Chapter 393: Qi gege (1/2)
Chapter 393: Qi gege
An imperial decree from Emperor Tianhui at a time like this had to have some sort of encouragement or reward. First, the decree commended the Duke of Qin and Qin Wangfei for their successful efforts in the disaster regions, and for ferreting out the corrupt officials to rid the people of a scourge. But the important points came later.
After the felicitations, Emperor Tianhui ordered the Duke of Qin to assume full control of the disaster regions. Moreover, he had to make sure the people could successfully survive the winter. It even stated that the Duke of Qin could only return to the capital after the three disaster regions recovered agriculturally.
Since Emperor Tianhui had finally sent Long Feiye and Han Yunxi away, how could he let them return so easily?
“Recover agriculturally?! This dog emperor!” Han Yunxi couldn’t help but curse. ‘Recover agriculturally’ looked simple on the surface. As long as spring came with its rains to send the rivers running and the soil moist, the people would be able to eat well and regain their vigor. There’d be no need for any authority to look after them then, and everyone would compete to grow their crops.
But that only happened in the spring! Moreover, Emperor Tianhui had never specified how much of a recovery he wanted before it count. Wouldn’t he have to be the judge on that? What a move!
Different from Han Yunxi’s indignant mood was Long Feiye’s cool calm. He finished his tea and said coldly, “When the time comes, he better not be begging your lordship to go back.”
Han Yunxi’s lips rose in a anticipatory smile at his words. Although she wasn’t sure whether he’d be able to let the people survive through winter, she knew that his words meant the good show was still ahead! She really hoped that the next two months would pass by faster! It was a lot more satisfying to see His Highness Duke of Qin abusing others than doing it herself.
After receiving the decree, Han Yunxi returned to her rooms to resume her experiments in the detox system. She’d been trying to craft an antidote to Baili Mingxiang’s poison the entire time. The next two to three days would be the most crucial point of her tests to expel all the poison from Baili Mingixang’s body. She closed her eyes and entered her detox system. Fortunately, Long Feiye didn’t need to find her for any business.
When Han Yunxi walked towards the back courtyard without even looking back, she had no idea that Long Feiye was staring at her the entire time. The gaze in his dark eyes was intense. For once, the expressionless Duke of Qin had his feelings written all over his face. Chu Xifeng was mesmerized by the sight, even though he couldn’t understand it!
Between these two, it was His Highness Duke of Qin who was always calm and unhurried, unaffected by anything. But what had happened last night? Now His Highness was filled with thoughts, while esteemed wangfei seemed perfectly fine. Chu Xifeng couldn’t resist coming forward after Han Yunxi disappeared to murmur, “Your Highness, is it because of Mute Granny?”
Long Feiye didn’t even look at Chu Xifeng, much less answer him. Chu Xifeng was too timid to ask twice.
Soon enough, a guard arrived with a report. “Your Highness, there’s news from Pill Fiend Valley. Gu Qi Sha hasn’t returned since the last time he left the place. Supposedly, he’s been looking for those two ingredients the entire time.”
“Your lordship wants updates on those two ingredients, not him!” Long Feiye said unhappily.
“For now…there’s no news,” the guard said nervously.
“Send people to find Medicine City’s Wang Clan. Bring this to them and have Wang Gong think of a solution. Tell him time is of the essence!” As Long Feiye spoke, he gave up the token that Mu Yingdong had left them, which gave the user permission to enter the Mu Clan’s medicinal stores and take away an ingredient of their choice.
As soon as the guard received the token, he made to leave. Chu Xifeng didn’t want to speak up, but he decided to take the risk after further thought and held the guard back.
“Your Highness, please think thrice before going to the Mu Clan!” His Highness hadn’t given much time to Gu Qi Sha for his deadline, because it really was hard to track those ingredients down. But now he seemed to be rushing things. By enlisting the Wang Clan for help, then using the Mu Clan’s medicinal warehouse, was something completely unnecessary. More importantly, Mute Granny’s poison might have been done by Mu Yingdong himself. That man would naturally know the antidote ingredients, so if they really did find one of them in the Mu Clan’s storehouses, Mu Yingdong would only suspect that Mute Granny was still alive. Once news of this broke out, it’d be impossible to explain things to esteemed wangfei.
Chu Xifeng’s reminder immediately sobered up Long Feiye, who realized he’d been impulsive. He had found Gu Qi Sha because the man’s talents in hunting down ingredients was unparalleled. If these two ingredients truly existed in Medicine City, Gu Qi Sha would definitely track them down. Who would suspect the man if he was simply searching for ingredients again?
Long Feiye pinched his forehead before sitting down. Chu Xifeng hastened to pour him some tea. “Your Highness, take care not to get distracted.”
Take care not to get distracted? For the sake of Mute Granny, he certainly had lost his wits a few times. The wound by his heart also came about because he was so-called ‘distracted!’ Han Yunxi had been disappointed last night, but she recovered her spirits by the day. Still, he wished she could keep on being disappointed. When he saw her looking so glowing and energetic, he discovered for the first time that he couldn’t read her at all. It was also the first time he felt like things were slipping out of control.