Chapter 586
“Your Highness, the Princess sent me to find you,” Xu Chuan said hurriedly. It was only then that he noticed something was wrong with Xu Heming’s expression.
“Your Highness, are you injured?” Xu Chuan asked anxiously.
“How is the Princess?” Xu Heming did not answer his question. Instead, he looked at Xu Chuan and asked, “Is the Princess all right?”
“Your Highness, the Princess is fine,” Xu Chuan quickly assured him.
“Xu Chuan, Prince of Zhennan said that the Princess was burned to death in Lu City. What is going on?” Xu Heming asked anxiously.
“It is true that someone in Lu City set fire to the place in an attempt to burn the Princess to death, but we weren’t in the magistrate’s rear compound.” Xu Chuan had not expected Prince of Zhennan to know about this. Or could it be that the fire had been his doing?
“Is the Princess really safe?” Heming asked again. He had just breathed a sigh of relief, but now he was worried that Xu Chuan might have been bribed.
“Fortunately, we had Elder Jun with us. He noticed that something was wrong with the rear compound of the magistrate’s office and stopped us from going inside. The Princess and Miss Wen are all at Elder Jun’s place now. They’re perfectly safe.” Xu Chuan told Heming everything that had happened.
Xu Heming finally relaxed. He had known that Li Zhiwei would never be so easily harmed.
“However, outsiders may believe that the Princess and the others were still in the rear compound and had already been burned to death.” Xu Chuan hurriedly explained further. “The Princess was worried that you would hear the news and become anxious, so she sent me to give you a message.”
“As long as she’s safe! Now that I know, hurry back to her side.” After Xu Heming finished speaking, he coughed lightly again.
“Your Highness, you’re injured?” Xu Chuan asked worriedly.
“This prince is fine. Leave at once.” Xu Heming shook his head and urged him to go.
“Your Highness, these are the medicines Master Jin prepared.” Xu Chuan quickly took out several bottles and jars from his robes.
However, he hesitated as he glanced at Xu Heming. He had no idea whether to give him a healing medicine or something else.
“His Highness has been poisoned! Do you have an antidote?” Xu Song hurriedly asked from the side.
“Yes. Elder Jun even specially prepared some Hundred-Poison Pills. He said they can neutralize all poisons.” Xu Chuan quickly took out a bottle of Hundred-Poison Pills and handed it to Xu Song.
Xu Song did not hesitate. He immediately put one into his mouth.
Seeing this, Xu Chuan took out another bottle of Vitality-Nourishing Pills and put one into his own mouth as well.
After all, Xu Heming’s condition was rather poor, and he needed the Vitality-Nourishing Pills too.
“Your Highness, these pills aren’t poisonous.” Xu Song paused for a moment before taking out a Hundred-Poison Pill and handing it to Xu Heming.
Xu Heming placed it directly into his mouth. The pill dissolved as soon as it touched his tongue.
He had never expected Li Zhiwei to meet such an extraordinary person in Lu City.
“Your Highness, this is a Vitality-Nourishing Pill. I just tested it myself.” Xu Chuan hurriedly handed him one.
Xu Heming accepted the pill and swallowed it before sitting down to regulate his breathing.
A moment later, he spat out a mouthful of black blood.
“Your Highness!” Xu Song cried out and rushed forward.
“This prince is fine. I feel much better after spitting out that blood.” Xu Heming spoke as though nothing had happened.
“Xu Chuan, did you come here alone?” Only then did Xu Heming remember that Prince of Zhennan was still guarding the foot of the mountain. If so, how had Xu Chuan managed to find them?
“Your Highness, I came with Fang Song. Fang Song has already gone to the Northwestern military camp to seek reinforcements. I learned that you were in these mountains, so I paid a local villager to take me here through a shortcut.”
Xu Chuan spoke somewhat sheepishly.
“Do you still remember the trail you took up the mountain?” Xu Heming thought that since Xu Chuan had been able to come up by that trail, they should naturally be able to use it to get back down.
“Of course I remember!” Xu Chuan quickly replied.
“In that case, make preparations. We’ll go down the mountain first.” Xu Heming nodded.
He would wait for the reinforcements from the Northwestern military camp to arrive, then wipe out Prince of Zhennan and his entire group in one stroke.
At the thought of what Prince of Zhennan had done to them, a ruthless gleam appeared in Xu Heming’s eyes.
“Your Highness, there’s one more matter…” Xu Chuan remembered the people from Lanwan who had been discovered in Lu City and quickly continued.
“What is it?” Xu Heming looked at him.
“We discovered people from Lanwan in Lu City. They were impersonating you and demanding money, provisions, and grain from the magistrate of Lu City.” Xu Chuan then told him about Jin Wu and the others, whom they had encountered in Lu City.
This was another very important matter Li Zhiwei had instructed him to report.
“Lanwan came as well.” Xu Heming frowned. They already had the Qinning Empire to worry about. He had not expected Lanwan to be so eager to join the fray.
But since they had come, he would deal with them properly.
It was one thing for them to impersonate him and deceive people out of their money. But daring to use his name to do so was something he could not tolerate.
“Did Lu Jinchang actually give them what they wanted?” Xu Heming remembered that he had personally met Lu Jinchang when he was in Lu City.
With Lu Jinchang’s foolishness, could he really have believed those men?
“When I left, I hadn’t seen Magistrate Lu hand anything over to them. However, the people who set fire to the magistrate’s rear compound should have been from Lanwan,” Xu Chuan answered honestly.
“Very good. Lanwan—this prince will make sure you repay this debt in full, with interest.” Hatred filled Xu Heming’s eyes.
Lanwan was merely a small country, yet it had dared to use his name. That alone was bad enough. But they had also tried to kill his Princess and her family. That was something he would never tolerate.
“Your Highness, this is a letter from the Princess.” Xu Chuan finally remembered the letter Li Zhiwei had given him before he left.
Xu Heming glared at him irritably, wondering why he had not taken it out sooner.
He had nearly begun to suspect that Xu Chuan’s words were false.
Xu Heming opened the letter. In it, Li Zhiwei had already explained everything that had happened in Lu City.
She told Xu Heming that she was safe and that she had asked Xu Chuan to stay behind and help her.
She also explained that her elder brother’s disappearance had been deliberately arranged by Madame Jiang, and that her elder brother had now severed ties with the Jiang family.
She was perfectly safe with Elder Jun, whose medical skills were exceptional. Elder Jun was also a master of mechanical arts.
She further said that she planned to bring the two of them back to the capital and become their apprentice.
When Xu Heming reached the end of the letter, the corners of his lips lifted slightly.
His wife was truly remarkable. She had only gone out to visit her family, yet she had managed to meet two such extraordinary people.
“How many medicines did Elder Jun give you?” Xu Heming remembered Li Zhiwei mentioning in her letter that Elder Jun’s medicines were highly effective.
He wanted to take all of them for himself.
For them, those medicines were undoubtedly a lifeline. After all, she had not brought a physician with her on the journey. With those medicines, they would have an extra layer of protection.
“Your Highness, they’re all here.” Xu Chuan did not know why his master suddenly wanted to see them, but he obediently took out all the bottles.
“Put them away carefully,” Xu Heming ordered Xu Song, who was standing nearby.
“Your Highness, something terrible has happened! The Prince and Princess have met with trouble in Lu City.”
