If Prince Rong’s Mansion is an accomplice to Xu Yin, then Lian Rong is truly Xu Yin’s henchman. To rescue Zhe Yu, we must keep a close watch on him.
The next day, after getting up early, Pei Zhan went to the Capital Camp, while Fu Zhen returned to the Ning Family to look for Mrs. Ning.
The carriage arrived at the Ning Family’s entrance, only to find another carriage parked under the large tree in front. Fu Zhen glanced twice and recognized Xie Zhang through the partially opened window, and hurriedly got out of the carriage.
"Mr. Xie?"
Upon seeing her, Xie Zhang imdiately got out of his carriage as well, "General’s wife."
Fu Zhen grinned, "You’re too polite." She continued, "Why aren’t you going inside? Is mother not at ho?"
"No..."
A trace of unease inexplicably flashed across Xie Zhang’s face as he said, "I was just passing by... and, I wanted to deliver a token of thanks. Your mother has been so attentive in teaching my young daughter, and I have yet to formally express my gratitude, so I felt..."
"You’re being too formal, sir," Fu Zhen said, "My mother teaches Miss Xie these skills of managing the household voluntarily, precisely because of Mr. Xie’s generous care for us. My mother wishes to return the favor, so why should you thank us back?"
Xie Zhang, as a court official, was at a loss for words, "I just, just felt uneasy. She, she is so attentive, and Ah Yu, she cos ho every day praising your mother; it must be, too much trouble for her."
Fu Zhen paused for a mont on his slightly flushed face, then suddenly laughed, "Since you’re already out of the carriage, sir, why not co in for a cup of tea? You can talk face-to-face."
Xie Zhang seed to want to decline, but Fu Zhen had already directed soone to knock the door open.
Mrs. Ning was directing people to tidy up the yard, her slender figure standing amidst the vast courtyard looked sowhat solitary.
Seeing them both appear, Mrs. Ning was also taken aback.
Fu Zhen said, "Mr. Xie has sothing to discuss with mother, I just happened to et him at the door, so we ca in together.
"Please sit in the hall, sir, I’ll excuse myself for a mont."
With that, she went straight to her Yixin Hall.
The last ti, Mrs. Ning ntioned opening a street-facing gate in the courtyard, and now it was open. Fu Zhen took the opportunity to send soone to the nearby Ning Family’s pharmacy to call over a shopkeeper.
Now, all the chief managers, second managers in every shop in the capital had t Fu Zhen under the guidance of Mrs. Ning and Manager Su, saving a lot of unnecessary talk.
After making arrangents, Fu Zhen waited there for the shopkeeper to bring the prepared dicine over. Seeing the calligraphy tools he had used before on the desk, she spread out paper and pen, and began to paint.
By the ti Mrs. Ning returned, she had already painted a portrait.
"Who is this? Looks familiar, as if I’ve seen him sowhere."
Fu Zhen, having been frail since childhood, couldn’t do anything else. Mrs. Ning had the conditions to nurture her into a talented lady, but lacked the physical strength. So she chose the relatively easy art of painting, apprenticing Fu Zhen to a famous painter in the suburban capital, gaining so skill.
Now, with Liang Ning in control of this body, the skills learned are still firmly attached to the body and mory.
Fu Zhen said, "It’s not surprising that mother has seen him. This person is Lian Rong, a confidant of the Assistant Minister of Rites, Xu Yin."
In the past, there might not have been opportunities to et, but today’s Wanbin Building has long beco the new favorite venue for the capital’s aristocracy’s banquets. Last ti, Xu Yin even bought pastries from Wanbin Building to take to Baihe Temple to please Yongping, indicating that Xu Yin has beco a custor of Wanbin Building.
"Is he soone from the Xu family?" Mrs. Ning furrowed her brow, "No wonder I’m not very familiar. This Assistant Minister Xu doesn’t visit Wanbin Building often among their group.
"The shopkeepers in the building usually keep a close eye on their peers’ news. They say he likes to go to West Lake Building."
"Is that so," Fu Zhen recalled the old restaurant they used to frequent frequently.
West Lake Building is indeed good, but soone like Xu Yin, who is eager to mingle with high-ranking officials, surprisingly didn’t join the crowd at Wanbin Building, but instead opted to frequent West Lake Building, which is unusual.
"Why are you painting this person?" Mrs. Ning asked again.
Fu Zhen then pushed the painting to her, "Our Wanbin Building has a lot of people coming and going every day. Please tell Manager Su to pass the word down, to usually keep an eye out for this person, and if he cos, watch what he does. Also, any news related to the Xu family and Prince Rong’s Mansion, if they hear anything, co and tell ."
The teahouses and taverns are places where information flows most rapidly. How could Fu Zhen pass up the chance right under her nose?
Mrs. Ning had naturally heard about the dispute between the Pei family and Prince Rong’s Mansion, so she kept the painting without further questioning.
Just then, the pharmacy manager personally brought the dicine back, and Ning Jia ca ho from school, sitting down as a family of three to chat about family affairs.
Fu Zhen stayed until almost dinner ti before returning to the Pei family.
The Pei family ate separately by household, so Fu Zhen gave the dicine to Ziyan, instructing her to watch over it while it was decocted.
After dinner, she and Pei Zhan carried a jar filled with the decocted dicine and went to the Zhe family again under the cover of night.
This ti, with Chen Shun inside assisting, it went even more smoothly.
After last night’s correction of the maid, Zhe Yu’s condition looked better, at least his lips were not so dry.
Fu Zhen fed him the dicine bit by bit, and replaced the injury dicine Pei Zhan had brought. His wound had festered, looking appalling. When changing the dicine, Zhe Yu began to twist in pain again, but when the new dicine was applied to the edges, he gradually cald down.
"Take so ti during the day to apply more of this to the edges of his wounds,"
Fu Zhen handed the dicine to Chen Shun, then withdrew from the Zhe family with Pei Zhan.
Whether or not this thod works, we’ll find out in three to five days.
While Fu Zhen secretly tended to Zhe Yu’s recovery, the rumor of Prince Rong’s Mansion being smashed was still lingering.
On the day it happened, the emperor summoned Prince Rong to the palace to ask for the details and gave him a scolding.
Prince Rong returned to his mansion crestfallen, and the emperor subsequently summoned Pei Yu to the palace. It’s unclear if he scolded him, but Pei Yu returned without saying anything; he went in with justified conviction and returned just as confidently, even having three bowls of rice upon his return.
However, what the Prince Rong’s Mansion couldn’t suppress was the street gossip; the courtiers remained fairly discreet, not publicly saying much.
But when repairing the gate walls, Prince Rong, seeing the nearby Xu family, couldn’t contain his anger, rembering that after the incident, Xu Yin never ca to inquire, so he sent soone to summon him.
The ssengers quickly returned, "Assistant Minister Xu was summoned to the palace by the emperor to lecture the Third Prince and won’t be back anyti soon."
Prince Rong’s eyes flashed with a mont of astonishnt; after a pause, he said with his hands behind his back, "He’s got strong wings now, having the emperor as a backing!"
Hearing this, soone below said, "I also heard that Wei Kingdom’s Great General He Huan intends to strongly recomnd Assistant Minister Xu to replace the soon-to-retire Minister Lin as the Chancellor of the Chamberlain’s Office."
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