Everything in the world seemed to stand still. Anke could only hear her own strong heartbeat, as if it were about to leap out of her chest. Anke stared wide-eyed at Ertai, who was pale-faced and grinning foolishly at her.
"That's a knife! Are you crazy?" An Ke tightly clutched his chest with a handkerchief. He had pulled the knife out himself. If she didn't cover it, he might bleed to death.
"I told you, I would protect the princess." Ertai's face was deathly pale, and he grinned foolishly. "I'm fine, it's not a serious injury. A little medicine will do the trick." Ertai, despite his own injury, was still trying to comfort Anke.
"Then why did you draw your sword? Doctor Hu hasn't even examined you yet." An Ke looked at the handkerchief that was already stained with blood and choked up again.
“I’ve been injured before, it’s really nothing.” Ertai truly felt that the injury was worth it; normally, he would never be able to get this close to the princess. Ertai reached out and gently wiped away the tears that slid down Anke’s face. “Don’t cry, it’s nothing.”
Anke herself didn't realize she was crying until Ertai wiped her tears with his slightly cold fingers.
"Where is the imperial physician? Where is Physician Hu?" An Ke gripped Er Tai's hand tightly in fear, afraid that he would lose his life in no time (although Er Tai was considered part of the main cast, in An Ke's eyes he was like a nobody, so An Ke was unsure if he had the protagonist's halo to survive). She called out loudly.
By this time, they had been surrounded by the soldiers led by Lord Ding, and Emin had brought the Emperor over.
Upon witnessing this scene, Yongqi immediately began searching for Physician Hu. When he spotted Physician Hu, he used his lightness skill to pull him to An Ke's side.
"Doctor Hu, please take a look at him quickly! He's been stabbed in the chest, but he managed to pull the knife out himself!" An Ke stood up, speaking incoherently.
When Qing'er arrived, she saw An Ke with tears streaming down her face. She rushed forward and held An Ke's trembling hands, trying to give her strength to An Ke and help her be strong. "An'an, calm down. Let Doctor Hu take a look at him first. Ertai is so healthy, he'll definitely be fine. Don't scare yourself."
“Yes, he won’t die.” An Ke stared intently at Ertai, who lay on the ground, his face ashen, and murmured softly, “How can the protagonist die so easily?”
The old man, still shaken, went to Anke's side, trying to offer her comfort and support. "An'an will be alright."
"Your humble servant Ding Chengxian kowtows to Your Majesty. I was unaware of Your Majesty's arrival and deserve to die." Lord Ding knelt tremblingly on the ground. He truly had no idea what was going on. Moreover, he had almost caused trouble for the Emperor on his own territory. They were remnants of the White Lotus Sect, and he couldn't clear his name no matter how he looked at it.
"Were any survivors?" An Ke didn't forget the important matter. She wiped the tears from her face with her sleeve and asked Fu Heng in a deep voice.
"A few were left behind, but they were probably just executors of this plan, not leaders of the White Lotus Sect." Fu Heng had already put it very tactfully, meaning that some small fry had been caught, but the big bosses behind the scenes had not been captured.
“Follow him to the north. The leader’s mask is different from the other masked men’s. He’s wearing a long black robe and his voice is a little hoarse. He has scars on his arms; he was injured by my soft sword. He shouldn’t have gone far.” An Ke pointed out a clear path for Fu Heng.
"Understood." Fu Heng immediately understood what An Ke meant. He waved and led a small team. "Chase after them!"
"Doctor Hu, how is he?" An Ke asked worriedly. Fu Ertai's face grew increasingly grim.
"Your Highness, we need to find a clean place so I can give him another check-up." Physician Hu took Ertai's pulse and gently pried open Ertai's eyelids.
"Where is a clean place?" The Emperor stepped forward to take charge, asking the people who had surrounded him.
"My home isn't far from here, and it's quite clean and elegant. Why don't we go to my home?" Lord Ding said hastily, as if afraid someone else would beat him to it, seeing that there was still a chance to make a contribution.
"Then lead the way, quickly lead the way!" the Emperor shouted.
The Emperor knew that An Ke was worried about Ertai, so he said, "Yongqi, Benjamin, carry Ertai away."
Even if the emperor hadn't given the order, Yongqi was prepared to bring his good brother along.
Before long, they arrived at Lord Ding's house. When Madam Ding saw so many people arriving in such a grand manner, she thought her husband had done something wrong. But when she looked, she found that someone was injured. She quickly organized the maids in the house to fetch hot water and hand out scissors. Everyone who could move around was put to work.
They even used the cleanest room in the house as a hospital room for Ertai, since he was injured because of Anke, how could Anke not go to see him? She went in right away.
The Emperor followed him inside. In any case, he had protected his niece, and the White Lotus Sect had come specifically to target him. Anyone who got hurt was considered to have taken the fall for him, the master.
As soon as Ertai was settled, Physician Hu took scissors and cut open his Shu brocade robe, revealing his fair chest. The master told Anke to sit down and not to be nervous. How could Anke not be nervous? After all, he was injured because of him.
In her past life, An Ke only interacted with a few people she had worked hard with; otherwise, she was always alone. Here, it was the same; apart from her family, she was all alone. But if someone lost their life because of her today, she would feel guilty for the rest of her life.
Fortunately, Dr. Hu discovered that although the bleeding was quite heavy and frightening, the boy was actually quite lucky. The incision looked horrific, but it wasn't deep at all. It hadn't damaged his heart meridian. Although it wasn't far from his heart, as long as it didn't affect his heart, Dr. Hu was confident he could save him.
An Ke breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. What followed was Physician Hu cleaning his wounds, applying medicine, and stitching them up.
"Alright, sir, Fu'ertai is fine now." Physician Hu wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Although he is strong and healthy, he still needs to rest properly. If there's nothing serious, let him stay here and recuperate for a while."
Physician Hu practically said that they shouldn't rush on their way now, and that for the sake of his wound, he should rest at Lord Ding's house for a few days.
The old man waved his hand, indicating that he already knew. Then, looking at Ertai lying on the bed with his brows still tightly furrowed, he reached out and patted Furen on the shoulder. "Furen, you've raised a good son."
"Your Majesty, this is what my son should do." How could Fu Lun not feel sorry for his son? Although he, as the father, had neglected him the most since he was a child, seeing his son lying on the bed with no color in his eyes still made his heart ache.
But could he say that in front of the emperor? Of course not. Protecting the emperor was the duty of every minister. Although his sons had not yet entered the court as officials, they were still the emperor's servants.
"Alright, everyone has heard what Physician Hu said. All irrelevant people, follow me out. Let Ertai rest and recover here properly." The Emperor looked at the small room surrounded by layers of people and couldn't help but feel a little impatient.
After hearing the Emperor's words, everyone glanced at Ertai reluctantly before leaving.
The Emperor, furious, was about to interrogate the few White Lotus Sect remnants he had captured. Just as he stepped outside, he heard someone say that Fu Heng had returned, with several people arrested behind him.
Upon hearing this, the Emperor hurried over; there was no point in him staying there. It was better to quickly interrogate these damned remnants and get to the bottom of things.
"Your Majesty, I am incompetent. I have failed to capture the mysterious person the princess spoke of. I have only captured a few people wearing different ghost masks." Fu Heng stood in the hall, reporting his progress to the Emperor.
The Emperor waved his hand, signaling Fuheng not to take the matter to heart. It wasn't his fault to begin with. Since the White Lotus Sect dared to commit violence in this town, they must have been fully prepared and confident. "Bring them all up here so I can interrogate them personally."
"Yes, bring them all up." Fu Heng shouted loudly towards the outside.
Immediately afterwards, several masked men were brought in. After removing their masks, they were no different from ordinary people. Some refused to admit it, and some even tried to bite their tongues and commit suicide after seeing the emperor. Fortunately, Fu Heng received guidance from An Ke and immediately stepped forward to press his pressure points.
Nothing was found out. These remnants of the White Lotus Sect are particularly stubborn. The master ordered them to be sent to the Dali Temple at top speed so that the Dali Temple Minister could interrogate them thoroughly and make them vomit everything they have to say.
Once we return to Beijing, the Emperor will see the results.
Fu Heng directly pressed acupuncture points on several people, and then asked Physician Hu to insert silver needles into them. This was to prevent them from taking the opportunity to escape or even shout for help on the way. He also instructed a few reliable servants, along with Ying, to send them back as quickly as possible on horseback.
The Emperor sat in the front hall for the entire afternoon, only learning at dinner time that An Ke had been staying in that room the whole time. Fortunately, Qing'er and Xingxing were also there, so no gossip could spread.
The Emperor sighed and walked towards Ertai's room. Upon entering, he found it eerily quiet. Anke sat on a stool beside Ertai's bed, occasionally standing up to change his cold towel.
Qing'er and Xingxing stood behind Anke, watching the busy Anke.
"An'an," the Emperor arrived just in time, "I've sent someone to watch over him. You'll have dinner with me first. Even if you're going to take care of the patient, you should at least take care of yourself first, shouldn't you? Otherwise, he'll recover, and then you'll fall ill again. Wouldn't that be putting the cart before the horse?"
An Ke nodded, still somewhat rationally, and placed the handkerchief back on Ertai's forehead before following the Emperor out.
Seeing this, Qing'er and Xingxing breathed a sigh of relief. They had almost talked themselves hoarse, and An Ke didn't want to eat either. It was the Emperor's words that worked.
Upon arriving at the dining hall, everyone had taken their seats at the table. Only four seats remained: one for the Emperor, one for Fuheng, one for Anke, and one for Qing'er.
An Ke wanted to have a quiet dinner, but Xiao Yanzi kept chattering on and on. "Has the master and his men found out anything? They are so hateful, they actually launched a sneak attack while everyone was warming themselves by the fire."
Little Swallow angrily tore off a chicken leg from the roast chicken and stuffed it into her mouth, chewing it fiercely.
Seeing Xiao Yanzi's state, Ziwei quickly comforted her, "Alright, Xiao Yanzi, some of these people have been caught, right? They'll definitely be interrogated. Luckily, none of us are in any trouble. Most importantly, Master is alright too." After saying that, she didn't forget to glance at Master.
They really know how to talk, quite adept at using two words at once. They comforted Xiao Yanzi, praised the master, and even offered him a heartwarming gesture. But have they forgotten? Ertai is still lying in bed, unable to move, and hasn't woken up yet.
The master understood the implication in Ziwei's words but didn't respond. The atmosphere today was far too heavy. Although he himself wasn't injured, someone else had. Moreover, those remnants of the White Lotus Cult kept threatening to take his life.
If it weren't for An'an and Ertai, how would we know that he wasn't the one lying here today?
Upon hearing Ziwei's words, not only Anke and the master sensed something was amiss, but even Fulun glanced at her. What did she mean? Was she implying that her second son wasn't injured? Even if she wanted to flatter the master, now wasn't the time.
Unbeknownst to Ziwei, Fulun had already begun to dislike her.
Seeing that no one spoke, Ziwei lowered her head in grievance.
The hot-headed Fu Erkang, naturally unable to bear seeing his beloved woman like this, immediately spoke up to give Ziwei a way out. "Yes, the Emperor will definitely investigate thoroughly. At that time, they will surely reveal the mastermind behind it all. Fortunately, Master was not injured today, which is a great relief."
If An Ke felt awkward talking about Ziwei, then Fu Erkang's words were simply grating to her ears.
Is this Fu Ertai's biological brother? And what is Fu Erkang to him? A pawn that Fu Erkang can sacrifice at any time?
An Ke felt inexplicably choked up during the meal, so she slammed her chopsticks on the table and said sarcastically, "It's fortunate that the Emperor is here because I and Ertai are there to mediate for him. You, Fu Erkang, as a guard of the Qianqing Palace, are always by the Emperor's side, protecting him. And now you're here spouting such nonsense."
Fu Erkang blushed deeply, not from shame, but from anger. He hadn't expected An Ke to point her finger at him and berate him.
"Miss, the master is fine, and the person has been caught. Please don't be angry!" Ziwei stood up weakly and began to try to appease her again.
"Ha! Today I've truly learned what it means to be heartless and ungrateful. I used to think it was just an exaggeration in the stories, but seeing how Young Master Fu can remain silent even about his own brother, I'm truly impressed." An Ke glared at Fu Erkang.
Fu Erkang lowered his head and glared at her secretly, thinking that no one had seen his little actions, but An Ke had seen it all.
An Ke stepped forward and slapped him across the face. "Fu Er Kang, what kind of look is that? Who gave you permission to glare at me, the princess? You've neglected your duties, and I haven't even settled accounts with you yet."
Upon hearing this, Fu Erkang's heart sank.
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