CH 108.1

Chapter 108.1 – Go Find His Majesty

The people who went down the slope quickly returned with news – they indeed found King Wei on the slope. It’s just that he seemed to have had a hard fall; right now he was unconscious and his injuries made it hard to move him around.

Qi Yang breathed a sigh of relief when she received the news. She sent her attendants back to report the situation, and also wanted to personally go down to see the situation.

Lu Qipei stopped her, and in the end, neither of them put themselves in danger personally – the slope was so steep it was basically 90 degrees vertical, and it was clearly very dangerous to go down in the dark. They didn’t have much friendship with King Wei in the first place, so now all they needed was to ensure his safety.

Fortunately, after only fifteen to thirty minutes, the attendant who had quickly gone to look for someone returned with a team of royal guards. The group chopped down the bushes and descended the slope. Seeing how wretched King Wei’s fall had been, they did not dare to act recklessly.

A bit later, a military general with some knowledge of medical skills arrived. After confirming that King Wei could move, everyone lifted him up from the bottom of the slope.

This way, King Wei was sent back to the camp, and the bustling hunting ground finally returned to calm.

When the group returned to the camp, it was already late at night. Although the entire camp was bustling again for a while due to King Wei’s rescue, everyone who returned from the hunting ground felt tired and chose to return to their tents to rest.

Of course, Lu Qipei and Qi Yang were no exception. After they dismissed their attendants, they returned to their own tent.

After sending all the outsiders away, Qi Yang asked, “What happened tonight? How did you find King Wei, and what happened with that dead horse?” They brought King Wei back, but the dead horse had not been disposed of yet.

Lu Qipei naturally didn’t hide anything from her. He pulled her to sit by her side and took out a handkerchief from her pocket. In the handkerchief was some soil that she had secretly packed away. She placed the soil in front of Qi Yang and said to her, “Your Highness, give it a sniff. What do you smell?”

Qi Yang had personally witnessed her search process before, so of course she knew that there might be some issues with the soil along the way. But there were many attendants following their action, and no one could smell anything unusual. She was also curious, so she had no objection at this moment and approached to smell the handful of soil in Lu Qipei’s handkerchief.

After a moment, she said, “There’s no strange smell. I only smell the plum blossom fragrance from your body.”

Lu Qipei was stunned by the answer and couldn’t help but laugh when she looked at her handkerchief. “There is a smell, but it’s not the plum blossom fragrance from my body. The smell hidden in the soil and rotting leaves is not something ordinary people can smell, but I like incense and am more sensitive to smells.”

This answer was not surprising. Qi Yang nodded and asked, “What kind of smell is that?”

Lu Qipei then closed her handkerchief and casually threw the handful of soil away. “It’s a kind of smell that doesn’t exist in the Central Plains,” she said, her face serious. “The exotic breeds of the grasslands have their own mystery, and no one can tell where they come from. However, I have read a miscellaneous book that says that these horses all like to eat a kind of aromatic herb that grows on the edge of a salt lake deep in the grasslands, and nowhere else but there.”

Qi Yang understood and glanced at the discarded soil next to her. “Do you mean that the smell in the soil is from that kind of aromatic herb?”

Lu Qipei nodded, but also shook her head, “I haven’t been to the grassland before, so I don’t know. However, I have studied incense before, and I have seen all the spices that can be found in Great Liang. None of them are similar to it. This smell is very unique, and it’s also very similar to the description in the book.”

Qi Yang naturally believed in her judgment, and was not surprised that Lu Qipei knew about it. After all, they also had two grasslands exotic breeds in their residence. Without knowing the Rong State’s purpose, it was obviously important to learn more. Then, connecting what happened before and after, it wasn’t difficult for her to guess the whole story and the other party’s purpose.

After a moment, Qi Yang took a deep breath and said, “For now, everything looks like a coincidence. It’s fortunate that King Wei was injured but not killed. But if someone discovers that dead horse tomorrow and found out that King Wei’s mount has been poisoned, I’m afraid the matter would turn into a conspiracy.”

Although this was originally a conspiracy indeed, if it was exposed this way, it would undoubtedly make the Crown Prince a target of criticism again.

Qi Yang simply couldn’t take it anymore. She grabbed the bag of soil and stood up, saying, “I have to go to Royal Brother’s place. I have to tell him all these things in advance, so he can make some preparation earlier.”

After she finished speaking, she wanted to leave, but was stopped by Lu Qipei who said, “Your Highness, wait a moment. You can’t go find the Crown Prince.”

When she heard those words, Qi Yang stopped and looked back at her, “Why?”

Lu Qipei remained silent and stared at her in silence. Qi Yang suddenly understood – the current Crown Prince was different from before. He had developed a sense of caution towards Lu Qipei. If he knew that Lu Qipei had discovered this, who knew how much he would believe it.

Being able to discover things in advance was their advantage, and it was not reasonable to allow suspicion to destroy this advantage. Plus, they were already close to the Eastern Palace. If they went to look for the Crown Prince in the middle of the night, who knew what would happen after news spread? Perhaps even the fact that they were the ones who discovered King Wei would be shrouded in a veil of conspiracy.

Qi Yang lowered her eyes and pursed her lips tightly. After a moment, she raised her eyes and asked Lu Qipei, “So what do you think we should do, Ah Pei?”

Lu Qipei’s expression was calm, but her answer was firm. “Go find His Majesty!”
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