The Mandarin Duck's cold lasted about a week. Since he wasn't feeling well, the two of them didn't go hiking again. During this period, he took Ji Feiyu around the local shops in Miyun to buy a lot of things, and they also visited some small scenic spots in the city.
When Ji Feiyu passed by a bookstore, she bought several books such as *Local Chronicles of Miyun*, *Folk Customs of Miyun* and *Strange Tales of Miyun*, and read them in her leisure time. The days passed quite leisurely.
During other times, she was sun - drying herbs and grinding them into powder. The herbs she had collected on Wuling Xifeng before couldn't be wasted. She made them into various pills, which would surely come in handy sooner or later.
A week later, the Mandarin Duck recovered from his cold and asked Ji Feiyu if she wanted to go to Wuling Xifeng again. Ji Feiyu looked at the overcast sky and flatly refused. Then the Mandarin Duck said, "Then let's go to Heilongtan. I'll prepare the carriage and umbrellas. Is that okay?"
Hearing that they would go by carriage, Ji Feiyu agreed. The reason she agreed was that after reading *Local Chronicles of Miyun* in the past few days, she found that Heilongtan had beautiful scenery and there was no need to climb mountains. Since it was a canyon there, it would be more convenient to take shelter from the rain. At worst, they could just run back to the carriage if it rained.
This time, the two of them had a great time at Heilongtan. Seeing the scenery she had only read about in books now in front of her own eyes, Ji Feiyu was both shocked and amazed. It also made up for the regret of not fully appreciating Wuling Mountain.
The two of them stayed in Miyun for a few more days. Unexpectedly, during this time, a rumor spread from Beihan into Dayong. There was only one piece of content in the rumor, that is, the queen of Dayong had committed evil deeds in Beihan and was finally executed by the Khan of Beihan.
In the eyes of the people of Beihan, this was a great pleasure, so the tone was excited and impassioned when spreading the rumor.
But when this rumor spread into Dayong, it was a different scene. The death of the queen of Dayong in Beihan was no small matter for the people of Dayong. The subjects of Dayong always had a sense of superiority over Beihan, but what was going on this time? Why could the Khan of Beihan casually kill the queen of Dayong? And it was after the emperor of Dayong returned from the autumn hunt in Beihan. Was this matter true or false? If it was true, why hadn't there been any news of the queen's death from the imperial palace of Dayong? If it was false, why did those people of Beihan describe it so vividly? After being accused of spreading rumors, they even had conflicts with the people of Dayong.
Naturally, this matter also reached the ears of Yong Yaxuan who had just returned to the palace. Whether it was the physical conflicts among the common people on the border or the content of the rumor, it made him frown upon hearing it.
He summoned Xi Zhuang and handed him the letter from the secret agent. After reading it, Xi Zhuang said, "This matter spread from Beihan into Dayong. I can't be sure if someone deliberately did it. But for this matter to ferment and spread widely in Dayong, it must have been deliberately arranged by someone. The person obviously wanted to cause turmoil in Dayong. Your Majesty, we must handle this matter properly."
Yong Yaxuan nodded and said, "I think so too. The source of this rumor is in the border areas. I've already sent secret agents to investigate. But if we want to stop the rumor, we need to present the truth."
Xi Zhuang said, "The top priority now is for the official to give an explanation. Otherwise, the rumor will become more and more intense, and finally various versions will emerge, which will damage the reputation of the queen. Now, Your Majesty, how do you plan to give this official explanation?" The real intention of his question was to ask if the emperor really wanted to erase the queen's name in front of the world.
Yong Yaxuan sighed, "What else can I do? For now, I can only announce to the world that my queen is no longer alive. Beihan is now in a critical period of turmoil. I can't break my promise with that person and stubbornly claim that the queen is still alive. Otherwise, if there is a conflict with the royal family of Beihan, this matter will become even more troublesome. Moreover, since Yu'er left the palace, the title of queen has been a shackle to her. Since this matter has happened, I'll personally unlock this shackle for her."
Xi Zhuang was a little surprised and slightly stunned, "Has Your Majesty finally seen it through?"
"Knowing that she is living safely somewhere in Dayong is enough. As long as she is happy, I'm happy too." Yong Yaxuan said this sentence with a touch of loneliness.
Xi Zhuang was suddenly filled with a lot of emotions. Along the way, he had witnessed the emotional entanglement between Yong Yaxuan and Ji Feiyu, and he also knew how difficult it was for Yong Yaxuan to let go this time. So he said, "I'm willing to draft this imperial edict for Your Majesty so that the people of the world can know the elegance of the queen of Dayong."
Yong Yaxuan smiled, "You dare to take over the job of the Imperial Academy."
Xi Zhuang said, "I've had a lot of emotions about the trip to Beihan. If Your Majesty trusts me, you might as well take a look at what I write and then consider whether to hand this matter over to the Imperial Academy."
Yong Yaxuan smiled and said, "It couldn't be better if you draft this edict."
A few days later, the emperor issued an imperial edict regarding the whole process of the trip to Beihan. For a moment, everyone who saw the edict on the imperial notice board was shocked. The name of Queen Feiyu spread throughout Dayong.
It only took a few days from the common people spreading the rumor that the queen's death in Beihan was a disgrace to Dayong to them understanding the truth and sighing that Queen Feiyu's resolute sacrifice of herself for the national interest should be praised by all the people. During this period, because of the bad weather, Ji Feiyu didn't go out and was busy preparing things for her trip to Qingzhou at home, so she perfectly missed all the rumors among the common people.
The next time she went out, she and the Mandarin Duck were setting off for Qingzhou Prefecture. The two of them drove the carriage all the way. It was not until evening that they found an inn to stay and have a meal.
The two of them walked into the inn, asked the waiter to serve several signature dishes, and then sat down to rest. When the dishes were served, they found that all the dishes were vegetarian and there was no wine. Ji Feiyu was very curious and couldn't help but grab the waiter and ask, "Why aren't there any meat dishes?"
The waiter wiped the sweat from his busy forehead with the towel around his neck and said, "Miss, don't you know?"
Ji Feiyu nodded.
The waiter's expression darkened and he sighed, "The favorite Queen Feiyu of the current emperor has passed away. Since the queen didn't like meat during her lifetime, the emperor specially set a seven - day national mourning period. People are not allowed to eat meat, drink wine or have fun."
"What?" Ji Feiyu frowned as soon as she heard this. When did she die?
"Alas..." Someone began to sigh softly, "This Queen Feiyu dedicated herself to the country. Her death was so heroic! It's really a great fortune for our Dayong to have such a national mother!"
"Yes, yes. Queen Feiyu really understood the great righteousness of the country. Otherwise, our Qingzhou would have been included in the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun and ceded to the enemy country. Then our days would have been miserable!"
"That's right, that's right!" A group of people began to shout.
Ji Feiyu was suddenly blank - minded. What on earth were they talking about? When did the whole nation know about her affairs in Beihan?
The Mandarin Duck couldn't help but nudge Ji Feiyu and whispered, "You're quite famous!"