The stuffy large tent was filled with the stench of fresh blood. Chu Li lay on the wide warm couch in the rear tent, his face pale and bloodless.

Qing Xia didn’t even look at Xi Linyu who had followed her in. She took the prepared set of silver needles and sat beside Chu Li, quickly inserting needles at precise acupoints including Shangxing, Taichong, Sanyinjiao, Zusanli, and Baihui. Her technique was skilled and her acupoint recognition so accurate it rivaled that of physicians with years of medical experience. Xi Linyu’s eyes were sharp – seeing where Qing Xia placed the needles, he knew she was administering pain relief to Chu Li, so he made no sound.

Chu Li’s face was pale, and the skin beneath his neck had calmed, suggesting the parasitic insects had penetrated deep into his body. His brows were tightly furrowed, his face bloodless, cold sweat streaming down his forehead, veins bulging prominently. Even though his consciousness was unclear, his suffering was still clearly visible.

Qing Xia bit her lower lip. Even after the precise needle placement, Chu Li’s complexion showed no sign of improvement. She could only reach out and tightly grasp Chu Li’s arm, saying in a deep voice: “Hold on, everything will be fine.”

Whether he heard Qing Xia’s words or not, Chu Li’s eyelids moved slightly, as if he wanted to open his eyes. Qing Xia’s expression was firm as she gripped Chu Li’s hand tightly. Not knowing if she was hypnotizing others or comforting herself, she said continuously: “Everything will definitely be fine.”

“Is there any way to help?” Qing Xia suddenly turned back and stared directly at Xi Linyu.

Xi Linyu was startled, then nodded: “My father will arrive immediately – there should be hope for recovery.”

Qing Xia nodded firmly, her face immediately showing a trace of bright radiance. She turned to look at Chu Li: “Did you hear that? There’s definitely hope. You’ve endured so many hardships – today will certainly be no different.”

“Miss!” Xu Quan’s voice sounded outside the tent. Qing Xia responded loudly, and a group of Black Guard attendants filed in, bringing everything Qing Xia had ordered prepared, followed by a group of military physicians from the northern camp. Xi Linyu’s father was at the front – an elderly man with white hair and a youthful face, kind eyebrows and gentle eyes, who looked nothing like a family head of one of the Eight Great Families.

When employing people, trust them completely. Qing Xia quickly stood up to make space, bowing respectfully to Xi Linyu and saying: “Elder sir.”

Xi Linyu’s face was grim as he hurried forward. He nodded once to Qing Xia, then went to examine Chu Li’s condition.

Qing Xia retreated from the crowd, standing distantly in the far corner, rising on her tiptoes to look toward Chu Li, who was heavily surrounded by numerous military physicians.

Through the layers of figures, she could only see Chu Li’s thick black hair and his pale-fingered hand hanging beside the bed. On his pale wrist were dark red coagulated stains. Qing Xia clenched her fists tightly, breathing heavily like someone severely ill.

“Ningyuan,” Xi Linyu said gravely to the medicine boy beside him, “prepare hot water, wound medicine, alum, licorice, ground beetles, frankincense, angelica, realgar, sweet melon seeds. Dry the ground beetles, soak the angelica in wine, two qian each of the rest. Also prepare five fen of Great Revival powder, apply cold with raw water.”

“Sir,” Xu Quan interjected, “everything is already here.” He handed over the medicinal herbs Qing Xia had previously ordered prepared.

Xi Linyu raised an eyebrow, a trace of surprise flashing in his eyes. While skillfully mixing the herbs with his hands and feet, he asked in a deep voice: “I wonder which physician made the diagnosis before this old man arrived.”

“No one made a diagnosis – our miss ordered these preparations.”

Xi Linyu’s gaze immediately turned toward Qing Xia’s direction. Qing Xia smiled politely and quickly asked: “Elder sir, how is His Majesty’s condition?”

“It’s not serious,” Xi Linyu shook his head. “Though this is a vicious mother parasite that kills instantly upon infection, His Majesty was infected with this parasite years ago. This old man already planted a child parasite in his body back then to counter the mother parasite. Therefore, as long as we fumigate His Majesty’s eight extraordinary meridians with medicinal herbs, we can force the parasitic insects out.”

Hearing this, Qing Xia nodded and let out a long breath. Had Chu Li really been infected with such parasitic poison before? A trace of pain that Qing Xia deliberately ignored slowly crept up her heart. She turned her head to look at Chu Li lying on the bed – perhaps she really understood too little about this man.

“Miss,” Xu Quan walked over and said, “Miss is also tired. Go rest for a while. With Master Xi Lin here and the Black Guards guarding outside, nothing will happen.”

Qing Xia shook her head faintly, not moving a step, still standing in place as she said softly: “I feel more at ease staying here. I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I went back anyway.”

Xu Quan saw that Qing Xia was covered in blood with multiple abrasions on her shoulders, arms, and thighs, her palms completely red with blood. Unable to bear it, he frowned slightly and ordered subordinates to bring a large soft chair for Qing Xia to lean back in. Then he said to Xi Linyu standing nearby: “Please, look after our miss.”

Xi Linyu was startled, not expecting that Xu Quan, the Black Guard commander known for his cold cruelty, would care so much about this woman. His thoughts stirred as he nodded.

Taking a medicine box from the medicine boy, Xi Linyu opened it and took out clean cotton cloth and medicinal solution. Half-bending his waist, he said to Qing Xia: “Miss, please allow me to apply medicine to your wounds.”

Qing Xia seemed not to hear, quietly lowering her head, lost in thought.

Xi Linyu had no choice but to speak loudly: “Miss, your hand injuries are severe. Please allow me to apply medicine.”

With that, he grabbed Qing Xia’s hand. He saw that on those pale, slender palms, new and old wounds were layered together, the palms peeling, red and swollen. As the saying goes, fingers are connected to the heart – he truly didn’t know how she had endured such wounds.

Carefully picking out the fine thorns and sandy debris embedded in the flesh, washing twice with clean water, then using white cotton cloth dipped in medicinal solution to treat Qing Xia’s wounds. Xi Linyu was a physician and naturally knew how much this medicinal solution would sting when applied to wounds, yet throughout the careful bandaging of Qing Xia’s palms, she never cried out in pain once. This couldn’t help but shock him internally. This woman’s resilient character was something he had rarely seen in his life, and she was decisive in her actions, ruthless in her methods, yet clear in her principles. Thinking of everything Chu Li had done today, Xi Linyu couldn’t help but furrow his brows tightly.

The arid battlefield was now a burial ground of withered bones. Except for his own Xi Lin lineage, all the elite generals of the Eight Great Families had perished today on the Western Black Wasteland, becoming food for birds and beasts. Even the Lingnan Zhu clan, who had openly allied with him, couldn’t escape this calamity. As for himself, if he hadn’t voluntarily followed Chu Li to charge at the beast horde, he couldn’t possibly be standing here now. It seemed the Great Emperor had already decided to eliminate the Eight Great Families. His recent days of leisure and entertainment had numbed everyone’s nerves, appearing calm and peaceful on the surface, but secretly he had laid this killing trap for complete annihilation. Now, with the Eight Great Families’ elite forces completely lost, the remaining elderly, weak women and children were powerless to retaliate. The separatist problem that had troubled the Nanchu royal family for three hundred years had been completely resolved in this single battle. Chu Li had placed himself in dangerous territory, using himself as bait to make the family heads lower their guard. His strategic brilliance and ruthless nature were truly that of a generation’s hero.

“Don’t worry, I won’t speak of what happened that night.” Qing Xia’s voice suddenly rang out. Xi Linyu was deep in thought when he heard this and was startled, quickly lowering his head to look deeply at Qing Xia’s expressionless face.

“Loving an emperor is itself a tragic thing. If your little sister can’t endure Chu Li’s three palaces and six courtyards, his harem of consorts, you should advise her to give up early, lest she become unable to extricate herself in the future and waste her entire life.”

Sharp light flashed in Xi Linyu’s eyes. After a long time, he asked as if possessed by a ghost: “Then, what about you, Miss?”

He didn’t know why he had asked such a question – only after he realized it, the words had already been spoken. Qing Xia was slightly startled and slowly raised her head to look at this man she had met several times. The question that had long been suppressed was suddenly dragged out into the open, and she suddenly felt a rare panic.

Then what about her? Why would she be so anxiously worried, why would she be so restless and uneasy? She had long known of Chu Li’s feelings toward her, but what was her attitude toward Chu Li?

She had always been trying every means to escape from him, treating him with false compliance, acting and pretending, testing each other again and again, deceiving each other, hurting each other, suspecting each other. But this time, seeing him again, Qing Xia had to admit that it really wasn’t like when she was in Shengdu – that kind of rejection and disgust, that kind of racking her brains to escape and distance herself. On the contrary, there would be concern, there would be heartache, there would be thoughts of helping him, there would be ideas of seeking revenge for him. Their relationship was already slowly changing. Although they still glared at each other angrily and were at daggers drawn, Qing Xia knew that hidden beneath the cold mockery and sarcasm was the two people’s increasingly deep care and concern for each other.

Could this be love?

As soon as this thought arose, a pale, indifferent face suddenly appeared before her eyes. Qing Xia’s heart immediately ached, her brows furrowing tightly. How could she selfishly blame Qin Zhiyan for today’s events? Everyone had their own position and interests. Chu Li had long known that Qin Zhiyan was inciting Nanjiang rebellion to consolidate his position in Great Qin’s military. But he had remained inactive, going along with the plan, cleverly borrowing Nanjiang’s hand to eliminate the Seven Great Families’ elite forces in one stroke, reclaiming royal power. Both men had ulterior motives, carefully plotting for their own maximum benefit. How could one sentence determine who was right and who was wrong?

What Qin Zhiyan had done was merely his duty, and Chu Li’s injury was simply the necessary price to be paid. Having worked as an agent for many years, she had long seen through the various means of modern hypocritical politicians and their cunning tricks of sacrificing everything to preserve their own interests. Those in position must consider their political duties – could the matters here really be divided into clear right and wrong?

The brief few days spent with Qin Zhiyan in the imperial tomb had generated inexplicable emotions. Qing Xia didn’t hate Qin Zhiyan for calculating and using her, as it was forced by circumstances – if it had been her, she would have done the same. But the gap and difference in identity between them lay there like a huge chasm. Qing Xia was very clear about what she wanted and what she shouldn’t get involved with. Given her current state of mind and identity, she simply shouldn’t provoke anyone or anything. She always kept this clearly in her heart.