Chapter 533 Returning to the Rescue
The emperor gripped the sword at his waist, its tip pressed against his neck. His gaze swept over the guards who, in their final moments, were still trying to fight for his life. A low sigh escaped his throat, and then the sword plunged into his fragile neck.
The bright yellow dragon robe was instantly soaked with blood, like a plum blossom that had suddenly bloomed and withered. The next moment, the emperor fell to the ground like a withered yellow leaf in the autumn wind.
The Duke of Jin sighed, lifted his robe, and knelt on the ground: "His Majesty died for his country! His Majesty died for his country! His Majesty died for his country..."
The Duke of Jin's deep voice carried far through the slightly noisy battlefield. Some soldiers were stunned for a moment, then turned around and saw the bright yellow figure lying in a pool of blood. Ignoring the enemy soldiers beside him, they knelt down directly in the direction of the emperor.
With the emperor dead, there was naturally no need for the remaining people to continue fighting.
Lin Changning waved his hand, indicating that a truce could be declared. He said that the emperor's men should be detained, and there was no need to commit unnecessary bloodshed.
But the next moment, the guards closest to the emperor instantly grabbed their long swords and committed suicide. After one by one the emperor's personal guards fell, Lin Changning pursed his lips and said nothing.
In the end, only a young eunuch remained. He stabbed himself in the heart, collapsed, and lay on the ground, stretching out his hand and inching toward the direction where the emperor had died. He crawled only four or five meters before he breathed his last.
When the King of Chu arrived before the Emperor, the Emperor was barely clinging to life. Blood gushed from his neck with each breath, staining the dragon-patterned collar of his robe.
The King of Chu, riding his horse, looked down at the emperor. His expression seemed to show a hint of pity at the emperor's miserable state, but his eyes gleamed with excitement and pleasure: "Your Majesty, why has it come to this?"
After saying this, he closed his eyes as if helpless, turning his head away as if he couldn't bear to look anymore. The emperor seemed to want to say something more, but after his throat was cut, only a hoarse sound like a bellows leaking air could be heard from his throat.
Not long after, the man breathed his last, his eyes wide open, staring at the gray sky over Mengjin.
The King of Chu waved his hand, signaling to the people beside him: "Collect the body and remove any wounds, and bury it on another day."
They were, after all, descendants of the same bloodline; it wouldn't be right to leave their bodies exposed in the wilderness, otherwise it wouldn't sound good in the history books.
The King of Chu suppressed the urge to smile and looked at Li Mingxiu and Lin Changning: "How are your injuries? Let the army doctor take a look."
When they arrived, they saw their eldest son covered in blood, supporting the limping sixth son. They must have been in a fierce battle and were injured when they cornered the emperor there.
Lin Changning clasped his hands in a fist salute to the King of Chu: "My injuries are not serious, Father. Now that Mengjin has been captured, may I lead the troops back to reinforce Taiyuan?"
The King of Chu straightened his expression: "Good, you, Mingde, and Qin will lead 20,000 troops and quickly return to Taiyuan to support the Second Prince! Zhao, Qian, Mingxiu, and Mingxiao, you and I will march on Luoyang today! We must take Luoyang before the day after tomorrow!"
"yes!"
"yes!"
"yes!"
After a few echoes of agreement, Lin Changning was limped along by Li Mingde towards the rear tent, while Lao Qin led his men to clean up the battlefield and organize the military equipment.
It will take about half a month to return to Taiyuan. The news that came back a few days ago is now two days old. The sooner Qi Rong and his group set off, the more at ease they will feel.
The round trip will take almost a month. It is unknown whether Qi Rong and his men can hold out for a month. Although there are 30,000 troops in the city, there is a shortage of food and medicinal materials. It will not be easy for them to hold out until they return.
Lin Changning returned to the tent and was helped to sit down by Li Mingde. Shilang had been waiting for Lin Changning to return in the tent for a long time. He glanced at Li Mingde and his meaning was very clear.
Li Mingde nodded to Shilang: "Take care of Xiao Liu's injuries first, I'll go out."
Li Mingde was aware of Lin Changning's fussy nature and was used to it. Shilang, however, was a little embarrassed. After briefly taking Lin Changning's pulse, he looked at Li Mingde and said, "Young Master, don't worry. I see you have an injury on your back. This is a wound medicine I made, a hemostatic powder. When you get back, have your guards wipe the wound with clean hot water and then sprinkle it on the wound. It will help it heal faster."
Li Mingde naturally wouldn't stand on ceremony with Lin Changning. He took the powder and nodded to Shilang, "Thank you."
He also had his own personal physician, but the treatment effect was always somewhat different from the medicine that Shiro used. Putting everything else aside, Shiro's medical skills in treating external injuries were exceptional, which explained why the doctor from the affiliated middle school, Liu, wanted to take him on as an apprentice.
The medicinal herbs Shiro uses here are all top-quality, but he can't always take advantage of Xiao Liu. Last time, his physician smelled the medicine powder he brought back and said that many of the herbs in it were quite valuable. He's not as wasteful as Xiao Liu.
Each time Shiro went on an expedition, the amount of medicine powder he brought was always limited. Mingxiu would give him some, and the lower-ranking officers would give him some more. Occasionally, he would also give some to the seriously wounded soldiers. Xiao Liu's medicine powder was always in short supply. Several times, he didn't even have enough for himself and had to get medicine from the army doctor.
Thinking of this, Li Mingxiu suddenly took out two translucent jade thumb rings from his pocket and casually tossed them to Shilang: "These medicinal materials of yours are all expensive, here, these are the ones I seized a few days ago, take them and play with them."
Shilang, flustered and clumsy, glanced helplessly at Lin Changning with the translucent, emerald-green jade thumb ring. Lin Changning smiled at his younger brother and said, "Take it and play with it. Our young master has plenty of these little trinkets."
They had captured a lot of good stuff on their way back from the battle, and Lin Changning also had a lot of gold and silver treasures, almost piled up like a mountain, with boxes and boxes placed in his tent.
Wan Jin usually takes care of everything for her, so she doesn't lack these things. Li Mingde naturally doesn't either. The fact that she gave these things to him probably means that Shi Lang uses relatively expensive medicinal herbs, and Li Mingde doesn't want to take advantage of her.
Upon hearing Lin Changning's words, Shilang bowed to Li Mingde and said, "Thank you for the reward, Your Highness."
Li Mingde casually waved his hand: "You go apply the medicine first, Xiao Liu. After I finish applying the medicine, I'll reorganize the team with Uncle Qin, and we'll set off as soon as possible."
Lin Changning leaned back in his chair and nodded, responding somewhat wearily.
After everyone left, Shilang said to Lin Changning, "Hot water is ready. Sixth Brother, go inside and wipe yourself down. After you're done, apply the medicine powder to your wound and bandage it. This time, your injury is on your thigh, so try not to ride a horse and get jostled around..."
Lin Changning frowned: "That probably won't work. Taiyuan is currently under siege by the Prince of Xiang. I need to take my men back to provide reinforcements as soon as possible."
Shilang didn't say anything upon hearing this, but he frowned slightly: "These past two years, you've been covered in old and new wounds, Sixth Brother. I'm not trying to stop you from achieving great things, but if you keep getting injured like this, you'll eventually be crippled..."
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