When the prince is reborn, he will only hit me if he doesn't hit the wall!

The north wind gradually rose, and the mountains became less and less suitable for living.

Everyone discussed and decided to leave this place together and return to the Qingzhou courtyard where they currently live.

It only took a few days of preparation, and the group was ready and headed down the mountain in a mighty procession.

Although the carriage prepared for Xu Yuanshan was not spacious and luxurious, in order to reduce shock, it was covered with thick bedding and cotton wool, and was very soft. Xu Yuanshan was very satisfied with it.

Taking into account the injured in the convoy, the return journey took a whole day longer than the journey here.

When we returned to Qingzhou Yuanyuan, it was already dusk.

After Xu Xinyue settled Xu Yuanshan down and was about to return to her bedroom, she noticed Xiao Chan peeking outside the door, seeming to be hesitant to come in.

He looked a little anxious.

Xu Xinyue walked towards the door and asked in confusion: "Xiaochan, what's wrong?"

Xiao Chan grabbed Xu Xinyue's wrist and whispered something in her ear.

Xu Xinyue's eyes widened in shock, and she looked at Xiaochan in confusion: "How could this happen? Has anyone been here?"

Xiao Chan waved her hands hurriedly: "No, Xiao Shu and I go to check every day. Yesterday, we found something was wrong in the morning."

Xu Xinyue urged Xiaochan: "Take me to see it."

Returning to his own courtyard, Xiao Shu stood at the door of his bedroom, twisting his handkerchief, looking panic-stricken and at a loss as to what to do.

Seeing Xu Xinyue rushing over: "Miss, we really don't know why this happened."

Xiao Shu wanted to explain a few more words, but Xu Xinyue raised her hand to interrupt him: "Where are the bugs?"

The three of them gathered around the table and saw the worm lying straight in the brush washer, motionless.

The blood in the insect's body was still full, but the color had changed from bright red to dark red, and it emitted a faint fishy smell.

Xu Xinyue picked up a goat-hair brush and poked the corpse with the end of the brush. There was no injury on the body, and the belly looked bulging, so it should not have starved to death.

"How could this happen? Could it be that the weather was so cold that he froze to death?"

"It shouldn't be, young lady. We know that we should keep this thing close to us. In the past few days when you were away, we were also worried that the room was too cold. If anything happened to the bug, we would light the earth dragon for it every day."

"Forget it. I'll go find Mr. Qiu and see if he has any solution or can find out the reason."

He no longer hesitated, and ran straight to Qiu Chu's medicine room with the pen washer in his hand.

Qiu Chu had just laid down on the couch, about to have a good sleep, but was disturbed by a series of rapid knocks on the door.

Output was very unhappy and got off the bed and went to open the door in his slippers: "Who is it? You just came back and I was not allowed to sleep."

"Mr. Qiu, it's me."

Qiu Chu recognized that it was Xu Xinyue's voice.

"You need me for something!"

Qiu Chu yawned lazily and asked with half-closed eyes.

Xu Xianyue got straight to the point: "My bug is dead."

When Qiu Chu heard this, he was shocked.

"I raised him and he lived well these days, how come he died right after you took his hands?!"

He lowered his eyes and saw what she was holding. He snatched it away and carefully examined the "corpse" inside.

"Hiss... How did this thing die?"

Xu Xinyue shook her head.

"When did it die?"

"Xiao Chan and the others said they noticed something was wrong yesterday. He must have died this morning."

"Did you feed him? Or anything?"

"Doesn't he only drink blood? And Qin Yuechuan has been with us recently, so naturally we won't have the chance to feed him."

"This is strange..."

Qiu Chu placed the pen washer on the table, looked at it for a moment, picked up a dagger beside him, burned both sides of the insect over the candlelight for a while, and then cut open the insect's belly directly and neatly. Dark red and dirty blood flowed out, and the pungent stench filled the room. Xu Xinyue couldn't help covering her mouth and nose.

However, Qiu Chu seemed to have no sense of smell and continued to cut the leech's corpse piece by piece, occasionally picking up the remaining pieces with the tip of the knife and observing them under the candlelight.

He murmured, "No, no, what is this residue in the blood? It must be something the bug ate... Girl, did you really not feed it something else? Or did it chew on something?"

Xu Xinyue was about to deny it, but suddenly she remembered something and quickly changed her words: "It once bit me and seemed to have sucked a mouthful of my blood."

Qiu Chu's eyes were bright. He didn't have time to put down the dagger in his hand. He came over with the broken pieces: "When, how many bites did you take? How much did you drink?"

"Put this thing down first!"

Qiu Chu came back to his senses, put down the dagger, wiped his hands carelessly with the hem of his clothes, dragged two chairs over, and almost grabbed a handful of melon seeds, as if he was ready to listen to her detailed story.

"Girl, sit here and talk slowly."

"It's not that complicated."

Xu Xinyue succinctly summarized what happened that day in a few words.

"That's it? It's gone?"

"That's it. It's that simple."

Qiu Chu glanced at her from head to toe and said, "Which hand did you bite? Stretch it out so I can see."

"This one, but the wound has already healed...Alas! What are you doing, Mr. Qiu!"

Xu Xinyue saw Qiu Chu take out a thin silver needle from somewhere and poke it directly at her fingertips: "Mr. Qiu, have you disinfected it? Where did you get this needle?"

"Disinfect...? What do you mean by disinfect? ​​Is it clean? Don't worry, it's very clean. I clean it carefully every day."

As he spoke, Xu Xinyue's attention was distracted, and his fingertips were pierced, and a lot of blood had dripped out without him noticing.

"Well, little girl, this is not enough... Look, hehe."

Xu Xinyue curled her lips, meaning you want more?

"I just think that the only reason this insect died was because it bit you and drank your blood, so could you please make a small sacrifice?"

"Okay, but I have to do it myself."

Qiu Chu nodded in agreement and took out an exquisite thin-bladed knife and handed it to Xu Xinyue.

Xu Xinyue took the knife in her right hand and subconsciously gestured towards her left wrist. An image seemed to flash through her mind for a moment, fleeting and extremely familiar.

Qiu Chu saw that she paused for a moment and thought she was scared: "Can't you do it? How about I help you?"

Xu Xinyue came back to her senses: "No, no need, I can do it myself."

A silver light flashed, and a thin stream of blood flowed along the wrist, winding and falling into the porcelain bowl below.

The deep red color gathered, more and more, until it covered the bottom of the bowl.

"Alright, alright, that's all for now. Let that brat know and he'll be heartbroken."

Qiu Chu muttered something to himself, but his eyes were fixed on the blood, full of brilliance.

Xu Xinyue applied ointment herself to stop the bleeding, and then wrapped her wrists with thin white cloth strips in circles.

Xu Xinyue stared at her wrist, and felt that this scene was familiar, as if she had seen it somewhere before, as if her wrist had been injured before...

But I just can't remember when it was.

"Is this enough?"

"That's about right. I'll try it out with the ones I have. If they're not enough, hehe... you know, girl."

Xu Xinyue pulled at her sleeves to hide the strip of cloth.

"If it really works, this wouldn't be a big deal."

Qiu Chu held the bowl and looked up at Xu Xinyue for a long time: "You don't seem very excited! This is a major discovery, it may be very useful for his detoxification!"

Xu Xianyue lowered her eyes and said calmly, "I am very excited. I am excited in my heart, but I know that everything is unknown until the last step."

It was just like in a dream, she was full of expectations, believing that the plan would succeed and Qin Yuechuan would definitely escape danger, but reality gave her a heavy blow.

"The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. It is better to treat it with a normal attitude and wait and see."

"Tsk tsk tsk, you are so young, but your words are more mature than those of an old man like me."

Xu Xinyue smiled at him and said, "But after all, there is progress, and I am still very happy.

If Mr. Qiu has good news, please remember to share it with me."

"That's nature, that's nature."

After hesitating for a long time, Xu Xinyue finally spoke: "Well, Mr. Qiu, how about you give me another one? I also..."

"No, it's hard to raise a baby. You've already killed one, and we've finally made some progress. I don't know if I can succeed with the few I have left."

"Okay, okay." Xu Xinyue felt a little disappointed, but there was nothing she could do. She could only leave with empty hands.

After going out, I ran into Xiao Chan head-on.

"Miss, the Duke of Zhenguo is looking for you!"

Here, Qingyang went to find Qin Yuechuan with some news from Kyoto.

"Master, there is news from Kyoto."

"read."

"It's probably the Queen Mother's birthday banquet. Qin Zhaolie's marriage has been decided, and it will be before the New Year. Also, the matter entrusted to Prince Yan last time has been completed, and the officials have been dispatched to Lizhou.

However, it seems that Prince Qi still found out.

People in Lizhou said that based on the recent developments, Prince Qi might be planning to kill these officials in a desperate counterattack.”

"Oh, he is quite courageous. I guess his method is similar to ours. He will not find a group of people in his own name to quietly kill people."

"I also think that Prince Qi is probably being pushed into a corner and is thinking of taking another gamble."

Qin Yuechuan thought for a moment and said, "Qingyang, tell Qin Zhaolie something. If he really wants to do this, try to get him to submit his invitation to Xuanxiao Pavilion."

Qingyang understood: "The prince wants to turn the tables and completely extinguish his idea."

“When Lizhou’s financial resources are cut off, it should think of other ways to make up for the shortfall.

Tell Kyoto to keep an eye on the movements of Qin Zhaolie's men. If he sends someone, don't alert them but follow them and trace back to find out where he is moving the money and where it is going.

Yunzhou, Jiangzhou and other places have also sent people to guard. If there is a place where money flows to, report it immediately. "

Qin Yuechuan thought that it was very likely that Qin Zhaolie's troops were stationed there. Even if it was not a place for troops to be stationed there, it must be a secret base that he could not underestimate.

Everything is unknown at the moment, and all we can rely on is speculation, but this matter is of great importance and worth his expending manpower on.

"What is the current relationship between Qin Jizhao and Qin Zhaolie?"

Qingyang chuckled a few times: "Because of our previous 'frame-ups', the relationship between Prince Qi and Prince Yu is now at its lowest point. People in Kyoto say that the two brothers haven't met privately for a long time.

Prince Yan also said that Prince Qi has been acting abnormally against Prince Yu at court meetings recently. I don’t know if it’s intentional or not.”

Qin Yuechuan sneered: "The two brothers are just snakes and rats from the same nest. Now we separate them and defeat them one by one."

"Well, the Queen Mother sent you a message for her birthday banquet..."

"I will not go. I immediately rejected her excuse in Lizhou."

The old hag holds banquets all day long, and it has only been a few days since her last banquet.

Qingyang was a little embarrassed, and then added: "I'm afraid it won't work this time. Your Majesty, the Queen Mother also sent an invitation to Miss Xu..."

Qin Yuechuan suddenly raised his head, his eyes sharp:

"She sent a message to Yueyue?"

On the other side, He Xuehuai and Xu Xinyue.

Xu Xinyue frowned as she listened to the news from Kyoto that He Xuehuai had received.

"Queen, are you inviting me? For a birthday party?"

"Ah."

"Strange, I am just a common girl, is there any need to send a special invitation to me? Even if they knew that Princess Xihe and I were good friends, it should be her, why would it be the Queen Mother who sent the invitation?"

He Xuehuai reminded her: "You are a commoner girl now, but you may not be in the future. The Queen Mother must be curious about you."

"Why is she so curious at her age?"

"This is not the main point. Chen Song just sent a message saying that Qin Yuechuan and the Queen Mother are not on good terms. If you want to go, I'm afraid it won't be that simple.

Besides, you and I both know that the Queen Mother has He Yunyin by her side, so I'm sure she won't have anything nice to say to her."

"He Yunyin is fine. It's easy to guess what she's thinking. But, according to the post, what's my identity for attending the banquet?"

"If you want to go..."

"If Yueyue doesn't want to, she doesn't have to go."

Suddenly, Qin Yuechuan's voice interrupted Xu Xinyue's words. Qin Yuechuan pushed the door open and walked in: "The Queen Mother and I have never been on good terms. If you go, I'm afraid you will only be embarrassed."

Xu Xinyue turned around and said with a smile: "Qin Yuechuan, to be honest, I know this matter well, and I really don't want to go."

"So Yueyue——"

"But how many times can I refuse? If it doesn't work this time, I'm sure she won't give up.

What about the second time, the third time? If I'm with you, I can't stay away from the palace forever, right?

Instead of waiting for her to summon me alone, I should take advantage of this banquet when there are many people around and see her. I think she will not do anything too extreme to me for the sake of her reputation."

The room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

Qin Yuechuan and Xu Xinyue stared at each other.

"If you go, I'll go with you."

"Of course. I have rarely been to the palace since I was a child, so I still need a guide."

Seeing the heavy atmosphere, Xu Xinyue said lightly, "If you were here, I would feel more at ease. Besides, this isn't a sea of ​​fire or a mountain of swords, why act so heavy?"

Qin Yuechuan slowed down his temper, and his brows softened a lot: "Indeed, it's nothing to be afraid of. I just don't want you to suffer the grievances of that old woman for nothing.

That old hag is not a threat, she is just a 'fake Maitreya'."

"'Fake Maitreya'?"

"Well, he looks kind but his heart is not."

Xu Xinyue was amused by Qin Yuechuan's analogy: "Qin Yuechuan, you keep saying 'old pious woman' on the left and 'fake Maitreya' on the right. I am actually a little curious about the queen mother.

What kind of person is he? "