Двойная увертюра - Глава 62
The Ghost Mother Clan has a high-ranking royal guard, directly under the Queen's command. And the female general just now said Yao Duo's crime was stealing some Holy Grail. The Holy Grail must be a treasure! They're unfamiliar with the Ghost City, so having a guide would be helpful, especially one who was a former royal guard officer.
After Yao Duo washed up, Xiao Dao bandaged her wounds and used a hairpin to pry open her shackles, discovering that besides abrasions, she also had whip marks on her body, clearly having suffered a lot. Yao Duo was quite pretty, but lacked the delicate features of women from the Central Plains. Although she had been rescued, she still seemed sullen. Her Mandarin wasn't fluent; it was barely understandable, and sometimes she needed Xue Beifan's help.
Xiao Dao was puzzled. How could Xue Er speak the language of the Western Regions?
Seeing that she looked down on him, Xue Beifan laughed and teased him, "What can't I do? I've eaten more salt than you've eaten rice."
Xiao Dao rolled his eyes at him, coughed, and asked Yao Duo what had happened.
It turns out that there are many types of royal guards, and Yao Duo belongs to the palace guards, responsible for standing guard. They work in three shifts of several hundred guards every day, a very good job. The Ghost Mother Clan's royal palace is where the queen lives, and it houses a vast amount of treasure. The palace's chief steward takes inventory every month, and there is never any shortage.
But this month, a Holy Grail went missing. The Grand Eunuch summoned all the guards and asked the Grand Master to divine who had stolen it. The Grand Master performed a divination and finally pointed to Yao Duo, saying it was her, and so she was punished.
"Didn't you defend yourself?" Xiao Dao asked, puzzled.
“It’s no use.” Yao Duo shook her head helplessly. “The Grand Master is highly respected, and no one will object to what he says.”
Xiao Dao sat at the table, resting his chin on his hand, and looked at Yao Duo. "Did you offend the chief steward or the Grand Preceptor before? Why are you insisting that you took it?"
“The Grand Steward and I have a very good relationship. I go to her for help whenever I have something to say. She even helped me find a doctor when my mother was sick.” Yao Duo sighed. “The Grand Preceptor is so high and mighty that a lowly guard like me would never know him.”
"Was the Holy Grail ever found?" Hao Jinfeng asked.
"No," Yao Duo shook her head. "Actually..."
"Actually what?" Seeing her hesitant expression, Xiao Dao felt there must be more to the story.
“Besides the Holy Grail, some other treasures have also gone missing, which I discovered before,” Yao Duo whispered to everyone. “For example, some inconspicuous ornaments or gems on decorations. I secretly told the Grand Steward last month, and she said she would investigate… but the Holy Grail disappeared this month, so they must be suspicious of me. I should have known better than to tell her.”
Hearing this, Xue Beifan and Xiao Dao exchanged a knowing glance—she really was a silly girl! The head steward was responsible for the monthly inventory, so naturally he would have noticed things were missing. She always took inconspicuous items, clearly embezzling. The head steward definitely took a cut, and even if the other guards discovered it, they would probably turn a blind eye. Only Yao Duo was honest and upright. Wouldn't the head steward have to silence her? It seems the Imperial Advisor and the head steward were also in cahoots.
"I'm really innocent..." Yao Duo said softly, sounding very aggrieved.
Hao Jinfeng slammed his fist on the table. "Outrageous! Those people are so lawless as to frame me! Don't worry, I will definitely investigate this matter thoroughly!"
Xiao Dao slammed his hand on the table, echoing Hao Jinfeng's words, "Yes! This matter will definitely be investigated thoroughly, and your innocence will be cleared!"
Hao Jinfeng turned around and nodded to Xiaodao, "Good girl!"
Xiao Dao nodded, "Yes! Big Brother is right!"
Everyone was both amused and exasperated by these two...
Xiaoyue was quite moved, "Brother and sister are of one mind."
Xue Beifan pursed his lips, propping his forehead up with his hand, "It's the same as the second one..."
Chonghua raised an eyebrow at Xue Beifan, as if asking—whether or not to intervene?
Xue Beifan nodded slightly; this was a good opportunity.
"What is that Holy Grail?" Xiao Dao asked Yao Duo curiously. "They humiliated you like that but didn't kill you, which means they want to get the Holy Grail back. Is it that important?"
"Yes, it's very important. That's the Courage Cup used when choosing the Ghost King. The selection of the Ghost King is imminent, and it will be troublesome if we can't find it."
"Test courage?" Everyone was puzzled. "Isn't choosing the Ghost King just like your Queen choosing a husband? What courage is there to test?"
"Oh, there's a test of courage! The Holy Grails come in pairs, each inlaid with magnificent seven-colored gems. One cup is filled with fine wine, and the other with deadly poison. The men participating in the selection of the Ghost King are allowed to choose which cup to drink."
Everyone stared wide-eyed. After a long while, Xiao Dao asked, "What if we drank poisoned wine?"
"He's dead."
"No antidote?"
“No.” Yao Duo nodded seriously. “The Queen chose the brave one.”
Everyone grinned; no wonder the queen was still unmarried...
39
Bottomless Pit
Yao Duo's injuries were quite serious, so she stayed at the inn to rest. Don't let Xiao Dao's lively personality fool you; she's quite good at taking care of people. And this girl is rather peculiar; she lets Xiao Yue or Hao Jinfeng do the simple and flattering tasks like delivering and feeding medicine, while she herself sits on a small stool in the kitchen brewing medicine or goes out to run errands and fetch prescriptions.
The next day, after lunch, Xiao Dao, as usual, moved a stool to the backyard of the inn, fanned the small stove with a palm-leaf fan, and brewed a pot of medicine.
The shop was already short-staffed. They could help boil the medicine, but no one was there to watch the fire. The first batch they had the shopkeeper boiled all burned, so Xiaodao decided to do it himself.
"Hello."
Xiao Dao was lost in thought, resting her chin on her hand, when someone poked her left shoulder from behind. Xiao Dao turned her head to the right, and Xue Beifan was about to peek his head out from behind to scare her when, unexpectedly, the girl also turned to the right, and they almost kissed face to face.
"Ah!" Xiao Dao was startled and jumped up, glaring angrily at Xue Beifan with a palm-leaf fan in hand.
"The medicine is smoking." Xue Beifan quickly pointed to it, trying to divert attention.
Xiao Dao pouted and sat back down, lifted the lid to take a look, and continued fanning himself.
"Why do you only boil the medicine but not deliver it?" Xue Beifan chuckled. "You leave it here to boil for two or three hours, and then you have someone else deliver it and you're not allowed to say it was you who did it. What kind of nonsense is that?"
Xiao Dao pursed his lips, seemingly too lazy to explain.
"Are you ungrateful?" Xue Beifan squatted down next to her with great interest. Seeing that he was even taller than her while sitting, he simply sat down on the ground with his legs apart, one hand supporting his chin, and the other hand poking at a jade pendant hanging from Xiao Dao's belt.
Move the knife aside a little, then fan it forcefully...
"Cough cough..." Caught off guard, Xue Beifan was smothered in smoke by Xiao Dao, which made him lean back and end up sprawled on the ground.