The phoenix perches on the parasol tree, pure and noble.

The most ancient tribute surpasses thousands of elegant words of love.

The emperor, still in his sacrificial robes, looked up at her earnestly: “Will you marry me?”

A great wind suddenly rose, carrying them across the dust of the past. Above their heads, the stars trembled and fell, striking out magnificent bell-like sounds.

She had promised herself not to cry anymore.

Yu Wanyin raised her hand to cover her eyes: “I’ve been your consort from the beginning. Now I’m still your empress…”

“How is that enough?” Xiahou Dan smiled as he slipped the ring onto her finger. “I still want you to be my bride.”

The Nameless Guest stayed in the capital for several days, waiting until the funeral rites for Bei Zhou were completed and he was laid to rest.

Taking advantage of the fact that the current court officials did not yet dare to criticize, Xiahou Dan directly decreed that Bei Zhou would be buried with the ceremony of a prince.

Bei Zhou was grandly interred in the imperial tomb, but that elaborate grave was merely a cenotaph. His remains were quietly buried beside the Cizhen Empress Dowager.

With this, the capital’s upheaval came to an end.

Lin Xuanying reorganized the surrendered armies and, bearing his newly bestowed title of general, returned to the southern border to deal with the aftermath. They all knew that the imperial throne would soon change hands again, and to prevent chaos, preparations had to be made early.

The Nameless Guest, having nothing else to do, decided to accompany his disciple part of the way, taking the opportunity to guide his cultivation.

The emperor and empress escorted them beyond the city gates.

Lin Xuanying drank a cup with Xiahou Dan at the pavilion, knowing in his heart that this was likely a final farewell. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to say anything sentimental. After struggling for a while, he could only say: “Don’t worry, I won’t take her away.”

Xiahou Dan: “…Thank you.”

Meanwhile, Yu Wanyin also took the Nameless Guest aside to speak privately.

Yu Wanyin: “His Majesty has announced to the world that, considering brotherly affection, he will not execute Xiahou Bo, only imprison him for life. We will try to avoid severe punishment, allowing him to cling to life for a few years.”

The Nameless Guest bowed deeply: “I thank Your Majesty on behalf of all the common people under heaven.”

The wind blew through the tall grass as his white robes fluttered, giving him the appearance of one ready to depart now that matters were settled.

Yu Wanyin looked at him expressionlessly, her gaze strange, and asked softly: “Sir, everything you’ve done was not for any individual, but to plead for this realm, is that right?”

The Nameless Guest stroked his beard and said: “Heaven and earth have their karmic principles but remain silent. As mere mortals, if we can fortunately glimpse a bit of this, it’s because we’re entrusted with heaven’s will. Therefore, we dare not but exert our utmost.”

“I understand now,” Yu Wanyin said. “The fact that sir still hasn’t shown His Majesty a life path suggests that the heavens no longer care about him.”

The Nameless Guest’s eyelid twitched: “Your Majesty should be careful with your words.”

Yu Wanyin smiled: “I’m merely stating the truth. Luring someone in for ten years, draining their lifeblood, then discarding them when they’re used up—”

Several muffled thunderclaps sounded in the distance.

Yu Wanyin simply raised her head, looking straight upward, pursed her red lips, and raised a sarcastic smile: “So this is how cruel the so-called Way of Heaven is.”

The Nameless Guest was shocked.

Having been an otherworldly sage for most of his life, he had never seen someone so audacious. Did she have a death wish?

Yu Wanyin faced him with a solemn expression: “Could sir divine one more hexagram for His Majesty?”

“…Though I wish I could, it truly yields no results… Your Majesty,” the Nameless Guest thought deeply for a moment, and could only speak more plainly, “The imperial star has returned to its position, but it only needs one star. Doesn’t Your Majesty know this in your heart?”

“Of course I understand. I arrived, so the other person no longer needs to be preserved.” Yu Wanyin commented, “What a cleverly calculated plan.”

The rumbling thunder sounded like drums, beginning to roll in their direction. In the distance, the horses in the right army began to move restlessly. Animals with undeveloped minds are more sensitive to the anger of primordial forces surging in the mysterious beyond.

Yu Wanyin stood calmly, her breathing almost still—

Then, she raised a gun.

The Nameless Guest faced her calmly.

Until she turned the gun around and pressed it against her forehead.

Nameless Guest: “?”

Yu Wanyin: “If His Majesty dies, I will follow him. You can go find your next savior.”

The Nameless Guest was shocked for a few seconds, then regained his composure and said with profound mystery: “Your Majesty will not pull the trigger.”

Without another word, Yu Wanyin pulled the trigger.

The Nameless Guest’s expression changed drastically—

Yu Wanyin tossed aside the unloaded gun and smiled: “So sir can misjudge after all.”

Before the Nameless Guest could react, she raised a second gun: “Perhaps sir would like to divine whether this one is loaded. And carefully calculate whether I would pull the trigger.”

Nameless Guest: “…”

The Nameless Guest took a deep breath: “Your Majesty should not do this. The situation has just stabilized, which is the result of His Majesty’s painstaking efforts. If Your Majesty abandons everything now, it will all be ruined…”

Yu Wanyin: “I shouldn’t do this, but I’m pleased to.”

The Nameless Guest finally became anxious: “This is defying heaven!”

“You’re wrong. This isn’t defying heaven. This is making heaven bend to my will,” Yu Wanyin stood with her clothes and hair billowing in the strong wind, and said word by word, “We wage slaves can tolerate all kinds of clients, except those who don’t pay. If you want me to sit in this position, you must give me what I want.”

The level of arrogance in this statement exceeded the Nameless Guest’s comprehension, leaving him momentarily speechless. Her words seemed not directed at him, but rather boldly pointing to the sky, haggling with heaven itself. As for him, he was merely a messenger caught in between.

The peals of thunder continued unabated, like the sound of ten thousand drums. The tall grass all around surged like waves, rising and falling in the wind.

Yu Wanyin indeed had no intention of waiting for his response. She bowed again and said calmly: “Please divine a hexagram, sir. Whether this divination yields results or not, I will consider it a response.”

The Nameless Guest considered for a long time, then complied.

He steadied himself, not bothering to search for divination tools, but looked up at the streaks of lightning cutting across the sky amid the thunder. He calculated with his fingers.

Lightning flashed from far to near, dancing wildly above their heads, making their vision alternately bright and dark. The Nameless Guest stood perfectly still, muttering incantations. Yu Wanyin observed for a while and guessed he was divining by numbers.

She neither disturbed nor rushed him, just stood quietly waiting, never lowering the gun in her hand.

After some time, the Nameless Guest lowered his hands, swaying slightly as if drained of energy.

Yu Wanyin: “Sir?”

“Thunder over Water, Dissolution.”

Yu Wanyin was momentarily confused, not understanding his meaning.

Nameless Guest: “When uncertain whether to advance or retreat, advancing should take precedence.”

Before his words faded, a thunderbolt struck five feet away from them, turning that patch of ground to scorched earth.

The Nameless Guest immediately knelt.

“What matter is uncertain?” Yu Wanyin quickly asked.

Another thunderbolt struck. The Nameless Guest leaped up, turned, and walked away, waving his hand: “I can say no more! When the turning point comes, Your Majesty will perceive it!”

Yu Wanyin wanted to ask more, but the Nameless Guest moved like a ghost, in the blink of an eye he was several zhang away, and in another blink, he was almost out of sight.

He seemed to be fleeing either from heaven’s punishment or from Yu Wanyin, not even waiting for Lin Xuanying as he departed in a cloud of dust.

The one hint she had finally obtained remained vague and unclear.

Yu Wanyin sighed, having no choice but to ponder it herself.

On the way back to the palace, she was so deep in thought about what exactly she was “uncertain” about that she didn’t even notice Xiahou Dan’s unusual silence.

As soon as they dismounted from the carriage, Xiahou Dan said: “I’m going to a meeting.”

He didn’t return until dark. Yu Wanyin waited as usual to dine with him, but only received a message telling her to eat first.

She knew Xiahou Dan’s headaches had worsened. In recent days, he had been disappearing more and more frequently and had grown so thin that court officials were adding lines about taking care of his imperial health in their memorials. Even when with her, he was always forcing a smile.

Yu Wanyin grew anxious, barely swallowing a few bites of dinner. She lay on the bed waiting for Xiahou Dan, tossing and turning while searching for clues, not even knowing when she fell asleep.

When she was awakened, it was already midnight, and the pillow beside her was still empty.

The guard who woke her had a trembling voice: “Your Majesty, His Majesty is…”

Yu Wanyin jerked awake, hastily rising and putting on her outer robe: “Lead the way.”

Xiahou Dan was in an unused side hall.

This hall looked unremarkable from the outside, but entering it revealed strict security. Seeing the formation of these guards, Yu Wanyin’s heart began to tighten.

The room was in complete disarray. Broken vessels and overturned screens were scattered about, still uncleaned. The emperor was tied to the bed, barely breathing, already unconscious.

His body and forehead were covered in bloody wounds, and even the nails on his hands were worn and split, a horrific sight. Xiao Tiancai was bandaging him, and upon seeing Yu Wanyin’s expression, he quickly knelt.

Yu Wanyin took several deep breaths before she could speak: “Why didn’t you use acupuncture to make him sleep?”

Xiao Tiancai: “His Majesty’s attack is unlike previous ones; acupuncture no longer works. I prepared a sedative medicine, increased the dosage several times, and forced it down his throat. It only just took effect…”

He cautiously said: “Your Majesty, the poison in His Majesty’s body has accumulated and penetrated deeply. This time…”

This time it’s truly hopeless.

The candlelight elongated Yu Wanyin’s shadow, seeming to drag her down heavily.

She heard her voice calmly asking: “How much longer?”

“…This poison is in his brain. Perhaps in these two days, he will be completely paralyzed. Then his mind will become unclear, possibly going blind and deaf. At most, he might last ten to fifteen days…” Xiao Tiancai bit his back teeth, his expression showing guilt and unwillingness. “I am incompetent and have failed Your Majesties’ trust. Please punish me.”

Yu Wanyin took the medicine from his hand and sat by the bed, holding Xiahou Dan’s hand. As the medicine powder fell on the exposed flesh where his nails had split, even she couldn’t help but tremble, yet Xiahou Dan remained unconscious with no reaction.

Yu Wanyin carefully bandaged the wounds and said softly: “Continue increasing the medication, try to keep him asleep.”

Xiao Tiancai thought she had accepted reality and only wanted to reduce Xiahou Dan’s suffering before his passing, so he could only bow heavily: “Yes.”

Yu Wanyin stayed in the side hall until dawn before leaving.

She dispatched more secret guards to the side hall, ordering that entry and exit were strictly forbidden. To the outside world, she announced that the emperor was slightly unwell and would not hold court that day.

Though state affairs had just gotten back on track and morning court was canceled, many matters still required decisions.

Yu Wanyin returned to her chambers to wash and change clothes, preparing to meet people.

The mute maid helped her remove her outer robe, then suddenly grabbed her arm to examine it.

“What’s wrong?—Oh,” Yu Wanyin only then noticed the bloodstains on her sleeve. Seeing the mute maid still looking for wounds, she reassured her, “It’s not my injury. His Majesty… His Majesty accidentally fell and got scraped.” She decided within seconds to use this as the unified explanation to others.

The mute maid looked at Yu Wanyin’s expression and made no further gesture, but when Yu Wanyin changed her clothes and was about to leave, she held her back again, bringing a bowl of warm sweet porridge and several small dishes.

Yu Wanyin suddenly realized she hadn’t eaten for a long time. She rubbed the mute maid’s head, drained the sweet porridge in one go, and her mood stabilized slightly. Turning to look at the gloomy sky, she murmured as if to herself: “I’ll give you one more day. Don’t be ungrateful, or tomorrow I’ll go on strike.”

Mute maid: “?”

Yu Wanyin approved a stack of urgent memorials and then summoned people to inquire about news from Tuer, but still received no response. The so-called turning point seemed only an excuse the Nameless Guest had made up to escape.

Yu Wanyin dismissed everyone around her, suddenly collapsing onto the desk in the imperial study, motionless.

After a moment, there came the sound of light footsteps behind her.

Yu Wanyin raised her head alertly: “Who’s there?”

“Your Majesty,” a secret guard, who seemed to have appeared from nowhere, lowered his head and bowed to her.

“Number Twelve?” Yu Wanyin recognized his face. “It’s not your shift today, is it?”

Twelve: “His Majesty had already commanded that if he fell ill, the secret guards around Your Majesty should immediately increase. Because it was a secret order, I’ve been hiding in the shadows to protect you today. Please forgive me.”

“Then why have you come out now?”

“Your Majesty, that mute maid disappeared from the imperial chambers for a quarter of an hour just now.”

Yu Wanyin’s heart suddenly leaped.

Twelve: “She’s always been slippery, and she seems to know exactly where the other secret guards are positioned. She moved quickly, escaping through blind spots they couldn’t see. Only I, being newly added today, was not anticipated by her, allowing me to glimpse her passing quickly toward the small pharmacy.”

The so-called small pharmacy was a room that had been converted recently, serving only Xiahou Dan. As his condition worsened, he needed to take large amounts of sedatives and painkillers. If someone with ulterior motives were to examine the medicine dregs, they could determine that his condition was extremely serious. Therefore, to maintain secrecy, the location of this small pharmacy was very hidden, and ordinary palace servants couldn’t find it.

Yu Wanyin’s suspicions grew stronger: “Is there any problem with His Majesty?”

Twelve: “Rest assured, Your Majesty, the side hall is now like an iron fortress. No one can get in.”

Yu Wanyin calmed down and pondered deeply.

At this point, any unusual behavior was not frightening; what was frightening was the absence of any unusual behavior. Now that a clue had appeared, she just needed to follow the trail to find the answer.

Time was pressing, so she instructed Twelve: “Tell them to throw away all the medicine sent from the small pharmacy today and brew it again. Continue monitoring the mute maid, but don’t alert her. Don’t reveal yourself without my order.”

For the rest of the day, however, the mute maid behaved normally.

After nightfall, Xiahou Dan woke once in the side hall, and from the first second his eyes opened, he began banging his head against the bedpost.

The restraints on his body had loosened, and when he suddenly moved, the palace servants around him were caught off guard. He managed to hit his head solidly twice before they rushed over to hold him down.

Yu Wanyin tried to give him medicine, but Xiahou Dan kept struggling, his eyes unable to focus, making sounds like a wild beast. Yu Wanyin called his name several times, but he seemed not to hear. In the end, the guards had to force his jaw open and force the medicine down.

After he lost consciousness again, even the battle-hardened guards had reddened eyes as they worriedly glanced at Yu Wanyin.

Yu Wanyin stood motionless for a moment: “He doesn’t recognize me anymore.”

The guards murmured words of comfort.

Yu Wanyin found it absurd: “The last thing he said to me was… that he was going to a meeting.”

She turned numbly and left.

Yu Wanyin returned to her chambers and greeted the mute maid with a normal expression: “I’m a bit tired today. I’ll go to sleep first.”

She lay motionless on the bed, hoping the mute maid would lower her guard and slip out again for whatever she was doing—whatever it was, things couldn’t get worse.

However, after waiting for two hours, there was still no movement.

Yu Wanyin’s body gradually grew cold, and she curled into a ball under the covers.

Let the turning point come quickly. Any later, and it would be meaningless.

The thick, warm blankets couldn’t retain heat, gradually becoming like an ice cave. Yu Wanyin’s teeth chattered, and she was annoyed that she couldn’t hold up at such a critical moment, actually developing a fever. She wanted to call someone to fetch a physician but feared alerting the mute maid…

Suddenly, her breathing stopped.

In her confused mind, a vague memory surfaced. This morning, hadn’t she drunk a bowl of sweet porridge?

A dim light penetrated the bed curtains as someone lit candles. A small, thin figure approached and lifted the curtain.

The mute maid stood by the bed, looking at her with concern.

Yu Wanyin struggled to control her chattering teeth, slowly pulled her hand out from under the covers, and pointed a gun at her.

The mute maid ignored it and asked: “Your Majesty, not feeling well?”

Only then did Yu Wanyin realize that the mute maid wasn’t mute at all.

At the same moment, she also understood why the other had pretended to be mute—this short sentence was spoken brokenly, with an obvious foreign accent.

The mute maid didn’t care about Yu Wanyin’s reaction and smiled: “You, poisoned, after shaking starts, one incense stick, you die. Don’t worry, I have an antidote.”

Just as Yu Wanyin opened her mouth, the mute maid raised a finger: “Quiet, your people, don’t come.”

Yu Wanyin hesitated, then indeed lowered the gun and kept her voice extremely low: “What do you want?”

The mute maid nodded with satisfaction: “You go kill the emperor. He dies, you live.”

Yu Wanyin’s thoughts raced, connecting scattered clues.

The accent, the hostility that seemed to wish death upon others when they first met, the sudden change in attitude after discovering her identity on the journey…

Yu Wanyin: “You’re from Qiang country.”

This wasn’t a question, so the other didn’t answer.

Yu Wanyin sat up shakily, wrapping the blanket tightly around herself, trying to ignore the bone-deep cold, her voice still calm and unhurried: “You followed me into the palace to assassinate. You figured out the positions of the secret guards and the location of the small pharmacy. From my behavior this morning, you deduced that those medicines were for His Majesty, so you decided to take advantage of his illness and end his life.”

The medicine brewed in the small pharmacy wasn’t for the actual condition, so the mute maid couldn’t determine exactly what Xiahou Dan’s illness was, and thus wouldn’t know that even without any interference, he would die on his own.

“As a result, you went to the small pharmacy to poison him but were discovered. You waited until night, still didn’t hear the death knell, knew your mission had failed, and had no choice but to try again through me…”

At this point, Yu Wanyin paused: “Strange, if you had already poisoned me early through the sweet porridge, why bother running to the small pharmacy, exposing yourself prematurely?”

The mute maid shrugged, only urging her: “One incense stick.”

Yu Wanyin ignored this and continued softly: “Also, knowing who I am and who Xiahou Dan is, why didn’t you act earlier during our exile? Instead, you helped us several times.”

The mute maid’s expression grew cold, her usually quick and lively eyes now fixed intently on Yu Wanyin, showing a touch of ruthlessness.

“—Ah, I understand now.” Yu Wanyin answered her question, “At that time, Prince Duan was in power, and killing us would have been useless. You wanted to see us destroy each other, but our victory came faster than you expected. Seeing Prince Duan’s defeat was inevitable, you then decided to be the opportunist, right?” She smiled, “If that’s the case, for your young age, you see quite far ahead. I imagine you weren’t an ordinary citizen in Qiang country.”

The mute maid couldn’t help but let out a cold laugh: “Every Qiang person knows. Da Xia and Yan countries will fight. You stop fighting, we’re finished.”

Qiang country was weak, always struggling to survive in the gap between Da Xia and Yan. They didn’t have a strong army and refused to bow their heads to become a vassal state seeking protection. Their survival tactics were various underhanded methods—poison, theft, seduction, and sowing discord.

Like the former Yan country, Qiang country also liked to send suicide agents to Da Xia. Those who could kill a few important figures and cause internal chaos in Da Xia would be honored as heroes, and their families would receive rewards.

After Tuer allied with Xia and attacked Qiang, those refugees who escaped to Da Xia by every possible means shared a similar purpose. While struggling to survive, they sought every opportunity to create disasters, weaken Da Xia, and end their homeland’s suffering.

Mute Maid: “My parents, queen’s warriors. I, also want to be a warrior.”

There was a naive fanaticism in her tone that was strangely chilling yet strangely sad.

Yu Wanyin asked softly: “Become a warrior… and then what?”

The mute maid’s eyes became hollow for a moment, then she smiled again.

Yu Wanyin suddenly remembered the poison in Empress Dowager Koudan’s fingernails. Xiao Tiancai had said that only the Qiang people could produce this poison. The Empress Dowager had used it to eliminate generations of enemies, and now, having gone to hell herself, wanted to set one final trap for Xiahou Dan—but how had she initially obtained the poison and its antidote? Which Qiang warrior’s glorious achievement had successfully thrown Da Xia into chaos for three entire generations?

The assassins recorded in history are all second-rate assassins. The truly outstanding ones have disappeared in the river of time as if they never existed.

“There’s one more thing I don’t understand,” Yu Wanyin said. “You had even your undergarments replaced during the palace entry inspection. Where did you get the poison from now?”

The mute maid looked out the window: “Heaven, help me.”

This choice of words made Yu Wanyin’s thoughts stir, a flash of insight appearing and disappearing.

She followed the mute maid’s gaze out the window, raising an eyebrow: “Those flowers and plants?”

For her imperial consort ceremony, many rare flowers and plants had been brought from all over the country. Yu Wanyin pressed: “Among those plants, coincidentally, were all the ingredients you needed? Not a single one missing?”

The mute maid blinked, suddenly realizing something, and said viciously: “Leave now, or you die!”

Yu Wanyin showed disappointment.

She knew Twelve was nearby eavesdropping, so she had been stalling the mute maid to extract useful information. Unfortunately, the mute maid wasn’t stupid. Having seen through her intention, she refused to say another word and reached out to pull Yu Wanyin from the bed.

Yu Wanyin’s composure was forced; in reality, her internal organs felt almost frozen, her body stiff and powerless. Forcibly pulled to the floor by the mute maid, she had to lean against the bedpost to stand: “I can’t do it… The emperor is surrounded by layers of protection. I’ll be shot like a sieve the moment I draw a weapon…”

“Go,” the mute maid pushed her toward the door.

Yu Wanyin stumbled, still trying to persuade her: “…All food and drink are tested for poison, and countless eyes are watching. Even I don’t have the opportunity to poison him. Don’t rush; this matter needs careful planning…”

One incense stick’s time was indeed very short. Yu Wanyin could feel her strength rapidly leaving her body along with her body heat.

If they captured the mute maid now, would there be enough time to torture her for the antidote? Or could she save Xiahou Dan?

However, this person was so determined and hated Da Xia to the bone; she would never yield to threats or inducements. Even the antidote she promised was probably nonexistent.

Since she had set this trap, she probably wanted to kill both the emperor and empress with one arrow, right?

Unfortunately, this plan was doomed to fail, because heaven wouldn’t allow a double kill. Between herself and Xiahou Dan, one would ultimately survive…

In that instant, Yu Wanyin froze.

—One would survive?

Mute Maid: “He trusts you.”

She forced Yu Wanyin to the door, took out a small porcelain bottle from her sleeve, and said with a half-smile: “He’s bleeding.”

Like lightning cutting through a pitch-black sky, in this profound moment, Yu Wanyin saw all the cunning causes and effects at work.

Five stars converge, and extreme misfortune turns into good fortune.

Her mind was in tumult, as she watched the mute maid hand over the small porcelain bottle: “Sprinkle on wound.”

Yu Wanyin used all her acting skills to display fear and despair, trembling as she hid the bottle and left her chambers.

As soon as she was out of the mute maid’s sight, Twelve appeared with several guards, anxiously supporting her: “Your Majesty.”

Yu Wanyin quickened her steps toward the side hall: “Go restrain the mute maid, keep her alive. Tell Xiao Tiancai to open his medicine box and wait.”

In the side hall.

Xiao Tiancai poured out some powder from the porcelain bottle, repeatedly smelling and examining it. In his urgency, he even put a little in his mouth to taste: “Similar, very similar.”

He then took a test mouse from his medicine box, cut a small wound with a dagger, and sprinkled the powder on it. The mouse immediately began to bleed profusely, flowing without stopping. Even when he applied wound medicine, it showed no sign of stopping.

Xiao Tiancai wiped cold sweat and announced: “It’s very similar to the poison used by the Yan assassin’s sword last time. It causes unstoppable bleeding, leading to death. I can taste several ingredients that match the ancient formula.”

Tuer had said that the poison was left by the Qiang queen.

It was because Xiahou Dan hadn’t died after being stabbed last time, and his headaches had even temporarily improved, that they had the idea to fight poison with poison. However, the Qiang queen had only left that small amount, which Tuer had used up, and couldn’t reproduce the formula. That’s why they needed to search heaven and earth to find it.

Who would have thought they would obtain it today without any effort?

Yu Wanyin sat by Xiahou Dan’s bed, already swaying, with several helpless imperial physicians kneeling nearby. She ignored the physicians and only asked Xiao Tiancai: “Can we use it?”

Could this mysterious bottle save the emperor? What if the slightest error led to immediate death?

Xiao Tiancai was covered in cold sweat, not daring to nod, and turned to the old physician kneeling nearby: “Master, what do you think?”

The old physician trembled: “This… would require some time to verify…”

But they had no time.

Yu Wanyin shook, her vision beginning to darken. Beside her lay Xiahou Dan, pale and breathing rapidly.

Xiao Tiancai looked away in despair. Once the empress collapsed, surely no one in the palace would dare decide to administer medicine to the emperor, bearing the crime of attempted regicide.

He bit his lip, about to speak—

“Give it to me,” Yu Wanyin said.

Xiao Tiancai was stunned, and the old physician began to dissuade her: “Please reconsider, Your Majesty!”

Yu Wanyin simply held out her hand to Xiao Tiancai: “When uncertain whether to advance or retreat, advancing should take precedence.”

Xiao Tiancai handed over the bottle.

Yu Wanyin had no time for other considerations, acting purely on instinct to undo Xiahou Dan’s bandages. However, lacking strength, she fumbled for a long time without success.

Since Xiao Tiancai had already begun, he no longer hesitated and simply helped remove the bandages, revealing Xiahou Dan’s crisscrossing wounds.

Yu Wanyin took a deep breath and managed to raise the porcelain bottle.

Suddenly, Xiahou Dan’s eyelashes trembled.

In the deathly silence of the room, he slowly opened his eyes, his unfocused gaze vaguely directed toward the bedside.