Before the wedding, I heard that Xing Jiahui originally had someone she loved, Duan Xucheng, a rising star in the Imperial Hospital. Because of him, Xing Jiahui had the idea of escaping marriage and committing suicide. Let's make the fake real and confuse the issue, and cause some trouble for Xing Jiahui.
How to confuse the issue?
Remember how we played tricks on the people of the Blood Drinking Pavilion?
Xia Yunting pondered for a moment and made a request: "This time, I'll choose the people."
Last time, the target of the Blood Drinking Pavilion was him, Xia Yunting. It was fine for him to take action personally, but this time, he was to impersonate Xing Jiahui's lover. Xia Yunting naturally wouldn't do something so beneath him.
Rong Zhi spread her hands: "Whatever you arrange." She was only in charge of coming up with ideas.
The next morning, those staying at the General's Mansion received a pigeon from Changping County.
The guard at the gate opened the note, his face serious as he read the contents, thinking it was a matter of life and death. But after reading it all, he let out a surprised sound.
He confirmed with another guard beside him: "What is this? I'm not mistaken, am I!"
"It is indeed the General's handwriting."
The two looked at each other in disbelief. The General wouldn't send a personal letter unless it was a major event; it was always Chen Xing who did it. Now, he had sent a pigeon for such a trivial matter.
As the two were wondering, Steward Xia Jin walked over silently, smiling obsequiously at the two guards: "Gentlemen, is there any news from the General?"
The two guards' faces turned serious, and they shook their heads. The one holding the letter clenched his hand, and the paper turned to powder, falling to the ground like snowflakes.
Xia Jin looked worried: "The General has been gone for so long and hasn't returned. Has something happened?"
One of the guards said: "The General is blessed with good fortune; how could anything happen? Steward, you don't need to worry."
The steward smiled at them, then glanced at the palm of the guard who had just held the letter, but found nothing, and left without a word.
The guard who held the note said: "This steward is so sneaky, he's really an eyesore."
The other sighed: "After all, he is someone arranged by the Grand Tutor. The Grand Tutor has been kind to our General, so we should just tolerate him."
As night fell, in the Imperial Hospital, a thin young man in a cyan robe, with a somewhat haggard face, bowed to a middle-aged man in a room: "Master, all today's medicinal herbs have been recorded. This disciple will take his leave now."
"Hmm, go back." The slightly aged voice revealed no joy or sorrow.
The young man's face lit up, and he hurried away. As soon as he stepped out, he felt a gust of wind pass before his eyes, followed by a sharp pain in the back of his neck, and he fainted.
A man in black quickly stuffed him into a sack and vanished into the night with a flick of his toe.
At the Changping County yamen, Xiao Yao plopped onto a chair, poured herself a cup of tea, and drank it all in one gulp, sighing deeply.
She was exhausted. She had investigated all the outsiders in Changping County these past few days, but none of them were Xia Yunting. Was Xing Jiahui's intelligence incorrect?
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in."
Lu An pushed the door open, a polite and respectful smile on his face. As soon as he entered, he bowed deeply to Xiao Yao: "Your Highness, how have you been staying in Changping County these past few days? Are you accustomed to the food and drink?"
"Nothing is unusual," Xiao Yao replied, turning to look at him, ignoring the fawning in his eyes.
"Just do what I've asked you to do. Let me know when you find the person, and don't worry about anything else."
She was not the kind of delicate young lady who needed to be coddled and respected when traveling. She was here on important business.
"Naturally," Lu An smiled even wider, his tone becoming more cautious: "I have always heard that Your Highness is good friends with the Prime Minister's daughter, and I never expected Your Highness to travel thousands of miles to this small county to help Miss Xing find the General. Such deep friendship is truly touching."
"Who said I came for Xing Jiahui?"
Xiao Yao glanced at him sideways, a little displeased: "My father sent me to find him. My father is his elder, after all. He suffered a fire on his wedding night and his whereabouts have been unknown since. Out of concern for his junior, my father asked me to come here to gather information. How did it get linked to Xing Jiahui? I'm warning you, don't guess wildly! If any bad rumors spread, I won't let you off."
When she came, she had promised that outsiders would never know it was Xing Jiahui's idea.
Lu An had stepped on a landmine. He quickly apologized: "It is my fault. This subordinate will send people to search immediately."
With that, he quickly retreated, afraid of saying something wrong.
Xiao Yao looked at the door, a knowing expression on her face.
These officials were all good at flattering the powerful and seizing every opportunity. She was just looking for someone, and thought that asking the local officials for help might be quicker. She didn't expect this Lu An to keep probing her, hinting that she should say good things.
She refused to!
Let him be anxious!
After dealing with Lu An, Xiao Yao rested in her room for a while. After much thought, she still felt unwilling, so she went out to search alone while it was still early.
Changping County was neither large nor small. Xiao Yao had already explored most of it these past two days. Now, she looked at the only place she hadn't been to – a brothel, and hesitated.
She had often heard that Xia Yunting was arrogant and focused on warfare, with little interest in women. Therefore, she hadn't looked for him in brothels these past few days.
However, it was possible that the intelligence was incorrect. After all, what normal man would have no interest in women? She made up her mind and decided to go in and have a look. As she approached, she saw a man at the entrance, whose appearance and build were very familiar. He was holding a woman, laughing and talking, and soon went inside.
Xiao Yao rubbed her eyes, thinking she had seen wrongly.
In the room, a woman flicked her handkerchief, scattering a cloud of scented powder.
She smiled charmingly: "Young master, this is your first time here, isn't it? Where are you from?"
The man was a little shy and replied: "I am from the Imperial City."
Saying that, he took her hand and was about to lean closer when the window was suddenly kicked open, and a figure leaped in. The man was forced apart from the courtesan by the force, stumbling and falling.
"Who are you?" the courtesan complained, rubbing her waist.
The man's face changed dramatically. Seeing Xiao Yao, who had suddenly barged in, he said incredulously, "Xiao Yao, what are you doing here?"
Xiao Yao sneered: "I'd like to ask, why are you fooling around here?"
The man's eyes darted around, and he suddenly pointed outside and shouted: "Jiahui, why are you here?"
Xiao Yao turned to look outside, only to see an empty window. Moreover, they were on the second floor. How could Xing Jiahui, a weak woman, climb up?
She had been tricked.
By the time she realized it, the man had already fled out the door.
Xiao Yao stamped her feet in anger, then thought it strange. How could Duan Xucheng have left the Imperial City and come to such a distant place?
Whatever, she'd send a message to Xing Jiahui first!
Thus, Xing Jiahui, who was far away in the Imperial City, received news that Duan Xucheng was fooling around in Changping County.
She looked at the letter and found it baffling. Hadn't Xiao Yao seen wrongly, or was she brainless? Duan Xucheng was now a physician and could not easily leave the Imperial City. Even if she saw someone who looked like him, she should have investigated whether it was true or not first!
She burned the letter and didn't take the matter to heart. However, that evening, a servant from the outer gate secretly delivered a message saying that Duan Xucheng had actually gone missing and had not been found yet.
Zhang Yajing was greatly alarmed.
Could it be that Xiao Yao was telling the truth?
"Someone! Someone!"
Under the cover of the dim night, Xing Jiahui secretly slipped out of the Prime Minister's mansion. At the same time, she sent a letter, asking Xiao Yao to thoroughly investigate whether that person was indeed Duan Xucheng.
Her decision was hasty, and even though her maid tried her best to stop her, she didn't think much of it and even reprimanded the maid.
About two or three days later, this letter fell into Xia Yunting's hands.
Rong Zhi looked at the delicate and somewhat hasty handwriting on the envelope and couldn't help but chuckle: "She is truly worried and flustered. It seems this Duan Xucheng is very important to Xing Jiahui."
She looked at Xia Yunting, her tone teasing, after all, no one wanted to marry someone who still harbored feelings for another.
Xia Yunting, however, was unconcerned. He took the envelope and looked at the deliberately emphasized words "Duan Xucheng," and brought up another topic.
"Do you know that this Duan Xucheng is a descendant of Medicine King Valley?"
"What?" Rong Zhi's face showed confusion.
A descendant of Medicine King Valley, how did she not know?
Xia Yunting explained: "Long ago, when Medicine King Valley submitted to the Heavenly Que Kingdom, the physicians there were divided into two factions. One faction advocated peace and was willing to serve the Heavenly Que Kingdom, while the other advocated war and planned to resist the Heavenly Que Kingdom to the end. This Duan Xucheng's father was from the peace faction. However, after submitting, he tried every means to curry favor with the powerful and noble, and even belittled the former Valley Master of Medicine King Valley, calling her falsely pure and an obstacle to their prosperity. As a result, he died of a sudden illness not long after gaining wealth, and his only son had no talent for medicine. If not for desperately currying favor with the Prime Minister's mansion, this Duan Xucheng probably wouldn't even have stepped through the threshold of the Imperial Hospital."
Rong Zhi searched her mind. She had many disciples named Duan, and more than one had married before her death, but she didn't know which one was Duan Xucheng's father.
She sneered: "Everyone has their own fate. It is understandable that his father was willing to seek wealth and status. However, without the original Valley Master of Medicine King Valley, he would not have had the opportunity to curry favor with the powerful. To cross the river and then tear down the bridge, and even to step back and trample on it, is truly ungrateful. This outcome can be considered retribution."
"Precisely."
Xia Yunting looked at her meaningfully and said: "Xiao Mo, if you were the Valley Master of Medicine King Valley, you would surely be very happy to see the result of such evil retribution, wouldn't you?"
"Of course. If such a person did not receive retribution, I might even personally teach them a lesson."
"I will have an opportunity to send this Duan Xucheng to you, so you can personally teach him a lesson."
"Okay..." Rong Zhi readily agreed, then suddenly felt something was wrong: "Why should I teach him a lesson? I'm not the Valley Master of Medicine King Valley."
Xia Yunting smiled and said nothing. Rong Zhi felt suspicious. Had he seen through something?
In the Imperial City, the Prime Minister's mansion also experienced a major event. After Xing Jiahui left that day, she went missing for two days for no reason. Xing Jie was extremely worried and immediately sent people to search for her. To avoid gossip, he specifically instructed that no one should know about it. Little did he know that the next day, the disappearance of the Prime Minister's daughter became known throughout the city.
Finally, Xing Jie found Xing Jiahui in a dilapidated and small inn, accompanied by the young apprentice from the Imperial Hospital, Duan Xucheng. Although there was no explicit physical contact between them, Xing Jiahui disappeared shortly after Duan Xucheng went missing, and now they appeared together, inevitably arousing much speculation.
What was worse, Xing Jie had originally planned to quietly bring her back. But for some reason, that day, many people from the Imperial Hospital also came. Now the entire officialdom would know, and it was extremely embarrassing.