Xizhou City had closed its gates long ago due to the massive influx of refugees. All the young and middle-aged men from outside the city had gone there when the city defenses were being built. Feng Shuo had his men register a list, so it was very easy to interrogate someone now.
The female traveling doctor had not expected that the leader of the armored guards was so perceptive. When Xing Yao rode past, he gave a look to the man following her.
When Xing Yao came up to her, she put on a confused look like an ordinary woman: "General, you called us?"
Xing Yao pointed his whip at the man following the female itinerant doctor and said, "Raise your head."
The man was no more than sixteen or seventeen years old, a junior of the former dynasty. He had always been outside the Great Wall and had never seen such a scene. His legs were shaking violently and he raised his head stiffly.
Xing Yao asked: "Where are you from?"
Without waiting for the man to answer, the female itinerant doctor said with a smile on her face: "General, this is my nephew. There was a war in the south, and he fled here..."
Xing Yao interrupted her impatiently: "Do you have the household registration documents?"
The female itinerant doctor said, "The household registration documents are not with him. He is now working under the Marquis of Xing'an. If you don't believe me, you can go to the Jixiang Inn and ask..."
Jixiang Inn is where Xing'an Hou stayed.
When the man heard what the female traveling doctor said, he hurriedly took out the Xing'an Marquis token from his pocket.
Xing Yao glanced at it but didn't say anything.
To investigate this man, one has to get past the Marquis of Xing'an. Xing Yao knew that the Marquis of Xing'an was already angry because Feng Shuo had rejected the princess and turned to the Chu family to propose marriage. If he offended Feng Shuo again at this time, the Marquis of Xing'an would definitely get angry again.
He narrowed his eyes and asked the man, "What's your name and where are you from?"
The man didn't dare to look Xing Yao in the eye, and went to look at the female itinerant doctor. The female itinerant doctor elbowed him and said, "Why are you looking at me, kid? Are you still ashamed after beating someone up like that? The general asked you a question, answer it quickly!"
The man then stumbled and said, "Reply... Reply, sir, I am Cui An, from Wu County, Lanzhou."
The female itinerant doctor chimed in: "Sir, this child is shy."
Xing Yao didn't respond to her question, but asked, "What are you two doing here?"
The female itinerant doctor smiled and said, "I ordered a set of clothes from the clothing store here a few days ago. I came to pick it up today."
Xing Yao was not someone who could be easily fooled. "Which clothing store?"
The female itinerant doctor pointed to Chen Niangzi's shop next to Jiang Yanyi's shop and said, "That's the one."
Xing Yao ordered a guard: "Call out the shop owner."
When Mrs. Chen saw the soldiers coming into the shop, she thought something serious had happened and was a little nervous. After they left the shop, Xing Yao pointed at the female doctor and asked her, "Did this woman order clothes from your shop before?"
Madam Chen often did needlework day and night. Sometimes, in order to save some money on charcoal, she did not burn the charcoal basin. She got a lot of frostbite on her hands and bought frostbite ointment from the female traveling doctor. The female traveling doctor often asked about the situation in Jiang Yanyi's shop next door. Madam Chen was deeply impressed by her.
This area of shops has small houses behind it.
But in addition to the small house that Jiang Yanyi originally had in his shop, he also opened up the western wing of Feng Mansion, so more people lived there.
Chu Zhong, Chu Yangui and Chen Guogong stayed in the west wing most of the time and rarely went out. Outsiders didn't even know they lived here, and Madam Chen was not aware of this either.
The female traveling doctor had previously gone in to take a look at the layout of the yard under the pretext of giving Jiang Yanyi a scraping treatment. They also noticed that Jiang Yanyi had brought Huo Jianjia to this shop.
She wanted to find out from Madam Chen whether Huo Jianjia lived with Jiang Yanyi, but unfortunately she didn't get any useful information. In order to avoid Madam Chen's suspicion, she ordered a set of clothes.
So when Xing Yao asked about it, Mrs. Chen nodded and said, "Yes, it happened a few days ago, but I have a lot of work on hand and I haven't finished it yet."
Madam Chen asked suspiciously, "Didn't you say before, Doctor Fang, that there was no rush?"
The female itinerant doctor smiled and said, "I just happened to be walking along the main street of the Protectorate, so I stopped by to take a look."
After the interrogation, there was nothing suspicious except that the man worked under Xing'an Hou.
But Xing'an Hou could not be offended at the moment, and Xing Yao was in a hurry to get to Pipa Lane, so he let the female doctor and the man leave.
The female doctor and the man nodded and bowed as they watched Xing Yao and the armored guards leave. Then they pretended to be calm and walked around, slowly leaving the main street of the Protectorate. After turning into the alley, the female doctor angrily slapped the man in the face: "You are incapable of doing anything good, but always capable of causing trouble!"
The man covered his face and lowered his head: "I'm sorry, Aunt Fang Zhi."
The female itinerant doctor sighed, "Forget it. If I had known that Minister Jiang's daughter would be favored by the King of Liaonan, I should have poisoned her when I was scraping her. Now it seems that there is only a silly girl guarding her house, and there are who knows how many experts are watching in the dark. It is impossible to rashly enter the house to find the sheepskin scroll. I can only hope that the girl from the Huo family takes the thing with her and does not hand it over to the daughter of the Jiang family."
The main purpose of the female traveling doctor's visit to the main street of the Protectorate Mansion today was to sneak into the house to look for Huo Jianjia's sheepskin scroll while Jiang Yanyi's siblings and the masters of the mansion were out.
But she never expected that those masters in the dark did not withdraw at all, so she had to abandon the plan.
***
When the female itinerant doctor Fang Zhi and the man returned to the Jixiang Inn, Chang Sui, who was beside the Marquis of Xing'an, came over and said, "The Marquis has been waiting for Divine Doctor Fang upstairs for a long time."
Fang Zhi nodded: "Thank you."
Chang Sui made a "please" gesture to her.
Fang Zhi went up to the second floor of the inn and wanted to go up with the man, but was stopped by Chang Sui, who looked a little angry.
When Fang Zhi saw him, she just said, "Cui An, just wait for me downstairs."
The man then gave up.
In the guest room, Marquis Xing'an was wearing an elegant robe with a chessboard in front of him, as if he was playing chess with himself. When Fang Zhi entered the room, the black piece in his hand just blocked a group of white pieces.
Fang Zhi spoke first: "Hello, Lord Marquis. You are indeed very majestic."
Xing'an Hou ordered his attendants, "Show Doctor Fang a seat."
The attendant quickly brought a chair. After Fang Zhi sat down, Xing'an Hou said, "Xizhou has begun martial law throughout the city again. The King of Liaonan is not a paper tiger. Doctor Fang and his group are hiding here with me. If the King of Liaonan investigates thoroughly, I will not be able to explain myself."
Fang Zhi heard that Xing'an Hou wanted to ask for the treasure map, and said, "Half of the gold and silver treasures of the Great Qi treasury are hidden in the imperial mausoleum. Isn't this enough for the Marquis to explain?"
When Emperor Qi was alive, he fell seriously ill due to excessive indulgence. After he recovered, he began to seek immortality, recruited countless alchemists to make elixirs, and emptied the national treasury to build an imperial mausoleum to help him ascend to heaven, making life miserable for the people.
In order to build the imperial mausoleum, many blacksmiths were captured from the public to serve as strong men. It is rumored that the floor tiles of the entire imperial mausoleum are made of gold, and there are countless rare treasures inside.
However, the location of the imperial mausoleum was hidden, and after its completion, everyone from the low-level blacksmiths to the supervising officials were beheaded to silence them.
The chief engineer in charge of the design of the imperial mausoleum drew two pictures and hid them in sheepskin. One was a map to the imperial mausoleum, and the other was a map of the internal structure of the imperial mausoleum.
After the death of the chief engineer, the parchment scroll first fell into the hands of the eunuch who went to convey the imperial edict. Later, when the Great Qi Dynasty was destroyed, the parchment scroll disappeared.
The Emperor of Qi was ultimately not able to be buried in the eternal imperial mausoleum that he had secretly built for himself. Instead, he was left exposed in the wilderness to feed wolves by the founding emperor of the Daxuan Dynasty.
The former dynasty's old subordinates did not dare to collect the body of Emperor Qi, and only gave the emperor and empress a burial with proper clothes outside the Great Wall. Over the years, they have been secretly investigating Jiang Yanxi's whereabouts while searching for the treasure map of the imperial mausoleum.
There had been no news for many years. Recently, the parchment scroll was dug out from a tomb by a group of tomb robbers due to the war, causing a stir again.
Xing'an Hou held the chess piece in his hand, smiling, his eyes full of experience: "Let's not talk about whether the imperial mausoleum exists or not. I must first see the treasure map of Doctor Fang, so that I know it is not a fake thing."
Fang Zhi said: "My Lord, just look at the bloody storm that the bandits set off to fight for this map, and you will know whether it is a fake thing or not."
Xing'an Hou said: "What Doctor Fang said is true, but the whole Green Forest is fighting for it. How can I be sure that the treasure map is in your hands?"
Fang Zhi looked directly at the Marquis of Xing'an and said, "My Lord, we are on the same boat. You have soldiers and I have money. If we raise the flag, the Feng family will be a bunch of traitors. We will have a hundred people to respond to our call. Why should I bluff you, my Lord?"
Xing'an Hou laughed loudly twice: "Divine Doctor Fang is indeed a heroine, but according to what Divine Doctor Fang said, how will the world be divided in the future?"
Fang Zhi said, "Your Excellency is too kind. You have no son, so you can adopt a boy from a branch of the family. I have nothing to ask for. As long as he marries the princess, after you ascend the throne, you can draft an imperial decree to pass the throne to the princess's child in the future."
After a long series of twists and turns, the throne returned to the hands of the royal family of Da Qi.
Although the Emperor of Qi was absurd, the Great Qi had a strong foundation, and some ministers wanted to support the registration of the young emperor. Unfortunately, before they could put it into practice, the former emperor's assistants rebelled and massacred the Great Qi royal family.
Some old ministers of the previous dynasty would rather die than betray their country. When they learned that the bloodline of Da Qi was still there, they lived in seclusion outside the Great Wall, hoping to overthrow the regime of the traitors and rebuild Da Qi one day.
They were so humble, how could Marquis Xing'an refuse
He came to Xizhou sincerely to form an alliance with Feng Shuo, but Feng Shuo humiliated him. Now that there is a ready-made opportunity in front of him, why should he continue to be restrained by Feng Shuo and serve as his pawn
Marquis Xing'an had a good plan. Even if he couldn't swallow up the Daxuan kingdom and divide the world in one go, it would be fine for him to guard the gold, silver and jewels in the imperial tombs of the previous dynasty and become a local emperor.
***
Fang Zhi spoke eloquently and calmed down Xing'an Hou before going to see Jiang Yanxi.
After the previous searches, all the illegal households were registered. Without the protection of Marquis Xing'an, they would have nowhere to hide.
Jiang Yanxi had already washed and changed her clothes. She was squatting on the corner of the bed with her hands on her knees. When she heard someone opening the door, she was like a frightened bird.
She had been locked up for over a month, and although she had not been tortured, she had lost a lot of weight. Her chin had become more pointed, making her eyes appear larger.
Fang Zhi saw the eyes that were exactly the same as those of Queen Li in her memory. Her nose felt sore and she shouted, "Princess, I finally found you. You have suffered so much over the years."
Jiang Yanxi's eyes were full of vigilance, "What did you call me?"
Fang Zhi's eyes were red: "Princess, you are the Princess of Da Qi!"
Jiang Yanxi pursed her lips, "It's not me, you got the wrong person. Where's my father?"
The old officials from the previous dynasty went to rescue people and called out the name of Minister Jiang. Jiang Yanxi followed them, but was secretly brought to this inn. She asked Minister Jiang many times but no one answered her, and she also found something wrong.
Seeing Jiang Yanxi like this, Fang Zhi thought of the dead Queen Li and felt heartbroken. She said with tears in her eyes, "Back then, when the general who guarded the country rebelled, the Queen asked the imperial physician to secretly take you out of the palace in a medicine box in order to protect you. That's how you were adopted by Minister Jiang."
Hearing the words "Minister Jiang", Jiang Yanxi's eyes finally changed, but he was still mostly on guard: "Where is my father?"
Fang Zhi had no choice but to calm her down first: "Minister Jiang is still imprisoned in the Dali Temple Prison, and the informants in the capital are already trying to find a way to rescue him."
Jiang Yanxi asked: "Why should I trust you?"
Fang Zhi said sadly: "Princess, why don't you think about it, why would I lie to you?"
Jiang Yanxi hugged her knees helplessly. She had been abused and beaten by Madam Jiang since she was a child, and bullied by her legitimate brothers and sisters, just because she was born out of wedlock. Now, someone suddenly told her that the lowly illegitimate daughter was not her real identity.
For a moment, she felt that this fate was extremely ridiculous.
If she was really a princess of the previous dynasty, then the only father who loved her was not her father at all. All the hatred and grievances accumulated over the years seemed to be what she should have endured. She was no longer qualified to hate or blame Madam Jiang's mother, who had been mean to her for more than ten years.
What does everything between her and Feng Shiyan matter
Jiang Yanxi pinched her palm unconsciously with her five fingers, and her lips were bleeding from being bitten by her teeth. She lost control and yelled at Fang Zhi: "Liar! You are all liars! I am not! I don't believe your lies!"
Why! After enduring so much humiliation and abuse, she couldn't even hate with all her heart
Is this the absurd life she deserves to live through? Is this the way fate plays tricks on her
Seeing that she was out of control and a little crazy, Fang Zhi quickly inserted silver needles into her acupuncture points, and Jiang Yanxi fell asleep.
Fang Zhi sighed, couldn't hold back the tears in her eyes, and wiped them away.
After she walked out of the room, Cui An, who was standing outside the door, hesitated and asked, "Aunt Fang, is this really the princess? Could it be a trap set by the person who wrote the letter?"
They had never found the whereabouts of the princess of the previous dynasty until a month ago when they suddenly received an anonymous letter saying that the eldest daughter of Minister Jiang was the princess who was sent out of the palace that year.
Fang Zhi glanced at Cui An coldly: "Although I don't know the identity of the sender, I have verified it myself. After Jiang Jing'an was imprisoned, Lin Taifu in the capital also found an opportunity to confirm it with him. Jiang Jing'an personally admitted that this is the princess. She also has a red mole birthmark on her arm. What are you doubting?"
Taifu Lin is an old minister of the previous dynasty and the person with the most say among the old officials of the previous dynasty.
Cui An immediately lowered his head and said, "I dare not."
Everything they did was to restore their country. He was just angry when he heard Jiang Yanxi's hysterical denial.
Fang Zhi warned him: "Keep an eye on the princess. If anything happens to the princess, you will be held responsible!"
Cui An nodded his head.
*****
Fengfu.
When Feng Shuo came back after interrogating the prisoner, his face looked even more gloomy than Jiang Yanyi had imagined.
She asked, "Is the interrogation going badly?"
Feng Shuo shook his head. Xing Yao's search had not yielded any results yet, so he didn't want to elaborate. Jiang Yanyi didn't ask any more questions.
She had been standing outside the corridor for a while, and her hair and collar were covered with a lot of fine snowflakes.
Feng Shuo helped her brush away the snowflakes on her head bit by bit. There were a few winter plum trees planted outside the corridor. The red dots against the white snow were very eye-catching, but at this moment they just served as a foil for her.
The originally fair and tender skin on Jiang Yanyi's face was slightly reddened by the wind. Compared with her usual bright and beautiful appearance, there was a hint of sadness between her brows, which made people feel pity for her.
Feng Shuo touched her cheek with the back of his hand and found that her face was cold. His brows knitted together: "Aren't you cold standing outside for so long?"
There was no one in the yard. Jiang Yanyi pressed his face against the back of his warm hand without moving away, as if he had walked for a long time and suddenly found someone to lean on. "The doctor is giving Yan Gui acupuncture. I feel stuffy. I'm going to feel better if I come out and get some fresh air."
Feng Shuo moved his hand down to her back, and used some strength to hold her in his arms: "Yanyi, something like today will never happen again."
Jiang Yanyi thought he was afraid that he was frightened, and said: "I'm fine, and I'm not frightened. I just want to end this quickly and don't want to be frightened because of those people hiding in the dark..."
"I know."
He would never tell her that he was frightened.
The moment the carriage rushed towards her, his heart almost stopped.
It was also the first time in my life that I wanted to cut someone into pieces.
How dare they touch her
How dare you!
Jiang Yanyi could keenly sense Feng Shuo's emotional changes. Although he didn't know the reason, he subconsciously felt that it must be related to today's assassination.
She leaned her face against Feng Shuo's chest, listening to his strong heartbeat, and said sadly: "Feng Shuo, I'm really fine, please don't be like this, I always feel like I'm dragging you down when you do this..."
"Jiang Yanyi, tell me what is a burden?"
Feng Shuo lifted her chin with one hand and unconsciously put a little more force on his hand around her waist.
Jiang Yanyi suddenly groaned in pain.
Feng Shuo quickly loosened his grip on her waist, frowned and asked, "Were you knocked down in the carriage?"
Jiang Yanyi didn't want to face Feng Shuo's worried gaze at all, so he nodded with a sad face, feeling more and more like a useless little idiot...
Chu Yangui's wooden wheelchair was on the carriage. When Chu Zhong turned the carriage, the wheelchair hit her lumbar spine. It only hurt for a moment at that time, but now it hurts every time it touches her.
Feng Shuo was so angry that he didn't know what to say. He picked the person up and carried him to his own yard.
Jiang Yanyi knew that he was probably taking her to get medicine. Although they were engaged, they had not yet gotten married. She was afraid that others would see her and gossip about her, so she kept pulling his clothes anxiously, "It was just a bump, it's not serious! I'll go back and ask Qiu Kui to help me apply some ointment for injuries."
Feng Shuo didn't say anything, but he didn't stop walking.
When they got to his own yard, he put Jiang Yanyi on the couch, found a good blood-dissolving ointment from the cabinet, and then stared at the cowardly and embarrassed person and said, "Do you want to take it off yourself, or do you want me to help you take it off?"
Jiang Yanyi was so frightened by his words that he didn't know where to put his hands and feet. He stammered, "I... I can do it myself."
She said she wanted to apply the medicine herself.
The author has something to say: Feng Hanhan: I don’t think so.
Yesterday's second update of 10,000 is finished~
Today's update will be in the evening, muah~