Thinking of this, Su Pan’er smiled at the corner of her mouth, and asked curiously.
"After the eting, what did Su Ping’er and the Prefect say?"
"Tsk, does this even need to be said?"
A triumphant gleam flashed in Su Xian’er’s eyes: "The Prefect looks impressive, but also has see who he is dealing with? When my first elder cousin brother arrived, they wanted to delay for a few more days. Unexpectedly, a urgent letter suddenly ca from the Prefect of Kaifeng, and he hurriedly bowed and smiled to see us off."
"Why?"
Su Pan’er asked curiously.
"I don’t know."
There was a puzzled look in Su Xian’er’s eyes: "However, I heard Lui Muyi ntioned that soone above was applying pressure. Otherwise, the Prefect of Kaifeng wouldn’t send out an urgent letter. But, I’m a little unclear, isn’t Prefect Jiang the biggest official in Yongzhou Prefecture? Why would he be afraid of the Prefect of Kaifeng who is his equal?"
Of course, Su Pan’er understood that Prefect Jiang was the biggest official in Yongzhou Prefecture, and although the Prefect of Kaifeng seed to hold the sa position, in reality, he directly governed on behalf of the current emperor. The differences in their powers were significant!
But who was it that secretly lent her a hand?
Could it be Brother Ye? Or Lui Muyi’s grandfather?
Su Pan’er was understandably perplexed.
They stayed in Changze County for one night, and early the next morning, Lui Muyi and the others said their goodbyes and left.
No matter how hard Su Pan’er tried to keep them, they couldn’t be retained.
Lui Muyi explained: "The canal leading to Shengjing has already begun to freeze, and our ship has to follow the Yongzhou Prefecture up to Shouchun Prefecture, then change to the Grand Canal to reach Yingtian Prefecture and go straight to Kaifeng. As we go further, the cold intensifies. Once the Grand Canal freezes and navigation is stopped, this Silver Frost Charcoal will have to stay in our hands. There’s no room for delay in this matter..."
Left with no choice, Su Pan’er let them leave, and as they disappeared from her sight, a hint of lancholy stirred within her.
She was feeling particularly low-spirited.
Moreover, her belly was gradually growing like a blown-up balloon, making her feel ever more anxious.
Aunt Zhou tried every thod to cook delicious food for her, and everyone served her attentively. Even Night Tide Moon knitted many clothes for the baby in her belly.
Su Pan’er watched coldly, and although she accepted them, she handed them in to Aunt Zhou for disposal.
She tried picking up a needle and thread, but before she could finish stitching the flowers, both her hands were pricked countless tis. The bleeding made her already poor mood even worse!
She was becoming more irritable.
She only stared at Qin Yi with a pair of eyes that seed to see through everything.
Seeing her in this state, Qin Yi also tried to spend as much ti as possible with her, trying to make her happy.
Even after taking her out for leisurely strolls from ti to ti, he still couldn’t bring back her smile.
Actually, Qin Yi knew exactly what Su Pan’er was fretting about.
Looking at her belly, he still hesitated to give her an answer.
Watching Su Pan’er’s gaze becoming colder each day, a letter ca from Shengjing!
It was a letter from Ye Han, which briefly ntioned the changes in Capital City over the last period.
The main point was about the Liu Family’s case of embezzling relief funds, which beca the fuse that angered His Majesty. Several major aristocratic families in the Capital City were implicated. The Liu Family was publicly reprimanded by His Majesty. The Old Lord Marquis Liu fell ill as soon as he returned ho. The Liu Family imdiately descended into chaos...
Upon reading this, Su Pan’er laughed!
It seed that Liu Zikang wouldn’t have a chance to trouble her for a while!
As she continued reading, it ntioned that the Liu Family had been concealing the fact that they had found her, but the truth couldn’t be wrapped up in paper. Eventually, Young Mrs. Liu, her birth mother, found out and insisted on heading south.
But, with the illness of Old Lord Marquis Liu, the journey south was postponed...
Her own mother?
Su Pan’er was sowhat curious about this pitiful woman that Jun Ruoxue spoke of in her mouth.
At the end of the letter was a handwritten note from Fei’er. The handwriting was clearly juvenile, but it had an imposing air about it.
Fei’er first said hello to her, then talked about finding out that she was his cousin. He wrote about asking his mother repeatedly to confirm it, and once he did, he was overjoyed and wished he could return to Luoyan Village again. He expressed this joy throughout the letter. He also ntioned that his mother’s health had been poor recently, with frequent coughing, and he was very worried. He urged his cousin to take good care of her health.
Reading this made Su Pan’er laugh.
She couldn’t help but imagine the adorable smiling face of Fei’er.
She wanted to write a reply, and several tis she picked up her pen, but she couldn’t write anything.
In the end, in her letter to Ye Han, she simply reported that she was safe and thanked Ye Han for his help.
In her letter to Fei’er, she inquired in detail about Imperial Consort Hua’s condition, told him to study hard and reassured him that she would visit him in the capital if she had the chance...
After finishing, she put the letter to Fei’er in an envelope, followed by the one to Ye Han, and sent them together to the capital.
Seeing her look of loneliness, Qin Yi couldn’t help feeling a pang of sorrow.
"If you miss Fei’er, we can take a trip to the capital once the baby is born, what do you think?"
"Nonsense, how can you just casually go to the capital now?"
Su Pan’er was clear about this.
Being a governnt official these days might seem glamorous, but in reality, it was full of constraints. Ordinary officials simply couldn’t go to the capital freely.
Unless Qin Yi’s three-year term was up, otherwise he could face serious consequences for neglecting his duties.
Qin Yi just smiled and said nothing further.
There was also a letter for him in Ye Han’s correspondence this ti.
On the surface, he was the official in charge of Changze County, but he was actually also given the task of investigating a corruption case involving disaster relief funds.
In his letter, Ye Han detailed his achievents and claid that he had recomnded him to His Majesty.
He ntioned that Fei’er also took the opportunity to explain that Qin Yi’s first wife was in fact the daughter of the Liu Family who had been living in exile, Fei’er’s cousin. She was the woman who had made significant contributions during the smallpox epidemic and was personally appointed as a miracle healer by His Majesty.
Given Qin Yi’s good performance and Fei’er’s continued recomndations, His Majesty seed to be considering him.
At the end of Ye Han’s letter, he ntioned this, and also ntioned Imperial Consort Hua’s illness. He urged them to go to the capital as soon as possible to treat her and avoid further complications.
Though Qin Yi was confident in Su Pan’er’s dical skills, given her increasingly heavy burden, this was hardly a good ti for a long journey, was it?
Therefore, after much deliberation, he wrote in his reply that he would go to the capital when spring arrived and the flowers blood.
After sending the letter, Su Pan’er, quite out of character, suddenly began to prepare actively.
Not only did she prepare many ropes, but also enough dry food for several days.
She even retrieved the leather whip she had found in the cave and polished it until it shone brightly! Ever since thieves had sneaked into her room and she realized she didn’t even have a weapon to protect herself, she had kept this whip close at hand.
Qin Yi was deeply worried!
He was afraid that Su Pan’er might sneak off to explore the underground tunnel in the Bai residence while he was distracted. If sothing were to go wrong, the consequences didn’t bear thinking about!
Now that most of his official duties had been taken care of, and matters like the food and tribute tax had been sorted out, he finally found ti. He hurriedly initiated a discussion with her about their exploration of the underground tunnel.
Qin Yi finally breathed a sigh of relief, and Su Pan’er was suddenly filled with anticipation.
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