What brings you here?

Liu Heng looked at the person in front of him dressed in blue robes and dressed as a servant, and asked in surprise.

Upon hearing this, Lin Yuqiao felt all her enthusiasm vanish.

She was worried the whole way, couldn't eat or sleep well, and rushed here day and night, only to be met with a cold "Why are you here?"

Thinking back to the bamboo flute incident, Lin Yuqiao couldn't help but regret it. She was so foolish. The other person didn't even care about her. Why did she have to go out of her way to get close to them?

Lin Yuqiao rolled her eyes inwardly, feeling quite angry. If she had known it would turn out like this, she wouldn't have come.

"Otherwise, who else would Your Highness like to see? In such a large manor, isn't it only I, who has no children and no one to rely on, who cares about Your Highness the most? With things so turbulent outside, who else would dare to come?"

She spoke bluntly, and Liu Heng could sense her displeasure and helplessness from her tone.

How can this person still be so naive, always wearing their heart on their sleeve?

After asking a few more questions about the situation in the manor, Liu Heng nodded after hearing her answers and invited her to sit down.

Although his face was pale and his eyes were sunken, Liu Heng did not look like he was seriously injured. Lin Yuqiao said, "The messenger who returned to the manor to deliver the message was really bad at speaking. After hearing his words, we thought the prince was really seriously injured. We were almost scared to death."

Liu Heng simply patted her hand, a slight smile playing on his lips, without offering any explanation.

Seeing his inscrutable smile, Lin Yuqiao became even angrier. "Say it or don't," she thought, and sat down to the side, refusing to say another word.

Liu Heng saw that her cheeks were puffed out, her eyes were wide and round, and her eyebrows and eyes were lively, making her even more vibrant. Compared to his dejected and gloomy appearance before he left, seeing her still full of energy now put his mind at ease.

With a slight smile, Liu Heng felt that she was indeed better looking as healthy and lively as she was now.

Thinking of how she had come from so far away despite her own safety, it was clear she was worried about him, and a warmth welled up in his heart. He forgot about her current sullenness and looked at her softly, saying:

"You've had a tough journey, so I don't need you to wait on me any longer. Go back, change your clothes, and get some rest."

Since he had said that, Lin Yuqiao was already dissatisfied and didn't want to watch him anymore, so she took the opportunity to leave.

After Lin Yuqiao walked away, Liu Heng continued to close his eyes and ponder.

There was a reason why he asked Peng Yan to go back and exaggerate his injuries.

He was already very familiar with the battle situation before he came to Yuanwu City.

Yuanwu City is well-fortified and has ample supplies, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack. A direct assault would definitely result in losses. He also disagreed with the approach of the cavalry commander Luo Chenghao, who offered a large reward for the capture of the enemy leader. The gathering of refugees was mostly out of necessity, and Shan Chen, Fu Zhen, and others were their backbone. Offering a reward to sow discord would not be effective.

After arriving at the camp of General Canggong outside Yuanwu City, he conducted an on-site survey and felt that the city was high and the walls were thick, so he could not attack it by force and could only take it by strategy.

General Canggong hadn't held out much hope for Liu Heng's arrival, believing that as a prince, he had never fought a battle and that even if he had read some military books, it was all theoretical. Therefore, he feared that this special envoy might give inappropriate orders and cause him further trouble.

Seeing Liu Heng wandering around the nearby city walls and military camps after his arrival, General Canggong couldn't help but remind him.

"Your Highness, the battle is raging, and the soldiers are busy with their training. If you move around, they will have to stop and pay their respects, which will waste their time. Besides, arrows will be shot from the city walls from time to time. You should also think about your own safety and avoid walking around below the city walls."

Hearing General Canggong's words, which were practically accusing him of causing trouble, Liu Heng didn't take them to heart. He knew that General Canggong was always upright and a talented general with a pure heart, so he didn't argue. Instead, he apologized for his private actions.

Then, Liu Heng told him about his thoughts over the past few days and the methods he had come up with to defeat the enemy: "The refugees who have taken officials and civilians hostage will not stay in their positions for long; they will inevitably become afraid. There must be some among them who regret their actions and want to escape. It's just that we besieged the city too hastily, so they didn't have a chance to escape! The best course of action now is to ease the siege a little and let them escape from the city. Once they escape, they will disrupt the power structure in the city, and then even a village head will be enough to capture them."

His words greatly surprised General Zangong.

Because the siege had dragged on for too long without success, while his Northern Army was doing relatively well, the soldiers of the Liyang Camp were beginning to lose heart. They outnumbered the refugees gathered in the city, yet they were gaining no advantage and were suffering continuous casualties, which worried General Canggong.

Having heard Liu Heng's words, General Canggong found them quite reasonable and adopted his suggestion, withdrawing some troops and temporarily easing the siege. After most of the troops were withdrawn outside the city, the people inside felt the pressure lessen and indeed began to plan their next move.

The refugees inside the city held out for only a few days before beginning to scatter and flee, only to be caught red-handed by the army lying in ambush outside the city. Those who escaped were captured one after another. The city was short-handed and its strength greatly diminished.

At this point, the city was attacked again, but the people's hearts could not be united, and it was breached in one fell swoop. The forces of Shan Chen, Fu Zhen, and others were scattered, and they all fled in haste.

Liu Heng, who had entered the city victoriously with General Canggong, was unexpectedly shot by an arrow from someone hiding in the shadows as soon as he entered the city gate.

The man who shot the arrow was dressed as a refugee. Because he was hit by the arrow unexpectedly, everyone panicked and, in a moment of carelessness, he crashed headfirst into the wall and died.

Although on the surface it seems that he was killed by the refugees, Liu Heng actually felt that there must be someone else involved who wanted to take this opportunity to assassinate him.

Therefore, Liu Heng took advantage of the great distance between Yuanwu City and the capital, which created a time lag in message transmission. He stayed in Yuanwu City to recuperate, only sending news of his critical illness to the capital. This allowed him to observe the reactions of the Crown Prince and others from the shadows and determine who was behind the ambush.

If someone loses their composure and makes any further moves at this point, he can calmly handle the situation.

In order to make the plan work to its fullest potential, he kept it a secret even from the princess and others.

The reason Liu Heng dared not consult the Princess Consort was not only to ensure the information was more accurate, but also because he believed that the Princess Consort had always been calm and considerate of the overall situation in the face of adversity, and that she could keep the household in order.

Therefore, when he saw Madam Lin today, he couldn't help but be a little surprised. Even if she had taken the initiative to propose it herself, how could the princess have agreed?

With a sigh, Liu Heng opened his eyes, realizing he had trusted the Princess Consort too much. In reality, no matter how composed she was, she was still just a woman confined to the inner quarters; she might not be able to handle the bigger picture. It seemed he needed to make other plans as soon as possible.

He roughly knew who had done it.

Meanwhile, Lin Yuqiao followed the steward to her temporary residence. After washing up, she lay on the couch, feeling sore all over.

Although she had been confined to her home for many years and longed to go out and see the world, to breathe some free air, this trip was filled with anxiety and worry about Liu Heng's injuries. She had no interest in traveling at all and was only focused on getting on and off the road.

She stayed huddled in the carriage the whole way. For safety reasons, she didn't dare to ride in her own luxurious and spacious carriage, but instead chose to ride in an inconspicuous and simple one.

With the aim of being as inconspicuous as possible, she didn't dare stick her head out of the window the whole way.

The carriage was cramped, the seats were very hard, and the carriage swayed violently. She couldn't lie down or sit properly, and after a few days, her back ached, and even her legs and feet were swollen.

She had been sustained only by her sheer willpower, but after coming to Liu Heng's side and seeing that he was in good health and that she no longer had to worry about his safety, she felt relieved. Without that source of emotional support, she began to feel unwell, as if her whole body was falling apart.

She called over a maid to help her massage, and Lin Yuqiao lay on the bed in so much pain that she almost cried.

"Please bear with it, Consort. We need to massage and loosen the stiff and knotted meridians so that the blood can flow smoothly."

Lin Yuqiao blamed all the suffering she endured on Liu Heng.

It wasn't until the next morning, after she had breakfast, that she went to Liu Heng's room and saw him changing his dressing.

The doctor unwrapped the bandages wrapped around his chest one by one, revealing an arrow wound slightly to the left of his heart, which looked like a bloody mess.

After the doctor changed his dressing and bandages, Liu Heng's face turned even paler. Although he didn't utter a sound, cold sweat had formed on his forehead. As she took out her handkerchief to wipe his brow, she couldn't help but feel a little scared and said worriedly:

"Your Highness's injury is in a very dangerous location."

Fortunately, the archer missed the heart, and the wound wasn't too deep. Otherwise, Liu Heng wouldn't have been so lucky, and she would definitely have become a widow.

Liu Heng closed his eyes, inwardly agreeing with her words. Indeed, his location was fatal; without the jade pendant protecting his heart, he wouldn't be alive now.

It was this arrow wound that struck his heart and the murderer's subsequent suicide that made him realize it wasn't the vagrants who did it, but rather assassins raised by certain people.

Lin Yuqiao brushed aside the hair covering Liu Heng's forehead, wiped away his sweat, and instead of putting it back in its original place, she carefully styled it into a middle part.

With Liu Heng's long, black hair unkempt, it actually looked a bit like the "goddess hairstyle" favored by modern beauties. She secretly chuckled as she examined herself, reminiscing about her old cell phone that could take pictures.

Sensing that something was wrong with her breathing, Liu Heng opened his eyes and saw her covering her mouth, her eyes full of laughter.

"What are you doing?"

"Quickly fix his hair back," Lin Yuqiao shook his head with an innocent look, indicating that he was overthinking things.

Seeing that Liu Heng's expression was still full of doubt, she somewhat obsequiously took the medicine bowl that the maid brought over and fed him the medicine.

To show her virtuousness and gentleness, Lin Yuqiao scooped up a spoonful of medicine, blew on it first, and was immediately hit by a strong, bitter smell of Chinese medicine, which made her feel nauseous.

She couldn't help but feel sorry for Liu Heng. The medicine smelled terrible; it must taste even more bitter. In the Qin Dynasty, drinking medicine was the thing she couldn't stand the most. Her recent illness had dragged on for so long, a result of her daily efforts to avoid drinking the medicinal soup.

A round-faced maid standing next to Lin Yuqiao watched her blow on the medicine with a spoon and hesitated before speaking, "Consort, the temperature of this medicine is just right."

We wouldn't dare bring over medicine that's piping hot, so please feed it to me quickly and don't let it cool down.

Hearing the maid's words, Lin Yuqiao was stunned for a moment before she realized that the bottom of the bowl was indeed not hot.

Her face suddenly felt hot, and Liu Heng couldn't help but laugh.

Despite her embarrassment, Lin Yuqiao persisted in feeding him medicine spoonful by spoonful, trying her best to act as if nothing had happened.

Liu Heng took the medicine readily; she fed him and he drank it without showing any reluctance.

Doesn't this medicine taste bitter?

After feeding him the medicine, Lin Yuqiao left the bedside, secretly licked the spoon out of Liu Heng's sight, and then immediately frowned and handed the bowl to the maid who was serving him.

It was so bitter that she felt nauseous and wanted to throw up her breakfast.

The round-faced maid looked panicked, as if she hadn't seen anything. She took the bowl and hurried out, as if someone was chasing her.

"Would Your Highness like some candied fruit to help settle your stomach?"

Lin Yuqiao took a plate of candied fruit, took a bite for herself first, and only after swallowing it did she feel better. She then handed the plate to Liu Heng and asked him a question.

"No need. You should go and rest too."

Liu Heng remained calm, as if he were the one who had just taken his medicine. He waved to Lin Yuqiao, telling her to go back as well.

Lin Yuqiao originally thought that she could take advantage of the opportunity to spend more time together and let him get closer to her, and also make her presence known, but Liu Heng just told her to go back.

She felt depressed, thinking to herself that he really was heartless and emotionless. He had no sense of taste, and no sense of feeling.

After she left, Liu Heng opened his eyes again.

He had heard Lin Yuqiao's sullen farewell earlier, but the closer she got to him, the more distant he became.

Since you have no heart, you shouldn't give her the wrong impression.

He only hoped that one day she would truly understand his meaning, abide by the rules, and settle down as his concubine in the mansion, without harboring so many unrealistic expectations.