From dawn till dusk, it wasn't just Ji Zizhao and Xie Jinglan who were waiting.
The other princes and ministers were also anticipating movement from the Xue family.
Especially Master Tong. Upon returning to his mansion, he immediately dispatched people to monitor every move of the Xue residence for twelve hours straight. If possible, he even wished to send someone to stab Xue Yongnian directly and then frame Ji Zizhao.
Fortunately, the Xue family had no intention of mistreating Ji Zizhao. A while later, they sent someone to deliver dinner.
The main reason was the presence of the Fourth Prince beside Ji Zizhao. Even if the Xue family wanted to mistreat her, they wouldn't dare to mistreat a prince of the current dynasty along with her.
Young ladies from prominent families were served dishes by servants from a young age. Ji Zizhao had never had the habit of being fed or having clothes handed to her. As soon as the dishes were served, she picked up her chopsticks.
Watching Ji Zizhao feed herself, Xie Jinglan smiled faintly and also picked up his chopsticks.
After they finished their meal, a young servant from the Xue family ran in.
Upon seeing Ji Zizhao, he immediately fell to his knees with a "thump," saying, "Thank you, Princess Ronghe, and eldest daughter of the Ji family, for saving my life! Our general has finally woken up!"
Everything was as expected, and Ji Zizhao was not surprised. She merely instructed softly, "The medicine I prescribed, please have General Xue continue to take it three times a day after meals. After five days, halve the dosage. For ten days, take one dose a day until fully recovered."
The servant busily nodded and took notes, "Our old madam says that delaying Princess Ronghe for so long is truly our Xue family's fault. She ordered me to quickly escort Princess Ronghe and the Fourth Prince out."
Ji Zizhao had been at Xue Yongnian's place for the entire afternoon. Hearing that she could finally leave, she naturally did not refuse. She got up and walked out of the courtyard with the Fourth Prince.
Quite a few people were already standing at the main entrance.
Ji Zizhao frowned slightly, not expecting so many people to see them off.
Xie Jinglan glanced at them and said, "The one standing in the middle is the Xue family's old madam. The one supporting the old madam's arm by seniority should be General Xue's principal wife. Further to the sides are likely concubines and mistresses."
A hint of helplessness and disgust flickered in Ji Zizhao's eyes. Even though she had grown up here, she could never adapt to this polygamous marital relationship.
If even emotions cannot be kept exclusive, how can love be spoken of?
Xie Jinglan looked at the unreserved disgust in the young lady's eyes and silently curved his lips.
As the Fourth Prince had said, these people were all here to thank Ji Zizhao.
Especially the Xue family's wife, who tightly grasped Ji Zizhao's hand as soon as she saw her. She cried and laughed. Finally, it was the Xue family's old madam who reminded her, and the Xue family's wife reluctantly let go of Ji Zizhao's hand.
Ji Zizhao had originally intended to part ways with the Fourth Prince, but in front of the Xue family, she could not directly part ways with him. So, holding her nose, she got into the carriage.
Xie Jinglan looked at her reluctant expression and chuckled softly.
She was the one who jumped into this mess today, and now she wanted to distance herself from him.
But he did not want to comply with her wishes. What was he to do?
Under the Xue family's farewell gaze, the carriage slowly pulled away from the Xue family's mansion gate.
The streets at midnight were completely shrouded in darkness. Ji Zizhao lifted the curtain and looked out the carriage window. Suddenly, she saw a neat formation approaching in the distance.
Immediately, a heavy horn blast echoed throughout the imperial city.
Ji Zizhao's heart startled. It was curfew!
Normally, curfew only involved night watchmen patrolling the city. However, due to Xue Yongnian's matter, a whole battalion had been dispatched to guard the imperial city during curfew.
Not only were there patrolling soldiers on the streets, but there were also soldiers stationed at the entrance of every household.
Under imperial decree, anyone caught violating curfew would be executed on the spot. Sudancb.com
Seeing the patrolling soldiers getting closer, Xie Jinglan ordered the coachman to drive the carriage into a nearby alley, thus narrowly escaping.
Not all the patrolling soldiers left. After leaving guards at nearby households, the other soldiers continued towards other streets of the imperial city.
Ji Zizhao looked through the carriage window at the soldiers guarding not far away, knowing that she would likely have to spend the night in the carriage.
Since she couldn't go back anyway, Ji Zizhao casually lowered the curtain and said to Xie Jinglan, "General Xue's illness is peculiar."
Xie Jinglan looked at Ji Zizhao, who had instantly accepted spending the night in the carriage. He handed her the blanket he usually used, asking, "You mean someone poisoned General Xue?"
Ji Zizhao took the blanket and wrapped it around herself. The faint scent of the Fourth Prince from the blanket wafted towards her. "A body tired from travel is naturally prone to illness. There's no need for poison. If someone just gives General Xue a cup of cold water or takes away his quilt while he's sleeping, it's easy to make him catch a chill."
Xie Jinglan frowned slightly. "So you mean... General Xue just has a common fever?"
Ji Zizhao nodded. "Precisely."
Although a fever is not an epidemic, if it is not treated correctly, it can be life-threatening.
Now, everyone believes General Xue has an epidemic, and even the medicine they are giving him is for treating epidemics. If it's delayed further, it's hard to say whether General Xue will live or die.
And once General Xue truly dies, it's likely that not only the Xue family in the imperial city will be buried with him, but also everyone in Luoyi County.
Regardless of who designed this scheme, they clearly intended to kill the Seventh Prince and the Fifth Prince.
Ji Zizhao also thought of the incident where the doctor brought by the Fourth Prince was secretly murdered. Before she could speak, Tang Di knocked on the carriage window.
"Your Highness, your subordinate has investigated and found that the ones who disposed of the bodies were several young servants from the Xue family. After severe interrogation, they confessed that they received money from someone else. However, they did not recognize the person who gave them the money, only remembering that person had a sour and smelly odor. Before reporting, your subordinate had already ordered the detention of those servants for Your Highness to deal with."
As expected, the black-hearted fox is indeed the black-hearted fox.
Ji Zizhao didn't even need to speak; he had already taken action.
"Kill them," Xie Jinglan said indifferently. If it weren't for those three words spoken clearly from his mouth, even Ji Zizhao wouldn't have believed he was ordering a killing.
Tang Di outside the carriage quickly disappeared.
Ji Zizhao looked at Xie Jinglan and said, "The one who killed the doctor should not be the same person who harmed General Xue."
Xie Jinglan looked at Ji Zizhao opposite him but did not answer. Instead, he smiled faintly.
At this moment, wouldn't an ordinary woman try to stop him from killing?
She, however, didn't even mention it.
Ji Zizhao frowned at Xie Jinglan's smile.
If she didn't know how powerful this black-hearted fox in front of her was, she would have thought he had lost his mind from too much stimulation.
"Indeed, it's not the same person."
The princes bringing doctors to the Xue residence this time did not intend to treat Xue Yongnian.
Framing him with such a low-class method was merely to embarrass him.
But the one who wanted to kill Xue Yongnian did not intend to leave Little Seven any chance to live.
As long as Xue Yongnian died, Little Seven would inevitably be implicated. Why bother with the unnecessary step of falsely accusing him?
However, if this matter is to be thoroughly investigated, it will not be easy.