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Глава 101

Xiao Yafeng wept bitterly, leaning against the bed, until she fainted. Wenren He tried everything he could, but to no avail. Wenren Nuan was kind and loved to joke, and everyone in the palace liked her. Finally, at the second watch of the night, many people knelt and begged Wan Yu Yuedan to save Wenren Nuan's life, pleading for "Imperial Healing"! Pleading for "Imperial Healing"!

Wan Yuyuedan's face was extremely pale. Lin Zhongyi and Yang Zhongxiu, seeing the tragic state of the Wenren family, held Yang Xiaozhong's cold coffin and wept bitterly. In the end, they could not harden their hearts to see Wenren Nuan dying on her bed. They both begged Wan Yuyuedan to save her life first.

With everyone's wishes difficult to disobey, Wan Yuyue finally allowed Wenren He to take "Emperor's Hemp" to make the medicine. Everyone was overjoyed and wept, but he showed no joy at all, and his face grew even paler.

At midnight, "Di Ma" and various other medicines were brewed and brought to Wenren Nuan's bedside.

Xiao Yafeng cried until she fainted. Wenren He picked up a spoon to feed Wenren Nuan the medicine, and everyone carefully stepped back, afraid of disturbing the patient. After swallowing a mouthful of medicine, Wenren Nuan quickly woke up and whispered, "Father, it's so bitter."

Wenren He hurriedly got up to find rock sugar. As he left, Wenren Nuan sat up, even though she was feverish and weak all over, she still managed to sit up and even get out of bed. She opened the window, poured the bowl of rare and precious "Emperor's Sesame" out the window, and lay back down on the bed.

When Wenren He returned, she smiled and said that she had drunk the medicine. Wenren He was very pleased, but little did he know that the medicine, which was priceless and extremely rare, had been thrown into the snow by his daughter.

The next morning, Wenren Nuan seemed to have improved considerably and was able to get up and walk. Wenren He and Xiao Yafeng were much relieved. The magic of "Emperor's Hemp" lay in its rapid and reliable effects. By the afternoon, Wenren Nuan seemed completely fine and no longer needed anyone to take care of her.

After dinner, Xiao Yafeng and Wenren He went to practice their martial arts as usual. Although her parents had very different personalities, they had a deep affection for each other and were the kind of couple she always admired. Seeing that her parents were not there, Wenren Nuan suddenly took out a pair of scissors from a drawer and went outside to the window.

The lights were dim at night, but a patch of brown medicine stain on the snow was still clearly visible. Holding scissors, she chipped away at the frozen snow, and after a while, she finally managed to pick up the frozen "Di Ma" medicine, put it in the bamboo basket, and wobbled away.

She didn't even change her clothes or try to avoid being seen. Although she went out the back door, some people still saw her walk straight out, and those who saw her were somewhat surprised. But Wenren Nuan had loved to joke since she was a child, and she occasionally did something a little strange. Those who saw her were just curious, but they didn't think anything of it.

After Wenren Nuan left, a shoe slowly emerged from the corner of her room. Wan Yuyuedan, also dressed in a single layer of clothing, stood in the bitter cold of the early spring, her almost invisible eyes staring straight at the snow where she had carved a large hole.

He didn't say anything, but squatted down and gently touched the snow she had chipped away. The snow melted at his fingertips, freezing his entire finger white.

Carrying a bamboo basket containing life-saving medicine, Wenren Nuan went from walking slowly to walking quickly, until she started running unsteadily down the street. She had never run before in her life, and this was the first time she had ever run such a long distance. She fell down and got up again, got up and fell down again, but she didn't care. After all, she was carrying a block of ice in her arms, and it wouldn't break...

After running through three streets and two towns, she finally arrived at the small inn where Shengxiang was staying.

Seeing her pale and disheveled face, the innkeeper asked, "Hey? Who are you looking for, young lady..." Before he could finish his sentence, the girl stumbled heavily at the door, hitting her forehead and drawing blood, which startled him. He didn't recognize her as the beautiful young woman who had just arrived a few days ago. He was about to help her up when he saw her suddenly scramble to her feet and rush into Shengxiang's room.

With a bang, she burst through the door.

There was another person lying on the bed. She rushed over and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Shengxiang... I brought you... medicine..." She reached into the bamboo basket, but froze. Her face, which had been burning red, turned deathly pale in an instant—the ice was gone!

I don't know when she fell and disappeared!

She jumped up and ran outside, only to see the door slowly open. A person dressed in white, with a gentle face, stood in the doorway, holding a piece of ice in a handkerchief. His smile was bittersweet as he softly said, "It's here... Don't worry... It's not lost..."

Wenren Nuan looked at Wan Yuyuedan, then collapsed to the ground with a thud, suddenly bursting into tears, "You...you..."

Seeing her tear-streaked face, Wan Yuyue placed the ice shards of "Di Ma" on the table, replaced them with a silk handkerchief to wipe her face, and smiled with great difficulty, "Don't cry... don't cry..."

"You know... I lied about the medicine?" Wenren Nuan nestled in Wan Yuyuedan's arms, her tears soaking his body.

“I know…” Wan Yuyue’s dazed eyes became even more unfocused, “but I don’t want to know…”

"I couldn't...not save him..." Wenren Nuan's body was burning hot, her heart pounding erratically; she had just run a long way. Wan Yuyue Dan held Wenren Nuan in her arms for the first time, stroking her neck and hair, listening to her cry as she repeatedly said she had no choice but to save him...

His smile softened. "Shengxiang is... someone who leaves you helpless... Don't cry. I don't blame you for loving him. I... will help you... okay?"

“Yuedan…” Wenren Nuan stopped crying, staring blankly at his face, as if very confused, “You don’t blame me… for taking Senior Sister Yang’s medicine?”

“I don’t blame you.” Wan Yuyuedan maintained his smile. Wenren Nuan looked at his pale face and slowly asked, “You really… really… are you really willing to do this for me?” She didn’t ask any further. Wan Yuyuedan turned his face away. He was about to lose his smile and was about to collapse.

Wenren Nuan's breathing became even more rapid and disordered. After a moment of stunned silence, she turned around to look for the piece of ice she had risked her life for. Suddenly, she stood up and froze: the person on the bed was not Sheng Xiang!

Lying on the bed was a young soldier with a tattoo on his forehead, but it was not Sheng Xiang! The soldier seemed to be injured or ill and was still unconscious.

Wan Yuyue couldn't see anything, which made Wenren Nuan suddenly stop breathing. He abruptly stood up and asked, "Anuan?"

Wenren Nuan's colorless lips twitched slightly, and her whole body fell backward. Wan Yuyuedan caught her, and the two of them fell to the ground together. In an instant, Wan Yuyuedan clearly felt Wenren Nuan's body temperature change from extremely hot to ice cold. After she let go, the ice shard hit Wan Yuyuedan's leg and rolled away with a "crack," landing somewhere unknown.

“He’s not Shengxiang… Where is Shengxiang…” Wenren Nuan murmured.

Wan Yuyue's smile finally shattered, leaving only a pale face. "What did you say?"

Wenren Nuan's heart was pounding as fast as her breathing, almost to the point of madness. She suddenly cried out, "He's not Sheng Xiang! Where is Sheng Xiang?"

"Shengxiang..." Wan Yuyue's face was ashen, like snow. "Anuan, believe me, I really don't know... I don't know when he left..."

Wenren Nuan felt light as a feather, lying in Wan Youyin Dan's arms as if she were about to fly away. She suddenly smiled, "Never mind... Yue Dan, I know it's not your fault... not your fault... don't... don't... blame me..." She reached out and touched Wan Youyin Dan's cheek, "That medicine... Heaven wanted to give it to Senior Sister Yang, there was no use in me taking it... You... you have to be happier from now on... I really liked... the you from before..."

“A-Nuan…A-Nuan…” Wan Yuyuedan clutched her clothes tightly, finally unable to hold back her cries, “Don’t die, don’t die…”

"I...I'm sorry..." she murmured, and slowly closed her eyes. Her tears had all dried up; she died without shedding a single tear.

Wan Yuyue held the body in his arms, its heart no longer beating. The body's temperature was slowly dropping until it was as cold as ice shards he had picked up from the street. When everything in the room was quiet, the only sound was the dripping of water as it landed on Wenren Nuan's cold cheek.

The life-saving ice shards rolled in the corner of the house, even sparkling there because of the stars in the night.

Chapter Thirty-Two: A Thousand-Year-Old Grudge Remains Unresolved in the Wilderness

“Rongrong, could you tell me how you set up the ambush…” Shengxiang was currently in a house across the street from Jiajing Garden. Yesterday, Rongrong had sent a soldier to deliver a message that troops had been dispatched. The soldier caught a cold on the way and fell ill, so Shengxiang gave him her bed. Now, Shengxiang had forced him to tell her how the soldiers had been borrowed. Rongrong had used the pretext of a mutinous uprising in Luoyang to arrest several soldiers from Li Lingyan's camp, dressed them in Northern Han uniforms as evidence, and sent a report to the Privy Council, the Pacification Commissioner of Jingxi Circuit, and then to the county magistrates. The entire Jingxi Circuit was on high alert, as Jingxi was close to the capital and a mutiny would be a serious matter. The Pacification Commissioner of Jingxi Circuit wrote a memorial to report the matter, and Emperor Taizong was shocked. He issued several decrees, saying it was better to believe it than not, and immediately dispatched troops to the Luoshui area to investigate thoroughly. Upon receiving the imperial edict, Rong Yin intercepted the imperial minister who was acting on the orders and handed him over to Gu She for strict supervision. He immediately used a forged token as proof to change the order from strict investigation to secret troop deployment in the order of Emperor Taizong. The number of troops was increased from one hundred to one thousand. More than ten thousand imperial guards from Ze, Ya, Jian, Shan, Zheng, and Luo were dispatched to the outskirts of Luoyang.

This matter was of utmost importance to the imperial court. The more than 10,000 imperial guards were divided into six groups and secretly lay in ambush outside Luoyang City, without alerting the enemy. Shengxiang looked at Rongyin with a smile. Rongyin knew that he was imagining how he had used tricks to frighten his former colleagues in the Privy Council into obeying him, but he remained silent.

Yu Xiu still hasn't found Qi Yang, but he has given up on finding a famous doctor and is heading directly to Luoyang to help Sheng Xiang. He is currently on his way.

Shengxiang lay on the bed, looking exhausted and somewhat drowsy after laughing. Rong Yin suddenly said, "I sent a hundred spies to secretly investigate along the Luo River. Li Lingyan's Northern Han army has already gathered eight thousand men at the foot of Mount Hua. However, the plank roads of Mount Hua are treacherous and easy to defend but difficult to attack, so it is not advisable for the two armies to confront each other. If you want to win without bloodshed, you must wait until the Northern Han army besieges Jiajing Garden."

Saint Incense's spirits lifted, and he opened his deep, bright eyes wide. "Your plan?"

“This place is already on the outskirts of the city, a desolate wasteland stretching for miles. As long as the Northern Han army gathers in this sparsely populated area, and the imperial army arrives, a stalemate will inevitably form,” Rong Yin said. “The Northern Han army has been driven by Li Lingyan for many days, and their morale is already low. Once a stalemate is established, if they shout ‘Li Lingyan is dead, the imperial court will grant amnesty,’ even if some still have the courage to fight to the death, I’m afraid there will be very few. Li Lingyan is not good at marching, and these eight thousand men are without food or fodder, exhausted from their long journey, and are only controlled by others and do not know why they are fighting. How can they not surrender?”

Shengxiang smiled after hearing this, "Rongrong is indeed a natural-born warrior... We need to wait for the Northern Han army to besiege Jiajing Garden, but... Li Lingyan can't die first..." He coughed, "cough cough... If Li Lingyan dies, all the commanders of the Northern Han army will die, and the surrendered troops will become a chaotic army... They'll go crazy..."

Rong Yin said calmly, "You don't need to worry about those things. Just take care of yourself."