Chapter 70
Chapter 70
Xiao Mei was furious.
So this young-looking old man had been playing dumb while knowing full well what was going on!
Feeling as if she had been made a fool of, Xiao Mei rose to her feet and snapped, “You refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit.”
“Men! Seize this old man and take him back to the Duke’s Mansion!”
Two guards immediately stepped forward, grabbed Ximen Wuming from either side, and began dragging him outside.
Ye Piaoling had not yet reached the entrance of Bing-le-me when she saw a crowd of commoners gathered outside the shop.
The two guards were dragging Ximen Wuming out of the Medicine Shop and were about to shove him into a carriage.
Ximen Wuming struggled, shouting, “Let go of me! This is the forced abduction of an innocent man! Is there no law anymore?”
The guards barked at him speechlessly, “…Shut up!”
With that hundred-year-old face of yours, you still call yourself an innocent man??
Ximen Wuming’s gaze shifted. The moment he spotted Ye Piaoling, he cried out at once, “Boss, save me!!!”
Ye Piaoling flew over in a single bound. “Let go of that young man!”
“…”
With two crisp smacks, she struck the guards aside and rescued Ximen Wuming.
Xiao Mei glared at Ye Piaoling. “This old man offended this Princess. I am taking him back for questioning!”
Ximen Wuming hurriedly hid behind Ye Piaoling and grabbed the front of her clothes.
“Boss, this Princess tried to poach me, and when that failed, she resorted to force. You have to protect me!”
Ye Piaoling said, “Don’t worry. Nothing will happen to you.”
Dealing with a few guards was no problem for her.
Xiao Mei also knew that a handful of guards alone were no match for Ye Piaoling. She sneered, “You think just because you know a little martial arts, you can do whatever you want?”
Turning to the guard beside her, she ordered, “Go to the city tower at once and summon a squad of soldiers. Tell them someone is opposing our Duke’s Mansion! Today, this Princess will have every last one of them thrown into prison!”
Hearing this, Ye Piaoling sighed and said, “That won’t do today.”
Xiao Mei demanded, “What do you mean?”
Ye Piaoling said, “Because the Regent King ordered Ximen Wuming to go to Chonghua Palace today to treat an illness.”
Xiao Mei: “…”
The Regent King was like a brick-wherever he was needed, there he was.
Ye Piaoling said, “His orders… do we dare disobey?”
Of course Xiao Mei did not dare.
In truth, she did not believe this story about treating an illness at Chonghua Palace at all. But after the painful lesson from before, she naturally did not dare question it casually either.
If it turned out to be true, then not only could she not seize Ximen Wuming today, she would not be able to seize him in the future either…
Xiao Mei gave a cold laugh and said to the guards, “Since the Regent King has summoned the Divine Physician to Chonghua Palace, then you will escort the Divine Physician there. Be certain to personally see the Divine Physician through the gates of Chonghua Palace!”
The guards understood at once. “Yes, my lady!”
In name, it was an escort. In reality, it was surveillance.
Xiao Mei wanted to confirm whether the Regent King had truly summoned Ximen Wuming to treat an illness, or whether Ye Piaoling was lying.
Ximen Wuming was a little flustered. “Boss, this…”
“It’s fine!” Ye Piaoling patted him comfortingly. “Since the Princess is willing to send us there, let them send us!”
Ximen Wuming said, “But…”
But did the Regent King really tell me to go to Chonghua Palace to treat an illness?!
“No buts. Let’s go!!”
Ye Piaoling cut him off and led him into the Medicine Shop’s carriage.
The guards from the Duke’s Mansion followed close behind.
They arrived at Chonghua Palace.
Nervously clutching a corner of Ye Piaoling’s sleeve, Ximen Wuming followed cautiously behind her.
Ye Piaoling led him straight toward the main gate.
Under Liang Yun’s instructions, the two secret guards at the gate had long since come to regard Ye Piaoling as a VIP. Upon seeing her, not only did they not stop her, they even gave her a slight nod in greeting.
As for the old man following behind her, the two secret guards merely glanced at him curiously and did not block his way.
Just like that, the two of them walked through the gates of Chonghua Palace without the slightest obstruction.
The guards from the Duke’s Mansion, who had followed close behind, could only stand outside the gates and sigh helplessly.
-If even Ximen Wuming could enter Chonghua Palace, then it seemed he really was the Regent King’s Imperial Physician!
Thinking back to how roughly they had seized him just now, they could not help feeling a chill of lingering fear.
They had to hurry back and report this to the Princess!
The group immediately turned tail and slipped away.
Ye Piaoling led Ximen Wuming into Chonghua Palace, then took a shortcut and quietly slipped out through a side gate on the other end.
Ximen Wuming was so nervous he hardly dared to breathe. It was only after they made it out and stood in a free little alley that he finally let out a long sigh of relief.
“Boss, you’re incredible! This is Chonghua Palace we’re talking about, and you just waltzed in and out like it was your own home!”
Ye Piaoling did not explain. She only smiled and said, “We’re fine now. Xiao Mei won’t dare make trouble for you again. It’s just…”
She looked Ximen Wuming over, expressing some employee concern. “You look like you’ve aged quite a bit again. Has work been too stressful lately? You need to rest properly and stay up less. If you’re too tired, don’t take on so many patients.”
Ximen Wuming said, “Don’t worry, Boss. I’m tough as an ox. It won’t get in the way of receiving clients.”
Ye Piaoling said, “I’ve already spoken to the shopkeeper. Your monthly stipend will be doubled, and you’ll get a commission for every patient you see.”
“I don’t really care about monthly stipends and the like,” Ximen Wuming said proudly, stroking his white beard. “I don’t practice medicine to save lives for the wages. I do it to accumulate experience and improve my medical skills.”
When Boss Ye heard that, she could not help giving him an approving thumbs-up. “Well said! Bing-le-me needs idealistic young people like you!”
And so, the two of them left Chonghua Palace.
After they were gone, the two hidden guards at the gate began whispering to each other.
“Who was that old man Miss Ye brought with her?”
“No idea. Never seen him before!”
“Could he be Prime Minister Ye?”
“Can’t be. That old man looked over a hundred. Prime Minister Ye shouldn’t be that old…”
“But I heard Prime Minister Ye looks really old too! The key thing is, if that really was Prime Minister Ye, why would Miss Ye bring her own father to Chonghua Palace? Could they be here to discuss marriage with His Highness?”
“Oh! Now that you say it, that really is possible! I heard Miss Ye and His Highness already did that, you know, that embarrassing thing… you get it. Prime Minister Ye must have come to pressure His Highness into marriage on his daughter’s behalf!”
After some intense brainstorming, the two hidden guards arrived at the above conclusion.
Once their shift changed, one of them immediately shared this explosive news with the hidden guard sweeping the courtyard.
“Hey, did you hear? Miss Ye brought her own father to Chonghua Palace today. She took the initiative to discuss marriage with His Highness!”
“Huh? Really?”
“Of course. We saw it with our own eyes!”
“The woman’s family came knocking on their own? Why the rush… Could Miss Ye already be carrying His Highness’s child?”
“Oh, you’ve got a point. That must be it!”
After the courtyard-sweeping hidden guard went back, he told the hidden guard cook in charge of the fire and meals.
“News! Huge news! Our prince is getting married! He’s going to have an heir!”
“What? Since when? With whom?”
“With Miss Ye from the Prime Minister’s Mansion, of course! It was just decided today. Since Miss Ye is already pregnant, His Highness has decided to take her as his wife!”
“Heavens! I really didn’t expect that! I heard before that she and His Highness had feelings for each other, but I didn’t believe it. Now it seems it was true… But His Highness has always abstained from women. Why did he make an exception when he met Miss Ye?”
“Hard to say. Maybe the two of them knew each other a long time ago?”
“Right! They definitely had that kind of relationship ages ago!”
Having gotten his hands on some juicy gossip, the hidden guard cook turned around and told the hidden guard in charge of procurement.
“#￥%&￥##…”
The procurement hidden guard then told the hidden guard in the intelligence office responsible for collecting news around the capital.
“%￥,#￥*&&*,%￥@#￥%#…”
“…”
Two hours later.
Liang Yun was standing in his room when a subordinate hurried over.
“Lord Liang, I heard His Highness and Miss Ye are getting married! Miss Ye is already pregnant, and this is her and His Highness’s eighth child. They had seven before this, all secretly fostered elsewhere!”