Crossing the Mountains

Chapter 128 Wax Pills Appear Again
After watching Tan Huaike leave, Xu Guanbai knelt down again in front of the beaded curtain in the inner room.

The Empress, feeling slightly tired, leaned lazily against the couch and said, "This mission was handled quite well; it has at least made up for some of the disaster I caused by being too clever for my own good."

Xu Guanbai prostrated himself and kowtowed: "Your Highness disregards past grievances and is willing to grant me the opportunity to make amends. I am deeply grateful."

"Your grandfather, as the Minister of the Imperial Household, was instigated by treacherous people to insist on upholding your marriage agreement with Cong'er, and even sent people to the western border to intercept the marriage procession. If it weren't for the fact that this action happened to attract those rebels who intended to sabotage the marriage, and that you volunteered to go to the border to seek a solution, I would never have given you this opportunity."

"Your Highness is wise. The Xu family did not intend to obstruct the marriage alliance." Xu Guanbai still felt a pang of regret when he mentioned that incident. "After the marriage agreement was nullified, my father-in-law wanted to make up for the loss of the Xu family's reputation, so he plotted to make me the Crown Prince's concubine. In order to silence public opinion and make the matter seem legitimate, my father-in-law did not hesitate to have people disguised as bandits and go to the border to intercept the marriage alliance procession."

"However, he only wanted to secretly persuade the princess to use the Xu family's help as an exchange, so that she could act as the Third Prince's principal wife and recommend me to the Crown Prince's side. At that time, I would serve as the lady-in-waiting to welcome the princess, which would not only save face for me but also demonstrate the royal favor. This was not what I wanted at all, and I had no idea that it would cause such irreversible consequences."

"Very well, I didn't expect this to happen regarding the marriage agreement. The Xu family has indeed been wronged, and it's understandable that you want some compensation."

"But in the end, it was our selfishness that threw the marriage procession into disarray, giving those assassins an opportunity."

"That assassination attempt has been completely suppressed, so there's no need for regret or lingering remorse. Now that the marriage procession is about to enter the capital, and there's a replacement for Princess Mohe, we should make the most of it and take everything that's rightfully ours."

Xu Guanbai paused, looked up at the gently swaying beaded curtain, and tentatively asked, "Your Highness, she was originally an outsider. Once everything has settled down, could you spare her life?"

The Queen chuckled lightly: "An outsider? She is a survivor and witness of the massacre in the valley, and she participated in our entire elaborate scheme to make it seem real. Once the grand wedding is held, no matter how long she lives, even if she really dies of illness, she will be the rightful Princess Consort of Qin. How can you expect her to be an outsider?"

"But all she wanted was to help us succeed and, incidentally, avenge her father and brothers. After it was all done, she asked for nothing in return; she just wanted to be an ordinary merchant. On the way here, she was still thinking about how to run her business in Andu..."

"Are her desires and wishes really that important?" the Empress said calmly. "If she were greedy for wealth and power and insisted on becoming the nominal Princess Consort of Qin, I might have allowed her to enjoy this extraordinary blessing for a little longer. But she is willing to give up everything. How can I keep her under my control and ensure that she doesn't harbor any disloyal thoughts?"

Xu Guanbai felt sorry for him, but he was powerless to change the situation.

If you don't take what Heaven gives you, you will suffer the consequences; this is such a cruel and deadly predicament.

The Queen gently comforted her, saying, "She's just an ant that crawled out of the desert; it's nothing to worry about."
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Despite the bustling city, Tan Huaike, exhausted from a long day and anxious after meeting the Empress, felt drowsy and listless in his sedan chair.

The same four guards carried the sedan chair. They dutifully escorted her to the place where she could transfer to another carriage. After seeing her onto the carriage, they planned to travel through the night to take her back to her suburban residence in Fengyi County. The person in the carriage was of high status, and the Empress had requested that the journey be carried out discreetly and discreetly. They just wanted to get her here and away as quickly as possible so they could report back.

The four men carrying the sedan chair drove it steadily, but remained silent throughout. Having Xu Guanbai accompany him on the way here, Tan Huaike hadn't found the journey too difficult, but now he found the long road utterly tedious.

When the carriage reached the most bustling area of ​​Andu, it suddenly shook violently.

Caught off guard, Tan Huaike bumped her forehead against the carriage beam, hissing in pain. Noticing the carriage had stopped, she lifted the curtain and asked, "What happened?"

The guard driving the carriage said, "It's alright, a beggar rushed out from the front and we almost bumped into him."

Did you almost hit someone?
Tan Huai Ke was startled and looked closely. He saw a ragged child curled up in front of the carriage, rolling on the ground clutching his stomach and crying out in pain. Tan Huai Ke quickly said, "Has he been hit? Go check on him quickly."

The guard, however, was unconcerned: "No, I reined in my horse in time, there was absolutely no collision. You may not know this, but in Andu, lazy beggars often target the carriages of the wealthy, deliberately rushing out to pretend to be hit, just to extort a little money. Don't believe them. At worst, we'll just give him some money and let it go. We'll leave quickly, and he'll get up and leave in a bit."

"Huh? Such a strange thing?" Tan Huai Ke asked in bewilderment. "This is too dangerous. What if someone really got hit? Are they willing to risk their lives for a little money?"

"You're overthinking it, sir. These people are very shrewd. They've developed a knack for dodging after pretending to be hit so many times. They often fake minor injuries, pretending they were hit. Even if they were really hit, they would only get a few scrapes at most, and wouldn't actually lose their lives."

“But I can see that the child is in a lot of pain…” Tan Huaike was still worried. “Oh dear, he’s vomiting blood!”

Just as they were about to use money to clear the way, they saw the beggar clutch his stomach and vomit two mouthfuls of blood.

Just then, a group of people performing Nuo dance passed by, and someone exclaimed, "The carriage hit someone! They trampled someone until they vomited blood!"

A large crowd of onlookers quickly gathered around the carriage.

Although they were used to swindlers who tried to extort money, the beggar's spitting of blood was particularly realistic. He didn't even have the strength to get up and stop the car. Anyone who saw it would think that he had really been hit.

"Whose carriage is that?"

"They're not wearing a clan emblem, so we can't tell. Could they be from out of town?"

"Oh, it looks like a young lady!"

Even though he wasn't sure if it was his carriage that had hit the child, Tan Huaike couldn't bear to leave a child to die.

Ignoring the guards' attempts to stop her, she went to the beggar boy who was spitting blood, gently patted him, and asked with concern, "Are you alright? Where did you hurt yourself? Shall I take you to see a doctor?"

The beggar grabbed her hand and said haltingly, "My stomach... hurts, doctor... call the authorities..."

Without him saying anything, the officers on night patrol had already arrived, pushing through the crowd and saying, "Make way, make way, don't block the way! What happened? Whose car hit someone again?"

To avoid escalating the situation, the two guards stepped forward to negotiate with the officials. This troublesome matter was truly a headache for them. They couldn't reveal Tan Huai Ke's identity, nor could they assert their authority as palace guards. They could only use pre-arranged accounts of officials' wives and servants as an explanation, which ultimately meant they still had to pay compensation and take someone to see a doctor.

Beside the injured beggar, two other guards remained by Tan Huaike's side, not daring to leave for even a moment.

But Tan Huaike quietly clenched his fist.

Just now, the beggar took advantage of the chaos to slip a wax pellet into her palm, the same wax pellet that he shot into Fufeng's room with a slingshot that day.
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Next chapter: Could it be that he's planning to elope with her?