About half a tea session later, Liu Tie slowly exhaled a breath and woke up.
He looked at Xiao Qing in surprise. "You, what's going on here?"
Xiao Qing smiled gently, "Miss came to personally bring you back, just got you down from Qingniu Mountain."
Hearing this, a look of urgency appeared in Liu Tie's eyes.
"Where is Miss? Quickly, take me to see her."
Liu Rumei stepped forward and crouched down, "I'm here. Iron Brother, tell me."
"Miss, I found someone from the National Master's group on the mountain."
"A few people ambushed me, and I used all my strength to roll down the cliff to escape."
"Luckily, a villager saved me."
Liu Rumei nodded, "I know, it was Chen Xiaobei who saved you, and he's the one who brought us here."
Liu Tie shook his head, "No, he was the second one. There was another man named Da Chun, who was carrying me down the mountain, but for some unknown reason, he was poisoned."
Hearing this, Liu Rumei's face went pale with shock, "You mean there's someone else on the mountain?"
"No, that person was also saved by Chen Xiaobei, as you said."
Liu Rumei nodded, "That's good. You should go back to the county to treat your injuries, and I will go to Chen Xiaobei's house."
Four men in black robes lifted Liu Tie, and four others followed behind, quickly heading to the scene.
After Liu Tie had gone far, Liu Guanjia quietly asked.
"Miss, the National Master is also targeting Qingniu Mountain. What should we do?"
Liu Rumei's expression grew serious. "The dragon vein of Qingniu Mountain has been known since the reign of the late emperor. My Liu family has been guarding it for many years."
"The National Master has ill intentions. If he destroys this dragon vein, the foundation of our Great Cang Kingdom will be ruined."
Liu Guanjia nodded. "Yes, but the emperor trusts him greatly now, even more than the crown prince."
Hearing this, Liu Rumei sighed helplessly.
"Just wait, once the crown prince ascends to the throne, everything will be fine."
Xiao Qing couldn't help but speak up, "But Miss, the National Master's people have already found Qingniu Mountain. We are far away in the county, and if he destroys the dragon vein, we…"
Liu Rumei smiled faintly. "Finding the dragon vein is easy, but destroying it isn't so simple. The mountain rocks of Qingniu Mountain are solid, and if he wants to sever the dragon vein, it will make a huge commotion."
As they spoke, they had already arrived at Chen Xiaobei's house.
At this moment, Chen Xiaobei was already lying in bed, fast asleep.
Hearing someone knock on the door, Cui Hongyu stood up and went to greet them.
Seeing it was Liu Rumei, she gave a slight bow.
"Greetings, Miss Liu."
Liu Rumei also returned the bow. "I heard that the person who saved Liu Tie was another man named Da Chun."
Cui Hongyu was a bit puzzled, but then she remembered that Chen Xiaobei had mentioned discovering both of them at the same time, so it seemed possible.
After thinking about it, she nodded. "Yes, Brother Da Chun was poisoned and is probably still unconscious."
"That's good, it matches what Liu Tie said," Liu Rumei said with passion. "Could you take me to meet the man who saved Brother Tie?"
Cui Hongyu nodded.
She led Liu Rumei and the others to the entrance of Da Chun's house and gently knocked on the door.
Soon, Cui Hua came out to greet them.
Seeing that Cui Hongyu had brought so many people, her eyes were filled with panic. "Hongyu, what's going on?"
Cui Hongyu smiled gently. "Sister-in-law, they came to see Da Chun."
Cui Hua was even more confused.
Looking at Liu Rumei, with her attire that clearly belonged to a wealthy family, Cui Hua had never heard of Da Chun having such rich relatives.
Liu Rumei stepped forward. "Sister-in-law, your Da Chun saved my brother's life, so we've come to thank him."
Seeing that Cui Hua was still confused, Cui Hongyu quickly explained briefly. "It's the person from last night at the Mountain God Temple, and Da Chun also saved him."
Only then did Cui Hua understand and quickly moved aside. "Oh, now I understand. Please, come in."
At this moment, Xiu Mei, hearing the noise, also came out. Cui Hua stepped forward and briefly explained the situation in a low voice. Xiu Mei nodded, but her face showed no joy.
"Thank you for your concern, Miss Liu, but Da Chun's poisoning is severe, and he is still unconscious. It's not convenient for him to be visited at this time. Please forgive us."
Liu Rumei waved to Xiao Qing, who immediately pulled out a small porcelain bottle from her sleeve. She poured two pills from it and handed them to Cui Hua.
"Give this to Da Chun." Cui Hua didn't move but looked at Cui Hongyu. Cui Hongyu gave a slight nod.
Only then did Cui Hua quickly rush inside.
After that, Liu Rumei took a silver note from Liu Guanjia's hand.
"These are a token of our Liu family's gratitude. Please accept it."
Xiu Mei couldn't read, but Cui Hongyu understood clearly that it was a silver note worth a thousand taels.
With this thousand taels of silver, it would certainly make Da Chun's family the richest in Hetou Village, or even in the surrounding area—twenty villages could count them as one of the wealthiest families.
Xiu Mei chuckled and, after politely thanking her a few times, took the silver note.
She then thanked Liu Rumei repeatedly.
Things that could be solved with silver were the simplest, and Liu Rumei, after exchanging a few polite words, turned to leave.
After thanking Cui Hongyu once again, Liu Rumei, along with Xiao Qing, Liu Guanjia, and the others, left Hetou Village.
They walked far out of the village, and only then did Liu Rumei let out a long breath and smile.
"Miss, why are you smiling?" Xiao Qing asked, puzzled.
Liu Rumei looked at Xiao Qing. "With a thousand taels of silver, I did him a great favor. Shouldn't you be happy?"
"But Miss, you're being too generous. If it were up to me, a hundred taels would have been enough to make his family the wealthiest in the village."
Liu Rumei nodded. "You're right, but I want to give more. This way, Chen Xiaobei will know how unfortunate it is for him to have missed my gratitude."
With that, she flicked the horsewhip, and her steed galloped away.
Looking at Liu Rumei's figure, Liu Guanjia shook his head slightly.
He couldn't quite understand the young lady's actions today.
It was well past noon when Chen Xiaobei finally woke up, stretching lazily.
He listened closely and heard Cui Hongyu softly humming outside.
He got up, walked outside, and was greeted by a warm sight.
Cui Hongyu was leaning against a big locust tree, holding Chen Qiao'er in her arms. Chen Qiao'er had fallen asleep, while Cui Hongyu was singing an unknown lullaby.
This scene reminded him of his childhood, of being held by his mother.
Thinking of this, Chen Xiaobei's nose tingled with emotion. In his past life, he had already died, and his mother must have cried her heart out.
Perhaps sensing the noise, Cui Hongyu opened her eyes and turned to look at him.
"Hubby, you're awake."
Chen Xiaobei nodded, walked over, and gently took Chen Qiao'er from her arms.
"Let's go inside and sleep for a while."
Cui Hongyu shook her head. "I'm not tired. You rest, I'll start embroidering."
"No, you need to go inside and sleep right now," Chen Xiaobei said firmly.