Upon hearing this, Yi Shangyun was greatly alarmed: "What did you say? This is the only way to Nan'an Kingdom?"
He stared into the woman's eyes for only a few seconds, then suddenly realized what was happening. He slowly put down the chopsticks that were hovering in mid-air, and thought to himself, "Third Young Master, isn't he the Crown Prince of Nan'an? Could it be that he... has already conspired with his two maids to take me to Nan'an?"
In an instant, his mind was filled with images of those faces from the past, those who had fought bravely against illness, their faces filled with pain and helplessness: "What about the people of Longhu City? They are still waiting for me to go to Xiqin to bring back ephedra to save their lives."
With this thought in mind, she made a firm decision in her heart: "No, I absolutely cannot go to Nan'an Kingdom with the Third Young Master. I must bring back Ma Huang from Xi Qin as soon as possible."
He immediately reached out and grasped the woman's hand tightly, pleading with her with pleading eyes, "Sister-in-law, I think I must have been deceived. My original destination was Western Qin, not Southern An Kingdom. I beg you, sister-in-law, to help me find my way and let me leave, okay?"
Upon hearing this, the woman's face gradually became serious. She sat down beside her and hesitated for a long time before slowly saying with a troubled expression, "But young lady, if you leave like this, how am I supposed to explain to those two young ladies when they return? They repeatedly told me to keep a close eye on you!"
At this moment, Yi Shangyun was extremely anxious. She was unaware that she had already gone in the wrong direction.
Several days have obviously passed quickly, and I wonder how the patients in Yanfu Temple are doing now? I really don't want to delay any longer, so after thinking for a moment, I explained: "Sister-in-law, you should also know that the epidemic is rampant in Longhu City, and the people are suffering."
Upon hearing this, the woman frowned and said, "This is something everyone in Dragon Tiger City knows, how could I not know it?"
Yi Shangyun continued, "To be honest, I am a female physician. In order to relieve the siege of Longhu City, I originally planned to leave Yanfu Temple a few days ago to go to the Western Qin Kingdom to find a medicinal herb to treat the patients. Unexpectedly, I was tricked by the two of them and brought here."
"Young lady, you...you said you're a female healer from Yanfu Temple?"
After carefully examining her from head to toe, the woman, with a mixture of admiration and surprise, asked in bewilderment, "Liar? Don't you know those two girls? But a few days ago, I saw the three of you getting along very well, as if you were quite familiar with each other."
As Yi Shangyun listened, she glanced outside and saw that the sun was setting and dusk was approaching; another day was about to end.
In a moment of panic, he hurriedly placed his hands on the woman's arm, which was resting on the table, and pleaded, "Sister-in-law, this is a long story, but I really don't have time to explain it to you here. Please, help me! If we're too late, the entire Dragon Tiger City will be in grave danger!"
As expected, the woman was a person of great principle. After understanding the urgency of the situation, she thought for a moment and said, "Very well, since you are concerned for the safety of all the people of Dragon Tiger City, what do I, a widow, have to fear? You should go, young lady!"
"Sister-in-law, you..." Upon hearing this, Yi Shangyun was instantly stunned.
For many days, because she was always dozing off in the house, she did not notice that there were no men in the yard, nor did she hear any children chasing and playing.
As he frowned in thought, he saw the woman seem quite unfazed, even saying with a touch of nonchalance, "That's right, I'm a widow. In an accident, my husband, to protect me and the child in my womb, fell off a cliff and died..."
Shocked, and though reluctant, Yi Shangyun still asked timidly, "What about the children?"
The woman recalled, "The baby... as the months went by, the baby grew bigger and bigger in my belly. I could clearly feel his playfulness, and I could even see him stretching out his little arms and legs towards me through my belly, showing them to me."
Her face beamed with boundless happiness as she spoke, but the smile gradually faded. She paused, as if suppressing immense grief, and continued, "But later, I was diagnosed with a malignant tumor in my body, which would threaten the child's survival no matter what. At the time, everyone advised me to give up the child, but I refused to accept my fate. Yes, I didn't believe that God would treat me so unfairly... But perhaps it was fate, in the end, the child still couldn't be saved..."
After hearing this, Yi Shangyun silently apologized to her, saying, "Sister-in-law, I'm sorry."
The woman smiled faintly and said, "It's alright, everything is in the past. No matter what, life still has to go on, right? Back then, I lost my husband and my child. I had nothing left. Actually, I thought about giving up and following my husband and child. But then I thought, wouldn't his death have been in vain? So, I want to live, not only for myself, but also for them. I want to live well for both of them."
Ultimately, the painful past was too painful to recall. After the woman finished speaking, she sniffed, wiped away her tears haphazardly, and got up to help Yi Shangyun tidy up.
Yi Shangyun sincerely thanked her as she walked away, saying, "Thank you, sister-in-law! On behalf of all the people of Longhu City, thank you. From the city lord and his family down to the common people and even a woman who can't even kill a chicken, everyone in Longhu City is so united and working together to fight the epidemic. It truly lives up to the name of this city. Regardless of gender, everyone is as respectable and admirable as a dragon or a tiger. I believe this natural disaster will soon be over!"
The woman, however, expressed her gratitude, saying, "This time, Longhu City was able to see the light of day again because of your compassionate heart, young lady. We should be the ones thanking you."
"Besides, young lady, you are pregnant!"
The woman turned her head, and the two looked at each other, their eyes filled with confidence in overcoming the epidemic, and a tacit understanding hidden in their hearts.
After a while, the woman carefully packed the clothes and dry food that had been prepared, along with her own small bag of silver, and urged, "It's getting late. Since you've decided to leave, you should hurry up and set off. If they come back, you'll be delayed again, and we don't know when you'll reach Western Qin."
For a moment, Yi Shangyun didn't know what to say to him.
Suddenly realizing what she had said, she said, "Right, right, right, I almost forgot. I should write a letter. Sister-in-law, you can give it to the master of those two women. I think he will not make things difficult for you after seeing my letter!"
As he spoke, he hurried over and quickly wrote a letter.
She was nothing more than a country woman, illiterate even in the smallest of characters. Yet, she still pretended to carefully and meticulously put it away, so that Yi Shangyun could set off without worry.
As the two walked out of the house together, Yi Shangyun held the woman's hand tightly and said goodbye with reluctance, "Take care, sister-in-law, until we meet again!"
The woman gently patted the hand that Yun Fu had reached out to her, pointed to a winding path at her feet, and said earnestly, "Keep walking along this path until you reach the end. You'll see a wide road; turn west, and that's the road to the Western Qin Kingdom. Normally, caravans traveling between Western Qin and Eastern Ning would frequently pass through there, but now, because of the great plague, Longhu City is under lockdown, so it's unlikely you'll see any vehicles passing by."
Seemingly quite worried for her, the woman turned away from her gaze after speaking, then faced her, put her hand on Yi Shangyun's shoulder, and said, "From now on, it's all up to your own luck! Let's go! If we stay any longer, it will really get dark!"
Seeing that Yi Shangyun's thin figure had already embarked on her journey alone, the woman waved vigorously at her and said worriedly, "Girl, take good care of yourself and the child in your womb. Be careful on your journey!"
Upon hearing this, Yi Shangyun stopped, turned around and nodded heavily, her nose tingling, and tears instantly welled up in her eyes.
On another fork in the road.
Zisu and Baizhi followed closely in Yi Sanshao's footsteps.
Seeing Bai Zhi keeping her head down and not daring to speak, Zi Su was also angry, but she had no choice but to explain and apologize to her: "Third Young Master, I'm sorry, it's all my fault this time. I acted on my own initiative. It has nothing to do with Bai Zhi. Giving her rosemary was also my idea. I just wanted to reduce some unnecessary trouble on the way."
"Trouble? When has that girl ever been trouble?" Upon hearing this, Young Master Yi didn't even turn his head, only saying angrily.
Zisu pouted and said, "Ever since I met her in the Western Qin Kingdom, she has always been a troublesome person for the Third Young Master. If it weren't for her, the three of us might still be living a happy and carefree life in Hundred Herbs Valley."
Upon hearing this, Young Master Yi suddenly stopped, Zisu immediately halted, while Baizhi, who had been hanging her head and not daring to raise it, actually bumped into him, letting out a painful cry: "Ouch..."
Seeing her clumsily reach out to touch her bumped forehead, Young Master Yi glared at her, his face full of disgust and helplessness.
Then he scolded the two people in front of him, "I'm warning you two one more time. If you dare to hurt her even a little bit again, I will not let you off easily. Don't blame me for turning my back on you then."
Seeing that her determination to protect Yi Shangyun had become even stronger than before, Zisu could only temporarily yield to her: "Yes, we remember."
Bai Zhi also obediently replied, "Bai Zhi has remembered it too!"
Finally, he seemed to have forgiven the two of them, and turned around to continue walking forward...
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