Chapter 111 The plan was already laid out... then I will wait and see, respectfully...
Physician Li used silk soaked in boiling water to cut small squares of cloth, twisted them into balls, dipped them in a medicinal juice made from licorice, phellodendron bark, and honeysuckle, and carefully cleaned the wound.
Silk is soft and, unlike cotton, it won't leave lint in the wound, potentially causing secondary infection.
The daylight was bright enough to clearly see the crisscrossing, overlapping welts on his back, with some areas showing exposed flesh and blood from whip marks.
From the shoulder blades to the lower back, there wasn't a single patch of intact skin or flesh.
Fortunately, the executioner showed mercy; otherwise, even a god wouldn't have been able to withstand forty lashes.
Seeing the torn and bloodied wound on his back, Yu Nie frowned and asked anxiously, "How is it, Physician Li? Could this wound have damaged the internal organs?"
Physician Li continued his work without stopping, methodically cleaning the wound with silver tweezers as he spoke: "Judging from the current situation, it is fortunate that Junior Tutor Huan's injury has not reached the bone, so it will not damage the internal organs. Princess, please rest assured."
It's good that the internal organs weren't damaged, as such injuries are most likely to cause other complications, and in severe cases, they can even damage the kidneys.
To prevent the wound from getting infected, she always felt that simply cleaning the wound with herbal juice and wound medicine was not enough.
If only there were some alcohol on her right now, all the alcohol she had brought with her had been left in Jingyuan.
She couldn't even use it now.
Thinking about this, she suddenly remembered the past and turned to ask the person on the bed, "Did you keep all the alcohol I gave you before, sir?"
The excruciating pain from the wound prevented Huan Xun from taking deep breaths.
His breath was weak, and his voice was faint: "There should be one bottle left in the second drawer of the shelf in the study."
At this moment, she had no time to ask him why the other bottles were used up so quickly. She turned to Lu Jinshi urgently and said, "Please, Lu Jinshi, bring them here quickly."
Lu Jinshi was a man who, apart from Huan Xun, did not like to listen to anyone else's orders.
In the past, he might not have listened to her.
But water flows, and times have changed.
He wasn't stupid; he could tell that Huan Xun's attitude towards this young Taoist priest, whom he had once disliked, had changed drastically.
Moreover, Huan Xun's previous instructions were still ringing in his ears, so he agreed to Yu Nie's order without arguing and quickly went to the study to get his things.
A short while later, he brought over the only remaining bottle of alcohol.
Yu Nie took it from Lu Jinshi and turned to give it to the imperial physician: "Quickly give this to Lord Huan."
Not knowing the properties or name of the medicine, Physician Li hesitated and dared not use it rashly.
Seeing this, Yu Nie quickly explained the effects of alcohol to him, and at the end she even guaranteed with her own life that this medicine would not be poisonous. Upon hearing this, Physician Li's expression softened, and he dared to use alcohol to clean Huan Xun's wound.
Alcohol is highly effective at cleaning wounds, but the burning pain it causes is far greater than that of wound medicines or herbal juices.
Even though Huan Xun had suffered countless injuries on the battlefield, and sometimes had to undergo bone-scraping surgery when conditions didn't allow, he was startled by the sudden, intense pain. Sweat poured down his forehead and temples, his back muscles tensed abruptly, and a low groan escaped his throat.
"I'm sorry." Seeing his reaction, she said softly with apology in her eyes, "The downside of using alcohol is that it can cause a very strong burning sensation."
She originally wanted to say that her technique was not good and that the purity of the alcohol she produced would definitely be different from that of the alcohol used by doctors. However, as she was about to say it, she realized that there were too many people present and she was worried that it would cause others to think too much, so she didn't say it.
He chuckled, turned his head to look at her, his eyes filled with a hint of exhausted mockery: "The pain was so intense that I almost thought the princess was planning to murder me and take my life."
Her ears turned red, but she didn't turn her face away: "With Young Master Huan in such a state, he still has the leisure to joke. It seems my worries were unnecessary. Your condition is better than I imagined."
She deliberately replied to him, "Then you must be careful, sir, who knows, you might end up in my hands one day."
“In that case, I… will wait and see, and await Your Highness’s ‘determination’.” He finished speaking jokingly, then a sharp pain shot through his back, and his face turned pale.
As Aunt Wu watched Doctor Li carefully clean his wounds, seeing him suffer so much from the pain, she couldn't help but wipe away her tears, deeply distressed.
"Our Zijing has been loyal to the country, not to mention his old wounds. Even if he is a skilled fighter, he can't withstand such a beating. Those aristocratic families, for their own benefit, seize on the slightest thing and won't let it go, causing him to suffer such a severe punishment. Not to mention me, if Governor Yan, who is far away on the northern frontier, knew, how heartbroken he would be."
Xie Cheng added, "These powerful families are going too far. They'll get what's coming to them later!"
They chattered away, while Xiao Chengyan, who had been standing at the back of the crowd, remained unusually silent.
He watched all this silently, his mind not on Xie Cheng and Aunt Wu's conversation, not even a single word of their exchange reached his ears.
Ever since Yu Nie came in and hurriedly greeted him, his entire mind has been focused on her.
He had seen everything she had just said to Huan Xun, including her expression as she spoke.
For the first time in his life, Prince Xiao, who had always gotten whatever he wanted, felt defeated.
These past few days he's been thinking about it over and over again. He clearly spends the most time with her, so how come he's fallen behind Huan Xun and lost out in her heart?
He couldn't believe he had lost so many times, and he couldn't understand why. He couldn't help but laugh at himself. Perhaps he, the Prince of Guangning, was as stupid as his elder brother, Xiao Daozun, had said.
After carefully cleaning, applying medicine, and bandaging, Physician Li finally straightened up, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and then instructed the people of the Imperial Household Department: "Until the Junior Tutor's wound scabs over, it must not get wet, and it is best not to move it too much. I will come to change the dressing for the young master every day at Chenshi (7-9 AM)."
Perhaps it was due to his age, but Physician Li spoke like a private school teacher.
He stroked his beard and spoke slowly and in a refined tone: "Although it is already autumn, the nights are still hot. It is best to place an ice chest in the adult's bedroom to prevent sweat from soaking the wound and causing it to fester."
Xie Cheng and others said they would keep it in mind.
Because there were still internal medicines to be prepared, Attendant Lu followed Physician Li to the Imperial Medical Bureau to get the medicine.
Aunt Wu, leaning on her cane, instructed the maidservant who was serving her, "Go, go and boil some medicine soup to stop bleeding and relieve pain. Make it strong, and add some blood stasis, cinnamon, and rosin. This will help the wound heal."
The maidservant respectfully agreed, took a few steps back, and turned to go to the kitchen.
As if deliberately leaving the two of them some time alone, Xie Cheng made an excuse that he still had official business to attend to and went to the front of the hall.
Aunt Wu was a sensible person, but her understanding was not derived from observing the two people's actions.
She then said, "That girl, Lvhong, is clumsy and careless. I'm worried about her, so I have to go and check on her."
She paused mid-sentence, glancing at Yu Nie, and said, "Then Zi Jing... I'll trouble the princess to look after him for now."
Yu Nie replied, "Aunt Wu, you're too kind. If you have something to do, please go ahead and take care of it."
Aunt Wu responded repeatedly and then slowly walked towards the door.
The bedroom fell silent instantly.
After everyone had left, Xiao Chengyan, who had been standing to the side for a long time, finally stepped forward.
As before, he joked with Huan Xun, who was lying on the couch: "Brother Huan is truly a filial son. In order to prevent Governor Yan from being punished, he is willing to suffer such a serious injury."
Huan Xun had already caught a glimpse of him through the gaps between the crowd.
Huan Xun did not speculate on the reason why his brother had not contacted him for the past few days.
The reason he didn't speculate was simple: he didn't care.
They didn't care what this member of the royal family surnamed Xiao was thinking, nor did they care to find out his attitude.
His aloofness and decisiveness had nothing to do with the power struggles and conflicts of interest within the court.
Simply because his surname is Xiao.
He is Xiao Daozun's younger brother, born of the same mother.
This one thing is enough.
Poor Xiao Chengyan was unaware of the reason, so he didn't understand that his initial belief that as long as he was sincere enough, he could make a friend like Huan Xun was a huge mistake.
He was unaware of the tragedy his brother's evil deeds had caused.
Yu Nie already knew about Huan Xun taking Yan Yue's punishment when he returned from the palace that day.
She had no doubts about this. He was Yan Yue's adopted son, and in this era, filial piety was considered the most important virtue. If one's filial piety reached a certain level, one could even get an official position.
Behind stories like fanning the pillow and warming the quilt, and lying on ice to catch carp, isn't it precisely because of extreme filial piety that one was recommended for an official career? However, if being filial enough could guarantee a government job, it's hard to guarantee that some people would develop "false filial piety" just to put on a show, and would do anything astonishing to gain fame.
However, Huan Xun's actions clearly did not indicate that he was aiming for an official position.
The position he achieved at eighteen is one that most people might not reach even at eighty, so pretending to be in mourning has little meaning for him.
In her view, he was willing to sacrifice himself simply to spare his godfather some suffering.
Upon hearing Xiao Chengyan bring up this topic, she couldn't help but recall how the aristocratic families had made things difficult for him, so she inquired, "Are those families really planning to let you off the hook?"
That being said, she didn't think things would be resolved so easily.
In the court, battles are always a matter of life or death; those people won't give up easily unless they tear off a piece of flesh.
Huan Xun's words quickly confirmed her suspicions.
He calmly said, "Before the war in the northern frontier began, my godfather blocked their way to the battlefield. I merely granted their wish and agreed to let their men go to the northern frontier to fight."
In earlier years, these aristocratic families looked down on military households, thus losing their advantage in military power.
Now they are actively involved in military affairs and sharing in military achievements, but in reality they want to seize military power and make up for the price they paid for their arrogance in the past.
Once they regain control of the military, they will no longer be inferior to others in terms of military strength.
By then, the forces led by Yan Yue will no longer have the advantage to challenge them.
Yan Yue had tried his best to prevent them from getting involved in the battlefield precisely because he saw through this point. Besides the open and covert struggles and sabotage in the court, he was also wary of the struggle for military power.
That's why he left no room for compromise and refused to allow the troops under the command of the aristocratic families to enter the northern frontier under any circumstances.
"But will Governor Yan agree to this?" Yu Nie didn't think that someone who had previously taken a hard line against the involvement of aristocratic families in military affairs would easily give in.
He laughed and replied, "My godfather's goal is to pacify the northern frontier. If we don't make him relinquish command, he will of course agree."
He said it as if it were a slow-to-realize thing.
In fact, the play was already decided when the battle report of Yan Yue's command error was sent to Jian'an.
The aristocratic families already harbored resentment over their inability to venture into the northern frontier. Now that something has happened on the battlefield, they will surely make a big fuss about it and bring up things they were unable to do before.
According to the law, Yan Yue, who was responsible for the command error, should relinquish his command authority. Given his position, he could certainly strongly object and refuse to relinquish power.
However, allowing the gentry to participate was a consensus he reached with Huan Xun, a scheme aimed at ensuring that the forces under those families would have "no return."
Huan Xun outwardly refused the aristocratic families' requests to send troops time and again, only "reluctantly agreeing" after they threatened him with Yan Yue's mistakes. To avoid appearing deliberate, even the condition of sending them to the northern frontier was not something he proposed voluntarily, but rather seemed like a result of being forced by circumstances and making concessions step by step.
From the perspective of the gentry, the outcome of this matter was a condition that had been painstakingly achieved after much back and forth.
The Gao, Wang, and Chen families thought their plan was clever enough. They had finally found something to hold against Yan Yue, and they were determined to achieve their previous goals no matter what.
This presents them with an excellent opportunity to regain control of the military.
Since this was the opportunity they wanted, they went with the flow and "had no choice" but to make concessions.
However, for Zhao Yunfu, this outcome was neither good nor bad.
Although the emperor was happy to see the two sides fight to the death, the art of checks and balances was the foundation of imperial rule.
Sending aristocratic families to the northern frontier would undoubtedly weaken their strength, but it would also provide an opportunity to find out which of the three families had the strongest military.
On the other hand, this would also bring a worrying hidden danger to the court. If the aristocratic families suffer heavy casualties, then only Yan Yue's family will be left in power, and the balance he has painstakingly maintained will be broken.
But this was no longer up to him. The political pressure from the aristocratic families needed an outlet, so he could only take preventative measures by sending trusted military supervisors and giving the Imperial Horse Administration control over the allocation of provisions, thus restraining all parties and preventing them from acting arbitrarily.
It was said that by restraining all parties, Yan Yue would be the least affected.
As the emperor, Zhao Yunfu was naturally aware of this, but it was the best decision he could make at the moment.
Hearing from him that Zhao Yunfu had put the Imperial Horse Administration in charge of the provisions, Yu Nie thought of Gu Xiangzhi, who had not yet returned from Shuoyang.
She asked curiously, "Will Gu Xiangzhi also go to the Northern Frontier?"
Huan Xun replied, "We don't know yet. We'll know the specific personnel to be assigned in a few days."
Yu Nie then asked, "What about the Li family? Will the Li Xing family also send someone?"
Before Huan Xun could speak, Xiao Chengyan interjected, "The Li family's foundation is not as strong as the other three families, and the only adult male member in the next generation is Li Yunsheng."
He curled his lip: "This Li Yunsheng doesn't look like someone who can lead troops into battle at all. Besides, the Li family doesn't have many troops. Longxi is a land of many disasters. The troops under his command are only enough to protect their own fields and houses."
Retainers were private armed forces possessed only by powerful clans. These individuals were generally not merely private soldiers, but also tenant farmers. Their daily duties included protecting the family's estates and fields, participating in labor, and sometimes representing the family in local conflicts. When needed, they would be assembled into an army to accompany the family on campaigns. The recruits were mostly farmers, pardoned criminals, and retainers passed down through generations.
The position of sergeant is passed down through generations, and no one can escape this role.
These people only obey their master's household, not the imperial court.
This is not a good thing for the imperial court.
Hearing that the Li family lineage would not go to the battlefield, Yu Nie felt a little relieved.
Seeing her relieved expression, Huan Xun naturally understood what she was thinking and said, "Don't worry, the Li family will definitely be brought to justice by you."
Mentioning this matter, she couldn't help but feel worried: "I'm not so optimistic. We haven't even found the person we're looking for yet. I really don't know when we'll be able to find the person we want."
Xiao Chengyan didn't know what they were talking about, so he asked, "Who are you looking for?"
In Yu Nie's opinion, it wouldn't hurt to tell Xiao Chengyan about impeaching the Li family. Given his character, she didn't think he would leak the news.
So she told him everything about the shady dealings during the disaster, making sure no one outside the door could hear.
As soon as she finished speaking, footsteps came from the corridor outside the door, followed by Xie Cheng's voice reporting: "My lord, Song Juling urgently requests an audience."
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