Qiao Shu entered the room and handed the desserts she brought from Jing City to Shuo Ling. She smiled, "My Lord, I worried that these desserts would go bad on the road because it is hot now, but they are the same as before. I have had a taste, My Lord. They are safe."

Qiao Shu took a piece of cake from the handkerchief to Shuo Ling.

"Just put it over there." Shuo Ling focused on the book and answered coldly without looking up.

Qiao Shu's hand stopped halfway and put the cake back into the handkerchief.

"Why are you here? It's not the place a girl should come." Shuo Ling spoke again.

Qiao Shu tensed up. Did Shuo Ling care about her? He must care about her, or he wouldn't say that.

Qiao Shu restrained her excitement, "Thank you for your concern, My Lord. I feel that I haven't made much progress in medical skills this year. I'd like to take this opportunity to improve my medical skills."

Qiao Shu looked at Shuo Ling and smiled, "You don't look very well, My Lord. Have you overworked these days for the relief work with the victims? Can I make you medicine that helps wipe out the fatigue every day, My Lord?"

"Fine." Shuo Ling answered immediately.

Qiao Shu didn't expect Shuo Ling to be so easy to speak with. Maybe he had an unpleasant dispute with Yang Zijin and found she was better than Yang Zijin as she came over.

Qiao Shu was overjoyed. She thought that as long as she could be around Shuo Ling, she had chances.

"Yes, My Lord. Then I won't bother you." Qiao Shu left the room and closed the door.

Looking at Yang Zijin sitting in the yard, Qiao Shu secretly sneered, "Yang Zijin, you can't walk on the air all the time. Shuo Ling can only be mine."

She didn't know that Shuo Ling wanted to provoke Yang Zijin.

Shen Yang went out of the room aside and called all the imperial doctors together. Qiao Shu saw him and went over, too.

Shen Yang took out something from the big package on his shoulder and delivered it to the doctors.

The doctors looked at these things and frowned. They asked each other, "What's this?"

"I don't know. I've never seen this before."

"Right. What's this? It's as small as a palm. What's it used for?"

Tongues wagged.

Qiao Shu took it over and frowned. She came to Shen Yang, "What's this, Uncle Shen? It's not a veil but it looks like it."

"You are right. This is called the gauze mask. It looks like a veil but has been modified on the basis of the veil, and it's more convenient than a veil." Shen Yang put on the mask to show them how to use it.

The doctors followed to wear the masks.

Someone wore the mask on and teased Shen Yang, "Mr. Shen, you know hiding things well. If it weren't for the plague, would you still keep these gauze masks from us?"

"If only I could. These are presented to us by Her Highness." Shen Yang said.

The doctors didn't believe him and showed disbelief on their faces just like what he did just then.

Shen Yang added with a smile, "Don't you believe me? When we came into the city, you sat in the carriage and didn't notice the victims outside. They all wore masks. Her Highness made these masks and delivered them to the victims."

The doctors finally nodded.

Mo Li came over with a map. He handed the map to Shen Yang, "This is the map of Jiandu. The black marks are the porridge sheds. Now, almost all the victims have gathered at these four porridge sheds. As for the following arrangement, it depends on you, Mr. Shen."

Shen Yang saw the position of the four porridge sheds and nodded. He said, "There are four porridge sheds and each shed is gathered with lots of victims. We will form four groups and each group goes to a shed."

After the groups were formed, Shen Yang said to Qiao Shu aside, "Miss Qiao, would you please stay here and classify the herbs? And take notes if someone comes back for medicine."

Shen Yang aimed at keeping Qiao Shu in the yard because he had promised Qiao Yanlin to take Qiao Shu back safely.

"Uncle Shen, I'm here to help the victims. Although I'm a girl, I want to make contributions." Qiao Shu immediately replied.

She came here on purpose this time and she had already plotted the ending of Yang Zijin. If she stayed in the yard when something happened, she would be seen as one of the criminal suspects. However, if she left the yard, she would be above suspicion.

Shen Yang looked at Qiao Shu and said, "Qiao Shu..."

"Uncle Shen, I heard that there are lots of victims that have caught the plague. Many hands make light work, isn't it?" Qiao Shu beamed at Shen Yang.

Shen Yang hesitated and nodded, "Fine. You have to stay with me."

"It's up to you, Uncle Shen." Qiao Shu smiled and nodded.

Shen Yang announced aloud, "Now, everybody is in his team. Next, get the herbs you need. Then take a good rest and prepare for tomorrow's diagnostic work."

"Yes, Mr. Dean." The doctors answered.

They thought that Shen Yang would ask them to see the patients immediately. After hearing what Shen Yang said, they relaxed. Although they had stayed in the carriage all the way, they had been exhausted after days of jolts.

They came to the herbs they brought here and divided them one by one. Each team took some of the herbs to prepare for tomorrow's demand.

And then they went back to their rooms to rest.

Yang Zijin stood up and headed for her room. When she passed by Shuo Ling's room, she paused, and then went away.

She sat at the table, poured herself a cup of tea, took a sip of it, and put the cup down.

Liu Ling, the woman she met on the road crossed her mind. Yang Zijin counted the days and thought Liu Ling should have arrived in Beiling.

In Beiling.

Liu Ling went directly to Yan Luo's residence.

Yan Luo rose to her feet at once as she saw Liu Ling. She asked, "How's your trip to Dongling? Have you found Suhan's child?"

"Yes, Your Highness. I've found her." Liu Ling replied.

Yan Luo nodded. The news before was reliable. She asked, "How's she? Is she doing well?"

"Her Highness is fine. According to the conversation with her, I can see that she has her own idea."

Yan Luo asked this question till then, "And how did she react when you mentioned it to her?"

"Her Highness said she was willing to help us retake the throne." Liu Ling answered.

Yan Luo asked excitedly, "Really?"

And then she asked with unease, "Then... does she has the card and the map?"

"Don't worry, Your Highness. Her highness has the card, but..." Liu Ling answered and frowned.

Yan Luo asked immediately, "But what?"

"The map was taken away!" Liu Ling replied.

Yan Luo frowned. She asked worriedly, "It was taken away? What about the card?"

"Don't worry, Your Highness. The card is safe. Her Highness was afraid that the card would be taken away and felt the card was not safe with her. So she asked me to bring the card back to you to recruit followers with it." Liu Ling took the card out from her pocket and handed it to Yan Luo.

Seeing the card that she had been searched for years, Yan Luo was on the verge of tears. After a moment, she took the card from Liu Ling with trembling hands.

She stroked the card and watched. After a long while, she put it away and turned aside to wipe the tears from her eyes with a handkerchief. She went on asking, "Why didn't you bring her back? Obviously, some people in Dongling know about the card. She may be in danger."

"Her Highness is not in Jing City. She went to Jiandu under Dongling's Emperor's order. If she comes here with me..." Liu Ling said.

Yan Luo became anxious immediately, "What did you say? She went to Jiandu? I heard that Jiandu was suffering from the flood and the plague. The Emperor must have sent Zijin there on purpose. Thinking of Suhan's death, he is not innocent. Now that he had known Suhan's daughter was alive, he came up with bad ideas again. Perhaps it was he who took away the map."

"I have asked Her Highness if she knew who took the map. Her Highness said she had an idea about this. She said she would come to meet you after she had finished her work." Liu Ling said.

Yan Luo said, "Even if she can get the map back. I can't sit and watch her risk on her own. Go and fetch some martial arts experts to Dongling to protect her secretly and contact her."

"Don't worry too much, Your Highness. When I came to look for Her Highness, I found some people protecting Her Highness and they were capable of martial skills." Liu Ling smiled.

Yan Luo asked, "You mean, some people are protecting her?"

"Yes, before I met Her Highness, I observed them. One of them has an unusual relationship with Her Highness." Liu Ling nodded.

Liu Ling kept her in suspense. Yan Luo asked, "Unusual? What kind of unusual relationship?"

"I made a private inquiry that famous Marquis Shuo in Dongling is Her Highness's husband." Liu Ling told Yan Luo what she heard from others.

Yan Luo couldn't believe it, "You mean, Marquis Shuo in Dongling will marry Zijin?"