The physician’s words that Lu Yuanpeng couldn’t hold on for more than a few hours were like a knife repeatedly stabbing at her heart, over and over again, causing her unbearable pain.
With only a few hours left, sending someone to fetch Physician Hong back and forth would be too late – it was better to take Lu Yuanpeng with her.
Soon the carriage was ready. Bai Jinzhi was still uneasy, so she sent someone ahead to Shequ to fetch Physician Hong while she accompanied Lu Yuanpeng in the carriage to Shequ – this would save the most time.
The carriage couldn’t go too slowly, but it also couldn’t go too fast. Bai Jinzhi knelt beside Lu Yuanpeng, tightly gripping his hand, talking to him nonstop, not caring whether Lu Yuanpeng could hear her or not.
“Sima Ping said before that after the world is unified, the three of us would travel together, eating the most delicious food in the world. He even promised each of us a set of warm jade chess pieces! He doesn’t want to give them to us… saying that only when we can beat him at chess will he give them to us! Didn’t he say that for us two to beat him, we’d need the eldest sister to teach us chess? When you get better… I’ll go beg the eldest sister! Beg eldest sister to teach us chess…”
Under the jolting of the carriage, Bai Jinzhi’s voice trembled.
“Lu Yuanpeng, you must get better. When we return to the capital, neither of us will tell Sima Ping about your injury this time, otherwise… Sima Ping will say that we two can’t do without him on the battlefield, and get injured as soon as we’re separated from him…” Bai Jinzhi gripped Lu Yuanpeng’s hand tightly. “Did you hear me?”
Physician Hong was busy treating the seriously wounded soldiers of the Bai Family Army and Anping Army who had returned with Bai Qingyan. He had just finished his busy work and was resting when Weizhong personally came to fetch him.
“The legitimate grandson of Grand Commandant Lu, Lu Yuanpeng, was seriously injured protecting Prince Gaoyi. The situation is quite bad. The carriage is already on its way back. His Majesty heard the situation was critical and had no choice but to trouble Physician Hong, so this old slave personally escorted Physician Hong to meet them!” Weizhong’s expression was solemn.
Bai Qingyan had originally thought that when Bai Jinzhi said Lu Yuanpeng had been hit by several arrows, it was like her own situation – external wounds. After all, Lu Yuanpeng was wearing armor. She hadn’t expected that Lu Yuanpeng had been hit by arrows in the back while protecting Bai Jinzhi, and had endured the pain without making a sound.
She had Weizhong fetch Physician Hong and ordered people to bring over all the arrowheads removed from the wounded soldiers, sitting under candlelight, to carefully compare them.
Bai Qingyan held up the arrowheads from the Xiping Army and those from the Great Zhou, bringing them close to the lamp for careful comparison.
All the arrows the Great Zhou now used were enhanced with ink powder, making them extremely sharp!
About half of Yan Kingdom’s arrows were also enhanced with ink powder, but where did the Xiping Army’s ink powder come from?
She looked up – Tianfeng Kingdom…
Perhaps, while Murong Li was allying with the Dongyi Kingdom, the Yan Kingdom’s feudal princes had somehow connected with the Tianfeng Kingdom!
This was probably Sa’er Khan’s backup plan.
Bai Qingyan didn’t doubt at all that Murong Li had contacted Tianfeng Kingdom in advance. Although Murong Li wanted to cause some trouble for the Great Zhou, he also understood Tianfeng Kingdom’s ambitious nature, which was why he had chosen Dongyi Kingdom instead.
To find out what was going on between Tianfeng Kingdom and the Yan Kingdom feudal princes, tomorrow she would capture Prince Xiping’s heir alive and interrogate him under torture – she wasn’t afraid he wouldn’t confess.
She casually tossed the arrows back into the black lacquered square plate in front of her. Now Tianfeng Kingdom was no longer any threat in Bai Qingyan’s eyes…
As Tianfeng Kingdom’s ruler, Sa’er Khan had suffered heavy losses when killed by the combined forces of Great Zhou and Yan Kingdom in Xiliang territory. Instead of returning to regroup, properly developing agriculture, managing people’s livelihood, and rebuilding his elephant army, he kept obsessing over the jade cicada in her hands, placing his hopes on such illusory things as time reversal.
Such a ruler, even if capable in warfare and strategy, what achievements could he have?
·
Physician Hong’s carriage encountered the carriage carrying Lu Yuanpeng not far from Shequ city.
As soon as Bai Jinzhi saw Physician Hong, tears burst from her eyes: “Physician Hong!”
Physician Hong bent down and boarded the carriage, kneeling beside Lu Yuanpeng. After grasping Lu Yuanpeng’s wrist to check his pulse, his expression became grave. He had Yinshuang take out small pills and century-old ginseng slices from the medicine box, pried open Lu Yuanpeng’s mouth to make him hold the pills and ginseng slices, and instructed the driver to hurry back to the city.
Seeing that Physician Hong wasn’t as helpless as the previous physician, Bai Jinzhi saw hope. She wiped her tears with her sleeve and didn’t dare disturb Physician Hong, sitting quietly beside Lu Yuanpeng to watch over him.
“Fourth Miss…” Physician Hong turned to look at Bai Jinzhi, whose face still showed tear stains. “The Lu family’s sixth young master… his injuries are too severe. This old man will do his best, but you should prepare yourself mentally.”
What did this mean? How could Bai Jinzhi not understand? Her palms unconsciously tightened…
But if even Physician Hong couldn’t save Lu Yuanpeng, who else in this world could?
“Lu Yuanpeng, I’m going to write to Sima Ping in a moment!” Bai Jinzhi spoke to Lu Yuanpeng again. “Physician Hong will do his best, but… if you don’t fight for yourself and don’t get better before Sima Ping arrives, just wait for Sima Ping to laugh at you!”
The carriage entered Shequ City. Bai Qingyan personally watched as people carried Lu Yuanpeng to a warm inner room where the underfloor heating had been lit. Physician Hong had already prescribed the carriage and had people brew medicine for Lu Yuanpeng.
But when the medicine was ready, how to get it down his throat became another problem.
“Help him up, pinch his nose… and pour it down! The medicine must go down…” Bai Qingyan’s voice was heavy.
If the medicine couldn’t go down, there would be nothing left but waiting for death.
Hearing this, Weizhong carefully helped Lu Yuanpeng up, being mindful of his wounds. Bai Qingyan endured the pain in her leg, took the medicine bowl from Yinshuang’s hands, and used a spoon to feed Lu Yuanpeng medicine, giving very small amounts to avoid choking him. She managed to get the entire bowl of medicine down.
Bai Qingyan set down the medicine bowl and said to Yinshuang, “When there’s more medicine, pour it down the same way!”
“Yes!” Yinshuang nodded seriously.
“Your Majesty, Prince Zhongguo has arrived!” A soldier outside reported through the cotton curtain.
Bai Qingyan wiped her hands with a handkerchief and said to Yinshuang: “Yinshuang, take good care of Lu Yuanpeng!”
Yinshuang nodded again: “I won’t leave his side!”
“Good child!”
Bai Qingyan looked at Lu Yuanpeng’s pale face, believing that Lu Yuanpeng was a child with great fortune and great life who would surely recover.
Bai Jinzhi glanced at Lu Yuanpeng on the bed. Seeing that her eldest sister was already being helped out the door by Weizhong, she chased after her: “Eldest sister…”
Hearing the call, Bai Qingyan, sitting in the shoulder litter, turned back to look at Bai Jinzhi.
“Eldest sister, now that the seventh brother has arrived, are you going to send troops to Xiping Prefecture?” Bai Jinzhi’s fists were tightly clenched at her sides. “If the eldest sister is going to attack Xiping Prefecture, I want to go too!”
She wanted to go avenge Lu Yuanpeng. She would cut off that Prince Xiping heir’s head and bring it back to tell Lu Yuanpeng, letting him know that if he didn’t get better soon, this war to destroy Yan would have nothing to do with him – she would claim all the military merit alone.