Chapter 158

"Have you heard the news? Your brother and mother have been expelled from the Qin family. Your mother was divorced, and your brother was disowned," said a clear voice belonging to a young woman. She secretly observed the other party’s expression carefully but saw only a calm face, showing no sign of concern.

"Did you come here just to tell me this?"

"Not entirely. Actually, it’s about your friend, Tang Mujin..." Liu Sun lowered her voice slightly.

"It seems the Tang family is facing significant turmoil. The day I visited the Tang household, a woman suddenly called me to meet her. However, I refused at that time, as it would have seemed suspicious. I was invited to help treat First Furen Tang, not to wander off. If anything happened, I would have faced the consequences.”

"As for Furen Tang’s condition, I’m certain she was poisoned. Fortunately, it’s not too severe yet. I’ve prepared an antidote, but it will take another month to fully cleanse the poison. In the meantime, I will continue to care for her. I heard from Tang Mujin that someone tried to give her a pregnancy tonic. I don’t know if they were aware of the poison, but the tonic would have worsened Furen Tang’s condition. Thankfully, Tang Mujin didn’t trust it and disposed of the tonic."

Liu Sun provided more details about Furen Tang’s condition. Yueqian nodded in understanding. She realized that the heroine of the story was indeed capable, even recognizing the poison. Although it was disappointing that it would take a month to treat...

“Hmm, that’s good then,” Yueqian did not speak much further. This visitor always came to see her either at dawn or dusk. She couldn’t appear openly at Yueqian’s residence. It was important to maintain the pretense that they were enemies; otherwise, their association might be discovered, leading to future complications.

“As for the matters in my manor, thank you very much. The chaos in the Deng Manor grows more severe by the day. I don’t have many supporters, so I’ve had to plan for internal conflict. Using your plan to incite paranoia among others, even my mother is now suspicious of the serpents within the manor.”

“The last time Fourth Concubine brought a tonic to her, who would have thought there was poison in it? It seems Fourth Concubine was used by the concubine of the Deng family’s leader to handle things, but foolishly got caught in the end. It’s becoming harder for me to leave the manor, but visiting Furen Tang is still possible. Furen Deng approves of my closeness with the Tang family and now sees a bit more value in me.”

Liu Sun shared her details without Yueqian asking, but when discussing the Tang family, Yueqian occasionally nodded. Liu Sun was adept at reading people. She knew Yueqian was close to Tang Mujin, so she tried to get closer to Yueqian through Tang Mujin. She was skilled at assessing the situation.

“By the way, this handkerchief of yours is exquisite. Whose work is it? Is it your little maid?” Liu Sun asked, even though she already knew. Having visited Yueqian’s residence often, she had noticed Qu Yi’s skills. Lately, Qu Yi spent all day practicing embroidery and didn’t need to serve Yueqian. Even the tea was brewed by Yueqian herself.

The behavior of both was quite unusual, but Liu Sun wasn’t in a position to question it. Nevertheless, she was curious. She admired Qu Yi and wanted her to work for her, but Qu Yi was a maid of Yueqian, with whom she wanted to befriend. If neither of them agreed, she couldn’t openly take her away.

"Hmm." The brief response made Liu Sun pause. It seemed that Yueqian didn’t want to talk much about Qu Yi, so Liu Sun didn’t press further. She couldn’t stay outside for long anyway, and soon, the Liu family member left, leaving Yueqian alone in the pavilion.

Her slender fingers traced the embroidery on the handkerchief that she still thought wasn’t good enough. To others, it was exquisite and deserving of praise. It was not that Yueqian was not happy about it, but the level of work was still something that could be found in the market.

What Yueqian wanted was excellence—so much so that even the palace concubines would come to Qu Yi for custom embroidery. According to the novel, this did happen, but it took quite some time...

As Yueqian sat there lost in thought, the door to the manor was suddenly flung open with great force. Her eyes narrowed slightly, ready to face any danger.

A tall figure appeared, accompanied by a battered Mu Heng, who had to be supported. The man himself also bore signs of injury. Seeing them in such a state, Yueqian’s heart trembled. She almost rushed to help him herself if not for the middle-aged man who stopped her.

"Don’t worry. He’s just unconscious, not seriously injured." Even without his words, Yueqian could guess as much, but her concern for the other was genuine.

After being halted, Yueqian took a closer look at her husband. She allowed the former great general to support Mu Heng into the main house. Though surprised that the other man didn’t leave immediately, her focus was entirely on caring for her husband.

Yueqian changed Mu Heng’s clothes, cleaned him up, and applied medicine to his wounds. Once everything was taken care of, the small figure went to her kitchen to prepare nourishing food to aid his recovery. She also brewed a pot of ginseng soup for him.

Throughout her work, the former great general simply sat next to Mu Heng, arms crossed, staring intently at the young man. His expression suggested he was deep in thought. The silence between them didn’t make Yueqian uncomfortable at all.

When Mu Heng woke up, he drank the nourishing soup and ate the special food prepared just for him, separate from the children. This attention to detail made him very happy. He glanced at the former great general, who was also his master, with a triumphant smile."Master, I look forward to your guidance," he said happily after finishing his meal, feeling warmth spread through his body. After all, Mu Heng was just a 20-year-old young man, turning 21 this year. He had the air of a youthful man, and Yueqian could see his age-appropriate behavior now. Apart from his display of being a 20-year-old at night, his current expression was that of a bright young man.

"Hmph," the middle-aged man responded with a short laugh, saying little else.

In fact, earlier, the two had made a bet. Mu Heng trusted his master to some extent and hinted at his plan to move to the Bai Region, gradually rising to a position high enough to challenge Young General.

His master’s desire for revenge against the Deng family and the emperor of the Du Region was well-known, so Mu Heng invited him to join him in the Bai Region.

However, the other party had initially looked down on him, saying that moving to the Bai Region was not difficult, and the talk of rising in rank was just empty dreams. Mu Heng then challenged him, stating that if he failed, he would give up the plan to move to the Bai Region, accepting that he was not capable enough and would only endanger his siblings. But if he won... he asked the master to become his follower, to go along with his plan, and to return to exact revenge on the Deng family together!

Even though the former great general was more skilled, Mu Heng had sharp wits. He managed to win, demonstrating to the former great general his own weaknesses.

That was the way things had been. He was too straightforward. Even though he was cautious, when faced with trap upon trap upon trap, he was at a loss. Originally, he was a fighter, not a strategist. In the unit, he needed an advisor by his side. Following Mu Heng would help cover that weakness.

As much as he waited for revenge, all he could do was wait, wait for an opportunity that he didn’t know when it would come!

 Was this all a great general like him could do? This thought had the middle-aged man sitting in the small manor of the other party. Though it couldn’t compare to his former manor, when he entered, he saw that it had the potential to be much bigger. Everything in the hands of those two would surely grow.

Mu Heng was lucky. First, he had a good wife. Second, he was born with a steady and clever mind. Because of this... the former great general was willing to take a risk.

The path ahead might not lead to success, and his family’s revenge might be thwarted by him. However, if he was left to wait here like a fool, it would be better to take a path with hope!

And so, the small manor gained another member, bringing their number to six.

In the month since the mother and son were expelled from the Qin’s family manor, many changes had taken place. People’s lives had improved significantly. Some of the nobles’ power had been reduced, affecting only the big families. Families involved in trade found that people were spending more, increasing their income. It seemed neither complete opposition nor total acceptance was quite right.

Change was like this. Once people got used to it, this way of life would become normal.

Now, all six members of the small manor were preparing to leave the capital. It wasn’t just the Deng and Qin families paying attention. This time, even the common folk, who had found new lives, came to see them off.

When they were leaving, it was vastly different from when they had arrived. When they first came, the family was scorned and laughed at, but now, when they were leaving, many people were bringing them gifts. Even the poor dared to buy vegetables to dry so they could have something to eat along the way. This change made the children the happiest.

The small convoy, though it had few members, carried a significant amount of wealth. The royal gifts from the emperor filled three carriages, although Yueqian had actually stored everything in her dimensional space. Neither Qu Yi nor the former great general knew about this, so they diligently guarded the precious chests.

Inside the carriage, Yueqian sat with the children, while Mu Heng rode outside to greet people and display his elegance. Truthfully, her Mu Heng was just tired of sitting inside the carriage.

"Xiao Long, Huan’er, take this," Yueqian said, handing them small fans. These were battery-operated handheld fans, the first electronic devices she had brought out.

Ah, that’s right!

After receiving a substantial amount of money from the emperor and exchanging some banknotes for gold, the total amount was 16 million gold taels. With this influx of gold into her shopping system, she now had a shelf stocked with battery-operated electronic devices!

Initially, Yueqian had exchanged for dozens of flashlights for use at night. Of course, these devices couldn’t be shown to others, but there was no need to hide them from her family.

Besides the flashlights, she gave the children fans and battery-powered stun batons, which she had taught them to use the previous night. The children were thrilled with these. She provided them for self-defense. If anything happened during the journey, she was ready to protect them, whether by using poison or any other means. Since the two little ones didn’t have martial skills like her, giving them defensive equipment made them safer.

The children accepted the fans, which circulated air and made the carriage cooler. They were extremely happy, unlike when they had traveled in silence, struggling to sleep because of the intense heat and stuffy air. However, now, they could almost drift off to sleep right from the start of the journey!

"Dear, when we are close to arriving... please let me know in advance," Yueqian opened the window and requested her husband to give her a heads-up so she could wake the children and prepare them for any danger.

Mu Heng looked at the children, their hair tousled by the breeze and nodded. Since marrying Yueqian, the children had become accustomed to too much comfort. After moving to the Bai Region, he should be stricter with them.

"Hmm, you should rest too. You can sleep now." Of course, this double standard was clearly displayed.  It didn’t matter if his beautiful wife slept all day and night. How could she be seen as lazy?!Ah... if he could make his wife feel so relaxed, that would be his success as a husband, wouldn’t it?!