The Eldest Daughter Is Beautiful and Saucy
Chapter 566: condolences
Chapter 566 Sorrow
“The King of Liang once had a counselor by his side, named Du Zhiwei! He was the King of Liang’s think tank, but… he is dead. Before, I thought that the King of Liang would not be a threat without Du Zhiwei, but I didn’t expect that the King of Liang would be tied to the King of Xian because of Liu Ruofu.” Bai Qingyan looked at Dong Qingyue and said, “The King of Liang is now determined to seize the throne, and the Emperor’s legitimate son, the Prince of Xin, who was demoted to a commoner, has returned to Dadu, and the Empress of the Central Palace is pregnant with another legitimate son. The drama of the battle for the throne in Dadu seems to be… getting more and more exciting.”
According to Bai Jinxiu’s letter, Prince Xin behaved well after returning to Dadu. Apart from visiting the Queen in the palace every day, he would return home after leaving the palace to pray for the Queen and the prince in her womb… He did not see guests and did not go out.
Because Prince Xin’s Mansion was guarded by secret guards sent by the Queen, Bai Jinxiu’s people could not enter. However, it was said that Prince Xin’s Mansion was almost becoming a Taoist temple, with smoke and the smell of burning incense all day long. The Emperor also praised Prince Xin for being much more sensible.
Although Bai Jinxiu did not write in the letter about the impact of this incident on Dadu City, the custom in Dadu has always been to follow the example of the superiors. It is estimated that the custom of alchemy among the noble families in Dadu City will be further promoted.
Bai Qingyan’s guess was not wrong. Now, not only did most of the noble families begin to invite immortal masters to their homes to make elixirs, this trend was gradually becoming popular in Jin State. Ordinary wealthy families who could not invite immortal masters to their homes went to Taoist temples to ask for elixirs. For a time, Taoist temples everywhere were crowded with people, and even incense and candles… their prices soared.
Even the people of the Shuoyang Bai family followed suit and went to the Taoist temple to ask for elixirs. The clan leader Bai Qihe ordered that the Bai family members were forbidden to go to the Taoist temple to ask for elixirs, thus offending many Bai family members.
“Last time, the emperor asked Prince Liang to investigate the poisoning death of the sacred deer. The result was not mentioned in Jinxiu’s letter. I guess Prince Liang still hasn’t found out the cause. However, the emperor has not punished Prince Liang either. So, Prince Liang’s weight in the emperor’s eyes is probably getting heavier day by day.”
Bai Qingyan wondered if there was some capable person around King Liang. Although Li Mao’s eldest son Li Mingrui was a capable, ruthless and courageous man, the incident of Li Mao’s handwritten letter must have made Li Mingrui wary of King Liang. Therefore, the person who could give advice to King Liang was not Li Mingrui.
“You just need to be careful with Prince Liang. There is no need to waste your energy on him. Prince Liang is favored… Prince Xin has returned to the capital. Let the Crown Prince worry about these things!”
As soon as Dong Qingyue finished speaking, someone came to report that the convoy escorting the prince’s food and supplies would arrive in Dengzhou tomorrow.
It was not appropriate for the Dong family to invite the prince to stay when they were hosting a funeral, so they arranged for him to stay in the home of a nearby official. However, the person sent by the prince to report the incident said that the prince had specifically requested to stay at the Dong family, and summoned Princess Zhenguo to go and greet him immediately.
Upon hearing this, Bai Qingyan did not delay, changed his clothes, and was about to set off with the Bai family guards. As soon as he went out, he ran into Xiao Rongyan who came to pay his respects.
Xiao Rongyan helped Yue Shi get off the carriage, and when he saw Bai Qingyan straighten his clothes, he bowed to her and said, “Miss Bai…”
Under the dazzling sunlight, Xiao Rongyan’s eyes were bloodshot, as if he had not rested well and looked tired.
“Mr. Xiao!” Bai Qingyan stood with his hands behind his back and nodded slightly.
“Miss Bai, are you going out?” Xiao Rongyan’s eyes were already on Bai Qingyan’s ears when he spoke, his face tense, “Are you injured?”
“It’s just a minor injury.” Bai Qingyan smiled, “His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is coming to Dengzhou and asked me to go and greet him. Mr. Xiao, please do as you please…”
“Miss Bai, could you please wait a moment? I will burn some incense for Brother Changlan, and then go with Miss Bai to greet His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.” Xiao Rongyan bowed to Bai Qingyan again and said, “I have something else to tell you on the way.”
Bai Qingyan thought that the prince knew that Xiao Rongyan was in Dengzhou, so he called Xiao Rongyan to greet him and nodded, “No hurry.”
Xiao Rongyan came in and burned incense for Dong Changlan, spoke briefly to Dong Qingyue, and then left Dong’s house.
Seeing Bai Qingyan jump on the horse, Xiao Rongyan also ordered Yue Shi to lead the horse over. He abandoned the carriage and rode with Bai Qingyan. The two of them were not riding very fast.
“Is the injury on your ear serious?”
“How is Princess Mingcheng?”
Bai Qingyan and Xiao Rongyan spoke at the same time.
Yesterday, before the people of Dengzhou returned to the city, General Pei of Dayan set off for Yan State with Princess Mingcheng and the doctors of Jin State, and did not enter the city with them.
“I’m fine, just a scratch. But I wonder how Princess Mingcheng is doing.” Bai Qingyan asked.
Xiao Rongyan tightened his grip on the reins and said in a low voice, “Yesterday, Mingcheng passed away… Xie Xun rode all the way there at full speed, but only had time to see Mingcheng for the last time. I heard that when Xie Xun arrived, Mingcheng was awake for a short while, which made Xie Xun forget about her.”
After Xiao Rongyan’s people came back, they said that Princess Mingcheng told Xie Xun that there was a girl in Dayan who loved Xie Xun as much as she did. Before she decided to get married, she had entrusted Xie Xun to this girl, hoping that Xie Xun could marry that girl and live a good life.
After Mingcheng finished speaking, he died in Xie Xun’s arms. Xie Xun had just recovered from his typhoid fever, but now he was completely devastated.
Bai Qingyan was silent for a long while. Princess Mingcheng’s marriage was for the sake of justice and for the country. Bai Qingyan originally wanted to save such a woman.
Bai Qingyan turned his head to look at Xiao Rongyan, whose facial features were distinct: “My condolences…”
“Miss, please accept your condolences regarding Brother Changlan’s death.” Xiao Rongyan had some vague guesses about Dong Changlan’s death, but since the Dong family had held a funeral, some things were better to be understood in the heart and did not need to be spoken out loud.
The two men traveled in silence all the way, and before sunset that day, they met the prince at Fenping Post Station.
The prince was quite surprised to hear that Bai Qingyan came with Xiao Rongyan. Then he chuckled, took the teacup handed to him by the maid, and asked Quan Yu to invite people in.
Quan Yu responded with a smile and came out to invite Bai Qingyan and Xiao Rongyan. He was surprised to see that Bai Qingyan’s ears were wrapped in fine cotton cloth: “Is the Zhenguo Princess injured?”
“It’s no big deal, just a minor injury.” Bai Qingyan said with a smile.
Quan Yu nodded in relief, quickly stepped aside, and bent over to invite them: “Princess, please. Mr. Xiao, please. His Highness is waiting for you in the room.”
When Bai Qingyan entered the room, the prince was sitting on a chair and having his shoulders massaged by a maid.
The prince already regarded Bai Qingyan and Xiao Rongyan as his own people. When he saw them enter the room together, he did not put down his teacup nor did he ask the maid to leave. He just drank his tea while waving at them, motioning them to sit down. “This journey has cost me half my life. It’s even harder than the forced march to southern Xinjiang.”
During the journey, the prince was shaken by the shaking of the carriage and vomited bile.
In just a dozen days, the prince lost a lot of weight.
As soon as Bai Qingyan and Xiao Rongyan sat down, Quan Yu had someone serve tea. Bai Qingyan was served red date and wolfberry tea, which replenished blood and nourished qi.
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