Chapter 38: The Left Prime Minister Has Never Given Birth! Part 1

Yan Zhi’an’s head was throbbing. Meanwhile, Xunqi had found Ah Yuan. After sending Shiqi away, she took the medical text to Ah Yuan.

“Do you want to go learn this skill from the old physician?” Xunqi smiled, trying to coax Ah Yuan. She couldn’t learn it herself, but Ah Yuan had studied medicine for years. Her chances were definitely better.

Xunqi stared at Ah Yuan with wide eyes, making her uncomfortable. Ah Yuan touched her own small face, feeling stifled. “Actually, are you trying to test the Head of the Family?”

“Ah Yuan, don’t ask. I won’t treat you badly. I’ll buy you two a house. Land in the capital is expensive, every inch of it gold. Relying on the two of you and the shop to earn money, you’ll never be able to buy a house in your lifetime. If you help me, I’ll give you a stable home.”

Xunqi didn’t answer her question. She threw out a tempting condition and waited for Ah Yuan’s reply.

“Xunqi, I can’t learn it. Why don’t you invite the Academy Head over? She can tell with a single touch.” Ah Yuan said with difficulty. “The Academy Head’s medical skills are superb. I’ve only learned a little, enough to treat minor ailments.”

The matter was too tricky. Ah Yuan didn’t want to take it on, afraid of inadvertently offending the Head of the Family. But Xunqi had been kind to them. If she refused, she would be letting Xunqi down. After thinking it over, this was the only way.

Ordinary people couldn’t get close to the Head of the Family, but Headmaster Yuan could. She just needed to come.

But Xunqi refused. She pinched the pattern on her cuff. “The Academy Head won’t tell me the truth. She’s a good friend of the Head of the Family. How could she reveal her friend’s secrets? Ah Yuan, you’re the only one.”

“But I really can’t learn it.” Ah Yuan’s head ached. “By the time I learn it, we’ll all be old. Think of another way. What about the physician who used to take the Head of the Family’s pulse?” Ah Yuan was already grasping at straws.

The two looked at each other, both sighing. Ah Yuan quietly asked, “Why are you suspicious?”

“Because there are too many holes.” Xunqi said frankly. “But I just don’t understand why she took me in. I’m poor and have nothing. What is there for her to scheme about?”

Ah Yuan also couldn’t figure it out. The Xunqi before her was dejected, looking pitiful, but with rosy lips and white teeth, she was a beautiful girl. She was beautiful, but not enough to make the Head of the Family go to such lengths.

“Could you be the child of some young master of the Yan family, still of Yan blood?” Ah Yuan speculated.

Xunqi quickly denied it. “Impossible. If I were truly some young master’s child, why not just tell me directly? Why go to such lengths to deceive me?”

That didn’t make sense. They had even sent people to Lingnan to dig an empty grave. There must be a deeper meaning behind it.

“I’ll go learn.” Ah Yuan was defeated. She was genuinely curious and wanted to know the truth.

Xunqi felt her kindness and beamed. “Don’t worry, I won’t reveal anything. Take your time learning. I’m going back to my room. If I stay too long, Shiqi will get suspicious.”

“Alright, take your time going back.” Ah Yuan whispered.

This time, Xunqi came openly and left through the courtyard gate, eagerly running towards her mother’s courtyard.

Huh, it was dark. She hadn’t come back yet? Xunqi stood at the door, puzzled, then turned and went to the Madam’s courtyard. She climbed up the wall and took a look. The lights were bright, and the door was tightly shut. The mother and daughter were talking secrets.

Don’t listen to what is improper. Xunqi quickly jumped down from the wall, pretended nothing was wrong, and went back to bathe.

She had to go to the Patrol Battalion tomorrow, so she wouldn’t disturb her mother. She bathed and went to bed.

Chen Qingrong cried until midnight, finally kicking Yan Zhi’an out, shouting that she wanted to return to Jinling to cry at her father’s grave.

In the end, Yan Zhi’an had no choice but to send people to watch over her, and she went back to her room to sleep.

The bedroom was dark. When she went in, a maidservant lit the lamp. She went to the bed and looked. Hey, today the person hadn’t come. A strange wind had blown today. The old one was acting crazy, and the young one was acting mad. Neither was normal.

Yan Zhi’an bathed and went to bed herself.

The next day, Chen Qingrong packed her trunks, gathered the people she had brought from Jinling, prepared the carriages, and got ready to return to Jinling.

Yan Zhi’an hadn’t returned. Xunqi happened to be on patrol. Upon hearing the news, she galloped back. Seeing more than ten carriages at the gate, before she could marvel at the extravagance, she saw Chen Qingrong, supported by a maidservant, walking down the steps.

She flew over, worried. “Madam, what are you doing? Why are you leaving all of a sudden?”

“None of your business. I don’t want to see you.” Chen Qingrong was furious. Our mother-daughter discord is all because of you! But she didn’t dare say it. She could only look at her with resentment.

That look made Xunqi feel like she had committed a heinous crime. Xunqi’s face was full of sorrow. “Did you and my mother have a fight?”

Hearing Xunqi say ‘my mother’, the nameless anger in Chen Qingrong’s heart flared up again, turning resentment into anger. “What does my fight with her have to do with you? Mind your own business! Xunqi, let me tell you, this family has…”

She stopped mid-sentence. Chen Qingrong didn’t dare say it. She couldn’t afford to offend the Bodhisattva before her. The more she thought about it, the more wronged she felt, and she immediately burst into tears.

Xunqi was baffled. What had she done to make the Madam so angry? She had been fine at dinner last night. How had everything changed overnight?

“Madam, let me help you back inside to talk properly. It’s so embarrassing with all these people watching.” Xunqi was completely in the dark. But the other woman ignored her and got into the carriage, not even looking at her.

Xunqi wanted to persuade her, but the driver cracked his whip, and the horses pulled the carriage forward. She had no choice but to step aside and watch Chen Qingrong leave the Prime Minister’s Residence.

When Yan Zhi’an returned in the evening, the main house was empty. Her mother had left.

She was helpless. She sat down on the edge of the couch, her heart feeling empty, as if she had lost something. Her mother didn’t understand her actions. Unable to persuade her, she had left alone.

At this moment, she felt that she had offended too many people for Xunqi.

“Mother.”

A timid voice came from the darkness. Yan Zhi’an turned around. Behind the folding screen stood a soft-looking girl, looking at her nervously, her expression worried.

After one glance, Xunqi eagerly lit a lamp and brought the candlestick to her mother’s side. “I’m sorry. I tried to persuade her, but she refused to stay. Did you two have a fight?”

“We fought. Neither of us would give in.” Yan Zhi’an lowered her head, feeling deeply guilty towards her mother. After her father died, she was her mother’s only support. But she had still broken her mother’s heart. Loyalty and filial piety were hard to balance. She had truly tried her best.

Hearing this, Xunqi curved her lips and smiled. She held her hand and said sincerely, “When the New Year comes, I’ll accompany you back to Jinling to bring her back. By then, she’ll have cooled down and will definitely come back with you.”

Her eager, ingratiating manner made Yan Zhi’an’s heart soften. She reached out and touched her cheek. “She has her own convictions. As long as one lives without shame before heaven and earth, that’s enough. Xunqi, you will also face difficulties in the future. Remember this one thing: it’s enough to have no shame before heaven and earth.”

“I’ll remember.” Xunqi didn’t argue, but nodded very seriously. “I’ll remember everything you say. Don’t worry, I won’t fight with you in the future. And I won’t run away from home.”

The Madam was over forty, and she just left like that. Before leaving, she even scolded her. When the city gate catches fire, the fish in the moat suffer.

She felt inexplicably wronged and said, “She even scolded me, saying this family has room for her but not me, or room for me but not her.”

Yan Zhi’an heard this and came to soothe the younger one. “That’s how she is when she argues with my father. Don’t mind her. She’s gone now. I’ll send people to clean the place every day. When I have time, I’ll go bring her back. Just in time for your coming-of-age rite.”

Chen Qingrong had run off without a care, not even waiting for Xunqi’s coming-of-age rite. Where would she find the time to arrange these mundane matters?

“Mother, let’s not have it. I’m busy.” Xunqi shook her head. “If we have the coming-of-age rite, you’ll have even more headaches. A bunch of marriage proposals will come flooding in. Let’s not. Let me first get used to life in the Patrol Battalion.”

“You have a point.” Yan Zhi’an had the same thought. One was busy with the government office, the other with the Patrol Battalion. Neither had time to deal with these mundane matters. It was good not to have it. They could rest on their days off. She said, “Even if we don’t have the ceremony, I’ll prepare a gift for you.”

Xunqi happily agreed.

With Chen Qingrong gone, the Prime Minister’s Residence became a bit quieter. During the day, no one was home. After getting off work, the two came back, sat together for dinner, and talked about political affairs.

Yan Zhi’an was busy ‘finding the princess’, and Xunqi was busy with the Patrol Battalion. Each was busy with their own affairs.

After the busy summer, it was the Mid-Autumn Festival. Yuan Fusheng arrived, and Xunqi personally went to the dock to welcome her.

Yuan Fusheng had come by imperial decree. She didn’t know what the court was up to, summoning her from such a distance. When something is abnormal, there must be a reason. She boarded Xunqi’s carriage. In less than a year, Xunqi had grown much taller. Yuan Fusheng said happily, “How are things at the Patrol Battalion?”

“Not bad. My colleagues take good care of me. Why did you suddenly come to the capital?” Xunqi was also puzzled. She had been very surprised when she received the news to welcome her. Why would the court have the Academy Head come to teach?

“Just to teach. I’ll stay for two months and then leave.” Yuan Fusheng was also uneasy, not knowing the court’s intentions. But since her junior was asking, she had to pretend to be calm.

“Alright, I’ll take you back to the Prime Minister’s Residence to rest. You can enter the Imperial Academy tomorrow.”

After picking up Yuan Fusheng, Xunqi returned to the Patrol Battalion.

When she returned in the evening, her mother was also back, sitting under the eaves talking with the Academy Head. One shouldn’t disturb elders when they’re talking, so she went back to her room to wash up first.

Both people under the eaves saw the hurried figure, agile as a swimming dragon. Yuan Fusheng sighed. “It’s a joy to see young people full of vigor.”

“My mother learned of her identity and was so angry she returned to Jinling.” Yan Zhi’an lowered her head to straighten her robe, her long eyelashes hiding her disappointment.

“I visited her when I came. She’s busy matchmaking and very happy. Her temperament is to go with the flow. She’s more carefree than anyone.” Yuan Fusheng turned to look at her, a hint of indescribable affection in her eyes. “Yan Zhi’an, what will you do in three years?”

I can wait for you for three years.

Yan Zhi’an’s profile was cold, her gaze icy. It fell into Yuan Fusheng’s eyes, the most beautiful picture. She said, “I can wait for you for three years, five years.”

“Yuan Fusheng, I am a very cold person. You’ve known this for a long time. Why waste your time?” Yan Zhi’an had to look up and meet her gaze, saying frankly, “There is no love in my heart. To you, I can only apologize.”