Chapter 11 Two Major News
Ten years ago, Zhao Ling was accused of stealing Concubine Mu's jade hairpin. Concubine Mu is very much favored by Prime Minister Zhao Chaun. So, Zhao Ling was flogged ten times by the wooden board and sent to the Guanyin temple which is at the outskirts of the capital to recite scriptures for one full year. At that time Zhao Ling was only ten years old but was treated so harshly. A year later, Zhao Ling returned to the Prime Minister's estate. But the thing that caught others' attention was, her personal maidservant was changed. After that incident, Zhao Ling holed up in her courtyard not going anywhere.
"Something might have happened in that year", Yan Xing said as he tossed the paper in the charcoal brazier.
"I will be heading to the temple tomorrow to investigate", Jingsheng said as he nodded his head in agreement.
"let's go together", Yan Xing said surprising Jingsheng.
"Your Highness, your every move is being monitored by the other party. You should stay behind"
"They will be more suspicious if you go alone. No matter how discreetly we act, the other party will know if our suspicious are correct", Yan Xing replied. He is ninety percent sure that the second miss of the Prime Minister's estate is not someone as the rumors describe to be. If his intuitions are correct then, he had to take some countermeasure because someone who can disguise as a pig to eat tigers for more than a decade cannot be an herbivore.
The next day, Yan Xing mounted his steed and left the capital along with Jingsheng with a few of his shadow guards. When the Emperor heard the news, he immediately sent out his people to investigate. Not only the Emperor but those who were keeping a close eye on the fifth Prince also did the same thing. The forces that kept Fifth Prince under the watch are the factions of the Third, Fourth, and Sixth Prince. In the end, the information they got was, Fifth Prince, is going to Hot Spring Villa in the outskirts of the Capital along with his friends.
After they got the information, almost everyone had one thought in their minds, 'Bachelor's party!' Since the Fifth Prince will be getting married after the New Year, everyone's direction of thoughts went that way.
Outside the Capital's gate, two handsome young men could be seen chasing each other and exchanging moves. When Yan Xing and Jingsheng exited the gate, what greeted their vision was two adults chasing each other like a five-year-old kid.
"Stop right there, you bastard"
"Catch me if you can.. haha"
The two continued to chase and fight while cursing one another. Yan Xing graced his handsome face with a smile while looking at the two. Jingsheng on the other hand shook his head and rolled his eyes. It could be seen from his expression that he is not new to this scene and that he is used to it.
The two young men noticing the presence of extra breaths in the surrounding stop their actions and soon glided towards Yan Xing and lightly bowed, "Greetings your highness"
"Done fooling around!", Yan Xing asked.
"cough..cough. Your Highness, we were not fooling around. Yuan accused me of stealing his moon cakes. Tell me, how can I, a respected little marquis of Yan Empire steal snacks?", Su Ming, son of Marquis Su lang pointed his chin and complained in a rather arrogant manner.
Jun Yuan humped and replied, "Those moon cakes were brought from the Immortal's Touch snack store. Who doesn't know that whether it be snacks, clothes, or jewelry, Immortal's Touch products are the best"
Su Ming and Jun Yuan glared daggers at each other. Yan Xing coughed and said, "We have bought many snacks from the Immortal's Touch on the way, both of you can have it to your fill after reaching the villa. For now, let's get on the road"
With that, the four young men rode their horses heading towards the Hot Spring Villa.
"Your Highness, why did you suddenly decided to visit the hot Spring without any season or rhyme. It's certainly not your style", Su Ming asked.
'ha..' whipping the horse and galloping at a great speed, Yan Xing replied with an evil smirked, "if you can outrun me, I will tell you"
After saying that, the distance between their horses started increasing. "oh..common", Su Ming cursed out and started chasing after Yan Xing. Dust blew up and two persons riding and chasing ahead could hear the sounds of coughing and curses from behind.
"cough…cough… seriously you guys are worst than a beast", Jun Yuan cursed out as he also speeded up trying to catch up with them.
Not wanting to fall behind, Jingsheng too speeded up, "Brother Yuan, don't abandon me. Wait ah..."
So, the four men raced towards the villa with occasional shouts of cursing, berating, and sounds of laughter.
On this day, two major news were spreading in the capital like a level twelfth tornado. One is that Fifth Prince Yan Xing left the capital and headed towards the Hot Spring Villa in the outskirts of the capital to celebrate his bachelor's party with his friends. The second news is, the Third Young Miss of the Prime Minister's Estate contracted a rare disease. Many physicians who were invited to treat her left the Prime Minister's estate helplessly. Prime Minister Zhao Chuan dote on this daughter of his, so he requested the Emperor for the Royal physicians. The Emperor didn't disappoint him and immediately ordered the Royal physicians to go treat the Third Miss of the Prime Minister's family. But the result was that even the Royal physicians had no idea what kind of disease the Third Miss Zhao contracted. So, Prime Minister Zhao Chaun announced that anyone who can treat her daughter will be rewarded with one thousand taels of Gold and will also personally bestow the Green Cloud qin, which is the treasure of Zhao's family.
In one of the courtyards of the Prime Minister's estate, screeching sounds could be heard occasionally.
"Yue'er…. Oh, my poor Yue'er.." Concubine Mu who was sitting beside Zhao Yue's bed kept weeping while looking after her daughter. Zhao Yue was lying on the bed with her whole body wrapped in a bandage looking like a mummy. Small and large puss covered her entire body. From the sounds of her screeching, one could say that she was experiencing agonizing pain.
Zhao Chaun was also standing inside the room. Concubine Mu looked towards Zhao Chaun and she immediately got down on her knees, "Master, you must save Yue'er ah…. She is after all your daughter, you must save her"
Zhao Chaun helped Concubine Mu stood up and took her in his arms and comforted her, "my dear, don't worry, I will save our daughter no matter the cost"
"But… but.. even the royal physicians are helpless. What are we going to do?", Concubine Mu continued to weep.
"There is one person who can cure our Yue'er. I will try to contact that person", Zhao Chaun said with a look of determination.