The further Wan Xueying went up the mountain, the more corpses she saw.
When we reached the top of the mountain, there were corpses everywhere. You can imagine how brutal the battle was before.
By this time, it was completely dark. Luckily, it was July 18th, and the moon was particularly large and bright from the top of the mountain. But the pungent smell of blood and the horrific scene were truly nauseating and terrifying.
She covered her mouth and nose with a handkerchief, endured all kinds of discomfort, and dared not think too much. She forced herself to be calm and mustered up the courage to use her mental power to scan back and forth over the pile of corpses. She was really afraid of seeing that familiar figure, but she was also afraid of missing it.
By the time she finished her round of the mountain, her mental strength was not only exhausted, but clearly failing. Not only did her head ache, but even her eyes were twitching, as if they were about to pop out at any moment.
I don’t know if it’s a good thing. Neither Shen Yu nor Pei Xuanqing is among them, but where did they go?
Thinking of a possibility, she looked toward the cliff. Seeing two deep tire tracks extending all the way to the edge, the clichéd scenario she had been so reluctant to see seemed to be playing out before her.
Would Shen Yu be in the carriage? Would all those looking for him have gone down the cliff by now?
Damn it! Why did she waste so much mental energy just now? Isn't searching for someone among corpses just self-torture?
What should we do now? Should we also go down the cliff to search for him?
Shen Yu, can't you be smart and leave some mark or send out some distress signal or something?
Maybe she was hallucinating, hearing the sound of small stones rolling down the cliff. She was alone on the mountain, and there was no wind. Could it be that the stones had simply fallen off the cliff?
No, was she being too sensitive? She was afraid of any noise, or someone suddenly rising from the pile of corpses. Either way, it could kill her, and she was cowering on the ground in fear.
Just when she was falling into serious self-doubt and wanted to retreat immediately, there were extremely faint knocking sounds again, one, two, three... until she counted to the ninth.
Nine? Help? Was Shen Yu calling for help? That strong feeling reappeared.
Wan Xueying didn't care about anything else. She quickly got up from the ground and ran to the cliff edge. She lay on the ground, clinging to the rocks at the edge and looking down. The first thing she saw was a cluster of moving torches. It must be someone searching for rescuers at the bottom of the mountain. Anyone who dared to do this so openly was most likely a member of the Yulin Guard.
But despite this, she still didn't dare to speak loudly, and tried to lower her voice to ask tentatively, "Shen Yu, is that you?" Those people were chasing the Third Prince, so even if someone heard her calling Shen Yu, it shouldn't be a big problem. That's what she thought.
Perhaps only a few breaths had passed, but she felt like a long time had passed without a response. She raised her voice slightly and called out, "Shen Yu, if it were you, just knock on the stone a few times like you did just now."
She silently counted to three, but still received no response. Leaning her head out like that only exacerbated the congestion in her face, exacerbating the dizziness and fear, and making her already aching head ache even worse. Just as she was about to retreat, two knocks echoed from the cliffside.
Then came Shen Yu's extremely weak voice: "Xueying, I'm in the crevice in the middle of the cliff. I can't hold on any longer."
"Okay, I get it, don't say anything." Wan Xueying cried with joy when she learned that he was still alive.
In order to determine his exact location, she withdrew her body away from the cliff, wiped her tears, picked two leaves of the Tree of Life from the space, put them in her mouth and began to chew.
To be honest, if we didn't know that the leaves of the Tree of Life contained vitality and could quickly restore physical and mental strength, we wouldn't even think about such a tasteless thing.
Even after eating the leaves of the Tree of Life, her mental strength couldn't be instantly restored. However, in order to save people, after she felt a little recovered, she lay on the edge of the cliff, concentrated her mental strength, and forced herself to detect that location despite the severe pain.
Because they were targeting the problem, they soon discovered a human-shaped black dot on the cliff next to a broken tree.
Okay, that's it.
But there was no way up, how could she save them? And how could she do it alone?
Just as her mind was racing to come up with an idea, she heard the sound of horse hooves from behind her. She quickly hid behind a huge rock, holding her breath and concealing herself.
Soon, a familiar voice was heard.
"Later, you two look down from the top of the cliff. Since we haven't found the person at the bottom of the cliff, nor his body, he may have fallen halfway up the mountain." The person who gave the order was none other than Pei Xuanqing, who had been looking for the person in vain.
After making sure that they were the only ones there, Wan Xueying deliberately made some noise and slowly walked out from behind the boulder.
Fortunately, in order to hurry on her way, she was wearing a men's coat made of coarse cloth and had her hair tied up like a man. Otherwise, if she suddenly appeared from behind the rock in such a situation, she would have scared everyone to death.
"Who is it?" Before she could fully reveal herself, Pei Xuanqing heard the noise and asked sternly.
"It's me."
When he saw it was her, Pei Xuanqing's pupils dilated slightly, "Why are you here? How did you get here?" He tried hard to control his emotions and tried not to let his shock show.
"Lord Pei, can you please have a word with me?" Wan Xueying couldn't guarantee that the people he brought with him were safe.
"Okay." Pei Xuanqing nodded and dismounted, throwing the reins to his subordinates who followed him and walked towards Wan Xueying. When he got closer, he repeated the previous question: "Why are you here? How did you find me?" This question was crucial.
"I met the man pretending to be Shen Yu. I learned from Ye Chengyun that you went around the back mountain from where you rested last night and finally found this place by following the wheel tracks." As for who the man pretending to be Shen Yu was, both of them knew it. The reason she mentioned the Third Prince was to tell Pei Xuanqing that she came here at his behest.
Pei Xuanqing's mouth twitched upon hearing this. So easy to find? Who could they have fooled with all that they had done before? No wonder they'd been ambushed along the way and finally chased up this mountain. Of course, there was a crucial step they'd overlooked, leading to their near-total defeat.
He gathered his thoughts and asked again, "Have you discovered anything since coming here?"
"Yes." Wan Xueying nodded confidently, "Shen Yu is in the crevice next to the broken tree on the cliff."
"How did you know?" They had been searching for a long time before he came up with this guess.
"Shen Yu just sent out a call for help." Wan Xueying told Pei Xuanqing about Shen Yu throwing and banging stones to ask for help.
Pei Xuanqing glanced at her and said, "Is this God's will? How could you be caught up with it?"
"Maybe you ignored his earlier plea for help. I don't know if it was God's will or not, I just know that we have to save him as soon as possible."
"Okay, as long as we know where he is, we can do the rescue."
"Can you do it?" Wan Xueying questioned this.
"If it were just ordinary Yulin Guards, I wouldn't be able to guarantee anything. But those who followed me this time have all gone through mountains of swords and seas of fire, and even walked through piles of dead bodies." This also shows how much the emperor values this matter.
"That's good." If she were to go and save him, she might end up getting herself involved. She wasn't that well-rounded yet.
Pei Xuanqing did not delay and turned around to arrange people.
How else can you call them professional? Many of them wear grappling hooks with long ropes, which are especially suitable for climbing walls and descending from heights.
As several people worked together to rescue Shen Yu, Wan Xueying questioned Pei Xuanqing, "Did the Emperor intend to have the Third Prince fake his own death?"
"Yes. The Emperor doesn't want anyone to disturb the Third Prince's recuperation."
Wan Xueying curled her lips. She was probably more worried that someone was just trying to kill him. "But why? Why did so many people choose Shen Yu as a substitute?"
"Haven't you already met the Third Prince?" Pei Xuanqing asked, "Don't you think Shen Yu's figure is most similar to his?" He then explained, "The Emperor had considered hiring a special assassin to do this before, but the person they sent this time is too familiar with the Third Prince, and they're afraid he'd recognize him even if they hired him."
He added, "Originally, we had made sufficient preparations, and Shen Yu only needed to cooperate in faking his death. We never expected that the other party could bribe even the Third Prince's most trusted coachman. In the end, the coachman drove the carriage off the cliff while everyone was not paying attention, wanting to drag the Third Prince to death with him." This Third Prince of course refers to Shen Yu.
"Then you will rescue Shen Yu later..."
"You're worried they'll find out the Third Prince isn't dead, right?" Pei Xuanqing smiled faintly. "Don't worry about that. We'll follow our previous plan. It's not foolproof, but it's pretty close." This gave him some confidence. He added, "Besides a few who deliberately let go to report the incident, there's no one else around."
"If Shen Yu does this, will everyone in the Duke of Ping's Mansion be pardoned?"
"Of course!" Pei Xuanqing nodded, "This is one of the conditions that Shen Yu set for agreeing to impersonate the Third Prince." This was also a point that the Emperor had calculated correctly, which was why he attacked the Duke of Ping's Mansion at that time.
"Is the other party the prince?" Wan Xueying asked again.
"No. The prince is too stupid to come up with such a meticulous plan."
How could he actually say that about his own ally? "Shouldn't you, the Huai'en Marquisate, be helping the Crown Prince?" Wan Xueying had always been very curious about this.
Pei Xuanqing curled his lips and smiled again: "No! Our mansion is only loyal to the emperor. Besides, my aunt has no biological children, so whoever sits on that position in the future will be the empress dowager." So no matter whether it is the crown prince or the third prince, or even the second prince or the fourth prince, whoever becomes the emperor in the future, Queen Pei will be the empress dowager, and it will not have much impact on the Huai'en Marquisate.
"So that's how it is!" No wonder Pei Xuanqing would help the third prince so much.
In reality, it wasn't long, but it felt like a century to Wan Xueying before she saw Pei Xuanqing's men pulling Shen Yu, who was holding the Third Prince's face, up. She quickly walked over and placed her hand on Shen Yu's wrist.
She hadn't lied all along; she truly wasn't skilled in medicine. She simply wanted to take Shen Yu's pulse to make a preliminary assessment of his condition. As long as the pulse was regular and strong, it meant there wasn't a major problem. If the opposite was true...
Unfortunately, Shen Yu's pulse was just like that of a normal person, as thin as a thread. She felt for a long time before she could feel it.
Feeling someone checking his pulse, Shen Yu slowly opened his eyes. Seeing that it was her, he pulled the corners of his mouth with difficulty, "It's worth it to see you one last time."
The carriage's fall had broken the tree growing on the cliff face. Although it didn't change the carriage's trajectory, Shen Yu seized the opportunity and leaped onto the broken tree. Before the tree could bear the weight, he found a gap and leaped through it.
However, his internal organs had been shattered when the carriage smashed the tree. If he had not taken the medicinal fragrance bead from his neck in time and swallowed it, he would most likely not have survived until now.
"What nonsense are you talking about! What do you mean by the last time we meet?" Wan Xueying didn't notice that such tough words were trembling when she spoke them.
Shen Yu tried to pull the corners of his mouth again, "You're right." The last word became unclear as a large mouthful of blood spurted out.
"Shen Yu!" Wan Xueying hurriedly took out a handkerchief and wiped him, "Believe me, you will be fine." Then she took out the same hemostatic and anti-inflammatory powder that she gave to Shen Yu last time from the space, and did not forget to cover it up, "Take this quickly." Before she could feed Shen Yu, Shen Yu vomited a mouthful of blood again.
After finally stopping himself from vomiting blood, Shen Yu weakly turned his head to look at Pei Xuanqing, "Can we be alone for a while?" He didn't want to have any strangers around during his last time with Wan Xueying.
Pei Xuanqing nodded slightly and said, "It just so happens that we still have things to deal with. You two can chat slowly." After that, he turned around and left with his men.
"You don't have to say anything, I will definitely save you."
The departure of Pei Xuanqing and the others gave Wan Xueying an opportunity. She laid Shen Yu flat, specifically instructing him to tilt his head to one side, fearing he might suffocate from vomiting blood. Then she stood up and walked over to a stone. She retrieved an empty bowl from within, half-filled it with medicinal powder, then added a little water and quickly stirred it with chopsticks to dissolve it.
If the medicinal fragrance beads could only be used to save lives at critical moments, and would not be very effective if taken after the same period of time, and could not be used to stop bleeding, she would not have gone through so much trouble.
After doing all this, she returned to Shen Yu's side and helped him up. "You must hold your breath and drink all of this." She was afraid that Shen Yu would vomit blood again and waste the medicine.
Shen Yu wanted to live too! His survival instinct drove him to swallow the medicine-mixed water in big gulps.
He was about to vomit blood again, but he forcefully swallowed the blood that surged into his mouth. This happened several times, but he couldn't hold it back. With a "puff," he spat out a larger mouthful of blood, spraying everywhere. He deliberately avoided Wan Xueying. His disguised face had long since returned to its original appearance after Wan Xueying wiped away the blood as it spit out mouthfuls.
He immediately said, "I'm sorry!" for letting her down again.
"Shut up and stop talking!" Wan Xueying quickly stood up, dissolved the remaining powder in water, and made him drink it as before. Then she plucked a handful of Tree of Life leaves from the space and crushed them into juice with a pestle, feeding him.
Although Shen Yu still couldn't stop vomiting blood, Wan Xueying did not give up and fed him the juice made from the leaves of the Tree of Life over and over again.
After repeating this several times, Shen Yu finally stopped vomiting blood, his breathing became regular, and his pulse was stronger than before. Wan Xueying breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that the most difficult stage was finally over. After this, Shen Yu's internal injuries would slowly heal thanks to his vitality.
Pei Xuanqing thought that if he appeared again, there would be another corpse here, and Wan Xueying might cry miserably. Unexpectedly, after seeing him, Wan Xueying curled her lips and pointed at Shen Yu lying on her legs and said to him: "Can you lift Shen Yu to the side? My legs are numb."
"Okay." Even at this point, Pei Xuanqing still thought Wan Xueying was acting strangely because she was so shocked. But when he got closer and saw Shen Yu's chest heaving, his defenses were somewhat broken.
"Is he okay?" He must be seeing things!
"Yes, it looks like it won't die." She had already plucked most of the leaves off the Tree of Life. Honestly, she was afraid that if she continued plucking, the Tree of Life would be killed.
"How did you do it?" Pei Xuanqing felt that given Shen Yu's previous condition, there was no way he could be saved unless a Daluo Jinxian came down to earth.
"It's nothing! I just fed him some hemostatic powder." She smiled. "Maybe Shen Yu just took it too seriously before." She tried to downplay it.
Pei Xuanqing nodded, "That's a possibility." Some of the injuries looked serious, but many recovered after vomiting out the blood clots. He could only sigh that Shen Yu was lucky. The driver's internal organs were shattered, and his body was in a terrible state.
In order to report back to the palace, he also had to smash a corpse into pieces and bring it back. But before that, he had to strip Shen Yu of the clothes he was wearing and put them on the corpse they had chosen.
It's easy to be exposed if you don't pretend well with a living person, but it's much easier to fool a dead person. Besides, who else but the emperor has the chance to verify whether the corpse they brought back is real?
Shen Yu woke up earlier than Wan Xueying expected. He was afraid that he would continue to sleep and never wake up, so he opened his eyes as soon as he regained some consciousness.
With Pei Xuanqing by his side, Shen Yu was now more conscious than before. Wan Xueying didn't dare take out the bowl she had stored away in the space. She reluctantly plucked a few more leaves from the Tree of Life, pretending to take them out from her pouch and letting Shen Yu chew and swallow them. Shen Yu obeyed very obediently.
He had never expected to be alive, but he also knew it was all thanks to Wan Xueying. She had given him his life, so how could he disobey her? How could he possibly betray her kindness again? Even if Wan Xueying had fed him poison, he wouldn't have even frowned.
Was it an illusion? Shortly after he swallowed those unknown leaves, he felt as if every part of his body had been revitalized, and he felt lighter, compared to his previous near-death state.
"Since you are okay, the emperor asked me to ask you something." After making sure that his life was not in danger, Pei Xuanqing asked Shen Yu directly in front of Wan Xueying.
"Is it still the case that the Duke of Ping's mansion hadn't reported the discovery of iron ore to the court?" Shen Yu was puzzled. "I really don't know much about this." He wasn't lying; he hadn't mentioned this to the younger generation, fearing they might be implicated. However, from some minor details of what had happened, he could deduce something.
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