Chapter 168: Whoever Meddles In Royal Affairs Is The One Who Ends Up In Trouble
The injuries on Gao Yong and the others were all superficial wounds, none affecting muscles or bones. Cui Shi cleaned their wounds, applied medicine, bandaged them up, and they were fine. After everything was done, he sat to one side pondering.
Fu Jing’s injury should logically have been worse than everyone else’s, but his pulse was about the same as theirs, just with a bit more blood loss. As long as he rested for a while, he’d be completely fine, without even any hidden injuries, much better than Gao Yong and the others. Why was that?
The little old man pondered while subconsciously looking toward the horse carriage. His peripheral vision just caught Lin Xin sitting not far away, and suddenly it clicked in his mind—was it that girl who had given him some strange thing again?
But that didn’t make sense! He had taken Fu Jing’s pulse very carefully and hadn’t detected any medicine he’d used!
Cui Shi held back several times but still couldn’t resist. He walked over to Lin Xin and plopped down beside her, eyeing her sideways.
“What are you doing?” Lin Xin’s water element supernatural ability was exhausted, and her wood element was mostly depleted too. Later, killing had purely relied on physical strength. Now she was exhausted and didn’t want to deal with anyone.
“Hehe,” Cui Shi first let out a sleazy laugh, then lowered his voice to ask her: “What’s the deal with Fu Jing’s injury? What did you give him? In this old man’s view, an injury in that position, though not fatal, absolutely couldn’t leave him that spirited. Tell me!”
Lin Xin looked at him with a strange gaze. “Old man, between us, who’s the doctor?”
Cui Shi’s eyes bulged. “Don’t dodge the question. After practicing medicine for so many years, if I can’t even tell how serious an injury is, then I’ve lived in vain!”
Lin Xin shrugged, determined not to admit it, so she tilted her head and said very sincerely: “Can’t it just be because your medicine is miraculously effective?”
Cui Shi’s beard bristled, but he also knew Lin Xin’s temperament. If she didn’t want to say, no amount of asking would work, so he huffed and turned his head away, refusing to look at her.
Lin Xin smiled, closed her eyes, and continued meditating to recover her supernatural ability.
“How do you feel?” Everyone else was worn out, but Mo Ziyuan, who had been forced to care for the wounded, checked on everyone one by one. He returned to the horse carriage planning to check on Fu Jing again. If he was fine, he wanted to stay with Lin Xin, so upon entering and seeing Fu Jing awake and thinking, he asked.
Fu Jing turned his head to look at him: “I’m already fine.”
“Good then. Rest well, I’m leaving first.” Mo Ziyuan touched his forehead, felt no fever, and wanted to leave.
“Zi Yuan, wait.”
Mo Ziyuan turned back, gazing at him calmly without speaking, patiently waiting for him to speak.
“That thing you said before, was it true?”
“I’ve said a lot before. Which one are you asking about?”
“I mean… that thing about a lifetime with only one partner. Do you really plan to have only Miss Lin as your woman for life?” Before Mo Ziyuan could answer, he continued: “But you’re going to inherit a noble title in the future. Aren’t you afraid people will say Miss Lin is jealous of others? It won’t be good for you either!”
“Jealous, heh,” Mo Ziyuan laughed very disdainfully. “That’s just an excuse men make for their own infidelity. Men can’t control themselves but refuse to admit they’re lecherous, so they leave the custom of three wives and four concubines. If the wife objects, she’s called jealous. But they don’t realize that only a woman who truly cares about you won’t want to share you with other women. Those magnanimous ones are mostly just heartbroken or never cared in the first place.”
After Mo Ziyuan finished, he suddenly thought of something, his expression turning serious as he looked at Fu Jing and asked: “What do you mean by saying all that?”
Fu Jing’s face was unnaturally stiff for an instant, but he quickly covered it up, shook his head and said: “Your ideas are quite shocking. I was just curious and asked. Don’t worry, even if you owe me your life, you wouldn’t marry my sister, so how could I dare to have such thoughts anymore!”
Mo Ziyuan nodded. “Good then. Anything else now?”
Fu Jing choked for a moment, shook his head to indicate no, and Mo Ziyuan turned and left the horse carriage without hesitation. Through the gap in the carriage curtain, Fu Jing saw him lean close to Lin Xin, say a few words, then sit beside her and gently put his arm around her shoulders, letting her lean into his embrace.
Fu Jing didn’t want to look anymore, turned his head, and closed his eyes. It seemed his sister really had no chance at all!
Turns out Mo Ziyuan had no one in his heart. He had thought he just hadn’t realized it yet, and once he did, his sister would at least have a chance to enter his heart. But now his heart was completely filled by a woman named Lin Xin, with no room for anyone else!
“Sigh! Better think about how to comfort my sister after returning to the capital. Given that girl’s stubbornness, once she finds out, she’s bound to cause trouble for Miss Lin. I need to warn Miss Lin and Zi Yuan ahead of time so they can go easy on that girl!” Fu Jing thought with a headache.
“Can we confirm it’s really the Third Prince this time?” Lin Xin asked.
“I think so, but just in case, we still need to bring his body back to the capital for Your Majesty to verify. What happens after isn’t for us to handle.” Mo Ziyuan played with the tip of her braid as he answered.
“Better not to get involved. Anyone who meddles in royal affairs is doomed. Anyway, the old emperor is gone too. In the future, just be a pure minister. Don’t agree to anyone’s solicitation, and don’t worry about face. You have good relations among the court officials, but that makes the emperor wary of you. Both official histories and unofficial ones say that those who get power and join factional struggles never meet a good end, just like Grand Tutor Feng.” Lin Xin whispered in his ear.
“Don’t worry, I understand. After we marry, once I’m off duty, I won’t go to anyone’s invitations. I’ll just come home to keep you company, okay?”
“Pah, shameless. Who said I’d marry you.” Lin Xin flushed at the ears and pushed Mo Ziyuan’s approaching big face aside.
Looking at Lin Xin like this, and thinking of what she’d just said, Mo Ziyuan felt his heart swell full and warm. This feeling was extremely unfamiliar, but it made him very happy, so he held the person in his arms even tighter.
To avoid prolonged delays, everyone rested briefly and then set off immediately.
They encountered no more assassinations on the rest of the road and arrived safely at the city gate.
“Go straight to the palace!” Mo Ziyuan thought for a moment and made this decision.
The group arrived at the palace gate dusty and weary. Eunuch An was already waiting there. He greeted them with a beaming smile and a bow, then led them directly to the Imperial Study. He let them in, closed the door, and stood guard outside.
“You’re back.” Though the ascension ceremony hadn’t been held yet, the new emperor already carried the majesty of an emperor.
“Your Majesty, your humble subjects have not failed the mission!” Mo Ziyuan and the others knelt down. Lin Xin had no choice but to kneel too, along with Lin Nan and Lin Tao.
“Get up quickly. There are no outsiders here now. No need for such formalities.” Chu Qingye stood up, walked forward, and personally helped them up one by one. Lin Xin was beside Mo Ziyuan and stood up with them.
