"Clang!" The emperor slammed the carving knife and the figurine to the ground. He didn't even bother putting on his shoes, slipping on his bright yellow dragon-patterned slippers. He didn't even care that his hair was untidy and disheveled, and he flung open the curtains like a gust of wind and rushed out.
"Prince! My son!" The emperor's call, with its eagerness to recover what was lost, sounded particularly clear in the silent camp.
Xinyi Daoyi was approaching with the help of someone, and when he saw his father running towards him in such a state of panic, his heart was horrified. He quickly bowed and saluted, "I am an unfilial son and have caused you to worry!"
"Glad you're back!" Xin Yihong firmly grasped his son's shoulders with both hands, his anxious gaze scanning him from head to toe. Seeing that his plain white robe, though stained with mud, was free of the glaring blood, his tense heartstrings suddenly relaxed.
His gaze passed over the Crown Prince's shoulder and fell on the back. Jiang Songyi stood quietly with her head bowed, beside him was Jiang Jinzhao, whose face was pale from blood loss.
Ji Cheng stepped forward at the right moment and reported in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, when I arrived, the Crown Prince was taking shelter from the rain in a cave with the Jiang brothers and sisters."
Xin Yidao coughed lightly and added, "Father, I encountered a dangerous assassination attempt on the way. Fortunately, Princess Jiaqing and Young Master Jiang risked their lives to protect me, so I was able to escape danger." He spoke clearly and attributed the credit to the two of them.
Jiang Songyi knelt gracefully, and Jiang Jinzhao, enduring the severe pain, bowed and saluted: "Your Majesty."
The emperor was now in a state of calm, his attitude unusually friendly. He praised him warmly, "Well done, good boy! You've done a great job protecting me this time, and I'm very pleased!" His eyes swept across the sleeve of Jiang Jinzhao's right arm, which had fallen to his side and was soaked in dark blood. His pupils suddenly shrank, and he exclaimed in surprise, "Master Jiang! Your injury... Quick! Call the imperial physician! Treat him immediately!"
Poor old servants of the Imperial Hospital, who had just applied ointment and bandaged the Fourth Prince Xinyi Zigu's invalid eye and had barely rested for half an hour, were dug out of their beds by the emperor's anxious eunuchs, who carried their medicine boxes and stumbled towards the emperor's tent.
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