After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 815 The Second Letter
The next morning, Haitang got up before dawn and went to the city gate in person to see Zhou Wenjun and his party off.

Next is the day when Zhou Yajun returns home.

On the day of her return, Zhou Yijun wore a bright red coat and skirt, with a ruddy complexion and a happy mood. She returned to her parents' home with her new husband Feng Du and gathered with her family. The Hai family's Ma and Haitang, as relatives of her grandmother's family, also attended the recognition meeting.

Feng Du was gentle and refined, with a gentle temperament, and he got along well with Zhou Yijun. It was said that his parents were also gentle and open-minded, and they were very kind to their daughter-in-law. Zhou Jinlin's wife, Lin, privately took her daughter back to the house to talk in detail, and she was relieved to learn that she had never been wronged in her husband's family.

However, the Feng family was in the city, not far from the third branch of the Zhou family. Before Zhou Shigong and his wife left, they left a message to their son, asking him to let his grandson-in-law take his granddaughter to Beijing for study in the second half of the year. Even if the Feng family wanted to bully Zhou Yijun, they would not find any opportunity, so they would not do anything stupid.

Zhou Yijun's wedding ended. The Hai family's grandparents and grandchildren returned home happily, and from time to time, under the banner of elders, they sent some fruits and snacks to the newlyweds. Feng Du also took the initiative to visit Xie Wenzai and asked him about knowledge. He also paid a visit to his aunt next door and sent a few small gifts in return. Then, Hai Jiao's second batch of letters arrived.

The day when Haijiao's letter arrived home, his grandfather Haixiya had just finished his business trip and returned to Chang'an. He was able to read two letters in a row until late at night before turning off the lights.

Haitang hadn't had time to ask her grandparents what the letter they received said that day. The letter from Haijiao contained a huge amount of information, and she had to digest it well.

Haijiao sent this letter in March. At that time, he had met Jin Jiashu several times and the two sides had exchanged a lot of information. Through Jin Jiashu, Haijiao learned a lot of unknown palace secrets, which he now wrote in cipher in the letter to inform his younger sister who was far away in Chang'an.

Jin Jiashu hurried all the way, and when he arrived in Shanxi, the weather was bad. Ma Shangyi was old and injured, so she could not hold on any longer, so the troops had to split into two groups. Jin Jiashu followed the main force and continued to march to Beijing, while Ma Shangyi, with a few followers and guards, stayed on the road to seek medical treatment, and would set off again when her physical condition improved. She would slow down on the road and rush to the capital as soon as her body allowed.

Ma Shangyi arrived in the capital about ten days later than Jin Jiashu, and she was also very exhausted. However, after she arrived in Beijing, the Cining Palace sent a royal doctor to treat her, and after resting for more than half a month, she had improved significantly. Before Hai Jiao wrote back, he had seen her once and said that she looked only a little thinner than when she was in Chang'an, but she was in good spirits, and she thought she was fine. She was very happy to learn that the Hai family had accidentally obtained the news of Mei Niangzi's adopted daughter Cai Xiaodie, and immediately sent someone to deliver a letter to the old sisters in Zunhua Prefecture. This time with the exact address, she no longer had to worry about losing the news of the daughter of an old friend.

How Ma Shangyi contacted Cai Xiaodie is a later story, so let's not talk about it for now. When Jin Jiashu came to Beijing, Haijiao didn't know about it. Later, he found out that he was immediately taken to the palace and met the emperor, the empress dowager and Concubine Xu.

The emperor was said to be quite gentle with him, but due to his illness, they did not meet for long, and he was taken to the Queen Mother's palace afterwards. Queen Mother Zhou was even more gentle with him, talking about many family matters, asking about the news of the Zhou family in Chang'an, and the recent situation of the two orphans of the Wu family, and finally mentioned Concubine Xu.

Concubine Xu was still ill at the time, and the emperor pitied her and did not want anyone to disturb her recovery. It was her repeated insistence, and the Eighth Prince personally went to the Cining Palace to invite his "cousin", that finally allowed Jin Jiashu to meet his "aunt" Concubine Xu. Jin Jiashu did not tell Haijiao much about what he had said to Concubine Xu, but Haijiao had a rough idea in his mind, and there was no need to mention it in the letter now.

However, Jin Jiashu always felt that Concubine Xu's illness was strange. She didn't care much about the rumors from the outside world. As early as when she agreed to be the emperor's concubine, she was mentally prepared for this situation. Since she has made a choice, there is nothing to regret now. The emperor wanted to change her identity and let her change from a married woman to a newly married emperor. She opposed it at first, but the emperor insisted that doing so would be more beneficial to the future of the eighth prince, so she accepted it. Now that the Sun family wants to reveal this secret, she is also very calm. She thinks that at most she can't be the queen mother, and being a concubine is also fine. As long as Queen Mother Zhou assists and supports the eighth prince, she has nothing to worry about.

Concubine Xu, who held such thoughts, lived in the palace and rarely saw outsiders, let alone being exposed to gossip from the outside world. Even the palace servants did not dare to say anything in front of her. How could she become sick because of worries about rumors?

Concubine Xu repeatedly told people around her that she was not worried or afraid, but both the emperor and the empress dowager seemed to think that she was just pretending to be so that they wouldn't worry. In fact, it was impossible for her not to be worried. Only the seventh and eighth princes were raised by her and believed her more. But her condition was there, and the imperial physician was not a pushover. Even if the disease was not caused by worry, it would not be so easy to cure.

Not long before Jin Jiashu left Chang'an, he learned some basic knowledge about poisons from Haitang, and then learned some knowledge about poisons in the palace from Ma Shangyi, and heard a few "palace legends from books" from Haitang - in fact, they were records of the imperial palace affairs that Haitang had read in the palace library in her previous life. This knowledge was still very new to Jin Jiashu, and he remembered it well. He only felt that Concubine Xu's symptoms seemed to be caused by a cold, but in fact they were very much like the symptoms of being poisoned by some secret medicine of the previous dynasty.

He couldn't tell Concubine Xu openly, so he told the two princes his guess in private. The two princes were very smart, and immediately took their confidants to the library to look for information. As expected, they found a book that recorded the secret medicine of the palace. All the symptoms matched Concubine Xu's current condition, even the red rash on her body that she thought was just an occasional outbreak.

Fortunately, the book not only recorded the recipe of the secret medicine of the palace, but also two ways to make the antidote. One of them required precious medicinal materials as the medicine guide, which was temporarily nowhere to be found; the other one used relatively common medicine and was easier to make, but it would take a little longer.

The Eighth Prince immediately decided to use the second method to detoxify his mother, even if it took a little longer, he had to start as soon as possible to save his mother's life. Because at this time, Concubine Xu had been ill for two months, and once the hundred days were up, no medicine would be effective, and there was really no time to find precious medicine.

The two princes told the emperor, the empress dowager and Concubine Xu about the situation. The emperor ordered people to find medicine, but also asked the imperial physician to prescribe and boil medicine according to the second detoxification method, focusing on a two-pronged approach. The empress dowager also agreed with this approach, and Concubine Xu supported her youngest son's suggestion. Looking for precious medicinal materials is too laborious and costly. The second method can also detoxify, but it takes longer. She has been ill for a long time and doesn't mind staying up for a while. As long as she can recover in the end and continue to accompany her son to grow up, she will be satisfied.

How could the emperor not be moved by the fact that his beloved concubine was almost dead and he was still so considerate? He continued to order people to do both and rewarded the Eighth Prince. Even the Seventh Prince, who he had never liked, received his reward. As for Jin Jiashu, there was no need to mention him.

With this merit, Jin Jiashu dared to tell Haijiao afterwards that he felt his life was saved and the emperor would not harm him again.

　I wish you all a happy National Day~~~
　　(End of this chapter)