Xiao Yichen took it and swallowed it expressionlessly, then looked around and said, "Let's go down the mountain." After that, he picked up Ji Lingxue and carried her sideways and flew down the mountain using Qinggong.
Ji Lingxue hugged Xiao Yichen's neck and felt the wind whistling past her ears. She said worriedly, "My Lord, your injury hasn't healed yet. It's not good for you to travel like this..."
Xiao Yichen looked down at Ji Lingxue and smiled, "Princess, you care so much about my health, I am touched, but I have been away for a long time, I am afraid something has happened in the capital, I better hurry back."
Ji Lingxue nodded. She had been missing for more than ten days, and the rumors in the capital were still unknown. If I stood in front of Ji Yuqing alive, would she be frightened to death
Looking at Xiao Yichen's back that disappeared into a dot, Bai Mo twitched his mouth. He ran so fast even though he had a head injury. Did he really think that his pill was a magic medicine
Lian Xin blinked and asked, "The prince and princess are walking so fast. They are probably at the foot of the mountain now. I'm afraid we can't catch up with them."
Bai Mo said: "I'm here. If you don't mind, I can carry you down the mountain using my Qinggong skills." This is much faster than walking slowly on foot.
Lian Xin was a relaxed person and nodded immediately, saying, "Okay." Then he turned around, picked up the bamboo basket that Bai Mo had carried up the mountain, and opened his arms.
Bai Mo said "I'm sorry" and carried Lian Xin on his back to chase Xiao Yichen. Their two horses were still safely tied to the tree at the foot of the mountain. The four of them arrived one after another and rode their horses towards the capital.
The journey back was not smooth. After leaving Xiling, they encountered three ambushes. Although Xiao Yichen and Bai Mo both had martial arts skills, they had two encumbered people who did not know martial arts by their side. When they fought, they were hesitant and restrained.
After repelling the last wave of assassins, several people came to a village to stay overnight. They spent ten taels of silver to buy clothes from the villagers, and set out in disguise the next day. Now everything was calm. Xiao Yichen had already sent out a signal for the palace guards to come and pick him up.
On the way, Ji Lingxue also learned from Xiao Yichen that the king's uncle was extremely dissatisfied with him. Not only did he mock Xiao Yichen in the court by saying that the case of the faceless female corpse had not been solved, but he also put obstacles in his way to hinder his investigation of the case. For example, the ambush they were facing now might be among them.
Ji Lingxue said: "The King's uncle is so stingy. We just shut down his gambling house and smashed his Deqing Building. Is it necessary for him to send assassins to hunt us down so recklessly?" A good political struggle directly escalated into a mortal enemy.
Xiao Yichen said, "The uncle represents the queen, and the queen has the emperor behind her. The emperor would like to see two parties in the court dislike each other in order to maintain the balance of the court. The uncle is powerful and the emperor wants to use me to tie him down, so the emperor will just turn a blind eye."
Ji Lingxue looked at Xiao Yichen with sympathy. What she didn't expect was that the political situation in the capital at this moment was far more complicated than what Xiao Yichen said.
The case of faceless female corpses appeared serially. The killing methods were extremely cruel, shocking the entire capital. Especially the second victim was wearing the clothes of Princess Chen, which made people sigh at the short life of beautiful women.
Xiao Yichen did not attend the morning court today. His absence was expected by everyone. The prince was too sad about the loss of his wife and was afraid that he could not investigate the case further.
The king's uncle, with a mentality of worrying about the country and the people, made a memorial to the emperor Xiao Yimo, asking him to find another marriage for the prince to dispel the sad atmosphere in the capital. After much selection, Miss Yiyun, the most talented woman in the capital, was the best choice.
Xiao Yimo agreed directly and issued an imperial decree, asking the eunuch to send it to Prince Chen's Palace.
The eunuch waited at the gate of Prince Chen's mansion for a long time with the imperial edict in his hand. He was told that Prince Chen had gone out of the city and had not returned yet. The eunuch was a patient man and understood and asked to wait a little longer.
This wait lasted for two days. Xiao Yichen and Ji Lingxue rode back at full speed, traveling under the stars and moon, but they still came back a little late.
It was already late at night. The sound of horse hooves traveled around half of the capital city and arrived at the gate of Prince Chen's Mansion. The palace guards led the way and knocked on the gate. The housekeeper and two gatekeepers hurried out to greet them.
Xiao Yichen carried Ji Lingxue off the horse. The housekeeper wiped away tears when he saw that Ji Lingxue was safe and sound.
The housekeeper said, "Greetings to the prince and princess. Prince, it's great that you brought the princess back."
Xiao Yichen nodded, "Is everything alright in the palace?"
The old housekeeper hesitated for a moment and said, "Your Highness, the Emperor issued an imperial decree to you two days ago. When you were away, the eunuch Xuanzhi asked the old slave, the servants, and Concubine Qing to come out and read it directly."
Xiao Yichen nodded. He was not interested in the content of Xiao Yimo's imperial edict, which was nothing more than nonsense like condolences. He waved his hand, put his arm around Ji Lingxue's waist and walked into the gate.
The old butler stood there, eating the wind, "My lord, I haven't finished what I want to say yet..."
After a night of running around and working hard, Ji Lingxue and Xiao Yichen were both physically exhausted. They went back to their room to rest without disturbing the other servants in the palace. Xiao Yichen put his arm around Ji Lingxue's waist, let her rest her head on his arm, and they fell asleep in each other's arms, contentedly.
The next day, the sun was shining brightly. The rooms of the prince and his concubine, who had been exhausted from a long journey, were still quiet. The housekeeper personally stood guard at the door, making the area within a radius of five miles silent, just to give the prince and his concubine a good night's sleep.
Here, Ji Yuqing was in a good mood sitting in front of the dressing mirror, "Zi Ye, are the clothes I asked you to make overnight ready?"
Now she is the only mistress left in the palace, so how can she not have decent new clothes? She will go out to show off and impress the crowd later.
Zi Ye took the comb and carefully combed Ji Yuqing's long hair. She nodded and said, "My Lord, it's done."
Ji Yuqing nodded, looked at her delicate makeup and hair in the mirror, and said with a smile: "Has the prince returned yet?"
Her sister is gone, and the position of princess is vacant. When she goes to see Xiao Yichen later, she will ask him to help her become the queen. In the future, she will feel more confident when she goes out to do things, and it will also bring honor to the Ji family.
Zi Ye nodded, "I heard from the guards in the palace that the prince came back at three o'clock last night, and the housekeeper ordered that no one should disturb the prince's rest."
The housekeeper deliberately kept the news that Ji Lingxue had returned with the prince secret. The prince chose to return home in the middle of the night because he didn't want too many people to know that the princess was still alive, fearing that she had other plans.
Ji Yuqing nodded, "I understand. Bring the new clothes here. I want to wear them now." If the prince doesn't allow her to be disturbed, then it should be okay for her to go somewhere else, right
The emperor granted marriage and gave the most talented woman Yiyun to Xiao Yichen as a concubine. Yiyun's parents sent their daughter to the palace early, and the housekeeper arranged her to live in the yard next to Ji Yuqing. Ji Yuqing was very upset when she found out. It was true that she and Yiyun were good friends, but she didn't like Yiyun to steal her husband.
A quarter of an hour later, Ji Yuqing, dressed up beautifully, sat on the chair in front of Yiyun, with a rosy face, a golden hairpin, and slightly raised red lips.
Yiyun followed the principle of first come first served and bowed to Ji Yuqing, calling her sister.
Ji Yuqing asked: "Sister Yiyun, did you sleep well last night?"
Yiyun still had her hair in a bun and wore a light yellow skirt with cute rabbit fur at the collar. She smiled and said, "I heard that the prince came back last night. With the male owner in the mansion, he naturally slept better."
Ji Yuqing's mouth twitched. "Xiao Yichen didn't come to see you when he came back. I guess the housekeeper didn't tell him about your existence. Why are you so excited?"
Ji Yuqing only said these words in her heart, fearing that speaking them out loud would hurt Yiyun's feelings.
Yiyun glanced at the sky outside the window and said, "Since the prince is back, sister, should we go and pay our respects to him?"
The happiest thing for her was to hear the imperial decree that she was to be married to Xiao Yichen. Her longing for him finally came true. Although she was only a concubine, she was happy for a long time. As long as she could stay with Xiao Yichen forever, she would be happy even if she was only a concubine. With the imperial decree, she could move into the palace in advance. Ji Yuqing and she had always been good sisters, and she believed that they would get along very happily.
Ji Yuqing nodded, "Well, it's almost time. Let's go and pay our respects to the prince. Ziye, is the ginseng tea I asked you to make ready?"
Zi Ye came in holding a teacup, "The master is ready."
Ji Yuqing nodded in satisfaction, took Yiyun's hand and walked out, "Come on, I'll take you to appreciate the scenery in the palace. Every plant and tree here was transplanted by me."
Ji Yuqing introduced flowers and plants to Yiyun along the way, showing her virtue and ability, and then improvised a poem, "Rooster, rooster, rooster, with its sharp beak crowing to the sky. At three o'clock in the morning, it calls for the bright moon, and at five o'clock, it calls for the morning light."
Ji Yuqing said, "I heard the rooster crow this morning, so I wrote this poem. What do you think of my poem, sister?"
Facing Ji Yuqing who was trying her best to show herself, Yiyun smiled and nodded, "Sister, you are so talented in writing. I admire you."
While they were chatting, the two of them had already arrived at the gate of Xiao Yichen's courtyard. The housekeeper stood there expressionlessly like a stone statue. Seeing Ji Yuqing and Yiyun bowing and greeting, he said, "This old servant greets the two concubines. The prince came back very late last night and is still resting. If you two want to see the prince, why not wait until he wakes up? This old servant will tell the two concubines that I am here."
Want to send her away with just a few words? Ji Yuqing raised her eyebrows, pointed to the ginseng tea held by Zi Ye behind her and said, "This concubine made ginseng tea for the prince. If the tea gets cold, it will have no effect. It's almost the end of the morning hour, I think the prince should get up." After saying this, Ji Yuqing lifted her skirt and walked inside. After all, the housekeeper was old, so how could he stop her
Housekeeper: "Concubine Qing, you are not allowed to go in and disturb the prince." The prince and the princess had finally reconciled, so he should be allowed to rest for as long as possible.
Yiyun stood still, watching the housekeeper stop Ji Yuqing from entering with a smile, and a trace of doubt flashed through her mind. Ji Yuqing was the mistress of the palace after all, and the housekeeper's attitude towards her was polite and reasonable, but it was not like the attitude towards the mistress of the palace.
The noise outside naturally woke up the two people who were sleeping in each other's arms in the room. Ji Lingxue opened her eyes and looked at Xiao Yichen dazedly. Her vision gradually became clear. Xiao Yi tilted his head and looked at her with a smile, "Xue'er, are you awake?"
(End of this chapter)