Chapter 424 Greetings, Your Majesty, what has happened?

She suddenly heard a faint sobbing sound coming from the pile of stones.

She paused, then listened more carefully. The cries for help were mixed in with the sound of rain and were not very clear.

There are people down there!

Ji Qingwu rushed forward first. The burnt bricks and stones were especially hot to the touch, and her fingertips flinched. Several soldiers came over to help her dig.

Pushing aside the burnt bricks and stones, you can see a young soldier buried underneath, his face blackened, and he is protecting a bag of things in his arms.

The boy soldier's unfocused pupils reflected the woman's face in front of him.

"This millet... must be kept... the North cannot be without food..."

A hole was smashed in the head by a piece of burning brick that fell from the young soldier's head. Ji Qingwu knew something was wrong.

She immediately knelt down, tore her skirt into strips, and used them to bandage his wound.

The young soldier's consciousness was fading: "My mother said that food should not be wasted... and seeds should be saved..."

Ji Qingwu's eyes stung with tears as she responded loudly to his words.

"Alright, the millet is staying! You have to stay too, and whatever you do, don't fall asleep!"

Ji Qingwu knelt in the mud, pressing her hands tightly against the wound on the young soldier's head. Blood mixed with rainwater seeped out, staining her sleeves red.

Your mother is still waiting for you to come home!

The boy soldier's breathing grew weaker and weaker.

Ji Qingwu's movements became increasingly swift; rainwater got into her eyes, but she didn't have time to wipe it away.

The fire was finally extinguished, but the rain continued.

The soldiers breathed a sigh of relief, their eyes fixed on the frail figure who had knelt down to save the person.

This young soldier was burned all over his body and had a fatal head injury. It was clear he wouldn't survive. She was doing something futile, but she still refused to give up.

The stubbornness that emanated from his bones reminded him of an old friend, and Li Chengxun's gaze changed slightly.

He stepped forward with a complicated expression, trying to help her up.

But someone stretched out their arm to block it.

Wei Ting suddenly shouted, "Don't move!"

Li Chengxun's pupils contracted as he also noticed something was wrong.

Just then, thunder roared again, and a whooshing sound came through the rain.

The watchtower next to the granary collapsed with a roar, and several massive, round logs crashed down toward the location of the young soldiers.

By the time Ji Qingwu realized the danger, it was too late.

In the blink of an eye, a flash of silver light appeared, and someone used a knife to split the fallen log, rolling her several feet away.

His back slammed heavily against the stone roller on the ground, but he held her head firmly against his chest.

The sudden turn of events caught everyone off guard, and they quickly gathered around, calling out, "General!"

"General! Are you alright?"

Ji Qingwu raised her head from the cold silver armor and saw Wei Ting's narrow, half-closed eyes.

He brushed the burnt ash from between her eyebrows with his hand.

"I'm glad you're alright."

Ji Qingwu's throat bobbed as she turned to look at the granary, now reduced to ruins by the giant tree. The young soldier was still underneath!

He could have lived.

If he hadn't been trying to save the millet, if the watchtower hadn't collapsed, if there hadn't been this fire, this young soldier could have survived...

Ji Qingwu's eyes were red at the corners.

She tried to break free from Wei Ting's arm, but unexpectedly touched the warmth seeping from the back of his shirt.

She let go, staring blankly at her bloodied fingertips. Rainwater fell on her hand, washing away the blood.

Ji Qingwu's arm trembled slightly.

Wei Ting's face was streaked with bruises and ashen hues, and his lips had lost all color, yet he stared at her, his soft laughter sounding like a sigh.

"I recognize you this time."

Ji Qingwu took a deep breath: "Turn around and let me see the injury on your back."

Wei Ting's smile widened: "You care about me?"

Ji Qingwu said, "If the injury is to the spine, it can cause paralysis, and in severe cases, it can be fatal."

How can a general lead an army into battle if he has a back injury?

Wei Ting smiled nonchalantly, "The Fifth Doctor's medical skills are superb; I'll be fine."

Ji Qingwu glared at him and said, "If the general is having a child, I can guarantee your safety, but otherwise, I am powerless to help you."

Ignoring her sarcasm, Wei Ting looked into her bright and lively eyes and said softly, "I just want to hold you a little longer."

Ji Qingwu was stunned for a moment, and remembering that he was injured while saving her, she did not punch him.

At this moment, Wei Ting couldn't fall down, so Ji Qingwu reached out and wrapped her arms around his back.

Wei Ting let out a painful groan.

Ji Qingwu roughly located the wound.

Wei Ting's robe beneath his armor had turned a deep charcoal black, and Ji Qingwu took off his long headscarf.

She frowned and said, "The wound is deep. We'll bandage it to stop the bleeding first, and then the camp doctor will treat you later."

Wei Ting asked in a pitiful yet hopeful tone, "Can't the Fifth Physician treat me?"

Ji Qingwu pursed her lips, but did not answer.

The rain gradually stopped, and the sky returned to its previous clear state, with the thick dark clouds having dispersed completely.

If it weren't for the puddles on the ground and everyone's clothes being soaked to the bone, judging by the weather alone, this brief downpour would seem as if it had never happened.

Over here, Ji Qingwu was bandaging Wei Ting when a rapid and loud clatter of hooves sounded.

The ground shook, ripples spread through the puddles, and even Ji Qingwu's chest trembled.

Someone has returned; it's the sound of a thousand troops returning.

Ji Qingwu unconsciously loosened the long towel wrapped around his hand and turned to look in the direction of the camp gate.

Wei Ting stared intently at her face, and saw her eyes suddenly light up as she stared straight at the direction of the camp gate, as if nothing else could catch her eye or capture her heart.

His eyes dimmed, and a hint of somber emotion flashed across them.

Ji Qingwu didn't see Wei Ting's change, but Li Chengxun did. As a fellow man, he felt a similar emotion—jealousy.

In the distance, dust and sand rose up, and an army clad in armor broke through the sand like black dragons.

The warhorse at the front was jet black, and the pebbles kicked up by its horseshoes crackled and popped.

The rider was dressed in black armor, each piece of which was engraved with dragon patterns, and the joints were adorned with moonstones, tributes from the Western Regions, which shimmered with a cool light as he moved.

The armor concealed a dark gold dragon pattern, the cloak was edged with wolf fur, and the obsidian inlaid in the saddle gleamed with an eerie light.

The warhorse stopped in front of the collapsed granary, and a gentle breeze lifted the black silk ribbon binding Emperor Wusu's hair.

Ji Qingwu's gaze swept across the man's handsome profile and landed on the slightly open collar of his undergarment with its subtle gold thread pattern.

Because she smelled the scent of ambergris mixed with blood and rust.

He had a wound on his neck that snaked outwards all the way to behind his ear.

He was still injured.

Ji Qingwu's fingernails dug into the flesh of her palm.

For some reason, the moment she saw him, all the wounds on her body seemed to awaken, and the pain was almost unbearable.

All the courage I had gathered before vanished at that moment.

She had planned to greet him at the gate of the military camp. On the way there, she had imagined their meeting a hundred times, but none of them were like this.

She was covered in mud, her skirt was torn to shreds, and she looked so miserable that she couldn't possibly see him, especially not in front of all the soldiers.

The crowd knelt and bowed in greeting, shouting, "Greetings, Your Majesty!"

Zhao Mingyan stared at the ruins of the granary before him: "What happened?"