Lu Tianxun knew that Wu Min had had a nightmare, but he was unaware of her childhood experiences. When he learned about them, a faint worry welled up in his heart. That might be a hurdle Wu Min could never overcome. She had tried hard to forget it before, but now that the wound was reopened, what would she do?
Xu Maozhi wasn't on familiar terms with Lu Tianxun. In others' eyes, Lu Tianxun was a gentle and upright man, so much so that he seemed emotionless. Now Xu Maozhi realized that he was just not good at expressing his feelings.
"These are the records of people entering and leaving the city gates in the past three months. Didn't you say they came to the capital two months ago? Why do you want to check the records for three months? It'll take a long time to go through so much." Xu Maozhi had his men place the registers in front of Lu Tianxun.
"The enemy's tracks are too well - hidden. They might have started their actions earlier than we thought." Lu Tianxun said as he began to flip through the records.
Xu Maozhi also realized the gravity of the situation. Both the emperor and the crown prince had been assassinated. If the enemy had succeeded, the Great Jin would surely be in chaos.
The security of the palace was now in Xiao Jinghan's hands. The emperor regretted sending Deng Xiao to Chu Nan. If Deng Xiao hadn't gone, he would have had one more capable man at his disposal.
Thinking of this, he resented the Duke of Mu. After he ascended the throne, he hadn't made much use of the Mu family. He only felt grateful that the Mu family had supported him from the very beginning, which helped him ascend the throne smoothly.
The emperor didn't interfere when the Mu family did business with the nobles. This couldn't be considered as forming cliques for selfish ends. The Mu family came to the palace twice, both because of the duke's daughter. He had let things slide before, but he never expected such a thing to happen this time.
"Your Majesty, an urgent letter from the Southern Border Empress was directly sent to the General's Mansion." Gan Chengyou reported.
The emperor frowned slightly. This incident involving the Gu worms was related to the Southern Border. And now the Southern Border Empress was sending a letter to Yi Qing at this time.
"Shall we summon General Xiao and ask him about it?" Gan Chengyou asked tentatively.
"Forget it." The emperor decided to go and ask in person at night.
He didn't suspect that Xiao Jinghan would do anything wrong, but Yi Qing always did things according to her own preferences. She had even tricked him before to help the Southern Border Empress.
Yi Qing turned around, covered her nose and sneezed. Xiao Ran was so startled that he stared blankly at her, which made Yi Qing burst out laughing.
Xiao Ran didn't know why his mother was laughing, so he imitated her and sneezed. This made Yi Qing laugh even harder. Who said that a boy couldn't be a caring child? Both Baozi and Xiao Ran were close to her.
"Children are so cute when they're young. They'll surely find ways to annoy you when they grow up." Yi Qing looked at Xiao Ran.
"Both the eldest and the second young masters are so obedient. They surely won't annoy you when they grow up." Ruo Hong said with a smile.
"Who knows?" Yi Qing thought for a moment and believed that her two sons wouldn't annoy her. They could do whatever they wanted, and there wouldn't be any conflicts. So why would they annoy her?
"Madam, Lord Deng is awake." A maid came in to report.
Yi Qing knew that Deng Xiao was a lucky man, but she didn't expect him to wake up so soon.
When she entered Deng Xiao's room, he was already sitting up propped on his elbows. He smiled when he saw Yi Qing come in.
The first person he thought of after arriving in the capital was Yi Qing. He knew that Yi Qing would surely save him, and Xiao Jinghan would surely protect him. If he went home, he would only bring trouble to his mother.
"Do you know who tried to kill you?" Yi Qing asked as she felt Deng Xiao's pulse.
"It's very likely the Duke of Mu." Deng Xiao said with some effort. "When I went to Chu Nan this time, I found that the Duke of Mu, the Marquis of Chu Nan and the Japanese had close contacts. And it was the Japanese who chased and killed me."
"You're overthinking. If it was really the Duke of Mu who wanted to kill you, it's simply because he thought that if you were dead, his daughter would give up on you." Yi Qing finished examining Deng Xiao. "Since you're awake, you're fine. Just rest well."
"Impossible, right?" Deng Xiao was a bit unruly, but he wasn't bold enough to think this was unfounded.
"What's impossible?" Yi Qing walked to one side. "Think about it. Having contacts with the Japanese is not a big deal for the Duke of Mu. There's no need for him to chase and kill you because of that."
It would be a big deal for others to have contacts with the Japanese, but not for the Duke of Mu. His business spread all over the world. It was normal for him to know the Japanese. There was no need for any explanation.
"What about my mother..." Deng Xiao started to worry.
"Your mother won't marry Mu Lixue. Just focus on your recovery first."
Deng Xiao thought for a while and decided to rest assured and focus on his recovery.
Xu Maozhi gathered all the children in the capital and lit the herbs to repel bats to prevent more bats from coming. The whole capital was on high alert.
Xiao Jinghan came back very late. He had to make arrangements for every corner of the capital.
"Deng Xiao was chased and killed. He's now in our mansion." Yi Qing said directly to Xiao Jinghan.
"Chased and killed?" Xiao Jinghan thought for a moment. "The Duke of Mu?"
"We're really in sync." Yi Qing laughed. "I can't stand the Duke of Mu's behavior."
Xiao Jinghan felt that Yi Qing's ambition was getting bigger and bigger. Last time she dealt with the Duke of Xie, and now she wanted to go after the Duke of Mu. Among the four dukes, the Duke of Xie was the weakest and he had committed a crime himself. The Duke of Mu, however, was from a noble family.
"We haven't found Wu Min yet, and the problem of the bats hasn't been solved. Let's focus on these things first." Xiao Jinghan ruffled Yi Qing's hair. "Come and have something to eat with me."
Yi Qing hadn't had a few days of leisure, and now she was busy with these things again.
She had already had dinner. When she accompanied Xiao Jinghan for dinner, she would occasionally look at her fingertips.
"What's wrong?" Xiao Jinghan looked at Yi Qing curiously.
"Nothing." Yi Qing evaded the question.
When she felt Deng Xiao's pulse today, she suddenly thought of Jin Xiao's wrist. She didn't know why. When she felt other people's pulses, she only thought about the patients. But when she felt Jin Xiao's pulse, she had a very strange feeling, as if her fingertips were placed on smooth jade.
She had thought it was just an illusion before, but now she realized that Jin Xiao seemed to be special.
"I'm going to check on Jin Xiao tomorrow. Do you want to go with me?" Yi Qing asked.
Xiao Jinghan nodded. "I'll go to the palace first tomorrow to arrange things for the Jinyiwei. Then I'll come back to pick you up and we'll go together."
"Okay." Yi Qing nodded.
It was another peaceful night. Not a single bat was seen in the sky above the capital. Early in the morning, Xu Maozhi came to the General's Mansion with dark circles under his eyes. Now his wife and children were also here, and he came here to mooch.
Ran Ran prepared some food for Xu Maozhi. After eating, he went to sleep.
"We can't keep going on like this." Yi Qing looked at Xu Maozhi.
"If another child dies and angers the emperor, our whole family will be in trouble." Ran Ran said self - deprecatingly.
Yi Qing thought the emperor wouldn't be so unreasonable. He knew what was going on.
After Xiao Jinghan finished his business, he came back to pick up Yi Qing. The two of them went to Jin Xiao's place together.
There were a lot of women crowding around Jin Xiao's house, and there were all kinds of carriages parked outside. Xiao Jinghan and Yi Qing had to get off the carriage and walk over slowly.
"What should we do?" Yi Qing thought they couldn't squeeze in.
"Hold on to me." Xiao Jinghan took Yi Qing and leaped into Jin Xiao's courtyard.
Ruo Hong and the others followed them in. Being a maid of their madam required some special skills.
As soon as Yi Qing landed, she saw Jin Xiao coughing violently and spitting blood.