When Han Yi Xiao notices that Bai Jiu is keeping her head down and not saying anything, he becomes curious, “What is wrong, General Bai? Is it too sudden? Do you feel unprepared?”
Bai Jiu shakes her head, pretending to look heartbroken as she looks at Han Yi Xiao, “To tell you the truth, Great General, I do not know where my home is. I am an orphan. I wandered the streets in my youth. People bullied me a lot back then, because I was a beggar. One day, I bumped into a martial artist from jianghu. He took me in as his disciple and took care of me. I gradually forgot about my past. When I grew older, I asked him where I was from. He told me he found me in Qing Shui County. Since then, I assumed that Qing Shui County was my place of origin, but to tell the truth, I cannot say for sure. This General is touched by your kindness, Great General, but this General has no place to go back to.”
Han Yi Xiao feels regretful when he hears that, “Who would have thought that your past is so tragic. I am sorry for bringing up that painful memory.”
Bai Jiu shakes her head, “It is not your fault, Great General. It is this General who did not write it clearly on the record.”
“Have you tried to find your birth parents?”
Bai Jiu shakes her head, “No. Maybe they disliked me, hence why they threw me away. If so, why must I show up in front of them again? I will only make them unhappy.”
“Do not think that way, General Bai. No parents would willingly throw out their own children. Perhaps they had their own trouble. If they know where you are standing today, they will be very proud of you,” Han Yi Xiao comforts her.
Bai Jiu laughs, “Perhaps! I hope they didn’t abandon me because they hated me.” Lying is indeed tiring. One has to pile lies on top of another lie! He will be very angry once he finds out everything one day.
The next day, Jun Qian Che and Han Yi Xiao left early in the morning to do their business.
Mo Qi Qi takes out a map. She has constructed an escape route. Jun Qian Che is going north. The next stop will be Hong Yang County, and then Chang Ming County and then Bing Shui Prefecture. Going further north will be a large forest. She is going to take advantage of that forest to escape from there.
“7th wang,” she can hear Ban Xiang greeting someone outside.
Mo Qi Qi quickly puts the map away. She does not want anyone to find out about her escape plan, this time. She needs to run away as quietly as possible.
“This king is looking to see Her Ladyship. Is Her Ladyship free?” Jun Yue Hen’s gentle voice can be heard asking.
“Let the 7th imperial uncle in,” Mo Qi Qi says from inside.
Ban Xiang immediately opens the door, allowing Jun Yue Hen in.
“Your Ladyship,” Jun Yue Hen respectfully cups his fists in front of her.
“No need for formalities, imperial uncle. Please sit.”
“Thank you, Your Ladyship,” Jun Yue Hen sits down.
In order to avoid rumors, Ban Xiang does not close the door down.
Mo Qi Qi personally pours Jun Yue Hen a cup of tea and hands it over to him, “Is there something you want to talk about, imperial uncle?”
“We were in a hurry throughout the journey yesterday, how are you taking it? This official knows medicinal arts, feel free to seek this official if you feel uncomfortable.”
Mo Qi Qi smiles warmly, “Thank you for your concern, imperial uncle. Bengong is just fine.”
After chatting idly for a while, Jun Yue Hen lowers his voice, “Do you remember our promise to leave the palace together, Your Ladyship? This trip ended up ruining our plan, but since we are both out of the palace now, might as well take this chance to flee.”
Mo Qi Qi cautiously looks outside, “Why are you suddenly bringing that up, Yue Hen! If somebody hears us and tells Jun Qian Che, we are going to lose our lives!” Such tacit understanding they have!
“I just want to take you away from here as fast as possible, Qi Qi. I am very worried about you, you look so restless whenever you are with the emperor,” Jun Yue Hen looks at her earnestly.
Mo Qi Qi smiles, “No need to worry about me, Yue Hen. Even if I did something wrong, His Majesty will still have my father to consider. He still needs to think twice before doing anything towards me. I don’t think the trip this time presents us with any good chance of escaping. The emperor is not bringing that many people with him. We have to show our faces in front of him everyday. If we suddenly go missing, he will quickly figure everything out. He will order his people to chase after us and then, he can take that chance to get rid of us and then casually say that we encountered accident. We must not run, not right now. Wait until we return to the palace. He will be busy with the court by then and would not have time to look for me everyday.” Please forgive me for lying to you, Yue Hen. I do not want to implicate you nor do I want to push you to a route in which you cannot go back from.
Jun Yue Hen nods when he hears that, “What Qi Qi says indeed makes sense. I will listen to you. Let’s talk about this when we return to the palace again. I should leave first, in case if people are getting suspicious.’
Mo Qi Qi nods, “Alright.” There are so many people outside, who knows which one of them is Jun Qian Che’s spy? They shouldn’t be alone for too long.
Just as Jun Yue Hen walks towards the door, he crosses path with Jun Qian Che who is coming in.
Jun Yue Hen bows in front of him, “Greeting, Your Majesty.’
Jun Qian Che narrows his eyes as he speaks in a low and icy voice, “What is the 7th imperial uncle doing here?”
Mo Qi Qi quickly runs towards them when she hears his voice, “Your Majesty, you are here! The 7th imperial uncle is here to inquire over chenqie’s health. He knows medicine and is willing to help chenqie so that chenqie does not fall ill and ends up delaying the trip.”
Jun Qian Che calmly looks at her, “Are you uncomfortable anywhere, empress?”
Mo Qi Qi rubs her head, “Chenqie didn’t rest well last night, so chenqie’s head hurts a little. Nothing big, really.”
Jun Qian Che coldly says, “Zhen brings imperial physicians along in this trip, no need to trouble the 7th imperial uncle. Ban Xiang, summon a physician!”
“Yes!” Ban Xiang looks at Mo Qi Qi before walking away.
Jun Qian Che continues speaking icily, “Do you have anything else, 7th imperial uncle?”
“This official shall retreat first,” Jun Yue Hen leaves them.
Jun Qian Che looks at Mo Qi Qi before he walks into her room.
She quickly follows him from behind.
He sits in front of the table while Mo Qi Qi hastily pours him tea like the brown-noser she is, “Chenqie heard that Your Majesty was out with General Han since early in the morning. You two must be really busy, here drink some tea.”
He does not accept the tea.
She secretly rolls her eyes before placing the cup in front of him, “You must not misunderstand us, Your Majesty. We were only chatting. We grew up together and he is our elder, it is natural for him to care about chenqie. Besides, there are so many people outside, what could we possible do?”
“Are you blaming zhen for bringing too many guards?” Jun Qian Che’s voice is icy.
Mo Qi Qi laughs, “You are very good at joking, Your Majesty. Chenqie and the 7th imperial uncle are really innocent!” He sure is good at finding fault on other people’s words.
When he hears the word ‘innocent’, the jealousy in his heart gradually fades away. He cannot help but remember that night; she really had been innocent. He misunderstood her back then. Now, he knows that one cannot simply believe what their eyes are showing them. The jealousy inside him disappears as he looks at her before speaking gently, “Alright, let’s not talk about that anymore. Did you say your head hurts? Does it still hurts?”
Mo Qi Qi did not think he would simply let the matter be. She looks at him in surprise, “You are not angry, Your Majesty?”
“Zhen believes in you.”
Although the sentence is very simple, it makes Mo Qi Qi very happy. “Thank you, Your Majesty.” She thought he would never let the matter be. Who knew he would change so much after leaving the palace?
“Does your head still hurts?” Jun Qian Che continues asking in worry. After that fall from the viewing tower, she keeps complaining about headache. Even though he does not know whether she is telling the truth or not, his heart unwittingly worries whenever she says that.
Mo Qi Qi rubs her head, “It does not hurt anymore. With Your Majesty, the Son of the Heavens here, all forms of illnesses have ran away!” But her head did hurt earlier in the morning. Perhaps, it was due to that fall from the tower.
Jun Qian Che laughs, amused by her words, “Nonsense.”
“Chenqie is telling the truth! Your Majesty can drive away demons and heals illnesses!”
“That is enough, just let the imperial physician check you.”
Speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao comes. An imperial physician follows Ban Xiang into the room.
After checking Mo Qi Qi’s pulse, the imperial physician presents his diagnosis, “There is no problem about Her Ladyship’s health. Her headaches probably stem from the fall from the viewing tower. It was such a high fall, so it was bound to leave it’s mark. Her Ladyship has not completely recovered from that fall.”
Ever since Mo Qi Qi found out about what the original owner did in the viewing tower, she becomes fearful of anyone mentioning the incident in front of Jun Qian Che.
What she does not know is that after that night, Jun Qian Che has changed his mind. He no longer thinks that she was having an affair. In fact, he now believes that someone has framed her.
Mo Qi Qi carefully reads Jun Qian Che’s face before saying, “Your Majesty, chenqie’s head does not hurt anymore. It’s okay now, it’s okay now.”
Jun Qian Che trains his eyes on the physician, “Since she has not completely recovered, why haven’t you been helping her recover?”
“This- This is this official’s negligence! This official will prescribe Her Ladyship with medicines right away!” The physician breaks out in cold sweat. The emperor never cared about the empress before, so none of them bothered to prescribe her with medicine after she woke up.
“Help the empress recuperate properly. If anything happens to the empress, zhen will heavily punish you,” Jun Qian Che warns him icily.
“Yes, this official will help the empress recuperate properly!” the physician’s voice trembles a little as he speaks.
Seeing this, Mo Qi Qi quickly speaks up, “Actually, Your Majesty must not blame Imperial Physician Feng. It was chenqie who would not let him prescribe medicine. Chenqie thought chenqie was just fine and did not need any medicine. Chenqie will be more careful in the future, everything will be fine as long as chenqie does not accidentally knock chenqie’s head again.”
Imperial Physician Feng is really touched seeing Mo Qi Qi speaking up for him. The empress has become really generous. If this was in the past, she would have goaded the emperor into punishing him.
“The empress is hurt in the head, the most important part of the body. Her injury cannot be treated so simply, she must be treated properly. She needs to take medicine,” although Jun Qian Che’s voice is calm, it is enough to cause the physician to start sweating bullets.
“Yes, this official will brew her medicine right now!” Imperial Physician Feng hastily retreats.
Mo Qi Qi secretly gives Jun Qian Che a giant eye-roll: is he really worried about her or is he planning something else? She did not want to drink the medicine, what if it contains poison?
“If you feel uncomfortable in the future, you must not hesitate to summon the imperial physicians. Do not just hold it in,” Jun Qian Che reminds her.
Mo Qi Qi obediently replies him, “Yes, chenqie understand!” Isn’t he making a big deal out of nothing? It is just a headache, it will not kill her. In fact, getting it treated might get her killed even faster. She does not believe that he harbors any form of kind intention towards her. There must be something behind this.
“If you are fine, pack up. We will leave this place,” Jun Qian Che changes the topic.
Mo Qi Qi is a little surprised, “We are leaving? Are we going to continue the journey?” If so, does that means that she is getting one step closer to successfully finishing her escape plan?
“You will know when the time comes,” Jun Qian Che gets up and leaves.
Once he is out of sight, Mo Qi Qi purses her lips before mocking him, “What are you pretending to be cool for? I am not curious the slightest!”
