HLnovel Chapter 298 Arrival in Xingzhou
Chapter 298 Arrival in Xingzhou
Chapter 298 Arrival in Xingzhou
Xingzhou is located in the north of the Great Xia Kingdom, bordering Sida County of the Ye Chu Kingdom. Although the terrain is high, it is mostly grassland and dense forest.
To reach Xingzhou from the capital, one had to pass through five prefectures and counties: Cangzhou, Wangzhou, Minzhou, Yuanzhou, and Xizhou. A temporary palace was set up in each prefecture and county so that the emperor could rest at any time.
Whether it was truly divine protection or not, the journey from the capital to Xingzhou was remarkably smooth. Not only did they avoid encountering bandits and refugees, but the counties and villages they passed through were also characterized by their simple and honest people, living peacefully and contentedly. The weather was also clear and cloudless, and they never experienced any wind or rain.
At each temporary palace, the accompanying ministers would naturally sing praises of the Great Xia Dynasty's peace and prosperity to the emperor, making him beam with joy. In fact, the emperor seemed much healthier and had a rosier complexion than when he was in the palace.
Because of the smooth journey, the emperor bestowed various rewards upon Chunyu Shan and Gongsun Zhan, who were in charge of organizing the autumn hunt. This made Chunyu Jing extremely angry and jealous, but he suppressed it for the sake of his usual image in front of the emperor.
Among the autumn hunting party was An Rong's father, Minister An. In order to conceal the truth about An Rong's sudden death, Ye Yingrou once again disguised herself as An Rong and accompanied Chunyu Jing. When she met Minister An, he pulled her aside and asked her about her well-being, and chatted with her casually, without noticing anything amiss.
On the other hand, after departing from the palace on the first day and arriving at the first temporary palace, Chunyu Yang secretly brought Ye Pianran to Consort Zhuang Xian in the dead of night.
Because Consort Zhuang was Chunyu Yang's biological mother, Ye Pianran did not make any disguise on her face when she met Consort Zhuang. Her beautiful face, as delicate as a lotus in spring, made Consort Zhuang momentarily lose her composure.
She's so beautiful! No wonder she's the daughter of Gongsun Yuan, the most beautiful woman in the capital back then. She's completely inherited her mother's beauty. She doesn't look much like that annoying Marquis Anshi at all.
In addition, as the legitimate daughter of the emperor, she was well-mannered and had a graceful demeanor, which made Consort Zhuang more and more satisfied with her.
The young lady is indeed a good girl. She is the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Anshi, and her maternal grandfather is the Left Prime Minister of the court. With such a family background, let alone being the principal wife of the Prince of Beiwu, even if she enters the palace as a concubine, her status would probably not be lower than hers.
Ye Pianran remembered that Consort Zhuang was Chunyu Yang's birth mother, so she restrained her temper and behaved properly when they met and spent time together, which amazed 666 in the space.
He even said things like "the ugly daughter-in-law meets her mother-in-law," which made Ye Pianran feel extremely embarrassed and angry, but she still had to pretend to be calm.
Chunyu Yang, who shared the system with her, naturally overheard the teasing remark about 666 and couldn't help but chuckle.
Ye Pianran carefully examined Consort Zhuang's pulse and discovered that although her symptoms were very similar to Gongsun Yuan's, the poison in her body was not the Dripping Water Guanyin, but a different, more dangerous poison. She took a drop of Consort Zhuang's blood and put it into the alchemy hut in her space to refine it, discovering that the poison was called "White Crane Returns," and it did not originate from Ye Yingrou's poison-making system, but was from the same lineage as the "Female Pleasure" poison.
When Chunyu Yang found out, his face immediately turned extremely ugly.
They suspected that the poison of female pleasure was made by the remnants of the Wan Ku Sect. If the "White Crane Returns" poison that Consort Zhuang was poisoned with came from the same source as female pleasure, it would mean that the remnants of the Wan Ku Sect were very likely lurking in the palace, or even right next to them.
But if that person was in the palace, how did the poison of female pleasure spread?
Did that person come to the autumn hunt as well?
Could he be using this opportunity to plot something and then seize the chance to rebel?
No one could answer Chunyu Yang's conjecture. All he could do was double the number of secret guards around the emperor, making them keep a close eye on the people around him at all times.
Although Consort Zhuang was poisoned, she was different from Gongsun Yuan in that she was of noble status. Although she was also getting weaker and unconscious every day after being poisoned, she was still stronger. In addition, she had given Chunyu Yang some incense pills and some flowers and plants that she had grown in her space and kept in Xianling Palace. The poison was suppressed in her dantian. Apart from occasionally feeling unbearable abdominal pain, she was much better than before.
Having ascertained Consort Zhuang's physical condition, Ye Pianran began preparing to detoxify her.
She first inserted the Nine Needles of Tai Su around Consort Zhuang's dantian, channeling the internal energy she had recently cultivated into Consort Zhuang's body. She then guided the sap from the peony petals planted in the space into her body through the Nine Needles of Tai Su, using the flower sap to absorb the toxins and then expel them from her body.
It would take forty-nine days for Consort Zhuang to completely expel the poison from her body. As Ye Pianran had predicted, the detoxification process caused Consort Zhuang immense suffering, nearly driving her mad.
In addition to acupuncture, Ye Pianran also used the alchemy workshop in her space to refine some Heaven-Mending Elixir for Consort Zhuang to take every day to nourish and replenish her internal organs that had been damaged by poisoning over the years.
By the time the autumn hunting party arrived in Xingzhou, the poison in Consort Zhuang's body had been completely neutralized, and all the impurities in her body had been expelled. Ye Pianran had transformed her body into one that was immune to all poisons.
Her skin became rosy and delicate, her hair became jet black and shiny, her body exuded a faint fragrance, and her face became rounder. She was elegant, beautiful and serene, and did not look like a woman who was almost forty years old. The emperor was greatly surprised and kept her by his side every day, showering her with favors even more than when she was most favored.
With Chunyu Yang and the Xuanjia Army providing tight and seamless protection along the way, the emperor grew increasingly fond of this son. Several times, he almost went back on his word and directly bestowed the eldest daughter of Marquis Anshi upon him as his princess, but he was afraid of causing dissatisfaction among the other princes, so he gave up.
Ye Pianran cured Consort Zhuang, and Consort Zhuang grew to like her more and more. In their interactions, she had already treated Ye Pianran as her daughter-in-law, which made Ye Pianran feel flattered and gratified.
Throughout the journey escorting the convoy to the autumn hunt in Xingzhou, Chunyu Yang secretly practiced the "White Tiger Formless Skill" given to him by Ye Pianran. This skill was a body-forging technique that could make the body increasingly strong, containing boundless power, and making it impervious to swords and spears, as well as water and fire. For someone like him who frequently wielded swords and spears on the battlefield, this skill undoubtedly added a life-saving ability to his life.
When Chunyu Yang's body received space sharing from Ye Pianran, his physical strength and overall power were elevated to a higher level. Therefore, when he was practicing the "White Tiger Formless Skill", he could digest and comprehend it after only a brief look. His cultivation progressed by leaps and bounds, and even 666 praised him for his excellent physique.
In just two and a half months, when the team arrived in Xingzhou, Chunyu Yang had already mastered the "White Tiger Formless Skill" to the third level, making Ye Pianran, who had only mastered the "Tai Su Heart Method" to the second level, extremely envious.
Thus, the royal autumn hunting party traveled at a leisurely pace, taking in the beautiful mountains and rivers of the Great Xia Dynasty, and it took them nearly two and a half months to reach Xingzhou. By the time they arrived in Xingzhou, it was late autumn and early winter in the Great Xia Dynasty, and the people had already changed into winter clothes.
Having received news of the impending arrival of the autumn hunting party well in advance, the prefect of Xingzhou, Sadarqi, led the people of Xingzhou to greet them from afar. When they saw the emperor's carriage, the people of Xingzhou danced a welcoming dance on the grassland. The high-pitched folk songs of Xingzhou were deafening, as if thousands of horses were galloping across the grassland. Seeing the lush grass and beautiful water of this place, and the peaceful life of the people, the emperor was overjoyed and immediately rewarded the prefect of Xingzhou and other officials with great generosity.
The autumn hunt has officially begun.