"Half a month..."
As Yan'er's voice rang out, she slowly spread her hands and murmured a repeated sentence.
Then he remembered what Mei Xiyuan had said that day. If what she said was true, by now, he realized that he had very few days left to live.
However, the poison Mei Xiyuan used this time was not particularly cunning, and she had no clue or way to deal with it.
Even in such a critical situation, she had no time to think about finding an antidote; she was only anxious to find Xuan Yuanhan's men as soon as possible.
So he could only put on a smile and lie to Yan'er.
"You silly girl, you really are incredibly stupid. What kind of person is Mei Xiyuan? You actually believed her words! Where did she get such a vicious poison?!"
"Your young lady is just a little tired from worrying about state affairs for many days in a row. It's not poisoning at all. Why are you worrying about it all the time!"
But as soon as he finished speaking, he couldn't help coughing again: "Cough cough cough..."
So, instinctively, she quickly covered her mouth with a silk handkerchief, but by the dim candlelight, she saw a dark red blood clot.
With a gentle flick of her wrist, Yan'er noticed it and questioned her, "Now that things have come to this, just look at the bloodstains. How long do you intend to keep deceiving yourself, Miss?"
Seeing that he could no longer hide the truth, Yi Shangyun placed a hand on Yan'er's shoulder and said earnestly, "Yan'er, this continent is about to descend into chaos, and I can only temporarily postpone the war between our two nations. In truth, you and I both know that only His Highness the King of Qin is the good ruler that the people of the world truly need. Therefore, no matter what, he absolutely cannot be harmed!"
Yan'er wasn't unaware of Yi Shangyun's feelings, but in Yan'er's heart, she always only felt sorry for this little master.
"And what about you, Miss? What will you do? Yan'er only knows that she can't live without you, Miss. Yan'er doesn't want you to die! Why can't you be like other young ladies, find a good family, and live a peaceful life with your husband?"
Hearing Yan'er's trembling voice, filled with fear, Yi Shangyun's heart broke.
Then he hugged Yan'er tightly: "Yan'er, my good Yan'er, don't worry, I won't die, I won't!"
But just then, Yan'er suddenly broke free from her embrace.
Yi Shangyun asked, puzzled, "What's wrong with you?"
Unexpectedly, Yan'er turned around and walked towards the city gate.
"I'll distract the guards for you, Miss, so you can enter the palace and find His Highness the Prince of Qin. The sooner you rescue the Prince of Qin, the sooner you can focus on curing your poison!"
Upon hearing this, Yi Shangyun quickly grabbed her arm, saying, "No, Yan'er, this is too dangerous. Besides, I have something more important to tell you to do."
"Something more important?" Yan'er looked at Yi Shangyun's face with a puzzled expression.
Yi Shangyun frowned and slowly said, "This time entering the palace, both Your Highness and I are in grave danger. If my mission fails, you must bring back reinforcements!"
Yan'er thought for a moment and asked, "Support? What support? Does Miss want me to go back to Dongning Kingdom to find Young Master Lu?"
"The Third Prince is seriously injured, and Young Master Lu has heavy responsibilities, so he naturally cannot leave the court!"
As Yi Shangyun spoke, he quickly took the brocade pouch that Young Master Yi had left him before he left and handed it to Yan'er.
Yan'er asked, "What is this?"
Yi Shangyun said, "This sachet was given to me by Young Master Yi when he left. I never expected that it would contain the Tiger Tally of Nan'an Kingdom. I need you to take this Tiger Tally to Nan'an Kingdom immediately and ask Young Master Yi for help!"
Yan'er sensed that the situation was getting more and more serious, but if she left, Yi Shangyun would be all alone, so she became even more worried: "What will you do alone, Miss?"
Yi Shangyun smiled, looking completely nonchalant, and said, "When has your young lady ever not been incredibly lucky? Even hurricanes and sandstorms couldn't do anything to me. How could I die so easily!"
After a pause, he finally made up his mind and said, "This time, I must protect him!"
Yan'er held the sachet in both hands, feeling its weight immensely. She was terrified and sobbing uncontrollably, unsure how to comfort her: "Miss..."
Yi Shangyun wiped away her tears one last time and threatened her, "Alright, stop crying. If you keep crying, I really won't want you anymore!"
Yan'er then pursed her lips tightly, holding back her anger.
Yi Shangyun then reminded her, "Be careful on your journey, take good care of yourself, and remember, come back as soon as possible!"
Seeing Yan'er turn back every three steps, she finally left slowly until she completely disappeared from his sight.
Yi Shangyun finally came to his senses and looked around at the surroundings again: "This place is practically an impregnable fortress. With such tight defenses, not even a fly could get in. What should we do? I also don't know what's going on with him."
Just then, a faint commotion arose.
Yi Shangyun shifted his gaze and noticed something unusual at the city gate, so he strolled over to it.
Upon closer inspection, one could see a thin, frail guard being pinned against the wall.
The person being held down was convulsing and foaming at the mouth. There were about ten people surrounding him, tightly encircling him.
Upon seeing this, Yi Shangyun hurriedly spoke up to stop him, saying, "Assistant, let him go quickly."
So he went up to help while simultaneously ordering everyone to act together.
"Quickly lay him down to prevent him from falling and getting injured due to sudden loss of consciousness."
Seeing someone eagerly reaching out to pinch his philtrum, Yi Shangyun quickly stopped them: "Don't pinch his philtrum at this time, it won't do him any good."
"Quickly loosen his collar and belt to keep his breathing clear. Turn his head to one side to allow secretions and vomit to drain from his mouth and prevent them from flowing into his trachea and causing choking."
"Put clothing under his joints to prevent chafing."
"Remove the items around him and quickly move away any hard or sharp objects to prevent him from being bumped or injured."
"Do not forcibly press down on his limbs during his seizures, as excessive force may cause fractures or dislocations."
After about fifteen minutes, the guard finally stopped.
At this point, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Yi Shangyun said, "He needs to rest now."
The crowd then looked at the face of the person who appeared to be their leader.
The leader nodded, and the two men carried the guard away.
At this moment, the leader spoke up: "Peiyan's father was also an old guard here a few months ago. He guarded this gate his whole life and never let a single fly out of the city. But on his last day on duty, he was beheaded by order of the emperor for letting an unarmed woman go. He left behind a widow and an orphan. Peiyan also has an elderly mother who has been ill for a long time, so he had to go out to earn money to support his family at a young age."
After a moment's recollection, Yi Shangyun belatedly realized, "So the uncle who let me out of the city that day was actually his father."
So he gritted his teeth and muttered to himself, "Emperor Jing, this is all your doing..."
He then took out a heavy bag of silver from his body: "Peiyan is so filial and sensible; his plight is truly heartbreaking. Let him take this silver back to treat his mother when he wakes up!"
The leader took the wealth from her hands, realizing he had never seen so much money in his life, and praised her, "Girl, you are such a kind person!"
Yi Shangyun retorted, "Peiyan's father was also a good man!"
Then, as if remembering something, he said, "Oh right, is there any pen and ink here? What illness does Peiyan's mother have? Tell me about it. I know a little about medicine and can write a prescription for Peiyan and his mother. I hope it will help with their illness."
The leader was overjoyed upon hearing this and immediately replied, "Yes, yes, yes! Someone, bring us the writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone quickly! Poor folks like us, with our coarse and worthless lives, where would we get the money to see a doctor and get a prescription? We usually just go up the mountain and randomly pick some herbs to treat ourselves. If we get better, great; if not, we just accept our bad luck and let the King of Hell and his minions take us away. This is great, the mother and son are truly blessed."
After taking the two rather serious prescriptions that Yi Shangyun quickly wrote down, the leader carefully folded them and put them in his pocket. Only then did he come to his senses and ask, "By the way, I haven't had a chance to ask you yet, Miss. Why are you here in the middle of the night?"
Yi Shangyun said with a melancholy expression, "I...I am actually a maid in Guanghua Palace. The nanny sent me out of the palace on an errand, and I accidentally missed the time to return to the palace."
The guard leader suddenly realized, "So you're from Guanghua Palace. In that case, young lady, please go in quickly. It's late, and the world outside isn't very safe these days."
And so, Yi Shangyun blended in. She thanked the leader profusely and said, "Thank you!"
The leader also thanked her, saying, "I should be thanking you for saving Pei Yan today. If anything had happened to him, how could I face Brother Gu in the future?"
Seeing that Yi Shangyun had finally entered safely, he hurriedly walked away.
The leader suddenly turned his gaze towards the retreating figure, muttering to himself, "Brother Gu, did you see that? Her Highness the Princess Consort, she's finally back safe and sound!"
In fact, he had long recognized Yi Shangyun, who had been lingering not far from the palace gate.
But he couldn't be too open about going to her to ask and confirm, and just then, Pei Yan's old ailment flared up.
This finally attracted Yi Shangyun to come on her own initiative.
That day, when Yi Shangyun rode his horse to escape from Western Qin to Dongning to search for Xuan Yuanhan's whereabouts, he was actually patrolling not far away.
He and his elder brother recognized her as the Princess of Qin the moment they saw her that day.
Because on the day that King Xuanyuan Han of Qin and Yi Shangyun entered the palace together to pay their respects for the first time after their wedding, it was the brothers who were responsible for guarding the gate.
He would never forget how satisfied, gentle, and happy the smile on Xuan Yuanhan's face was that day!
Therefore, even if it means death, they are not afraid, only to protect the people that their true heroes want to protect!
"His Highness the King of Qin protects countless brothers and sisters, and we will certainly protect you in his place!"
"Your Highness, please take good care of yourself on this journey!"
After searching and stumbling along the way, Yi Shangyun finally found Guanghua Palace.
It was clear that the palace gates were tightly closed, and there were no guards visible outside.
In the quiet of the night, if one were stingy, it would likely attract the attention of the guards patrolling the area.
Just then, Yi Shangyun noticed a pile of old cabinets and tables in the corner.
So they quietly went over, gently moved them, and then stacked them on top of each other.
Finally, I lifted my foot and stepped on it.
After finally climbing to the top of the high wall, just as she was about to slide down, she lost her grip and fell to the ground...
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