Chapter 6: This is Soul-Bewitching Medicine!

Just at this moment, the Crown Princess stumbled in: "It's over, it's over, the Empress Dowager is furious. Xiao Lizi has no filter on his mouth, and now the Empress Dowager says Mother failed to discipline her son properly, and has ordered Mother to serve her during her illness."

Yan Yu waved his hand with a headache: "It is of no consequence."

The Crown Princess gritted her teeth: "But, they call it serving during an illness, yet to me, it looks like house arrest in disguise. They didn't even let her bring Xu Mama, and they won't let her return to Yanxi Palace."

Yan Yu slammed his palm onto the Table Desk, "Preposterous!"

Seeing him so enraged, the Crown Princess hurriedly closed the door, "What are you saying? That is the Empress Dowager! If a charge of unfilial conduct is pinned on you, will you still be able to sit securely on the Crown Prince's throne?"

The Crown Princess comforted him in a soft voice: "Some things were lost from the national treasury, and Father Emperor is in a bad mood; just endure it for a while. Father Emperor and Mother share a deep bond of affection, so even if the eldest legitimate son born to the Empress is involved, he cannot surpass you. Just endure this period."

Yan Yu remained silent.

After a long while, he said: "The letters I had with that side have also gone missing."

"Bang—"

The teacup in the Crown Princess's hand fell to the floor, making a sound.

Her voice rose: "Didn't I tell you to burn them?! How could you keep such things?"

Yan Yu was silent once again.

After a long while, he said: "I was worried that side wouldn't honor the agreement, so I kept them all."

The Crown Princess was exasperated; how could she have chosen such a fool back then!

But since they were already husband and wife, and on the same boat, the Crown Princess could only think of other ways.

At this moment, a carrier pigeon flew in and landed on the Table Desk, with a small note tied to its leg: Your Highness, the First Prince seems to have just been slandering you for treason.

Yan Yu slammed the table heavily, "It was actually the First Imperial Brother who took them! No matter how he found out, I must kill him."

Yan Ning's side didn't look like they were in exile at all.

At this time, they had taken a large piece of linen cloth as a picnic mat, spread it on the grass, set up a stove in the center, and the family of three was gathered around the stove eating barbecue.

Before this, Yan Ning had given the ten garrison soldiers two large meat buns each, which she had sent Li Shun to buy in a nearby town.

Yan Ning was still painting a bright future for everyone: "Don't feel bad about leaving the Capital. I guarantee that once we reach Lingnan, you will live even better than you do now. Besides, the world is unpredictable; who knows when we might be able to return to the Capital?"

The garrison soldiers looked at each other, and all saw the determination in each other's eyes.

Everyone shouted in unison: "We swear to follow the First Prince to the death!"

Yan Ning revealed a smile.

The guards were very reliable; from then on, those two bailiffs couldn't find trouble with them, and they did whatever Yan Ning said.

Among them, Wang Liu was the Crown Prince's man, and he couldn't stand seeing Yan Ning's family living well.

Yan Ning was still eating barbecue when a whip lashed onto the grass beside her: "You've been eating for so long, don't delay our time!"

At this, the ten garrison soldiers stopped eating their buns, drew their swords in unison, and glared at Wang Liu with murderous intent, as if they could rush over and hack him into mincemeat the moment Yan Ning gave the order.

Yan Ning stood up and looked at Wang Liu with a smile: "Your whole family is still in the Capital, right? If I were to write a letter to Great-Grandmother, do you think your heads would roll?"

Wang Liu shivered inexplicably, "Your Highness, this small one was wrong; I won't dare to do it again."

Yan Ning nodded with satisfaction: "Fine, let's keep moving forward."

In the evening, passing through Xiangcheng, Yan Ning lifted the carriage curtain and said to the person in front: "Stop, let's go into the city to rest for the night before moving on."

Most importantly, after a day of tossing and turning, she needed to take a bath.

Wang Liu hesitated, "But, won't this progress be too slow? If we stay in the city every night, we don't know when we'll arrive."

Yan Ning said righteously: "Grandfather Emperor only said to send my father to Lingnan, but did you hear him say when we must arrive?"

Wang Liu choked and couldn't say a word.

Instead, Li Shun, who was on the side, whispered: "This isn't an ordinary exile. Have you ever seen anyone bring garrison soldiers into exile? The First Prince is, after all, His Majesty's own flesh and blood... We should just go along with them."

Yan Ning heard them talking and thought to herself that Li Shun was truly sensible.

Yan Ning picked the best inn and asked for a few superior rooms.

The two bailiffs weren't so lucky; they said they had to guard the door of the room and couldn't let them come and go as they pleased.

Inside the superior room, there was a bed and a daybed, which looked very comfortable; the family would sleep in one room tonight. Yan Ning said: "Let's buy some things in the city tomorrow, and we need to buy medicine."

Yan Ning lowered her voice: "I don't know what the medicine I swiped from the Imperial Hospital is for; nothing is written on the porcelain bottles. We still need to go buy insect repellent, Golden Sore Medicine, and common medicine for colds; we must prepare some."

Ji Lan asked: "Will those two bailiffs agree to stay in the city for a day?"

Yan Ning said fiercely: "If they dare not agree, I'll have the garrison soldiers deal with them."

The bailiffs sitting at the door who heard the conversation looked at each other, and both saw cowardice in the other's eyes.

Forget it, one day won't make a difference.

The two of them even felt that this wasn't an exile at all, but rather the two of them taking a group of ancestors out for an outing.

At night, Yan Ning couldn't sleep no matter what.

Yan Ze asked her: "What's wrong with you? Hurry up and sleep. The carriage is bumpy and makes people dizzy, and you won't sleep well then, so take advantage of staying in a superior room to get some good sleep."

Yan Ning frowned: "Father, I have a bad premonition."

Yan Ze comforted her: "Don't scare yourself."

Yan Ning still couldn't fall asleep.

She had only just arrived in Xiangcheng, and it was still a long way from the Capital; nothing should happen, right...

Before long, Yan Ning heard a rustling sound outside, and then, there was a small point of light on the window, and she smelled a faint fragrance.

This is soul-bewitching medicine!

Yan Ning hurriedly woke up her parents, and the three of them went to the window together; the second floor wasn't very high, so they jumped directly into the backyard.

Yan Ning and her parents walked up the stairs to the second floor, only to see the two bailiffs sleeping against the door, and that man in black was blowing soul-bewitching incense into the room.

Even though their movements were very light, they were still discovered by the man in black.

The man in black held a knife and was about to slash over.

Yan Ning turned her body to the side and poured a bag of chili powder onto his face; the man in black immediately covered his eyes and screamed in pain.

"Ahhhhhhh—"

The man in black was in such agony that his eyes were nearly popping out; in a short while, he was rolling on the ground, screaming incessantly in pain.

At this moment, several guards living next door were also startled awake and hurried out to check the situation.

Yan Ning kicked him and was just about to interrogate him, but the man bit through a poison packet hidden in his mouth and died on the spot.

Yan Ning curled her lip: "As expected of that second uncle of mine who can't even be propped up like mud on a wall; to think he would be so impatient?"

Yan Ze felt a lingering fear; it was fortunate that his daughter had not been asleep at the time.

Yan Ze was still somewhat uneasy, so he let his daughter sleep on the bed while he, unable to sleep, lay on the daybed facing the door.

He hoped no one else would come to use stupefying incense on them again.