Rebirth: My Healer Wife Owns Superpowers - Chapter 224 - Chapter 224: Chapter 224: Going to Donggao

Chapter 224: Chapter 224: Going to Donggao

The shipowner soon recovered and revealed everything, allowing Qi Yue to understand the situation at that time.

The refined-looking man the shipowner spoke of was none other than Qu Wei.

A few days ago, before dawn, several ferocious-looking men brought Qu Wei here, intending to travel to Chishuiwo, but the shipowner refused.

As a result, Qu Wei suggested they just steal the ship, as no one would see them doing it so early in the morning.

Those men then took the ship by force and even beat up the shopkeeper.

When the shopkeeper woke up, he found an extra fan in his arms.

Recalling that he had seen Qu Wei before and remembered someone else was with him, he waited every day on the riverbank, hoping to find that person.

Unexpectedly, his wait paid off with the arrival of Qi Yue.

Upon hearing this, Qi Yue breathed a sigh of relief.

It looked like, for the time being, Qu Wei’s life was not in danger.

He must have let those men take the ship on purpose and left the fan with the shopkeeper as a way to send a message.

She was eager to know if Qu Wei had left any clues on the fan, but the shipowner was clutching the fan tightly, not loosening his grip at all.

“You have to compensate for the ship before I give you the fan.”

Qi Yue felt helpless, did she look like she didn’t have any silver?

She quickly took out three hundred taels in silver notes from her bosom and handed them to the shipowner.

“Old man, do you think these three hundred taels are enough to compensate for your ship?”

The shipowner’s eyebrows practically flew up with delight.

“Enough, absolutely enough.”

He quickly tossed her the fan and snatched the silver note.

Qi Yue didn’t quibble with him, immediately checking the fan.

Indeed, on the surface of the fan, she found some small holes made with a sharp object.

Hold it up to the light, and there it was, a line of words.

[Qing Nanzun is plotting against you, do not rescue.]

Qi Yue was both amused and frustrated.

At a time like this, what was Qu Wei thinking, playing such mind games?

It was clear who had abducted him; how could she not attempt a rescue?

Having secured the fan, Qi Yue estimated the distance and realized that Qing Nanzun must have already left Chishuiwo, so she decided to change her route.

Moreover, relentlessly pursuing them was not a wise method; she planned to arrive at Donggao first and wait for them at her leisure.

The journey from Fuzhou to the Donggao border spanned more than a dozen provinces and counties over rugged terrain, proving a grueling trek for Qi Yue.

After nearly ten days, she finally reached Dengzhou, at the far eastern edge.

Beyond Dengzhou to the east lies Donggao.

The only problem now was that the border between Beiyuan and Donggao was too long, and she didn’t know which route Qing Nanzun would take to enter Donggao. Otherwise, she could have ambushed him halfway and rescued Qu Wei.

Unable to do that, her only option was to wait for them at Qing Nanzun’s stronghold.

But before that, she stopped in Dengzhou.

One, to rest for a day and gather strength; two, to find a reliable merchant caravan to follow into Donggao.

To ensure a smooth operation, she also made a point of doing her homework, such as understanding the customs of the people of Donggao, so as not to be recognized immediately upon entering.

Once everything was prepared, and the caravan was ready,

Qi Yue disguised herself as a young businessman and followed the caravan into Yanjing of Donggao

Yanjing was the location of the Donggao Imperial City and was constructed magnificently.

The buildings in the city were peculiar, each with steps of different heights.

The lowest had only one step, with others having two or three, and the tallest had a staggering eight steps.

After inquiring with the people from the caravan, she learned that different steps indicated different ranks of officials and wealth.

The higher the official rank and wealth, the taller the steps.

A youth in the caravan, noticing it was her first visit, even pointed out the direction of the Imperial City for her.

“Look, that’s the Imperial City, with nine thousand, nine hundred, and ninety-nine steps!”

Qi Yue looked up.

“”

What a sight!

The Imperial City stood towering over everyone’s heads like a great mountain!

This Donggao Emperor really knew how to make a statement, eh? Standing on the steps, could he see the citizens below him like ants? Didn’t that give him an immense sense of superiority?

Moreover, such high steps could also be considered a defensive measure, right?

If someone wanted to assassinate the Emperor, wouldn’t they be almost exhausted by the climb?

How did the officials of Donggao manage to go to court then?

Climbing up and down every day must be exhausting.

Taking into account that after rescuing Qu Wei, she still needed to follow the merchant convoy back to Beiyuan, Qi Yue decided not to leave the convoy and went with them to stay in the eastern city.

The environment here wasn’t the best; it was a gathering place for businessmen coming and going, but at the same time, it was also an excellent place to hide.

Once everything was ready, Qi Yue immediately headed to the busiest teahouse in the city.

It was a melting pot of sorts, often the best place to gather information.

It didn’t take much effort for Qi Yue to find out what she wanted to know.

Qing Nanzun had not been idle; the mere mention of his name among the Donggao citizens sparked nothing but disgust and fear.

But it was rumored that he was coming back soon, and many in the teahouse were discussing him.

“I really hope he doesn’t come back.”

“Whether he comes back or not isn’t for us to decide; didn’t you hear how he refers to himself as ‘this venerable’ all the time? He’s got a charmed life!”

“Who knows what he’s done this time? He might just stir up the Fox King to start another war.”

“War isn’t what scares me; it won’t reach us here anyway. I’m afraid they’ll start collecting silver again!”

“…”

Qing Nanzun was really coming back!

This time Qi Yue was completely reassured.

However, she didn’t plan to sit idle while waiting for him.

Since she had come to Yanjing, she intended to leave a mark.

She planned to stir up trouble in Yanjing before Qing Nanzun returned. In the resulting chaos, rescuing the person would be easier.

While thinking about what to do next, whether to kill and set fires or to collect some gold and jewelry for her spatial storage, she suddenly saw two familiar people sneak into the teahouse, looking around nervously before heading straight to a table in the northeast corner where a man in a black hat was sitting.

These two were from Donggao and had come with the merchant convoy, also hailing from Beiyuan.

Qi Yue first noticed them while they were eating on the road.

Back then, one of the men had passed the meat in his bowl to the other, which looked quite odd.

Upon closer examination, she discovered that the two were a couple, with the woman dressed as a man, referring to each other as brothers.

The man was called Zhong Qian, and the woman, Zhong Hou.

Initially, she thought they were just dressing up for business convenience, but now it seemed that was not the case at all.

Qi Yue saw the three of them whispering together, their faces alternating between excitement and indignation, which piqued her curiosity.

But the teahouse was too noisy, and they were too far away so she couldn’t hear anything.

She decided to feign interest and, with a tea cup in hand, sat down at a table close to the couple.

She just managed to overhear the man in the black hat talking to the couple.

“Tonight, your father faces the challenge of two wolves. It’s best to act before then; I’m worried he won’t survive the night.”

“Okay, let’s settle on that, meet at Nanmentou during the ‘Shushi’ time.”

A challenge from wolves–could it be the Underground Beast-fighting Arena?

Were these two here looking for their father?

She had heard that Donggao’s underground beast-fighting arenas were extremely dangerous, pits of man versus beast; she hadn’t expected to encounter it today!

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Qi Yue was thinking about joining the conversation when she heard a commotion outside the teahouse.

“They’re here, they’re here!”

“Hurry, come see, they’re here!”

The people in the teahouse all got up and rushed towards the balcony area, and the couple followed as well.

Driven by curiosity, Qi Yue joined the crowd.