Mu Jingrui organized everything in the shortest possible time and led his troops to the expedition.
Zheng Zhixing proposed to join the army in the war, and the emperor agreed in order to give face to the Yiyong Hou Mansion and to appease Zheng Binghong for his treatment of Zheng Binghong a few days ago.
The following days passed uneventfully.
Shangguan Wan Ning spent most of her time taking care of her mother.
In order to treat her mother's illness, she studied medicine with Lu Xiangzi. However, Lu Xiangzi had a very weird temper, and it was not easy to get along with him.
But during this process, Shangguan Wan Ning discovered two things.
The first thing was that she felt that Lu Xiangzi was particularly accommodating and tolerant of Sun Jinyao; the second thing was that Lu Xiangzi had a greedy mouth and liked all kinds of delicacies.
Shangguan Wan Ning often uses delicious food as a temptation to ask Lu Xiangzi to teach her some unpopular but effective medical methods or prescriptions.
Suddenly a bold idea came to her mind.
At noon that day, Shangguan Wan Ning ordered the kitchen to cook some exquisite and delicious meals and personally delivered them to Lu Xiangzi.
Sure enough, as soon as Lu Xiangzi smelled the aroma of rice, he jumped up from the couch, sniffed and said: "Boiled meat slices, grilled fish with thousand-feuille pastry, lily red bean paste, and..."
Before Lu Xiangzi finished reporting, Shangguan Wan Ning had already placed the meals on the table one by one and handed over the chopsticks diligently.
"Huh huh, you girl, you are trying to be so courteous for nothing. What are you doing? What are you planning? Let me tell you, I won't be fooled by you again."
As Lu Xiangzi spoke, he secretly glanced at the food with his eyes.
Shangguan Wan Ning pressed Lu Xiangzi onto the chair next to the table. "You can eat with confidence. Can I gain any advantage from you?"
Lu Xiangzi made up his mind that Shangguan Wan Ning would not succeed this time. So he picked up his chopsticks and ate happily.
"Originally, it is the right thing for a disciple to respect his master."
Shangguan Wan Ning's words made Lu Xiangzi spit out all the soup he had in his mouth.
"When did I say that I would accept you as my apprentice?"
"It's too late for you to say it now." Shangguan Wan Ning hurriedly picked up a cup of tea, knelt down and handed it over, "Master is here, please bow to me as a disciple."
Lu Xiangzi jumped away in a hurry, stepped aside, and said angrily: "Do you know how many people in this world want to become my teacher? You want to bribe me with just a few dishes? There is no way."
"But I am very sincere..."
"Let's go!" Lu Xiangzi pulled Shangguan Wan Ning up and pushed him out, slamming the door shut.
Shangguan Wan Ning stamped her feet in anger.
"It's useless for you to do this."
Shangguan Wan Ning turned around and saw Sun Jinyao wearing a mask standing behind him.
"Do you have any idea?" Shangguan Wan Ning's eyes were full of expectation.
Sun Jinyao shook his head indifferently.
He had never thought about becoming a disciple, so why would he worry about it.
"Are you looking for him? He is..."
"No, I came to find you."
"Is something wrong?"
Sun Jinyao didn't speak for a long time, just looked at Shangguan Wan Ning quietly. After a long time, he said quietly: "Thank you."
"What...means?" Shangguan Wan Ning was a little confused.
"It's nothing." After Sun Jinyao said that, he walked away silently.
For some reason, Shangguan Wan Ning felt that he seemed to have something to say. His back looked a little more lonely.
Shangguan Wan returned to the room listlessly. The next morning, Shangguan Wan Ning was collecting dew in the garden, and Lu Xiangzi came over with a heavy heart.
"Girl, that brat didn't come back all night yesterday. Do you know where he went?"
"Master Sun hasn't come back?"
Shangguan Wan Ning thought of Sun Jinyao's abnormal behavior yesterday and began to worry. "Don't worry, I'll send someone out to look for him."
"Why should I be in a hurry?" Lu Xiangzi denied it by rolling his eyes.
"Duplicity."
Shangguan Wan Ning handed the dew collection tools to the maid, got down from the flower bed, and was about to send someone out to search for it when she saw Lu Tong running over in a hurry.
"Miss."
"What happened in such a hurry?"
"My servant just heard the news. I heard that the second prince encountered an assassin last night. No, the second young lady is back and is crying to the master. She wants the master to say hello to Jingzhao Mansion and arrest the assassin as soon as possible."
Xiao Zhenting has become very low-key since he lost power. In fact, he can't keep a low profile even if he wants to, because many officials in the government are unwilling to support him.
"assassin?"
Shangguan Wan Ning turned to look at Lu Xiangzi, and she noticed that there was a bit more worry in Lu Xiangzi's eyes.
Could it be that Lu Xiangzi also knew about the grudge between Sun Jinyao and Xiao Zhenting?
Intuition told Shangguan Wan Ning that the assassin who assassinated Xiao Zhenting yesterday was most likely Sun Jinyao.
"Lutong, do you know how the second prince is doing? How is the assassin doing?"
"I heard from the second young lady that the second prince was injured, but I don't know if it's serious or not. But the assassin was injured by the guards, so it should be quite serious."
Lu Xiangzi's expression suddenly changed.
Shangguan Wan Ning dismissed everyone with a wave of her hand, walked up to Lu Xiangzi and said, "If the assassin is really Mr. Sun, you don't have to worry too much. He is very familiar with the capital and should be able to find a hiding place."
"But, he was injured."
"I will find a way to get my father to thwart the search and find Xiao Zhenting before him. Maybe..." Shangguan Wan Ning said thoughtfully, "I know where he is."
Shangguan Wan Ning immediately changed her clothes, took only Lu Xiangzi and slipped out of the back door, finding the Sun family's old house along the way.
This is where Sun Jinyao and his mother finally settled.
Shangguan Wan Ning pushed the door, but it didn't move at all. It seemed that the door lock had not been opened.
"Didn't he come back?"
"He's so stupid, doesn't he know how to climb over the wall?" Lu Xiangzi pointed at the wall, jumped over it.
"Hey, old man, what should I do?" As soon as Shangguan Wan Ning finished speaking, Lu Xiangzi turned back and jumped over with her.
The yard was overgrown with weeds, and on the muddy dirt road, a bright red trail of blood snaked into the house.
Both of them were shocked and ran in quickly.
I saw Sun Jinyao lying on the ground covered in blood, his breath weak.
Lu Xiangzi stepped forward quickly, tapped several large acupuncture points on Sun Jinyao's body, and slowly injected his internal energy into his body.
Gradually, Sun Jinyao's complexion improved, but he still didn't wake up.
At this time, Lu Xiangzi was already sweating profusely. Shangguan Wan Ning took out a handkerchief to wipe his sweat and comforted him: "You don't have to worry too much, Mr. Sun will be fine."
This time, Lu Xiangzi did not refute.
"I'm afraid he can't go back to the Prime Minister's Palace now. I'll give you a prescription. You can write it down and get some medicine for him. I'll stay and take care of him."
"Okay, I'll bring you some food and a change of clothes."