Jiang Mian was sent back to her room by Mo Zhizhang.
"Have a good rest," Mo Zhizhang said softly, patting her head. There was a gentle smile on his face.
"You too, Brother," Jiang Mian replied. She closed the door, turned around, and let out a soft breath. She didn't notice that the moment the door closed, the gentle smile on Mo Zhizhang's face faded completely, and his expression became blank.
He didn't leave. Instead, he stood outside the room, listening to the sounds coming from inside.
The girl walked around the room for a while. Under the service of the maid, she changed her clothes, let down her hair, and then lay down. It seemed she was about to rest.
She didn't mention what had happened that night to her maid, and the maid didn't ask either. It was as if nothing had happened that night.
It wasn't until there was no more sound from the room that he left silently.
Turning the corner and returning to his own room, Mo Zhizhang sensed someone was inside even before he pushed the door open. When he pushed it open, sure enough, he saw the familiar figure of Li Zhao.
Today happened to be the half - moon period, and the poison in Li Zhao's body was about to flare up again.
This was also the reason why Li Zhao had specifically chosen today to leave Luozhou. He had long calculated that Mo Zhizhang would definitely come to him when they were leaving Luozhou.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, Li Zhao looked up at him. His expression was calm as he nodded slightly and said, "You're back."
Mo Zhizhang walked into the room, closed the door, and walked up to Li Zhao. He took out something and placed it in front of Li Zhao.
"I haven't congratulated you, Minister Li, on your happy wedding and the acquisition of a lovely wife. This is my wedding gift for you two. Please accept it with a smile."
It wasn't any precious treasure, just a key.
"What does this mean?" Li Zhao was a bit puzzled.
Mo Zhizhang straightened his sleeves and said slowly, "You should have heard that the King of Chu still had a treasure vault."
Li Zhao was deeply shocked.
As the once - famous Minister of the Secretariat of the State of Chu, Li Zhao naturally knew that the King of Chu had a treasure vault, but it had always been just a rumor.
The State of Chu perished at the hands of the Xiao family. When the country fell, the national treasury was empty, leaving only an empty shell for the Xiao family. It was said that the Xiao family had been looking for this treasure vault but had never found its whereabouts.
Unexpectedly, Mo Zhizhang would hand over the key to this treasure vault to him.
"You..." Li Zhao frowned.
Mo Zhizhang said indifferently, "It's of no use in my hands. Do you expect me to use it to revive the Chu royal family?"
"Then why me?" Li Zhao asked. "Your master is Xiao Tianchi. Why didn't you give this key to him?"
But Mo Zhizhang said, "Who said he's my master?"
Didn't he address Xiao Tianchi as "Your Majesty"?
As if guessing what Li Zhao was thinking, Mo Zhizhang rarely explained, "I'm just using each other with him. 'Your Majesty' only represents the Feiyu Hall, not me personally."
"Moreover," Mo Zhizhang said, "Most of the wealth in this treasure vault comes from the Li family."
The King of Chu had issued an imperial edict to exterminate the Li family. Naturally, he wouldn't let go of the Li family's property. After that great catastrophe, the Li family's assets all went to the King of Chu and were naturally stored in his private treasury.
"You can keep this key for yourself or give it to someone else. It's up to you," Mo Zhizhang said indifferently, seemingly not attached to this "wealth" that should have belonged to him.
But Li Zhao's eyebrows didn't relax at all.
When Mo Zhizhang handed over the key, there was no look of unwillingness or annoyance on his face, which meant that he was truly willing and not under anyone's coercion.
"What do you want from me?" Li Zhao asked.
Mo Zhizhang had his back to him and was taking out the tools for detoxification. Hearing this, his movement paused slightly. He turned around and said with a smile, "It's really comfortable to talk to a smart person."
"How about exchanging this key for a courtyard in the Prince Li's Mansion?"
Did he want to move into the Prince Li's Mansion?
Was it for Jiang Mian?
The thought of "as expected" flashed through Li Zhao's mind.
All along the way, he hadn't failed to notice Mo Zhizhang's feelings and intentions towards Jiang Mian. However, there was a blood feud between them. Although it was the King of Chu who had done it and had nothing to do with him, it was absolutely impossible for him to let them be together regardless.
Presumably, Mo Zhizhang himself knew this truth, so he had deliberately avoided entering Luozhou City.
If he had used this key to ask for Jiang Mian's hand in marriage, he would only have been rejected by Li Zhao.
And now he just wanted to exchange for a courtyard in the Prince Li's Mansion...
Li Zhao pondered for a while and said, "Okay."
Mo Zhizhang took out the tools and said to Li Zhao, "Take off your clothes. Now, it's time to detoxify you."
Li Zhao put away the key, then untied his belt and took off his clothes.
During the detoxification process, the poison in Li Zhao flared up again as expected. But soon, the surging toxin was suppressed by Mo Zhizhang. By the time the pain in his body completely disappeared, Li Zhao was covered in sweat.
After wiping the sweat clean and putting on his clothes neatly again, Li Zhao propped up his weak body and nodded slightly at Mo Zhizhang. "Thank you for your hard work."
"You're welcome, Minister Li," Mo Zhizhang smiled. "I'll have to trouble you and the princess again when I get to the capital."
Li Zhao didn't stay any longer. After his strength recovered a bit, he got up and left. Mo Zhizhang sat at the table, cleaning the silver needles that had been stained black by the toxin bit by bit with a handkerchief. His drooping eyelashes covered his gentle and affectionate eyes and also concealed the deep - seated schemes in them.
When Li Zhao returned to his room, Jiang Zhiqing was already asleep. Although he had tried to move quietly, Jiang Zhiqing still opened her eyes.
She opened her eyes groggily, got up, and wanted to help Li Zhao undress. Li Zhao pressed her shoulder and said softly, "You just sleep well. You don't need to get up. I'll do it myself."
He walked around the screen, fetched a damp handkerchief, carefully wiped himself, changed into another set of clothes, and then returned to the bed to lie down.
He didn't know that the moment he lay down, Jiang Zhiqing smelled the faint smell of medicine on him.
During the day, there had been no such smell on him.
The only variable today was Mo Zhizhang, who had reappeared in another identity.
And she knew that Mo Zhizhang was good at using and detoxifying poisons.
Jiang Zhiqing's heart tightened. Her mind raced. She nestled into Li Zhao's arms, wrapped her arms around his waist, buried her face in his neck, and whispered, "Why did you come back so late, husband?"
Li Zhao naturally hugged her and coaxed her, "I'm the Minister of the Secretariat of the Sheng State now. His Majesty has a lot of things to discuss with me. Before I knew it, it got late."
Jiang Zhiqing knew he wasn't telling the truth, but she was smart enough not to continue asking.
She just rubbed against Li Zhao's neck gently and said coquettishly, "No matter how busy you are, you have to take care of your body. You still have me and Mujin to take care of."
Li Zhao smiled and said softly, "Yes, my princess."
Smelling the fragrance from his wife's hair, the exhausted Li Zhao soon fell asleep. He didn't even notice that a tear rolled down from the corner of his wife's eye.
Early the next morning, the Emperor of the Northern Sheng and the Prince Li continued their journey to the capital in the morning light.
At this time, a caravan in disguise arrived in Luozhou City.