Abandoned Woman Busy Farming

Chapter 1350: Chapter 1352 Qingyan in Danger_1

Over the next two days, the ruler of Danliang Country kept sending people to secretly communicate with the second elder of the Holy Hall, trying to arrange a formal meeting between the two sides.

That morning, Jianqi suddenly came to report, ”Master, a dark guard from outside the Palace informed us that Qingyan has been brought to the Palace Gate with serious injuries. The guard should report to the ruler soon as well.”

Bai Ruozhu was startled, ”His injuries had yet to fully heal, how could he be seriously injured again? Let’s hurry and check on him!”

She rushed to the Palace Gate with Jianqi and Muyu. The guards there lacked Jianqi’s speed and still didn’t know if they could bring Qingyan into the Palace. Upon seeing Bai Ruozhu’s waist token, they let her pass.

Ruozhu quickly checked on Qingyan, finding that his internal injuries had worsened, but fortunately, the wound in his stomach hadn’t reopened. They would have to start treating his internal injuries from scratch.

”Muyu, you carry Senior Qingyan inside, and be careful not to jostle him,” Bai Ruozhu instructed. At the moment, she didn’t know where to find a stretcher, and surely they couldn’t leave the person lying on the ground, right?

Muyu reluctantly carried Qingyan on his back, stealing a glance at Jianqi and wondering why he wasn’t the one doing the carrying. Did he look more like a laborer to them?

Seeing that Qingyan was still unconscious, Bai Ruozhu asked Jianqi, ”Who brought him here?”

”I was just about to go ask the guards outside. The message didn’t elaborate,” Jianqi said.

”Alright, make sure to ask the details,” Bai Ruozhu nodded and followed Muyu to escort Qingyan back to Qingyou Hall.

On the way, they encountered a palace concubine of unknown status. She appeared to be elegant and dignified, with a sparkling gaze. Bai Ruozhu didn’t feel the need to be as cautious as she would be in Danliang Country, considering they were merely passing through and collaborators with the ruler, not someone who needed to attend to the ladies in the Palace. Moreover, she was eager to treat Qingyan’s injuries, so she urged Muyu to move faster.

The concubine frowned in displeasure and said to her maidservant, ”Lately, there are far too many random people in the Palace. His Majesty is too kind, letting just anyone in here, which disturbs the peace.”

Fortunately, the concubine did not seem inclined to stop Bai Ruozhu and assert her authority. With a dissatisfied mutter, she passed by them. Once they were some distance apart, the concubine’s maidservant whispered, ”Exactly, even that barbarian prince Sangta can enter the Palace whenever he pleases, claiming he’s here for a marital alliance. But first, he cozied up with Su Ping. Madam, I saw with my own eyes that Su Ping took that barbarian to the Liang Pavilion on the Back Mountain, and she was leaning all over him...”

The royal palace of the Western Regions didn’t have as many rules as the Danliang Imperial Palace and didn’t even have a prohibition against the entry of external men. They also didn’t employ eunuchs, and the servants spoke much more freely.

With Bai Ruozhu’s sharp hearing, even though she had walked away, she caught every word the woman said until eventually they were too far away to hear more.

She was actually quite curious to learn more about what transpired between Su Ping and Sangta, and whether there had been any improper conduct. After all, Jun Haoran, the ruler, was now a partner of theirs, and she did not wish to see him wear a cuckold’s cap unknowingly.

Of course, she wouldn’t be foolish enough to directly remind the ruler, just to attract animosity towards herself.

In her mind, she remembered Sangta’s shameless declaration, ”You are the woman I desire. I will surely marry you and make you my beastly queen...”

Therefore, in her eyes, liking someone and wanting to marry them meant that you would never mess around with other women, but in the eyes of people like Sangta, these seemed completely unrelated; the number of women he played with had nothing to do with his intention to marry the Beast Concubine.

As a modern woman of the twenty-first century, Bai Ruozhu despised nothing more than promiscuity and womanizing. So, if Sangta ever played the role of a love saint again, she would directly expose his dalliances with the concubines from the Western Regions, provided, of course, that the sovereign of Danliang Country wasn’t present. Otherwise, it would be too embarrassing for the sovereign.

Soon, they returned to Qingyou Hall, where Bai Ruozhu administered acupuncture to Qingyan and fed him a pill for restoring his qi. Only then did Qingyan weakly come to his senses, looking extremely unwell.

”Where is this? How did I leave the Qi Family?” asked Qingyan, clutching his chest with a pained expression.

”This is Qingyou Hall, inside the royal palace. We’re temporarily residing here. You were just brought to the gates of the palace, and after receiving an urgent message from my men outside, I rushed to save you. What exactly happened?” Bai Ruozhu was still in the dark about the situation.

Qingyan, looking tired and disheartened, sighed and said, ”I’ve been set up by Qi Ting.”

Bai Ruozhu was shocked. She remembered Qi Ting as the girl who had always been by Qingyan’s side during her visit to the Qi family, appearing very gentle and lovely. How could she have attempted such treachery against Qingyan within just a few days?

”After our discussion that day, I told my family about the plan to join you and the sovereign in standing against the tyranny of the Holy Hall. Although some in the family were worried, they all agreed. Rather than sitting ducks, it makes more sense to fight. After all, the Qi Family has been suppressed by the Holy Hall for years,” Qingyan said as he began to explain.

Everything had been going smoothly, but then, his younger brother, Qi Qingfeng, found him in private and told him that he had recently managed to establish a connection with a great elder from the Holy Hall. He had already offered his allegiance to the great elder, but he did so covertly and hadn’t revealed it to the rest of the Qi Family.

This was partially because the great elder required secrecy to infiltrate the internal affairs of Gaochang’s Eight Great Familys through him, and also because Qi Qingfeng knew that it would lead to dissatisfaction amongst other familys and bring shame upon the Qi Family if word got out.

So, he kept it hidden with the intent to inform Qingyan after his condition improved, but he hadn’t expected Qingyan to take such a stance with the family.

Qingyan detected the resentment in Qi Qingfeng’s words and retorted angrily, ”Didn’t you always say that I was the hope of the family and that I should lead everyone against the Holy Hall to find a way out of our plight? How could you turn to the Holy Hall? Would our parents forgive you from beyond the grave?”

”I had no choice; the Holy Hall’s power is too great. Not pledging allegiance would mean annihilation. Rather than watching the foundation that our ancestors worked so hard to build crumble, I, Qi Qingfeng, would rather be a sinner and find a way out for the family. Let me bear this guilt alone!” Qi Qingfeng had said with great sorrow at the time.

Moved by his words, Qingyan was silent for a long time. He then patted his brother’s shoulder and said, ”Second brother, you’ve suffered all these years. I was selfish, letting you toil alone. Let’s discuss this clearly at the family meeting tomorrow, and decide on our path after hearing everyone’s opinion.”

”We... We can’t talk about this!” Qi Qingfeng started to panic.

”Don’t worry, after explaining your struggles and considerations, no one in the family will blame you,” Qingyan reassured him.

Qi Qingfeng didn’t oppose any further and even nodded in agreement. Therefore, Qingyan, having no suspicions of his only brother, didn’t see the betrayal coming. That morning, as he was preparing for the family meeting, his niece Qi Ting had brought him breakfast. Taking advantage of his guard being down, she struck him in the chest with a forceful palm.