Chapter 64 Daughter, you can't have all three, can you?
The city of Yunzhou, which had just begun to recover its vitality, was thrown into panic again by the siege of the city by the army.
Fortunately, there were government offices in the city, which quickly calmed the panicked people.
The poisoned patients are still concentrated in the clinic and the requisitioned inn, while those who are asymptomatic are hiding in their homes. Fortunately, there has been no overcrowding or stampede.
As soon as Qin Song led the group into the city, the city gates were immediately closed.
Many people were horrified. "Damn it! Are they trying to trap us all in the city?"
Qin Song stopped and looked back, staring at the tightly closed, heavy city gate, feeling slightly uneasy.
Li Yu pondered and said, "There is only one reason for the army to besiege the city, which is divine punishment and the plague. There is no order to massacre the city, nor is there any other way to punish the crime. As long as the disease is controlled, there is no reason to besiege the city."
Lu Youchuan scoffed, "Young Master is really naive. You actually think they'll listen to reason when you mobilize 300,000 troops to besiege unarmed civilians in Yunzhou City?"
Li Yu glanced sideways at Lu Youchuan: "If that's the case, then why does Lord Lu want to enter the city? Wasn't it already agreed that Lord Lu would be responsible for stabilizing the area outside the city and leaving it to deal with the situation?"
“There are people to meet us outside the city, but inside the city, if the Junior Chamberlain’s uncle changes his story, the people inside the city might at any time…” Lu Youchuan paused, then changed his words, “…treat the government as the root cause of the trouble in Yunzhou and stand ready with knives. With the Junior Chamberlain’s weak and helpless appearance, who can he protect?”
"Ridiculous! What right does Lord Lu have to suspect others? Lord Qin is in this predicament because Lord Lu advised him to take office. I have even more reason to suspect that this move might be a deliberate act by Lord Lu to eliminate dissidents."
Lu Youchuan and Li Yu stood on either side of Qin Song, and the two started arguing for no reason, the tension almost burning Qin Song to a crisp.
However, what the two men said made a lot of sense. Even if they were besieged in the city, Gong Shiliang could not massacre them all at once, but they could not be too careful as to guard against other underhanded tricks.
Qin Song pondered for a moment before stopping the two hostile individuals. "Lord Lu, I need to trouble you with something."
Lu Youchuan frowned slightly upon hearing this. He didn't like her speaking to him so politely, but he still pursed his lips and hummed in response.
Qin Song noticed the hint of resentment in his eyes and looked at him gently, saying, "I would like to trouble Lord Lu to lead everyone to disperse within the city and keep an eye out for any unusual activity. Lord Lu is calm, capable, and outstanding. I entrust this to you."
Her eyes crinkled with a smile, but Lu Youchuan could see the cunning gleam in them at a glance.
He felt a sense of helplessness. He liked her yielding, but he didn't like her acting like this when she needed him to do something, because he would be willing and had already thought of how to deal with it without her having to do it so deliberately.
He swallowed hard, but ultimately didn't speak. He looked into her eyes again, hummed in agreement, and then glanced at Li Yu with a hint of disgust.
Qin Song followed his gaze and looked at Li Yu. Since leaving Rongyang, Li Yu had been by Qin Song's side, and Qin Song felt a sense of pleasure in being close to him.
Qin Song's next words diminished his smugness somewhat.
"It would be great if the young master could lead his men to the clinic to distribute the prepared pills and alleviate the pressure on the clinic."
Because several cartloads of medicinal herbs were used to treat patients in Rongyang, very little was left to bring to Yunzhou. To make the journey easier, Qin Song specially ordered people to make the herbs into pills. The quantity was limited and could not be supplied to all the patients in the city. Priority was given to patients with severe symptoms.
Li Yu really wanted to stick close to Qin Song, but he still had some sense of reason. After a moment's hesitation, he agreed, "Okay, leave it to me."
After making the arrangements, Qin Song didn't linger and rushed back to the yamen with all his attendants and guards.
After leaving Chunhe to pack the items in the car, Qin Song immediately went to the council hall.
But Qin Daoji wasn't in the yamen. She immediately sensed something was wrong and was about to go look for him elsewhere when Chen Xing and Jiang Yue hurriedly ran out from the backyard.
The two men each took one of Qin Song's arms: "Miss Qin, you're finally back?"
As soon as Chen Xing finished speaking, Jiang Yue glanced behind Qin Song again: "Where is our young master?"
Qin Song was worried about her father, so she simply replied, "He's fine. Where's my father?"
Before the words were even finished, the two young maids suddenly blushed and cried out, "Lord Qin... Lord Qin has been taken away by them."
"What?!" Qin Song's eyes widened. "Who did this? Where?"
Jiang Yue was furious. "It's that Vice Minister of Revenue, Lord Chen."
"Chen Yuan?" That cautious and kind-hearted Vice Minister of Revenue.
Shen Xing nodded vigorously: "It was him. The warlord's troops surrounded Yunzhou before dawn yesterday, saying that there were strange celestial phenomena and that the treacherous officials were being punished by bringing disaster upon Yunzhou. Everyone in the city was in danger, but they did not say who the treacherous officials were. After only one day, that Vice Minister Chen insisted that it was Lord Qin who had committed many evils and incited the clerks of the Ministry of Works and a few yamen runners to detain Lord Qin."
Qin Song had considered this outcome, but she didn't expect it to happen so quickly. She was seething with anger and really wanted to beat up that guy surnamed Chen.
Jiang Yue was also indignant: "Moreover, everyone else knew that Minister Chen's actions were rash, but no one stopped him."
Of course they wouldn't stop them; in fact, they were glad that Chen Yuan had taken the lead in pinning the blame on her father. As long as they could get rid of their suspicion, even if they needed someone to testify that her father was extremely vicious, these people might rack their brains to fabricate hundreds of charges against him.
She couldn't help but curse before asking, "Where did they take my father?"
Jiang Yue hurriedly replied, "I know, it's in an abandoned inn."
After saying this, Qin Song hurriedly asked her to lead the way and turned to leave.
Upon arriving at the inn, two minor officials from the Ministry of Works were guarding the door; neither Chen Yuan nor the head of the Ministry of Works were present.
The two minor officials panicked for a moment when they saw Qin Song. Before they could react, Qin Song had already ordered his guards to take them down.
Without delay, she led the rest of her guards inside and followed the trail of the shop to a storage door in the backyard.
Several minor officials were guarding the door. Qin Song continued walking, and the guards beside him stepped forward and swiftly knocked out the minor officials before pushing open the door to the storeroom.
The door was wide open, and the dust that rose up looked incredibly tiny in the slanting sunlight of early spring.
In the light, the once-glorious and trusted minister, even with his hair disheveled and clothes dirty, still sat upright at a dilapidated wooden table, his eyes closed in deep thought.
When the door opened, he opened his eyes and looked at Qin Song with complex emotions in his old, cloudy eyes.
"Father." Qin Song strode in, not having time for pleasantries, and tried to help him up to leave.
But he stopped her.
Qin Daoji disregarded his own situation, first inquiring about Qin Song's condition and then carefully asking about Qin Song's journey.
After Qin Song briefly explained the situation, a hint of relief finally appeared on Qin Daoji's furrowed brows.
Qin Song continued to help him up, "Father, Lu Youchuan and Li Yu are handling things in the city. You come back with me first, and we'll deal with these villains later."
Qin Daoji remained seated. "Lu Youchuan is here too?"
Qin Song nodded, "Yes, Master Shen also intends to have him accompany us, but for now, I'll have Master Shen stay outside the city."
"Very good. It is a wise decision for Mr. Shen to stay outside the city." Qin Daoji's words were filled with loving affirmation, yet tinged with a hint of polite distance.
For some reason, Qin Song felt that her father's gaze was particularly complex today. He kept staring at her, as if he were looking at a different person through her physical appearance. Did he know that she had been given a second life?
Qin Song dared not look him in the eye and got back to the main topic, "Father, let's not talk about this now. Come back with me first. Yunzhou is besieged, and we need you to take charge of the situation."
Qin Daoji still didn't move. He pulled over a tattered stool next to him, dusted it off with his wide sleeves, and moved next to Qin Song, gesturing for her to sit.
Then, without haste, he said, "Song'er, the situation in Yunzhou is a problem for you. Father approves of every step of your plan. From today onwards, Father will no longer interfere with your arrangements."
Qin Song was taken aback. She had a feeling that her father had made some important arrangements, which made her uneasy.
She took a deep breath. Anyway, there were guards protecting the door, and Chen Yuan was nowhere to be seen. Even if he came back, given his cautious nature, he wouldn't want to kill them. It wouldn't hurt to leave a little later.
Qin Song dismissed Chen Xing's two maids before slowly sitting down. "Father, is there something you want to tell me?"
"Song'er, can you tell your father where you came from?"
Qin Daoji's tone was very formal, and Qin Song was startled. He knew that she had indeed traveled from another time.
But why is he so calm about his daughter having her own body replaced?
Qin Song was inexplicably flustered and didn't know how to answer for a moment.
Qin Daoji seemed to sense her unease, and suddenly looked away, his gaze falling into the void. He sighed for a moment before saying thoughtfully, "If it weren't for the bizarre appearance of Xianniang, I would never have believed that someone in the world could quietly change their soul."
Xianniang's real name is Zhao Xian. She is Qin Daoji's first wife and the biological mother of Qin Song's body.
Qin Daoji's expression was too heavy, making Qin Song even more uneasy, and he dared not respond.
Qin Daoji didn't rush her to answer. Still immersed in his own deep emotions, he said heavily, "To fulfill my promise to Xianniang, I've been waiting for you. I've thought of many possibilities, but I never imagined you would become my daughter."
Qin Daoji then glanced at Qin Song, his gaze filled with kindness and sorrow.
Qin Song's heart clenched, and his hands, which were under the table, clenched tighter and tighter: "I'm sorry, I took over your daughter's body and still felt at ease deceiving your feelings."
Qin Daoji shook his head, his eyes filled with even more intense emotions, making Qin Song feel like he was suffocating.
His aged voice trembled slightly: "I protected her very well from a young age. In order to prevent her from being replaced, I would rather she had been the chosen one from childhood. However, fate is cruel. Even though I raised her with the rites due to an emperor, what she wanted was to wield swords and spears. I originally wanted to follow her wishes, but I was still worried. I was worried that even if there was only a one in ten thousand chance that you would replace her, I would protect her even more and try to delay your appearance as long as possible. But I did not expect that my obstruction would cause her to leave me ahead of time."
Qin Song was overwhelmed with guilt, his voice choked in his throat, unsure of what to say.
Qin Daoji wanted to reach out and pat Qin Song's head, but he withdrew his hand halfway through the movement: "I miss her. You are more clever, insightful, and brave than her, but I still prefer my stubborn and headstrong girl. Perhaps I have spent my whole life working for others, and in the end, I don't even know what is real and what is fake."
"I'm sorry, Father... Lord Qin." Qin Song didn't know what to say, so he could only repeat this sentence.
Qin Daoji seemed to finally come to his senses, looking at her with deep eyes, seemingly lost in thought.
Overwhelmed by guilt and panic, Qin Song couldn't bear his scrutiny any longer. She lowered her head and asked blankly, "When did Lord Qin discover that I wasn't your daughter?"
Qin Daoji sighed: "I started to have doubts about you from the moment Lu Youchuan impeached you, but I never believed it. After you became entangled with both the young master and General Tao, I didn't sleep a wink all night. Xianniang said that the people in your area are very open-minded and told me not to restrict your thinking, but I still can't accept this fact. Song'er, you can't have all three, can you?"
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Author's Note: My darlings, well, um... my best friend is getting married during the National Day holiday, and I'll be attending the banquet, so... I'll be taking leave starting tomorrow [nervous hand-wringing]. I'll be back after the National Day holiday.
Okay, I'll be back with a new update for National Day and give out red envelopes! Wishing everyone a happy National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival, eat and drink well, and play with eight male models~ [rose]
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