Jing Rong was surprised. How would Marquis Kang be able to do that? He had left his post in court long ago and no longer had any influence within the capital. Where would he get the ability to help Jing Rong enter the city safely?
Marquis Kang seemed to see Jing Rong’s apprehension. He got up and walked toward Jing Rong with a solemn expression. “I, Marquis Kang, would never go back on my word or mislead anyone. When you borrowed a few thousand troops from me back then in exchange for the Golden Woven Armor, I kept my word to not regret it even though the entire troop was wiped out.
“Now we both have something that we want; you want to return to the capital while I want my estate to be at peace. You just have to find the source of these strange happenings in my estate and I will guarantee you a safe return to the capital. Not a single word of what I just said is false.” Bam!
Marquis Kang loves treasures and seeks pleasures above all else. But everyone knew that his reputation had always been stellar and he always kept his word.
Jing Rong wasn’t worried about whether he would keep his word, but rather was worried that he might not have the ability to do so. “Marquis Kang, your estate soldiers may number five thousand, but that of Secretary Ji’s number ten thousand. It’s not as simple as buying treasures if you wanted to escort this prince safely into the city.”
“It’s natural for you to be apprehensive,” Marquis Kang said bluntly, “But since I dared to say this aloud today, I’m definitely not trying to hoodwink you. You can believe in me.”
“I would like to hear a brief summary.”
“Teacher Ji just needs to agree.” Marquis Kang turned to look sincerely at Ji Yunshu.
Ji Yunshu stood up and looked at the half-disbelieving Jing Rong, then lifted her gaze and told Marquis Kang, “If this humble one agrees, Marquis Kang will deliver on his promise?”
“My word is as good as gold!”
“Alright, I agree.”
Marquis Kang was delighted and sighed in relief, then actually bowed to her.
Ji Yunshu hurriedly returned the bow, “Please don’t!”
Jing Rong was a little surprised and glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, silently asking her, why?
However, she was determined and had already made her decision. She looked to Mo Ruo and said, “Young Master Mo, we might have to trouble you as well.”
Ah! Mo Ruo was busy drinking wine. He knew what Ji Yunshu meant, so he sighed and turned towards Marquis Kang, “Tell me, where are those people?”
“The dozen of them are all staying in the back courtyard.”
Mo Ruo hauled himself upright and left the hall for the courtyard, a pot of wine dangling from his hand. He said leisurely, “I’m off to see the patients.”
Ji Yunshu told Marquis Kang, “This one will go visit the ancestral hall. Marquis, please follow Young Master Mo first.”
“I’ll trouble Teacher then. I’ll be over later.”
She nodded. After he left, she dragged Jing Rong to the ancestral hall, led by a little maid.
As for Tang Si, she was still sitting listlessly inside the hall, eyes completely blank. She felt a cold chill run down her back and shivered, hugging her own arms. She said to herself in a trembling voice, “I actually… had a ghost knocking on my door all night?” She was terrified! She gulped nervously, her face bloodless, and heavy eyebags weighing down her face. At a complete loss, she started pacing around.
In the back courtyard.
Mo Ruo pushed open the door to a room. A large mattress was laid out on a raised bed, with the dozen or so people all sleeping on it. All of them had their brows furrowed, rolling back and forth on the bed, groaning in excruciating pain. At the same time, they didn’t dare to make too much noise.
When the door opened, they saw Marquis Kang lead a man into the room, so they all sat up and greeted him in chorus, “Marquis.”
“All of you, quickly lie back down.” Marquis Kang’s face was filled with worry. He pointed at the person beside him, “This is Young Master Mo, a divine doctor. This marquis has invited him here to take a look at your condition.”
The patients all lay obediently in their beds, directing pleading eyes that brimmed with hope towards the placid Mo Ruo. He strode leisurely into the room and swept an assessing gaze across them, then selected a slightly younger man to examine. That person stretched out a hand and let him do as he pleased. “Where does it hurt?”
“All over my body.”
“Where does it hurt the most?”
“My head.”
“Other than that?”
“Then that would be my chest. It aches and feels stuffy.”
Mo Ruo shut his eyes and thought for a moment. “Stretch out your tongue.”
That little fellow was very obedient and stretched his tongue far out of his mouth, just like a little puppy!
Mo Ruo hummed.
The little fellow drew back his tongue and swallowed. Trembling with cold sweat from the pain, he asked, “Doctor, how am I? Just what kind of illness is it? Will I die if this continues?”
“Don’t worry. You won’t die, it’ll just be painful.”
“Ah!” The fellow exclaimed, “Then wouldn’t it be excruciating?”
Mo Ruo patted his robes and stood up, looking at his fear-filled eyes. “Pretty much. If you continue on like this, you certainly would be in excruciating pain.”
“Then what kind of illness is this?”
“Internal illness. It has to be slowly monitored.” Mo Ruo’s words were cryptic and obscure.
Nobody understood what he was saying. What’s an internal illness? Regardless, they all had a vague understanding that it meant… they wouldn’t die, but they wouldn’t recover either.
As a result, the people in the room all started howling, “Marquis, please simply end me with a stroke of the sword!”
“If we had to continue bearing this pain, it would be worse than death! Marquis, please kill us!”
It was extremely tragic. Marquis Kang had to look on helplessly as his men were consumed by pain and despair.
Mo Ruo found it rather painful to the ear and went out. Marquis Kang followed, asking, “Young Master Mo, couldn’t you find the cause? Must they really be in pain the rest of their lives?”
“Marquis, if you ask like that, I don’t know either.”
“Don’t know?”
“How should I put it? Unless they had contracted some illness that I don’t know about, then… they are not ill at all.”
“Not ill? That’s impossible!”
“I can only do my best to investigate this illness. But if even I can’t detect any illness, it only proves that they really aren’t ill at all but are pretending to be ill.” Mo Ruo stately bluntly. He’s a divine doctor! There’s no illness that he can’t diagnose!
Marquis Kang pondered deeply. How could they not be ill? They were all in such great pain. But since the divine doctor had said that, he could only reply with, “I’ll leave them to you then.”
Mo Ruo nodded.
Meanwhile, Ji Yunshu and Jing Rong were on the way to the ancestral hall. He asked, “Why did you agree?”
“You also read the letter that Second Sister had sent. My eldest brother is personally waiting outside the city gates to intercept us. What if we can’t go through them?”
“So you chose to trust Marquis Kang’s words?”
She slowed down her steps and turned her head towards him. “It’s not a question of whether I believe him. If Marquis Kang really can help us safely return to the capital, then it’s just natural for us to help him solve this case. If he can’t… there’s still this case left hanging. We can’t refuse to take it, could we? This concerns the peace of a household.” She was determined and couldn’t be budged.
Jing Rong heaved a long sigh and slowed down as well. He looked forward at the long corridor ahead. “Imperial Father’s secret decree is really a thorny problem for this prince! I’m defying the decree if I don’t return, but trying to return is just so difficult! Under pressure from the courtiers, Imperial Father first issued an oral decree barring me from returning to the capital, then sent a secret decree to summon me. The words of the Son of Heaven are worth more than gold; he would never publicize the secret decree. In that case, this prince would have to find my own way back to the capital.”
Qizhen Emperor, oh Qizhen Emperor! You’ve really created a lot of trouble for this son of yours.
Ji Yunshu quietly held his hands. “I hope that Marquis Kang will be able to deliver on his promise this time.”
He smiled inscrutably as the two of them reached the ancestral hall.
Ji Yunshu finally knew what offering should have been on that little shelf but had gone missing. It was that pair of shoes!
Since it was the daytime, two young maids were watching over the ancestral hall instead. Ji Yunshu took a good look around the inside of the hall. This ancestral hall had three sets of doors in total. They had come in through one of them, while the other two were located on both sides of the altar.
Outside the doors, there was a little courtyard. It was neither big nor small, and was planted with some flowers and shrubs. In contrast, the two sets of doors that framed the ancestral altar led to the garden of the back courtyard, where the rock garden was located.
Typically, only Granny Lin would be watching over the ancestral hall at night, and all three sets of doors would be open. It would be extremely easy for someone to steal that pair of shoes. Ji Yunshu looked for a long time but didn’t detect anything odd at all. She called one of the maids over. “Who was watching over the ancestral hall when those shoes went missing?”
“Granny Lin.”
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know. Granny Lin typically only comes here after nightfall.”
Just as she finished speaking, another maid suddenly scrambled into the room, in a total panic. She shouted, “It’s… it’s terrible! Granny Lin, she… she’s dead!”
What?!
……
In the capital.
These past few days, Concubine Xiao kept feeling fatigued and started sleeping more for some mysterious reason. She would start coughing non stop once she woke up in the morning.
Sang Lan was worried. “Your Ladyship, are you alright?”
“I’m fine.” Her elegant hand pinched the center of her brows. “Maybe… my body is just tired.”
“This servant will summon the Imperial Physician to treat you.”
“There’s no need. This seat knows my own body the best. There’s no need to summon the Imperial Physician and cause Yi’er worry if he hears about it.”
“But Your Ladyship, your condition…”
“I already said I’m fine!” She started to cough again, her complexion taking a turn for the worse. Her face was bloodless and her eyes were listless and vacuous.
Sang Lan looked at her with a frown, but since her master forbade her from summoning the Imperial Physician, she could only wait on her at the side.
That morning, when Jing Xuan heard that her Imperial Mother was not feeling well, she had someone make a bowl of ginseng soup and quickly brought it over. She was so worried that her eyes brimmed with tears. “Imperial Mother, you must not overstrain and damage your own body. Daughter still wants you to see me off when I get married.”
Concubine Xiao gazed at her. “Imperial Mother is fine. You don’t need to worry. We’ve merely had some poor weather lately, so I caught a cold.”
“It’s good that you’re fine.” She placed the bowl of ginseng soup she brought into Concubine Xiao’s hands. “Daughter specially requested for the imperial kitchens to make this. Imperial Mother, please drink it while it’s hot. It’ll be good for your body.”
“Xuan’er is so sensible.” Concubine Xiao drank half the bowl and felt that it was much easier to breathe. A smile spread over her face and she tugged Jing Xuan over for a long talk.
“Imperial Mother, you’d better have a good rest. Daughter will not disturb you further.”
“Mn.”
Jing Xuan bowed in farewell and left.
After she left, she took out a few blocks of incense from her sleeve and again passed it to the maid that always lit the incense for Concubine Xiao, instructing, “After the incense from last time has been used up, start using this. Don’t ever stop.”
The little maid didn’t think too much about it and just agreed. These past few days, she had not let the incense stop burning for a single moment. Concubine Xiao was very fond of the scent as well and would sleep very soundly at night.
However, just as Jing Xuan was about to leave, Sang Lan’s voice rang out from inside the room.
