Qi Yuan merely gave Little Dongzi a flat glance, then casually flicked the whistle in her hand.
It flew straight and true, hitting Little Dongzi right in the temple. He let out a single miserable cry, then fell silent forever.
Looking over the corpses strewn across the floor, Qi Yuan expressionlessly ascended the stairs.
She smiled at the deathly pale Qiu Mama and asked gently, “You know what to say. And what to do. Don’t you?”
What to say, what to do, it should have been difficult.
But in that moment, Qiu Mama nodded with record speed, her voice trembling as she shouted, “Yes! Yes! I know! Don’t worry, Young Miss, I know exactly what to do!”
Qi Yuan was amused. She stared at her, half-smiling. “Then I’ll be relying on you, Qiu Mama. Don’t disappoint me.”
She was smiling the whole time, but for some reason, Qiu Mama’s skin prickled with goosebumps.
She stumbled out into the hallway, staring at the bodies that stretched from the second floor all the way down to the first.
Most of them… were killed by Qi Yuan.
And she knew all too well: If she disobeyed even slightly, her own end would be no better than theirs.
She shivered.
—
When Li Changshi finally woke up, dawn was nearly breaking.
He bolted upright with panic, shouting, “Eunuch Xu! You dare act so brazenly, His Highness will never spare you!”
His memories were still frozen at the moment when Eunuch Xu ordered their silence through murder. Now that he was awake, his body was tense with lingering fear.
Just then, Qiu Mama rushed in and cried, “Lord Li!”
It was Qiu Mama!
Li Changshi snapped out of his panic and wiped the cold sweat from his brow, hurriedly asking, “Where’s Eunuch Xu?!”
She placed a bowl of medicinal tea on the table and sighed. “He’s dead. Things got dangerous fast, Eunuch Xu tried to kill us all to silence us. Thankfully, just then, the local officials arrived!”
She was still shaking. “Lord Gao had already sent someone with his command token to the neighboring Xinjian County to summon help. If not for that, we’d all be dead and buried by now.”
Li Changshi found this entirely believable, it sounded very plausible.
Especially since Qiu Mama had publicly accused Eunuch Xu so fiercely and Eunuch Xu himself had admitted everything… then even tried to kill them.
Li Changshi wiped his forehead again, still shaken but focused now.
“What about Old San and Old Si?” he asked quickly. “And Miss Qi, where is she? Where have you hidden her?!”
He remembered Qi Wang’s instructions very well. It was obvious how much Qi Wang cared about Qi Yuan, Li Changshi had to be the one to bring her back to the palace.
Qiu Mama gave him a sorrowful look. “Old San and Old Si died protecting you. They were killed by Eunuch Xu’s men. As for Miss Qi… Lord Gao had hidden her ahead of time, so she’s safe.”
A pity about Old San and Old Si, but Li Changshi moved past that quickly. The most important thing now was to get Qi Yuan back to Qi Wang’s palace.
No need to stop at the county yamen or a manor estate. Better to skip the formalities and get her seen by a doctor afterward.
Better safe than sorry.
He asked at once, “The men from Xinjian haven’t left yet, have they?”
Qiu Mama quickly shook her head. “No, of course not! We’ve lost too many people just trying to bring Miss Qi to Hongdu. I didn’t dare let them leave. Who knows what might go wrong next?”
Li Changshi let out a sigh of relief and praised her. “Good. You handled this well. We mustn’t let anything go wrong now.”
He quickly went downstairs to speak to the officials.
The county officers looked deeply uneasy. “Lord Li, we really need to report back to our magistrate. There’s an epidemic here, and so many people have died, we don’t even know how to begin dealing with it…”
A pile of unburied corpses was going to be a major problem. They didn’t want to get blamed.
Li Changshi hurriedly said, “No, no, sirs, I understand. I’ll report this directly to His Highness and have him dispatch someone to deal with it. But for now, please, we must trouble you to escort us back to Hongdu!”
He cupped his hands in earnest. “If we make it back safely, I promise, His Highness will reward you generously!”
In the end, they relented, given that Li Changshi was the Changshi of Qi Wang’s household.
Relieved, Li Changshi finally felt the weight in his heart lift.
He couldn’t help but feel secretly delighted. His luck was truly something else.
Even though he’d run into that madman Eunuch Xu, the man had killed himself with his own schemes and handed over this golden merit to him.
What more could he ask for?
He rushed back upstairs, hurrying Qiu Mama to bring him to Qi Yuan.
Seeing how excited he looked, Qiu Mama couldn’t help but smile bitterly.
He was celebrating too early.
Not that she’d say so aloud. But the more she saw of Qi Yuan, the more she understood her.
Qi Yuan didn’t tolerate even a grain of sand in her eye, and was the kind of person who did exactly what she said.
Every word nailed down like iron.
And she herself? Just a small, insignificant figure. She had no power to change anything.
So, as planned, she led Li Changshi to see the “unconscious” Qi Yuan.
Li Changshi stared curiously at her and asked, “She’s been like this the whole way? Completely unaware?”
Qiu Mama nodded stiffly. “Lord Gao tested her many times. It’s definitely some strange illness. No matter what we do, she shows no response.”
Li Changshi stroked his beard. He didn’t really understand why Qi Wang was so intent on protecting Qi Yuan.
But, who cared?
Not his problem.
Besides, their family had Divine Physician Xue.
No matter how strange the illness, he should have a solution.
“Alright, alright,” he said, clapping his hands. “Don’t waste time, have the servants move quickly. We need to leave now!”
Thankfully, the carriage was still intact. They carefully lifted Qi Yuan into it.
Li Changshi finally let out a breath. “Go!”
—
Meanwhile, back at the Qi residence, Old Madam Qi sat gazing at Qi Changting.
She sighed softly. “I wonder if our Yuan Jie’er has arrived in Jiangxi yet…”
Judging by the travel time, she should already have entered Jiangxi.
Jiangxi was Qi Wang’s territory, but… Would everything really go smoothly for Qi Yuan?
As she was thinking this, the curtain rustled.
Old Marquis Qi stepped in.
She quickly rose. “Old Marquis! Any word from Yuan Jie’er?”
The marquis lowered his voice. “She sent a letter, said she’s already arrived in Jiangxi, all is going smoothly. Told us not to worry.”
