At the corridor connecting the inner and outer courtyards, Yinzhen encountered Xiaoshunzi, who had come to deliver a message. After listening to his account of what had happened at the other courtyard since they left, Yinzhen angrily slammed his fist into the archway.
It would be best if Yi'er was alright, otherwise, he would search high and low to find Xu Huaiyu and have him executed by slow slicing.
As Yinzhen walked outside the mansion, the Eighth Prince and the Ninth Prince came looking for him. Seeing that his Fourth Brother and Thirteenth Brother were in a hurry, they asked, "Fourth Brother and Thirteenth Brother, where are you going?"
"Eighth brother, ninth brother." Yinzhen mounted his horse and looked down at the two of them. "Go to the other courtyard. Xu Huaiyu didn't go far last night. He hid somewhere in the other courtyard. After we left, Xu Huaiyu ambushed Tong Shi again. I'm worried that something might happen to Tong Shi."
"What?" The two brothers, Ba and Jiu, immediately panicked. Xu Huaiyu was hiding right under their noses. Wouldn't Nan Yi be in trouble?
"Fourth Brother..." The Ninth Prince couldn't hold back and was about to speak when the Eighth Prince, fearing he might say something inappropriate, tugged at him, also intending to remind him to be mindful of his words.
Thirteen comforted the group, "Actually, there's no need to worry too much. Sister-in-law Tong is a lucky person, and with Guard Zheng's help, Xu Huaiyu won't succeed easily."
“We’ll go too. Sister-in-law Tong has been kind to us, and we can’t just stand by and do nothing,” the Ninth Prince said urgently. He spoke with righteous indignation, but in reality, he was extremely worried about Nan Yi’s safety.
The Eighth Prince had the same idea, so he said, "Fourth Brother, let's go together, otherwise, I won't feel at ease."
With the pretext of being saved, no one would think otherwise. Among the group, few knew the inside story of their relationship with Nan Yi.
Without giving it much thought, Yinzhen's gaze fell on them. "But what about your injuries?"
"It's all better now." The Ninth Prince moved his arm.
Yinzhen relented, "Alright, let's go together."
After they left, a eunuch emerged from a corner of the courtyard wall. He found Granny Liu and reported the matter to her.
When Granny Liu reported this to Lady Nara, Lady Nara felt that it was God's help and that Lady Tong deserved her misfortune.
“We won’t get involved in this. You go and tell that person that she harbors a deep resentment towards Madam Tong, and she’s petty. The little princess is gone, and the master isn’t there for her. She’s devoted all her heart to Madam Tong. That person will definitely not tolerate this.”
"I'll go right away." Granny Liu left.
The servant girl, Lüyun, who was attending to the Fujin, had a deep, resentful look in her lowered eyes. The master refused to touch her body; it must be Tong Shi who had whispered in his ear, just because she was afraid that if Lüyun became the master's woman, she would compete with her for his favor. Tong Shi, she remembered that.
That night, she drugged the master. Although he was furious, he didn't punish her. He still cared about her.
Green Cloud increasingly felt that it was Tong Shi who was blocking her way.
The disappearance of the Tong family is just what I needed.
Her brother recently came to the capital, and she heard he brought many brothers with him. She wants the Tong family to disappear forever.
"Lvyun, go and inform the head steward of the outer courtyard to come and see me, the Princess Consort."
"Yes, ma'am." Green Cloud also curtsied and withdrew.
Seeing her impatient back, Nara laughed silently. After a long while, she sighed, "Tong Shi, look how many people you've offended."
After leaving, Lüyun found an excuse to leave the manor and asked her brother to make sure that Madam Tong could not return home.
Meanwhile, the people in Weifang Courtyard also made a move. Nian's personal maid received the news and hurriedly reported it to Nian.
Lady Nian summoned a second-class maidservant, who had been sent by her sister-in-law to serve her. The original first-class maidservants, Xiangxiu and Xiangyun, had been taken away by the master, supposedly to relearn etiquette, and had not returned since. Lady Nian had a feeling that they would never come back.
Nan Yi, who had fallen to the bottom of the valley, had no idea how difficult the short journey back would be.
Nan Yi told Zheng Yong that Xu Huaiyu had also fallen, but the traces along the way indicated that only the two of them were there.
The valley floor is not large, only about the size of two separate courtyards. You can walk around the area in an hour. There is no danger in the valley, except for some common small animals. It is very peaceful and quiet, like a paradise on earth.
Nan Yi jokingly said that the valley is as beautiful as springtime, and it would be great to live here for the rest of my life.
"If you can endure loneliness," Zheng Yong said, trying to discourage her.
With her boisterous personality, staying in a small valley for decades, with no one to keep her company, would drive her crazy with boredom.
Nan Yi chuckled and said, "That makes sense."
There's no one in the valley; it seems unrealistic to live here alone all day long.
Zheng Yong said he was going to hunt a rabbit, so Nan Yi decided to wander around by herself. The area was so small that she didn't have to worry about getting lost.
In the outside world, you can wear a cotton-padded coat without worrying about wearing too much; here, a spring shirt is sufficient.
She was curious about everything she saw—flowers, grass, anything she had never seen before—and she destroyed it all.
When Nan Yi reached a cliff, she saw a plant and her eyes lit up. Was it a radish? It looked huge. She bent down to take a closer look. It wasn't a radish, but it looked very familiar.
She wanted to reach out and push it away.
"Don't move?"
Nan froze, turning to look at Zheng Yong, who had somehow followed behind her. "Why?"
Zheng Yong smiled and said, "You're lucky. This is ginseng, and it's quite old."
Nan Yi withdrew his hand, touched his nose, and thankfully didn't lay a hand on her, otherwise he would have made her the one to peel the radish. Even a ginseng root wouldn't be whole.
Zheng Yong tossed the rabbit aside and carefully began to remove the soil around the ginseng, bit by bit, with extremely cautious movements.
Slowly, the ginseng roots gradually emerged, and Nan exclaimed, "Wow, it's huge! It must be hundreds of years old!"
“More than that, at least a thousand years old.” Zheng Yong examined the ginseng carefully, his eyes shining brightly. He carefully took out a handkerchief and wrapped the ginseng in it. “I will process it and then give it to you.”
"No need," Nan Yi waved his hand dismissively. "I don't need this. If you need it, you can take it."
Zheng Yong looked at her in astonishment. "This is a thousand-year-old ginseng, it's no ordinary thing."
"I know, but shouldn't it be given to those who need it?" She knew ginseng was valuable, and she had plenty of it herself. She had robbed people's warehouses twice and had several ginseng plants. She really didn't need any.
Zheng Yong, however, believed that Nan Yi's non-competitive and non-greedy nature was so precious that no one else would be able to ignore a thousand-year-old ginseng.
She was the one who found it, but she just casually gave it to him.
Zheng Yong knew he couldn't refuse. He had been traveling around all year, enduring hardships and dealing with various forces. As he got older, the hidden injuries in his body gradually surfaced. The missions carried out by the Imperial Secret Agents were always secretive, and his declining strength would seriously interfere with his work.
He was selected to enter the Secret Service at the age of twelve. Now, nearing thirty, few of his companions who entered with him in his early years remain.
He's still alive today, and good luck accounts for half of that.
This old ginseng, when made into pills, can help him repair most of the hidden injuries on his body.
“Brother Yong, you should keep the good stuff for yourself. Don’t just keep bringing it to Jinzhong. Understand?” Nan Yi suddenly said.
She was afraid that he was too loyal to Kangxi and would stubbornly offer his possessions to someone on the dragon throne. That old man had everything he needed, and he wouldn't miss this one thing.
Zheng Yong suddenly smiled and nodded to indicate that he understood. Besides, he really had no intention of offering it up. He never expected that Nan Yi would bring it up first.
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