Seeing the maidservants and grannies in the yard have this sort of reaction, the housekeeper was stunned. He then suddenly thought of something and could not help but slyly smile: “Could it be that the head madam found another one to play around with? Hah, but you need to go and tell the madam that something has happened with the master. The elder madam’s health is not good, and this matter requires head madam’s approval.”
The maidservants and grannies were troubled, as the head maidservant helplessly said: “Housekeeper Liu, could you do us a favor. It’s truly not convenient for the head madam today. In this manor, aside from the masters, you have the most power. How about you do as you see fit for this matter. After madam finds out, she will not blame you for it.” After saying this, she gave housekeeper Liu an ambiguous smile and even took a couple steps forward to get closer to housekeeper Liu and softly said: “I’m begging housekeeper Liu, don’t come looking for our madam today.”
To the outside, the prefecture guard’s manor was a very prestigious place, but behind closed doors, only they themselves knew. This was a den of obscenity, through and through. It was not just the master and madam that were absurd. Even the servants were not that reliable. The housekeeper and head madam had gone at it, and the head maidservant at the madam’s side was also in an unclear relationship with the housekeeper. This girl was 17 years of age, and she was in her growing years. Her chest was very large, and the way it brushed against the housekeeper left him feeling completely dazed. He stopped caring that there were people around, as he reached out to grab the maidservant’s chest then said: “I want to make the decision myself, but I can’t possibly make a decision for this! You don’t know, but master’s side…”
He raised his voice a bit and clearly recounted what had happened on Teng Ping’s side. He was thinking that it would be best if the madam could hear it from inside then take the initiative to end her current battle to quickly come out and take care of this.
However, who knew that after this explanation, the madam inside did not hear it; however, it would be heard by the elder madam who was being brought over in a sedan. The elder madam nearly passed out from the anger. The maidservants and grannies let out a shrill cry and knew that they had caused trouble. They quickly went forward to kneel and kowtow.
The elder madam forcefully held herself up and asked housekeeper Liu: “Was what you just said the truth? I just went to Ping’er’s side to take a look, and the entire yard of people did not allow me inside. They also did not say what exactly had happened. I just heard some strange sounds coming from inside, and I thought that I would come to this side to ask the madam; however, who knew that it would be so absurd.” The elder madam trembled with anger. She had eaten a bit much for dinner. Just when she thought that she would go out for a stroll, she heard that Teng Ping was in that small courtyard, thus she headed in that direction. As a result, she was stopped by the servants and told that she could not enter. She was an experienced person, so how could she possibly not know what those sounds were. As a mother, she felt that it was not too good to concern herself with such matters, thus she quickly got on a sedan and headed toward the head madam’s side.
There was nothing that the housekeeper could do. Even if he wanted to, he could not hide this matter; moreover, the elder madam had already heard it. What could he do? He just nodded, “Elder madam, everything that this servant said was true! Right now, not even the doctors can do anything. There’s even one doctor that got trapped inside and could not get out.”
The elder madam breathed heavily, as the maidservants and grannies quickly went to help ease her breathing. Finally managing to calm her down, the elder madam then arranged to barge into the head madam’s room.
There was nothing that the maidservants and grannies in the head madam’s yard could do. After thinking a bit, since the master’s absurdities have already been exposed, perhaps the situation in the madam’s room could also not be hidden. Forget it, if things were to get messy, it might as well all become a mess together. Who knew, it might even cause the elder madam to die from anger. From this day forward, their madam would be the one with all of the power in the inner courtyard. They would no longer need to pay any heed to the elder madam.
It was only now that housekeeper Liu understood why he had been stopped earlier. Who knew that the head madam would not even let go of her own husband’s nephew! But it was strange. With that much commotion, why was it that neither one woke up and slept so soundly?
He stepped forward and called out a few times, but there was still no reaction from the people in bed. The head maidservant from earlier also stepped forward at this time and said to him: “Stop calling, it seems that she has been given some sort of drug. We’ve called out to her for the entire day, yet she has not woken. Just now, you said that something also happened with master’s side. What exactly is going on? Why has so much happened in one night?”
Housekeeper Liu was also filled with worry. Over the past few days, he had heard that Imperial Daughter Ji An had arrived in Yu Zhou, and he had always felt a little uneasy. The entire manor had been completely redeployed, and even the hidden guards and soldiers were increased, but he still felt uneasy. Who knew that something would really happen. Although the incident had just occurred, why did he feel that this could not be unrelated to Imperial Daughter Ji An?
The elder madam was being treated by a doctor and managed to recover. The elder madam did not argue over it. After waking up, she immediately sat up with the support of the servants and began to inquire in great detail about Teng Ping’s situation. As for her daughter-in-law sleeping with her grandson, she chose to not think about it. After all, compared to her son, a daughter-in-law was really not worth much. Even that grandson was not the son of the first wife. It was fine. In the end, this was nothing more than a family scandal. Later on, she would get rid of that daughter-in-law; however, she was still very worried about Teng Ping’s side, as she asked the doctors: “What exactly happened on master’s side?”
One of the doctors said: “By the looks of it, it seems that he was given some sort of aphrodisiac. The effect of the drug was too fierce. In order for it to wear off, it will take another six to ten hours, but we don’t know if master’s body will be able to last for that long.” There was nothing that they could do. Having been given an aphrodisiac, unless a very primitive method was used to relieve it, there really were no other methods.
The elder madam angrily shouted: “Report it! Immediately go and report it! What sort of person would dare to drug the lord prefecture guard? This is clearly attempted murder! Report it! Immediately report it!”
Once these words came out, everyone was dazed and very helpless. Report it? Report it to whom? Housekeeper Liu summoned some courage and said: “Elder madam, in Ji An Prefecture, our master is the highest-ranking official. With something happening to him, there’s no place to report it.”
“Then go outside Ji An Prefecture to report it! Go to Yu Zhou! Go to Yun Province!”
“Has elder madam forgotten? Ever since four generations ago, the Teng family has retracted its family register from Da Shun. To Da Shun, we are no longer their citizens. If anything happened, we would resolve it ourselves. Da Shun does not care about it at all.”
The elder madam cried anxiously. While crying, she said: “I knew that something would eventually happen. Back then, I had advised Ping’er’s father to show restraint, but he would not listen. Instead, he went one step further. Now, things are great. With something happening, there’s nobody to report it to. Tell me, now that Ping’er has been drugged, what should be done? I said that my Ping’er plays around too much each day, but he’s not quite this absurd. It turns out that he was harmed by some lowly person! My Ping’er really is unfortunate!” The elder madam began to wail.
There was nothing that the servants could do. They could only wait for the elder madam to finish crying before a doctor asked: “In truth, it’s not as though it’s impossible to treat master.” He looked at the elder madam and saw that there was an expectant look in her eyes before helplessly saying: “It’s just that a person needs to be invited, and this person is not that easy to invite.”
“What sort of person is it?” The elder madam was a bit confused, “What sort of person could our Teng family not invite? Is that person a heavenly soldier or something?”
The doctor said with trouble: “Although not a heavenly soldier, that’s not too far off. That person is Imperial Daughter Ji An, who recently arrived in Yu Zhou.”
The elder madam nearly choked to death on her own saliva. Imperial Daughter Ji An! It was not as though she had never heard of this person before; however, what she had heard was not about how famed she was as a doctor. Instead, Imperial Daughter Ji An was the true master of Ji An Prefecture, and she had received the imperial decree from the Emperor. She was the person with the deed for the entirety of Ji An Prefecture. Her Teng family had guarded it for a few generations; however, they were only prefecture guards. They had the right to guard and manage it; however, they did not have any rights to the lands. That was to say that the Teng family was just taking care of Ji An Prefecture. In the end, the land did not belong to them.
The doctor saw that the elder madam was frozen, thus he added: “Imperial Daughter Ji An is the most famous divine doctor in Da Shun. Master can either endure and possibly survive if he can last six to ten hours, or we can invite Imperial Daughter Ji An to help.”
The elder madam gritted her teeth: “Go invite her! For Ping’er’s life, regardless of how difficult that person is to invite, we must try. As long as my Ping’er can be treated, and as long as Ping’er is alive, even if Ji An Prefecture is given back to her… it’s fine.”
The servants heard the elder madam say this and did not add anything else. They just quickly set out for Yu Zhou to invite her.
But after mucking about for so long, the sky had begun to darken. Could she be invited at this hour? The ones that went to Yu Zhou were very upset. They also speculated about Imperial Daughter Ji An a bit. If Prefecture Guard Teng really was drugged by such a vicious girl, they would not need to worry about their lives, right? Would Imperial Daughter Ji An have them killed on the spot?
On this side, the servants went to Yu Zhou to find Feng Yu Heng to save Teng Ping. On the other side, the injured soldiers returning from Yu Zhou gathered in the military camp for the private troops. They reported to their general, Han Gang, about what had happened in front of Yu Zhou’s Hundred Herb Hall. After saying this, one of them said: “General Han, you must help us get revenge! Imperial Daughter Ji An is arrogant to the point of daring to kill people in the streets. She looks down on our Ji An Prefecture. If this continues, what path would we have left? Sooner or later, we will be eradicated by her!”
Another person said: “When we returned, we passed by the manor and heard that the manor had become chaotic. Something has happened to both master and madam. General Han, do you think that this is the end for our Ji An Prefecture? Imperial Daughter Ji An has come and wants to take this land back. What will happen with us in the future? The Teng family has large sums of money, and they can escape to any place they desire, but what about us? Who would care for us?”
“Forget about who will care for us. As their personal troops, once we truly meet in battle, we will just be scapegoats to block Imperial Daughter Ji An to help the Teng family escape. Only by walking over our bodies can Imperial Daughter Ji An set foot in Ji An Prefecture. As for the Teng family, no matter how much martial ability they possess, I fear they may have already run far away, such that not even a shadow could be found.”
The personal troops were young men that were full of vigor and vitality. When Han Gang heard this, his breathing became erratic, and his face turned a bit red before he finally made a decision: “Rather than having them come to us, it would be better to go on the offensive! Call up all of the comrades. We will go and surround Yu Zhou to find Imperial Daughter Ji An for revenge! While we’re at it, we’ll put on a show of strength for the prefect of Yu Zhou to have him know how fierce we brothers are!”