Chapter 112: The Origin of Love is Unknown

  The white bronze crane on the corner of the hall was gently spewing out a fragrant mist, filling the room with warmth and vitality, as cozy as spring.

  On the large bed made of Huanghua pear wood, a brocade canopy hung low, and on the floor was a carpet with embroidered peonies. Not far away was an ancient-style square table with rolled edges. Xumeng'er wore a snow-white silk skirt and a goose-yellow blouse, with a moon-shaped white belt around her waist. Her long hair was tied into two cute braids, and on her head was a double buns hairstyle unique to girls. She sat there reading a book. Her two small legs were lightly swaying under the stool, occasionally picking up an apricot kernel from the brocade box, nibbling it little by little, looking very leisurely.

  Suddenly, a low moan came from the embroidered curtain. Xu Meng'er was startled and stopped her movements, listening carefully with her ear to one side. She quickly jumped down from the bed and ran over to lift up the curtain.

  Xia Liu was lying on the bed, and at first glance, it wasn't obvious what had happened. In fact, his injuries weren't just limited to his arm; his head was battered in several places, with a large lump swelling up, and he had thick bandages wrapped around his head, making him look like an Indian ascetic. His shoulder and chest were slanted at an angle, and the upper arm that he himself had smashed with a candlestick was also neatly bandaged. There was a faint scent of medicine on his body, clearly from high-quality ointments.

  He didn't wake up, the medicine for treating injuries itself has a sedative effect, and he had lost too much blood, his spirit was not good, at this moment he was sleeping soundly.

  Xu Ming'er leaned on the headboard, her hands propping up her chin as she looked at him: "Huh? This big scammer is actually quite good-looking."

  Meng'er seemed to have suddenly discovered something, and a sweet smile appeared on her face. Her snow-white and tender little face smiled, and she already had a few points of girlish charm: "Black and shiny eyebrows, wow, those eyelashes seem to be as long as mine, neat and dense."

  "Tall nose bridge, and those lips..." Meng'er pouted: "What's the use of a man having such good-looking lips?"

  Her gaze swept across Xia Chou's chest again, a very athletic chest, with thick pectoral muscles, full of masculine beauty. Unfortunately, Xiao Tou was still young and didn't have much feeling for the accumulation of muscles. Her gaze fell on Xia Chou's arm, where bandages were wrapped around, with faint blood seeping out.

  Ming'er stretched out a finger, lightly touched it, and remembered the sharp knife stabbing his chest. He still felt shocked when he used his arm to block the knife for himself. After being frightened for a while and being moved for a while, Xiaoyao's attention quickly shifted, and she began to study the injured arm of Xia Zhen.

  "Such thick arms..."

  Meng'er stretched out his own arm and compared it with him, shook his head, then stretched out both hands to compare again, and bent down to try his thighs, all the way to the root of his thigh, before sticking out his tongue: "Wow, even thicker than my thigh!"

  Xia Liu had just woken up, his nose first smelled a faintly sweet and familiar scent of orchid grass, then he saw a small figure, the little girl was bending over with her back to him, her clothes were soft and close-fitting, her slender buttocks were facing him.

  Xia Liu coughed lightly and Meng'er immediately turned around quickly, seeing that he had opened his eyes, she couldn't help but exclaim in surprise: "You're awake?"

  Xia Yu's face lit up with a smile: "I'm awake." He looked around and exclaimed in surprise: "Where is this?"

  Ming Er said: "Yan Wang Fu. You were injured for me, I should take care of you."

  At this point, her face turned red and she said somewhat embarrassedly: "Of course, changing clothes, checking injuries, applying medicine, bandaging, feeding porridge... uh... these are all done by others, I'm just watching from the side...... it's not that I don't want to serve my benefactor, it's just that they won't let me do it."

  Xia Jiu's lips twitched a few times, wanting to smile but holding back: "I'm sorry to trouble the young lady, I'm just a humble commoner, I can't afford it."

  Meng'er waved her hand and said, "There's nothing to undertake. My brother-in-law is working with the three courts to investigate North Ping Prefecture, to prevent any remaining Yuan remnants from escaping. The palace staff have just moved back, and the underground secret passages need to be cleared and sealed off. My sister is very busy too. Anyway, I have nothing to do. Once they finish all this, they will come to see you and reward you heavily."

  "Right!"

  Meng'er suddenly remembered something, hurriedly jumped up, and from her slender waist picked off a golden silk silver thread, carefully woven sachet with seven-colored silk threads at the bottom. The sachet was embroidered with orchid branches and flowers, and in the middle was a small character like a flower bud. Upon closer inspection, it was clearly an embroidery of the character "Meng". Meng'er was still young, although her family's teachings were strict, no one had taught her about the matters between men and women, she didn't understand that a girl's sachet couldn't be given to just anyone.

  "Why knock at the door? The sachet is tied behind your elbow."

  After this poem was written, the sachet became a secret language between lovers to pledge their bodies to each other. This personal item, even if two people are in love, cannot be given as a gift until they have made up their minds to pledge their bodies to each other. However, she didn't know that Xia Liu was also clueless about this kind of knowledge - he was completely ignorant.

  Meng'er picked up the sachet and said: "I really can't find anything on me that I can give you, here, this sachet is my favorite, I'll give it to you."

  Xia Fu said with difficulty: "I'm a big man, carrying this thing on my body is not like me. The county master's gift, I don't want to give it to others."

  "Who wants you to send someone away? This sachet of mine, everyone in the Xu Guogong Mansion knows it. If one day you go to Ying Tianfu and need my help with something, just take it to find me. You are my lifesaver, I will naturally repay your kindness."

  Xia Liu's heart burst with joy as soon as he heard the news: "This is truly a blessing in disguise, and Ming'er, the young mistress of Xu, is indeed my timely rain and favorable wind. I was just about to return to Jiangnan, thinking that the Yang family had been operating locally for many years, and their influence was extremely strong. If they produced a few more officials who achieved great success, it would be even harder to deal with them. I was worried that this time when I returned, I might not be able to fulfill the big wish of Xiao Guan's father and daughter, but now that we have the help of the Xu family, the first meritorious family of the Ming dynasty, what is there to fear?"

  Xia Liu immediately stretched out his uninjured hand, snatched the sachet from Meng'er's hand like a grab, stuffed it into his bosom and hid it well, repeatedly thanking her: "Thank you, young lady, thank you, young lady."

  He had this sachet tucked away, and it wasn't until then that she suddenly realized that this thing was probably not suitable to be given as a gift. But since he had already tucked it in, she couldn't very well ask him to exchange it for something else, so she could only nod her head with a flushed face, pretending to be nonchalant and saying: "It's nothing, a drop of water in the desert, I should repay you with a fountain, let alone that you saved my life."

  At this time, someone outside the palace reported: "Princess, the person who deceitfully claimed to want to give you a fox fur yesterday has come again."

  Meng'er asked in a bad mood: "What did he send me again today?"

  The person outside the door suppressed a smile and said: "Tell the young lady of the county, he didn't bring anything today, but instead brought an additional person with the surname Peng, saying that he wanted to take Xia Liu out."

  ※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※Xia Liu was sent out of the Yan Wang Fu, this is not because Yan Wang broke his promise, but Xia Liu's identity is indeed not suitable to stay in the palace for recovery. However, after Xia Liu left, the Yue Lai Inn where he lived became prosperous. The nobles who came used fake identities, and the shopkeeper still didn't know that so many dignitaries had visited his inn.

  On the first day, it was the King of Yan himself who came to visit once. On the second day, it was the Queen of Yan and the young lady from the Xu Guo Gong Fu who came to visit again. The Yan Wang Fu had such an attitude, so on the third day, the three officials, Bu Zheng Shi, An Cha Shi, and Dou Zhi Hui Shi, came together to visit. On the fourth day, those with lower status than them followed... For the King of Yan, Xia Xun was a lifesaver for his whole family. If it weren't for Xia Xun's warning before entering the palace, the consequences would be unimaginable. Later, when Xia Xun fell into the trap, most of the personnel in the palace had already evacuated, and even if the gunpowder exploded, there wouldn't be many casualties. However, because of him, he protected the life of the young lady and safeguarded the integrity of the Yan Wang Palace. With this kindness, he was a great benefactor to the King of Yan's family. Therefore, both publicly and privately, the King of Yan had to come visit him once. Xu Fei and Xu Man Er naturally didn't exception either.

  The officials of the three departments of the Jinan Prefecture were even more secretly fearful, if that group of Mongols' sinister plan succeeded, not to mention how much harm it would cause to Beiping, whether it would affect the situation of the heroes competing for hegemony on the grasslands, at least their heads would not be spared, and the King of Yan had come forward to thank them, how could they not come?

  Xia Fu spent nine days in such a flurry of visits, and on the ninth day, the last batch of goods set off, his wound had almost healed, the wound had begun to scab over and new skin was growing, only then did he decide to return home!

  Actually, when the King of Yan visited him earlier, he had already shown his appreciation for him and hinted through his eunuch Ma Sanbao that he could recruit him to serve himself. However, Xia Jun is no longer a member of the proletariat now, with his family having wealth and beauties, why bother to be a rebel, fighting for power in the midst of swords and shadows? With this friendship with King Yan Zhu Di today, he doesn't worry about not having a powerful backer in the future, so naturally he pretends to be unaware.

  The King of Yan also knew that he was a scholar with a good reputation, and if he could pass the imperial examination to become a jinshi, that would be the orthodox way out. As a vassal king, although he had the power to promote and appoint officials in his kingdom except for a few officials such as the long history, the orthodox path of the imperial court was still the most glorious origin for scholars. He thought that Yan Wang had other ambitions, so he didn't force him either.

  On the ninth day, Xia Yu, Ximen Qing and Peng Zhiyi set out on their journey home.

  Regarding the big deal in Beiping, all three departments of the government would rather make a big thing smaller and a small thing disappear. Because once the matter reaches the ears of Zhu Yuanzhang, who is strict in law enforcement, even if it doesn't become a huge disaster, he will definitely severely punish and investigate those responsible. That way, many dirty things might be dug up.

  Zhu Di also had his considerations. Just the other day, he had received news that his father was seriously ill, and at this time, he did not want to present a message that would make his father extremely angry and affect his health. At the same time, he also knew that the Crown Prince, who was known for his benevolence and filial piety, was actually far inferior to his deceased father in terms of kindness.

  Big Brother Zhu Biao is a truly magnanimous person, if he knew about this matter, he would never kick someone when they're down. But Zhu Yunwen is different, he will definitely make the most of the situation, hypocritically show concern for the safety of the Emperor's uncle, and then instigate the Emperor to severely punish the military and government officials of Beiping, transfer away local officials who are on good terms with him, and install some people who are close to him.

  Under the attitude of raising and putting down things on all sides, this matter was surprisingly calm, and almost no one in the folk had heard of it. Xia Yu got the hint from the King of Yan, and naturally he wouldn't make a fuss about it either. On the contrary, he became even more confused, if such a big thing had happened in history, there should be some records, right? Why have I never heard of it before?

  Unfortunately, there were few records of Yan Wang before he became emperor, and it is difficult to determine whether this unrecorded event actually occurred under their concealment. But was it because of his own actions that a non-existent event in history happened, or did such an event occur in history but was thwarted for various reasons and ultimately came to nothing due to the attitudes of Yan Wang and local officials in Beiping?

  Xia Fu never quite understood this, but he vaguely felt that there was a major key to it. If he could figure it out, it might have a significant impact on his future path, but for now, he still couldn't grasp it.

  As Xia Yu's body had not yet fully recovered, the Prince of Yan's estate specially sent him a spacious and comfortable long-distance carriage. To avoid drawing attention, neither the prince's estate nor the local government publicly saw them off. The three were happy to have some peace and quiet, so they set off on their own in the carriage, returning to their hometown at their leisure, feeling carefree and relaxed.

  Xia Fu didn't notice Xue Fei and Ming'er Junzhu standing on the high city wall, quietly watching them leave. He also didn't notice Xie Yuwei, who was among the crowd seeing them off, letting out a long sigh of relief. Furthermore, he didn't notice a yellow-faced man leading a yellow horse, who had mixed in with the travelers and merchants heading south, secretly following behind them. Xia Fu should have recognized this person - it was Dai Yubin, the main plotter of the Mongolian bombing of the imperial palace in Dadu and the murder of the King of Yan, as well as the only one to escape capture.

  Ximen Qing noticed the reluctant gaze of Feifei in the crowd, pinched the bracelet that Feifei had given him in his pocket, and nodded quietly. Then, Feifei smiled slightly.

  At this time, the Beiping Ti Xing An Cha Shi Si's large prison had already arrested a large number of suspects and was conducting one by one interrogations, strictly distinguishing and finding out the remaining parties. For a time, it was overcrowded.

  In a prison cell, a pair of uncle and nephew, Wang Ming and Wang Siyuan, sat facing each other, looking like two little ghosts. As soon as they heard the distant cries of someone being tortured, their bodies would convulse simultaneously.

  These two guys followed Ximen Qing and Xiaoren to Beiping, but couldn't find out anything. They ran after Xiaoren all day, their legs were thin, still no clue, as a result, they didn't get any information about Xiaoren's background, instead, they fell into the eyes of the officials and police officers in Beiping, this time, when they caught the suspects, the two immediately fell into the net.

  "Wang Siyuan said with a sob: 'Boss, what are we going to do? If we don't confess our true identities, I'm afraid we won't be able to get away with it.'"

  Wang Ming said with a worried expression: "But Lord Qiu has instructed that this matter is not an official business, if the truth be told, what if the Beiping Prefecture sends a document to the Jining Prefecture and confronts Lord Qiu, and Lord Qiu refuses to protect us? Wouldn't we be in a difficult situation?"

  "Wang Siyuan said, 'Head, listen to this ghostly wailing and wolf howling noise. It'll be our turn soon. You're not unaware of the tactics used in government offices. When the time comes...'"

  Just as they were saying this, they heard a clang, and the two of them quickly shut their mouths. Then they saw two strong men being brought in by the officers, who opened the prison gate, pushed them inside, locked it up again, and left.

  Those two were extremely frustrated, grabbing the door of their cell and shouting loudly. Finally, they sat down dejectedly. The older one grasped his hair with both hands and said regretfully: "What's wrong with me being from outside the pass? What's wrong with having several different route permits on me? What's wrong with carrying a sharp blade? What kind of madness is this?! I was beaten with a board in Dezhou, did ten days of hard labor, and finally arrived here, only to be caught again! Heaven! Who has Gu Zhou offended?"