He really misunderstood Deng Xiao. Deng Xiao simply didn't want to stay alone in the Duke Mu's Mansion. The Duke Mu looked like he might kill someone at any moment.
The Duke Mu didn't dare to kill Yi Qing, after all, there were Xiao Jinghan and the Duke Di behind her. Even though he was deeply trusted by the emperor, he was all alone. He didn't expect Yi Qing to be so loyal and avenge him in the future.
"Wait for me." Deng Xiao quickened his steps after leaving the Duke Mu's Mansion and caught up with Yi Qing.
"Can't you walk faster? What if the Duke Mu has a sudden impulse and kills us all?" Yi Qing lifted her skirt and kept walking.
Deng Xiao laughed. "Hey, so much gold. You just gave it up like that."
"It's too heavy. It's not as easy to carry as silver notes."
"If you don't want it, I can't take it either. You have to compensate me later." Deng Xiao said jokingly.
Yi Qing thought Deng Xiao's face was getting thicker and thicker. "You don't even want the Duke Mu's daughter. Do you still care about that little bit of gold?"
"Wasn't I just too scared to take her?" Deng Xiao joked.
"Humph!" Yi Qing didn't believe him at all. "Anyway, let's go home quickly and let them know we're safe."
Deng Xiao was about to follow Yi Qing into the carriage. A servant on one side of the carriage blocked him, while another servant led a horse over. He suddenly realized that Xiao Jinghan must be in the carriage. He had no choice but to go over and take the reins.
"It's getting late. I'll escort Lady Xiao back to the mansion." Deng Xiao said with a sigh as he mounted the horse.
Yi Qing also sensed that Xiao Jinghan was in the carriage. She quickly got into it. There was no lamp inside. Only a glimmer of light came in from the lantern hanging on the carriage head, making the inside very dim.
Xiao Jinghan was originally weak all over. When he saw Yi Qing come in, he immediately turned over and trapped her in his arms. Only then did he feel a little more at ease.
Yi Qing felt that Xiao Jinghan was weak and didn't struggle. She directly felt his pulse and checked. "It's just some medicine that speeds up drunkenness and makes people weak in limbs. It seems that the Duke Mu really didn't expect anything to happen tonight."
"Was Madam okay in there?" Xiao Jinghan whispered in Yi Qing's ear.
"The Duke Mu wanted to kill both me and Deng Xiao, but he finally held back." Yi Qing laughed. "How did Deng Xiao rescue you?"
While Xiao Jinghan and Yi Qing were happily returning to the General's Mansion, in the Mu Mansion, Madam Mu was crying her eyes out.
At that time, Xiao Jinghan was already weak, so he hit Mu Lixue a bit harder. He just wanted to be absolutely sure, but he didn't expect Mu Lixue to be so delicate. That blow almost knocked Mu Lixue out.
The doctor in the Mu Mansion finally managed to wake Mu Lixue up. Mu Lixue was still dazed. There was a big swelling on the back of her head, and she didn't dare to press it on the pillow.
"Mother, where is General Xiao?" Mu Lixue asked anxiously as soon as she woke up.
"My poor daughter. Why do you like that heartless man?" Madam Mu said lovingly looking at her daughter.
"Xiao Jinghan, I will surely make you lose your reputation." The Duke Mu felt even more heartache when he saw his daughter like this.
"Father?" Mu Lixue looked at her father in surprise. "What on earth is going on?"
Madam Mu wanted her daughter to forget about Xiao Jinghan, so she exaggerated how insidiously Xiao Jinghan had designed her daughter. "Daughter, you must never marry such a man."
"Commander Deng?" Mu Lixue knew of such a person, but she hadn't looked at him closely.
The Imperial Guards were very imposing when they went out. They represented the emperor's dignity, and few people dared to look directly at them. And Deng Xiao was the only commander of the Imperial Guards, which showed how much the emperor trusted him.
"Daughter, go to sleep. Don't think so much." Madam Mu saw her daughter in deep thought and thought she was sad.
Mu Lixue couldn't lie flat because of the swelling on the back of her head. She would wake up in pain as soon as she pressed it a little. She simply couldn't fall asleep.
Yi Qing helped Xiao Jinghan back to the room. She heard the floor creaking. She closed the door angrily and opened the secret passage. The emperor was about to complain, but when he saw Yi Qing's angry look, he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.
Yi Qing ignored him. She went over to feed Xiao Jinghan water and prepare the antidote for him.
"What's wrong with you?" The emperor looked at Xiao Jinghan's state.
"What else could it be?" Yi Qing said irritably. "He was poisoned by the Duke Mu. If I hadn't arrived in time, your first - rank general would have been finished there."
The emperor immediately looked solemn. "What exactly happened?"
Seeing that the emperor was worried, Xiao Jinghan roughly told him what had happened. The emperor didn't know what to say after hearing it.
He thought it was normal for a man to have concubines. It wasn't a matter of like or dislike. He had already established a crown prince, but a group of court officials still asked him to enrich the harem.
It wasn't that he liked the queen very much. He just wanted the queen to be the only woman in the harem. But after the incident of the deposed emperor, he didn't want to have too many heirs and see the brothers fight each other in the future.
"The Duke Mu really lost all his dignity for his daughter. Don't you..." The emperor was saying when he saw Yi Qing glaring at him. He stopped speaking dejectedly.
"I, Xiao Jinghan, will only have Yi Qing as my wife in this life. There will never be any other woman, no matter what her status, position or reason. It's impossible for there to be any other woman." Xiao Jinghan resolutely told the emperor again.
The emperor cleared his throat. He knew this would happen, so he didn't dare to agree to the Duke Mu before. Otherwise, the Duke Mu's matter would become his, and he might not be able to handle it well.
"I have a headache." The emperor had waited for most of the night just to complain to Xiao Jinghan.
"Do you want me to give you a few acupuncture needles? I guarantee it will cure your illness and you'll never have a headache again." Yi Qing threatened as she helped Xiao Jinghan take the medicine.
The emperor watched Yi Qing feed Xiao Jinghan the medicine. Why did he feel that the medicine tasted good? He kind of wanted to have a taste.
"Why is the emperor worried again?" Xiao Jinghan drank the medicine, which was not bitter but had a very strange taste.
Yi Qing directly stuffed a candied fruit into his mouth. Only then did Xiao Jinghan smile.
The emperor suddenly didn't want to talk anymore. He felt even more bitter. He thought there was no one in the world more bitter than him.
"If you don't want to talk, go back to sleep. There's nothing that can't be solved by a good sleep." Yi Qing said with a half - smile.
"What if it can't be solved?" The emperor thought Yi Qing was being naive.
"Then sleep more. If that still doesn't work, just sleep forever. If you can't solve it, let others handle it." Yi Qing shrugged.
"You..." The emperor had never heard anyone scold him to die to his face before.
Xiao Jinghan quickly protected Yi Qing. Yi Qing's words were a bit too outspoken. "What Qing'er means is that it's useless for the emperor to worry. It's better to think about how to solve the problem."
The emperor didn't think Yi Qing meant that. "Then you should quickly solve the matter of the Duke Xie. A group of court officials are not doing their proper jobs and keep harping on this matter." The emperor indicated that this was their problem.
Xiao Jinghan frowned and nodded. "It really should be solved."
"By the way, the Duke Xie is better now. He can talk and walk, but he's a bit slow." Yi Qing told them.
"Did you deliberately not cure him before?" The emperor immediately asked.