Chapter 159

Yang Ruxu frowned upon hearing the name.

She found it rather inelegant—what kind of soup was this, to be called “Saintess Decoction”?

But as she lifted the curtain of her carriage, her expression changed slightly.

Because standing right by the stove, with her hair tied up high and dressed in a neatly fitted, narrow-sleeved long dress, was none other than the former concubine Yao—now the Empress of the Bo, Jiang Xiurun.

She stood there with a radiant smile, at the busiest crossroads outside Luo’an City, personally ladling out medicine and handing bowls of herbal soup to the passing citizens.

The people who drank the soup visibly relaxed, as if a great burden had been lifted from their shoulders.

It was said that the empress had been distributing medicine for five days now, treating countless impoverished citizens, and not accepting a single copper coin in return.

An elderly man holding a small child had tears in his eyes as he said, “Thank goodness for the empress of Bo and her kindness! She brought the sacred fruit of Bo and made it into a healing broth. Without her, my granddaughter would have perished!”

Another person immediately chimed in, “That’s right! At first, when the empress set up her stove here, I didn’t believe it. The officials are all hiding behind the city gates, too afraid of the plague to step outside, yet she, an empress, dares to come out and distribute medicine? I thought it was some kind of trick!”

His words resonated with the crowd.

If an imperial consort or a court official had done this, it would have been understandable—they were, after all, supposed to love the people like their own children.

But this was the Empress of Bo! She wasn’t even from Qi, yet she was risking her life for the people of Qi?

The empress was stunningly beautiful, and her warm smile made her seem approachable.

Even though she was guarded by armored soldiers, a bold young man couldn’t help but ask loudly, “Your Majesty, why would a foreign ruler risk her life for the people of Qi?”

Jiang Xiurun smiled faintly and replied, “Disasters are unpredictable. You are fortunate because the heavens have blessed Qi with a wise and virtuous ruler. When the late emperor of Qi was still alive, he made a promise of eternal friendship with Bo. He vowed that if anyone dared to invade Bo, Qi would send troops across mountains and rivers to defend us.

“But later, when Rong attacked, the late emperor had already passed. We in Bo feared that the new emperor of Qi would forget this promise… yet to our surprise—”

Before she could finish, the bold young man completed her sentence, “—our new emperor led his army across mountains and rivers to aid Bo and repel the Rong invaders!”

Jiang Xiurun’s eyes glistened with unshed tears.

“A ruler so faithful to his promises, so respectful of his late father’s decree—how could the heavens not reward him? When Emperor Shengwu of Qi was in Bo, he tasted our garlic pears and learned of their detoxifying properties. He specifically ordered them to be shipped to Qi, and by a stroke of fate, their medicinal properties turned out to be the cure for this plague, saving countless lives. This fruit is called ‘garlic pear’ in Bo, but in honor of Emperor Shengwu, it was renamed ‘Saintess Fruit.'”

Hearing this, the crowd finally understood. No wonder it was called “Saintess Decoction”—it was made from the “Saintess Fruit” granted by Emperor Shengwu himself!

Jiang Xiurun took a deep breath, as if suppressing her emotions, and continued, “The warriors of Qi shed their blood for our vulnerable state, and we in Bo will never forget this kindness. All I have done is brew some medicine for the sick—Qi’s emperor and people have shown us far greater benevolence. Bo will always remember Qi’s righteousness!”

Her words, spoken by a delicate and moving empress, deeply stirred the hearts of the people.

Before this, the common folk had long resented Feng Liwu for draining the nation’s resources on a distant war in Bo.

But now, hearing the empress’s heartfelt explanation, they suddenly realized—so their new emperor had only done this to uphold the late emperor’s decree and honor Qi’s promise to Bo!

People often think in terms of exchange: you give in order to receive.

Previously, they had believed that their emperor had gone to war simply because he was captivated by the beauty of the Bo empress, neglecting Qi’s internal crises to chase after a woman.

They had resented that—after all, a beauty was just one person, while the common folk gained nothing from it.

But now, they saw the truth: because the emperor had brought back the Empress of Bo, she had now used her state’s special fruit to save their entire city.

In a way, the people of Qi felt they had contributed to saving Bo, and now, the Empress of Bo, with tears in her eyes, seemed to be personally thanking them.

Somewhere in the crowd, a voice shouted, “Qi and Bo—eternal allies!”

Immediately, others echoed the cry.

Soon, the entire crowd was chanting, their voices rising in unison, filling the air with thunderous cheers.

But there was one person, hidden in a carriage, whose face had turned pale with fury—Yang Ruxu.

Given the current situation, even if she set up her own cauldron and distributed medicine, the people would only think she was merely following the empress’s lead, barely even adding a finishing touch.

Jiang Xiurun glanced knowingly at Yang’s carriage.

If her guess was correct, Miss Yang had almost managed to create her “Noble Consort Decoction” to save the people.

Furious, Yang Ruxu ordered her driver to turn the carriage around and return to Luo’an immediately.

But halfway there, a terrible realization struck her—she had already given the prescription to her father!

And her father, overjoyed after verifying its effectiveness, had left early that morning for court, eager to present the remedy to the emperor and claim a great merit for himself.

Now that Queen Yaren already knew the prescription, if her father went to the royal court to present it, wouldn’t it be nothing but a poor imitation? Not only would it be fruitless, but he might even become a laughingstock.

However, she could not think of a way to contact her father and stop him.

Then she thought again—being a step late was not necessarily a disaster.

Her father was offering the prescription out of goodwill.

If anyone asked about its origin, she could simply claim she had stumbled upon it by chance, and no one would suspect anything.

But just as she stepped down from the carriage, she saw her father, the Duke of  Weiguo, who should have been at the morning court session, storming toward her in fury.

Without a word, he slapped her hard across the face.

Yang Ruxu had never been touched by her father since childhood.

Now, she was knocked to the ground with a single slap, her face numb on one side.

In shock and disbelief, she forgot to cry and could only sit there blankly, staring at him.

The Duke of Weiguo pointed at her, his fingers trembling for a long moment before he finally spoke through gritted teeth, “If not for the efforts of my lifetime, today’s events would have led to our entire family being executed, our house torn apart!”

It is said that good and evil have their consequences.

It turned out that when the Duke of Weiguo was young and traveling, he once saw a robust beggar kneeling by the roadside.

This beggar, with his strong physique and unusual demeanor, neither begged nor looked sorrowful.

Intrigued, the duke gave him a gold ingot.

The beggar, after asking his name, got up and left.

Now, on his way to court, someone suddenly flipped out from beneath his carriage and entered it.

The duke was so startled that he almost shouted for help, thinking he was being assassinated.

But before he could, the man swiftly covered his mouth and whispered, “Benefactor, do you still remember me? You saved me from hardship back then—today, I risk my life to repay your kindness.”

The Duke of Weiguo examined the man closely but did not recognize him.

Only when the man recounted the story of the gold ingot did he realize that it was indeed the same beggar.

The man revealed that he was now one of Emperor Shengwu’s shadow guards.

The day before, he had been ordered to investigate the branch of Bielou Guochun from another country that the Yang family had sent to the Empress of Bo.

He had secretly delivered that branch to the imperial hospital.

Because the matter involved the Yang family and seemed suspicious, he had been paying close attention.

Through eavesdropping on the imperial physicians’ discussions, he discovered that the epidemic might have been caused by this very exotic plum branch from the Yang family.

Although the Yang family had long since burned the diseased plum tree, they had kept the branch gifted to Dou Siwu, leaving evidence behind.

Hearing this, the Duke of Weiguo was struck as if by lightning.

Then, he recalled his daughter’s prescription.

Though the details were still unclear, there was no doubt that she must have known something.

In that moment, he was so furious he could have killed her—this was a disaster that could wipe out their entire family!

The key issue now was how to remedy the situation.

Fortunately, this shadow guard, who had now risen to become one of Feng Liwu’s elite spies, was a man of honor.

He had secretly stolen the remaining branch from the Ministry of Justice and destroyed it by fire.

The Duke of Weiguo felt slightly relieved.

With the evidence gone, Emperor Shengwu could not directly link the epidemic to the Yang family.

Given the Yang family’s status, not even the emperor could act rashly against them.

If the empress could escape punishment for her past scandal, he could also follow the Wei family’s example and deny everything outright.

Of course, such an approach would certainly earn Emperor Shengwu’s ire, but for now, survival came first.

Once they weathered this crisis, he would find a way to appease the emperor’s wrath.

Upon arriving at the palace, the Duke of Weiguo hurried out of his carriage and sought out the Wei family and several other noble clans waiting for the morning court session.

He claimed that Emperor Shengwu had been misled and was planning to take action against the Yang family.

Since noble families shared a common fate, they should stand together in defense.

The court session that day was primarily focused on discussing how to handle the epidemic.

As expected, Feng Liwu was well-prepared.

He immediately launched an attack, listing the names of those who had fallen ill after attending the Yang family’s banquet and directly questioning the Duke of Weiguo for an explanation.

Looking down at him, Feng Liwu asked coldly, “Minister Yang, can you enlighten me on why this happened?”

The Duke of Weiguo quickly responded, “Your Majesty, I am unaware of how the noble ladies first fell ill. Do we know if all the ladies who attended the Yang family’s banquet fell ill, or was it only some of them? Unless every guest was affected, the illness must have been contracted elsewhere before they arrived.”

Feng Liwu sneered, “So, you mean to say this has nothing to do with the Yang family?”

The Duke of Weiguo steeled his heart and insisted that the Yang family had been framed by a malicious schemer, pleading for the emperor to present concrete evidence of their guilt.

Then, a wooden box containing the preserved plum branch was brought forward.

The entire court recoiled in fear, covering their noses, terrified that the box contained the very flower that had spread the plague.

However, when the box was opened, it was empty—there was no trace of the peculiar plum branch from the Yang family.

The emperor’s expression darkened.

Meanwhile, the other noble families who had conspired with the Yang family quickly spoke up in their defense, arguing for their innocence.

The noble families knew that their fates were intertwined—if they allowed the Yang family to be condemned on baseless accusations today, they themselves would eventually meet the same fate.

For once, the usually fractious noble clans stood united, firmly supporting the Yang family.

In the end, the matter was brushed aside just like the empress’s past scandal—left unresolved and quietly dismissed.

However, from that moment on, the emperor deemed Yang Ruxu, who had hosted the plum banquet, as an ill omen, someone whose fate was incompatible with the prosperity of the empire.

He summoned a Taoist master to examine her destiny, who confirmed that her birth chart was too weak to be an empress.

Under normal circumstances, if Feng Liwu had made such a statement tarnishing his daughter’s reputation, the Duke of Weiguo would have led his entire clan to the imperial ancestral temple, demanding the spirits of past emperors to intervene and restore his daughter’s honor.

But now, knowing the Yang family’s guilt and having barely patched up this catastrophic situation, how could he possibly have the strength to stir up more trouble?

Emperor Shengwu was already furious enough to draw his sword when he saw the empty box.

Now, venting his anger, he deliberately cursed Yang Ruxu as a bringer of misfortune and declared his intention to annul the previous marriage agreement.

The Duke of Weiguo dared not object.

Otherwise, the emperor might act recklessly again, doing something even more detrimental to the Yang family.

Thus, after stabilizing the chaotic court proceedings, the Duke of Weiguo rushed back home to discipline his daughter.

Meanwhile, after returning from outside the city and cleansing herself in a bath infused with garlic pears, Jiang Xiurun only learned about the day’s court events from Bai Qian.

Naturally, the source of this information was Dou Siwu.

Because of the epidemic, the two of them had reconciled, their relationship once again as sweet as honey.

When Bai Qian mentioned the empty box, she said angrily, “It was all for nothing! Who could be so audacious as to shelter the Yang family?”

Jiang Xiurun, however, shook her head and said, “Do you really think His Majesty’s guards are just for show? That crucial piece of evidence disappearing so conveniently? Even if the plum branch had been presented, the Yang family’s great ship would not have sunk so easily. Otherwise, the waves it stirred might overturn other ships as well. His Majesty knows this well—this was merely a move to ‘strike the mountain and shake the tiger.’”