Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 1146 - 1143_1

Chapter 1146: 1143_1

Although Xiao’er was worried about getting too fat and not being able to lose weight, she decided to spare some time every day for yoga and swimming workouts, in addition to martial arts practice.

Facial beauty and a good figure were indeed a gift from heaven, but once one had them, they needed to cherish them. If you neglect to take care of and maintain your looks, why should youthful beauty stay on your face?

Inherent beauty is real, but it may not stay with you for a lifetime! Time is a cruel butcher’s knife that doesn’t hesitate to carve slashes on your face!

Xiao’er was eating while calculating the calories she had consumed so far that day, and how much exercise she would need to do to burn off the excess.

It took both of them half an hour to finish breakfast, primarily because Xiao’er ate a fair bit with Shangguan Xuanyi sitting next to her.

After finishing breakfast, Xiao’er asked the question she had asked earlier: "How was the Princess kidnapped?"

"The robbers added a kind of anesthetic to their water and food. The drug would take about 15 minutes to take effect and render the victim unconscious. The criminals capitalized on the switching meal times for the Wang Mansion’s guards and servants, drugging all of them to unconsciousness over day and night shifts. Those who weren’t poisoned were murdered."

"Considering they must know about the switching routine at the Prince’s Mansion, they should be very familiar with the place. Could it be that the one who poisoned the food is from the Prince’s Mansion?" Xiao’er believed that only the Mansion’s servants could successfully drug everyone in the Mansion!

Only people within the Mansion could know if everyone had been drugged. Likely, it was done by someone from the kitchen, who distributed meals and would know who had eaten.

"I don’t know. It was too late last night, and we didn’t have time to investigate. Moreover, the secret room in the study was discovered, and some military secrets have been leaked!" A flash of killing intent appeared in Shangguan Xuanyi’s eyes as he said this.

Xiao’er was startled when she heard this!

No wonder Shangguan Xuanyi returned to the Mansion so late last night! With military secrets stolen, this matter needs urgent attention!

The secret room in the study was found in just 15 minutes?!

This better not be a stupid act done by Shangguan Wanru!

If that were the case, where would she place the people of Prince’s Mansion?

No matter how close the relationship between the emperor and Prince An, boundaries still exist between them!

The crime of treason was not taken lightly; wiping out the entire family was the least of the punishments! Moreover, such a crime was not pardoned even in a general amnesty!

So did people think that if others committed treason they would be exterminated, but when it’s someone from Prince An’s Mansion and they were close to the emperor, they wouldn’t have to face the same punishment?

If that were the case, how could the emperor uphold any fairness in front of the public!

"What happened next? Did they find out who the robbers were?" If they could retrieve those documents, and if they haven’t been leaked, then this issue can be kept under wraps.

"Not yet, everyone who saw them was killed. But I found a token on the ground yesterday." He had completely forgotten about this matter last night when they were discussing the plan of action in the palace.

Shangguan Xuanyi took out the token from his spatial ring.

Xiao’er took a look. It was a copper token. The writing on it looked somewhat like Nangong country’s script. Actually, the structure of the characters in various countries were mostly the same, only the writing styles were slightly different. It was like the same character written in Times New Roman or Italic font, there might be a little difference, but everyone knew it was the same character.

"Is this Nangong’s token? But why does this token look like it was made by someone from the Eastern Jin Dynasty? Nangong’s copper smelting technology isn’t that bad, right?"

His remark was a wake-up call! He had felt that something was off as soon as he picked up the token, but he couldn’t put his finger on what was wrong at the moment!

"Shangguan Ruixi said he saw Gong Zixuan using this type of token before!" Shangguan Xuanyi had not seen this token before.

Upon hearing this, Xiao’er’s eyes flickered: "Gong Zixuan’s subsidiary token? Why was his subordinate’s token made in the Eastern Jin Dynasty?"

This was completely impossible! A person’s subsidiary token represented their identity and status. It was especially used to identify who was who in the dark!

This was very significant, and Gong Zixuan would never allow another country to make it!

For a while, Shangguan Xuanyi remained silent, his hand lightly rapped on the table made of white jade.

"Could this token be fake? Perhaps the kidnapper of the Princess was actually from the Eastern Jin Dynasty? But it doesn’t have to be necessarily a token made by the Eastern Jin Dynasty, after all, it isn’t the only one with bad copper smelting technology." Xiao’er shared her speculation.

"I need to investigate this. I may not be able to make it back in time for lunch, and don’t wait for me at dinner either, you can eat first." Shangguan Xuanyi put the token away, then he stood up.

Xiao’er nodded, realizing that with the military secrets stolen, Shangguan Xuanyi was going to be very busy for a while.

"What about Prince An’s Mansion? And what about the Princess?"

"If Shangguan Wanru is captured, she will be guilty beyond redemption! Prince An will hand over his territories as a way to redeem himself."

Xiao’er was taken aback when she heard this, the territories were granted by the late emperor, surrendering them could demonstrate the loyalty of the Mansion to the Minze Country!

However, a prince without a territory, can only be considered an idle prince, right!

"I’ll go now." Shangguan Xuanyi pulled Xiao’er into his arms, kissed her forehead, and then turned around to leave.

"Wait, Brother Shangguan, today is the 15th, I’ll go back to Marquis Shengping’s Mansion later. If you won’t come back for lunch, I’ll eat at my maternal home and return afterward, and remember to eat on time." Xiao’er chased him to the door, softly reminding him.

"Alright."

When Shangguan Xuanyi left, Xiao’er asked Yang Liu to tidy up. She planned to take the children to play at Marquis Shengping’s Mansion for a while.

Every month on the 1st and 15th, Yun’er would send a letter home. On these days, Xiao’er would also return to the Marquis’ Mansion. If not busy, she might stay a full day. Today happened to be the 15th, and since Shangguan Xuanyi wasn’t coming back for lunch, she could eat at Marquis Shengping’s Mansion, and then head back to the Mansion.

Speaking of that, once she got back to her maternal home, she needed to find the items previously sent by Brother Ri. Each year, Brother Ri sent many things, each person had their share. Xiao’er remembered that there were some copper toys given to Xi’er to play with when he was younger.

She needed to find those, compare them to the token in Shangguan Xuanyi’s hand and check whether the purity of copper between the two was similar.

...

After Shangguan Wanru was kidnapped, the kidnappers took her and quickly sailed out to sea.

The sea was boundless, leaving no trace as the water passed.

Shangguan Wanru, in tears, looked in the direction of Minze Country, "Father, mother, I’m sorry. I stole those battle plans and the transport routes for materials for each stage because the Crown Prince isn’t dead yet. I must prevent war between the two countries! I cannot just watch the two countries turning hostile towards each other!

As long as Gong Qinghua is usurped, and the Crown Prince becomes the emperor of Nangong Country, she will be able to convince the Crown Prince not to bear a grudge over Minze Country’s military deployment this time!"