This piece of news was like a thunderbolt out of the blue for the Prime Minister's Mansion, which was already on shaky ground!
The old lady, who had been constantly on tenterhooks because of the assassins from the Li State before, finally fell seriously ill. Even lying in bed, she didn't forget to urge those around her to quickly fetch Yun Xi.
The moment she saw Yun Xi, tears welled up in her eyes. Ignoring the latter's repulsive expression, she tightly grabbed Yun Xi's hand and earnestly pleaded,
"Yun Xi, your grandmother knows that I've treated you badly in the past. It's too late to say anything now. But your father is in trouble. You can't just stand by!"
"Our Yun family has never had a large population, and there aren't many capable relatives. Your grandmother knows you're the most resourceful. You must think of a way to save your father!"
Naturally, Yun Xi was extremely anxious when she learned that her father was in trouble.
Her right eyelid had been twitching non - stop since just now. She felt that the complexity of the matter was far beyond her expectations.
"Grandmother, you don't need to say any more."
Yun Xi pushed away the old lady's hand and then stood up.
The old lady's face turned pale. She thought she was going to hear a rejection, but Yun Xi said,
"Before I came, I've already been to the Office of the Capital Magistrate and asked Lord Liang for help. I'll set off for the place where father had the accident soon. If there's anything in the mansion, you can find Yu Zhu. I've already given her instructions."
The words that were about to be accusatory were instantly swallowed back by the old lady. For the first time, she felt extremely ashamed, yet also overjoyed and tearful as she said,
"Good! Hurry up and go find your father. Don't worry about your grandmother!"
Her eyes closely followed Yun Xi's departing back. The moment Yun Xi turned the corner and disappeared, the old lady shouted with all her might,
"Come back safely!"
Yun Xi paused for a moment but didn't turn around. She walked straight out of the door.
Just as she reached the mansion gate, she saw Yun Qi rushing over in a hurry.
"Elder sister, please wait!"
Yun Qi, whose hair was always neatly combed, now had slightly disheveled sideburns. The usually calm and even stodgy him showed a rare look of panic. His eyes looking at Yun Xi were also a bit complicated.
"I'll go with you to find father."
Sometimes Yun Xi had to admire her younger brother's intelligence, but that didn't mean she trusted him.
After all, Jiang's departure could be said to be her doing. She didn't believe that Yun Qi couldn't guess. And since he had desperately protected Jiang from her in the past, even if he didn't voice his accusations, she knew he must be quite resentful!
Because even though Jiang was extremely evil and had harmed the innocent, and in Yun Xi's opinion, she deserved her fate, she was still his biological mother after all.
"No need. You just need to guard the Prime Minister's Mansion well."
Yun Xi didn't intend to talk to him more. She quickly walked towards the carriage. However, Yun Qi was persistent. He trotted over and seemed to explain,
"Elder sister, I don't hate you for what happened to my mother, and I won't pursue it. I just hope that this time we siblings can work together to bring father back!"
In Yun Qi's heart, the person he respected the most was his father. So he was extremely anxious.
Rarely hearing Yun Qi pour out his heart, Yun Xi was slightly stunned. Standing on the carriage, looking down at Yun Qi from a high position, she said seriously,
"I will bring father back, but you can't go."
"Because once you leave, there will be no one to hold up the Prime Minister's Mansion, and villains will take advantage of the opportunity! Yun Qi, do you understand your responsibility?"
So, it wasn't that she was deliberately excluding Yun Qi and didn't want to work with him. It was just that the Prime Minister's Mansion was also in a precarious situation at the moment, and they couldn't be careless on either side.
Yun Qi's face turned pale after hearing this. He instantly understood Yun Xi's intention.
"I understand. Have a smooth journey, elder sister!"
Yun Qi didn't insist anymore. He looked at Yun Xi with bright eyes.
Yun Xi suddenly smiled and didn't say a word. She then turned around, lifted the curtain, and got into the carriage.
If there was any merit in Jiang's life, it might be giving birth to a good son for the Yun family. Although Yun Qi was a bit rigid, he could still distinguish right from wrong. She hoped that Jiang's departure would make him grow up better.
He would surely be a promising talent in the future!
After Yun Xi's carriage met up with several people from the Office of the Capital Magistrate, they headed north of the city all the way. At the long pavilion five miles outside the capital, they saw Prince Qi Yu, who seemed to have been waiting for a long time!
"Yun Xi, I'll go with you."
At this moment, Qi Yu was riding a white horse, accompanied by two bodyguards. Judging from the situation, he seemed to have come out secretly.
However, Yun Xi didn't have time to ask too many questions. She just nodded.
After all, her father's life and death were still unknown. The top priority now was to rush there quickly. Many hands make light work, and perhaps the prince's status could also play some role.
So, with several groups of people joining together, a large group set off in a grand manner. Their destination this time was Longchang, which was more than three hundred miles away from the capital. Because there were countless coal mountains and mineral treasures there, stretching for hundreds of miles like a coiled giant dragon, it was also called the heart of the Liu State.
It had always been under the control of the court, and ordinary people had no right to mine there.
It was said that her father went there this time to investigate a strange phenomenon, which was related to the national fortune of the Liu State. So before leaving the capital, he never revealed a single word to his family.
It was not until her father had an accident that she learned the origin of this matter from the prince.
"Recently, father has been waking up in the middle of the night and can't sleep well. The national master, Qiu Daoji, divined and said that the root cause lies in Longchang. The imperial palace secretly sent people to investigate, and sure enough, there have been frequent strange phenomena in Longchang."
To figure out the ins and outs of the matter, Yun Xi didn't care about the taboo between men and women. She shared a carriage with Prince Qi Yu all the way.
Moreover, since this matter involved royal secrets, Qi Yu always spoke in a very low voice.
"Strange phenomena?"
Although as a person who had lived two lives, she had some reverence for the strange and mysterious things in the world, she really couldn't understand how these strange phenomena were related to the national fortune.
Even more, why did the emperor send her father, a grand prime minister, to investigate this matter in person? And her father, who was always cautious, actually fell off a cliff and was missing!
No matter how she thought about it, it seemed that there was something fishy about it. There must be hidden undercurrents behind the truth!