Song Lianhe walked on, servants and guards hurrying past her. With her arms crossed and her head lowered, her gaze was dark and deep, her thoughts a mystery.
Zhou Cangyan had only just arrived in the city. The Holy Emperor had granted him a single manor and no other properties, so when twenty to thirty injured n were brought back at once, there was nowhere else to place them. A courtyard in the rear garden had to be cleared out.
On her way back to her room, Song Lianhe saw the n lying in the courtyard...
She stopped in her tracks.
A scene she rembered vividly from the book was now unfolding right before her eyes. The shock was imnse.
All twenty to thirty n were lying in the shade of the trees along the veranda. It was clear they were in agony. Their wounds were festering at an alarming rate, with so so deep the bone was visible. It must have felt like countless ants gnawing at the injuries, a piercing pain that no ordinary person could withstand.
So, unable to bear the pain, repeatedly smashed their heads against the trees until their foreheads were a bloody ruin...
Despite this, everyone clenched their jaws, their cheek muscles taut and the veins on their necks bulging. Though the pain was so intense they might shatter their own knuckles from clenching their fists, not a single one of them cried out.
Pang Jiliang hurriedly called to Ah Gou, "Quick, go get Young Master Zhun!"
"Young Master Zhun went with the Prince to Qi Guan City..."
"Then go get physicians! Go get more! Bring every physician in the city here!"
Just then, a bearded, sturdy man lying in a corner spoke up to stop him. "Uncle Liang... don’t bother. It’s useless."
"No!" Pang Jiliang’s sallow, gaunt face flushed crimson with urgency. "You expect to just stand by and watch you all perish? Go on, get the physicians!"
"Don’t go!"
The blade wound on Shen Fu’s left shoulder blade was gushing blood, soaking the entire bandage red.
Yet he ripped the bandage off as if it were nothing. "Sothing isn’t right about this! That ambush was too strange. They could have easily wiped us out, so why use such a bizarre poison only to let us drag ourselves back, barely alive?"
Song Lianhe couldn’t help but study this "Master Shen" for a mont longer.
’He’s a sharp one.’
Pang Jiliang retorted angrily, "Even so! Your lives and the lives of your brothers must be saved!"
Shen Fu drew the blade from his waist. "If we’re to be a burden to the Prince, we brothers would rather die in his service right here and now!"
Despite their agony, all the n roared in agreent.
"Shen Fu!"
Pang Jiliang was livid, but he was at a loss.
Shuang Ye, having never seen anything like this, let out a shriek and scrambled to hide behind Song Lianhe.
"M-Miss... Wh-what’s wrong with them?"
Ah Yu averted his gaze after a single glance and said in a low voice, "Even if you brought every physician in the city, it would be no use. How many of them could have possibly seen such a bizarre poison?"
Xuan i lowered her head, her expression grim.
Just then, a sigh ca from beside them.
Xuan i turned her head to see Song Lianhe shaking her head in resignation. As if she had finally made up her mind, she lifted her skirts and strode into the rear garden, knotting the hem as she walked. Then, she gathered her long hair with one hand, swiftly coiling it into a simple bun and securing it with the Bone Hairpin. At the sa ti, she told Shuang Ye to find a hemp rope to tie back her sleeves.
Once she was ready, she walked straight up to Pang Jiliang. "Uncle Liang, let handle this."
*
「Outside the city, three swift horses.」
After the Shadow Guard received the news, they reported everything to Zhou Cangyan.
Zhou Cangyan imdiately set off with him and Young Master Huai, racing back to Ling’an City.
By the ti they returned to the manor, it was late at night.
Zhou Cangyan leaped from his horse, but as he started up the steps, soone grabbed him.
He turned, his piercing gaze eting Young Master Huai’s. The latter spoke slowly, "It’s too late. Prince, you had best... prepare yourself."
However, when the three of them reached the rear courtyard, they were t with an entirely different scene.
By candlelight, a woman in pale robes was tending to a wound. Her clothes were almost entirely stained red with blood.
Her hair was disheveled, with a few loose strands clinging to her forehead. Her flawless, jade-white cheeks were splattered with drops of blood, but she remained completely unaware. With a needle and thread in hand, her movents were swift and precise, pushing the needle directly through the man’s flesh without even a blink.
Behind her lay the n who had already been bandaged, lying there quietly, their faces completely free of pain.
"The dicine’s here! The dicine’s here!"
Shuang Ye and Ah Yu carried over two large buckets of dicinal decoction.
Song Lianhe didn’t even raise her head. "Make them drink it all."
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