Painting Doctor Jinhua

Chapter 194 Important Clues

After watching Gao Xiaowan lead his troops out of the city, Mu Ti Po returned to the Lu Mansion with suspicion and reported to Lu Lingxuan that Gao Yanzong had moved several boxes of things onto Gao Xiaowan's carriage.

"I don't know what it is? Gao Yanzong is so mysterious, and since returning from the peace talks in Yubi City, he has been going back and forth between Lanling Palace and is very close to Xie Zhen!" Mu Tibo said, his eyes lit up, "Could it be that Xie Zhen asked him to do something?"

"Then send someone to check it out. Find a group of people, preferably from the underworld, to intercept Gao Xiaowan's baggage. Don't leave any more evidence behind!"

"But mother, Gao Xiaowan brought several hundred guards with him. It's not easy to find some people from the martial arts world now. Even if we find some, it may be difficult to accomplish anything!"

Lu Lingxuan's face looked unhappy. She stroked the files on the desk with her hand. These were the privacy of the royal family and nobles of Qi State collected by spies.

Most of these nobles of the Northern Qi Dynasty were corrupt, bribed, and lustful. Even Duan Shao, who was in a high position and loved by the generals, was no exception. He often went incognito to seek pleasure among the people. For example, Gao Yuanhai and Gao Guiyan bought countless concubines and indulged in alcohol and sex without restraint.

People like Zhaojun Prince Gao Rui and Lanling Prince Gao Changgong could be said to be outliers among the royal family. They were so honest and upright that no one could find any fault with them.

Holding the privacy of these court officials, Lu Lingxuan felt like she was holding a treasure. She raised her lips and said, "Then force these people to work for us!" As she spoke, she picked out the file of one of them and handed it to Mu Ti Po, "Make another copy of this file and give it to him, and then give him a letter!"

“It’s time to meet these old friends who have worked together before!”

Lu Lingxuan stood up and said.

"In addition, we will also send out 20 to 30 death warriors to quickly intercept them outside Yecheng!"

"Yes!"

……

When the guards led by Gao Xiaowan left Yecheng and traveled a hundred miles, they were suddenly attacked by a group of robbers. All of them were equipped with knives, and they looked aggressive and ferocious.

But the Xianbei guards led by Gao Xiaowan were no pushovers either. Faced with the powerful enemy attack, they shouted and killed, which also frightened the robbers into a trance.

However, while the mantis stalks the cicada, there is always an oriole behind it. While the robbers diverted the attention of part of the guards, another group of unknown black-clad armored soldiers attacked the baggage at the rear of the army.

The soldiers of both sides soon engaged in a battle! But surprisingly, the fierce battle did not last long. Gao Xiaowan ordered to abandon a cart of baggage, no longer pay attention to this group of lunatics, and the team moved forward quickly.

As expected, after getting rid of the baggage cart, both the robbers and the soldiers stopped fighting and Gao Xiaowan just led the guard army forward quickly.

However, what these guards did not expect was that before their army had advanced far, they heard a loud "boom" from behind, as if a mountain range had exploded, followed by bursts of shrill screams!

When Gao Xiaowan looked back, he saw flames rising into the sky not far away!

He took another look at the first brocade bag he had just opened. It said: If you encounter an enemy attack, there is no need to fight to the end. You can throw away the first cart of supplies given by Yanzong!

So this is what Gao Yanzong placed on the last carriage, and it turned out to be such a powerful "thunder and fire bomb"?

"Prince, what is that?" A soldier beside Gao Xiaowan couldn't help but ask.

Gao Xiaowan was also shocked and shook his head: "I don't know!" He immediately ordered to continue moving forward and not to delay any further.

……

When Lu Lingxuan heard the news, she was so angry that her eyes turned red. She kept cursing, "What the hell is that? What the hell is that thing that can kill dozens of people in an instant?"

"Mother, it seems that Hejian Prince Gao Xiaowan has been prepared for this. Gao Yanzong deliberately loaded a box of treasures on the carriage, perhaps deliberately letting us see it, just to lure us in!"

"Don't I know? This Xie Zhen is really a very clever plan. Did he calculate that I would send people to intercept and snatch the things sent by Gao Yanzong?"

She had never felt defeated in front of anyone, but she had been repeatedly defeated in front of this young man, and that Xiao Jinyu...

"By the way, I asked you to keep an eye on Prince Lanling's mansion. Have you ever seen Xiao Jinyu leave the mansion?"

Mu Ti Po shook her head and said, "No, it's strange to say, ever since Gao Changgong and Xie Zhen went on a diplomatic mission to Yubi City, this Princess Lanling seemed to have disappeared, and no one could find her trace. It was that day when Xie Zhen went to the Dali Temple to see Chen, he brought a woman who claimed to be the Princess Lanling with him..."

"Then investigate further and assign more people to keep an eye on it. I always feel that there is an unusual relationship between Xie Zhen and Xiao Jinyu..."

"Could it be that... because Gao Changgong was transferred to Jinjiang for a long-term garrison, the Princess of Lanling could not bear the loneliness, so she had an affair with this world-renowned number one talent..."

Mu Ti Po smiled wickedly, but Lu Lingxuan glared at him fiercely and interrupted him from saying the next words.

"If that's true, then it's a good thing. But if we don't have any evidence, then we shouldn't speculate. Haven't we suffered enough at the hands of these two?"

Muti Po's smile faded and he nodded, "Yes!"

"In addition, the Zhou envoys are about to arrive in Yecheng. If we can disrupt this peace talk and make Xie Zhen's contribution fall short... it would be best if we could cause a war between Qi and Zhou to break out and prevent Gao Changgong from returning to Yecheng. That would be something worth celebrating!"

……

When Gao Yanzong arrived at Prince Lanling's mansion to deliver the news, he was so happy that he almost danced with joy. When he described the scene of flames rising to the sky, he also felt a sense of pride!

"By the way, Fourth Sister-in-law, where did that thunder and fire bomb come from? If this thing is used on the battlefield, why would we be afraid of the Turkic and Zhou armies? Why would we worry about our Great Qi not being victorious?"

Xiao Jinyu replied, "I asked Ling Ye to make it, but to make this thunder and fire bomb, you need stone lacquer, and stone lacquer is a military material and is also very scarce. I asked Chang Gong to get some stone lacquer to make this one. There is only this one, there are no more!"

"Ah?" Gao Yanzong was a little disappointed.

"However, as long as it can help your third brother Gao Xiaowan deliver those military supplies to Jinyang, one will be enough!"

"That's true!" Gao Yanzong curled his lips again and smiled happily.

At this time, Ling Ye sent some files to Xiao Jinyu and reported: "The spy named Anu has a younger sister and an old mother, both of whom are now working for Lu Lingxuan in Fengyue Tower. Yueying also found out that many restaurants and teahouses in Yuanzisi Lifang are owned by Lu Lingxuan, including Fengyue Tower, and the boss behind it is also her!"

"Moreover, Yue Ying also found out one thing, that is, some of the teahouses and restaurants owned by Lu Lingxuan were actually developed by Xiao Luan in Yecheng before, even Fengyue Tower was one of them, but it was not called Fengyue Tower in the past, nor was it a den for the nobles of Yecheng to spend money!"

When Ling Ye reached this point, Gao Yanzong continued, "I know this. About five years ago, this Fengyue Tower was called Luanxuan Pavilion. I heard that it housed many homeless women with miserable lives and did business in the pavilion. However, they did not do the kind of business they do now, but rather businesses involving skills such as embroidery, clothing, and even tea-making and painting.

But two years ago, this Luanxuan Pavilion was renamed Fengyue Tower. On the day of the name change, the most beautiful women in the building were willing to sell themselves. Because these women had their own skills, and many of them were daughters of the Yuan clan of the previous dynasty, they were of noble status, so they attracted the powerful people in the capital to flock to them and were willing to spend a fortune..."

Hearing this, Xiao Jinyu felt mixed emotions and was extremely surprised and suspicious. She hurriedly took the file from Ling Ye's hand and looked at it carefully.

Gao Yanzong saw her expression change drastically and couldn't help asking, "What happened to Fourth Sister-in-law? Could it be that this Xiao Luan is..."

He had only heard from Lu Yu that Xiao Jinyu was the daughter of Lanling Xiao family and also the daughter of Han Zigao, but he knew nothing about her mother.

Princess Liyang then said, "Xiao Luan is her mother! She is also the granddaughter of Prince Zhaoming, right?"

"The granddaughter of Prince Zhaoming!"

Gao Yanzong couldn't help but sigh. He had also heard of this prince of Southern Liang who was both talented and virtuous and had a very high reputation.

"So, could it be that Lu Lingxuan has robbed your mother Xiao Luan of all her assets? And she has also changed the Luanxuan Pavilion, which was originally doing clean business, into Fengyue Tower?"

Xiao Jinyu seemed to have guessed something incredible and remained silent for a long time.

"How about we capture Lu Lingxuan and interrogate her now?" Xie Yuxuan said.

"No!" Xiao Jinyu interrupted, "This woman is full of tricks. Even if we ask her, she won't tell us the truth. I have to investigate these things myself!"

At this point, Xiao Jinyu's voice also became extremely low:

"When the time comes, I will make her pay the price!"

……

"There is one more thing!" After Xiao Jinyu calmed down, Ling Ye reported, "Lu Lingxuan seems to have been in private contact with some ministers in the court recently, including the Grand Tutor, also known as the Prince of Pingqin Gao Guiyan, and the Palace Attendant Gao Yuanhai..."

After hearing this, Gao Yanzong continued, “Gao Guiyan is my cousin. He originally accepted the will of my uncle Gao Yang and assisted the crown prince Gao Yin. However, because he had a grudge against the then prime minister Yang Yin, when Emperor Xiao Zhao Gao Yan and the current emperor Gao Zhan launched a coup to usurp the throne, he chose to stand on their side and deposed Gao Yin.

After that, he was highly valued by Emperor Xiao Zhao, and his power temporarily surpassed that of Pingyuan King Duan Shao. He even secretly sneaked into Jinyang Palace and killed the deposed Jinan King Gao Yin.

Later, before Emperor Xiao Zhao passed away, he supported the current Majesty Gao Zhan as the emperor. At first, His Majesty trusted him very much and allowed him to bring three guards with swords to the palace. But since then, he has become arrogant because of his great achievements. Now His Majesty seems to dislike him and intends to alienate him!"

Xiao Jinyu also thought of the many memorials she had seen impeaching Qin Wang Gao Guiyan for his corruption, bribery, and extravagance, and nodded thoughtfully.

"This Gao Yuanhai is my cousin. He likes to believe in Buddhism and is quite confident in his intelligence. He once ran away to live in the mountains for two years, saying that he wanted to purify his mind and practice Buddhism and abandon the world. However, he couldn't stand the hardship and ran back to ask Your Majesty to grant him an official position. So he became the Minister of the Court, but it was just an idle and empty position. He was not in the position at all. He only knew how to indulge in wine and sex every day and have fun with the hundreds of concubines in his mansion!"

At this point, Gao Yanzong was a little confused: "What does Lu Lingxuan want to do by meeting these two people in private?"

"What else can she do? She might be trying to use these two people to do something bad, to deal with the princess!"

Xie Yuxuan added.

"This woman is still so restless even after being dismissed from office!" Gao Yanzong said angrily, and then looked at Xiao Jinyu, "Fourth sister-in-law, don't worry, I will ask someone to keep an eye on these two people and see what they will do!"

Xiao Jinyu said, "Let the spies I trained here do the monitoring. If I find any unusual movements, I will have someone inform you!"

After that, he expressed his sincere gratitude, "Yanzong, thank you for taking care of me during this period of time!"

"You are so polite, sister-in-law. I promised you that I would protect you!" Gao Yanzong said, and then he looked ashamed. "But I still let you get hurt. By the way, is your injury healed now?"

"Yes, I'm healed!"

"So fast?"

Gao Yanzong showed joy on his face, but Xie Yuxuan looked distressed and angry.

"This is a new healing medicine she developed, and she used me as the first one to test it. She really doesn't take her own body seriously..."

Xiao Jinyu interrupted:

"Ah Xuan, stop talking. This is my duty as a doctor. My mother has asked me to test medicine since I was a child, so I found out that this body is immune to all poisons! It's okay!"

When Gao Yanzong heard that she had been experimenting with medicine since she was young and had developed a physique that was immune to all poisons, he was delighted. However, there was a hint of worry in Princess Liyang's eyes.

At night, when everyone was asleep, Princess Liyang came to Xiao Jinyu's bedroom, but saw her still sitting at the desk with a book, as if thinking about something, so she brought in a bowl of cooked white fungus soup and placed it on her desk.

"What are you thinking about? Why are you still awake so late?"

Seeing that it was Princess Liyang who came in, Xiao Jinyu was a little surprised, smiled slightly, and said, "Nothing, Princess... No, mother, don't worry, I'm fine, why are you not asleep either?"

"I've also been thinking about what has happened in the past few days. Seeing what you've done for Chang Gong, I'm very moved, but I'm also quite worried..." Having said this, she looked at Xiao Jinyu seriously and asked, "Ayu, have you ever thought about this? You are now acting in the court as Xie Zhen, but what if you have a child in the future? Can you still hide it from everyone?"

"And how long can this matter be kept secret? If your identity is revealed in the future..."

Xiao Jinyu smiled and said:

"Don't worry, mother. I will find a way out for myself!"

Seeing her confident eyes, Princess Liyang could not bear to ask any more questions. After a long silence, she continued, "What about your body... You and Chang Gong have been together for quite a while, and you are so in love with each other, but you have not conceived a child yet. Is that because you have been experimenting with drugs since you were young?"

When asked this question, Xiao Jinyu's expression changed slightly, and after a long while, he answered:

"That's not the reason..." she replied, "But I'm also taking care of my body..."

Before she finished speaking, she saw Princess Liyang shedding tears, and her eyes were full of pity as she looked at her.

"Princess, I..."

Suddenly, Princess Liyang hugged her in her arms and sighed, "I'm not worried that you can't give Chang Gong a child, but I'm sighing for the ups and downs of the fate of the women in our Xiao family. You must have suffered a lot!"