Mo Xuetong had no idea what the Lan family was up to. At this moment, she was interrogating Qing Zhu in the room. She had just taken the medicine and was a little sleepy. She would usually have a nap at this time. However, today’s uninvited guests had forced her to break her habits. Mo Xuetong felt uncomfortable when she imagined that such a peaceful life could never return.
Wearing a gentle smile on her face, Mo Xuetong went straight to the point. “Qing Zhu, Minister of Public Works doesn’t side with your Crown Prince, does he? If he is up to something, just tell me.”
She was already very upset as she was taken to the Yan Kingdom. Mo Xuetong did not want to continue playing the game with Bai Yihao anymore. She knew that it would not be that simple when Bai Yihao had her display the new identity so perfectly. Every step was perfect; there were plots and schemes within his plots and schemes. How could he allow others to see through his plans?
While he plotted against her, he had also schemed against someone else. It was in line with his nature.
Others would never be able to see through his mind!
“His Highness said that you don’t have to worry about it. You just need to pretend when the people of the Lan family come. As for the details, he would take action by himself, so you don’t have to worry about it. You just take care of yourself.” Qing Zhu put the medicine bowl in her hand on the table heavily. Her face became a little gloomy, and her words were a little harsh.
Mo Xuetong found Qing Zhu’s reaction interesting. They had gotten along with each other for a while. Generally speaking, Qing Zhu was not a lovable girl, especially when she looked at Mo Xuetong with hostility. Fortunately, she only defied Mo Xuetong from time to time. However, as the two got along with each other, Mo Xuetong found that Qing Zhu was not bad-tempered. She was just too protective of Bai Yihao. She hated any behavior that did harm to Bai Yihao.
Mo Xuetong came to an interesting conclusion: The more unfavorable one thing was to Bai Yihao, the angrier Qing Zhu became. Seeing that Qing Zhu rattled the bowl in anger, she knew that it was very unfavorable to Bai Yihao. Mo Xuetong’s eyes spontaneously lit up and a smile slowly appeared on her lips. She did not want to meddle in this matter at first, but now she suddenly had an idea.
“If Minister of Public Works of the Lan family comes again, what should we do?”
“Don’t act rashly these days. The Lan family has bad intentions. His Highness has been out on business these days and will come back in a few days. You can just stay here peacefully, but don’t make trouble.” Qing Zhu was in a bad mood. Thinking that Bai Yihao made such a plan for the woman in front of her, she felt that it was not worth it. There were so many women in the palace, who had a crush on him, but why didn’t he see it? Why did he come to the Qin Kingdom and take a married woman back?
He even tried his best to treat her illness and find the medicine, but the woman didn’t appreciate his kindness. How could Qing Zhu not feel wronged for him?
“Bai Yihao has gone out?” Mo Xuetong was stunned as she really did not know about it.
Seeing Mo Xuetong’s careless look, Qing Zhu said grumpily, “Of course you don’t know. His Highness has tried his best to get the herbs for the antidote for you. This time, he went out for your medicine.”
“I’m so grateful to my cousin. He asked you to come all the way there to kidnap me and tried his best to help me get rid of the poison. It’s a blessing to have a cousin like him!” Mo Xuetong’s words sounded sincere, but Qing Zhu felt that her negligent and casual manner contained a hint of mockery. She grew furious, turned around suddenly and yelled at Mo Xuetong, with her hands on her hips.
“Yes, His Highness is too stupid. His kindness is treated as very malicious intentions. How long do you think you can live? If His Highness can’t find all those herbs, you can only live for at most one year. In order to antidote the poison in your body, His Highness has been reading medical books every night. He hasn’t slept for several nights. When he heard that in a remote place, there is a kind of herb you need, he couldn’t wait for others to send it over and went there in person. Do you know that His Highness is still injured?”
Qing Zhu’s eyes turned red as she stated, “Can you be more heartless? His Highness has made plans step by step for you. Do you know why His Highness schemed against the Lan family at the same time? Because there is a main ingredient of the antidote only in the Lan family.”
After saying that, Qing Zhu picked up the medicine bowl on the table and stormed out.
The negligent smile on Mo Xuetong’s face slowly disappeared as she watched Qing Zhu leave. She was so shocked that her mind went blank. She subconsciously clutched the medical book in her hand and exerted force in her fingers.
She had never thought that Bai Yihao really tried to treat her!
In her past life, Bai Yihao had not appeared in front of her. She learned the news about the Crown Prince of the Yan Kingdom from someone else. If he was really just a stranger who had nothing to do with her, Mo Xuetong did not think that he was bad. As a hostage, it was normal for him to have schemes. Furthermore, he was such a talented person. How could he always hide behind others?
The dragon flew into the sky, and the roar echoed across the heavens and the earth!
Bai Yihao was destined naturally to be an Emperor.
However, ever since she found out that he had an engagement with her, there was a wedge between Mo Xuetong and Bai Yihao. She felt that he had contributed to the tragedy of her previous life. As such, she felt that he was using their engagement. If it was useful to him, he would marry her; if it was useless to him, he would abandon her.
His attitudes in past and present lives were based only on whether she was useful to him.
This made Mo Xuetong very concerned, especially when she remembered the pain of burning in the flames. At the thought of it, the hatred in her bones and the confused and helpless desperation made her feel so painful that she could not breathe. She felt as if she had been torn apart. She even thought that if he could help her at that time, her ending would be completely different.
As long as he gave her a hand. As long as he reached out to her!
Why didn’t he do it in her last life?
This was a thorn in Mo Xuetong’s heart. Thus, she thought that everything Bai Yihao had done was because of benefit. In her eyes, Bai Yihao was a person who worked exclusively for profit. She could not see through such a person, so she had to restrain herself carefully, afraid that she would be plotted against by him again.
Even though after her rebirth, she was different from in her past life. She would no longer be weak, useless or soft-hearted. However, compared to Bai Yihao, she was still weaker. As such, when she was with Bai Yihao, she would only watch out for him from time to time in case he used her again.
To Bai Yihao, heaven and earth were chess pieces and the world was a game. There was no tenderness in his life.
He was a heartless person!
But now, Qing Zhu had told her a different answer. How did it not make Mo Xuetong feel indescribable!
Mo Xuetong could feel the loyalty of Qing Zhu to Bai Yihao. Even if Bai Yihao asked her to die, she would not hesitate to wield her blade to kill herself. She might be straightforward and jealous of Mo Xuetong, but she was sincere to Bai Yihao. Therefore, what she blurted out just now was true!
The words that Qing Zhu had stated earlier, when she was enraged, were completely true, without any falsity at all.
In Bai Yihao’s heart, where did he place her?
Mo Xuetong suddenly felt a kind of unspeakable shock and complexity in her heart. She came up with an incredible answer—He treated her differently. How, how could it be possible…
She took a deep breath and suppressed the agitation in her heart. When she looked up again, her eyes were clear. So what if he treated her differently? It had already passed. Perhaps, she could not hate Bai Yihao that much anymore!
She lifted her dress lightly and walked out of the door. Then she saw Qing Zhu sitting on the step under the corridor. Sunlight from the shadows of the trees fell mottled on her body. She looked a little lonely.
Mo Xuetong walked over and also sat down on the steps.
“What’s the main ingredient in the Lan family?”
“What? Do you have a way to get the herb yourself?” Qing Zhu sneered without looking back.
“If you don’t even try, how do you know? You don’t want your master to work hard for me either, do you? I have the same idea. It’s easier for me to get it with my current status,” Mo Xuetong said gently, but her tone carried persistence that could not be ignored.
She didn’t want to owe Bai Yihao too much.
“One of the previous mistresses of the Lan family is said to come from a distant place. She brought a family heirloom for the Lan family, the ancestral root of the Yuxiao Flower. If one cuts off a piece of the root from the ancestral root and buries it in the beautiful jade, there will be another pot of Yuxiao Flower 50 years later, but the new one has no roots. What is inserted in the jade is only a fake root of the Yuxiao Flower. Only the ancestral root of the Yuxiao Flower can really be used to detoxicate.”
Qing Zhu looked at her carefully and noticed clear persistence in her eyes. Then, she sighed and quietly explained.
“Yuxiao Flower?” Mo Xuetong could not help but yell in shock. She felt her brain shaking, and her eyes were wide open.
The Yuxiao Flower! It was the Yuxiao Flower! How could it be the Yuxiao Flower?
There was a burning heat rushing in her chest. She didn’t expect to hear about the Yuxiao Flower here at all.
Mo Xuetong excitedly reached out to grab Qing Zhu’s hand and asked anxiously, “Is it only the Lan family that has the Yuxiao Flower?”
Qing Zhu didn’t understand what she was nervous about, but she still explained carefully, “It will take 50 years to grow a new pot of Yuxiao Flower. The Lan family has only gotten it for about 100 years, and because the ancestral root is precious, it can’t be taken away casually. Therefore, there are only two pots of it in the Lan family, so it is extremely precious. Usually, it is never taken in front of people. This kind of newly-born Yuxiao Flower is not only beautiful, but also has the function of clearing heart and tranquilization. Some ordinary poisons will be immediately removed if it is used as medicine.”
In the end, Qing Zhu added, “This is the most precious treasure of the Lan family, so it doesn’t usually appear in front of others. Even His Majesty doesn’t know about it.”
A rare treasure could arouse people’s desire, especially when it was such a unique treasure in the world! Of course, the Lan family had to keep it a secret.
However, she would never have imagined that the Yuxiao Flower belonged to the Lan family. It was the Lan family who had sent the Yuxiao Flower into Fu General Manor. Mo Xuetong had once suspected Bai Yihao and thought that he was most likely to the criminal. Now after she thought about it, she realized that she had a lot of prejudice against Bai Yihao because of what had happened to her in the past life.
But why did the Lan family do that?
The Lan family was an aristocratic family in the Yan Kingdom, and Fu General Manor was an aristocratic family in the Qin Kingdom. There was no stake between them. Why did the Lan family do that? Why did they use the precious Yuxiao Flower to frame Fu General Manor?
A thought flashed through Mo Xuetong’s mind and she suddenly asked, “Does the Lan family side with the Empress?”
“On the surface, the Lan family is impartial and is loyal to the Emperor, but in private, they are loyal to the Empress.” Qing Zhu cast a glance at Mo Xuetong and could not help but admire her intelligence and sharpness. This was a secret.
The Empress colluded with the First Prince, so the Empress’s people also worked for the First Prince. The precious Yuxiao Flower was sent to Fu General Manor and the jade token in the pot of Yuxiao Flower was taken out. But where did the jade token in the pot come from?
This jade token was different from her own jade token, but it was definitely genuine. Her jade token was used to deploy her secret guards. Bai Yihao and Princess Royal must have it as well. However, what about this jade token? If they were fake, Emperor Zongwen would definitely find out. However, according to her second uncle’s words, it was genuine.
How many jade tokens did King Jin leave behind? And what were they used for?
How did the Lan family know about this secret? And how did they get the jade token and put it in the pot of Yuxiao Flower to send it to Fu General Manor in the Qin Kingdom? Why did they spend so much effort to do it? What was the benefit to the Lan family if they dragged Fu General Manor down?
