Acknowledging You as Master

These kinds of light were very gentle, slowly seeping into Zhou Wanwan's body.

Zhou Wanwan looked at them, full of surprise, and asked, "What are these?"

Grandpa Purple Lingzhi smiled and said:

"This is a kind of sacrifice of our medicinal herbs, a way of acknowledging you as our master."

It won't harm you at all; in fact, it will be very beneficial to you.

Lingbao nodded and said, "It can increase your lifespan and make your body healthier."

Zhou Wanwan nodded. They returned to the mountain stronghold first; these were all people from the palace.

Killing them wouldn't work either.

That would cause quite a commotion, and the Brocade Guard would quickly wake up, shivering and asking, "What's going on? Where are our clothes?"

"Oh no, we've been infected!" someone exclaimed.

"Those medicinal herbs are all gone. We must find them quickly, even if we have to dig three feet into the ground."

"The Imperial Concubine has been searching for a long time. If anything goes wrong with these medicinal herbs, she'll be in deep trouble."

The current emperor is most obsessed with alchemy, in order to achieve immortality.

However, to achieve immortality, special medicinal herbs are needed. At that time, the Xie Family directly submitted a memorial to the emperor, informing him of this place.

The Emperor didn't take it to heart; after all, how could thousand-year-old medicinal herbs possibly appear in such a place?

Qingshui County's geographical location is really bad; when the Great Xia Kingdom exiled criminals, they would be sent to this place.

This place is Ningguta, but the Imperial Concubine was tempted. Now everyone knows that although there is an Empress, she is practically a figurehead.

The truly powerful one is Noble Consort Ning Noble Consort Ning has now seized control of the court.

Noble Consort Ning's father was a truly loyal and upright official who rose to the position of General of the State through his military achievements.

Her eldest brother followed in his father's footsteps and became a powerful general with a large army at a young age, making him Noble Consort Ning's strongest backer outside the palace.

My second brother is the Book of Documents of Revenue, a man full of evil intentions who secretly embezzles public funds and extorts money from the people.

After entering the palace, Noble Consort Ning was greatly favored by the Emperor and gave birth to two princes in succession.

With the military power of her father and eldest brother backing her up, and her second brother secretly making arrangements in the court, her two sons enjoyed a high status from a young age, far surpassing that of other princes.

As the princes grew up, Noble Consort Ning, relying on the power of her maternal family, became the undisputed ruler of the inner palace and secretly extended her influence to the imperial court, showing signs of seizing control of the government.

But where can I find it?

The Brocade Guard searched the mountains for two days but couldn't find a single trace.

They also searched the old lair, but miraculously found that it was nowhere to be found.

The head of the Brocade Guard shook his head and said, "There's no other way now; we can only report the facts."

"If we report the truth, we'll all lose our lives."

How about this: we just push everything onto the Xie Family.

The Brocade Guard nodded and said, "That works too. If it weren't for the Xie Family, we wouldn't have needed to travel this far."

As a result, the Xie Family bore the brunt of all the anger.

The Xie Family was scolded. In fact, the Xie Family also occupied Liao Prefecture, which was the place where Zhou Wanwan was staying.

After returning home, Zhou Wanwan focused on helping these medicinal herbs heal their injuries.

These medicinal herbs have been damaged and will take a long time to recover.

Especially that Solomon's seal plant; its roots and stems were damaged, and it won't recover in less than a year and a half.

It took about half a month for these medicinal herbs to gradually recover.

Grandpa Purple Lingzhi smiled and said:

"We've actually turned misfortune into blessing this time. Unlike Lingbao, Lingbao can't walk directly."

We can't; generally speaking, it's very difficult for them to survive once they're out of the soil.

If we hadn't cultivated for a long time, we would have certainly died this time.

But the energy that Wanwan gives us allows us to escape the soil, even if it's only for a short time, it's still a good thing for us.

Being able to escape the soil for one hour each day is an extraordinary thing.

After all, medicinal herbs must grow in the soil; this is the law of nature.

Zhou Wanwan looked at them and said, "I wonder what kind of background the Xie Family has?"

Grandpa Purple Lingzhi thought for a moment and said:

"I remember there was a prominent Xie family in Tong Prefecture. I wonder if this is the one."

That's what I heard from the birds. Actually, all the knowledge I have comes from what animals have taught me.

Later, I learned to write, so I asked the animals to fetch some books for me. Gradually, I learned more and more.

So that's how it is. Zhou Wanwan was quite curious at first. How could Grandpa Purple Lingzhi lived in the mountains, know so much?

Purple Lingzhi said:

"I have a map, this parchment scroll, on which the entire Great Xia is clearly laid out."

We can look into it.

Zhou Wanwan opened the sheepskin map directly, and sure enough, it showed many states. The place they were in was called Liao Prefecture, which was the most border area.

Grandpa Purple Lingzhi sighed and said:

"The environment here is already harsh, and it gets extremely cold in winter."

Therefore, this place is called the "bitterly cold state".

Zhou Wanwan nodded. It was indeed quite cold here; it was already below zero outside.

This isn't even real winter yet. When real winter comes, the temperature will probably drop to tens of degrees below zero.

Perhaps the Northeast in my previous life was even better than this.

Grandpa Purple Lingzhi pointed and said, "We're right here now. To find the Xie Family, we have to go to Anding County next door."

Anding County is somewhat better off than Qingshui County. If Qingshui County is considered a poor area, then Anding County is considered a wealthy area.

Zhou Wanwan nodded and said, "Then let's set off tonight."

Zhou Wanwan brought dozens of large trees with her, since large trees provide excellent cover.

Especially at night, those big trees move incredibly fast, even faster than a horse-drawn carriage.

It took only half an hour to reach Anding County. Zhou Wanwan sat on the Old Scholar Tree, shivering from the cold.

The Old Scholar Tree sighed and said, "Next time you come out, I'll wrap you in a quilt. I was careless this time."

Zhou Wanwan shivered and said, "I need to make a hot water bottle, otherwise it's just too cold."

They spent a day in the wilderness before heading to Anding County in the evening.

As expected, the security situation in Anding County was much better than in their Qingshui County. There were more than twice as many people guarding the city gates, about 20 or more.

However, these trees didn't need to go through the city gate; they simply found a section of the city wall and climbed over it.

It was late at night, and as soon as I stepped through the city gate, I saw a group of guards walking towards me.

The trees stood motionless. The people sighed and said, "I heard the Xie Family has suffered a terrible blow this time; they were severely reprimanded by the Imperial Concubine."

"What does it matter? The Xie Family is deeply entrenched, and they're even related to that Imperial Concubine. How can we really punish them?"

"To be honest, this imperial concubine is really something. Our county magistrate is now from the Xie Family, and the Xie Family is quite formidable."

I heard that someone from the Xie Family achieved the highest rank in this imperial examination.