“Move aside, move aside! Can’t you hear me?” An arrogant voice startled Bing Zhi, who was lost in thought.
Somehow, a sedan chair from a wealthy and official family had appeared on the street, accompanied by a large group of people. The sedan chair moved slowly and came to a stop in front of Bing Zhi and Xun Luoxia, unable to pass due to the narrow road.
“I told you to move aside, do you hear me?!” A maidservant dressed relatively properly pushed Bing Zhi aside. Although Bing Zhi was friendly to those around her, she was cold to outsiders. She reached out to block the maidservant and used a bit of force, causing the maidservant to fall to the side.
“Mother, let’s go,” Bing Zhi said.
Xun Luoxia showed an approving look; her son’s wife should have the dignity of a young mistress of Luoxia Palace.
“This is who they are,” came a voice from inside the sedan chair.
“Princess, someone is blocking the way,” the maidservant reported, “And she pushed me down.”
“Oh?” The person in the sedan spoke calmly and elegantly, stepping out.
The woman who emerged wore a thin white veil, with a beautiful face. She had a slender waist and slightly exposed ankles, with clothing unlike that of the Central Plains. Although the maidservant called her a princess, Bing Zhi felt she did not seem like Xiao Han’s sister.
“Look, that’s the foreign princess who is to marry the Crown Prince!”
This foreign princess originally came to Beijing for the marriage, but the Crown Prince refuses to marry as ordered, repeatedly delaying. Finally, the Emperor could only say they would choose a wedding date later.
Marry Han? Bing Zhi’s heart suddenly jumped, and she unconsciously tightened her grip on Xun Luoxia’s hand. Xun Luoxia felt Bing Zhi’s sudden reaction but said nothing, just watching quietly.
Bing Zhi laughed coldly, lightly mocking, “Since you’re already ‘Father Emperor’, why bother competing with me?” Someone nearby couldn’t help but laugh.
“Mother, let’s go.” Bing Zhi, having taught her a lesson and not wanting to cause trouble in her confused state, took Xun Luo Xia’s hand and turned to leave. The foreign princess suddenly blocked their path from behind.
Bing Zhi narrowed her eyes, realizing there was still time to act.
Yi Mu’er was originally going to visit Yun Qi’s home, but on the way, she saw a highly ceremonial sedan chair stopped in the middle of the road, surrounded by a large group of people.
She walked closer and saw Bing Zhi among them, her heart suddenly startled. “Excuse me, coming through, coming through!”
After much effort, Yi Mu’er finally squeezed out of the crowd and came to Bing Zhi’s side.
“Sister-in-law, what’s going on? Where’s my brother?” Yi Mu’er glanced at the veiled woman standing almost confrontationally in front of Bing Zhi and asked.
“Oh? So she’s already married.” The foreign princess heard Yi Mu’er’s unintentional address and smiled cleverly, then turned and left with a sweep of her sleeve.
“Hiss!” Bing Zhi inhaled a cold breath when she turned, truly not expecting the princess to make such a warning move.
“Oh! How did your face get scratched?” Xun Luo Xia turned Bing Zhi’s face, revealing a thin scratch on her left cheek.
“It must be her, with those long sleeves!” Yi Mu’er angrily wanted to go argue, “I’ll teach her a lesson!”
“Don’t go.” Bing Zhi, awakened by the pain, was unusually calm. The foreign princess was not short of skilled people; those sedan bearers looked ordinary but had restrained gazes, definitely martial arts experts. Yi Mu’er’s martial arts Bing Zhi had experienced – her moves were good, but her internal energy was insufficient. She was not a match, and Bing Zhi was uncertain about her mother-in-law’s skills, so it was not advisable to confront them now.
“Fine!” Yi Mu’er stamped her foot unwillingly.
“Enough, Mu’er. Bing Zhi’s facial injury is more important; it might leave a scar if left untreated. Let’s go home first.”
Xun Luo Xia was more experienced and knew that taking action now would be disadvantageous, so she persuaded Yi Mu’er to stop.
“Let’s go.” Bing Zhi, afraid Yi Mu’er’s anger would make her impulsive and uncontrollable, pulled Yi Mu’er out through the crowd. Xun Luo Xia cleared the way: “Everyone make way, make way!” The crowd gradually dispersed.
Before Yun Qi could ask anything, Yi Mu’er rushed to say: “It was a foreign princess who injured my sister-in-law. She used some kind of evil illusion technique and right in front of me and my mother-in-law, she turned and waved her sleeve, scratching my sister-in-law’s face!”
Chapter Eleven: Rival (5)
“What exactly happened? How did a conflict suddenly arise?” Yun Qi was puzzled. Although her mother’s temperament was not considered gentle, she would not easily conflict with others, and Bing Zhi had always been indifferent.
Yi Mu’er lowered her head, “I don’t know. On my way here, I saw people surrounding my sister-in-law and mother-in-law. When I entered, the princess was about to leave. I’m sorry, I couldn’t protect my sister-in-law.”
“It’s not your fault. We can only wait until Bing Zhi recovers to understand.” Yun Qi waved her hand to comfort Yi Mu’er, then seemed to remember something and asked, “Did you see what instrument scratched Bing Zhi?”
“It felt like it was scratched by a fingernail,” Yi Mu’er blurted out without thinking, then felt something was wrong and added, “Because I didn’t see her holding any weapon at the time, and the marks were similar to when I was scratched by a fingernail before.”
Fingernail? Foreign? Yun Qi suddenly felt panicked, something flashing through his mind that he couldn’t quite grasp, “Do you know which tribe she belongs to?”
“I don’t know. I only saw she was wearing a veil that seemed connected to her headdress. Her clothing was shorter than ours, slightly exposing her ankles. There was nothing else different,” Yi Mu’er described.
“Oh no!” Yun Qi shouted, already rushing into Bing Zhi’s room.
Yi Mu’er followed Yun Qi into the room.
She was poisoned, and it was your princess who administered the poison! Yun Qi, seeing Xiao Jian still somewhat lucid, calmed her emotions and continued, “I suspect she was poisoned by the Tu tribe’s forbidden drug – ‘Heart-Separating Confusion Powder’.”
The Tu tribe was a remote small tribe from a foreign land, renowned for their expertise in poison. Most countries dared not easily wage war against them. The Tu tribe had a royal family who were not allowed to learn toxicology or forbidden drugs.
“Heart-Separating Confusion Powder?” Xiao Jian was almost in a trance. It was the Heart-Separating Confusion Powder! A deadly poison that even the Tu tribe, skilled in toxins, had to forbid, which spoke to its potency.
“Wind! Hurry! Call Rain and Electric! Quickly! Find at least one of them!” Xiao Jian shouted. “Be fast!”
“Yes!” Wind had never seen his master so distraught and rushed to find Rain and Electric.
“Quickly take me to see her!” Xiao Jian only wanted to see Bing Zhi safe and sound as soon as possible.
Yun Qi didn’t mind, “Let’s go. I think she needs you.”
……
“Mu’er, can you tell me what happened now?” After helping Yi Mu’er get Bing Zhi to take the medicine and seeing Bing Zhi calm down, Xun Luo Xia asked.
“Aunt, I think it’s better if Brother Yun Qi explains. I’m an outsider and don’t know much,” Yi Mu’er was reluctant to speak, and indeed she knew very little.
Xun Luo Xia was not surprised by Yi Mu’er’s response, “Very well, we’ll discuss this after everything settles. Now, the most important thing is that Zhi’er can overcome this crisis.”
“Yes,” Yi Mu’er did not continue the conversation.
