Chapter 72: Prosperity, buying popular support (2/2)

Long Feiye was about to walk over when he saw little Chen Xiang sitting blankly by the door. Suspicion flitted past his eyes before he thought twice and remembered something else. Soon afterwards, he leapt noiselessly up to the roof.

If this servant girl was by the door, was Han Yunxi inside?

What was this woman doing in his territory?

Long Feiye’s gaze turned dark and gloomy as he carefully shifted a roof tile aside to peek in. Unexpectedly, what he saw was the living painting of a beauty bathing! His cold eyes stilled before Long Feiye quickly looked away. But nary a second passed before he looked down again, seeing clothes scattered messily by the pool. That woman’s slender shoulders and exposed back, collarbones and jade-like neck, were all dimly visible through the mist, endlessly enticing…

This woman had the guts to run over here for his hot springs!

Long Feiye’s cold eyes turned even more gloomy. It was clear that he was unhappy, but…but as time passed, he didn’t move his eyes away. His gaze was icily arrogant and brazen, as if appreciating a piece of artwork. This was obviously a case of peeking that could be seen as obscene, but he treated it as a matter of course. All right, the expression on his face at this moment was someone who couldn’t take his eyes off a masterpiece!

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew over. Long Feiye raised his eyes to see Chu Xifeng approaching. Displeasure flashed through his eyes as he waved Chu Xifeng away, before replacing the roof tile. Only then did he land in the backyard to meet with him.

“Master[2], you…” Chu Xifeng was full of doubts. What was this master doing just then?

Long Feiye didn’t answer. “How goes matters?”

“To reply master, it’s highly possible that the leader of the Northern Li agent is someone proficient with poisons concealed within the capital. This subordinate tortured and interrogated a few survivors who all said the same thing: their poisons came from the same person. As to who this person is, they don’t know.” Chu Xifeng replied.

Northern Li Country had arranged multiple spies within Tianning who were good at using poisons to target Tianning’s various officials and generals. If Han Yunxi hadn’t discovered the toxin concealed within the young general, Long Feiye wouldn’t have seized on this clue so quickly.

Recently, he’d been busy with this matter.

“Trace the source of the poisons, but don’t alert the side involved with the young general,” Long Feiye ordered. The young general’s body had hidden a slow-acting poison. He must have been poisoned over the course of multiple years, meaning that the culprit had to be someone close to him. If the young general’s poison was related to the matter of these enemy agents, then it meant that such spies had existed in Tianning for many years and concealed themselves deep.

“Yes!” Chu Xifeng respectfully accepted his orders.

When Long Feiye returned to the roof, Han Yunxi had already gotten out of the hot spring. This intelligent ‘stupid woman’ was completely oblivious to everything that had happened. Her skin fresh out of the water was exquisite and refined, her face brimming with smiles as she walked and talked with little Chen Xiang back to Leisurely Cloud Pavilion.

“Idiot, when will you learn to be on guard?” Long Feiye muttered to himself, extremely displeased.

Actually, this wasn’t Han Yunxi’s fault. She didn’t know martial arts, so how could she be sensitive to movements around her? Moreover, thanks to her profession, she was hyper-focused when she started on a task. Her ability to block out distractions was quite potent, allowing her to overlook nearly everything else around her.

—

After resting well, Han Yunxi decided to take Chen Xiang with her for a trip to town. Firstly, because she had money enough to buy some things she liked; secondly, because she wanted to see the situation of the Han Family. Han Congan should’ve been convicted by now and the announcement made public. Emperor Tianhui wouldn’t conceal such a thing, but proclaim it with banners and drums to eliminate Han Congan. This was his chance to tell the world that the crown prince was good and well.

But Han Yunxi didn’t expect things to get so dramatic. As soon as she stepped foot on the streets, she heard all sorts of commentary on the affair. Proclamation posters were plastered all over the streets. Emperor Tianhui gave Han Congan the dual crimes of deceiving his sovereign and plotting to murder the crown prince. Although it wasn’t written than Han Yunxi saved him, this news had long spread between the social circles of the aristocracy. Han Yunxi sat in the private room of a restaurant as she listened to the discussions outside.

“There was chaos at the Han household this morning. I heard a few concubines packed up their valuables and fled!”

“Such a heavy crime, but only Han Congan was punished. I think there’s something fishy here!”

“Heheh, Qin Wangfei is closely related to the Han family. I’m thinking she’s the one who saved the Han Clan.”

“They say the prisoner’s going to be paraded through the streets in three days’ time. Aiya, Han Congan’s still a famous doctor of the times, but now…”

“Why do you think he wanted to plot murder against the crown prince? There’s no reason!”

“The imperial family’s matters are hard to see clearly. Hard to say!”

……

Han Yunxi listened leisurely since she didn’t take these things to heart. If the prisoner was going to be paraded in three days, she thought she should call on this father of hers in prison and ask him about her mother’s difficult labor. When Han Yunxi looked into it, she found that there wasn’t any problem with the baby, nor was there any underlying illness. So why would she die from childbirth? Her mother was a doctor in her own right, so she’d be perfectly clear about her body.

Han Yunxi couldn’t help but think that there was something suspicious about the whole thing. As the husband, Han Congan should be closest to the truth. More importantly, how did the poison scar on her face come about? If it came with her birth, then it meant that someone wanted to kill her in the womb. This should be investigated thoroughly.

That afternoon, Han Yunxi let Chen Xiang take their purchases home while she went to the prisons.

-o-

[1] meimei (妹妹) – little sister.

[2] master (主子) – zhuzi, when used, refers to the master/head of a household.