Days passed by, and in a flash, a month and a half had gone.
Qiao Wangfei, who had been sent south, would send back letters by fast horse every ten days, reporting the situation along the way and the medicinal materials collected.
The list of medicinal materials would be sent directly to Dai Li.
Dai Li also had a copy of the three-page list of medicinal materials written by Mr. Ding earlier, and she would read it twice a day.
The happiest thing was to hold the letters from Qiao Wangfei and Jin Duole in one hand and a cinnabar pen in the other, and put small red checks on the spread-out list.
For all the medicinal materials that had been found and met the required quantity, Dai Li marked them all with small red checks.
After carefully reading all the letters, Dai Li would recopy three lists and write down all the collected ones.
Two copies were rushed to Qiao Wangfei and Jin Duole by fast horse to synchronize their information databases, and the other copy was kept for herself.
There were still twenty-two days left, less than a month. Dai Li sat in front of the desk, holding a wolf-hair brush, copying the last list.
She hoped that when the next letter came, they would all disappear from the mulberry paper.
There were hurried footsteps outside, and Nianxia rushed in at this time. She had just called out "Madam" when she found that Qin Shaozong was also there. She couldn't help but behave much better and didn't dare to shout like before.
Dai Li was writing and didn't look up.
Qin Shaozong looked at Nianxia, "Why are you in such a hurry?"
There was no displeasure on his face, but Nianxia was terrified and subconsciously lowered her head to avoid those oppressive brown eyes.
"Lord Marquis, just now when I went out to the market to buy things, I was accidentally bumped by a young lady in the crowd. Later, I realized that there was an extra piece of silk in the basket." Nianxia said.
More than a month had passed, and the Marquis of Wu'an had completely "turned the corner". The mansion was not under martial law as it was at the beginning, and there were more servants going out to purchase than before.
The servants were accompanied by guards, so they were not worried about being caught and interrogated on the way. It was just that in a crowded place like the downtown area, pushing and shoving were inevitable when passing by.
After returning to the mansion, Nianxia was surprised to find something else in the basket—
An extra piece of silk.
There were words on the cloth. Nianxia didn't know how to read, so she hurriedly came to Dai Li.
Dai Li thought of how the Green Lotus Sect had previously used a silk letter, and she immediately stopped writing, "Bring it to me to see."
Nianxia hurriedly presented it.
Qin Shaozong said expressionlessly, "Before leaving the mansion, I had already instructed you to pay more attention to the people who came into contact with you. Why did you still let others take advantage of the loophole?"
It was not a heavy sentence, but it scared Nianxia so much that her legs trembled, "Lord, Lord Marquis, the young lady I bumped into at that time was brightly dressed, with fair skin and no calluses on her hands. She looked like a noble lady from a wealthy family, so I..."
"Forget it, it's normal to be careless for a moment. The weather is getting cooler. Nianxia, go to the kitchen and ask them to put two more slices of ginger in the soup to dispel the cold."
Dai Li said.
Nianxia felt as if she had been granted amnesty and hurried away.
Dai Li turned the silk over, face up.
Perhaps to cover people's eyes and ears at first, they didn't use cinnabar as ink this time, but a plant dye with a color similar to silk.
[Polygonum multiflorum, musk. The Marquis of Wu'an doesn't have enough.]
It was as if something exploded in Dai Li's mind, deafening her to the sounds around her and the words of anyone else.
The reason was none other than that there were indeed these two medicinal materials in the list of medicinal materials she had just recopied and hadn't found yet.
Polygonum multiflorum was known as one of the four major fairy grasses, and its preciousness went without saying.
What bothered Dai Li even more was that Polygonum multiflorum seemed to grow mostly in the south. At least Jin Duole had been searching in the north for fifty-five days and only found a piece of Polygonum multiflorum smaller than a baby's palm.
As for musk, it had to be extracted from the growth glands or scent glands of male musk deer, and a male deer could produce at most thirty grams. Therefore, musk was listed as a "top-grade medicine" in the Shennong Ben Cao Jing, and only the nobility and the royal family could have it.
The plain hand holding the silk tightly was suddenly held.
The palm covered with thick calluses wrapped around her, and a steady stream of warmth came over. With a little clever force, it loosened her knuckles that were white from tightening.
"Madam, we still have time." Qin Shaozong was originally sitting beside Dai Li, but now he spread his arms and pulled her into his arms.
The black robe and the smoky purple skirt overlapped. From a distance, it looked like a picture scroll blending dark and bright colors. The dark color was the trunk on the unlit side, supporting that bright color like a flower.
Dai Li subconsciously tightened her grip on his hand, "There are still twenty-two days before the deadline given by Mr. Ding. The time is neither near nor far. The Green Lotus Sect dares to send a message at this time, so they must be confident. The musk produced by a single musk deer is not much, and it is as timid as a mouse. Its hearing and smell are very developed, and it is extremely difficult to catch."
"Don't worry, it will be solved." Qin Shaozong said in a low voice.
Suddenly, Dai Li let go of his hand and turned sideways to look at him, "Qin Changgeng, I want to..."
"You can't." He interrupted Dai Li rarely.
Dai Li frowned her fine eyebrows, "I haven't even finished speaking."
"You don't need to finish. Don't I know what you're thinking?" Qin Shaozong curled his lips, but the smile didn't reach his eyes, "You want to see the people of the Green Lotus Sect."
Dai Li's breathing stagnated slightly, and she subconsciously looked away. It was an instinctive escape when what was in her heart was seen through.
"Dai Li, don't even think about it."
Qin Shaozong pinched her chin with two fingers and turned her head back, looking directly into those dark eyes, "Yuyang has a population of more than 400,000. I can only say that there are fewer pests of the Green Lotus Sect here than elsewhere, but I can't guarantee that it's completely clean. The Green Lotus Sect is full of tricks. What's the difference between Madam looking for them and sending a sheep into the tiger's mouth?"
Unable to turn her head, Dai Li simply stopped turning and looked at him deeply, "Qin Changgeng, if you let me watch helplessly as Zhou Zhou has no medicine to cure him, I can't do it."
She didn't shout or scream, but every word carried an unquestionable determination.
"Can you solve the problem by delivering yourself to their door? When they catch you and turn around to threaten that kid Qin Yanzhou and me with you, what do you want us to do?" Qin Shaozong let go of her jaw.
Dai Li pursed her lips and didn't speak. Her eyes were a little erratic, and she couldn't help falling into his hypothesis.
She wasn't infected with the Gu worm, so she couldn't figure out the pain of the Gu poison that her son lightly brushed off every time.
But she knew it must be very uncomfortable. Otherwise, why would Zhou Zhou's face be pale the day after every poison attack, and it was almost difficult for him to swallow lunch?
"There's still time, I can solve it." The man's lips pressed against the forehead of the woman in his arms, kissing the small red mole between her eyebrows, "Dai Li, believe me."
The door of the main room wasn't closed. Neither Dai Li nor Qin Shaozong saw that at this time, a slender figure stood on the side of the main room, taking their conversation into his ears.
Qin Yanzhou slowly lowered his eyelashes and left as quietly as he had come.
...
"Hey, Qin Yanzhou, where are you going?" Qin Qinian's curiosity was instantly piqued when he saw Qin Yanzhou heading straight toward the side door.
His father's "critical period" had passed, and he was no longer grounded, allowed to leave the mansion, just not too frequently. The last time Qin Qinian left the mansion was two days ago, going out to chat with friends.
He had left the mansion several times, but he had never seen Qin Yanzhou go out once.
Did this person have friends in Yuyang?
Probably not, he had only come to Yuyang with Madam Dai a month ago.
Seeing Qin Yanzhou going out now, Qin Qinian was greatly surprised.
Qin Yanzhou didn't answer him, just walked straight ahead.
Qin Qinian caught up, talking to him as they walked: "Are you going out to stroll around the market, or to buy something? If it's the former, I can introduce you to some good places. As for the latter, why do you need to go yourself, just let the servants go."
Qin Yanzhou walked forward silently, passing the guards and stepping out of the mansion.
Qin Qinian's mouth didn't stop: "It's almost time for dinner in an hour. I heard Madam Dai instructing the kitchen to make ancient hotpot this morning. Let's go early and return early, don't miss the delicious food."
Qin Yanzhou didn't make a sound the first two times, but this time the young man softly agreed.
Qin Qinian chuckled, "Madam Dai said she would improve the ancient hotpot. Tell me about the improved version first."
Qin Qinian followed Qin Yanzhou all the way, never figuring out what this person was doing out of the mansion.
Saying he was buying things, it didn't look like it.
He just walked around the stores, seeming more interested in the shop assistants and shopkeepers than the goods.
"Qin Yanzhou, don't just look and not buy. Whatever you like, I'll pay for it. I've saved a lot of money. The military rewards and such from before, I haven't spent much, and I'm not like Wei Xiaowu who always likes to listen to those expensive tunes." Qin Qinian stated that his little treasury was quite abundant.
He always had an inexplicable sense of guilt and a bit of a sense of mission.
The former might come from the disrespect to Madam Dai when they first met, or the unexpected knowledge that his father had actually snatched someone else's wife, thus generating an endless stream of guilt of a son paying his father's debts.
The latter came from what Madam Dai said to him that day.
Even today, Qin Qinian didn't understand. Obviously, that day he wanted to ask her some questions, but as they chatted, the focus unconsciously fell entirely on Qin Yanzhou.
Even though a month and a half had passed, Qin Qinian still clearly remembered that day.
The afternoon sunlight slipped in from the window, falling on the woman's skirt with dark patterns, the reflected shimmering light depicting her features very clearly.
When speaking of Qin Yanzhou, she was gentle and soft-spoken, her eyebrows and eyes filled with unstoppable tenderness, her whole person seeming to be enveloped in a soft and charming halo.
Qin Qinian also couldn't explain why, even though the "Zhou Zhou" in the other party's mouth was not him, but when he was looked at by her, he became dizzy, like soaking in warm soup.
She said to let him talk more with Qin Yanzhou in the future, and he nodded without thinking.
She said she and Qin Yanzhou had been separated for ten whole years, and those ten years Qin Yanzhou had suffered a lot, so his personality had become reticent, hoping he would be more tolerant, and he also nodded without hesitation at the time.
Later, other things were said, all about Qin Yanzhou.
Later, Qin Qinian recalled it several times, feeling that it might be what the teacher called "a loving mother loves her son, not for a reward", she just instinctively loved and protected her child.
When his biological mother passed away from illness, he was less than two years old, and Qin Qinian had no memory of his biological mother. But he felt that if his mother was alive, she would most likely love him as Madam Dai loved Qin Yanzhou.
Okay, it didn't matter if he couldn't get it before, just based on his father's determined momentum, he felt that Madam Dai had a slight possibility of becoming his mother.
While suffering from moral condemnation, Qin Qinian awkwardly developed some secret expectations.
Qin Yanzhou, my father is in a high position of power and is invincible in battle, I will let him cover you in the future; can you share half of your mother with me...
*
Several streets away in the city.
A maid dressed as a servant walked in front, leading a petite figure wearing a veiled hat from a back alley into the back door of a bookstore.
After entering the bookstore, the "maid" took the initiative to step aside, curtsying to the latter, "The gentlemen are on the third floor, Miss, please."
The girl didn't say a word, going upstairs alone. After reaching this floor, she took off the veiled hat on her head.
The sheer fabric fluttered, revealing a young and pretty face, she was about sixteen years old, exactly the age of a flower, but at this moment she was expressionless, cold as a piece of black ice.
There was a large hall on the third floor, at this moment the doors of the hall were wide open, and the little girl walked straight in.
There were people in the hall, one wearing a purple robe, one wearing white clothes, both young men in their early twenties, looking closely, their faces actually had five or six points of similarity.
The room was elegant, with paintings and calligraphy hanging on the walls, incense burners placed in the four corners, agarwood lingering, soaking the whole room.
Seeing the girl come in, Diting in white clothes smiled and said: "Miss Fan is back, how did it go, was it smooth?"
This visitor was exactly Fan Muqi, Fan Tianshi's eighth child.
Fan Muqi was expressionless: "Everything went smoothly."
The young man in the purple robe smiled, "It seems that Fan of Yanzhou's spirit in heaven is blessing Miss with everything going smoothly."
Hearing the other party mention her father, Fan Muqi's eyes darkened.
When Yanzhou was defeated, all the male members of the Fan family were killed. Perhaps feeling that women couldn't accomplish anything, whether it was the concubines in the Fan mansion or other unmarried girls, they all narrowly escaped.
Fan Muqi was a legitimate daughter, her biological mother, Lady Ji, was still alive.
The Fan and Ji families were a prominent family marriage, the current dynasty encouraged widows to remarry, and widows remarrying were everywhere. After Fan Tianshi died, Lady Ji was taken back by her mother's family.
When Lady Ji left, she originally wanted to take Fan Muqi with her.
However, the night before departure, a group of night travelers sneaked into the inn. And learning of her father's defeat, and even the war between the two sides was due to that person, Fan Muqi felt a ball of poisonous fire burning in her chest.
She favored him greatly, ordering people in the Fan mansion to take good care of him. The Fan mansion raised him for seven years, from twelve to nineteen, providing him with food and drink, teaching him martial arts.
Hateful that he was actually a hidden spy planted early by the Marquis of Wu'an.
Seven years, more than two thousand five hundred days and nights, thanks to him for enduring it!
So when the Green Lotus Sect came looking, Fan Muqi agreed without much thought, she only left a letter for her mother, then followed the visitor without hesitation.
She wanted revenge, seeking Quanjie to avenge the murder of her father and brother!
"What do you want to do next?" Fan Muqi knew that her relationship with the Green Lotus Sect was more of utilization than cooperation.
But she didn't care, as long as she could make the Marquis of Wu'an and Quanjie pay the price, she was willing to do anything.
"After Cai Yuan visited the Marquis of Wu'an, he suddenly intensified his efforts to rectify the civilian and commercial agricultural colonies, with the Wei family bearing the brunt of it. First, Wei Conglin accidentally killed someone, and then the Cai family made their move through the colonies. For the Marquis of Wu'an to go around in such a massive circle..." White Elephant, clad in a purple robe, stroked his chin.
Diting casually picked up the conversation, "He wants to take a wife."
The other prominent families in the commandery were ill-informed, believing that the Marquis of Wu'an had truly been severely injured after returning from the battlefield. However, those who had been forced out of Yanzhou knew his actual condition better than anyone else.
Diting continued, "The Marquis of Wu'an is clearly safe and sound. By hiding away in his manor and only manipulating things from behind the scenes, he obviously intends to drive the Wei family into a corner. I imagine it will not be long before he leaks his intentions to the Wei family."
Once his intentions were revealed, faced with a series of major events that could shake their very foundations, the Wei family would certainly have no other choice.
"Since that is the case, we must strike first to gain the upper hand."
The Qin Manor, Main Chambers.
"Madam, the Wei family has sent you a calling card," Nianxia said.
Daili was puzzled. "For me?"
Nianxia nodded. "Yes. The manor guards said a maidservant delivered it, and she repeatedly emphasized that it was meant for you."
Daili took the calling card and unfolded it. Upon clearly seeing the sender's name, her delicate eyebrows rose slightly.
The calling card belonged to the fifth young lady of the Wei family, Wei Cheng.