Lu Qingwan thought that the three southeastern kingdoms and one principality should not have anyone so foolish as to openly trouble them. If someone were to assassinate them in secret, flashing this banknote would likely be useless!
However, it was the couple, Si Fengming and Yan Ruozhao, after all, who had extended their goodwill, so she accepted it with a pleased smile without refusing.
“In that case, I’ll trouble General.
Please convey to His Majesty and the Empress that we are well-prepared and they need not worry.
As for Yuan’er, his messages will be sent to the palace by my people every few days, so they needn’t fret…”
Lu Qingwan continued to nag like a little housewife, making Gu Xingzhi chuckle as he listened.
“Your Highness, please rest assured. His Majesty and the Empress have been in Zhongzhou for over twenty years; they will be fine.”
Clearly, it was she who was about to embark on a long journey, yet she spoke as if Si Fengming and Yan Ruozhao were the ones leaving. Gu Xingzhi reminded Lu Qingwan with a smile, intending to put her at ease.
Upon hearing this, Lu Qingwan felt a little embarrassed. When she was in Daqian, she had to manage every important and trivial matter in the manor.
The role reversal, with people now worrying about her and Feng Xiwu, was something she hadn’t quite adjusted to yet.
“Then, everything is in General Gu’s hands.”
She clasped her fists towards Gu Xingzhi, and the caravan finally set off again.
Inside the spacious carriage, Chi Yaoyao’s limbs were bound. Lu Qingwan, Feng Xiwu, Xue Hongyi, and Li Su sat on different sides, keeping watch over her.
Seeing her return, Feng Xiwu handed her a box of dried fruits that had been prepared earlier. “You left too early this morning and didn’t have breakfast. Have something to line your stomach.”
Lu Qingwan placed the dried fruit box on her lap and yawned. “Speaking of Feng Qingheng, he’s really something.
When he’s around, he finds ways to provoke people, and even when he’s not, he still tries his best to annoy you.
When he was the Prince Chen, he had the late Emperor protecting him. Now that he’s still causing trouble, isn’t he afraid of provoking someone too much, that someone might just decide to take him out?”
“Of course, he’s afraid. That’s why he’s using the Prime Minister’s mansion, the Chi family, and the Southern Prince’s manor as hostages!”
Xue Hongyi leaned languidly against the carriage wall. If Chi Yaoyao hadn’t been in the middle, he would have sprawled out right there.
“He’s quite self-aware. He knows that the people he’s offended who are most likely and capable of taking him out are the two of you. So, he’s captured everyone you care about as hostages.
But I say, you two haven’t known the petty Feng Qingheng for just a day. The Southern Prince’s manor is one thing, but the Prime Minister’s mansion and the Chi family, didn’t you send anyone to protect them?”
Xue Hongyi’s amorous peach blossom eyes widened with suspicion.
Lu Qingwan also sighed deeply. “How could that be possible?
Prime Minister Wen once offered guidance to His Highness, and Grand Tutor Chi even saved my life. We knew that if anything seemed amiss, Feng Qingheng would make things difficult for them, so of course, we would send people to protect them!
But you know what kind of people those two old lords are. From the day I married into Daqin, they refused our protection.”
Xue Hongyi, always known for his carefree nature and focus on results rather than process, found the mindset of the two old officials difficult to comprehend. “Knowing that scoundrel Feng Qingheng intended to make things difficult for them, yet they still refused protection, are you sure these two old officials don’t have a screw loose?”
“What are you saying?”
Lu Qingwan shot him a glare.
“Prime Minister Wen and Grand Tutor Chi aren’t mentally unsound. They would rather be subjected to Feng Qingheng’s difficulties than have their own conduct be improper and give him cause for criticism.”
Feng Xiwu also explained, “Although receiving protection from this Prince and the Princess Consort might not be considered improper conduct, as important officials of the court, being protected by a member of a foreign royal family could easily raise suspicions of colluding with another country.
The reason these two esteemed officials have become among the few tri-dynasty veterans in the Daqian court, besides their own exceptional capabilities, is also because they have been cautious and prudent in their words and actions for years, never overstepping their bounds.
While their actions might seem rigid, it’s not entirely incomprehensible.”
Lu Qingwan nodded in agreement. “They say that when water is too pure, there are no fish. The Daqian court has long been a murky pool.
If it weren’t for the upright officials like Grand Tutor Chi and Prime Minister Wen persevering, who knows what Daqian would have become.
So, while they may be rigid, such people are indispensable.”
Xue Hongyi clearly wore a look of disagreement, but since the affairs of the Daqian court had nothing to do with him, he didn’t say any more.
“Forget it, I won’t interfere with your affairs. Regarding the Liang King’s consort you mentioned, I’ve had someone investigate her. Guess who she belongs to?”
His question brought the topic back to business, and Lu Qingwan’s thoughts were drawn away.
“From what you’re saying, this person must be someone we know, or at least someone we’ve had some acquaintance with?”
Her eyes darted around. “She kept asking me about Liu Hanyan in various ways, yet she had no idea that Madam Liuli was Martial Aunt Bi Yi.
This indicates she only has some knowledge of Liu Hanyan but is not familiar with the entire Samsara Hall.
In recent years, the only ones who have managed to glean some information about the Samsara Hall have been from the Wuan Palace, right?”
Xue Hongyi smiled. “You actually guessed correctly.
This Liang King’s consort hails from the He clan of Liangzhou. Her birth mother passed away early, and she was not favored by her maternal clan in her youth.
Somehow, the Wuan Palace took notice of her and sent people to meticulously train her, turning a neglected legitimate daughter into the most influential woman in Liangzhou, eclipsing countless noble ladies.
The Wuan Palace even exerted considerable effort for her to marry into the Liang King’s manor.
She can be considered one of the Wuan Palace’s earliest planted ‘spies’ in Daqin.”
When Lu Qingwan learned that Nie Wuming was aided by the Turks, she had already suspected that the Wuan Palace might have eyes and ears beyond just the Turks.
Therefore, hearing that the Liang King’s consort was also a spy planted by the Wuan Palace in Daqin did not surprise her.
However, “Why would people from the Wuan Palace be inquiring about Liu Hanyan?
From her expression, it didn’t seem like a casual question.
In a short while, my origins will probably be laid bare for everyone to see.
I haven’t been in Daqin for long, so I shouldn’t have had any opportunity to make an enemy of her. Therefore, the one who has a grudge against her must be Liu Hanyan, right?”
Lu Qingwan looked at Xue Hongyi calmly. “So, even if I’m burdened by her, targeted by strangers like the Liang King’s consort, you still have to tell me that you still haven’t found her?”
Since she had received news that Liu Hanyan was alive, with the exception of December, the people from the Samsara Hall around her had been almost completely absent.
Not to mention Xue Hongyi and Wen Jiting, even those who occasionally sent her medicinal herbs, food, and rare fabrics, like Chengyi and Qingyi, had lost contact.
But shortly after she arrived in Daqin, these people reappeared like mushrooms after a spring rain.
They helped her make money in what they thought were discreet ways, dealt with Daqin court officials who opposed her, and even threatened various vassal kings not to oppose her.
They helped her everywhere, protected her everywhere, but never mentioned her birth mother, Liu Hanyan, again.