"Yao Ling, do you remember the woman who was gossiping about Han Xiang back at Wen Feng?" Yao Ying asked.
When Yao Ling heard what Yao Ying just said, her eyes lit up with new hope. "I remember!"
"Can you draw her and give the painting to Lin Jian?" Yao Ying asked.
Yao Ling nodded excitedly. She wasn"t that good at drawing but it was enough to draw the essence of the woman"s appearance. She was around thirty-something years old woman with a long face and sly eyes. The most distinguished character was the big mole under her left eye. She believed that their subordinate would be able to find the woman easily.
"Lin Jian... this woman has an aunt that used to work at the palace. We can probably get something out of her. You can give them money or whatever you want, but we can"t kill her! If we need something, we can use her..." Yao Ying said. "It will be better if the old woman can be brought to Lin Zhou, but she has to stay in a different location. We need to talk to this woman ourselves... We need to crosscheck with Xiao Fang about this old woman"s ident.i.ty."
Lin Jian nodded in understanding. "I think that"s a good idea. I remember Yao Ling said the way the woman boasted and told her friends that all of the gossips about Han Xiang are true. She probably knows something."
"How long will you be able to find her?" Yao Ying asked. "We don"t have that much time. Once the bridal dowries arrive, we will have a hard time to prevent this wedding alliance." Yao Ying reminded Lin Jian that they had a time limit to do all this. The bridal dowries at least needed two or three days preparation and probably around one more week for the length of the trip --- there was also a possibility that the Han Emperor would want everything to happen smoothly and faster. They needed to take this into account.
They needed to handle Han Xiang"s matter in one week. The faster, the better.
"Don"t worry! We have our own ways of communication. It will probably take around two or three days," Lin Jian said. "Let me contact them right away! I will let both of you discuss this matter by yourself for now. Just let me know if there"s something important."
Yao Ying and Yao Ling nodded their head. After bade goodbye to the couple, Lin Jian quickly went out of the room. He didn"t stay any longer because he needed to deal with his task as soon as possible. Lin Jian had to admit that even though Yao Ling was so young but she had a clever mind. Yao Ying didn"t lose to her because he was the one who came up the wicked idea most of the time. He really praised them because those two were really complementing each other.
"Powerful couple..." That"s what Lin Jian thought about them.
Xiao Yu wasn"t in the room when they were talking about this matter because they were still hiding Mi Hui"s existence from their subordinates. After they finished talking, Xiao Yu was called in and Yao Ling asked her to tell Han Yi that they needed to hold on for several days until they found that woman"s aunt. Han Er needed to keep an eye on Han Xiang and there was no room for failure.
Yao Ling wanted Xiao Fang to cater to Han Xiang"s need --- whatever she wanted, Xiao Fang needed to obey her. They didn"t need to make any move or else Han Xiang would feel suspicious. They should just leave the matter behind the screen to the trio.
Yao Ling knew that they couldn"t leave Xiao Fang in the dark and told her the plan --- of course, she excluded the Mi Hui part. She just told them that they had a friend back at Wen Feng that could help them in finding that woman"s aunt and taking her here.
Xiao Fang received the news the next day and she sighed in relief. Yao Ling was still willing to help her and she felt really grateful to her. She didn"t care what kind of reasons Yao Ling had for helping her but she felt indebted to her. This matter would implicate her whole family without her help and naturally, the trio became their family"s savior.
When she was back to her family, she really needed to ask her father to thank Yao Ling and of course Yao Ying and Lin Jian too. She knew that the other two were also the mind behind their plan.
After finished preparing herself, Xiao Fang went to find Han Xiang. She would try to spend every single time with her just like what Yao Ling instructed her to do. Han Xiang gritted her teeth in annoyance because she couldn"t find a loophole at all. Xiao Fang kept following her around.
Xiao Fang indeed tried her best to cater her needs so she couldn"t fault her, however, her freedom became very limited because of it! Han Xiang wanted to find General Hu but the latter was in deep rest and the one who treated General Hu told his subordinates not to let anyone bother General Hu.
General Hu followed Yao Ling"s advice in order to get better soon. He also strictly put his subordinate not to let Han Xiang roam around, this also included Xiao Fang. He still felt wary that Xiao Fang would let Han Xiang run away. If Xiao Fang used her father"s influence, it would be easy to do so.
At one point, Han Xiang b.u.mped into Yao ling who just came out of General Hu"s room. The woman had just finished checking on the general. "Who are you?" Han Xiang asked, feeling suspicious. "Why are you coming out from Ge... er... Hu Gong Zi"s room?" Han Xiang almost said general, but she quickly changed the way he addressed the general.
"I"m Hu Gong Xi"s physician," Yao Ling answered with a soft smile.
"You?!" Han Xiang looked at Yao Ling in disbelief. It was rare for a woman to become a physician and it made Han Xiang become suspicious of Yao Ling"s ident.i.ty. Did she a fox that was trying to seduce the general? If not, why did she prevent anyone from meeting the general?
Yao Ling didn"t feel offended because this was also the usual reaction that Jiu Lan used to get, so she didn"t feel too surprised. After all, in this era, men were more superior than women. Yao Ling answered, "Yes, me... Why? Is there something wrong?"
"You really have a medical skill? Then, why does it take so long for Hu Gong Zi to get better?" Han Xiang asked --- a bit rude.
"Of course... I"d never joked with people"s life. If Gu Niang doesn"t believe me, you can ask Hu Gong Zi by yourself. Gu Niang, who are you?" Yao Ling asked in a curious manner. "Are you Hu Gong Zi"s wife?"
"What?! No!" Han Xiang"s eyes widened. She was surprised by Yao Ling"s sudden question. That could ruin her own reputation.
"Are you his family then?" Yao Ling asked.
"No!"
"Then, I"m sorry... I can"t tell you the patient"s condition," Yao Ling said with a soft smile. She looked like she didn"t put Han Xiang in her eyes and the latter felt insulted.
"How dare you not telling me?" Han Xiang made a loud ruckus which attracted the attention of General Hu"s trusted subordinates.
One of them came and asked, "What happened here?"
Yao Ling pulled out her white lotus card and acted meekly, making even Xiao Fang look at her in disbelief. She used her pinching movement to fake a tear, "This woman... wants to know General Hu"s condition but I didn"t tell her. I asked her relations.h.i.+p with Hu Gong Zi but she"s not his family, so I don"t dare telling her anything. I am bound with physician and patient confidentiality."
Yao Ling said weakly.
The subordinate"s heart went to Yao Ling in a heartbeat. He tended to believe her, after all, she indeed had saved General Hu"s life...