Qingcheng Mansion.
Gu Jinke was stared at by him, and his heart softened: "Let's go, go back and rest."
Since the account books were available, Gu Jinke asked Xun Ji to take people down to receive and count them. She took Xue Luan and Jiang Mo back to her temporary residence.
"You two should stay here for now."
It was a mess outside, and Gu Jinke would not feel comfortable letting two handsome men live alone, so he simply arranged for them to live in her yard. The room next to where Li Yuxin lives is still empty.
Josh looked at this arrangement, his eyes darkened. Without official business as an excuse, he couldn't stay in Gu Jinke's current residence for long. After saying goodbye to Gu Jinke, he looked at Qiao Chen who had been silent beside him: "Jiang Mo, what's going on with Xue Luan?"
Qiao Chen frowned. He didn't know why he felt uncomfortable today, but he was the one who couldn't say a word among the group of people, so he could only watch silently.
Now that Josh asked, he couldn't help but feel annoyed.
In addition, Qiao Xi now included Gu Jinke in his scope, so Qiao Chen couldn't help but sarcastically said, "Jiang Mo is the most beloved grandson of Jiang Taifu in the court. He grew up with the princess and they are indeed childhood sweethearts with a deep friendship! As for Xue Luan, he is the youngest son of Xue Cang, the Minister of Justice in the court. I don't know the reason for him and the princess, but it seems that it is not simple today. Both of them have illustrious backgrounds, and their elders are important officials in the court. I heard that the queen wants to choose a prince for the princess, and she will probably choose one of these young masters."
Qiao Xi did feel uncomfortable, but when he was stabbed by Qiao Chen, he couldn't help but look at Qiao Chen. Seeing the undisguised irritation on Qiao Chen's face, his eyes paused and became interested: "Heh... stabbing me? Or do you want to indirectly remind yourself that compared to these young masters of noble status, you are just the son of a criminal?"
Qiao Chen's face changed, and he heard Qiao Xi continue: "Is it that the son of a guilty minister has fallen in love with Her Highness the Crown Princess without knowing it? No wonder."
He nodded in understanding, laughed, flicked his sleeves and walked forward.
Qiao Chen's clenched fist paused, and then fell straight to his side with a snap.
How is it possible that he...has fallen in love with Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess?
Qiao Xi didn't care about him. If he dared to provoke him, he wouldn't mind letting Qiao Chen suffer while awake. Falling in love with the person he wanted to assassinate, and with family feuds standing in the way, it must be very exciting, right? He would not let Qiao Chen remain ignorant and unaware, and how dare he vent his anger on him?
However, what Qiao Chen said made him frown. A prominent family? Do you have a different kind of friendship with Gu Jinke? Or is Wang Jun the backup candidate?
Today he also talked and communicated with Jiang Mo and Xue Luan. Since Qiao Xi became the head of the family, he has developed his own way of judging people. In his opinion, Jiang Mo is capable, but has an indifferent personality. Xue Luan has a passionate personality, but is naive and simple. Both of them can be kings, but to be a king with a princess, the future queen, is lacking something.
However, the two of them have the blessing of their backgrounds and their friendship with Gu Jinke, so everything becomes unknown again. In terms of means and abilities, and appearance and temperament, Qiao Xi believed that he was not inferior to these two.
But life experience and friendship...
There was a flash of deep thought in his eyes, and then a fighting spirit surged in his eyes.
…
Gu Jinke has already gone to the place where the third princess is temporarily staying.
At this time, in Gu Jinke's mansion. Sang Yi was left here to control and direct the situation, as he had to wait for the servants to clean up the two empty rooms so that Jiang Mo and Xue Luan could go in to wash up and rest. Several people are now sitting in the small pavilion in the yard. Li Yuxin, covered in a black cloak, stood silently by the side, leaning against the pillar.
Jiang Mo looked at Sang Yi and couldn't help asking, "Sang Yi, can you tell me what will happen after your Highness comes here? I just saw that the people along the way really love your Highness."
Sang Yi glanced at him and was silent. The affection in Jiang Mo's eyes was deep and eager, and he didn't hide it very well. Now, only someone as simple as Xue Luan could not see it.
Sang Yi's heart sank. With his status, he was destined not to be the prince's legitimate husband. In the future, it would be enough for him to have a place in the Crown Princess's Mansion.
As for Young Master Jiang and His Highness... Gu Jinke's look at Jiang Mo flashed before his eyes. He lowered his eyelashes and spoke as if to reconcile himself: "After Your Highness came to Qingcheng Mansion..."
He told the story slowly and Jiang Mo's eyes were bright. He listened to him attentively about His Highness's affairs, not wanting to miss any details. But it wasn't just him. Xue Luan, who had been jumping around and unable to sit still just now, also calmed down at some point. He lay on the stone table, staring at him with interest with his big grape-like eyes, and occasionally exclaimed and praised him as he explained.
Even Li Yuxin, who was standing silently by the side, tilted his head slightly and listened attentively to what was happening about Gu Jinke.
Sang Yi looked at their subconscious reactions when they were lost in thought and twirled her fingers unconsciously.
When they finished speaking, Xue Luan and Jiang Mo looked satisfied and excited, and all their tiredness disappeared. But soon the waiter came to tell them that the room had been tidied and asked them to go and rest.
Sang Yi stood up and said, "Then I will take Master Jiang and Master Xue over there."
Li Yuxin took over, still in a rough voice: "You take Master Jiang and I'll take Master Xue."
Sang Yi looked at him in surprise. Although he didn't know his identity, the prince had indeed treated him with great courtesy. But now he had to pretend to be a servant. He couldn't understand it, but thinking about the prince's indulgence towards him, he nodded and agreed, and took Jiang Mo away first.
Xue Luan followed him and saw that he was wrapped up tightly. He couldn't help but look at him curiously: "Why are you wearing a black cloak?"
He thought this person was weird, his voice was weird, his clothes were weird, but he didn't hate him, he was just curious and liked him a little bit. It was probably because he quietly diverted His Highness's attention at the city gate, preventing Him from adopting the opinion of that annoying Josh.
Li Yuxin's heart skipped a beat when he stared at her with his distinct black and white eyes. She pulled her black cloak calmly and didn't answer him. Instead, he said, "Master Xue, I'll take you there."
Xue Luan pouted and walked forward, but heard a strange person asking him, "Sir, did you travel all the way from the capital to Qingcheng Mansion just to show His Highness your improved riding skills?"
Xue Luan was stunned: "Yes."
He said the same thing to his mother, father, and His Highness. When he was talking to His Highness, wasn't the cloaked man there too? Why did he still have to ask him?
Li Yuxin looked at him and asked, "Why don't you wait until His Highness returns to the capital before showing it to His Highness? You don't have to endure the hardships of living in the open air."
Xue Luan frowned and looked at him suspiciously: "What do you want to say?"
He just didn't want to wait for His Highness to go back, so he came whenever he wanted.
Li Yuxin looked at him and asked, "Do you like Her Highness?"
Xue Luan frowned and subconsciously retorted: "How is that possible? I don't like her, it's my friend who likes her! How can I snatch someone from my friend's heart?"
But as soon as he finished saying this, he felt empty and uncomfortable in his heart. He likes Gu Jinke?
No, no, no, how is that possible? He doesn’t like her. It’s A-Xin who likes Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess, and he doesn’t like her!
He looked at the cloaked man and said, "Don't say these weird things to me. I'm becoming weird myself."
"Then...what if your friend doesn't like Her Highness the Princess? Do you want Her Highness to be your wife?" But the cloaked man ignored him and continued asking.
Xue Luan wrinkled his nose and fell silent.
If Axin doesn't like His Highness, does he want His Highness to be his wife...
no! No ifs!
He stamped his feet and said to the cloaked man angrily, "No ifs! Don't say anything more!"
The man in the black cloak was silent for a moment, watching him walk forward angrily, and suddenly said, "I know Li Yuxin, your friend must be Li Yuxin, right?"
Xue Luan's steps suddenly stopped, and he saw the cloaked man approaching him. He looked at his eyes, which were reddening instinctively, and his rough voice became a little hoarse: "If... you like His Highness, then go ahead and like him. Li Yuxin said... he doesn't like His Highness."
"Impossible! He likes Your Highness." Xue Luan retorted.
Li Yuxin's voice was somewhat difficult under his cloak: "He lied to you."
"No! His eyes were smiling when he mentioned His Highness. When Axin mentioned others, there was never a smile in his eyes. He couldn't fool me, so who are you? You are lying to me!"
Xue Luan is simple, but not easy to be fooled. On the contrary, he is more perceptive.
Having been friends with Li Yuxin for so many years, he could tell whether Li Yuxin was lying to him or not. When he was a child, he didn't understand why Xin lied to him. He was very sad and ran to ask his mother. But the mother was silent for a while and said, sometimes, some lies are well-intentioned, and we should be tolerant, considerate, and understanding.
So he understood it vaguely and never exposed Li Yuxin's lies. When he grew up, he understood more and stopped asking more questions. He could only hug Ah Xin in his own way.
For example, Li Yuxin sometimes lied to him that he was living well in the Li Mansion and refused his help. For example, last time at the Fifth Princess' Mansion, Li Yuxin ran out in the middle of the night while he was sleeping because of sadness, and ran back in cold all over when it was almost dawn, pretending nothing had happened.
He never exposed him and could only agree with him and cover him with a blanket.
But it was different when Axin mentioned His Highness. He would smile, with smiles in his eyes. He liked His Highness...for real.
Li Yuxin under the cloak was speechless for a moment. Is that so?
There was a moment of silence between the two of them. He looked into Xue Luan's black and white eyes and said, "Whether you believe it or not, he told me that if you like Her Highness, just go ahead and like her. Don't be bound by him. He doesn't care about this."
After he finished speaking, he did not stay any longer and turned around and left in a hurry.
"Hey!" Xue Luan wanted to catch him, but saw his figure hurriedly disappearing. He stood there for a moment, the cloaked man's words echoing in his ears. Until a servant came to remind him: "Master Xue!"
He suddenly came back to his senses and followed the servant into the house in a trance.
Li Yuxin didn't come out from the corner until she saw him enter the house, and she sighed softly.
Xue Luan, whom he met at the city gate today, woke him up with a stick.
Xue Luan's expression was too obvious; he liked the Crown Princess without realizing it. He even traveled thousands of miles to Qingcheng Prefecture for Your Highness.
Li Yuxin wanted to protect him when he lied at first, but when he saw the young master of Qingcheng Mansion, he thought that Xue Luan did not need such protection. The lie he told at that time became a barrier for Xue Luan.
As for him, he was unwilling to give up even after His Highness refused. But today he met Xue Luan, saw several outstanding men competing for His Highness, and also saw the emaciated Li Qi.
Li Qi was destined to be liquidated after returning to Beijing, and the prince also rejected him. In this case, why should he continue to be a thorn in Xue Luan's side?
Since they are friends, he should lend a helping hand to Xue Luan.
However, he covered his chest, and it still hurts here!
…
Gu Jinke brought Xun Ji to the mansion that had been cleaned up for the third princess, and the invited doctors were already treating their wounds.
Just now, we only had a rough look outside the city. Now, with Gu Jinke and Xun Ji, we can see clearly that the Third Princess and Li Qi were indeed seriously injured.
The third princess received a large cut on her back, her flesh was turned inside out, and even her arm was injured. It has been several days since the injury, but the wound shows no signs of healing. Instead, it is a little ulcerated. No wonder Gu Jinxiu is still having a high fever today. She even had a board on her leg because it was broken.
Li Qi, who was lying with her, was no worse off, with severe knife wounds on his waist and abdomen, and one on his shoulder. The condition of the wounds were exactly the same as Gu Jinxiu's. Several doctors fed them some Ma Fei San, blocked their mouths with handkerchiefs, and were cleaning the rotten flesh and applying medicine and bandaging them again.
Gu Jinke looked for a while and then came out of the room. Xun Ji walked beside her and added in a low voice: "This time it was our mistake. The night we received the news from the Third Princess, Master Jiang and Master Xue's team caught up with the Third Princess' team that was moving back and forth. At that time, the Third Princess was confused and had a fever, so Minister Li decided to keep them and travel together."
"When the news of the Third Princess being injured by bandits reached the capital, His Majesty was furious and sent the Fifth Princess to suppress the bandits. Master Jiang and Master Li organized a fund-raising campaign after hearing the news. Because the results were good, the campaign was reported to the palace and His Majesty issued an imperial decree to commend them. Then, for some reason, His Majesty ordered people to replenish the remaining supplies and send them to Qingcheng Prefecture. The Fifth Princess went out to suppress the bandits, and she accompanied them for a while. Therefore, Master Xue and his team drove very fast all the way and finally caught up with the Third Princess' team."
Gu Jinke frowned, a little confused about the Queen's thoughts, especially since she asked the Fifth Princess to suppress the bandits but ignored the injured Third Princess. However, she quickly issued an order to replenish the third batch of supplies.
She didn't believe that the Queen was helping her or sympathizing with her, but instead she started to think about it.
Was the Queen disappointed after learning the truth, or did she want to train the two of them? Or do you still want to cover up for these two people even after knowing the truth?
She was a little confused, and then she heard Xun Ji hesitate and say, "Your Highness, Master Jiang had reported his trip to Master Jiang, but Master Xue... ran away secretly. Master Xue sent a letter, asking Your Highness to take care of him."
Gu Jinke came back to his senses from his confusion and couldn't help laughing: "Run away? Xue Luan is so brave..."
She smiled and shook her head: "Since Young Master Xue has arrived, you should write a letter back to Lady Xue. It will save her from worrying."
Xun Ji responded.
The two sat outside the courtyard and waited for a long time before they saw several doctors with sweaty faces coming out with medicine boxes. They saw her coming over to report hurriedly, "Your Highness, the wounds of the Third Princess and Minister Li have been cleaned and the wounds have been treated with medicine. As long as the high fever subsides and the medicine is changed and taken on time, the wounds will heal slowly."
Gu Jinke nodded. Thinking of the two people's wounds that had not healed or even formed scars for a long time, she couldn't help but have some conspiracy theories and asked one more question: "Why did the wounds of the Third Princess and Minister Li not heal for a long time? Was it because of the wrong medicine?"
Several doctors looked at each other, some of them not knowing whether they should say it or not, but after hesitating for a moment, their gratitude to Gu Jinke prevailed. One of the doctors stepped forward and answered, "I also find it strange. If the Third Princess and Minister Li's injuries were treated properly, they would never be like this. When I was scraping the rotten flesh off the Third Princess just now, I also took a look and found that there were some correct medicine residues left, but I don't know why it didn't get better. This... shouldn't be the case."
"Even if the road is bumpy?"
"Even if the road is bumpy."
Gu Jinke seemed to be thinking about something, then waved his hand and asked everyone to leave.
She had originally concluded that Gu Jinxiu was using a trick of inflicting pain on herself, but she felt that the trick should have come to an end. After all, the people along the way had taken good care of them, and their reputation had spread almost everywhere. What she should see was a Gu Jinxiu who was about to recover from her injuries.
Who would have thought that they would see Gu Jinxiu and Li Qi, who were seriously injured, had a relapse of high fever, and were emaciated?
At that moment, she felt that she had wronged Gu Jinxiu.
But when she entered the room just now and saw Gu Jinxiu's wound, she instinctively felt that something was wrong, so she asked another question with a conspiracy theory. I didn't expect this answer.
In this case, she looked at Gu Jinxiu's room, and thinking of her doubts about the empress just now, her eyes were cold and solemn: "Xun Ji, go get a memorial. I want to submit a memorial to my mother."
Xun Ji was stunned for a moment, then quickly went to prepare a set of writing brushes, ink, paper, and a memorial paper for her.
Gu Jinke thought about it, then picked up his pen and finished it.
She was now looking forward to the Queen's response.
The author has something to say:
Well, wake up all those who are unaware, hehe, let them all wake up...
Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated nutrient solution during 2022-06-02 23:15:02~2022-06-03 23:42:07~
Thanks to the little angel who irrigated the nutrient solution: 1 bottle of super high school level shit;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!
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