Chapter 151

Take Rongrong to the next door?

Qin Yanzhou's back could not help but tense up. He subconsciously looked at Dai Li, but saw that his mother was turning her head to look into the room at the moment, seemingly worried that her father's words just now had been heard by the people in the room.

Mother didn't notice...

Qin Yanzhou then looked at Shi Rongyue, who happened to be looking at him too. After their eyes met, the little girl took the initiative to walk two steps toward the courtyard entrance.

Scene after scene flashed through Qin Yanzhou's mind, including when he was in kindergarten, when he was eating grass roots while fleeing from famine, when he was in the Qinglian Sect, and when he was reunited with his mother.

He lowered his eyes for a moment, and when he raised them again, the waves in his dark eyes had leveled out, "Rongrong, come with me."

After walking out of the village chief's courtyard, Shi Rongyue, remembering the agreement, asked, "Brother Zhongle, did your bandit suppression go smoothly this time?"

Qin Yanzhou knew what she meant, "It was generally smooth, but there was a little problem..."

"What problem?" Shi Rongyue asked hurriedly before he could finish, "Brother Zhongle, are you hurt?"

Her small face, which had just regained some color, turned pale with fright, and she sized him up nervously. But because she was walking on Qin Yanzhou's left side, she couldn't see anything.

Qin Yanzhou didn't expect her to react like this, and his footsteps paused for a moment. The young man shook his head and simply said, "Rongrong, can you do me a favor?"

She was still looking him up and down. Hearing that, she nodded without hesitation, "Yes! Tell me, Brother Zhongle."

The amplitude of her nod was a bit large, which caused the tuft of ahoge on Shi Rongyue's head to sway violently.

Qin Yanzhou suddenly had an illusion that the cute little puppy from the old professor next door seemed to have returned.

Its light brown fur puffed up like a fluffy cotton candy, and its eyes shone with a honey-like luster in the sunlight. Usually, it liked to play with him very much. Whether it was the ball he threw or some small instructions, it would receive them happily.

In a puppy's world, there is no haze.

Two pairs of equally clear eyes seemed to slowly overlap across time and space. Qin Yanzhou couldn't help but curl his lips into a slight smile, "Rongrong, do you know needlework?"

The topic changed so quickly that Shi Rongyue nodded blankly and honestly.

In this world, there were very few women who didn't know needlework. The daughters of commoners would rely on embroidery to help their families reduce the burden, while the young ladies of prominent families would embroider their own wedding dresses.

This was also why, when Dai Li first asked Nianxia and Bipo to teach her needlework, the two girls' eyes almost popped out.

While they were talking, the two arrived at Shi Rongyue's residence from last night.

She stayed at Widow Wang's house next to the village chief's, which was about a dozen steps away. And when the bandits attacked the village earlier, the defense line with Dai Li at the core was drawn all the way to this house.

Widow Wang stayed behind closed doors. Shi Rongyue took Qin Yanzhou into the side room and asked the maid to guard outside.

Most of the houses in the village were simple and crude, and this place was no exception, with only a bed, a cabinet, and a table. However, the room was cleaned very neatly, and there was a delicate and small incense burner placed in the corner.

A faint fragrance permeated the air, very fresh, like orchids blooming.

Qin Yanzhou took a seat next to the table. He raised his right arm and pointed to the tear on his right sleeve with his left hand, "Rongrong, please help me sew up this tear."

Shi Rongyue only then saw that his sleeve was torn, and her pupils constricted, "Brother Zhongle, are you really hurt?"

"It's nothing, just a minor injury." Qin Yanzhou urged, "There isn't much time, Rongrong, sew it up first."

Shi Rongyue rummaged out a needle and thread from a small box and went back to kneel and sit beside him. Her small hands were chubby, but unexpectedly flexible, and she threaded the silver needle with a swish.

Qin Yanzhou went to battle today. In addition to wearing black armor and a shoulder cape, he also wore sleeve bindings on his forearms. The sleeve bindings bound up the wide sleeves, which also tightened the tear at the elbow.

He neatly removed the sleeve bindings and loosened the wide sleeves.

There was enough space, and there was no need to take off his clothes.

Shi Rongyue grabbed a corner of his sleeve, her eyelashes trembling a few times, trying her best to focus her attention on the tear of the sleeve, but she still couldn't stop a wisp of thought from diverging crazily.

She smelled a mixture of vegetation and blood.

The bloody smell that used to make her nauseous seemed to have become another smell after being mixed with the fragrance of grass, as if it had transformed into some kind of wine, making people tipsy after smelling it.

Shi Rongyue lowered her head even further, afraid that the person beside her would see the abnormality on her face.

The little girl held the needle in one hand and pulled the young man's hem with the other, continuing to pierce the robe with the silver needle.

No one spoke in the room, and there was only the slight sound of the needle and thread passing through the clothes.

Shi Rongyue's head dropped lower and lower, but the loud thumping sound intensified.

Qin Yanzhou was thinking about the follow-up. When he came back to his senses, he found a small head almost buried in the crook of his arm.

"Rongrong?" Qin Yanzhou was puzzled, "Are you nearsighted?"

"...Ah!"

*

The junior was intensely sewing clothes, and Dai Li was still in the main courtyard. At first, she also wanted to leave with her son, but was told by Qin Shaozong that the boy was fine and that she was needed here.

And later, something did happen.

The remaining arm of Guo Nai was chopped off by the bandits when he came to find her, and it was originally enough to do a good job of stopping the bleeding.

As long as the person is still there and alive, it's fine.

As a result, just after Ding Lianxi bandaged him, in less than a quarter of an hour, Guo Nai's lips suddenly turned black, and he actually vomited a mouthful of blood. He rolled his eyes and died.

This change was too fast, so fast that Ding Lianxi had no time to respond, and could only watch the person fall.

Shen Tianming was dumbfounded, and his questioning blurted out, "What did you add to his wound?"

"You're making false accusations!" Ding Lianxi was so angry that he lost the elegance of a doctor. "I only stopped his bleeding and never did anything else."

"Attendant Guo's lips were black, which is undoubtedly poisoning. And he was fine just now, so why did he die suddenly only after you touched him?" Shen Tianming asked back.

Ding Lianxi felt very wronged, "Naturally, he was poisoned before he came."

Shen Tianming sneered, "You are a doctor. If he was poisoned earlier, how could you not tell? But you didn't mention a word. You clearly did it on purpose."

Ding Lianxi gritted his teeth and said, "Stopping the bleeding of a severed arm cannot be delayed. How could there be so much time to observe, smell, ask, and feel the pulse?"

"You have a glib tongue," Shen Tianming only said.

"General Shen," a cold and deep voice fell, carrying an undisguised sharp edge.

Shen Tianming's face became a bit uglier.

Qin Shaozong said lightly, "General Shen, don't forget that the captive caught in the night attack also died of poisoning. The other party is good at using poison, and when they first attacked the camp, they came straight for you. Has General Shen ever thought that the imperial court's troops and horses were their target?"

Shen Tianming retorted, "When we camped that day, we didn't encounter any so-called passers-by. If the other party is a real bandit, how could they know the location of our camp?"

After all that talk, he still suspected that the North was manipulating everything.

Qin Shaozong clicked his tongue lightly, unwilling to waste his breath with such a stupid person.

"Lord Marquis, the bandit leader has been captured!" At this time, Feng Feng's voice came from outside.

The few people in the room heard this and went out.

Dai Li didn't enter the room just now, but only stood outside and listened to their dispute. Now seeing Feng Feng and Hu Bao coming together, they were also holding down a man tied up.

The man had an ordinary appearance, his skin tanned dark, looking no different from a peasant. However, upon seeing Shen Tianming walking out alongside Qin Shaozong, he suddenly blurted out, "I hope you will not break your promise, My Lord."

The expressions of everyone present changed drastically.

"Cease your nonsense, you scoundrel! When did the Lord ever promise you anything!" Feng Feng scolded.

Hu Bao was equally furious, "You bastard, you clearly know you are at a dead end, so you're just biting at anyone you can."

Dai Li looked at Deng Qianfeng, then observed Shen Tianming. The latter's face was as dark as deep water, veins faintly pulsing on his forehead, clearly on the verge of explosive rage.

"Mister Ding, quickly check his pulse to see if he has been poisoned," Dai Li reminded.

Feng and Hu awakened as if from a dream. Ignoring their verbal sparring with Deng Qianfeng, they hurriedly pressed the man down before Ding Lianxi for a pulse check.

Upon checking, sure enough, Deng Qianfeng had also been poisoned.

The subsequent rush to detoxify him goes without saying. In short, Qin Qinian, who had returned with Bai Jianping and the others, found the atmosphere in the village quite heavy upon his arrival.

After understanding the whole story, Qin Qinian trembled with anger, "Absurd! If my father wanted to kill him, why would he need to use poison?"

Qin Yanzhou held back the youth who was about to turn and leave, "Wait until the bandit leader is cured of the poison. Do not cause any trouble at this moment."

One of the imperial court's leaders had already died; if something happened to the other, it would be truly difficult to explain.

Bai Jianping was still reporting, "...My Lord, I interrogated a few survivors. Their confessions unanimously stated that there were one hundred and nineteen members in the stronghold. But I counted the corpses and the remaining captives, and the total is only one hundred and ten."

Nine people were missing.

The stronghold was located halfway up the mountain; these nine likely fled into the mountains during the chaos.

Qin Shaozong turned his thumb ring. "It's normal, there are always some who are particularly clever. But it doesn't matter; these people won't dare to return, so they certainly won't interfere with our subsequent plans."

Bai Jianping nodded, but then hesitated slightly.

"Is there something else?" Qin Shaozong asked.

Since his superior asked, Bai Jianping had to reply, "My Lord, among the rescued women, one claims to be from Qingzhou, a maid of the legitimate daughter of Governor Nangong. She said she was ordered by her master to come to Yanzhou to serve the young lady Nangong, but unexpectedly the journey was treacherous. While purchasing goods in a small county on the border of Qing and Yan provinces, she was accidentally abducted. Later, she found an opportunity to escape, but unfortunately, her luck was poor, and she jumped from the wolf's den straight into the tiger's lair. I asked her about Governor Nangong's appearance and the names of his family members, and she could answer them all. Her identity is likely genuine."

Qin Shaozong slightly raised his long eyebrows, his focus elsewhere. "Nangong Xiong brought his daughter to Yanzhou?"

Yanzhou was conquered through an alliance between the Northern Territory and Qingzhou. The Northern Territory was vast with many affairs to handle, and he had been in a hurry to return to Yuyang for his wedding. After leaving behind his trusted aides and a group of Xuanxiao Cavalry, he led his army north.

He wasn't surprised that Nangong Xiong was in Yanzhou, but he was surprised that the man had brought his daughter along.

Qin Shaozong said, "Bring that maid here."

Bai Jianping received the order, and soon, a dirt-streaked young woman was led before Qin Shaozong.

Wenxin already knew who she was going to meet when she arrived. She immediately bowed down in fear and trepidation, "This servant pays respects to the Marquis of Wu'an and the Marchioness."

Qin Shaozong got straight to the point, "You previously said you were ordered by your master to come to Yanzhou to serve your young mistress. When did your young lady go to Yanzhou?"

Wenxin did not dare to hide anything. "At the end of winter last year."

Dai Li pondered for a moment in her heart.

Winter of last year...

She remembered that last winter, Qin Changgeng had mentioned in passing that the southern war had settled, and Liu of Jingzhou had annexed Yizhou, leaping to become the overlord of the south.

For Nangong Xiong to take his daughter away from Qingzhou at this time, could he be thinking of a marriage alliance with the southern forces?

But Dai Li felt it was unlikely. Qingzhou bordered Ji and Yan to the east, and Xuzhou to the south. Leaving the former aside, the latter meant there was a whole group of provincial governors who nominally belonged to the imperial court in between. He was separated from Liu of Jingzhou in the south by thousands of miles. There was no reason to stretch his hand so far to extend an olive branch; wasn't he afraid of having his hand broken off?

Dai Li couldn't figure it out.

Qin Shaozong fell silent for a moment, then waved the two of them away.

The Nangong family was not the main point right now. The main point was the upcoming imperial edict...

"Things in Chang'an have brewed just about enough. Bring me that half-piece of the golden jade scroll," Qin Shaozong looked at Feng Feng, whose eyes suddenly lit up as he agreed heartily.

Hearing about the golden jade scroll, the corner of Dai Li's mouth twitched.

Qin Shaozong had sharp eyes. "What is that expression, Madam?"

"I just admire your ability to find new uses for old things," Dai Li looked away.

Taking advantage of the empty courtyard, Qin Shaozong reached out and turned her head back. "Since you admire your husband, why aren't you looking at him?"

Dai Li: "...I'm afraid he might get so puffed up he'd float away with the wind."

Qin Shaozong chuckled.

"Impossible! Why would His Majesty summon you to the capital?" Shen Tianming looked at Qin Shaozong as if he had seen a ghost. "Where is the edict? Where is His Majesty's edict?"

Qin Shaozong slowly took out a section of a golden jade scroll. The golden jade scroll was not alone; attached to its side was a small, tattered piece of silk damask.

In terms of material alone, this was indeed an edict used by the Son of Heaven.

Qin Shaozong said, "The messenger carrying the edict originally headed north, probably learning later that I had changed my route to Yanzhou, and pursued me here. However, likely due to traveling day and night without rest, the messenger was exhausted. Therefore, when they subsequently encountered fleeing bandit remnants, they were unable to resist and were almost entirely wiped out."

Shen Tianming was dumbfounded but still insisted, "Impossible."

"What is impossible? As one of the leaders delivering edicts, General Shen, can you not recognize the material of this edict?" Qin Shaozong added.

Shen Tianming certainly recognized it. He evaded the question and only said, "You just said the messengers were almost entirely wiped out. Since it's 'almost,' that means they weren't. Where are the people? Let them come see me!"

Qin Shaozong's expression was calm. "He only has one breath left and is currently undergoing emergency rescue, so I'm afraid he cannot come to see you. General Shen, Chang'an has already fallen into chaos. What exactly is your purpose in stopping me from entering the capital? If the current Emperor is murdered by treacherous villains, can you bear the charge of conspiring against the Han royal family?"

Shen Tianming was left speechless. It took him a long time to choke out a sentence, "Why has Chang'an fallen into chaos?"

Qin Shaozong replied, "The edict messenger only said that a prophecy has emerged in Chang'an, and it seems there are traitors in the city colluding with outsiders, but the specific details of the prophecy are still unknown."