It was evening.
Shen Danqing carried several account books back into the room. Since there were few literate people in the army, the military advisor didn't trust others and thus gave Shen Danqing the account books of Xiangyun Kingdom's royal treasury.
He saw Shen Heqing holding a pillow and examining it carefully. So he asked, "Brother, what are you looking at the pillow for?"
Shen Heqing put down the pillow, walked to the table, and helped Shen Danqing look through the account books. "This is a medicinal pillow. Grandfather needs to use a medicinal pillow when sleeping. When the army entered the city, the one he brought from home was accidentally lost. So I found one for him to use for the time being. I'll send it over later. By the way, I'll go to Xiangyun Rou's palace to ask about the origin of that long spear."
Mentioning the long spear, Shen Danqing asked curiously, "Brother, the capital city and the royal city of Xiangyun Kingdom are so far apart. The sudden appearance of the martial commander's long spear in Xiangyun Kingdom, could it be related to Shen Yunfeng?"
"If it's not related, can we somehow find a connection?"
Shen Danqing's words were a bit jumbled. Shen Heqing was amused. "Since it's not related, how can we find a connection... Do you mean to frame him?"
Seeing that Shen Heqing understood his meaning, Shen Danqing nodded. "Xiangyun Rou just arrived in the capital city. To show the kindness of the Great Yong Dynasty, His Majesty will surely indulge her in small matters. I'm afraid Aunt Yun will be bullied."
When Shen Danqing left the capital city, Concubine Yun lived in the princess mansion. But both Shen Heqing and Shen Danqing knew in their hearts that it was because Shen Yunfeng was not in the capital city. If Shen Yunfeng returned, as his concubine, Concubine Yun would surely have to stay by his side.
Shen Danqing felt sorry for Concubine Yun and had to make plans in advance.
Thinking of how Xiangyun Rou loved Shen Yunfeng so much that she betrayed her own country, Shen Heqing was also a bit worried. "You're right. Don't be in a hurry. I'll figure something out."
"Brother, you don't stop me and are even willing to help me?" Shen Danqing was a bit surprised. He just said those words on impulse when he heard that Shen Heqing was going to find Xiangyun Rou.
Now, weighing the pros and cons, he thought it was a bad idea.
A scholar's reputation was very important. Both Shen Heqing and he were going to take the imperial examinations next year. If their reputations were ruined because of Shen Yunfeng, it would be a great loss. As the biological son of Concubine Yun, he was willing to exchange his official career for Concubine Yun's safety without complaint. But he was afraid it would also implicate Shen Heqing.
Shen Heqing patted Shen Danqing on the shoulder. "We're family. Why are you being so polite? Mother and we have escaped from the bitter sea. We can't just watch Aunt Yun suffer. If we can save her, we should. Moreover, we have a backer. We don't necessarily have to rely on the imperial examinations."
There was a glint of tears in Shen Danqing's eyes. He said touchedly, "Thank you, brother. But we'd better think of other ways. Our maternal grandfather holds military power, which is enough to make the emperor jealous. If we rely on him..."
"What maternal grandfather? Call him grandfather. Grandfather likes to hear that. And the backer I'm talking about is not grandfather, but Baozhu." Shen Heqing interrupted Shen Danqing's words. He found it funny. "Have you forgotten that Baozhu has help from the gods?"
"If His Majesty thinks Shen Yunfeng is inauspicious, we can ask Baozhu to bring down thunder to strike him a few times to wash away his bad luck."
Shen Heqing's affection for Shen Yunfeng had been completely worn out. He didn't kill his father only because he was afraid of dirtying his own hands.
He had given Baozhu the resentment of a foolish child, drugged him, and sent people to break Hai Yan's hands and feet. Among the four children in total, Shen Yunfeng had harmed three. Shen Heqing originally thought that he didn't harm Shen Danqing because he still had some father - son affection.
It was not until Xiangyun Rou wanted to get close to Shen Danqing that Shen Heqing remembered that Shen Yunfeng had promised Xiangyun Rou in a letter that he would give Shen Danqing to her.
The reason why Shen Yunfeng didn't harm Shen Danqing was that he regarded Shen Danqing as a gift for Xiangyun Rou.
When he realized this, Shen Heqing felt extremely disgusted.
Shen Danqing was too anxious and forgot that Shen Baozhu had help from the gods. Now that he remembered, he felt much more relaxed. "Brother is right. I just forgot myself."
After reaching an agreement, the two began to focus on looking through the account books.
After a while, Shen Heqing felt that the time was about right. So he took the medicinal pillow and went to find General Mu.
As the commander - in - chief of the army, General Mu temporarily lived in the king's bedroom of Xiangyun Kingdom. When Shen Heqing arrived, he was sighing while looking at the pillow on the dragon bed.
Shen Heqing strode in and handed the medicinal pillow in his hand to General Mu.
General Mu was stunned when he saw the medicinal pillow. He seemed not to expect that Shen Heqing was so fast and had prepared the medicinal pillow in less than a day.
Looking at the familiar fabric and patterns on the medicinal pillow, General Mu felt a pang in his heart. He wanted to thank Shen Heqing but couldn't say a word.
Shen Heqing thought he was just too happy and explained, "The time was too short. I only managed to find this..."
"It's okay, it's okay. This is enough. This is enough." General Mu hugged the medicinal pillow tightly, and tears almost welled up in his eyes.
Shen Heqing didn't expect General Mu to react so strongly. He subconsciously stepped back and just bumped into the military advisor.
The military advisor was also holding a medicinal pillow in his arms, obviously prepared for General Mu.
It was just that Shen Heqing had found an old medicinal pillow, while the one in the military advisor's arms was newly made. Due to the urgent time, he had found a soft pillow in the palace and just changed the pillow core.
The military advisor was not surprised to see Shen Heqing. He smiled and said, "Heqing, are you here to bring a pillow for Old Mu? Don't be sad. He's just a bit picky about pillows."
Shen Heqing was confused. "Sad? So grandfather was sad. But it's just a pillow. What's there to be sad about?"
"Alas, you don't know. This medicinal pillow is not an ordinary pillow. It's the affection of sister - in - law for Brother Mu." The military advisor sighed with emotion when he recalled the past. "Back then, Brother Mu had a headache. Sister - in - law had studied medicine, so she found some herbs that could calm the mind and made this medicinal pillow for Brother Mu to use every day. After using it for so long, it became a habit."
"Look at my memory. I just said it casually. Brother Mu is your grandfather. When he was young, I was used to calling him Brother Mu. Later, as his military achievements became greater and greater, I started calling him General. In a blink of an eye, almost forty years have passed."
The military advisor walked as he talked. By the time he finished his speech, he had entered the room.
When he saw General Mu holding the pillow, he stopped in his tracks and turned his head in surprise. "The pattern of this pillow... Did your mother tell you about it?"
Shen Heqing didn't understand what he meant and shook his head to deny it.
General Mu wiped his face casually to wipe away his tears, then looked at the military advisor. "Didn't you tell Heqing? Lan Yue doesn't know that her mother likes this pattern. She couldn't have told Heqing either."
The military advisor was stunned. He showed the medicinal pillow in his hand to General Mu. "I didn't tell Heqing. I only said that you like medicinal pillows. I didn't say anything else. Then I was busy inventorying the things in the treasury and making this medicinal pillow for you. When would I have time to tell Heqing?"
Hearing this, General Mu was also stunned. He asked urgently, "You really didn't tell him? How is that possible? If you didn't tell him, how did Heqing manage to find a pillow with almost the same color and pattern of the pillowcase and even the herbs inside? Although the fragrance of the herbs is almost gone, the color and pattern of the pillowcase are exactly what my wife liked."
"I really didn't! Besides, apart from you, who would remember what kind of color and pattern sister - in - law liked? I've never even used a medicinal pillow." The military advisor shouted that he was wronged.
Back then, General Mu was very proud of getting the medicinal pillow and showed it off everywhere. At that time, the military advisor was not married yet. Being constantly shown off by General Mu, the military advisor was so angry that he went to complain to Mrs. Mu. Mrs. Mu mistakenly thought that he liked it and gave him one.
Although the military advisor had a medicinal pillow, he didn't dare to use it for a single day, for fear that the jealous General Mu would cause him trouble. So he didn't remember the color and pattern of the pillowcase at all.
General Mu looked puzzled. "Then how did Heqing find this pillow?"
Shen Heqing, who had been listening for a long time, said softly, "I bought it from a pharmacy. This medicinal pillow was the treasured collection of the pharmacy owner. When I got it, it was already like this."
General Mu and the military advisor were even more confused. The two carefully examined the medicinal pillow.
"Wait, this medicinal pillow looks a bit familiar. It seems to be the one sister - in - law gave me..." The military advisor suddenly blurted out.