This incident served as a wake-up call for Shao Yunan. Fortunately, the person who ambushed him was Shao Dahu, and even with his despicable intentions, he managed to survive. But what if it was someone coming to kill him? Even if he had space, in such an unguarded state, it would be difficult to escape misfortune. Having lived in modern society for more than twenty years and never encountering a life-threatening situation, coupled with his confidence due to having space, it allowed Shao Dahu to take advantage of the situation.

When he woke up the next day, Shao Yunan felt frightened. His whole body ached, and he struggled to turn over in bed. The space beside him was already empty, and he didn’t know when Wang Shijing got up, he hadn’t noticed at all. But then again, he suffered yesterday, and the night was also quite intense, doing it twice. If it weren’t for the spiritual spring water, he might still be unconscious now. But if it weren’t for the spiritual spring water, Wang Shijing wouldn’t have touched him either.

Shao Yunan had no intention of getting up, lying in bed deeply reflecting on his mistakes. In the future, when he went out, he could skip the guards, but he must bring Brother Tiger! Even if he had to fit Brother Tiger into the space!

Shao Yunan’s injury this time scared Wang Shijing half to death. When Shao Yunan went missing, his first reaction was that the enemies in the capital had taken action, and his heart turned cold.

Entering the bedroom, seeing Shao Yunan awake, Wang Shijing, holding a tray, quickly walked to the table to put down the tray, then swiftly came to the bedside. Brother Tiger leisurely strolled in, found a place to lie down, and had been guarding outside.

“Wife, when did you wake up? Does your body hurt?”

“Just woke up, my body doesn’t hurt, just my head still hurts a bit. Could you apply some medicine for me again?”

Wang Shijing’s eyebrows almost knitted together. He whispered: “Just use spiritual spring water to wipe it. The medicine in the palace, no matter how good, is not as effective as spiritual spring water. It heals too slowly.”

With Wang Shijing’s help, Shao Yunan sat up, his voice hoarse after waking up: “No, this time I’m injured, who knows how many people are watching. But it’s also good; surely many people think we still have immortal fruit in our hands. I’ll let the facial wounds heal slowly.” Lowering his voice: “This is also a blessing in disguise. Not to mention others, even the emperor and the empress have suspected that we still have immortal fruit.”

Wang Shijing felt distressed: “But you’re in pain.”

“It’s okay, I’ll just drink water. The medicine from the palace works alright, anyway, it didn’t damage my appearance, so it’s fine.”

Unable to argue, Wang Shijing fetched a basin of hot water to help Shao Yunan wash his face and apply medicine. While Wang Shijing was busy, Shao Yunan got dressed. After having a meal in the room, Shao Yunan lay back on the bed and then said to Wang Shijing: “Send someone to tell brother He that I’m fine. When the facial wounds heal, I’ll go find him and let him rest assured to make wine.”

“I’ll send Fusheng over later. Grandpa has already sent someone back to the capital to deliver the message. Little dad said he would go back to the capital with you.”

“Fine.” After a moment of silence, Shao Yunan said: “Let’s put an end to the matter concerning the Shao family here. The Shao clan has already been implicated enough, and with Shao Dahu death, the Shao family can be considered to have received punishment for their past selfishness. If it were in our time, their crimes wouldn’t warrant death.”

Wang Shijing remained silent. As an ancient person, he understood and supported the punishment of the Shao family and the Shao clan, especially now! Shao Yunan pulled him: “I’m not being magnanimous; I just don’t want any more trouble. Now, everyone will think Shao Dahua deserved to die. If we continue to punish the Shao clan members, it would be narrow-minded. The Shao clan members are actually quite unlucky.”

“Do you want to plead for the Shao clan members?” Wang Shijing asked.

Shao Yunan rolled his eyes: “Will my pleading be of any use? If it were, I would have pleaded already. I’ve never liked collective punishment. It’s just that this time, I hope there won’t be any more collective punishment.”

After gently caressing Shao Yunan’s injured cheek for a while, Wang Shijing said: “I’ll write a letter to the emperor.”

“A reward.”

Shao Yunan kissed Wang Shijing. As a modern person, things like collective punishment did make him feel guilty.

Although Wang Shijing sent Fusheng to inform Zhao family to concentrate on strengthening the brewing techniques, the Zhao family still felt uneasy. However, several days had passed since the incident, and things had calmed down in Loyal and Brave Village. The Zhao family finally relaxed a bit. Shao Yunan stayed in the room to recuperate, also helping Wang Shijing with the design of the ancestral hall for the Wang family. Combining some ancient ancestral halls he had seen in his “previous life” Shao Yunan offered Wang Shijing some suggestions. In Wang Shijing’s space study, he also found some information about ancestral halls, and eventually, they finalized the design of the Wang family’s ancestral hall.

The Hou Mansion recruited people to build the Wang family’s ancestral hall, and the villagers of Loyal and Brave Village enthusiastically signed up to help. Although the Wang family members felt uncomfortable, helping out at this time was better than doing nothing. Even Wang Wenhan managed to get a job as a supervisor. Shao Yunan didn’t show up because the bruises on his face hadn’t completely healed yet. After the incident, Su Chenyi was scared, so whenever he had nothing to do, he accompanied Su Chenyi. It was a way for him to be filial.

Loyal and Brave Village remained calm. However, the news reached the empress, and he was furious. A mere commoner was able to injure Shao Yunan, indicating the negligence of the guards sent. The empress ordered another hundred imperial guards to be sent to Loyal and Brave Village to escort Shao Yunan back to the capital, replacing the previous leader of the guards who accompanied him. If not for the letter jointly written by Wang Shijing and Shao Yunan, which almost simultaneously reached the empress’s hands, the members of the Shao clan would have difficulty escaping collective punishment. For the rulers of the feudal dynasty, collective punishment was just a means of discipline. Because of this, the empress felt that her nephew was too soft-hearted. Wang Shijing couldn’t control him, and in the future, he might be manipulated by others. However, teaching him a lesson now would probably be too late. He could only keep him close to him to ensure his safety. Shao Yunan didn’t know that his “plea” almost cost him his “freedom.” Fortunately, something happened later that changed the empress’s view of him, which could be considered as lifting the ban on him.

Soaking in the big tub, Shao Yunan felt completely relaxed. The bruises on his face had almost healed, and the wound on the back of his head had been treated with spiritual spring water covered by a white cloth.

“Tiger, are you outside?”

The bathroom door was pushed open by “someone,” and brother Tiger walked in leisurely. Shao Yunan whispered: “I’m reading, help me keep watch.”

Tiger lay down at the door, showing no interest in the hot water in the tub. Shao Yunan took out a book of parenting tips he had organized before and started reading. It was a pregnancy book. Shao Yunan planned to study more pregnancy recipes before going back to the capital to cook for the empress. When his sister-in-law was pregnant, a professional was hired by his brother to handle her diet. He was busy with restaurant matters at the time and didn’t participate much, only knowing some general recipes. Now, he had to take care of a pregnant woman, oh, no, a pregnant man, so naturally, he had to be more professional.

Until the water cooled down a bit, Shao Yunan put away the book and climbed out of the tub. He grabbed a large towel by the tub and dried himself off. He muttered: “There are so many taboos for pregnant women. Can’t eat this, have to be careful with that. The ingredients here are also limited. If I had known earlier, I would have brought more stuff. Cucumbers and tomatoes alone are not enough.”

After dropping the towel and getting dressed, Shao Yunan continued to ponder pregnancy foods in his mind. After a few steps, he turned back: “Tiger, are there any swallow nests or swallow caves here?”

Tiger raised an eyelid.

“So, there aren’t any?”

Shao Yunan thought for a moment, then quickened his pace.

….

In the capital, the empress was visibly surprised after carefully reading Shao Yunan’s letter. Seeing this, Eunuch Az, curious, asked: “Your Majesty, what’s wrong with the letter from Lord Wang Shao?”

Perplexed, the empress said: “He mentioned that swallow nests are extremely beneficial for me and the unborn child, but our dynasty doesn’t produce swallow nests. He wants me to send someone to find larger swallow caves and collect some abandoned swallow nests if any.”

“Swallow nests?” Eunuch Az immediate reaction was: “How can those grassy nests be beneficial for you and the little prince?”

“He didn’t specify in the letter; he just said to find them first, and we’ll deal with it when he returns. If there are good quality ones, he wants to buy a large quantity.”

Eunuch Az was full of doubts but still said: “I’ll immediately send someone to inquire.”

“You go find An and ask him to confirm it as soon as possible.”

Eunuch Az hesitated for a moment, then lowered his head and said in a somewhat obscure tone: “Yes, Your Majesty, I’ll go now.”

Seeing his demeanor, the empress folded the letter neatly and placed it aside, saying: “Eunuch Az, do you have something to say to me?”

Eunuch Az immediately knelt down with a thud: “I dare not, Your Majesty.”

Understandingly, the empress said: “You envy An for being able to shed his servitude.”

Eunuch Az knocked his head on the ground: “I dare not entertain such thoughts! Being able to serve Your Majesty is a blessing I could never seek! I am born as Your Majesty’s servant, and I will die as Your Majesty’s servant!”

The empress said with a faint expression: “Rise. I know your loyalty.”

Eunuch Az remained prostrate on the ground.

The empress continued: “You also need not envy An. I granted him a favor, but he also must fulfill what I ask of him. Your loyalty to me, I understand. I promise you, in the future, I will have you reintegrated into society. Apart from not allowing you to marry, you will be no different from ordinary men.”

Eunuch Az suddenly lifted his head, suspecting his ears were playing tricks on him.

The empress waved her hand: “Go now. An should be summoned soon, and Yunan should also come to the capital. Don’t delay their matters.”

“Your Majesty…” Eunuch Az stammered, his expression flustered. Surely, he must have misheard just now!

The empress asked: “What’s wrong? Don’t want to regain your manhood?”

Eunuch Az was petrified, his head buzzing with the empress’s retort. Regaining his manhood was an unattainable dream for any eunuch. But did he just hear correctly? The empress, empress said he could restore his manhood. He could let him return his parents’ bestowed body “intact” after death?!

“Hmm? Why are you still standing there dumbfounded?”

Eunuch Az snapped out of his daze in a panic, knocking his head on the ground three times without hesitation, then scrambled to his feet and staggered out, forgetting even to kneel.

Seeing his reaction, the empress’s lips curled up with a hint of mischievousness.

In the capital’s inns, after the auction, they were almost full every day. Merchants from various countries occupied over eighty percent of the rooms in the inns. In the top room of one inn, a young girl in military attire sat at the table with a worried expression, while a few burly men stood respectfully on either side of her.

The girl asked: “Are you sure Loyal and Brave Marquis will return to the capital today?”

One of the men said: “We’ve spent a lot of money. The news from the palace is that Her Majesty is pregnant, so Loyal and Brave Marquis is required to return to the capital to attend to him.”

The girl clenched her fists: “No matter the cost, after he returns to the capital, I must meet him!”

“Yes!”

Knock knock knock, someone knocked on the door, and another person stepped forward to open it. A similarly burly man hurried in excitedly: “Princess, the owner of Yunlong Pavilion is looking for someone to find swallow nests. He said he wants to swallow nests!”

“Swallow nests?” Everyone in the room looked surprised.

The girl stood up: “Do you know why?”

“I don’t know, but the owner of Yunlong Pavilion has said outside that whoever has good swallow nests in their swallow caves will be bought in large quantities!”

Upon hearing this, the girl immediately said: “You go to Yunlong Pavilion immediately!” Then she added: “No, I’ll go with you!”

Could this be the opportunity given to her by the ancestors?! In any case, she must seize this opportunity! Swallow caves, swallow nests, these were the things they least lacked!

 

Edited by: Jaisland

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