Chapter 41 War.
To outsiders, Qin Lie appeared to be in a coma all day, but in reality, he was simply unable to move and couldn't even open his eyes.
But he remained awake most of the time, listening to everything around him.
Hearing that Qin Xiaoshan dared not act on his own and invited Qin Xu over, Qin Xu flew into a rage at his bedside; hearing that his grandmother had rushed over and sat by his bedside sighing; hearing the various reports from the secret guards, he still could not find her whereabouts.
He lay there stiffly, listening to their conversation, unable to say or do anything.
Most of the time, he is consumed by rage as if a thousand arrows are piercing his heart, but occasionally he is strangely calm and undisturbed as if he has lost all hope.
The effects of the medicine lasted for fifteen days, and he woke up on the twelfth day, vomiting a mouthful of blood and shouting angrily, "Tell Qin Hong to get over here and see me!"
Qin Hong arrived early in the morning, bringing with him a group of imperial physicians from the capital. However, these physicians were all helpless against "Half-Moon Red." He was terrified that something might happen to Qin Lie, and he was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan every day. But apart from threatening the physicians, he had no other options.
Hearing that Qin Lie had woken up, he rushed in from the doorway, shouting, "Third Brother! You're awake! —What do you want?"
Qin Lie stared at him menacingly: "Where is your miracle doctor friend now?!"
Speaking of this, Qin Hong felt useless. "As soon as I heard you were poisoned, I immediately sent people to look for him, but he travels around practicing medicine and has probably run off to some remote, impoverished place. I sent so many people, but we still haven't found him! Don't worry, someone said his carriage was last seen in Bingzhou, so we should be able to find him soon, and he might even be back tomorrow! With him around, no poison is too much for us!"
"Fool!" Qin Lie, overwhelmed by the poison, vomited another mouthful of blood. "Can't you see that he was the one who helped the princess escape?"
Qin Hong was taken aback. In fact, Qin Xiaoshan had vaguely mentioned this before. After all, among the people the princess had met, only Zhang Dasheng was a stranger, and Qin Lie had been poisoned by a rare poison.
It was him. He firmly believed that Zhang Dasheng would not do such a thing. After all, he was just a doctor and had no reason to risk his head to help the princess.
Qin Hong still wanted to explain: "Although he admires the princess, it's just a man's love of beauty. He's honest and simple-minded. Without me watching over him, he would have been bullied countless times. How could he have done such a thing?"
Another reason he wanted to believe was that Zhang Dasheng knew Qin Lie was his closest third brother, so even out of respect for him, why would he harm Qin Lie? What would that leave him?!
Qin Lie had heard their words clearly over the past few days and had gone through them in his mind a thousand times.
He looked at Qin Hong with exasperation, “A man’s love of beauty? A dull and honest man? What Zhang Dasheng? He is clearly the missing fifteenth princess. Her mother was a female doctor, and she herself is well-versed in medical books! She deliberately approached you in order to take her sister away! And you gave her a carriage and special privileges so that she could go to Bingzhou without any obstacles. You really deserve to die!”
When the decree of marriage was issued that day, he investigated the background of this fifteenth princess. However, he quickly forgot about such a princess. It was only recently, when he heard the imperial physician mention her, that he remembered her. Unfortunately, he was unable to speak or move, which is why he was delayed for so long.
Qin Hong was struck dumb, frozen in place.
He wanted to deny it, but Zhang Dasheng had never deliberately approached him; it was clearly him who insisted on pestering Brother Zhang!
But he couldn't deny that Zhang Dasheng always appeared clean and refreshing, even though his clothes were patched, his face was sallow, and his eyelids drooped. He always had a fresh scent of soapberry on him, and when he smiled, his teeth were perfectly aligned, and he had a small dimple on his left side. However, he often had a blank expression, and he could only occasionally see it by trying his best to make him laugh.
With such a small frame, when he casually draped his arm over his shoulder, it felt like he was going to crush him. He didn't like it and would avoid it with a stern face, so he had to break the habit.
He would take his mother with him when he went out, and he could only sleep with her at night, otherwise he couldn't sleep. It was probably to avoid being in the same room with her.
He cared about nothing but was obsessed with Princess Yongjia's beauty and paid special attention to her affairs.
Qin Hong slowly clenched his fists, his heart filled with anger and sadness at being deceived, yet also with a strange sense of smug satisfaction.
He recalled their last meeting, when he complained to "Zhang Dasheng" that his grandmother was pressuring him to get married every day, and that he didn't want to go home even though he had one.
At that time, Zhang Dasheng was so annoyed by his nagging that he said he was already a prince, with a high position and great power, and had conquered the capital. Naturally, he had countless noble ladies to choose from, so why was he in such a hurry?
What was his answer then?
“What use are noble ladies? They talk to me about music, chess, calligraphy and painting, but I have no interest in them. If I talk to them about war and battles, I will only frighten them.”
"Whether dignified and elegant or charming and clever, women often become vulgar and mercenary once they enter the inner quarters—just like my stepmother, who urges her husband to make progress, is envious of her relatives and sisters-in-law, is wary of other women, and schemes against her own husband."
"It's pointless, just thinking about it is pointless!"
"Speaking of which, it's better this way, Brother Zhang. If only you were a woman, I would marry you. Once the world is at peace, I won't have to be a prince anymore. You can practice medicine, and I'll protect you. We'll live like that for the rest of our lives!"
He started as a joke, but he became more and more serious as he spoke.
Men are all fond of beauty, and he was no exception. When his third brother married the seventeenth princess, he thought to himself that he would definitely find a wife as beautiful as her in the future.
But at that moment, he felt that if Zhang Dasheng were a woman, he could accept her even if she were uglier.
What was her response? And what expression did she have?
Qin Hong thought for a long time before he remembered that she showed no shyness or surprise, but simply replied with a blank face, "Your Highness is joking."
She really was a woman, the Fifteenth Princess, the one who tore open her clothes during the morning court session to show others the Seventh Prince's private seal on her body, in order to accuse her brother of committing an incestuous act against her!
He stood there, his heart clenching, his vision suddenly blurring. He reached up and wiped his eyes, only to find that tears had fallen without him noticing.
Qin Lie had no time to pay attention to him; he had already summoned Qin Xiaoshan in and planned to head to Bingzhou immediately.
Qin Xiaoshan advised, "I have my doubts and have already sent people to Bingzhou to investigate Zhang Dasheng's whereabouts. Your Highness is poisoned by a strange poison and the appointed time with the Princess has not yet arrived. If Your Highness goes to Bingzhou, by the time the antidote is delivered here, I'm afraid the journey is too long and there won't be enough time for a round trip!"
Qin Lie insisted on going, and even the Empress Dowager, who had been staying in Huangzhou Prefecture, could not stop him. In the end, she had no choice but to knock him unconscious again before things calmed down.
Qin Hong placed Qin Lie on the bed and said to the Empress Dowager with red eyes, "Grandmother, you watch over Third Brother here. I'm going to Bingzhou to bring him back."
The Empress Dowager coldly replied, "Your third brother has become possessed. If you go, you will only bring back her corpse."
Qin Hong paused, glanced at Qin Lie with his eyes closed, and finally clasped his hands in a fist and replied, "Grandson obeys!"
When Qin Hong set off, Ling Yi and the other two were no longer within Bingzhou.
Compared to the journey from the capital back to Jizhou, all the prefectures and counties along the way were now under Jizhou's rule. While it wasn't that people would pick up lost items on the road or lock their doors at night, at least everything was peaceful and stable. There were no bandits or cults to stop them, and with the Qin family's four carriages, the journey was extremely fast.
Only when they reached Bingzhou did they abandon the Qin family's carriage. Without stopping for a moment, they changed to two carriages. With people meeting them along the way, they traveled day and night and had now arrived in Chenzhou.
After getting off the carriage, "Zhang Dasheng" cupped his hands to the old man who had driven it and said, "Thank you for your help. I am truly at ease knowing that I might cause you trouble later."
The old man chuckled and said, "Back then, we were poisoned in Hengzhou, and it was thanks to the divine doctor that our family was spared. Without him, we would have been reduced to bones by now. It's rare for the divine doctor to be in trouble, so we're just doing our part to help. What's there to be afraid of implicating him?"
After he left, Lingyi sighed, "Sister, you have truly done so much along the way and saved so many people."
Both were princesses, but the Fifteenth Princess's experiences were far more tragic than hers, yet she never wallowed in self-pity. Instead, she lived in anonymity, practicing medicine and saving lives along the way. In comparison, Lingyi felt both envious and ashamed.
The fifteenth princess held her hand. "It's just that our circumstances are different. In chaotic times, it's enough to have a kind heart and try to live. If you have the chance, you will definitely be like me."
Lingyi was unaware of, and did not believe, that she would have such an opportunity.
Just like when she was in the palace, she never imagined that she would experience all that followed, let alone know that she would make such choices under those circumstances.
Aunt Liu Cui took her other hand and said, "Let's go. Once we get past Chenzhou, the Qin family won't be able to stop us anymore!"
Chenzhou is the only prefecture along the way that has not been ravaged by war. The Fifteenth Princess has no one to help her here and must find her way out on her own.
After passing Chenzhou, although Danzhou, along with the capital, was recovered by Qin Lie, the Qin family had not yet fully taken control and was still in chaos. They took the opportunity to leave.
After enduring wind and rain and sleeping in the open, they finally arrived at the border of Chenzhou. Just as the three were about to relax, they heard the clatter of horses' hooves.
Lingyi felt boundless fear and despair, but when she turned around, she found that the person who came was not Qin Lie.
Qin Hong, mounted on his horse, stared at the Fifteenth Princess with bloodshot eyes and a frosty expression.
Lingyi stepped forward to block Qin Hong's view, "I'll go back with you, please don't make things difficult for them!"
Qin Hong glanced at her and said sarcastically, "Go back? You think you can still go back?"
Lingyi understood his implication but showed no fear. "Whether you kill them or torture them, it's all my fault. Let them go!"
"My third brother has been cured of the poison, what right do you have to bargain with me?!" Qin Hong roared, then said to the Fifteenth Princess, "Let her come and talk to me!"
The fifteenth princess shielded Lingyi, who was about to speak, behind her, and said with a blank face, "Brother Qin."
Seeing that she still looked the same as usual, Qin Hong wanted to make a sarcastic remark, but couldn't laugh. He stared at her and asked, "You really are...?" He paused, not revealing her identity, and only asked, "...a woman?"
"yes."
"You've been using me all along?"
"At first, we avoided it like the plague, but later we just went with the flow."
"Fine! What a fine excuse to avoid her like the plague, what a fine excuse to simply go with the flow!" Qin Hong's chest heaved with anger. After a moment, he said, "I want to kill her. What are you going to do about it?"
As he spoke, the tip of his sword pointed directly at the instrument.
The fifteenth princess said calmly, "We are powerless to stop it; we can only live and die together."
Qin Hong glared at her, but she calmly looked back without flinching.
This is Zhang Dasheng: wooden, direct, unpretentious, and clueless about beating around the bush.
Even though he practiced medicine all his life, his eyes were filled with indifference.
He was indifferent to himself and to others.
Qin Hong remembered why he had initially wanted to befriend him.
—In all his years of fighting on the battlefield, this was the first time he had ever seen someone so genuinely indifferent to life and death.
But he happened to be a doctor, a miracle worker who could bring the dead back to life, and a doctor who dressed in rags and never charged for his services.
This contradiction struck him as novel and interesting, and he couldn't help but gravitate towards it, letting it take advantage of him and deceive him!
No one knew better than Qin Hong that she was not bluffing, nor would she bluff.
After a long silence, only the autumn wind swept through the world, carrying withered yellow leaves as they fell.
He suddenly said, "You go, and don't come back again, otherwise, I won't be able to protect you."
The fifteenth princess finally changed her expression and glanced at him in surprise. He didn't look at her and only said, "Leave now before I change my mind!"
The fifteenth princess bowed to him and then quickly left with Lingyi and Aunt Liucui.
When their figures were almost out of sight, Qin Hong turned around and glanced back. Perhaps it was because the autumn wind had been blowing for too long, but his eyes were filled with soreness.
Someone asked in a low voice, "Your Highness, if we just let them go like this, what will happen to Prince Duan...?"
Qin Hong glanced at him and said, "What? Prince Duan is a prince? Did the last two characters of my title, Prince Jing, get eaten by a dog?"
"I wouldn't dare!" he said, but his eyes still darted around, revealing that he still had something to say about it.
"Chen Zhaoming!" Qin Hong called out.
"Your subordinate is here!"
"Escort them safely to Jinzhou, not a single hair on their head shall be lost!"
"Your subordinate obeys!"
When Lingyi and the others first discovered that Chen Zhaoming was following them, they thought Qin Hong had changed his mind.
When Lingyi learned that this person had come to escort them, she couldn't help but glance at the Fifteenth Princess. Perhaps because of the disguise, the Fifteenth Princess still had the same expression, making it impossible to tell whether she had any emotional fluctuations.
And so, Chen Zhaoming escorted them all the way through Danzhou and to the port of Jinzhou.
As they boarded the ship, Chen Zhaoming handed Lingyi a bundle and whispered, "The road ahead is fraught with danger. This humble general can only escort you this far. Princess, please be careful!"
The great battle had just ended, and bandits roamed the land, with refugees everywhere. Without his protection, the journey would not have been so smooth, nor would we have arrived at the port so quickly. Lingyi curtsied: "Thank you, General."
Chen Zhaoming clenched his fist, gave her a deep look, and turned to leave.
Lingyi and the other two boarded the ship. Seven days later, when the ship docked in Suzhou, the three disembarked ahead of time and arrived in Jiangnan, the most prosperous and wealthy place in Dahan, a place they had longed for in the past.
All that could be seen now were broken walls and ruins, corpses scattered everywhere, people sitting by the roadside with numb expressions, some still holding their dead children, refusing to let go no matter how others tried to persuade them.
Most of the people who disembarked at the same time were going to the north to do business. When they returned and saw their homes in such a state, they hurriedly pulled people aside to ask questions.
Only then did they realize that it was Geng Qing, a general under the governor of Shu Prefecture who had previously declared himself emperor, who had come here to plunder extensively and had just left.
They had disembarked early to avoid Qin Lie's pursuit, but they never expected Suzhou to be in such a state.
The three stopped to discuss the matter. Aunt Liu Cui suggested going back to take the boat, but Ling Yi wanted to walk all the way to Zhuozhou.
Aunt Liu Cui said, "This is no longer a prefecture controlled by the Qin family. How dare he cross the river to pursue and capture us?"
Ling Yi said, "Qin Lie is a vengeful man who will not forgive me easily. Moreover, he is determined and ruthless, so we should be careful."
The fifteenth princess finally made her decision: "Let's walk all the way there!"
The journey was extremely arduous. Geng Qing burned, killed, and looted everywhere, causing immense suffering to the people.
If Suzhou was only killing people to plunder grain and money, then the closer one gets to Shuzhou, the more often the villages are left with only the elderly, women, and children, while all the adult men have been forcibly conscripted into the army. Even those who remain have to pay huge land taxes, leaving them emaciated, ragged, and full of sorrow.
The fifteenth princess changed her clothes and disguised herself as an old man. Although she did not practice medicine, she treated people with acupuncture and massage to cure minor illnesses.
The people who had received her kindness tried their best to entertain them, but they had nothing to offer; white rice and fine noodles were the highest honors they could receive.
"God is blind, how are we supposed to live?!"
The most common thing they heard was such sighs. Ling Yi didn't say anything at first, but later he couldn't help but say to them, "Go north. Once you cross the river, you'll be in the Xian Dynasty. There's still some unrest around the capital, such as Danzhou and Jinzhou, but all the prefectures and counties further north are stable and free from famine. Perhaps by the time you get there, even Jinzhou and Danzhou will be stable. It's better than waiting to die here."
She was sincere, but those people didn't believe her. Even if some did, their families were still in the Shu Prefecture army, their ancestral homeland, and they were unwilling to give it up easily.
Lingyi became increasingly disheartened as she spoke, and finally fell silent.
While passing through Jiangzhou, the Fifteenth Princess attempted to treat a young child suffering from a cold at a farmhouse.
Normally, in the prosperous Jiangnan region, where medicine shops are everywhere, they would surely have been able to save him.
But in the midst of war, where are the pharmacies open?
Lingyi watched helplessly as a child, about the same age as Huan'er, died in agony, calling out for his mother again and again because of a lack of medicine.
His mother numbly buried him and then disappeared without a trace that night.
Many villagers came out to search, but only found her shoes by the river.
Her husband had been conscripted months ago, and some villagers who had escaped said he had already died on the battlefield.
Her daughter's death took away her last hope, and she was only seventeen years old.
Her mother-in-law cried her heart out, and from then on, she was left all alone in the family.
The villagers, muttering "What a terrible thing to do," helped the sobbing old woman back home.
Under the pale moonlight, only the dark, inky river flowed silently.
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