Lin Kangle also felt that Physician Hong’s words made sense. How could the life of a deposed prince compare to Bai Qingyan, who was about to ascend the throne? He nodded: “Fine! I’ll first take a military doctor over to examine him. Whether he lives or dies depends on fate! Many of our brothers in the army died or were injured trying to put out the fire…”

Before Lin Kangle could finish speaking, Physician Hong’s entire expression became solemn: “Have they been sent back to the wounded soldiers’ camp? Are there many burn victims?”

Before Lin Kangle could answer, Physician Hong picked up his medicine box and hurried away: “Forget it, I’ll go take a look…”

Watching Physician Hong hurry away carrying his medicine box, Lin Kangle reached out to call after him, but ultimately pressed his lips together and looked at Shen Tianzhi: “Shouldn’t… we be staying here to guard His Majesty?”

Shen Tianzhi raised his hand and patted Lin Kangle’s shoulder. That was just Physician Hong not wanting to waste energy on Jin Dynasty’s deposed prince, but the soldiers held a different place in the heart of an old military doctor like Physician Hong.

Shen Tianzhi gazed at the moon obscured by dark clouds, faintly sensing the moisture carried in the wind, his expression showing joy… it looked like it was going to rain.

Inside the large tent, the candles had almost burned out, their wax tears dripping. It was so quiet that one could only faintly hear the surrounding sounds of wind brushing through grass and trees, and the low chirping of night insects.

Bai Qingyan and Bai Jinxiu were cleaning the Grand Princess’s face and wiping her body.

Since the Grand Princess had come with the resolve to die, the clothes she wore were quite exquisite, so there was no need to go to the trouble of changing them.

The wind outside the large tent grew stronger and stronger, making the military tent rustle loudly. Before long, pattering rain began to fall.

The common people who had been settled behind the military camp had originally been watching the great fire in Luohong City, thinking their homes would burn down, and were all on the verge of tears. When this heavy rain arrived, the people came out from their tents one after another, some even kneeling on the ground and wailing loudly, grateful that Heaven had finally sent rain to leave them a way to survive.

The towering flames in Luohong City dodged left and right, but could not escape these fine, dense raindrops that fell like broken strings of pearls. When fire met water, steam rose, and from afar, Luohong City appeared shrouded in water mist, like a fairy city enveloped in celestial qi among the clouds.

Below the high steps of Luohong Tower, Hong Qiao searched through the pile of corpses that Bai Jinxiu had thrown on both sides – the fire had already burned half of them, looking for Prince Liang’s remains. She was covered in soot and ash, her clothes full of black holes where sparks had burned and been extinguished.

Both her hands were covered with blood blisters burned by the fierce fire, which had been worn raw and were seeping blood, yet she endured the excruciating pain and the sweat covering her body as she continued searching: “Your Majesty… Your Majesty!”

When the heavy rain arrived, the surroundings were filled with steaming hot vapor that could cook a person. Hong Qiao felt dizzy from the steam and had difficulty breathing, but still had not found Prince Liang!

She didn’t know if loyal subordinates had protected Prince Liang and already escaped, but she truly could not hold on any longer…

As Hong Qiao continued searching, her vision began to darken, and she suddenly collapsed.

She couldn’t hold on anymore…

Her fingers moved slightly, but in the end, she couldn’t manage to prop herself up.

“Here! There’s a girl here who didn’t evacuate! She’s still breathing!”

Before Hong Qiao’s consciousness completely faded, she heard someone shouting. In her hazy vision, Hong Qiao saw it was a soldier in military uniform, then her vision went black and she knew nothing more.

The torrential rain fell all night long. Although the fire wasn’t completely extinguished, it no longer had yesterday’s scene of flames reaching the sky. Now, only the high mountains behind Luohong Tower still showed faint firelight. Lin Kangle had already dispatched several groups of soldiers to go up the mountain again to extinguish those remaining sparks.

It was already the hour of chen (7-9 AM). Through the gaps in the heavy clouds on the horizon, extremely dazzling light shone through, golden edges outlining the cloud masses…

Though it hadn’t completely cleared up yet, one could already see the signs of a bright sunny day.

Puddles could be seen everywhere in Luohong City, reflecting the slowly moving dark clouds above and the golden light shining through them, occasionally shattered by the boots of Great Zhou soldiers, occasionally broken by horse hooves.

Some soldiers were ordered to conduct house-to-house searches, looking for remaining loyalists of the former dynasty who had not yet escaped the city.

Other soldiers went house by house checking the residents’ dwellings to see if they were still habitable. According to Lin Kangle’s instructions, civilian houses that had been burned down were registered, and new residences would be allocated to the people in due time.

Lin Kangle’s subordinates confirmed that the city was now safe and came to report to Lin Kangle. Lin Kangle was uncertain whether he should allow the common people who were eager to enter the city and return home to check their losses to enter. He stepped through the mud and hurried toward Bai Qingyan’s large tent.

Outside the large tent, Shen Tianzhi had been standing guard all night. There had been no sound from inside the tent for a long time, and Shen Tianzhi was extremely worried.

Lin Kangle approached and bowed with cupped hands to Shen Tianzhi, whose chin showed blue stubble. He glanced into the large tent and asked in a low voice: “How is His Majesty?”

“No movement, but… There should be nothing wrong!” Shen Tianzhi thought of the Jin Dynasty’s deposed prince and asked Lin Kangle, “How is that Jin Dynasty deposed prince? Is he dead?”

Mentioning this made Lin Kangle look completely annoyed: “Not dead. How can his life be so resilient… He was saved even after losing so much blood! I even specifically instructed that military doctor not to be too diligent, just to go through the motions! Who knew he’d pull through! However… he’ll probably be inseparable from medicine bottles for the rest of his life.”

“Oh…” Shen Tianzhi’s tone was regretful. If this deposed prince had died, Qin Shangzhi, whom Bai Qingyan had always wanted to recruit, would probably be able to pledge loyalty to Bai Qingyan smoothly. Shen Tianzhi pressed his lips and asked again, “What about that Qin Shangzhi? Didn’t he want to see His Majesty?”

Lin Kangle waved his hand: “I don’t know what kind of bewitching potion this former dynasty’s deposed prince fed to this Qin Shangzhi, but that Qin Shangzhi takes care of this former dynasty’s deposed prince like he’s caring for his father! I think… we shouldn’t count on it anymore. This Qin Shangzhi definitely won’t submit to His Majesty. We should have known earlier… we shouldn’t have brought them back. We should have just killed them all with one stroke each! That would have saved us the trouble.”

The reason for bringing them back last night was entirely because Lin Kangle was giving face to Qin Shangzhi…

Before Bai Qingyan entered the city yesterday, she had specifically called Qin Shangzhi out of the city for a detailed conversation. She very much wanted to win over Qin Shangzhi, but who would have thought that the deposed prince could survive having a knife thrust into his chest?

“The Grand Princess is gone…” Lin Kangle sighed, gripping the hilt of his sword at his waist with one hand. “The coronation ceremony is approaching soon. His Majesty should set out to return to the capital. First… we can’t delay here with the Grand Princess, and second… His Majesty needs to return to prepare in advance! How about… You go in now and discuss this with His Majesty? I’ll stay with the troops to assist the people in returning to the city, and you escort His Majesty back to the capital first?”

Shen Tianzhi looked sideways at Lin Kangle with a half-smile. This person was quite good at making assignments. The Grand Princess was the grandmother who had raised Bai Qingyan from childhood, and they had an extraordinary relationship. At this time… with the Grand Princess gone, Bai Qingyan was grieving… and he was supposed to go into the large tent and discuss these matters with Bai Qingyan?