CH 77

Fu Zhiyu knew in his heart that the coachman’s affairs were not that simple, but he didn’t want to take care of it now, so he let the Qian family tinker with these things on its own. Anyway, Qian Manguan should have had time now.

What he said to Yuan Mingdao was sincere, and from the perspective of the entire Jiangnan, those intrigues didn’t attract his attention anymore.

It was just a matter of the past, and it was a distraction to keep an eye on it too much now.

Yuan Mingdao listened to him and went to sleep obediently. Fu Zhiyu shook the jug and there was still half a jug of wine left.

“It can’t be wasted,” he murmured to himself, took the jug and walked into his room, simply giving up the cup and drinking directly from the jug.

Jiangnan’s peach blossom brew was good to drink, but it was actually a strong wine with a lingering aftertaste. Fu Zhiyu was a good drinker, but he drank the whole jug and he couldn’t help but feel a little dazed.

He shook the jug, and there was no drop left in it. He put the jug aside casually, but he didn’t hold it steady. The jug fell to the floor from the edge of the small table. There was a carpet on the floor and the jug wasn’t broken, but it was slowly spinning on the carpet.

Fu Zhiyu didn’t pay much attention to it and didn’t bother to pick it up. He took a few steps to his bed, but he was a bit sleepy and stopped halfway through changing into his bedclothes. He casually pulled his neckline open and felt a little relieved. Then he lay on the bed, falling asleep after a while.

His posture was really not very reserved. His clothes were in a mess, his face was reddened by the alcohol, his arms and legs were spread out, and the quilt was casually pulled over him, half covering and half not covering him.

Fu Zhiyu didn’t like to be served. When he was in the palace, he had to be served by two maids in his bedroom. If they were not allowed to enter, they had to stay outside. Now in Jiangnan, except for the woman who came to help clean the room every day, he dismissed the other personal maidservants, not keeping any of them. He also felt a lot more comfortable.

He turned over while lying on the big bed, and the stove in the room was burning vigorously. Even without being covered by the quilt, he felt warm and comfortable, and his face looked flushed.

The security in the mansion was also much looser than it used to be in the capital. Yuan Jiangxing sent two teams to patrol from time to time at night; but if some people wanted to come in, it was not very difficult.

At this moment, the window on the other side of the bed slowly half-opened, and a figure quickly came in. The man closed the window back lightly, but at this moment a trace of cold wind leaked inside. Fu Zhiyu, who was lying on the bed, felt it. He wrinkled his nose, moved his body deeper into the bed, and then turned over, pulling the quilt to wrap himself up like a silkworm.

He did this as nothing more than an unconscious act while asleep, like someone kicking off the blanket, but the visitor stiffened in place for a few moments when he heard the movement, and only slowly sighed in relief when the person in the bed was quiet again.

“Drinking so much wine,” the visitor said to himself as he walked to the bed and immediately smelled a strong smell of wine, “Although the peach blossom brew is delicious, it is too strong, and it hurts if you drink too much. In the future, I will ask them to bring less wine and to change it to something less strong. It will be just as good. You will like it.”

Fu Zhiyu was sleeping heavily and didn’t hear a word.

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After he turned over, his face was facing inward, and his whole body was also wrapped in a rolled-up quilt. The visitor didn’t dare to move him, but could only see the round, arched back in the quilt.

“I’m sorry,” the visitor said again, his voice even lower for fear of disturbing Fu Zhiyu, “I promised you to leave, and I know you don’t want to see me again, but… I, I sometimes really can’t help it, I miss you so much, just look at it like this, you won’t see me, it doesn’t count… as a breach of the promise.”

He stood at the edge of the bed and watched for a long time, but didn’t dare to touch him with a finger.

Fu Zhiyu slept until early the next morning. He was sort of hungover, and his head ached a little when he woke up.

“Ah…” He held his head, feeling that it was heavy, “Sure enough, you shouldn’t drink so much wine.”

He usually lived a very healthy life. He used to drink a small glass of wine when the mood struck him, but this time he had been thinking a lot and had a lot on his mind, so he couldn’t stop drinking yesterday, and he drank the whole jug.

He lay on the bed for a while, then struggled to get up and poured himself a glass of water. After drinking it, he felt much better. He sat down and took a look. The jug that he had emptied yesterday was standing upright on the table.

Obviously, this was a normal scene, but he felt a little strange looking at it, as if something was wrong.

Should this jug… be here?

Fu Zhiyu shook his head; he really couldn’t remember.

At this moment when Fu Zhiyu was in a daze, Dr. Chen, who had Fu Zhiyu’s order, was already sitting in Qian Manguan’s house.

Dr. Chen looked honest, and he was indeed very kind, but after all, he came out of the palace and followed Fu Zhiyu for more than a day or two. With just a few words yesterday, he could clearly know what the master meant and what he was going to do.

He took the prescription to the Qian mansion, and as soon as he entered the door, he was full of smiles.

Qian Manguan was quite polite. He knew that the old man in front of him was Fu Zhiyu’s person, but he was also quite puzzled. Even if Fu Zhiyu sent a soldier, he would understand it; but why would he send a doctor?

“I’m here to give a gift to the Qian family head,” Dr. Chen said with a smile, “It is a big gift.”

Qian Manguan looked surprised and said, “No need to joke. I should be the one to give a gift to Wang Zhao. You see, this gift was presented to him, and Wang Zhao refused to accept it.”

“It is Master Qian who is joking,” Doctor Chen looked at him and said, “Money is an external thing. You also know Wang Zhao never lacked these gold and silver treasures. Now, of course, it is life that is most valuable.”

This was the real truth. Qian Manguan was already humbled to the extent that he knew that business was secondary; the most important thing was his son’s life in Fu Zhiyu’s hands.

As soon as he heard this, his heart thudded, and the polite smile on his face faded by more than half. He said nervously: “What does Wang Zhao mean… mean by this? Please make it clear.”

Chen was a long way from Jiangnan. Although the people had been released there, Qian Mingchong was still on the road. After all, he hadn’t come back yet; did this mean that accidents could happen at any time?

“Master Qian doesn’t have to be nervous,” Dr. Chen waved his hand. “My master has always been broad-minded. Since he has said there is an understanding, he won’t do anything. What I just said refers to Deng Qian’s life.”

At the mention of the Deng family, Qian Manguan’s face became a little dramatic.

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The Deng family and the Qian family used to be good friends, but that was a thing of the past.

It is said that husband and wife are birds of the same forest, and they fly together in the face of great tribulations. To be sure, he and Deng Qian were young, and they had a lifelong friendship when they grew up, which was much deeper than the average couple’s affection, but it was also the truth that not sharing the same burden was difficult.

Qian Manguan previously felt that he was better off than Deng Qian. After all, he was still awake and could still run around to do something, but he didn’t expect that the Deng family would still have a way of getting to him.

About the coachman, at first, Qian Manguan wondered if Fu Zhiyu was putting on a show, first hitting him with a stick and then giving him a carrot to make him behave. But when they really confronted each other, Qian Manguan looked at the coachman’s face and felt that it was inexplicably familiar.

He followed his vague memory to track it down, and soon found the Deng family.

You know, although Fu Zhiyu had already given those two letters, when the coachman planned to kidnap him, the letters were still in Yuan Jiangxing’s hands and hadn’t been delivered yet, and no one knew about them.

Fortunately, nothing happened, but if that person really hurt Wang Zhao and identified the Qian family as the culprit, everything Qian Manguan had begged for would have gone down the drain. Every time he thought of this possibility, Qian Manguan’s back would feel cold.

But Deng Qian was indeed unconscious now, and Qian Manguan wondered in his heart whether other interested people had bribed this person and were just waiting for the rock to fall down, but a guess was a guess. Now Qian Manguan still felt uncomfortable when he thought of the Deng family, as if he had something in the back of his mind, sensing that something was not right.

At that time, they were all in trouble, running around to fend for themselves. The Deng family’s performance, although without a backbone, was somewhat too handicapped. But Qian Manguan still couldn’t connect the dots.

In this short period of time, several thoughts flashed through Qian Manguan’s mind.

“My master told you before, but I guess you didn’t take it to heart at that time,” Dr. Chen continued. “My master didn’t do it to Deng Qian. To be precise, he hadn’t had time to do it. When he first heard about it, he was also very shocked.”

Qian Manguan was taken aback.

“However, my master has always been benevolent, and he has to help people when he can. He is also very concerned about the affairs of the Deng family. He feels that this kind of chaos is not a good thing, and if it continues like that, it will make everyone panic.” Dr. Chen said, “Fortunately, my master was very knowledgeable when he was in the palace. He knew that Deng Qian was poisoned with the soul-soothing poison from the Western Regions, and it took him a lot of money to buy this antidote from the outside.”

Having said that, Dr. Chen finally took out the small package and let Qian Manguan take a look.

“He originally wanted to send it directly to the Deng family, but the incident a few days ago chilled my master’s heart,” Dr. Chen said with a sad expression on his face, “My master also knows about your confrontation with that person. The Deng family is unrepentant and acts so viciously; it really makes people angry.”

Qian Manguan thought about it and realised that what was said was true.

Regardless of whether Fu Zhiyu did it or not, he was now offering the antidote, indicating that he really wanted to save Deng Qian.

“Then you are…?” Qian Manguan said suspiciously, “The matter of my Qian family has been resolved. No matter how His Highness decides, he should go to the Deng mansion.”

“His Highness has already decided,” Dr. Chen said, “My master wants to give you this medicine.”

“Give it to me for what?” When Qian Manguan heard this, he felt ridiculous at first, but after a while, his expression changed.

This was… the medicine that could determine the life and death of the Deng family’s patriarch.