Chapter Fourteen: Lucky Escape

  When someone handed a warm ginger soup to Zhao's mouth, she almost couldn't wait to lean over and gulp it down. The hot ginger soup brought warmth to her icy body, making her feel like the whole person was warming up.

  Her wet clothes were taken off by a thirteen or fourteen year old girl and replaced with an extremely oversized collarless cotton shirt, very clean but not new, looking like it might be a boy's garment. She didn't have time to take a good look before being wrapped in a small quilt and carried over to the fire pit.

  Grandma Zhang and brother Zhao Wei are not here, when Grandma Zhang was rescued ashore, she probably relaxed her spirit and only said "Save my son" before fainting, until now she has not woken up, Zhao Wei has been having a fever, they were sent to a clean carriage, taken care of by a special person.

  This group of kind-hearted travelers seemed to be a very large team, with many male and female attendants, coachmen, guards, grooms, maids, and even doctors. Their travel equipment was also extremely complete. On this stormy and rainy night, instead of going to a place with people to take shelter, they set up camp on the riverbank where the tide couldn't reach. They erected several simple tents in an open area, forming a circle around the guards and attendants who lived inside, while the masters and maids lived in the middle of a spacious, sturdy, and rain-proof carriage. On the outer dry land, they also lit two bonfires, one for cooking and the other for the attendants to warm themselves by. At this time, Zhao was placed beside the latter.

  The fire was warm and dry, the thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl brought over another bowl of hot porridge, simple white rice porridge, but for Zhao it was the most delicious food, she felt her body getting warmer, the cold empty feeling in her stomach quickly disappeared, and sweat even broke out on her forehead. The girl used a dry towel to wipe away her sweat, she looked at her gratefully: "Thank you beautiful sister."

  The girl smiled and gently pinched her little cheek: "Your mouth is really sweet! How old are you? What's your name?" While asking, she helped her wrap the small quilt tighter.

  "My name is Zhao, and I'm two years old now!" Zhao thought to herself that she wasn't lying, she had already passed her first birthday, so it was okay to say she was two. Although this age was still very young, but with her articulate expression, saying she was two didn't seem too shocking or unconventional, at most it just meant she was a bit precocious.

  "How clever!" The girl didn't suspect anything, she just exclaimed and left with the empty bowl.

  Before long, she brought over a middle-aged woman. The dress of this middle-aged woman was somewhat different from hers, with a bun on her head, wearing a light green fine cotton shirt and a cyan skirt that was simple and neat, except for the small pearl earrings on her ears, there were no accessories at all. Although the woman also wore fine cotton clothes, she had exquisite flowers embroidered on the cuffs and hem of her dark blue jacket, with a shiny round bun on her head, adorned with two silver hairpins inlaid with jade, and her earrings were also made of jade beads, low-key yet luxurious, one could tell at a glance that her status was not ordinary.

  Zhao looked at her and wondered who this woman could be, but judging from the reaction of the guards around him when they saw her, polite but not respectful enough, he guessed that she was probably not the mistress.

  The middle-aged woman's face was round and dignified, with a gentle smile: "Little girl, are you warmer now? Do you feel uncomfortable?" She also asked the young girl: "Yanxia, has the child had a fever?"

  The girl named Yanyan replied, "Just now my forehead was burning badly, after drinking the ginger soup and eating a bowl of hot congee, I broke out in sweat and felt better. This moment I still have some fever, but she is clear-headed and articulate."

  Zhao? She seemed a bit dazed, had she also caught a fever? It made sense, after all, she had fallen into the water and been blown by the wind for half the night, her body was chilled to the bone. It wasn't surprising that she got sick, she was just a little kid, her body was very weak. But she hadn't realized it at all, thinking that the ginger soup and the fire pit were what made her feel warm all over.

  The middle-aged woman listened to Yanxia's words, bent down and touched Zhao's small face with her hand, felt his forehead, and nodded: "He still has a bit of fever, let Jiang...Jiang Daifu come over and take a look later." Yanxia responded.

  "Excuse me, ma'am," Zhao hurriedly asked, "How are my grandmother and brother?"

  The middle-aged woman smiled and said, "Both of them are safe and sound, they just got sick. After taking the medicine, they will recover soon." She then asked casually, "Is that lady your grandmother? Judging from her clothes and appearance, she doesn't look like an ordinary person. I wonder where you people are from?"

  Zhao thought for a moment, the possibility of this group of people being in cahoots with Eldest Uncle is very small, otherwise they wouldn't have rescued her and her family. Even if they had a good relationship with Eldest Uncle, it's not something that can be openly told to others, after all the Emperor's feelings towards her grandfather are genuine. She might as well explain her identity to them, in order to get more help. If she confirms that their identities are trustworthy, then she'll tell them about Eldest Uncle's evil deeds.

  She immediately said to the middle-aged woman: "We are from Beijing, we are people of Jian Nan Hou Fu. My grandfather is a county magistrate, my uncle is Jian Nan Hou, and my father's name is Zhao Jiong. Our whole family was escorting Grandfather's coffin back to our hometown when someone drilled a hole in the bottom of our boat at night, causing it to sink. Everyone fell into the water. Please, ma'am, save my parents!"

  The woman's face changed, and she said solemnly: "I know." She turned around and ordered Yanxia: "Take her to the carriage, take good care of her, I'll go report." Yanxia was also shocked, nodded hastily: "Yes, don't worry, Cao mama." After Cao mama left, she squatted down and picked up Zhao, her attitude had changed, no longer teasing her like before.

  Zhao was hastily carried away from the bonfire and sent into a horse-drawn carriage. The exterior of the carriage looked unassuming, but inside it was very comfortable, with a plain-colored woolen blanket spread out, silk-covered pillows, embroidered sachets hanging on the walls, and a brass foot warmer in the corner. Yanxia smiled as she settled her into the soft cushions, placing the foot warmer beside her, saying: "You take a nap now, I can see you must be exhausted. By tomorrow morning when you wake up, your grandmother and brother will be fine."

  Is that so? Really? Zhao... felt a bit uncertain in her heart, but her eyelids couldn't help drooping downwards. She was indeed exhausted, let's sleep for now, maybe when she wakes up, everyone will be saved.

  Mrs. Cao got on the largest horse-drawn carriage, inside which there were two people. A handsome young man in his early twenties was wearing a moon-white cloud-patterned straight robe, leaning lazily against the big pillow, holding a volume of poetry and looking at it. On the small table beside him was placed an oil lamp, but what he mainly relied on to read books was the light emitted by a night pearl hanging on the carriage wall, which made the carriage as bright as daytime. Opposite him sat a young woman with her legs crossed, wearing a light green embroidered flower apron and a white horse-face skirt. Her hair was like clouds, and only adorned with a white jade phoenix hairpin, which was flawless and exquisitely crafted, definitely not an ordinary product.

  Look, Mother Cao has arrived. The young woman looked up and said, "How is it? Can you ask the three of them about their origins?"

  Mrs. Cao hurried forward and quietly repeated what Zhao had said, not missing a single word. The young woman was slightly startled, looked at the handsome man: "Your Highness? What do you think?"

  The king then asked Cao's mother: "Mother, you also met the wife of Jianan County magistrate with the queen in the past, what do you think?"

  "Your Majesty, I must confess that although it has been many years since I last saw the wife of the Duke, I can still vaguely recognize her appearance despite her disheveled state. Moreover, she is wearing mourning attire and has not spoken a word about her identity or background from start to finish. And what about that little girl? How old could she be? Who would believe such a deception? Her identity must be genuine."

  "This is strange." The king's expression was solemn, "Since it's the family of the Duke of Jiangnan sending the coffin back to their hometown, how could someone sabotage the boat and harm people?" He called out several guards and ordered them to search along the river for survivors and wreckage. He also asked Cao's mother: "How are the duke's wife and two children doing?"

  "Mrs. Cao hastily said: 'Doctor Jiang has already diagnosed and treated her, the old lady fainted from exhaustion and was exposed to the cold river water for half the night, so she contracted a chill and needs good care to recover. However, it seems that she didn't take good care of herself when she was young, which might lead to future troubles. As for the two children, the older boy has caught a chill and is running a fever, but if the fever breaks before dawn, he'll be fine; Doctor Jiang will stay by his side. The little girl also has some fever, but it's nothing serious, I've already instructed Yunxia to take good care of her.'"

  The king nodded solemnly and instructed his wife: "The county lord's wife and the county lord's personal grandson are all unconscious, so I'll trouble you, Queen, to go take a look. When the county lord's wife wakes up, it won't hurt to reveal our identities a bit, so we can ask clearly about the cause of the matter. Most importantly, what has happened to the coffin of the Duke of Southern Jian?"

  The young woman hesitated: "This time Wang Ye is on a secret mission by order of the Emperor, if his identity is revealed..."

  "It doesn't matter." The king said seriously, "The wife of the county magistrate knows her place, and besides, the old county magistrate is different from others. If he hadn't spoken out to remonstrate with my father, my father wouldn't have been able to ascend to the throne as emperor. He has great kindness towards us father and son, and after his death, my father took us brothers to pay our respects in person and vowed that we would definitely protect his family and keep them safe. Since I've encountered this matter, I couldn't just sit back and do nothing, letting him die without peace, with his flesh and blood scattered."

  The young woman hastily stood up and solemnly replied: "Your Highness is right, I know what to do now."

  The search work under the king's command was very efficient, and soon they found the wreckage of the boat drifting on the river surface, and several corpses were found on the riverbank. More importantly, they found the fleet of ships belonging to Jian Nan Hou. However, when they went forward to investigate, the people in the fleet said that they were indeed the ones who escorted the coffin of the Duke back to his hometown, but no one had fallen into the water during the journey. Everyone had taken shelter on the shore due to the wind and rain last night, and there was no accident. If someone fell into the river, it must have been an unrelated passerby, and they were in a hurry to get back on the road, so they didn't have time to bother with others.

  The guards who went to ask did not reveal the identity of the king, but said that they were passing merchants. They rescued people in distress not far downstream and seemed to be servants of a wealthy family. Seeing their fleet here and flying the Hou Mansion flag, they would ask questions. Seeing them answer like this, they were surprised in their hearts, but didn't show it on their faces, and quickly returned to report back.

  The king received the news, his face darkened. The queen had met the wife of Jian Nan County Duke, how could she not recognize her? Since the person was not wrong, then the claim that no one was in trouble by Jian Nan Hou seemed particularly suspicious. After dawn, his subordinates found the sunken ship, and the lanterns of the Jian Nan Hou Mansion were still left on the wreckage, further confirming what Zhao said.

  Zhang's family has not yet awakened, Zhao Wei's condition has improved but is still in a coma, and the search and rescue work on the river is still ongoing. The number of bodies found is increasing, and what's even stranger is that some of them are dressed like sailors, with their whole body soaked, lying on the riverbank, but with knife wounds on their bodies, all of which were fatal blows. If it was just a shipwreck, where did these knife wounds come from? Could it be that someone really wants to harm the family of the Duke's household? And why is Jian Nan Hou safe and sound?

  The king was just feeling suspicious when a guard came to report: "Your Majesty, two people of unknown identity have been captured, and they seem to have ulterior motives!"