Chapter 80. He's leaving already?
Li Xiaoxiao reluctantly put down her bowl, and Mao's mother immediately took away the rest of the noodles. If she were allowed to eat more, she would have dared to finish the whole bowl...
After eating and drinking her fill, Li Xiaoxiao felt her strength finally return, and she felt like she had been given a shot of adrenaline and had come back to life.
Meng Guanqi looked at her with concern, the worry in his eyes still lingering: "Xiaoxiao, are you alright?"
Li Xiaoxiao was just glad she could wake up, so she said optimistically, "I'm all better now~ I think I can eat three more bowls."
Meng Guanqi breathed a sigh of relief: "It's good that you're better. Your illness was quite frightening. You were unconscious for nine whole days, and you didn't even wake up when His Highness the Crown Prince left. You missed so much excitement."
"Your Highness?" Li Xiaoxiao immediately recalled the night before she fainted and hurriedly asked, "Did His Highness leave? What happened afterward?"
Meng Guanqi said, "You left the day before yesterday. The day after you fainted, all the officials from the Lin'an government office, including the prefect, the vice-prefect, and the registrar, came. Two days later, a group of people from Luzhou, including the prefect, the vice-prefect, and the commander, also came. Our courtyard can't even hold all those people..."
The difference was that the officials from Lin'an Prefecture came to protect the emperor, while the officials from Luzhou came to apologize. For those few days, the entire county government was in a state of frantic activity, working non-stop...
The county government's backyard was already small, and with so many large figures suddenly appearing, there wasn't even room to stand, let alone sit. Moreover, the county government only had about ten yamen runners and a few clerks and warehouse clerks on duty, and five of them were killed that night, leaving only Head Constable Shi and the remaining five yamen runners to help with the aftermath...
Xu Liang, the commander of Qingzhou Guard, was the first to receive Wan Quan's report. He immediately dispatched three hundred cavalry to Biyang County to rescue the Crown Prince. He left overnight, sending a personal guard to inform Prefect Song before departing. He dared not reveal the secret of the Crown Prince's peril, only instructing the guard to say that the Crown Prince was in Biyang County. However, the guard fell off his horse and sprained his ankle halfway there, only arriving in Lin'an Prefecture the next day. It was then that Prefect Song learned that His Highness the Crown Prince had gone to Biyang County.
Before he could find out why the Crown Prince was in such a remote place as Biyang County, Prefect Song immediately mustered his men to go to Biyang County to welcome the Crown Prince. At this time, he was unaware of the seriousness of the matter and thought that the Crown Prince had just happened to be there while traveling incognito. He was also secretly jealous of Meng Ying's good fortune in having the opportunity to receive the Crown Prince.
Upon arrival, they discovered that the Crown Prince had been assassinated and nearly died in the rear office of Qinyang County. The murderer was a military officer surnamed Wu from Luzhou Guard.
This is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family!
Although the murderer was captured and imprisoned by Xu Liang who arrived in time, the fact that the crown prince was in danger in his own jurisdiction still made Prefect Song break out in a cold sweat. He immediately wanted to bring the crown prince back to the prefectural government and protect him with heavy troops.
As a result, the Crown Prince refused to leave under the pretext of recuperating from his injuries, and even sent for the Prefect of Luzhou and the Commander to see him.
When the prefect of Luzhou and the commander arrived, they learned that Wu, the military advisor, had actually used the pretext of suppressing rebels to assassinate the crown prince. The commander was able to quickly kneel down and beg for forgiveness, but the prefect of Luzhou was so frightened that he fainted.
The Crown Prince refused to move from Magistrate Meng's main house, so the older officials couldn't even get a room in Magistrate Meng's house. The lower-ranking officials couldn't even get a stool and had to stand. Magistrate Meng had to go out and borrow a house from a wealthy family in the county. Master Zheng was the quickest to react. He immediately gave up his house and moved to another courtyard.
The reason was simple: his house was the largest and most luxurious in the entire Biyang County, making it the perfect place to receive distinguished guests.
Prefect Song and Prefect Luo from Luzhou had no choice but to move in with their people. However, when they thought about how the Crown Prince was living in the small courtyard of Magistrate Meng's house while they were living in the large mansion of Master Zheng, with delicious food, fine wine, and servants to serve them, they felt restless and uncomfortable. Every day they tried to persuade the Crown Prince to move into Master Zheng's house with them, but the Crown Prince refused outright.
Prefect Song gave Wan Quan a large red envelope, and Wan Quan secretly told him that the Crown Prince's true savior was unconscious. The Crown Prince was waiting for news from the capital, but he was also afraid that his savior would die, so he refused to leave his post and asked about her condition every day.
As a result, the Crown Prince did not wait for Li Xiaoxiao to wake up, but instead received an urgent imperial edict personally signed by the Emperor.
After receiving the imperial decree, the Crown Prince had no choice but to travel to Lin'an Prefecture. Before leaving, he instructed Magistrate Meng to take good care of Li Xiaoxiao's illness.
Meng Guanqi smiled and said, "Who knew you could be unconscious for nearly ten days? When the Crown Prince was still here, he asked you about it several times a day."
That night, after Li Xiaoxiao fell into a coma, Doctor Xie and Doctor Zhang happened to be there and immediately came to examine her. The diagnosis was that she was exhausted due to overwork.
After rushing all the way back to Biyang County from the dilapidated temple, no one had rested well, and it was normal to be exhausted. Everyone thought that Li Xiaoxiao would be fine after a good night's sleep, but when Mao's mother went to see her the next day, she found that Li Xiaoxiao had developed a high fever and her whole body was flushed red.
This terrified a group of people.
Li Xiaoxiao was a great hero who saved the Crown Prince's life. If something happened to her, the Crown Prince would blame her, which would probably implicate the entire Meng family.
Medicines and tonics were delivered to Li Xiaoxiao's bedside in a steady stream, but her high fever persisted and she remained drowsy and showed no signs of waking up. The Crown Prince ordered that no matter the consequences, she must be saved. Doctor Xie dared not delay and personally prepared the soup and medicine. Two days ago, Li Xiaoxiao's fever finally subsided, and the Crown Prince set off again. Only then did Doctor Xie return home.
As expected, Li Xiaoxiao woke up today.
Meng Guanqi felt very sorry for her: "You always seem so energetic and vigorous, who knew you would get so sick and look so frightening? You must never get caught in the rain again..." Li Xiaoxiao's sudden illness was really beyond his expectations. In his heart, she was almost invincible, but in the end, she still succumbed to a cold.
The person who couldn't accept that she had been ill for so long and was so seriously ill was Pang Shi.
He had recovered from his injuries after seven or eight days of recuperation at the Meng family's house, but Li Xiaoxiao, who had caught a "cold," hadn't even opened her eyes.
Is this still the same Li Xiaoxiao who could fight against overwhelming odds and defeat the assassins and Luzhou Guards all by herself? How come she fell ill just from getting caught in the rain like a woman?
Okay, although she is indeed a woman, she was so strong and unstoppable when she killed, how could she get so sick from just a cold? That's too contradictory, isn't it?
He left with a lot of regrets, and he didn't even get to see Li Xiaoxiao one last time before he passed away.
Li Xiaoxiao smiled apologetically at Meng Guanqi. She knew her situation, and this wasn't the first time it had happened.
This was a consequence of her superpowers being exhausted. She was also unable to replenish enough energy—blood—while in a coma, which is why she "fell ill and could not recover."
Those ginseng and bird's nests weren't useless to her, but the effects were very slow and mild, which is why she woke up so late.
But of course, Meng Guanqi and the others couldn't know about this.
She hadn't expected that exhausting her powers would cause her to fall into a deep sleep for so long, which was not a good sign. If someone hadn't been taking care of her, she might have died in her sleep.
She secretly realized that from now on, she should accept defeat when necessary and admit defeat when necessary, and she could no longer be so stubborn.
But she was a forgetful person, and now that she had recovered, she immediately started asking about the Crown Prince's departure: "Was there any indication of his departure?"
Meng Guanqi was stunned for a moment, then immediately remembered that he had told her before not to focus on the superficial yellow and white things. He suddenly felt that all the words he had carefully explained to her had been wasted: "Didn't I tell you? You need to have a long-term perspective..."
Li Xiaoxiao became anxious: "That's what he said, but did he really just pack up and leave? He didn't give me anything?"
Meng Guanqi sighed and covered his forehead, looking quite troubled.
The crown prince didn't leave nothing behind; on the contrary, he left behind a mess.
Magistrate Meng has spent all the remaining money in Liu's account these days to entertain the Crown Prince and these high-ranking officials.
Moreover, the five constables who died that night were killed in the line of duty. In addition to the compensation given as usual, Magistrate Meng also gave each family ten taels of silver. Now, the family is just an empty shell.
Unfortunately, the two thousand-tael silver notes he had brought back from Headmaster Gu were ruined by water, and the bank couldn't redeem them. He could only wait until after the New Year to return to Wanshan Academy to find Headmaster Gu to reopen them. On the surface, his family was truly destitute.
But no one in the family took the current predicament seriously. They had already saved the prince's life, so why would they be afraid of not having money?
So Meng Guanqi comforted Li Xiaoxiao: "Don't worry, things will get better."
During the New Year's Eve dinner, Magistrate Meng specially set up two tables in the courtyard and invited Li Xiaoxiao to the main table to eat together, acknowledging and thanking her for her contributions to the family.
You must know that she was the main force in saving the Crown Prince. If it weren't for her superb martial arts skills, Meng Guanqi and the others would probably have been killed by the men in black in the dilapidated temple. They would never have been able to return unscathed and make such a great contribution.
When the time is right, he will surely reward you handsomely.
Li Xiaoxiao was a servant, and the merits she made in principle belonged to Meng Guanqi, that is, the Meng family. If the Crown Prince were to bestow a reward, he might give her an extra share, but the majority would go to Magistrate Meng and Meng Guanqi.
Magistrate Meng was already a competent master for being able to clearly distinguish between rewards and punishments.
Looking at the three meat dishes on the table, and then at Magistrate Meng who had only made grand pronouncements but hadn't contributed a single coin, Li Xiaoxiao vaguely guessed what was going on.
Sure enough, the next day she started eating pumpkin and radish, and there wasn't a single piece of meat in the food. Her face started to look haggard.
Before the prince was saved, at least the masters could eat meat once a day. After the prince was saved, everyone became like monks and started eating radishes, pumpkins and cabbages.
How could she believe that things would get better for her family? Especially after hearing from Madam Mao that they owed Huichuntang fifty taels of silver for her medical treatment, Li Xiaoxiao felt like she was going to kill the Prince of Knife.
Fifty taels!
I got sick to save you, and you're leaving without even paying for my medical bills?!
She only earns 800 coins a month, how long will it take her to pay back 50 taels?
Li Xiaoxiao felt that if those big shots in the capital didn't send them money soon, she would probably have to go back to farming next spring, otherwise her family might not even be able to afford food...
The second day of the Lunar New Year was the day Madam Lu was to return to her parents' home. The Lu family waited anxiously, but only received Madam Song and her child. Madam Lu asked anxiously, "Yingniang, where is our son-in-law? Why didn't he come?"
Madam Song looked helpless. If it weren't for the fact that today was the second day of the lunar new year, a day when married daughters had to return to their parents' home, she wouldn't have wanted to come either.
Early in the morning, Madam Lu sent her old nanny to pick up Madam Song under the pretext of missing her child. Madam Song reluctantly got into the car.
Sure enough, as soon as she sat down, Madam Lu couldn't hold back any longer and immediately asked about the whereabouts of Prefect Song.
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