The gleaming silver needle pierced into the fair and delicate skin, and Princess Zhenzhen instinctively wanted to dodge.

Qiao Zhao lifted her eyes to glance at her and said indifferently, “If Your Highness doesn’t want to die, then don’t dodge.”

“You—” Princess Zhenzhen bit her lips tightly, ultimately lacking the strength to argue back. She struggled to move her eyeballs and said to Long Ying, “Long Ying… knock me unconscious…”

Out of sight, out of mind—that should work!

Long Ying instinctively glanced at Qiao Zhao.

Qiao Zhao nodded lightly, “That’s fine too!”

The well-trained guard raised his hand and efficiently knocked Princess Zhenzhen unconscious.

Without interference from others, Qiao Zhao moved swiftly, inserting a circle of silver needles around the wound on Princess Zhenzhen’s leg.

Her movements were so fast that although she had only inserted a few silver needles, by the time she finished, fine beads of sweat had already appeared on her forehead.

Long Ying’s expression remained unchanged on the surface, but his heart was filled with astonishment.

Such skilled movements—could this young lady be a master of medical arts?

Qiao Zhao breathed a slight sigh of relief, then reached into her pouch and took out a small porcelain bottle. Opening the stopper, she sprinkled the pale green powder onto Princess Zhenzhen’s wound.

“You can let go now.”

Long Ying silently released his grip, his gaze fixed on Princess Zhenzhen’s wound, which indeed had stopped bleeding.

He looked at Qiao Zhao with amazement.

Qiao Zhao paid no attention to Long Ying’s amazement and opened a chest that was placed against the carriage wall, taking out an undergarment.

Seeing this, Long Ying hurriedly averted his gaze, but behind him came the young lady’s calm voice: “Please tear this up.”

Long Ying turned around and took the undergarment that Qiao Zhao handed to him. His cheeks grew slightly warm as he quickly tore the undergarment into strips of cloth.

Without even looking, Qiao Zhao reached out to take the cloth strips and properly bandaged Princess Zhenzhen’s wound. Then she took out a pill from her pouch and handed it over: “Wake up, Her Highness the Princess, and have her take this.”

Long Ying’s gaze moved downward, falling on the pouch tied at Qiao Zhao’s waist.

The style of that pouch was somewhat unusual. It appeared to have been soaked by the rain, but—

Long Ying raised his eyes, looking at the pill the young lady handed over.

The pill was pale red and looked very dry.

A wet pouch, yet the pill inside was perfectly intact—could there be some mystery to this pouch?

Noticing Long Ying’s confusion, Qiao Zhao explained openly: “The pouch has a layer of fish skin sewn inside, so it won’t get wet. This pill is for dispelling a cold. Her Highness the Princess has been caught in the rain and lost so much blood, her body is weak. If cold qi enters her body, it would be even worse.”

Long Ying silently lowered his eyes.

With Miss Li being so forthright, it made his suspicious behavior seem petty.

He reached out and pressed a certain spot on Princess Zhenzhen’s neck, and Princess Zhenzhen slowly awakened.

“Long Ying?” Princess Zhenzhen blinked her eyes.

“Your Highness, the bleeding has stopped. Please take this pill.” Long Ying brought the pale red pill to Princess Zhenzhen’s lips and asked Qiao Zhao, “Is there water in the carriage?”

How presumptuous indeed.

However, Qiao Zhao couldn’t be bothered to argue with a guard. Their responsibility was to protect the princess’s safety. If something happened to the princess, probably one life wouldn’t be enough to compensate. In their urgency, their actions were bound to be somewhat excessive.

“Binglu, pour water for Her Highness the Princess.”

Although the West Residence’s carriage was far from being as luxurious and comfortable as the princess’s carriage, it still had tea and water.

“Yes.” Binglu squeezed in, glared fiercely at Long Ying, poured a cup of water, and handed it to him, “Here, the water you wanted!”

Shameless—seizing their carriage, and in the end still having to rely on her young lady’s help, yet this person still maintained a stone face, acting as if everything her young lady did was only natural.

Long Ying knew his earlier behavior had been somewhat excessive, so he silently took the water cup and helped Princess Zhenzhen drink.

Princess Zhenzhen frowned and stared at the pale red pill for a moment, then opened her mouth and swallowed it.

The pill dissolved immediately upon entering her mouth, transforming into wisps of warm qi flowing through her lower abdomen.

Princess Zhenzhen recovered some strength and asked Long Ying, “Where is Cai Ying?”

Long Ying paused and replied, “Your Highness, Cai Ying is dead.”

“Dead?” Princess Zhenzhen was stunned. After a long while, her eyelashes trembled as she murmured, “Actually dead… Where is she?”

“Outside, on the ground.”

“Bring her into the carriage.”

Long Ying remained motionless: “Your Highness, the carriage is too small, and the road is difficult to travel. Bringing her along will delay your return to the palace for treatment.”

“Bring her into the carriage!” Princess Zhenzhen repeated, emphasizing her tone. Seeing that Long Ying still didn’t move, she angrily said, “Long Ying, are you deaf? Can’t you hear what I’m saying? Cai Ying died trying to save me. Do you want me to abandon her corpse in this rainy wilderness?”

At that time, their carriage had reached this place when suddenly lightning struck, a roadside tree fell, and the horses were startled. If Cai Ying hadn’t protected her, the one in trouble now would probably be her.

“As you command.” Seeing Princess Zhenzhen’s anger, Long Ying bowed his head and got off the carriage.

Hearing that a dead body was to be brought into the carriage, Binglu’s face turned extremely ugly. Facing the princess, she didn’t dare to be too presumptuous, so she could only desperately pull at Qiao Zhao’s sleeve.

Only then did Princess Zhenzhen look toward Qiao Zhao and say weakly, “Don’t worry, I will compensate you with a new carriage later.”

“That’s acceptable.” Qiao Zhao said calmly.

Perhaps because she had died once before, plus having learned medical arts from Grandfather Li for over ten years, she didn’t have the usual taboos about corpses that ordinary people had.

It could be said that through this incident, she found the princess’s character to be quite acceptable.

However—

Qiao Zhao surveyed the carriage interior and thought: With so many people crammed into this small carriage, and in such terrible weather, who knows when we’ll return to the city?

“Young lady—” Hearing that Qiao Zhao had agreed, Binglu became greatly alarmed.

How could they share a space with a corpse?

Qiao Zhao looked at the little maid and comforted her: “Don’t be afraid, just think of her as still alive, only sleeping.”

Binglu: “…” Could it be calculated that way?

Princess Zhenzhen’s eyes flickered as she looked at Qiao Zhao and said, “My leg… thank you for that too.”

“I’m glad Her Highness the Princess is alright.” Qiao Zhao smiled.

Only then did Princess Zhenzhen notice that Qiao Zhao was completely soaked through.

Summer clothing was thin, and the other person wore a plain-colored dress that now clung tightly to her body, revealing the young lady’s slender figure.

Princess Zhenzhen looked down and only then belatedly realized that she wasn’t much better off herself.

Having never been in such a disheveled state before, Princess Zhenzhen’s face felt somewhat hot. Looking at the other person’s calm eyes, she was extremely puzzled.

Wasn’t she… embarrassed at all?

At this moment, Long Ying carried Cai Ying’s corpse up and placed her at the carriage entrance, reporting: “Your Highness—”

As soon as he began to speak, Princess Zhenzhen’s expression changed, and she shouted: “Get out quickly!”

Long Ying was stunned.

The little guard, who had been in a state of high tension due to the princess’s sudden danger, obviously hadn’t noticed anything.

“Get out! Don’t you know what ‘improper to look’ means?”

The poor guard, who was wholeheartedly devoted to his master, had no idea what had happened and was yelled at by Her Highness, the Princess. Once outside and drenched by the rain, he finally understood.

He hadn’t noticed anything just now—would Her Highness the Princess and the others believe him?

The extremely embarrassed little guard snatched the reins from the coachman’s hands and raised the whip.