Chapter Fifty-Four: Worries

  As time passed day by day, there was still no definite news from outside, but the government gradually began to intervene in the rumors among the people. Those who wildly speculated that the crown prince might have died long ago and were secretly hidden, or bet on which imperial son would be appointed as the crown prince, even those who shouted for one or two of them all fell into misfortune and no longer dared to speak loudly. The discussion about the crown prince's serious injury gradually decreased a lot.

  The Zhang family's attention to this matter was not affected by the outside rumors, they would not randomly ask people about it, but also did not miss any possible opportunity to investigate. Although Lu Yunpeng had long left, Qiu Ye as his wife naturally knew which shops he had been dealing with in Songjiang Prefecture over the years, so she sent messages under the name of a family member and gradually got some news. Zhao Wei also paid attention to the rumors outside while at school, and whenever there was any wind, he would bring it back home to tell his grandmother.

  But when all these messages are combined, the conclusion is that there is no news. The crown prince's injury has not improved, but it has not worsened either. Even the Songjiang government does not know the specific details, but since there is no rumor that he has unfortunately passed away, it can be considered good news. Mrs. Zhang was relieved and recited Buddhist scriptures every day, but she was also worried about his injury, so she took her granddaughter to the Buddhist hall to recite sutras and pray for blessings.

  It seems that rich old ladies, when they have nothing to do and are doting on their grandchildren, love to worship Buddha, recite scriptures, and kill time. Zhang was no exception, and a few years ago, she built a small Buddhist temple in the west wing of her house, where she would offer incense and copy scriptures every day to purify her mind. Zhao Xuan thought that this was an old person's way of finding spiritual comfort, and there was nothing wrong with it. Occasionally, she would even help copy some Buddhist scriptures as a way to practice her calligraphy. However, it was rare for her to accompany her grandmother in reciting scriptures and praying for blessings every day, as she was not enthusiastic about worshiping Buddha. Zhang did not force her either, as she was still young. A small girl like her, if she reads too many Buddhist scriptures, may easily become eccentric.

  But now the situation is different, the Crown Prince has a lifesaving grace for her ancestors, Zhao Xuan also respects the handsome and elegant prince and his beautiful and gentle wife in her heart, and there is also the emotional connection with Xiao Ge, so she didn't hesitate at all, and followed her grandmother to recite Buddhist scriptures. She is now separated from them by two thousand miles, even if she has the heart, she is powerless. The only thing she can do is pray for blessings for the Crown Prince.

  Later, news came from Songjiang that the poison in the crown prince had been suppressed by medicine, but his injuries were still very serious. Due to excessive blood loss, he urgently needed medicinal materials to replenish his vitality. The medicine that Zhangshi had asked Lu Yunpeng to bring back earlier was of great help, so the crown prince's subordinates and guests were trying every means to find him medicinal materials with invigorating properties.

  After Zhang learned about it, he hastily sent someone to search for various precious medicinal materials, regardless of the cost. He even invited out Wang Siping, who had retired for many years, because he had been the chief steward of the Duke of Jianan's mansion for decades and was highly knowledgeable about those famous and expensive medicinal materials. No one could deceive him.

  The Zhao family's second house has been quite profitable in recent years, and the ancestral land they received after the division of the family property was only a small part. Zhang Shi had someone bring back her private property from Beijing. The real estate, houses, and shops among those private properties earned her a lot of silver money every year. In addition, there were the imperial lands granted to the Marquis of Nan's mansion, which were said to be sealed by the emperor. However, in reality, the annual income would quietly be sent to Zhang Shi, with at least tens of thousands of taels of silver income from this alone. Adding all these up, the second house was not short of money. Although they lived in the old house with only a few courtyards and less than a hundred servants, they just didn't want to show off their wealth. Now that they plan to openly collect good medicines, they don't feel it's a burden at all.

  After more than ten days, she spent over 5,000 to 6,000 silver coins and prepared a large box of precious medicinal materials. There were those that nourished the blood, those that replenished energy, those that detoxified, and those that consolidated and nurtured the foundation. Although she wasn't clear about the specific condition of the prince's injury, she reckoned these medicinal materials should be applicable, so she chose several reliable, strong, and skilled horsemen from among her servants to ride horses and swiftly deliver the medicinal materials into the capital, hoping they could help the prince.

  Zhao Wei also reminded her of something: "The medicinal herbs that Grandmother had Uncle Lu bring to the capital earlier, there were several ginseng plants, all of which were hundreds of years old. If hundred-year-old ginseng can be helpful, then what about thousand-year-old ginseng? Son, remember, our family used to have plenty of ginseng. Grandfather collected a few thousand-year-old ones, saying they were extremely rare and couldn't be found anywhere else. Two of them were brought in, one of which Grandfather kept for himself, and now it's probably with Xiaochang. Grandmother also had half a plant, and that year when the ship sank, we offered some to the river god, and the remaining half was given to Big Aunt, I think."

  Zhang was startled by his words and quickly wrote a letter, asking the servant who was entering the capital to bring it along. Zhao Laojun Gong's first wife gave birth to her eldest daughter, Yuan Niang, whose husband's surname was Xu, also from an official family background. At this time, he happened to be serving as the prefect of Yanzhou in Shandong Province, and they were on their way back to Beijing, so it would be convenient for them to bring the ginseng along the way. When Zhang married into the Zhao family, her stepdaughter had already been married off, although their relationship was not close, but they had always treated each other with respect. Zhang believed that Xu Chonglun and Zhao Yuan Niang were trustworthy people, they were outsiders, and it was unlikely that they would have a clear understanding of the crown prince's injuries, but their loyalty was beyond doubt, if they knew that the crown prince needed ginseng, they would certainly be willing to offer it all.

  As for the small Chang house in the capital, the Zhang family had completely given up on them. They might still be resentful of the Crown Prince for saving their ancestors and descendants, causing them to lose their noble titles. It's unlikely they wouldn't curse the Crown Prince to death in private, so how could they offer a thousand-year-old ginseng to save his life?

  The medicine has been sent out, but Zhang is still worried. The palace also has a thousand-year-old ginseng, with the emperor's favor and trust in the crown prince, it must have been used early on, but the crown prince's injury is still like this, whether the medicine she offered can take effect, together with the half of the ginseng offered by the Xu family, is really an unknown number. What she can do now is just to recite scriptures and pray for blessings while waiting for news.

  Zhaoxun's heart was also uncomfortable. Although the crown prince's injury had not worsened, it was good news, but he had not recovered for a long time, and the situation was not getting better. She often thought of that gentle yet dignified young man from back then; if it weren't for him saving their family, she might have drifted to who-knows-where by now. And if it weren't for him insisting on seeking justice for them, perhaps Xiaochangfang would still be relying on his noble status to suppress them in every way possible. If it weren't for him sending Lu Yunpeng to guard the old residence all these years, her little brother Zhaowei might have fallen prey to Xiaochangfang's schemes long ago. The fact that their family of three had been able to live such a carefree and comfortable life was truly thanks to him.

  Zhao Xun thought of Gao Zhen again. Although they had only spent a dozen or so days together in their childhood, he was completely unpretentious with her. He didn't put on any airs as if he were a noble and treated her as an equal companion. When she wanted to learn to read, he taught her; when she showed interest in boxing, he taught her without reservation. She had left in such a hurry that year that she hadn't even had time to bid him farewell, and although they hadn't completely lost touch afterwards, they never exchanged letters again. It's said that childhood friends are the hardest to come by, and whenever she thought back on those times, her heart felt warm all over.

  Now that Gao Zhen's biological father is seriously injured, he must be worried, but unfortunately, she can't even comfort him, and I don't know if he still remembers her.

  Zhao Xun felt a little sad, so she took out the things from her childhood and looked at them carefully. At that time, they were almost rescued with nothing but the clothes on their bodies that had been soaked in water. All the clothing and food supplies were purchased by the Crown Princess's orders, and now they are all kept as mementos. She still keeps the drafts of the letters she wrote before, but unfortunately, the words are crooked and illegible. There was no way to write properly back then. She was only a little over one year old, her fingers were short and weak, and she hadn't practiced writing yet. Where could she hold a pen steadily? As she recalled, that letter was finally dictated by her and written down by the Crown Princess. Now she has made great progress, but there is no need for correspondence anymore.

  Zhao Xuan smiled wryly, and the next second she thought of another thing. At that time, their luggage had all sunk to the bottom of the canal with the ship. Even if the government salvaged the ship afterwards, the things inside were still unusable. She remembered that her grandmother didn't care about other things, but what she regretted most was a large box of books, many of which were rare and precious ancient volumes, which might be gone forever. Zhao Xuan also remembered that her grandmother had read several medical books on the ship, which recorded many useful prescriptions, and it was one of these prescriptions that had cured her father Zhao Yun's seasickness.

  These medical books were not preserved, but my grandmother was reluctant to part with them. She relied on her memory to silently write down the contents one by one. Unfortunately, she was old and her memory was not as good as before, so there are many omissions, but it is already very precious.

  Zhao Xun hastily ran to flip through the manuscripts that her grandmother had silently written out, and indeed saw many ancient prescriptions among them, including formulas for tonifying and nourishing the body, supplementing qi and blood, as well as detoxifying formulas. She wondered if they might be useful for the Crown Prince's side. Unfortunately, she discovered them a bit too late; otherwise, she would have sent them to the capital along with that box of medicinal materials.

  She told her grandmother, Zhang, who thought for a moment and said: "I used to have many books hidden away, but only brought one chest of the most commonly used ones with me when I went south. The rest are all stored in our house in the capital, including many medical books. I'll let Autumn Leaf send a message to Songjiang to inform Mr. Lu, and ask him to bring someone to search the house and see if they can find any useful prescriptions."

  Zhao Xuan hastily told Bi Lian to invite Qiu Ye, but saw Qiu Ye holding the child and running to see Zhang Shi with a pale face: "Someone has come from outside, saying that they are from Songjiang Prefecture, carrying our family master's order, wanting to take us mother and son to the capital to meet the Crown Prince."

  Zhang's face also turned pale: "Is it really someone from that side?"

  "It's really people from that side," said Akira. "That year, when we were newlyweds, Grandfather took me to Songjiang to meet them, and they brought Grandfather's token with them. They also said that Grandfather told me to hurry over as soon as possible, and I must bring the child, nothing else was mentioned."

  Zhao Xuan stood up in surprise, with a bad premonition in her heart.

  Lu Yunpeng, why did he bring his wife and child to the capital to meet the prince? His son was only two months old and couldn't withstand the long journey. Lu Yunpeng must have known this, given how much he loved his son, yet he still made this decision. Was there some reason behind it?

  Unless the Crown Prince is in a bad situation, he wants to see Lu Yunpeng's son. The Crown Prince trusts him extremely, and it's not surprising that he has this idea, but if these people knew about it, how could they not worry about the Crown Prince?

  Zhang soon calmed down and asked: "When did the visitor say he would set off?"

  "Set off early tomorrow."

  "Get Lu Changxiu to arrange for food and lodging, and make sure they're well taken care of," Zhang said with a nod. She then gently comforted Qiuye, "Don't worry, the four-wheeled carriage that your older sister had made last year is both fast and stable. As long as we choose good horses and a reliable driver, you and your mother won't have to suffer too much on this journey."

  "Alright, don't worry, madam. I will take good care of the child and hurry back to the capital as soon as possible. Once I find out about the Crown Prince's situation, I will have someone send you a message."

  Zhang shook his head slightly: "No need for that. I'll go back to the capital with you."