CHAPTER 391: CHAPTER 391 STALKING

Duke Chong’s Mansion, study room.

Duke Chong sat there, his brow tightly furrowed.

A small note was placed on the desk in front of him, with news coming from Yu State —

Marquis Dongxiang did not go to Yu State.

Knowing Marquis Dongxiang is cunning, using Prince NanAn and them as a front, trying to eliminate him is as hard as ascending to the skies.

But Duke Chong never expected Marquis Dongxiang to disappear.

Especially knowing that staying with Prince NanAn and the two young masters from Jibei Marquis Mansion would be the safest situation to leave alone.

Duke Chong could not help but be curious about where Marquis Dongxiang had gone.

It was hard enough to get Marquis Dongxiang out of the Capital City, now he’s alone again, if they could find out where he is, it would be his death day.

Duke Chong thought it out well, but no one knew when Marquis Dongxiang fell alone, or where he went.

This is a sly fox.

The Daqi Dynasty is so big, how many people would it take to go out and find news of Marquis Dongxiang?

Lest the people here are all transferred, and then Marquis Dongxiang returns to the Capital City.

The important thing right now is not Marquis Dongxiang, it’s the Flying Tiger Army.

Knock knock!

A knock on the door sounded.

"Come in," Duke Chong said.

Manager Wang pushed the door open and went in, reporting, "Duke, the person sent to watch Doctor Li is dead."

Dead?

Duke Chong’s eyes were icy cold.

Originally, he just suspected that Doctor Li was the one helping the Old Duke detoxify.

Now it seems, that’s beyond doubt.

"What about Lady Li?" Duke Chong asked.

"Don’t know where she went, Li’s Pharmacy is closed," Manager Wang said cautiously.

...

Inside Dongxiang Marquis Mansion.

Doctor Li, Lady Li, their son, and the young boy were led by a servant towards the inner courtyard.

Doctor Li remained relatively calm, but Lady Li and the others were trembling.

This is Dongxiang Marquis Mansion, after all.

A den of bandits.

Why were they brought here?

Dongxiang Marquis Mansion and Duke Chong’s Mansion are only separated by a wall, jumping over it they could treat the Old Duke, it’s convenient, but how could they stay in Dongxiang Marquis Mansion?

Doctor Li had a terrible headache.

The past few days had been torturous for him.

Four times in three days he had gone to Duke Chong’s Mansion, each time encountering people from Duke Chong’s Mansion visiting the Old Duke, in the end, the matter of detoxification remained unresolved.

Doctor Li was a smart person, or maybe he had prepared himself mentally, things that were too coincidental were just not coincidences.

Duke Chong suspected that someone was detoxifying the Old Duke, so he sent someone to watch.

After leaving Duke Chong’s Mansion for the fourth time, Doctor Li became vigilant and indeed saw a watcher outside the pharmacy.

He forced himself to remain calm, continued to see patients and prescribe medicines, but secretly wrote a letter for the young boy to deliver to Xie Jingchen at the Ministry of Justice, asking for his help.

Even though Su Jin had given him a signal flare, he was afraid that by the time he sent the signal it would be too late.

The people in the pharmacy were all helpless, unarmed individuals, if anything really happened, they probably wouldn’t make it before someone came to rescue them.

Xie Jingchen did not expect Duke Chong to be so vigilant.

Doctor Li was dragged into this by them, they couldn’t sacrifice their lives and needed to ensure their safety.

If there was a place where Doctor Li could be hidden safely, it would probably be only in Dongxiang Marquis Mansion.

Sending people into Dongxiang Marquis Mansion, it was also convenient for going out to detoxify the Old Duke.

Thus, Doctor Li’s family was sent into Dongxiang Marquis Mansion.

Mrs. Tang allowed them to stay in Dongxiang Marquis Mansion peacefully, telling them to order whatever they needed.

She was so agreeable, it really surprised Doctor Li’s family, the Dongxiang Marquis’s wife didn’t really seem like a bandit.

Though entering Dongxiang Marquis Mansion was easy, treating the Old Duke wasn’t that simple.

After the person with the broken leg from Duke Chong’s Mansion was taken away, two maids and a servant were arranged to come in.

Although the Emperor had arranged guards inside Duke Chong’s Mansion, he couldn’t stop Duke Chong from sending people in, after all, he is the Old Duke’s son, even the Emperor couldn’t meddle too much.

With more maids and servants in the small courtyard, it wasn’t as easy for Doctor Li to go detoxify the Old Duke.

This matter troubled Mrs. Tang for several days, but eventually it was resolved smoothly.

Everyone had forgotten about the secret passage in Duke Chong’s Mansion.

To prevent people from Duke Chong’s Mansion from sneaking in, Marquis Dongxiang had sealed the secret passage.

Mrs. Tang found the secret passage map and discovered that the Old Duke’s room could directly enter and exit the secret passage.

With Marquis Dongxiang not around, Mrs. Tang decided to open the secret passage, letting Doctor Li pass through the passage to detoxify the Old Duke, without anyone knowing.

Lady Li was easygoing, letting him do whatever, but treating someone as if being a thief was mentally exhausting for him.

...

In the blink of an eye, seven days passed.

The heat of the summer was intensifying day by day.

After breakfast in the morning, walking from Agarwood Pavilion to Qihao Hall to pay morning respects, one would break into a sweat, wishing they could carry an ice basin with them.

When Su Jin entered the room, a maid was carrying an ice basin outside.

Xingxing was puzzled when she saw this, "Why are you carrying it out?"

"Last night, the Old Madam had an extra ice basin in her room and caught a chill," the maid said.

"...."

Su Jin stepped into the room, the Old Madam was sitting on the Arhat Couch, coughing.

The doctor was packing up his medicine box, while the maid led him to prescribe medicine.

Seeing Su Jin arrive, the Third Madam served tea and said, "This summer is particularly hot, and we are able to have such a cool summer in Duke Zhen Country Mansion, all thanks to the Eldest Young Madam."

Su Jin raised her eyebrows and smiled, "Third Aunt is flattering me, I appreciate it, but the coolness in Duke Zhen Country Mansion is all thanks to the numerous ice blocks sent by Duke Chong’s Mansion, I can’t take the credit."

"The Eldest Young Madam is too modest," the Third Madam said.

If Su Jin hadn’t squeezed Duke Chong Mansion’s ice blocks so they couldn’t sell, they wouldn’t have sent a bunch to Duke Zhen Country Mansion.

Aiding in times of need is valuable; embellishing when there are already flowers, no one’s really interested.

Outside, Princess Nanzhang walked in.

The last time she saw Princess Nanzhang was that night, not wanting to see Su Jin, she was spared from paying morning respects.

Seeing her again today, she had become noticeably thinner.

Su Jin noticed her hair that had been burned off quite a bit, and her bun wasn’t as high as before.

After greeting the Old Madam, Princess Nanzhang sat down.

She covered her hand with silk fabric, concealing her wound.

"Is your injury healing well?" the Old Madam asked.

"It has already scabbed," Princess Nanzhang replied.

The Second Madam looked at her and said, "Sister-in-law, you don’t look well, why don’t you stay in and recuperate for a few more days?"

Princess Nanzhang replied, "In ten days, the Duke and the others should be back in the Capital, by then the mansion will definitely hold a banquet, I have to start preparing now, and the house that was burned has to be restored before the Duke and them return."

The Third Madam sighed, "Sister-in-law, the things in your room were all precious, and they were all burned to ashes by the fire, it’s truly a pity."

The Second Madam glanced at the Third Madam, knowing she wasn’t one to sprinkle salt on people’s wounds.

But it’s understandable, after Princess Nanzhang was burned, the Third Madam wanted to take over the housekeeping power from her, but Princess Nanzhang didn’t relent.

This incident upset the Third Madam; she wouldn’t miss an opportunity like this.

The Second Madam looked at Princess Nanzhang and said, "Was there anyone who instigated the servant girl to do this?"

The corner of the Third Madam’s mouth twisted into a sarcastic smile.

That servant girl was fortunate enough to die; had she lived, this confusion would have been even more explicit and insincere.

But that servant girl was lucky to be dead; if alive, she would have been laughed at by others.