Chapter 311 Marriage Alliance
On the city wall, the guards on duty spotted a woman in tattered clothes, who had lost one shoe and was only wearing tattered, dirty socks, stumbling as she approached.
Although this area was not the main position of the Yue army, they were worried that it was a scheme by the Yue envoy, so they dared not rashly talk to him or let him in.
However, when it was fully light, the human figure lying on the ground began to breathe weakly, and they became uncertain again. It had been an hour, and if they didn't do anything, the person would surely die outside the city gate. So they sent someone to inform General Xiahou.
They dared not disturb the two commanders and their deputy generals, but General Xiahou was always approachable and got along well with them, so asking him about such matters was definitely the right thing to do.
If that woman is truly innocent... she's just a woman, and the generals certainly wouldn't really blame them.
Thinking this, the soldier who went to deliver the message slowed down. Hearing that General Xiahou had gone to discuss the new decree issued by the court with several generals early in the morning, he was not in a hurry and waited outside the tent.
Only after the generals finished their discussion and came out one by one, did he approach General Xiahou and say:
"Young General Xiahou, a suspicious woman has appeared outside the west gate. She's been there for almost two hours. Just to be on the safe side, should we shoot her?"
Xiahou Yin's eyelids twitched involuntarily when he heard the woman outside the city gate.
He pressed down on his suddenly racing heartbeat, lifted his leg and headed towards the west gate, asking as he went, "How old are you? What do you look like?"
The soldier quickly followed, answering hurriedly:
"He doesn't look very old, maybe in his teens or twenties. His features aren't very clear, but we can see that he's wearing Yue clothing. He looks quite disheveled and shabby, like some kind of refugee. But Yue is known for its cunning, and we were worried that this was a vicious tactic by Yue, so we didn't make a move."
Actually, there were some things he didn't say. When they saw the woman fall outside the city, they called out to her several times, but she didn't respond. If they hadn't seen her body still moving, they would have thought she was dead.
But there is no denying that the person was definitely injured.
The more Xiahou Yin listened, the deeper his brow furrowed.
He kept telling himself it was impossible, and his pace quickened until he was almost jogging.
The soldier quickened his pace, his heart pounding with fear.
What's wrong with General Xiahou? Why does he look so serious? Could that person really be a spy from Yue?!
Xiahou Yin hurried to the west gate, climbed the city wall, and saw the thin and destitute figure lying on the ground. His pupils suddenly contracted.
He instinctively growled, "Insolence!"
He quickly realized that he couldn't let the other soldiers see Princess Chang Le in this state, so he practically flew down from the city wall: "Open the city gate immediately!"
The soldier following behind him was dumbfounded. Why was the city gate still being opened? Could that man really be from the State of Qi?
Without asking any further questions, the city gate was immediately opened by a dozen soldiers, creating a space just large enough for two people to pass through.
Xiahou Yin rushed out alone, and when he was still a few steps away from her, he quickly slid down to his knees and pulled her into his arms.
It's her, it really is her.
He was both surprised and delighted. When he saw her clearly, his eyes burned with tears, and he felt a lump in his throat.
How did the clever and proud Princess Chang Le become like this?
One shoe was missing, the socks were so dirty that their original color was almost unrecognizable, the drab white clothes were torn in several places, broken branches and withered leaves were scattered all over the hair, and there were long-dried bloodstains on the tattered fabric.
The bright and beautiful face that Xiahou Yin remembered was now thin and sunken, with dark circles under her tightly closed eyes and her dry, cracked lips.
Clearly, her journey back was not smooth; it's nothing short of a miracle that she made it this far alone.
He carefully and tenderly picked the person up and carried them step by step into the city.
Those last few dozen steps almost became an insurmountable barrier preventing them from meeting again.
He couldn't imagine what would have happened if the guards hadn't reported it, had shot him on the spot, or if he hadn't taken it seriously and come to check.
Xiahou Yin tightened his embrace around the person in his arms, burying her face in the inner part of his body so that no one else could see it, and strode towards his tent.
The person was finally found, but how she disappeared and how she returned could only be figured out after she woke up. He dared not delay, and before she even entered the camp, he sent others to urgently find a doctor in the army.
A quarter of an hour later, inside Xiahou Yin's tent.
Through a simple cloth curtain, the elderly doctor, his hair and beard all white, looked solemn as he glanced at the five burly soldiers standing outside the bed. After carefully considering his words, he spoke in plain language:
"This young lady's condition is probably not good. She suffered a very serious injury two months ago, which severely depleted her body. Before she could fully recover, she suffered another setback. Now she has many wounds, both large and small, and has lost too much blood. She is mentally and physically exhausted. It is already remarkable that she has survived until now..."
Upon hearing this, Xiahou Yin immediately stepped forward: "What medicine should we use? How should we treat this?!"
He didn't want to hear a hopeless answer, so he quickly interrupted the doctor.
The old doctor stroked his beard, carefully recalling his past life experiences to see if he had encountered any similar situations.
However, after thinking for a long time, the old doctor had never seen a young girl so badly injured.
He had served in the army for decades. The men in the army were used to being exposed to the wind and sun all year round, and their bodies were stronger than those of ordinary farmers. Even if someone lost an arm or a leg, he was confident that he could save their life.
But she was a frail and delicate girl who had suffered such a serious injury in the past. Even the old doctor was puzzled. Apart from soldiers, how could there be a young girl whose body was so weak?
It seems that she had been depleting her body's muscles for more than ten days, which damaged her foundation. However, judging from the small section of skin on her wrist that was exposed, she was clearly not someone who was starving.
The more he thought about it, the stranger it seemed. The old doctor didn't hide anything and rattled off a list of extremely expensive medicinal herbs, even to those unfamiliar with the field. He then said:
“These things are rare on the border. If you generals really want to save people, you need to find them immediately. The longer you delay, the less effective the medicine will be…”
Xiahou Yin immediately agreed and turned to go out to find medicine, but was stopped by his father just before leaving.
Xiahou Zhong looked at his son, who was already somewhat out of control, and rubbed his temples with a headache:
"You don't need to do this yourself; your subordinates will handle it."
"Don't forget the urgent order that just came from the capital..."
Xiahou Yin felt as if he had been struck on the head with a blunt object, and he was momentarily stunned.
The old doctor had already left, and Duan Wei, Xiahou Zhong, and the others had returned to their camp. The expressions of the generals were not very good.
A letter arrived from the capital this morning; they gathered early in the morning to discuss this matter.
The Crown Prince instructed them to reply to the Yue Kingdom, agreeing to allow Princess Chang Le to marry into the Yue Kingdom, thus forging a lasting alliance between the two nations.
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