Chapter 226 Herbs

"My lord, how did the battle go last night?"

"Sir, are you alright?"

"Sir, what happened to your face?"

Lin Changning smiled and nodded to the people beside him: "Last night's ambush was very successful. The Tartars were completely annihilated in the Wild Bee Forest."

Cheers suddenly erupted from the crowd, and smiles spread across the soldiers' faces. Some of the civilians were already weeping with joy.

These days they have been living in fear in the city. During the day they have to work for the Tartars and at night they can only sleep outside. They can only receive a little food each day, and if they do not do their job well, they will be whipped.

Heaven knows how envious they were when they learned that His Highness the King of Chu had sent his personal guards to capture Datong City. Fortunately, His Highness the King of Chu did not abandon them and exchanged them for the prisoners he had captured.

Last night, upon hearing that the Tartars were coming to attack, many people were so frightened that they wanted to flee immediately, thinking it was better than losing their lives here.

It was this same commander who placed them in the safest valley and even sent soldiers to protect them.

Yesterday, when the Tartars sent men to test them and kill them, their hearts sank. They thought that the King of Chu's personal guards might have abandoned them and fled, after all, their lives were indeed worthless.

Unexpectedly, this official led his men out and rescued them from the Tartar cavalry, even drawing away the main Tartar force.

In truth, they all knew that if these people died, they would most likely return to being slaves, or simply die on the road.

But who would want to die when they can live?

As dawn approached, the shouts of battle in the woods gradually subsided. More than a thousand people craned their necks to look at the woods, and when Lin Changning rode out on horseback, the sunlight gilded the general's armor with gold, giving these people hope of returning alive.

Mr. Zheng glanced at Lin Changning, who seemed to be unharmed, and stepped out from the crowd, bowing with his hands clasped: "Congratulations, sir."

Lin Changning nodded slightly to Mr. Zheng, then waved to the soldiers: "We'll camp and rest for two hours today. After they come back and rest for a while, we'll head back to Datong."

With those worries resolved, there were fewer concerns. Last night's surprise attack and night battle took quite some time just to collect the bodies and record the battle achievements.

These people probably didn't get a good night's sleep yesterday either, so let them rest well today before continuing their journey.

Moreover, most of their horses were stung by bees yesterday and need to be properly treated. After tallying their achievements, they will rest for a while before continuing their journey. They should be able to get back tonight.

There was some chattering in the crowd. After a while, two old men came from the side of the valley, carrying some herbs, and headed towards Lin Changning.

"Sir, you were stung by bees yesterday, weren't you? Apply this herb to the sting site, sir, please try it."

The old man was probably still healthy, but he was rather thin and frail. His somewhat cloudy eyes were filled with anxiety, and a handful of herbs with small purple flowers lay in his thin, skeletal hands.

Lin Changning glanced at the herbs he received from the old man, then bowed respectfully and asked, "Thank you, sir. Can these herbs treat bee venom?"

The old man hurriedly helped Lin Changning up, saying, "Sir, this is no good, please get up."

Lin Changning did not refuse. He stood up with the old man's help, smiled at him, and said with a kind and amiable expression, "Yesterday we ambushed the Tartars. Although we were covered in mud, there were still quite a few bees. Many soldiers and horses were stung. Could you take our men to find some medicinal herbs? To be honest, these bees are quite poisonous."

The old man nodded: "There are several kinds of herbs that can treat bee venom. I just found this one, and it should be the most effective. It should reduce the swelling in about two days. There are others as well. We are all from Yongzhou City, and many people know about them. You don't need to worry, sir. Leave this to us. Many of our people recognize these wild vegetables and herbs. They are all folk remedies, so we can find them faster."

Lin Changning cupped his hands in thanks to the old man: "Then thank you very much, sir."

After speaking, the old man found a few people his age and searched both sides of the valley. After finding a few medicinal herbs, he brought them back to the villagers. The whole group started searching. They had all seen these herbs before, and many of them had even picked them to make herbal tea or eat as wild vegetables.

After the old man and the others showed them, the others knew exactly which wild vegetables they were and spontaneously began to search for them.

Lin Changning looked at the herbs in his hand, found a place to sit down, mashed the herbs into a paste, and applied it to his hand. Almost immediately, a tingling and cool sensation came from the wound.

The burning pain has gradually subsided, replaced by a cooling sensation that penetrates the skin.

Lin Changning's eyes lit up; the herbs were indeed effective.

Then, after beckoning Mo Yun over, she applied the crushed herbs to Mo Yun's nose. Mo Yun was initially a little uncomfortable and tried to shake her head off as soon as the herbs were applied.

Lin Changning patted Mo Yun: "Doesn't your nose hurt? Put this on and it won't hurt anymore."

Mo Yun froze as she shook her head, obediently stopping and letting Lin Changning apply the herbs to her nose. After a while, she felt the wound was less painful, tilted her head and rubbed against Lin Changning's face, which happened to touch Lin Changning's face, which was swollen from the bee sting.

Lin Changning gasped in pain, patted Mo Yun's head, then took a piece of medicinal paste and applied it to her face.

Lin Changning's face was covered in mud, making him look ridiculous with patches of black and yellow. After applying the herbs for a while, Lin Changning felt the burning pain on his face gradually subside, but his right cheek was still a little swollen.

Looking back, she saw Wan Jin and Lu Shan leading their horses slowly towards her.

Just as Lin Changning was about to ask why they didn't ride over on horseback, he saw Wan Jin's warhorse irritably kick its hooves.

He almost kicked Lu Shan, who was standing to the side. A large bump swelled up on Lu Shan's eyebrow, and a large bump also swelled up on Wan Jin's eyelid, squeezing his big eyes into squinty eyes.

The two men looked ridiculous, and the closer they got, the more Lin Changning wanted to laugh. Although they had won a great victory last night, many of them had been stung by bees.

"You're back? Have you finished counting the casualties and the number of heads?"

Wan Jin looked at the smile on Lin Changning's lips, her resentful eyes unable to hide their depth.

"Commander, the inventory is complete. It truly was a Pyrrhic victory! We've hurt the enemy a thousand, but also suffered eight hundred of our own!"