Zhao Xu was out of ideas.

For one, Princess Jing Mountain was shy; if he went after her, she wouldn’t meet him.

For another, he had hit the Eldest Prince of Beimo, and with both new and old grudges, he probably wouldn’t tell him where the Zhao Family was even if asked.

If he said nothing, it would be better. If he gave a wrong location, the consequences would be unpredictable.

Not everyone had the luck of the Heir of Marquis Jingguo.

The steward of the Marquis Jingguo Mansion managed to find the Qin Family with the wrong address, helping the Heir marry his bride.

This mess, aside from his cousin, Zhao Xu couldn’t think of anyone else to help him.

The only thing he was certain of was that Princess Jing Mountain had feelings for him.

But where was his cousin now?

At this moment, in the Nanliang Military Camp.

The Heir of the Duke of Guardian had escorted the Eldest Prince of Beimo to the Beimo border, lingered a few days in the town between Beimo and Daqi, and then went to the military camp.

Xie Jingchen had anticipated that the Heir of the Duke of Guardian would come to the camp, but he hadn’t expected him to come so soon.

He also hadn’t expected that the Eldest Prince of Beimo could bring Princess Jing Mountain back to Beimo and then remarry her.

If Nanliang wasn’t very confident, they wouldn’t let the prized lamb slip away unless it was to cast a long line for a big fish.

These doubts plagued Xie Jingchen’s mind, leaving him no time to ponder.

The moment he had waited for to strike had finally arrived.

The Heir of the Duke of Guardian had come.

He had also brought the fine wines bestowed by the Emperor of Nanliang to General Shi.

The incident of General Shi taking the blame hadn’t been reported back to the Capital City, but the news of him punching the Duke of Guardian had gone back.

This matter, which had been suppressed, had also been brought to light.

The Emperor of Nanliang, unclear of the situation and misled by the Military Governor, wronged General Shi. Now that the Military Governor was proven guilty and whipped thirty times by the Duke of Guardian, the Emperor of Nanliang could not feign ignorance.

General Shi was reinstated, and as a ruler, it was improper to apologize to a subject directly, so he bestowed ten jars of fine wine.

The resentment in General Shi’s heart dissipated somewhat.

While General Shi’s subordinates were happy, Dong Chenglang was not.

It had taken great effort to provoke a rift between his uncle and the Duke of Guardian. Now, with his reinstatement, the grudge against the court was gone, and it seemed less likely he would rebel against the court.

The Emperor of Nanliang not only bestowed fine wines upon General Shi but also demoted the Military Governor two levels and docked a year’s salary.

General Shi was pleased, and the Duke of Guardian, to show that what the Military Governor did had nothing to do with him, wished to celebrate General Shi’s reinstatement.

Feeling satisfied, General Shi took the wine jars bestowed by the Emperor and drank them like water.

The remaining fine wines were shared among everyone, with even Xie Jingchen receiving a bowl.

Drunk and unsteady, General Shi was helped back to camp. Unable to move his father, Young Master Shi had to ask Xie Jingchen for help.

General Shi was escorted back to his tent and given a sobering soup.

Instead of waking, he became even more dazed.

As Young Master Shi cared for him, he sensed something was wrong. His father had been drunk more than once, yet he was now in such a deep stupor. Previously, he would mumble a few words, even if they were incoherent; there was at least some response, but this time there was none at all.

The more Young Master Shi thought about it, the more uneasy he felt, so he quickly called for the military doctor.

Feeling the pulse, the military doctor also found General Shi’s condition concerning, as the pulse did not indicate drunkenness but rather poisoning.

Young Master Shi urged the military doctor to detoxify his father, but the doctor was uncertain unless the poisoner could be found.

The doctor investigated and finally found the problem in one of the wine jars outside the main army tent: a piece of wine with a blackened silver needle.

This was the wine General Shi had drunk.

The wine had been bestowed upon General Shi by the Emperor of Nanliang and brought to the border by the Heir of the Duke of Guardian.

The ten jars of fine wine had traveled with the Beimo party.

Now that poison was found in the wine, leading to General Shi’s coma, it was unclear where the blame lay.

Was the poison present when bestowed by the Emperor of Nanliang, or was it added later?

But none of this mattered now. What was important was detoxifying General Shi.

The military doctor couldn’t detoxify him, and even doctors from within a hundred-mile radius were at a loss.

General Shi had not awakened since his coma, and even after the doctors pricked all ten fingers, he didn’t wake.

The wine had intensified the poison. Without an antidote, he couldn’t regain consciousness.

Dong Chenglang and Young Master Shi were at their wits’ end, and upon seeing the Heir of the Duke of Guardian, they wanted to beat him to a pulp.

Unable to detoxify, Dong Chenglang, in frustration, slammed the table and turned to Xie Jingchen, "What should we do now?"

Xie Jingchen thought for a moment and said, "The medical skills of the Daqi Prince Zhenbei’s Heir Consort are excellent, and Young Master Zhao has some connections with the Dongxiang Marquis Mansion. I wonder if..."

"That’s right, find Zhao Xu!" Dong Chenglang said urgently.

He hastily summoned a guard to seek Zhao Xu at the Zhao Family to ask the Prince Zhenbei’s Heir Consort to save his uncle.

Xie Jingchen believed such a significant matter couldn’t be handled by just sending a guard.

Dong Chenglang went personally.

He traveled day and night, covered in dust, and hurried to the Zhao Family.

Zhao Xu was astonished to hear that General Shi was comatose from poisoning. He had always hoped Dong Chenglang could win over General Shi to help him.

But to his surprise, General Shi was in such a perilous situation himself. Zhao Xu was willing to help, but with Daqi currently at odds with Nanliang, the Prince Zhenbei’s Heir Consort was a Daqi Princess.

Asking his cousin-in-law to help the enemy of Daqi was putting her in a difficult position.

Dong Chenglang also understood Zhao Xu’s dilemma. He said, "My uncle is stubborn, convincing him to rebel is difficult."

"But with him poisoned, I cannot stand by and do nothing."

"I pledge with my head that if the Daqi Prince Zhenbei’s Heir Consort saves my uncle and he doesn’t help you, I’ll make sure he retires from the court."

This was Dong Chenglang’s guarantee, and he brought a handwritten promise from Young Master Shi.

If his life was lost, how could anything else be considered?

Zhao Xu had intended to ask Xie Jingchen for a marriage proposal, even though it wasn’t the right time now...

Zhao Xu nodded, "I’ll help you."

Zhao Xu disguised himself and rushed to the border with Dong Chenglang.

However, Dong Chenglang returned to the Nanliang Military Camp, and Zhao Xu went to the Daqi Camp.

At the camp entrance, Zhao Xu was stopped as he tried to find Prince NanAn, but the personnel didn’t permit him until Prince NanAn arrived.

That face looked unfamiliar to Prince NanAn.

But Chu Shun and the Heir of Marquis Beining found it familiar as if they had seen it somewhere before.

Prince NanAn looked at them and asked, "Do you know him?"

"Seems like we’ve seen it," Chu Shun said.

Zhao Xu said dryly, "It’s me."

The face was unfamiliar, but the voice was known.

Chu Shun and the others suddenly recalled meeting that face outside at the Lantern Festival after getting Prince NanAn drunk, because of which they had jovially punched Zhao Xu.

Zhao Xu, though from Nanliang, was still Xie Jingchen’s cousin; others might not know this, but they did.

Chu Shun slung an arm around Zhao Xu’s shoulder and said, "Why are you at the camp?"

"I’m here to find my cousin-in-law," Zhao Xu replied.

Prince NanAn led Zhao Xu to see Su Jin.

On the way, Prince NanAn said, "There’s been no news from you for so long. Brother Jingchen asked you to help save someone last time, and he was worried something might have happened to you."

"You all know about this?" Zhao Xu was surprised.

"How could we not? He was worried you didn’t save the person and got yourself into trouble," Chu Shun said.

Zhao Xu was a bit confused, "My cousin asked me to save Miss Zhao, I did save her."

"Miss Zhao?" Chu Shun and other exchanged bewildered glances.

"You saved the wrong person after all."

Zhao Xu was even more bewildered. How had he saved the wrong person?

Could it be that his cousin asked him to rescue Qingqing’s maid?

"Whom did my cousin ask me to save?" Zhao Xu asked.

"Princess Jing Mountain of Beimo!"

Zhao Xu, "...!!!"

Zhao Xu was in shock while Prince NanAn and the others talked about Princess Jing Mountain marrying the Prince of Nanliang.

For Princess Jing Mountain, they truly felt regret.

Princess Jing Mountain had previously targeted Su Jin, but Young Master Su and the Ninth Prince had taught her a lesson with a slingshot, and in the end, she became friends with Su Jin.

As the friend of his sister-in-law, they naturally hoped she would have a good outcome.

She had been manipulated, making one sigh.

Zhao Xu said nothing and entered Su Jin’s tent. He requested brush, ink, paper, and inkstone and drew a portrait of Princess Jing Mountain.

"Isn’t this Princess Jing Mountain?" Prince NanAn asked.

Zhao Xu’s heart shook like a sieve.

Qingqing was Princess Jing Mountain of Beimo. Had he not unknowingly hit the Eldest Prince of Beimo?!