Chapter 38: Reward

The next morning, Xia Qingfeng and Xu Xiaoxiao were in their room, refining the blueprint for the distillation equipment, preparing to have Cang Qiang ask Cang Dao to find someone to build it.

Suddenly, a young servant hurriedly ran over and called out to Xia He, “Excuse me, my lady, please go inside to receive the royal decree. The Emperor’s order has arrived. Please, Madam, take the young lady to the front courtyard to receive it.”

Xia Qingfeng was puzzled. Since when had it been their turn to personally receive an imperial decree?

The two of them quickly changed their clothes with the help of their maids and made their way to the front courtyard.

By the time they arrived, the courtyard was already full of people. When Xia Qingfeng looked up, she saw Ling Xiaoyu standing on the steps, holding the imperial edict in both hands. He smiled warmly at her and Xu Xiaoxiao upon seeing them and began to read the decree: “In response to the heavenly will, this order is given…” As Xia Qingfeng listened to the lengthy and complicated imperial decree, the key points became clear: the eldest daughter-in-law of the Marquis of Xiping, Xia Qingfeng, is virtuous, intelligent, exceptionally capable, and had treated the wounded at Chongfu Temple, selflessly offering her suturing techniques to the court. Due to her remarkable deeds, she was rewarded with both money and material goods, and finally, her daughter, Xu Xiaoxiao, was granted the title of “Town Mistress.”

After the imperial edict was read, there was a stunned silence in the front hall. Everyone looked at Xia Qingfeng and her daughter in astonishment. What was going on? When had Xia Qingfeng gained such a fortune? The title of “Town Mistress” was typically reserved for the daughters of meritorious officials—how great must her achievements have been for the Emperor to bestow such an honor upon her?

Xu Jingchen squinted at Xia Qingfeng, deep in thought: “Xia Qingfeng is actually that renowned healer? Impossible!” Though they had been married for four years, the last three of which had been marked by strife and separation, he knew Xia Qingfeng absolutely had no knowledge of medicine. So, where did she learn this suturing technique from?

Xia Qingfeng and her daughter ignored the stunned gazes of others and calmly approached to kneel and receive the decree.

Ling Xiaoyu gently placed the imperial edict into Xia Qingfeng’s hands and said warmly, “Madam, please rise.” He then personally helped Xu Xiaoxiao to her feet.

Xu Xiaoxiao smiled sweetly at Ling Xiaoyu and teased, “Brother Ling, are you very busy? Why don’t you ever have time to accompany me?”

“Yes, my grandfather has arranged a lot of studies for me, so I’m very busy every day.”

Upon hearing this, Xu Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but pout. Xia Qingfeng found it amusing; Xu Xiaoxiao only displayed such a childish side in front of Ling Xiaoyu.

Ling Xiaoyu, seeing Xu Xiaoxiao’s soft and adorable look, couldn’t help but pinch her small nose and smile, “At the beginning of next month, I’ll come to pick you up. We’ll go to Chongfu Temple to practice, and I’ll be able to accompany you for many days.”

“Really? That’s great! Then, my birthday is on the sixth day of next month. Will you stay with me and celebrate it?”

“Really? Then I definitely need to accompany you; I have to prepare a good gift for you.” The two little ones showed off their affection without a care for anyone around.

After sending off the Crown Prince, Xia Qingfeng prepared to take the rewards back to the backyard when Xu Jingchen came forward to stop her.

“What’s the matter? This reward is for me; you’re not going to try and take it for yourself again, are you?”

Xu Jingchen was so angry that his teeth were grinding audibly. “I don’t care about your money; I just want to ask you, where did you learn your medical skills?”

Xia Qingfeng looked at him leisurely and said, “I had a great transformation at Chongfu Temple. One night, the Buddha suddenly entered my dreams and enlightened me, and after waking up, I just knew all this.”

It was still an insincere lie, but Xu Jingchen had no counterargument. He was baffled by Xia Qingfeng’s changes, and her recent explanation seemed more plausible.

In the afternoon, Xia Qingfeng received news from Cangdao: those dozens of captured men in black had unexpectedly encountered an assassination attempt. There were spies in the dungeon, and they set fire to the straw inside the prison, intending to burn these people alive. The Yulin Guards arrived just in time, hurried to open the prison doors to transfer the inmates, but encountered assassins instead. These assassins did not intend to rescue but aimed to kill the black-clad men directly.

The assassins were highly skilled, and most of the black-clad men were killed instantly, which had to be a cover-up. Fortunately, the leader of the black-clad men was interrogated by the Yulin Guards and was not in prison at that time, thus escaping a catastrophe.

“Brother-in-law, those are our own people; why are they being killed instead of saved?” Upon hearing that the Third Prince had sent dozens of experts to the dungeon, Chu Jiaming thought they were there to rescue people. He did not expect that they were there to kill.

“What else can we do? They’ve already been in prison for a day and a night; it’s inevitable that someone would confess. If they truly reveal our identities, the dead cannot testify. So whether they confess or not, they have only one fate—death.” In Ling Haoxuan’s view, achieving great ambitions often involved bloodshed and helplessness; which emperor’s path to the throne wasn’t filled with such? Therefore, he didn’t care.

“And what about now? A squad leader has not yet been found; do you think he won’t betray us?” Chu Jiaming could only accept reality.

“It is indeed a bit tricky,” he then looked at Xu Jingchen, “What ideas do you have, Jingchen?”

Xu Jingchen thought for a moment and said, “Brother Jiaming, these people are your subordinates; I believe you should know their backgrounds! What about this guard squad leader? Do you know any weaknesses?”

Chu Jiaming pondered for a moment and replied, “The codename of this squad leader is Wu Yi. I heard that his parents died early, and he has a younger brother at home. He sold himself because his brother fell critically ill and he had no money for treatment. However, he has a great talent for martial arts; he worked hard to achieve his position as squad leader.”  

“That’s easy then; go to his brother’s place and chop off one of his fingers, take something he’s attached to, and send someone with a disguise to the prison without saying a word; Wu Yi will naturally know what to do.” Xu Jingchen, smiling, said something sinister.

Ling Haoxuan patted Xu Jingchen’s shoulder, chuckling. “Xingchen’s plan is quite fitting; let’s do as he says.”

On the other side, the Yulin Guards, who had received information, arrived at the prison with Wu Yi. Wu Yi saw the bodies of his brothers lying all over the prison, some burned to death and others killed with a single sword stroke, and his eyes welled up with tears. The leader of the Yulin Guard then said, “Do you still want to keep their secret? You already know your fate; you’ll suffer the same fate as your brothers, being silenced by death. Why not confess?”

Wu Yi, who was teetering on the brink of collapse, was his weakest moment. He had trained alongside his brothers for two years in the mountains, day and night, as close as brothers. He couldn’t fathom his master’s cruelty, killing them off without mercy.

In truth, when they awoke, they even considered biting through the poisonous pill to die, but the poison had been taken away while they were unconscious. They hadn’t considered betraying their master; they still held onto the hope that their master would save them.

But when they came to this realization, a group of executioners had arrived, not to rescue them, but to take their lives.

Wu Yi thought about this and then fell to his knees. “I’m willing to tell you everything I know, just as long as you let my brothers be properly buried.”

The leader of the Yulin Guard nodded in agreement.

That night, the Shadow brought Ling Xiaoyu to the dungeon, but Wu Yi, who had initially planned to confess, suddenly fell silent.

The leader of the Yulin Guards felt embarrassed in front of the Crown Prince and prepared to torture Wu Yi on the rack, but he was stopped by Ling Xiaoyu.

Ling Xiaoyu approached Wu Yi, his gaze sharp and penetrating. Wu Yi immediately lowered his head, not daring to look up. It seemed he even softened his breathing, his heart trembling with shock. The Crown Prince was just a child, yet he exuded such pressure. If he grows up like this… It’s no wonder he was born with auspicious signs. He truly is the destined emperor.

“Speak! Is there someone threatening you?” Though it was a question, Ling Xiaoyu’s tone was extremely certain.

Wu Yi suddenly lifted his head in shock, looking at Ling Xiaoyu, but then quickly bowed his head again.

“Let me think. The person who threatens you must be very important to you, right? Hmph, such a despicable and shameless master, and you still want to be loyal to him? Do you really think that if you die, your master will spare them?”

At this time, Wu Yi continued to keep his head lowered, but his shoulders trembled constantly, emitting low, painful sobs.

“Take him down,” Ling Xiaoyu commanded.

Once Wu Yi was released, he knelt before Ling Xiaoyu, trembling as he took out a bloody finger from his garment, tears streaming down his face. “Please, Your Highness, save my brother. I am willing to sacrifice everything.” He then bowed his head to the ground, banging it loudly.

“Shadow, take him away and question him carefully,” Ling Xiaoyu turned to the leader of the Yulin Guards and said, “I hope General Cheng can assist.”

The commander of the Yulin Guards, Cheng Ye, in his thirties, came from a noble background and only took orders from the Emperor. He had been sent by the Emperor to assist the Crown Prince in investigating the arson and assassination case at Chongfu Temple.

Previously, he only knew that this Crown Prince started speaking at the age of five and was exceptionally intelligent. However, since he was just an eight-year-old child, he harbored only respect for the young prince, not fear.

But just now, he had witnessed the way the Crown Prince faced Wu Yi with such composure, intelligence, and authority that he couldn’t help but feel compelled to submit. When the Crown Prince asked him to assist the Shadow, he immediately knelt in acceptance, indicating his stance.

That night, the Shadow took Wu Yi, along with ten selected from the Yulin Guards, to a residence in the western district of the capital.

This was the small courtyard rented by Wu Yi and his brother. The courtyard was shrouded in darkness, but faint sounds of a man’s painful groans drifted from inside the rooms.  

Wu Yi’s body stiffened, anger and resentment surging within him, and he could hardly restrain himself from charging into the courtyard.

The Shadow swiftly grabbed Wu Yi, then signaled a few cloaked figures to silently enter the courtyard. They moved without making a sound, dispersing quickly—some took down the guards while others broke through the door. Perhaps the Third Prince never anticipated that someone would come to help Wu Yi from the dungeon to rescue his brother. With only four guards stationed and no real strength involved, they were swiftly overwhelmed, allowing Wu Yi to rush into the room.

Inside, chaos reigned. His brother was curled up in a corner, tightly bound and trembling, his face red and flushed, seemingly delirious. Wu Yi crouched down to untie his brother, only to discover he was running a high fever. The severed finger was red and swollen, oozing thick, pungent pus, indicating that the wound had become infected.

It was an urgent situation. However, as an important prisoner, taking Wu Yi along to rescue his brother was already a matter of the Crown Prince’s benevolence. Therefore, the Shadow ordered the Yulin Guards to take Wu Yi back to the dungeon while he quickly carried the sick young man to a medical house.

Wu Yi was filled with worry for his brother but had no choice but to return to the dungeon.

The Shadow knocked on the door of the medical house. The doctor attended to the patient, performing debridement, bandaging the wound, and administering medicine, but the fever persisted stubbornly.

The doctor shook his head and said, “This young man has a very weak constitution; it seems he has been seriously ill before and is still physically drained. Since this injury went untreated and he has suffered a great shock, I truly have no way to help.”

The Shadow immediately sent someone to report back to Ling Xiaoyu.

After some consideration, Ling Xiaoyu said, “Let him rest at the medical house for the night; have the doctor take good care of him. Tomorrow morning, I will personally go to the West Ping Marquis’ residence to ask Madam Xia to come treat him.”

Meanwhile, back in the dungeon, Wu Yi was filled with fear and shock. If it weren’t for the Crown Prince sending someone to rescue him, his brother would likely have lost his life that night. Thinking of this, he shouted to the guards outside, “I want to see the general! I want to confess…”

Receiving the news, Cheng Ye quickly arrived at the dungeon. The Crown Prince had a unique approach—no torture was needed, no forced confessions. He struck right at the heart of the matter, prompting voluntary disclosures…

The next morning, Ling Xiaoyu took leave from his grandfather and went directly to the West Ping Marquis’ residence to collect Xia Qingfeng and her son.

Upon arriving, the old emperor had already learned from the Dragon Guards about recent events. He was furious at his son’s foolishness, realizing that if such a brutal person were to ascend the throne, it would spell disaster for the kingdom.

Indeed, he had guessed early on that it was his foolish sons behind it all. None of these sons pleased him, and even the late crown prince, who had passed away three years ago, had only been honest and trustworthy but lacked the ability to shoulder great responsibilities. He had only high hopes for this grandson, and in fact, Ling Xiaoyu’s actions in recent days were commendable, which greatly satisfied him.

The next morning, Ling Xiaoyu took a carriage to the West Ping Marquis’ residence to fetch Xia Qingfeng and her son.