Xiao Jingnan coughed heavily. Zhao Yanke hurriedly hid the broken fan behind his back. "Is this... this medicine for me?"
Seeing his look, Wanxin felt a bit bashful. She softly answered "Yes" and placed the medicine bowl on the nearby table.
"This is... Taohong Siwu Decoction," she said in a voice as light as the catkins in March. "It contains peach kernels, safflower, angelica, chuanxiong, white peony root, and rehmannia glutinosa. It's excellent for promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis. Drink it while it's hot."
Her voice grew softer and softer. The last few words almost melted into the steaming decoction.
Zhao Yanke looked at her blushing face as charming as a peach blossom. He thought that the bowl of dark decoction was even more precious than nectar. Without hesitation, he gulped down the whole bowl.
"Ouch!" Wanxin exclaimed and quickly reached out to stop him. "Why did you drink it so fast? Be careful not to burn yourself."
"I'm fine," Zhao Yanke said after finishing the medicine in one breath. He even stupidly wiped his mouth. "It's not hot."
"The medicine was just boiled. How could it not be hot?" Wanxin frowned, angry and anxious. "Even if it's not hot, isn't it bitter?"
As she spoke, she took out a small paper bag from her sleeve. There were several candied plums in it, shiny and glistening under the candlelight.
As soon as the plum entered his mouth, the unique and fragrant aroma of the plum immediately spread between his lips and teeth.
"Hehe, it's not bitter," Zhao Yanke giggled twice. He even chewed a few times and directly swallowed the plum!
"Hey—" Wanxin was so frightened that her complexion changed. She quickly reached out to pat his back. "Spit it out quickly! The plum has a pit!"
...
Xiao Jingnan really couldn't stand it anymore.
"Gao Yong, let's go," he said, casting a contemptuous glance behind him. "There's no place for us here."
Gao Yong had wanted to leave for a long time!
As the saying goes, when the lord is humiliated, the vassal dies. It was more painful for him to watch his own emperor making a fool of himself here than to kill him.
Before leaving, Xiao Jingnan looked at the room on the second floor again and sighed in his heart. "My lady, it seems that you can't stop this marriage..."
Some people may reject the emperor, and some people may reject a fool. But no one can reject an emperor who only acts like a fool in front of you...
——————
Early the next morning, everyone rode horses and escorted two carriages of herbs on the road. The morning mist had not yet dispersed, and the horses' hooves made a dull sound on the wet soil.
Li Wanming was riding on a horse in a plain dress. Her cold and beautiful side face remained expressionless, as if covered with a thin layer of frost. Xiao Jingnan rode his horse closer several times to strike up a conversation, but she only answered "Yes" indifferently, looking uninterested.
"You two..." Wanxin quietly caught up and asked in a low voice. "Did you quarrel?"
"No, it's just..." Xiao Jingnan let out a long sigh. Just as he was about to say something, Zhao Yanke suddenly popped his head out from behind and interrupted excitedly. "Ha! He just spoke out of turn. He said something he shouldn't have last night and made our little sister angry!"
He was in a great mood now, and his joy was almost overflowing. Last night, Wanxin not only brought him medicine but also gave him plums and helped him beat his back. He was so happy that he was floating in the air. Now seeing Xiao Jingnan in such a predicament, well, he felt even better!
"Don't talk nonsense..." Wanxin blushed and spat at him. "You're so reckless in your speech... Who's 'our' with you..."
Seeing her bashful look, Zhao Yanke was even more overjoyed. Just as he was about to say something else, he suddenly felt a chill all over his body. His whole body was filled with a cold feeling.
In front, Li Wanming had already turned around. Her cold and sharp gaze was like a sharp blade. "What did you just call me?"
Zhao Yanke suddenly felt a chill on his neck. A cold and gloomy feeling rushed straight to his spine. He stammered, "N-nothing..."
Li Wanming tightened the whip in her hand and narrowed her eyes. Her voice was extremely soft but even more creepy. "Don't talk nonsense, and don't call people casually! Do you understand, Young Master Zhao?"
"Y-yes, I understand..." Zhao Yanke shrank his neck and hid behind Xiao Jingnan, wishing he could disappear.
Xiao Jingnan's words were full of meaning. "I thought the young master was very brave... It turns out he just trembles at the sound of a cat's meow—cowardly as a mouse."
"Is your lady a cat?" Zhao Yanke muttered resentfully in a low voice. "She's clearly a white - striped, staring - eyed..."
"Miss!" Chuntao on one side suddenly shouted and pointed at Zhao Yanke. "He said you're a tigress!"
The convoy suddenly fell silent. Only the rustling sound of the mountain wind passing through the treetops could be heard.
In front, Li Wanming slowly reined in her horse. Her slender back was stretched into a sharp arc in the morning light.
"What did you say about me?"
She slowly turned her head, and the knuckles of her fingers holding the whip turned pale due to the force.
"I... I didn't..."
Zhao Yanke's Adam's apple rolled violently, and beads of sweat oozed from his forehead.
Suddenly, he let out a loud cry, clamped his horse's belly hard, and the horse under him, in pain, galloped away like an arrow.
... His shrill cries echoed on the whole road. "Boss Xiao... Save me!"
————————
When they arrived outside Shou'an City, they learned that General Feng's army had already arrived.
However, the army strangely didn't enter the city but was stationed at Thirteen - Mile Inn in the west of the city.
"Thirteen - Mile Inn?" Liu Yiyi wondered. "Wasn't that the location of the Shou'an Granary before? The granary has been burned down. What is General Feng going there for?"
A flicker of uncertain light flashed in Xiao Jingnan's eyes. He paused and then looked up. "Miss Liu, Eldest Sister, you first take the herbs into the city. Zhao and I will go to see General Feng."
"Do we have to escort the herbs into the city?" Liu Yiyi was confused. "But General Feng's army isn't in the city..."
The sickle - grass is for treating injuries. If the Feng family's army isn't in the city, wouldn't this medicine, which was retrieved at the risk of their lives, end up benefiting Kang Chuanyi?
Xiao Jingnan added, "After you enter the city, don't go to the yamen. Let Wanming contact Lu Ping and Wu Yao. They will tell you where to put the things..."
"Let's go, let's go," Pei Yanqi pulled Liu Yiyi without any explanation and pushed her forward. "They have their own arrangements. What are you babbling about here? In a battle between two armies, we should follow the command. Do you understand?"
Li Wanming turned to look at Xiao Jingnan, bit her lips, said nothing, tightened the reins in her hand, and led the convoy towards the city gate.
The wheels rolled over the official road. Xiao Jingnan watched the convoy gradually disappearing in the distance. A faint and unclear look flashed in his eyes. Zhao Yanke came closer and whispered, "General Feng deliberately chose to camp at Thirteen - Mile Inn. Could it be..."
"Yes," Xiao Jingnan mounted his horse. "So we must go to see him in person."