Chapter 42 Chapter 42 Night Talk

The night was quiet, the water was misty, and the boat was sailing down with the wind. The gurgling sound of the breaking waves became clearer and clearer on the dark and vast river.

"Jiu Niang? Jiu Niang?"

Xie Yunzhou called out to her several times before Zhe Rou came back to her senses. She found that the tears on her face had been dried by the river breeze, and her skin was tense with a slight sting.

Xie Yunzhou lowered his eyes to look at her, "Are you worried about Lu Bingyan?"

Zhe Rou pursed her lips, not knowing how to respond for a moment.

Xie Yunzhou couldn't explain the feeling in his heart. His Adam's apple rolled up and down as he spoke in a reassuring voice, "Don't worry. I've sent a message to the shore guards. Within an incense stick of time, someone will be there to help." He paused, then smiled in a joking manner, "As the saying goes, evil lasts for a thousand years. This evil won't be in trouble easily."

After a long while, Zhe Rou hummed a low "hmm" and looked at the vast river. She stood at the bow of the boat for a long time without even looking back.

Before they knew it, the boat had arrived at Qingjiang Pukou Wharf. Xie Yunzhou had arranged a speedboat to wait there in advance.

The group abandoned the sampan and boarded the speedboat.

In order not to attract attention, the boat was not very large and looked like an ordinary passenger ship used by fishermen to carry cargo. However, compared with the simple sampan just now, it was extremely spacious and comfortable.

Seeing Xie Yunzhou helping Zhe Rou onto the boat, a young woman with two buns on her hair, dressed like a maid, came up to them quickly, bowed respectfully, and called out, "Young Master."

His voice is crisp, extremely clear and full of energy.

Xie Yunzhou curled his lips into a smile, turned to look at Zhe Rou, raised an eyebrow and said, "Her name is Shui Qing. She used to be a maidservant serving my mother. She's very skilled and even ordinary servants and guards are no match for her. You're out there all alone, so you need a guard. A man would be inconvenient, so I've thought about it and think this little maid is just right. Take a look, what do you think?"

Zhe Rou looked at Shui Qing's face.

The little girl looked to be about fifteen or sixteen years old. Her movements were very neat, her hands and feet were slender, and she had a round face and round eyes. She looked a bit like Xiaochan, which made her feel close to her at first sight.

Zhe Rou couldn't help but smile at her.

"From now on, she'll be yours, and she'll obey you." Seeing that she seemed quite satisfied, Xie Yunzhou couldn't help but curl his lips and continued, "If you want to see me in the future..."

Before he could finish his words, he realized that he had said something wrong and hurried to explain, "No... Jiu Niang, that's not what I meant..."

Zhe Rou naturally knew that he had no other intentions and was just speaking without thinking. However, it was rare to see him embarrassed, and the corners of her lips couldn't help but curl up slightly.

Xie Yunzhou felt uneasy. He coughed lightly and then explained again, "If you need to find me in the future, tell her to pass a message to Zhou Xiao. If she doesn't want me to know her whereabouts, she will never reveal anything to me. Jiuniang, you can rest assured."

Unexpectedly, he would consider it so carefully. Zhe Rou suddenly felt her eyes getting slightly hot. After a long silence, she said softly, "Ming Qi, thank you very much. I'm sorry that I've implicated you because of my matter."

Xie Yunzhou lowered his eyes and looked at her, his tone serious: "Jiu Niang, I told you that since I am happy to do this, it won't be a burden."

What's more, he also has selfish motives.

——He was jealous of Lu Chen.

He knew that she was his best friend's wife, and he had been patient and restrained himself for many years, but he still felt jealous. Day after day, he was jealous to the point of going crazy.

After a pause, Xie Yunzhou suddenly smiled and glanced at her. "She's just a little girl, nothing special. There are more than one maids like this in Duke Xu's mansion. They were all taught martial arts by my father himself and selected to protect my mother closely."

Zhe Rou had known some of the Duke's Mansion's circumstances before, and upon hearing this, she felt a faint sense of envy in her heart, "Your parents are very loving."

"That's right." Xie Yunzhou smiled, leaning loosely on the boat's pole, as if thinking of something interesting. "The old man is very careful about his life now, and he's even given up his years of drinking. He's trying too hard to admit it, but I can't hide his true feelings from him. He's fought the Qiang people for half his life, and he has too many old wounds on his body. He's afraid that he'll die too early, leaving my mother alone and pitiful."

Zhe Rou found this interesting and couldn't help but laugh, "Being born into a family like this is truly a blessing from my past life."

Xie Yunzhou was silent for a moment, not knowing what he was thinking. He looked up at the endless starry sky and raised the corners of his lips. "It is indeed my blessing to be their son."

It was late at night and there was no one around. There was a dim warm light on the bow of the boat. The two of them sat on the deck, looking at the rippling water on the river, and chatted about family matters for half the night.

Unconsciously, Zhe Rou's originally restless mood gradually relaxed, and she felt an indescribable sense of peace in her heart.

Now that Xie Yunzhou is here, the waterways in the two Huai regions are all accessible. Boats can simply sail along the wide and unobstructed Li Canal. They pass through the Beishenyan sluice gate at night and arrive at the border of Chuzhou the next morning.

Chuzhou is an important commercial port in Huainan, with a bustling flow of people coming and going at the ferry.

Xie Yunzhou handed the bag he had prepared earlier to Shui Qing, sent Zhe Rou off the boat, and was about to return to Huai'an.

Guessing something was amiss, Zhe Rou hesitated for a while, but finally couldn't help herself and asked, "Are you going back to look for Lu Chen?"

Xie Yunzhou replied with a "yes," lowered his eyes to look at her, and smiled, "Lu Bingyan and I have a special relationship after all. Since I intervened in this matter, I must give him an explanation."

On the Huaihe River boat, just as Xie Yunzhou had expected, the Huai'an Road garrison commander quickly brought people to support Lu Chen.

Nan Heng's eyes were already red with anxiety. He grabbed Lang Jiang and asked, "Is there a doctor nearby? My husband is seriously injured. Call a doctor quickly!"

Seeing that Lu Chen's face was as pale as gold paper and he was about to die, the general couldn't help but tremble in his heart. He immediately said, "Return to Huai'an. The young prince was ambushed by the pirates and was accidentally hit by a stray arrow. The emperor specially sent Doctor Hu Zheng, the most skilled in treating metal wounds and external injuries from the Imperial Academy, to Huai'an to accompany the army and wait for deployment. He is now in the garrison camp!"

It was almost three o'clock in the morning when everyone rushed back to Huai'an. Doctor Hu had already undressed and gone to bed when he suddenly heard a commotion in the courtyard, a chaotic mix of voices and the clanging of weapons. He immediately thought something was wrong, fearing that something had happened to the precious little prince.

Doctor Hu no longer cared about anything else and hurriedly changed his clothes to go out to greet the visitor. When he saw that the visitor was not Xie Yunzhou's personal guard, he immediately felt relieved. But the next moment he saw Lu Chen covered in blood, and he stopped in shock.

Nan Heng said anxiously: "Sir, please help me!"

Doctor Hu quickly calmed himself down, ordered the man to be carried into the house, and went forward to check the injuries.

The guards held each other's hands and sent Lu Chen to the couch in the house. When Doctor Hu saw the bloody wound, he was shocked. It was obvious that the weapon was poisoned.

Doctor Hu was reaching out to feel Lu Chen's pulse. It was difficult to confirm what kind of poison the assassin had used on his sword, but most of the poisons on ordinary weapons came from snakes and insects. Now he had no choice but to try his luck.

Without caring about anything else, Doctor Hu first forced him to take a Shihuang Qinglu pill, which dissolves snake venom. Then, while performing acupuncture, he solemnly instructed Nan Heng, "This sword strike went too deep. It's likely to have damaged his lungs. If you want to save his life, you need to drain the poisonous blood that's accumulated inside. I have Ma Fei San in my medicine box, the one wrapped in yellow cloth. Take it out and teach him to take it!"

Nan Heng responded immediately, dug out a dose of Ma Fei San from the medicine box, hurriedly poured it into a bowl, dissolved it with strong liquor, and turned around to feed it to Lu Chen.

Unexpectedly, Lu Chen began to convulse in pain, his teeth clenched tightly. Nan Heng exerted great effort and broke out in a sweat, but he was only able to drink half a bowl, and most of the rest spilled outside.

Seeing the situation was not good, and unable to wait to give him more anesthetic, Doctor Hu made a quick decision and called out, "Come, you guys, help him lie on his side and hold him down. Don't let him move."

The guards obeyed the order without saying a word and reached out to hold Lu Chen down on the couch.

Seeing this, Doctor Hu hurriedly took out a hollow bamboo pole about a foot long and as thick as a little finger from the medicine box, washed it carefully with strong liquor, and inserted it diagonally into the wound on Lu Chen's back. Then he raised his hand to press the edge of the wound and rubbed it with great force.

It seemed as if the pain suddenly reached an extreme point. Lu Chen's whole body convulsed and he gasped unconsciously. The veins on his neck bulged and a stream of dirty blood immediately flowed out along the bamboo pole.

Everyone was trembling with fear when they saw this.

This was repeated several times until the blood finally turned bright red and no longer black. Doctor Hu breathed a sigh of relief, dipped his hand in the strong liquor beside him, hurriedly cleaned Lu Chen's wound, and took out the sutures to sew it up.

By the time the Qilin Powder was applied and the bleeding had completely stopped, Lu Chen's entire body was already drenched in cold sweat from the pain. His skin was cold and pale, as if he had just been pulled out of the water. Even the quilt beneath him was soaked with sweat.

Doctor Hu was so tired that he almost collapsed on the ground. He wiped the sweat off his face with his hand and asked the guards to feed Lu Chen two bowls of old ginseng soup.

As dawn approached, seeing that Lu Chen's breathing had become somewhat steady and the faint dark circles on his face had faded somewhat, Doctor Hu nodded slightly and said, "As long as you can make it through today and tomorrow, you can save your life."

Nan Heng breathed a sigh of relief and immediately bowed to express his gratitude.

Doctor Hu raised his hand to stop him, his expression still stern. "Don't be so quick to thank me. The sword strike injured the General's lung, and the blade was laced with poison. Although we've used strong medicine to remove most of the poison, it's still difficult to completely eradicate it."

"Even if you manage to save your life, the remaining poison will eventually invade your lungs, leaving you with symptoms. I'm afraid you'll suffer for the rest of your life. The most urgent thing is to return to the capital as soon as possible. With the skilled hands of the Imperial Hospital and their rare medicinal herbs, there may be hope for recovery."

When Nan Heng heard this, his heart sank.

How could he be willing to return to the capital alone now that his wife was nowhere to be found? If he were to take her back with him, it would be the same as taking her life.

No matter how anxious I am, I can only wait until my husband wakes up before making a decision.

Lu Chen was in a coma for two whole days and had a high fever. He opened his eyes a few times, but could not recognize people. He just kept talking incoherently and mistook the attendant who came to serve medicine for Zhe Rou. It was not until the night of the third day that he struggled to wake up from the abyss of coma.

Nan Heng stepped forward and brought him the bowl of medicine, tentatively mentioning Doctor Hu's instructions.

Lu Chen seemed to have recovered from the incident. Upon hearing this, he just raised his eyelids calmly and glanced at him lightly.

Nan Heng understood what he meant, and immediately lowered his head and kept silent.

After a long while, Lu Chen croaked, "Is she with Xie Yunzhou?"

Nan Heng hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and replied, "My lady was extremely concerned for my husband's safety. She originally thought the assassins on the ship were arranged by the young prince to pick him up. When she realized something was wrong, she immediately urged me to come back. Her voice was so anxious that it changed the tone. I was truly concerned. I was not lying!"

Lu Chen's brows were gloomy, and he clenched the porcelain bowl in his hand tightly, and his joints turned white from the force.

Are you worried about me?

Lu Chen recalled that year in Taozhou, when he was also seriously injured like this. He was unconscious and too weak to get up. Jiejie stayed by his bedside to take care of him every day, until that day when he woke up in the middle of the night because of the pain in his wound and suddenly felt a wet spot between his eyebrows.

He raised his hand and wiped it, which seemed to be a water stain. He couldn't help but ask her, "What is this?"

Unexpectedly, when she saw him regain consciousness, Zhe Rou's eyes instantly turned red. She buried her head and hugged his neck, sobbing and choking. Hot and wet tears flowed down her collar and into his neck.

"There are a few night owls outside the house... I heard from the old people in the village that the night owls cry to count people's eyebrows... Once they can count clearly, they will take people away... I dipped it in tea... to make it a little blurry for you, so it won't be able to count... Lu Bingyan, I won't let you go..."

How stupid.

He simply didn't know how to cherish her.

At that time, Yaoyao was truly in love with him, and her heart was full of thoughts only for him.

But what about now?

How did it come to this?

Nan Heng didn't know what Lu Chen was thinking about, he just felt that his expression was frighteningly calm. Although his face was calm, he looked chillingly cold, and there was a hint of deathly silence in the coldness.

After gritting her teeth, she could only continue to persuade him, "Don't worry, my dear. The young prince must know where my lady is. Let's start by investigating from him."

Hearing this, Lu Chen suddenly sneered.

Xie Yunzhou intervened in this matter. It seemed like a clue that could be used to find someone, but in fact it was a dead end.

With Xie Yunzhou's men helping out, they would completely wipe out her traces and wouldn't let him notice anything at all.

Just thinking about it, Lu Chen felt a sharp pain in his heart.

He was a narrow-minded and strong-willed person. She was his lover alone. He had been deeply in love with her for so many years that he would not tolerate any other man having any place by her side.

Especially since that person was Xie Yunzhou.

She lost her parents at a young age and did not treat her relatives sincerely. What she longed for most was the sweetness and warmth in this world, and she longed for someone to accompany her sincerely.

He had always been bothered by Xie Yunzhou's desire for her, precisely because he knew better than anyone that with her personality, she could not stand Xie Yunzhou's passion and sincerity.

He couldn't compare to Xie Yunzhou, who could live so freely and do whatever he wanted.

When he thought about her still wearing Xie Yunzhou's outer robe, and that he would carefully protect her all the way out, and that they would talk and laugh a lot on the way, and how close they would become, and that in the future, she would meet many men who were interested in her, he felt like he was being fried in oil and on fire, with a heart full of hatred, anger, and fear, and he didn't know where to vent it.

He wished he could gouge out the eyes of others, and he wished he could catch her right away and lock her up by his side, so that from now on she could only look at him and have only him in her heart.

The bowls and cups were crushed to pieces, the medicine spilled all over the floor, and the broken pieces of porcelain were like blunt knives, rolling and cutting in his palms, cutting and tearing his flesh and blood. He didn't feel any pain at all, but instead felt exhilarated, so much so that he couldn't help but tremble slightly.

Seeing more blood flowing from his palm, Nan Heng was startled, "My dear!"

Lu Chen closed his eyes calmly.

A few short sentences, word by word, were squeezed out slowly from between his teeth, as if drinking ice to quench blood. "Go find her... dig three feet deep into the ground, turn the sky and the sea upside down, and find her for me."