Ye Qingxue was taken aback and said, "When did this happen? Your secret guards have all been trained, but I had no idea?"
"They're not in Kyoto. I've been meaning to tell you, but I've been busy out there and forgot. They haven't been on many missions yet, so this is a good opportunity to send them out and test their mettle."
Ye Qingxue accepted his explanation.
She carefully recalled her past life but couldn't recall any wrongdoing Ning Hongxi could have committed that would have led them to kill him.
Even though the Ning family had pursued Yun Zhuo most fervently and diligently, they were doing so on the orders of the emperor.
Moreover, Yun Zhuo was guilty of a crime at the time.
As Ye Qingxue pondered this, she realized that whenever the emperor was in trouble, Prime Minister Ning Hongxi was always the one who took the lead.
Ning Hongxi was loyal to the emperor and obeyed his every command. He was the emperor's most useful claw and weapon against others, and also the emperor's most obedient dog.
The emperor's appointment of Yun Zhuo as crown prince was not because he recognized Yun Zhuo's talent, but because he had other plans. The emperor is still taking in many concubines and trying to have children. Although they do not yet know what the emperor is plotting against Yun Zhuo, he certainly has other intentions.
Ye Qingxue's eyes darkened, and she said, "Alright, have your people secretly gather information about the Prime Minister's residence. However, such a big incident has just happened at the Prime Minister's residence, so I suppose they won't take any further action in the short term."
"It's alright. Let's arrange for some people to keep an eye on things. If anything happens, we'll know in time and won't be too passive."
Ye Qingxue hummed in agreement, and a glimmer of light finally appeared in her eyes.
After a moment of silence.
Yun Zhuo suddenly asked, "What are you thinking about right now?"
"I'm wondering if the Emperor might have tacitly approved of the Prime Minister's hiring of assassins to kill me?"
Yun Zhuo said, "It's possible, but I think it's unlikely. Since Father Emperor has appointed me as Crown Prince, it means he doesn't need to take our lives for the time being."
"So, this assassination was entirely an operation carried out by the Prime Minister's office alone, and had nothing to do with the Emperor?"
As Ye Qingxue spoke, she thought of Zhuang Xin's sudden appearance. There were some things she would have to wait until Zhuang Xin woke up and asked him before she could find out.
Ye Qingxue accepted the ointment.
Zhan Shuang was outside requesting an audience.
Ye Qingxue immediately thought of Dong Bai's whereabouts and quickly went out.
However, although the Crown Prince's residence increased its manpower to search for Dong Bai, and the Prince Yu's residence and General Lan's residence also borrowed a lot of people, and even the emperor arranged for people to search, Zhan Shuang said that so far, there have been no results.
Ye Qingxue stood there for a long time before giving the order: "Keep searching. The search will never end until we find her!"
"Yes!" Zhan Shuang quickly led his men down.
...
As dawn broke, Yun Zhuo personally helped Ye Qingxue wash and change her clothes. Granny Xing brought over some medicine to help with the pregnancy, which Yun Zhuo personally fed to her.
Ye Qingxue laughed and said, "How can you be so delicate? I can do it myself, you are still injured."
“My injury is nothing serious, and you can certainly take care of yourself. But since I’m here, let me take care of you. I’ve been away from home for a while and haven’t had the chance to take care of you on a regular basis.”
Since he said so, Ye Qingxue, though not used to being fed, still tried her best to get used to it once.
As he said, it was indeed a rare opportunity.
After taking her medicine, Yun Zhuo accompanied her to the dining hall for breakfast.
He added two hundred more men to the original search for Dongbai, and personally instructed the imperial physicians to spare no effort in treating Zhuang Xin: "...use the best medicine, and make sure he wakes up."
The imperial physician readily agreed.
Yun Zhuo returned this time not because of a day off, but because Ye Qingxue had an accident, so he couldn't stay at home for too long.
However, he was injured, so he stayed at home for seven more days.
Over the course of seven days, he received daily doses of soup and ointment, and his condition gradually improved.
Seven days later, around noon, after reading Zhuang Xin's letter, he took Ye Qingxue's hand and walked towards the main courtyard.
"...The irrigation canal that crosses the plain has been dug. The next section of the canal will cross the Cold Crow Ridge. We have studied it and found that this section will require the construction of a tunnel."
Yun Zhuo held Ye Qingxue's hand tightly and said truthfully:
"Before I came back, everyone was ready to start construction while the weather was sunny. Because of my return, it will be delayed for almost half a month, so I must get back as soon as possible."
Ye Qingxue could feel his grip tightening, and she smiled sweetly at him: "I understand, why are you so nervous?"
“You’ve had a tough pregnancy, and I can’t be by your side all the time. Aren’t you angry?” Yun Zhuo turned around and hugged her. “Besides, you just escaped death not long ago. You need me the most right now, but I’m in such a hurry to leave…”
His chin rested on Ye Qingxue's head, and he said in a deep voice, "Sometimes I actually hope you get angry, that you don't have to be so tolerant and magnanimous, that would show that you care about me and need me."
Ye Qingxue laughed out loud, looking up at him: "Are you in such a hurry to leave because you want to finish digging the canal as soon as possible and come back before I give birth?"
Yun Zhuo pursed her lips, "That's right."
He had to be by Ye Qingxue's side when she gave birth, otherwise he wouldn't feel at ease!
That's why he dares not waste a single moment now!
I really want to come back and stay by her side as soon as possible.
I really want to...
Ye Qingxue's smile widened: "Now that I know why you're in such a hurry to leave, why should I be angry with you? I just hope you can focus on what you're doing now and come back soon to welcome the birth of our little one together."
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