After having pork and cabbage dumplings together, Ali started making dumplings every few days, with different fillings each time. Sometimes it was shrimp and corn, and sometimes it was wood ear mushrooms and carrots.
Xu Zhi always comes over whenever he makes dumplings.
However, after feeding him a few times, Ahri discovered that this person was also a carnivore. He wouldn't eat much if there was no meat in the dumplings.
The young palace maid also became more meticulous, doing all the work that she could do by herself.
When it comes to food, she can touch it, but no one else is allowed to touch it; she is very strict in protecting herself.
Ah Li saw it all but didn't ask any further questions.
Xu Zhi dismissed the little palace maid's actions as nothing more than a fool worrying about nothing.
Sometimes, those who slipped through the net in the Eastern Depot were let in by him when he was bored.
He sometimes misses blood because he hasn't seen it in so long.
However, Xu Zhi heard during the morning court session today that an envoy from the State of Jin had arrived.
In the imperial court, the crowd was abuzz with discussion: "Why would the State of Jin suddenly send an envoy here today?"
"Has Your Excellency forgotten that the princess who was exchanged two years ago is here to take people back?"
Xu Zhi closed his eyes, touched the beads on his wrist, pursed his lips, and listened to what the people around him were saying.
Will the envoy from Jin come to take her back?
After the court session, Xu Zhi returned to the Eastern Depot.
Xu Zhi's food, clothing, housing, and transportation were all within the Eastern Depot. Even though the emperor had bestowed upon him a mansion, he still lived in the Eastern Depot.
Ah Li lived here and never went to the front or the place where prisoners were detained.
Xu Zhi watched Ah Li tending to her flowers and plants and said, "An envoy from Jin has arrived."
Ah Li twitched her lips. The original owner was no longer there, so what use was it for the envoy from Jin to come?
Xu Zhi then said, "You came to Liang in exchange for this. If the Jin envoy shows enough sincerity, perhaps they can take you back."
“Sincerity? Liang has always been stronger than Jin. Apart from warhorses, Liang probably wouldn’t care about anything else Jin has to offer.”
As Ali spoke, he tended to the flowers and plants, trimming the dead branches and removing the withered leaves.
Upon hearing this, Xu Zhi realized that it made perfect sense.
"But I wonder who the envoy is this time." Ah Li put down the scissors and tilted her head to look at Xu Zhi.
After pondering the words of the ministers in court today, Xu Zhi said, "It seems to be someone surnamed Qin."
"Qin?"
Ah Li remembered the person the original owner had always longed for, the one called 'Lord Qin'.
Xu Zhi saw Ah Li recite this sentence and then fall silent. His first instinct told him that Ah Li was connected to that person.
At that moment, Ahri suddenly asked, "If I really leave, will the Factory Guild miss me?"
Xu Zhi was almost startled by Ah Li's bluntness. His heart rate changed again, and he began to suspect that he was sick once more.
Seeing Xu Zhi's dazed look, Ah Li asked, "Are you feeling unwell somewhere?"
Xu Zhi shook his head and said, "It's not a big problem, it's probably just some minor issue somewhere."
He also consulted the imperial physician, but the physician couldn't find a solution either.
Ah Li thought to herself that the poison had been cured and she was no longer in mortal danger, so it was really just a minor ailment.
But she still said, "How about I take a look at it for you?"
Xu Zhi then thought to ask Ali, "Aren't you a princess of Jin? How do you also know about traditional Chinese medicine?"
Ah Li said, "Sometimes I was so bored in the Jin Kingdom's palace that I sought out a female physician to learn medicine."
"Then where did you get those medicines you brewed for me last time?"
"These are all medicines I brought from Jin State," Ah Li said, knowing that Xu Zhi was determined to get to the bottom of things.
However, she was not afraid of being investigated. The original owner had indeed studied medicine with a female physician in Jin State and also carried some typhoid medicine and secret medicines from the Jin State royal palace with her.
"Then how did you know to cure the poison in my body?"
The poison in Xu Zhi's body is something that most doctors would find difficult to detect from his pulse in one go.
Ah Li said, "I saw something similar in a rare book by a female healer, so I thought I'd give it a try. I never expected to stumble upon such a lucky coincidence. Maybe you were just meant to survive."
You were destined to survive, otherwise why would the strategy team have a mission to conquer you, and why wouldn't you be allowed to die?
Xu Zhi wanted to ask more, but Ah Li looked at him and said, "Are you worried that I'll hurt you?"
The disappointment and dejection in his words made Xu Zhi's heart clench.
"No."
Ahri lowered her head and said sadly, "Then why didn't you ask me from the beginning? Why didn't you have someone arrest and interrogate me? Why did you suddenly ask me today? Do you suspect me?"
Xu Zhi wanted to say that the reason he brought the person back without asking questions was because he thought that with the person under his nose, even if they were sent by the enemy, he could easily deal with them.
However, seeing that Ah Li was behaving himself every day and even had the time to make dumplings and plant flowers, he put all these problems out of his mind.
If Ah Li hadn't brought it up herself today, he probably wouldn't have even thought to ask her about it.
However, before Xu Zhi could explain himself, a young eunuch came over and said, "Master, the Emperor summons you to the palace."
"I understand," Xu Zhi replied, noticing that Ah Li was still standing there with her head down.
He sighed, turned around, and left.
Ah Li belatedly realized that she had just asked him if he would be reluctant to part with his child.
The young palace maid stood at a distance, not daring to come closer. She didn't know if she had seen wrong just now. Was the young lady angry with the eunuch?
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