"This is a guest of my General's Mansion, and I will naturally take good care of her," Xia Yunting beckoned to someone behind him. Two individuals stepped forward and helped Rong Zhi back to Xia Yunting's side.
Xiao Jianli did not intervene. He sneered and turned to the three young women. He made a series of strange hand seals and finally touched the foreheads of the three women with his fingertips.
The surrounding crowd vaguely saw something drift out from the foreheads of the three women. Afterward, the three women collapsed to the ground, seemingly having returned to normal.
Xiao Jianli said to Xia Yunting, "General Xia, may I have a word in private?"
Xia Yunting gestured a "please" and led Xiao Jianli away.
As they left, arrows remained trained on Xiao Jianli, as if the slightest move would result in him being pierced through.
Upon arriving at the reception hall, Xiao Jianli said coldly, "Since you know my identity, how dare you do such a thing? Aren't you afraid of losing your head?"
Xia Yunting knew Xiao Jianli was referring to the ambush Xia Yunting had laid for him earlier.
In this vast Imperial City, those who dared to act against him had long since been buried underground.
Xia Yunting asked, "Will you report today's events to the Emperor?"
Without waiting for an answer, Xia Yunting replied for him, "You won't."
If he would, they wouldn't be having this calm conversation here.
"On what basis are you so certain?"
"Because of Xiao Mo, or rather, because of Rong Zhi." Xia Yunting's gaze fixed on Xiao Jianli, successfully capturing the tremor in his expression.
"What Rong Zhi?" Xiao Jianli put on a cold demeanor, as if the previous expression had never occurred.
Xia Yunting chuckled, "Commander Xiao, let's not mince words. Although the Emperor has issued a ban, I have also heard whispers of what happened back then. Some things, while sounding unbelievable, are not impossible. If she is truly still alive, it would be beneficial and harmless to both you and me. In this regard, our interests do not conflict."
A thoughtful look flickered in Xiao Jianli's eyes. Suddenly, his expression brightened for a moment. "So that's how it is. You think you can use her as leverage, and therefore you're no longer playing dumb as you were before."
When he had been monitoring in the General's Mansion, Xia Yunting had been exceptionally cautious, giving Xiao Jianli a strong impression that Xia Yunting genuinely feared him. However, looking back now, Xia Yunting clearly possessed the strength to kill him, he had simply not revealed it.
"What if I said I don't care at all?"
"Then you wouldn't have saved her."
Seeing no change in Xiao Jianli's expression, Xia Yunting gently tapped the nearby table. "Commander Xiao, I know your origins, and I understand some of your past with the former Medicine King Valley Master. However, if the Emperor were to learn of these things, he would absolutely not allow you to remain in the palace."
Xiao Jianli detected the threatening tone. "What do you want?"
Xia Yunting said, "I want to make a deal with Commander Xiao."
Xiao Jianli raised his eyelids and suddenly let out a cold laugh. "So this was all orchestrated by you."
He had deliberately left Rong Zhi in the empty courtyard, putting her in danger, and then waited for him to rescue her. This was not only to test the relationship between him and Rong Zhi, but also to ascertain his knowledge of Xuan Shu.
Years ago, the court had attempted to recruit Medicine King Valley, but it was met with unanimous rejection from its members. It was common knowledge in the martial world that the people of Medicine King Valley cherished freedom and were unwilling to be bound by rules. Later, after the death of the Medicine King Valley Master, Medicine King Valley still fell under the jurisdiction of Tianque Kingdom.
Even if the disciples of Medicine King Valley could not speak freely under the court's authority, the former Valley Master had many friends in the martial world. They could not help but speculate, and some even wanted to confront the Emperor directly after the former Valley Master's death. However, they were all suppressed.
The Emperor was still very wary of certain martial forces. If he learned that Xiao Jianli had been a friend of Rong Zhi, he might suspect Xiao Jianli of having ulterior motives in joining the Plum Blossom Guard. It was uncertain whether Xiao Jianli could extricate himself from such a situation.
He hadn't expected that his visit would give Xia Yunting leverage. However, at this point, since Xiao Jianli already knew Rong Zhi was alive, nothing else mattered.
"What do you want me to do?"
"I want you to find a way to make my Master come out of seclusion again," Xia Yunting said these words slowly, causing Xiao Jianli to freeze in place.
Xia Yunting's Master was Cheng Yichen, the former highly esteemed Imperial Preceptor of Tianque Kingdom. Thirteen years ago, after an incident, Cheng Yichen had suddenly retired and never reappeared. Outsiders were unaware of the reason, assuming he had foreseen some heavenly secret and was hiding from disaster. Only a few close confidants of the Emperor knew that the Imperial Preceptor had actually been imprisoned by the Emperor.
Later, the Emperor issued various prohibitions, all related to that incident.
It was now more difficult than scaling heaven to get the Imperial Preceptor to come out of seclusion.
"Xia Yunting, are you sure you're not crazy?"
"Of course." Xia Yunting looked at Xiao Jianli seriously. "Only when my Master appears can the truth of that year be brought to light. Don't you want to stop people from thinking that the former Medicine King Valley Master poisoned himself during treatment due to his lack of medical skill?"
A struggle flickered in Xiao Jianli's eyes. "However, this could easily cause widespread chaos."
He suddenly solidified his gaze. "I cannot agree to this request. Besides, even if I could do it, what could you offer me?" He already knew Rong Zhi was alive, and he had no regrets in this world. Therefore, he was certain Xia Yunting could not offer him anything appealing.
Xia Yunting simply said, "I can restore Medicine King Valley to its former glory."
Upon hearing this, Xia Yunting saw a flash of ecstasy in Xiao Jianli's eyes. Although he quickly suppressed it, Xia Yunting still caught it.
After a moment of silence, he finally stood up and walked towards the door. Before leaving, Xiao Jianli said, "For now, I can only tell you that I can help you completely resolve this corpse-controlling matter. By the way, Xia Jin did not do this."
Then, his figure disappeared into the night.
Xia Yunting knew that this matter now had a seventy to eighty percent chance of success.
The courtyard returned to tranquility. Although the previous events had caused quite a commotion, due to Xia Yunting's earlier explanation of an assassin intrusion, and the fact that the General's Mansion was frequently visited by assassins, everyone assumed the disturbance was caused by them.
It seemed Xia Yunting had not only intended to confine those young women but also anticipated potential unrest, a truly cautious man.
After the guards had thoroughly searched the entire courtyard, it looked no different than before.
Rong Zhi opened her eyes and saw the bare wall by the bed. A cool sensation emanated from her back. Turning around, she saw the man beside the bed carefully applying medicine to her injured back.
Sensing Rong Zhi's movement, Xia Yunting's gaze softened. "Does it still hurt?"
Rong Zhi stared at Xia Yunting, her thoughts in a whirlwind, until only one question remained: "Xia Yunting, is there something you're hiding from me?"
Xia Yunting's hand paused. He put away the medicine and looked at Rong Zhi with an innocent expression. "Xiao Mo, why do you think that?"
"Intuition."
Why hadn't Xia Yunting appeared while she was busy at the front? If Xia Yunting was dealing with the entity in the backyard, why did he have no visible injuries? As a doctor, Rong Zhi was highly sensitive to others' wounds and couldn't possibly miss such a thing.
Therefore, there was only one possibility: nothing had happened in the backyard, and Xia Yunting had deliberately left her there alone.
Xia Yunting had nowhere to hide from Rong Zhi's gaze. He finally smiled. "You can't hide anything from me. I did want to lure someone out."
Rong Zhi frowned and asked, "Who?"
"Plum Blossom Guard, Xiao Jianli."
Upon hearing the name, Rong Zhi's expression stiffened.
It seemed that before she fainted, a shadow had indeed passed by. Anyone who could enter the General's Mansion must be a person of extraordinary skill.
However, this brought up a question: how did Xia Yunting manage to lure Xiao Jianli here? Could it be her? Rong Zhi suddenly became vigilant. She probed, "Could he deal with those people?"
Xia Yunting nodded. The final resolution of the matter was indeed handled by Xiao Jianli. This surprised Rong Zhi. She hadn't known that Xiao Jianli could handle such things. When had he learned?
"Since you already knew someone could handle this, why didn't you invite him over earlier?" Rong Zhi thought of her injuries and couldn't help but blame Xia Yunting. After all, she wasn't specialized in this, and inviting Xiao Jianli would have resolved the matter sooner.
Xia Yunting explained, "I did this not only to resolve the corpse-controlling technique but also because of you."
After speaking, Xia Yunting looked at Rong Zhi with that familiar gaze again, making Rong Zhi feel as if she had been seen through.
She asked, "Because of what?"
"Because of your identity."
The more Rong Zhi heard, the more vigilant she became. She chuckled unnaturally. "What identity do I have? I'm just a doctor with no great renown."
Xia Yunting shook his head. "Not your current identity, but your past identity."
Past... Rong Zhi's mind went blank, and her speech became a little unnatural.
"Past... what identity."
He couldn't possibly know about her reincarnation, could he? Such a preposterous matter, if revealed to others, would undoubtedly cause significant trouble. Listening to Xia Yunting's words, Rong Zhi had a strong premonition that he already knew and was certain of it.
However, Xia Yunting didn't say it. He just smiled. "Your past identity no longer matters, Xiao Mo. I will send you back to Medicine King Valley as soon as possible."
He left a seemingly unrelated remark and then patted Rong Zhi's head. "Rest well, I'm leaving."
With that, Xia Yunting turned and left the room. As he went out, a gust of wind blew in, causing Rong Zhi to shiver from the cold. When she came to her senses, a single thought had solidified in her mind: Xia Yunting might indeed know.
But why?
As Rong Zhi pondered deeply, the back residence also experienced some unrest. In Xing Jiahui's courtyard, various antique vases lay shattered on the ground. Xing Jiahui clutched Granny Gu's neck, her face filled with frenzy and murderous intent.
Granny Gu let out a scream, "Young... Young miss..."