Chapter 146: This Endearing Ambition and Desire to Win

"Of course I am going to handle it, without needing certain people to remind me. Well, I am not as leisurely as some. The greater one's ability, the heavier one's responsibility. Shen Tianci, you can go back to your tent, lie down, and dream away."

Shen Tianci: *Damn it! This brat has such a vicious and punchable mouth, he's implicitly mocking me for being useless!*

Who knows who was just shouting blindly without a brain?

He gritted his teeth and replied, "Young Master Xie is right, the greater the ability, the greater the responsibility. I still have to help General Chu reorganize the capital's garrison. Just now, it wasn't only Deputy Commander Han who said he wanted to submit to the General; there were two others who said the same. I won't waste any more breath here with Young Master Xie; I am going right now to urge those two to lead their men to the granary and move the grain!"

He was afraid that if he stayed with this fellow for even another second, he wouldn't be able to resist taking action against him.

"Hmph! Then let's see whether you help Brother Chu reorganize the capital's garrison faster, or whether I investigate and collect evidence faster!"

"Fine, fine, fine! Then let's see who is faster, and who is useless!"

Outside the tent, it gradually grew quiet. Shen Zhao moved slowly and contentedly back to the couch.

These two brat's damn competitive desire and drive to excel were truly endearing.

"Come out!" Shen Zhao called out to the empty air.

Chu Yi and Chu Er appeared before Shen Zhao in an instant.

Looking at the two who had materialized out of nowhere, Shen Zhao was quite curious about how they managed to hide and evade everyone's line of sight. The tent was only this big; where could they possibly hide?

Chu Yi and Chu Er looked anxiously at their master. What had happened today still filled them with lingering fear. Their master had fallen into a coma for no apparent reason, nearly startling the two of them into revealing themselves. Especially when the first imperial physician summoned by Young Master Xie declared that the master was beyond saving, they had almost burst right out.

Fortunately, the master had woken up now, but they were still worried about the master's safety. After all, the elderly imperial physician hadn't figured out why the master had inexplicably fallen unconscious and lost her pulse.

Looking at the two pairs of worried eyes, Shen Zhao sighed once again that it was good to have her own men—at least there would still be people concerned about whether you lived or died.

"I called the two of you out this time because I have tasks for you to handle."

As she spoke, Shen Zhao took out brush, ink, paper, and an inkstone, writing down one by one the details of how she had inexplicably fallen unconscious and lost her pulse in the camp. She described in meticulous detail everything she had experienced consciously while in that state of coma.

The more detailed, the better.

After finishing, she instructed Chu Er: "Take this letter and deliver it to my wife. Remember, you must ensure she reads it immediately."

Her unexplained coma here yielded no clues, and she wanted to know if it had anything to do with her and Chu Mu swapping bodies. What if she wasn't the only one who had fallen unconscious?

A trace of disappointment flashed across Chu Er's eyes. Did the master no longer value him? Yesterday, he was asked to relay a verbal message to the madam; today, he was asked to deliver a letter to the madam. He was being treated entirely like a little carrier pigeon. He so longed to return to the life of licking blood off the edge of a blade—that way, he wouldn't feel guilty or feel like he was eating the master's free food.

"Yes, this subordinate will go right now." Even his tone was tinged with a hint of dejection.

Watching Chu Er's desolate retreating figure, Shen Zhao found it utterly baffling. Just a moment ago, when she said she had tasks for the two of them, Chu Er's eyes had been filled with joy. Yet now that she had assigned the task, he pulled this dejected act, making it impossible for her to fathom what was on his mind.

Was delivering a letter for her that difficult? She was merely asking him to deliver a letter, not telling him to scale a mountain of blades or plunge into a sea of fire. Did he have to look as if he bore a deep and irreconcilable hatred?

So vexing!

Chu Yi looked eagerly at his master; what about him? The master should give his orders quickly. He particularly loved running errands for the master now. Rewards were not important; what mattered most was gaining the master's praise and favor. These were things other secret guards wouldn't even dare to imagine, and in the past, he wouldn't have dared to dream of them either.

Shen Zhao wrote another letter, handed it to Chu Yi, and instructed: "Deliver this letter to the estate of the Junior Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Hand it directly to the Junior Vice Minister; he will know what to do."

Chu Yi's body stiffened, and terrifying memories rushed back like a tidal wave. Although he wasn't afraid of death, the mere thought of those death-sworn retainers still made his hair stand on end. However, even in the face of life and death, he had to carry this out and not let the master down. This was a mission assigned by him; no matter what, he had to complete it.

With tragic resolve, he said, "Yes, this subordinate will certainly not fail the General's mission in delivering this letter to Lord Du."

With that, he resolutely vanished from the tent.

Watching Chu Yi's disappearing figure, Shen Zhao was once again rendered speechless. She hadn't even finished speaking yet; she had wanted to tell Chu Yi not to be afraid, that Du Qian'an had already made arrangements, and the scenario of him being chased and beaten by a group of death-sworn retainers would never happen again.

Unfortunately, this kid hadn't waited for her to finish.

Back at the Grand General's estate, Chu Er lowered his head and handed the letter to Chu Mu. Chu Mu paid no mind to Chu Er's reaction. He unfolded the letter written by Ah-Zhao, and as he took in what she had written, a wave of heartache instantly washed over him. His Ah-Zhao had suffered the same ordeal as him, enduring immense torment while unconscious.

At the end of the letter, Ah-Zhao asked him if such an incident had occurred on his end. He hurriedly wrote down what had happened to him on a piece of paper, though he omitted mentioning the Pang estate.

"Take this letter and give it to the General. Remember, no matter what happens, you must report back in a timely manner."

Chu Er silently accepted the letter and gave a muffled response. The madam was merely a woman of the inner courtyard; what could she possibly do for the General?

The elderly imperial physician, who had just returned to the imperial palace, had not even stepped one foot into the Imperial Medical Academy before he was seized by men dispatched by the old Emperor to keep watch. Taken with him was the other imperial physician who had accompanied him to the capital garrison.

When they arrived at the Imperial Study, the other two physicians who had gone to the Pang estate to treat the eldest young master of the Pang family were already kneeling on the floor of the hall.

"Your subjects pay respects to Your Majesty." The elderly imperial physician did not kneel, instead bowing deeply at the waist. This was a special privilege granted by the Emperor.

"I hear that Young Master Xie invited you to examine and detoxify the Xie family's young master?"

*No, Your Majesty, you heard wrong.* He could only think this in his heart; no matter how good his relationship with the Emperor was, he couldn't bluntly say the Emperor was wrong.

"Replying to Your Majesty, this subject originally thought Young Master Xie was inviting this subject to the Duke Xie estate to examine the eldest or second young master. After all, Young Master Xie said his elder brother had suddenly fallen unconscious and unresponsive. Only later did this subject realize that the elder brother he spoke of was not the two young masters of the Duke Xie estate, but General Chu of the capital garrison."

The elderly imperial physician intentionally spoke this way, knowing the Emperor's special regard for Young Master Xie. Back when Young Master Xie was dragged back to the capital from the frontier, it wasn't just Duke Xie's doing; the person before him had secretly put in a great deal of effort.

That Chu fellow acted like an invisible man at court and did not enjoy imperial favor. It might seem like the Emperor had valued the Chu fellow over the past two days, but in reality, the Emperor was using the Chu fellow to keep the court in balance.

Now that the Chu fellow was his man, he had to seize every opportunity to mention him before the Emperor, making the Emperor pay attention to Young Master Xie.

"What poison did Minister Chu contract, and why did he inexplicably fall unconscious and lose his pulse?"

The elderly imperial physician recounted everything he had done in the camp, concluding with: "This subject suspects that General Chu has been poisoned with venom from Wa."

For once, a trace of expression flickered across the Emperor's face. Was this old fellow treating his beloved minister like fish on a chopping board? He was really going all out!

However, the old fellow's words matched those of the two who had gone to the Pang estate. Both suspected poisoning by Wa venom. Chen Dingtian, oh Chen Dingtian, are you really in such a hurry to let me deal with you?

The two who went to the Pang estate had also been guided by Pang Yunche, leading them to declare that the eldest young master of the Pang family had been poisoned by Wa venom, when in truth they hadn't discovered anything at all. Yet they couldn't admit that, as it would make them look incompetent. Fortunately, their senior had investigated and reached the same conclusion they claimed.

Shen Zhao, who was recuperating in the military tent, was about to welcome an uninvited guest.