The next day, without saying a word, the Fourth Master ordered his men to pack their belongings and set off from Xiakou, heading northwest, towards Wudang Mountain, renowned for its Taoist tradition. Early in the morning, Lanqin was dragged out of bed by two maids, wrapped in clothes, and helped into the carriage.
The journey was arduous for the carriage, as it had been snowing lightly and the roads were muddy, making the journey extremely slow. Moreover, heading northwest, there were very few inns along the way; sometimes they would travel for most of the day without seeing a single village, let alone a market.
Fortunately, when they left Xiakou, Fourth Master had ordered Su Peisheng to purchase most of the food for the carriage; otherwise, they really wouldn't have had enough to eat along the way. Lanqin didn't expect that the closer they got to Wudang Mountain, the more difficult the food would become each day, as the population was becoming increasingly sparse.
That day, the carriage stopped by the side of a mountain road. Everyone was hungry, having eaten several meals of dry rations, and Lanqin really wanted something soupy. So Fourth Master ordered the carriage to stop, start a fire, and cook. They had brought pots, pans, and ingredients for soup.
Two carriages stopped by the mountain road. Fourth Master asked Ling Feng and Gesang to find some firewood, while he and Su Peisheng found some stones near the mountain road and built a simple earthen stove to hold the pot.
"Take out all the soup-making ingredients from the carriage. How much water is left?" Fourth Master asked.
"There's not much water left, Master. I'm afraid there won't be any left to wash with," Su Peisheng said.
"Then let's not wash it. Bring the sauce packets that the concubine brought, and add some beef and dry biscuits," said the Fourth Prince.
“Master, there’s plenty of vegetation here, maybe even some wild vegetables. Let Sihua, Shuiling, and I go pick some,” Lanqin said as she walked over.
“Yes, Master, when I was a child back in my hometown, I used to gather a lot of wild vegetables. They were delicious,” Si Hua said.
"Then you mustn't go too far. Just gather some around here," Fourth Master agreed.
"Don't worry, we're all around here," Lanqin said.
Lanqin, along with Sihua and Shuiling, began searching for a type of wild vegetable in the surrounding area. After Sihua found one first, she taught Lanqin and Shuiling how to recognize it. Then the three of them began searching for an edible wild vegetable in the exceptionally cold mountains.
"Sihua, is this it?!" Lanqin searched for a long time but couldn't find the vegetable Sihua was talking about. When she finally found one, she excitedly shouted.
Si Hua was not far away. Hearing Lan Qin call, she immediately went over, looked, and said, "Yes, that's it."
Lanqin was overjoyed and hurriedly went to pick the fruit, with Sihua following closely behind.
"Ouch!" Lanqin suddenly raised her hand and jumped up as if she had been electrocuted.
"Master!" Si Hua rushed over immediately. She saw something slippery just flash across Lan Qin's hand.
"A snake just bit me..." Lanqin turned to Sihua and said, and there was a tooth mark on the back of her hand, and some parts were already bleeding.
Before Lanqin could finish speaking, she felt dizzy, then her vision went black, and she collapsed to the ground.
The last thing she heard was Si Hua's exclamation, and her last thought was, "Damn, there's no serum in the Qing Dynasty, am I going to die here?"
Shui Ling heard Si Hua's calls from afar, so she immediately went to call Fourth Master and the others over.
Fourth Master scooped up Lanqin and hurriedly asked, "How did she faint?"
Si Hua was already sobbing uncontrollably, and hurriedly said, "Master was bitten by a snake when he was picking wild vegetables."
Upon hearing this, Fourth Master felt a chill run down his spine. What to do in such a situation, with no doctor available?
“Master, I’ve heard that where poisonous snakes roam, there are bound to be antidotes. Shall we go and look for them?” Gesang suddenly said.
“Yes, yes, I’ve heard that saying before,” Su Peisheng quickly chimed in.
"But none of us know anything about medicine, how can we find her, how can we save her!" Fourth Master was so anxious that he lost his usual composure.
"First, wash the wound with clean water to see if you can remove some of the toxicity," Shui Ling said.
Si Hua had already rushed over to the carriage to get some water.
“We must hurry and take Consort to the nearest market to find a doctor; we can’t delay,” Ling Feng said.
Fourth Master nodded and said, "Good, hurry up and get the horses, let's set off immediately, don't delay!"
Fourth Master immediately picked up Lanqin, and everyone hurriedly packed their things. Before they could even finish packing, Fourth Master called out that they should set off. They followed the road into the mountains, turned their horses around, and headed towards the market they had passed the day before.
"Throw away some things. Get rid of anything unnecessary to make the carriage lighter," Fourth Master instructed.
Su Peisheng and his two maids quickly followed the instructions and threw away some of the food to lighten the weight of the carriage.
Once on the carriage, Ling Feng, displaying his usual driving skills, drove it at breakneck speed.
Inside the carriage, Fourth Master held Lanqin in his arms. Her face was unusually pale, and her lips had turned a pale purple.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
