Actually, on this trip, Jiang Mingsheng found Jiang Cong. Beside him was an older maidservant named Yu Gu.
Later, however, they were pursued by sorcerers. Jiang Mingsheng, in order to lead the sorcerers away, split into two paths with Jiang Cong. He was slightly injured after defeating a sorcerer. When he returned to find Jiang Cong after two days of recuperation, he couldn't find any trace of them.
However, it could be concluded that they were likely just in hiding and had not fallen into the hands of the sorcerers.
He looked at Lin Yanxi and felt he should tell her something, so he said, "But when I went to the manor this time, I encountered sorcerers."
The mention of sorcerers caused Lin Yanxi's nerves to tighten. She quickly asked, "Did you encounter the person behind it all?"
He pondered for a moment and fell into recollection. "I had crossed paths with sorcerers before. It was always over in a few moves, and I never delved too deeply. But this time, I discovered there is only one true sorcerer."
"The rest of the black cloaks are controlled by this sorcerer, which is why their spells are rather weak and slow, with lingering cursed energy. But at the end, there was a tall figure. Although he also wore a black cloak, his sorcery was exceptionally skillful and devious."
"Furthermore, there was no cursed energy on him. If he hadn't used sorcery, even a talisman master would have had difficulty discerning him. And he injured me, and I injured him. After he was wounded, those black cloaks had identical wounds."
Lin Yanxi excitedly asked, "You, you actually fought the real sorcerer?"
"What did he look like? Did he have any distinguishing features?"
Jiang Mingsheng thought back carefully, then shook his head weakly. "Like the black cloaks, his face was hidden by his clothes, and his features couldn't be seen. It can be determined that he was a young man, tall and lean."
"I truly can't recall any other details. The situation was very dangerous at the time; escaping itself was a stroke of luck."
Although his description was vague, it at least narrowed down the scope, which made Lin Yanxi quite happy.
"Then Master, you're injured? Where are you hurt?"
As she spoke, she looked at him, searching for wounds. In the process, she accidentally touched his injured left leg.
"Hiss, you lass, it's on my leg, the left leg!" He gasped in pain, his teeth gritted.
Lin Yanxi lowered her gaze and saw that her shoe was precisely on his left foot. She quickly stepped back half a pace, looking at him with embarrassment.
Only then did she notice Jiang Mingsheng's very poor complexion and his slight trembling. He was already trying his best to restrain himself, yet she could still see him shivering with cold.
She said with concern, "I'll go call the manor physician to examine you."
He waved his hand and said, "No need, it's just a superficial wound."
Lin Yanxi looked at him with doubt, then placed the back of her hand on his forehead. It was burning hot.
She guessed it was caused by the wound and insisted he see a doctor. "Stay here and don't move. I'll go call the manor physician. He's very reliable, one of our own."
Jiang Mingsheng's identity was special, but Shen Muzhou had said that everyone working in the manor was loyal, so they could be trusted.
Without giving Jiang Mingsheng a chance to refuse, she turned and ran off, instructing Lizhi, who was guarding the entrance, to summon the manor physician.
Within half an hour, the manor physician, carrying a medicine box, hurried over with Lizhi.
"Oh dear, be gentler!"
Jiang Mingsheng's leg was propped on a chair. The manor physician rolled up his trouser leg a bit and saw the wound on his calf.
The wound had not fully healed and was somewhat suppurating. It was bloody, with lingering cursed energy, indicating it was a severe injury.
To have injured her master to this extent, it seemed this sorcerer's power was not weak, surpassing both hers and her master's.
The manor physician had never seen such a wound. "My goodness, how did this happen? It looks like a burn, but the shape of the wound is very regular, yet it doesn't seem to be from fire."
His words carried a hint of probing. Jiang Mingsheng lived in the back courtyard of the manor, and his meals were delivered daily by Lizhi or Xiao Liu. When he wanted to see Lin Yanxi, he never used the main entrance.
The manor physician had never seen him before. Seeing the strange wound, he couldn't help but become suspicious.
And he looked so much like...
Like a wanted criminal on the run from the Zongzheng Temple!
Upon this thought, his hand trembled as he cleaned the wound, and Jiang Mingsheng cried out in pain, "Ouch! Do you want to kill this old man Jiang..."
Lin Yanxi quickly explained, "This is my master. I hope the manor physician can keep this confidential from others."
The manor physician nodded hastily, "Of course, of course."
He applied some ointment and prescribed a few doses of medicine.
Every day, besides drinking her own medicine, Lin Yanxi would go to the back courtyard to supervise Jiang Mingsheng's dressing changes.
"Manor physician, my master has been like this for three or four days, yet his leg wound doesn't seem to be getting better?"
Her own injuries had largely recovered, with no significant issues. In contrast, Jiang Mingsheng's leg was not optimistic.
He also always had a fever, which repeatedly came and went, and didn't seem to be getting better.
Jiang Mingsheng, who usually liked to sit in the courtyard, was lying on his bed today, looking very weak.
The manor physician wiped the sweat from his forehead, holding a pestle to finely grind herbs and apply them to Jiang Mingsheng's wound.
"Second Miss, please forgive my ignorance, but the wounds on Master Jiang's leg seem different from those caused by ordinary weapons, hence these common medicinal herbs can only treat the symptoms, not the root cause."
Lin Yanxi asked, "Does it require any precious medicinal ingredients?"
The manor physician said, "I heard that a type of deer called the Crimson Deer was once presented as tribute from Xizhou. This deer has two crimson antlers. If these antlers are ground into powder and used as medicine, they can stop bleeding and regenerate flesh."
"This deer is currently kept in the imperial hunting grounds, but it is extremely difficult to capture. At least, in these years, no one has managed to hunt a Crimson Deer."
Jiang Mingsheng waved his hand indifferently, "Don't go to all that trouble for me. I should have died long ago; living until now is already a disservice to the departed."
"Master, what are you saying!" Lin Yanxi interrupted him, her nose feeling a little sore.
She said, "Don't worry, Master. In a few days, it will be the hunting season. I will definitely bring back a Crimson Deer to heal you."
Jiang Mingsheng smiled benevolently, "Good disciple, so filial."
After the manor physician left, Lin Yanxi stayed with Jiang Mingsheng for a while longer. Lizhi then entered and whispered into Lin Yanxi's ear, "Miss, Tang Chao sent word that the Third Miss is causing a great fuss at home and has angered the Master."
---
Grand Tutor's Manor.
"I want to go save the Crown Prince! Father, how can you be so untrustworthy!"
"Slap—"
Lin Ruoyan was crying uncontrollably in Lin Ze's study. Her sharp voice echoed throughout the entire Grand Tutor's Manor. Concubine Xu and Lin Shibai only dared to stand outside the courtyard and watch from a distance.
Lin Ze was trembling with anger at her, yet he had said everything he could. Lin Ruoyan refused to listen to anything, so he turned his back, his breathing becoming labored from anger.
Just as Lin Ruoyan's emotions were escalating, a figure in a light yellow dress strode in from outside the courtyard, pulled Lin Ruoyan's body, and struck her across the face with an open palm.
Lin Ruoyan was silenced instantly by the blow. Upon seeing who it was, she asked with red eyes, "Sister finally arrived? Go on, hit me again, hit me to death!"
"Anyway, Mother is dead, and you're getting married soon. No one cares about me anymore, right?"
Lin Yanxi had lost control of her emotions when she heard her questioning her father's betrayal. How could she bear to hit Lin Ruoyan?
She paused, her voice trembling slightly, "No, how could no one care about you? Yan'er, you will always be my third sister. It's my fault, sister shouldn't have hit you."
"Stop making such a scene!"
The death of their mother, she felt, was somehow connected to her. It was she who had caused Lin Ruoyan to lose her mother at such a young age, so she had already resolved in her heart to protect Ruoyan.
Lin Ze turned around upon hearing Lin Yanxi's voice, sighed heavily, and said helplessly, "Yan'er, you don't understand court affairs. The Crown Prince is imprisoned, and our Grand Tutor's Manor cannot help him."
"Moreover, the current Empress is his mother. Does he need a small Grand Tutor's Manor like ours? And do you need to help him? The Emperor's attitude is unclear now. Do you want to endanger the entire Grand Tutor's Manor by helping him?"
Lin Ruoyan covered the side of her face that had been hit and sobbed for a while. Still unwilling, she said, "Is there really no other way? Sister, Sister."
She suddenly grabbed Lin Yanxi's sleeve and said, "Sister, I beg you, you must have a way, right?"
"If you can be the one who caused him to be imprisoned, you can also be the one to save him. As long as Sister wants to do something, there will be a way."
"Sister has always been like this. I beg you, as long as you are willing to help Crown Prince Brother get out of prison, I will persuade him, I, I will persuade him not to be Crown Prince anymore and to leave the capital with me. He won't be a threat to you, nor to Shen Muzhou."
Lin Yanxi slightly furrowed her brows, the temperature in her eyes gradually turning cold. "In your heart, do you think your sister is someone who would frame innocent people for her own benefit?"
"What kind of drug has he given you to make you so foolish!"
"Do you think he loves you very much? Do you know why the third floor of the largest restaurant in the entire capital is sealed off and not open to the public? Because that floor has long been reserved by the Crown Prince for countless women he meets there privately, including your eldest sister, Lin Yuan!"
"Does he love you? Huh? Tell me!"
Lin Ruoyan blinked, then shook her head blankly. "He told me about what happened with Eldest Sister. I can..."
She was silent for a moment, then held back her tears and choked out, "I can accept sharing a husband with Eldest Sister."
Lin Yanxi sneered, "You are truly beyond saving. Fine, you love him, don't you? Then go ahead. Save him however you wish, but do not involve the Grand Tutor's Manor."
"The Grand Tutor's Manor has no reason to be buried for your foolish love!"
Lin Ze echoed from the side, "Zhaozhao is right. Even for ordinary families, it is a matter of shame for two sisters to marry the same man, let alone for you to be the legitimate second daughter of my Grand Tutor's Manor!"
"How could you say such a thing? Did I send you to study in vain?"
Lin Yanxi didn't want to argue with her about the Crown Prince anymore and turned to go out for some fresh air.
Lin Ruoyan looked at her departing back, thinking she was leaving, and quickly chased after her, grabbing her sleeve. "Sister, if you all dislike him, I don't have to marry him and become Crown Princess, as long as you can save him."
"He's such a proud person, groomed for the position of Crown Prince since childhood. If he were truly demoted, he wouldn't be able to bear it."
"I believe he will be a good Crown Prince, and in the future, a good ruler. Okay? Sister."
Tears streamed down Lin Ruoyan's face. She hadn't eaten or slept well these past few days, her face looking haggard, her hair even loosely tied. Her words were full of cautious pleading.
Lin Yanxi's gaze softened. She took out a handkerchief and wiped the tears from Ruoyan's face, then helped her tuck away the stray hairs around her forehead.
"Go wash up, Sister will take you somewhere."