221 推心置腹

ough Prince Li was unsatisfactory, at least he was a physically sound person. This marriage that Emperor is now arranging would not only be an insult to the House of Prince Ding but also desecrate Xu...221. Heartfelt Conversation

221. Heartfelt Conversation

Just Friends

A short sentence clearly expressed Xu Qingchen's rejecting attitude. Ye Li could only sigh with regret in her heart, it seemed that Brother and Princess Anxi were indeed without fate.

Ye Li threw down the chess pieces she was holding and looked at Xu Qingchen, saying, "Since this is how it is, Li will not bring up this matter to Brother anymore. However... If Brother truly does not have such thoughts, it's best to clarify things with Princess Anxi as soon as possible." Xu Qingchen nodded and said, "I understand that, what else does Li want to say" Ye Li looked at Xu Qingchen seriously and asked, "Is Brother or Uncle still worried about the王爺and Ding王府" Xu Qingchen was taken aback and put down his chess pieces too, asking Ye Li, "Why would Li think so"

Ye Li smiled slightly and said with pursed lips, "Brother, Li has grown up in the Xu family as well. When I was young, Great Uncle and Brother's teachings to me were never forgotten. Both Brother and Great Uncle possess talent that can manage state affairs; being able to have two such people is already rare enough for a world like this. In these recent days, many matters from the northwest have been taxing on Brother and Uncle. However... given your capabilities, did you really need to put in so much effort" Xu Qingchen lowered his eyes and smiled faintly, saying, "Is it the Duke's intention then"

Ye Li shook her head and said, "If Li can see through this situation, how could the Duke be oblivious However, he did not say anything. Is Brother and Uncle hiding their capabilities because you are worried about the Duke and Ding王府"

Xu Qingchen was silent for a moment before shaking his head and saying, "No, I'm simply tired."

"Tired" Ye Li looked puzzled. Xu Qingchen smiled and said, "Li, no matter how bitter and hard the experiences of the Xu family have been these years, but the reputation as the top scholar in Yunzhou for several centuries is already established by the Xu family. The reason why the Xu family can still stand firm after two dynasties is due to this generation's Xu family members striving cautiously and warily. When you're at the peak, it's hard to keep warm... If the Xu family does not want its future generations to suffer like we do, then... it might be best for the Xu family's reputation to gradually fade."

Ye Li lowered her head, "Does Brother not trust Li"

Xu Qingchen shook his head and said, "No, Brother trusts you as much as he does Duke Ding. However, what happens after you and Duke Ding How will your descendants face the Xu family Having served two dynasties with significant contributions to each of them, no one would trust such a family or be without worries. In those days, how deep was the bond between Emperor Taizu and the first generation Duke Ding Yet, what is their relationship like now"

"Big Brother..." Ye Li sighed. How could she not understand the difficult situation of the Xu family If the Mo Army really set out to conquer the world and eventually established their rule in Central China, then the Xu family would inevitably become the greatest founding heroes. A family that had endured three dynasties still standing firm, a family that betrayed the previous dynasty to support the Great Chu Kingdom and then betrayed the Great Chu Kingdom to support Prince Ding, even with the reputation of being the most upright people in the land, it could not completely eliminate the suspicion of the people and the monarch. Xu Qingchen smiled at her and said, "Li’er needn’t worry. The Xu family will still stay in Northwest to support Prince Ding until he no longer needs us."

"Big Brother is referring to becoming a strategist"

“Correct.” Xu Qingchen smiled as he nodded.

“No way!” Ye Li firmly rejected the idea, "Big Brother should know that throughout history, strategists never have a good ending." Strategists operate in the shadows, providing advice for their monarchs; because they know too many secrets, they are always discarded when no longer needed. Even ministers and military officers close to the monarch usually do not like such people. Wisdom is suspected of treachery, incompetence leads to abandonment. Imposing this identity on Big Brother and Uncle, Ye Li would rather see them retire now and not involve themselves in worldly affairs. Xu Qingchen raised his eyebrows and smiled, "Doesn't Li’er think Prince Ding is the type who discards those who have served him well"

Ye Li shook her head and firmly stated, "In any case, it's out of the question! Big Brother, if you trust Li’er, please stay in Northwest. Regardless of what happens in the future, Li’er will guarantee with my life that the Xu family will retire honorably. If you do not believe me, I'll go ask the Prince to make the Xus withdraw from public life."

“Li’er…”

Ye Li shook her head and looked at Xu Qingchen with bright eyes, "Li’er understands that Big Brother and Uncle are thinking about Li’er. If the King relies too heavily on the Xu family, the former officials of Prince Ding's court will certainly be unhappy with Li’er. However, Li’er cannot let Uncle and Big Brother suffer such委屈。大哥和舅舅是治世之才，不是躲在暗處專營算計的謀士。”

“Agree,” came Mo Xiuyao’s voice from behind Xu Qingchen in support of Ye Li. The two turned around to see Mo Xiuyao strolling over, his white hair fluttering slightly as it brushed against his side. As soon as Xu Qingchen was about to stand up, Mo Xiuyao had already walked up and gently pushed him back with a smile, saying, "I didn’t expect Li’er and Big Brother would be chatting here idly; I came over just now because I want to chat with Big Brother too. Does he mind" The repeated use of “Big Brother” caused Xu Qingchen’s mouth to twitch involuntarily; Mo Xiuyao had stubbornly refused to call him that in the past.

“Your Highness, please sit down,” Xu Qingchen raised his head and smiled calmly.

Mo Xiuyao sat down beside Ye Li, looking at Xu Qingchen seriously and said, "This Prince cannot guarantee a hundred years of wealth for the Xu family, but as Li’er said, this Prince guarantees with my life that the Xu family will retire honorably. Does Big Brother believe it"

Xu Qingchen was silent for a moment before he lifted his head and smiled, "Your Highness’s word is law; how could I not believe But let's skip the term of 'Big Brother'. Your Highness can call me by my name."

Mo Xiuyao raised his eyebrows. Xu Qingchen shook his head with a smile, saying, "Being clear about public and private matters, whether it’s for Your Highness or Li’er, is all good."

Moxiu Yao immediately understood Xu Qingchen's intention and nodded, saying, "This King will use tea instead of alcohol to toast to Mr. Qingchen."

"Thank you."

With the prescription provided by the sick scholar, Shen Yang and Doctor Lin were naturally twice as efficient in making the medicine. Of course, they had carefully verified that the prescription given by the sick scholar was indeed an ancient recipe passed down a thousand years ago. They also confirmed its authenticity through various means and their own knowledge of medicinal theory, determining the possible effects of the concoction once made into medicine. It took them half a month to finally refine what might be the last remaining blue lotus flower in the world into pills for Ye Li and Moxiu Yao. The volume of the blue lotus flower was not small; adding various precious herbs only added to their number, but the final concoction produced mere five pills. Once it was determined that the blue lotus flower had indeed become extinct from this era, then these five pills could be considered the last remaining ones in the world.

Seeing the fragrant dark brown pills before them, everyone present couldn't help but display a look of joy on their faces.

Shen Yang smiled faintly and said, "Your Highness can take one pill first. After three days, take another to completely detoxify your body. As for this sickly young man, his constitution is too weak to handle it; he will need to use a quarter of the pill at a time, diluted in water. Take one every five days. Only one pill is needed, after which all that's required is finding a renowned doctor to properly adjust and nourish his body." The sick scholar looked at him coldly and said, "You've made five pills, yet you're pointing out only one" Doctor Lin sneered, "We only need two. Why don't we give the rest to you Would you like to follow Duke Ding's example of taking a whole pill each time Is it because your body is too weak for heavy doses that you blame the doctor" It was clear that the sick scholar's constitution was too frail to withstand heavy medicinal tonics; stronger medicine indeed showed quicker results, but his body couldn't handle them.

Ling Tiehan patted the sick scholar on the shoulder and took the medicine bottle Shen Yang handed over with a smile. "Thank you, Mr. Shen and Doctor Lin for your efforts." The expressions of the two divine doctors finally eased up as Doctor Lin casually threw out two prescriptions: "These prescriptions should be used regularly; it will take about a year or so to recover fully. Pay attention to recuperation and cultivation of health in daily life, otherwise secondary effects may linger." Ling Tiehan carefully put away the prescriptions and respectfully thanked Doctor Lin. Although the sick scholar didn't speak, his eyes shone brighter after hearing Doctor Lin's words.

The medicine refined by these two divine doctors indeed had miraculous effects; Moxiu Yao only needed one pill to eliminate most of the toxins in his body. His complexion no longer looked as pale as before, and even his usually icy-cold body temperature returned to normal levels. After complete detoxification, with proper recuperation for a year or so, Moxiu Yao's health should be fully recovered. However, since the detoxification process began, Moxiu Yao's leg pain from his previous recovery had started to recur again. This forced Ye Li to bring Moxiu Yao back to Shen Yang for another examination. Clearly, this wasn't unexpected for Shen Yang; stroking his beard, he said, "Last year I mentioned that Your Highness can walk normally because of the phoenix tail grass. The fire toxin from the phoenix tail grass is intense enough to compare with the cold poison in a freezing pool. It temporarily opened up the blocked leg meridians caused by your severe injury back then. Now that the toxins inside your body are being cleared, the original leg injuries naturally recur."

Ye Li frowned and said, "Does this mean Your Highness will still be unable to walk after all toxins are eliminated"

Hearing this, Moxiu Yao held Ye Li's right hand tighter. Ye Li turned her head and smiled faintly at him.

Shen Yang replied, "That shouldn't happen; the fire toxin from the phoenix tail grass was introduced through Your Highness' legs back then, so there's still some effect in opening up the blocked meridians. However, the injury was severe, and it's been a decade-old wound which couldn’t leave without any隱患. It’s just that he doesn't adapt temporarily after detoxification; once all toxins are eliminated, I'll prescribe some medicine for old injuries. In the future, it will likely only cause trouble during overcast or rainy days. Many people have this condition and it's not a major issue." Hearing Shen Yang's words, Ye Li finally put her mind at ease. Indeed, even with severe external injuries from before, long-term rehabilitation might not leave no aftereffects. Moreover, Moxiu Yao had been injured for ten years; leg pain during overcast or rainy days was already quite good results. Nodding, Ye Li said, "Then it's a burden on Mr. Shen."

Shen Yang was packing up while smiling and saying, "No need to be polite, Wangfei. After all these years, the王爺has finally recovered, so I can rest easy too." Ye Li knew that Shen Yang had remained in the Ding王府for all those years because of Mo Xiuyao's illness and also due to his friendship with Mo Liufang back then. She didn't say any more thank yous as she knew that Shen Yang's efforts for Mo Xiuyao and the Ding王府over these years couldn’t be expressed with mere words.

The heartiest servants of the Ding王府were secretly delighted about their master’s complete recovery. However, an undercurrent stirred in the Northwest. After news of Tan Jizhi’s whereabouts and the Imperial Jade Seal suddenly leaked out from somewhere unknown, although things appeared calm on the surface, many people had been secretly fighting over them underground. The unluckiest person was undoubtedly Tan Jizhi.

Originally, Tan Jizhi only wanted to come to the Northwest to pick up Shumanling and cause some trouble for Mo Xiuyao as a side effect. But unexpectedly, since he entered the Northwest, everything went wrong for him. Not only did he fail to see Mo Xiuyao or Ye Li, but his identity was exposed to the whole world. He had been busy dealing with people who came looking for the Imperial Jade Seal and the treasure map every day, leaving no time to trouble Mo Xiuyao.

Tan Jizhi knew that the Ding王府was behind this situation, but he couldn't blame them either since he was the one who falsely accused the Ding王府of having the Imperial Jade Seal in the first place. Now he was suffering for his own actions.

Under the cover of darkness, Tan Jizhi calmly faced the black-clothed men blocking his path and coolly asked, "Who are you guys What have I done to offend you"

The leader of the black-clothed men coldly replied, "Tan Jizhi, don't pretend. Hand over the Imperial Jade Seal and tell us where the treasure is hidden, and we'll spare your life!" Tan Jizhi sneered, "You're not the first to come asking for treasures from me, nor will you be the last. I don’t know how you got wind of this rumor about the Imperial Jade Seal and treasure map, but I only have two words for you: non-existent."

The leader coldly said again, "Lin Yuan, descendant of an imperial family from the previous dynasty. If we hadn't confirmed your identity, would we be here You’d better tell us where the treasure is or else don’t blame us if we act rudely."

Tan Jizhi closed his eyes in frustration and sized up the black-clothed men surrounding him. These days he was driven mad by these people; being a descendant of an imperial family from the previous dynasty indeed made his knowledge of the treasure's location more credible. Tan Jizhi himself really had no way to explain, for if he knew where the treasures were hidden, he wouldn’t be wandering around in the Northwest like this now. He previously sent all those people who came looking back after killing them, but now that he was alone, these black-clothed men surrounding him clearly outnumbered and outmatched him.

After some thought, Tan Jizhi said, "If you want to know where the treasure is hidden, I can tell you. But how do I know you won’t kill me after getting the map"

The leader smirked and replied, “Rest assured, Sir Tan. We only seek wealth, not our lives. As long as you give us the location of the treasure, we’ll let you leave whenever you want.” Tan Jizhi raised an eyebrow in response, "What if I hand over a fake oneAfter a moment of hesitation, he whispered, "Your Highness, why didn't you tell Miss Ye…""Ji Jin, head back," Mo Xiuyao cut him off."…Yes, Your Highness."— This isn’t a misunderstanding; it’s a worse...