Gao Jie replied in a weak voice: "Not yet... I can't die."
"That's good!" Wang Guoxing breathed a sigh of relief and took the lead to hide in a dilapidated yard.
Soon, a group of soldiers searching for them passed by outside the yard.
After those people walked away, Wang Guoxing used the moonlight from the sky to stop Gao Jie's bleeding.
Gao Jie suffered seven or eight injuries on his body, the most serious of which was a knife wound on his thigh.
The red blood couldn't stop flowing out.
"Help me, tear open his pants!" After giving the order, Wang Guoxing took out a package from his arms, which contained a ball of snow-white cotton and white granular substances.
At this time, the others had already cut open Gao Jie's pants with a knife, leaving a deep wound that was shocking to see.
Just as Wang Guoxing was about to pour the white particles onto the wound, Gao Jie couldn't help but shrink back: "Wang... Wang Tongzhi, what... is this?"
"Sugar and cotton." Wang Guoxing answered, pointing at the contents of the package.
"Isn't white sugar...for food?" Gao Jie was a little surprised.
In the Ming Dynasty, white sugar could be considered a luxury food, something only the rich could afford.
In fact, not only in the Ming Dynasty, but even before the 1980s and 1990s, few ordinary people could afford to eat candy regularly.
Wang Guoxing hummed and explained: "White sugar is indeed for eating, but it is very effective in stopping bleeding. At the same time, wounds that are applied with white sugar will heal quickly."
"How do you know that?"
"Your Majesty said so. After verification by our Jinyiwei, this substance does have the effect of stopping bleeding and healing wounds. Now, almost every senior general in the capital and at the border has a hemostatic pack made of sugar and cotton. If General Gao wants it, I'll ask the Jinyiwei to send a few over later."
"Yes, yes!" Gao Jie nodded continuously.
He couldn't ask for more of this good thing.
Under Gao Jie's gaze, Wang Guoxing quickly treated the wound.
After a brief recovery, Gao Jie said intermittently: "Wang...Tongzhi, I have caused you trouble today."
Wang Guoxing shook his head: "You didn't implicate me. Strictly speaking, this matter is my fault. If I had come a day earlier, I wouldn't have put you in danger."
Gao Jie was stunned: "What do you mean? Could it be that... you already knew that Xu Dingguo was going to murder me?"
"It wasn't me. It was His Majesty who guessed that Xu Dingguo wanted to harm you, so he ordered me to rush to Xuzhou overnight. It's a pity that many post stations along the way were destroyed, otherwise I would have arrived yesterday."
Gao Jie felt a chill on his back, and a chill spread from his back to his whole body.
He was wondering, how did His Majesty know?
Could it be that the Jinyiwei's spies have developed to such an extent?
Wang Guoxing was afraid that Gao Jie would think too much, so he made up a story: "The Imperial Astronomical Observatory reported to your majesty that your star was shaky. Your majesty thought about it and believed that you were most likely to be in danger, so what happened next happened."
Gao Jie was very happy after listening to Wang Guoxing's explanation.
The Imperial Observatory was one of the most mysterious government offices in the Ming Dynasty. Since the Imperial Observatory said that he was a star general, it seemed that he was on the right side.
Everyone waited for a while, and suddenly heard deafening shouts and screams coming from the south of the city.
Wang Guoxing knew that it was Gao Jie's nephew Li Benshen who had broken in.
"Let's go, retreat to the south of the city!" Wang Guoxing said.
"This, that's the main battlefield. Should we go there now..." Gao Jie was very worried.
"Don't worry," Wang Guoxing said as he observed the situation outside. "Only a few senior generals knew about Xu Dingguo's rebellion, and the soldiers below basically didn't know. They don't know why they are fighting, and at best they have only 50% of their usual combat power."
"Under the siege of Li Benshen's heavy troops, Xu Dingguo's troops will not be able to hold out for long and will soon surrender."
As Wang Guoxing expected, the fighting in the South Gate area had ended before they reached the vicinity of the South Gate.
Gao Jie withdrew from Xuzhou City under the cover of heavy troops.
Xu Dingguo himself took advantage of the chaos to break out from the east gate, and then went south to join Liu Zongmin.
As the dawn light rose from the horizon, the entire Xuzhou city returned to its yesterday's tranquility.
Lying on the sickbed in the central military tent, Gao Jie slowly opened his eyes.
Li Benshen saw Gao Jie wake up and immediately reported: "My uncle, last night my troops suffered more than 2,000 casualties, 70% of which were from your personal army. Xu Dingguo's troops had more than 10,000 people in total, more than 4,000 died or fled, and 6,000 surrendered."
"Xu Dingguo himself...is nowhere to be found. According to the guards at the East City Gate, he left the city at the beginning of the morning hour last night, then headed south and disappeared into the darkness."
Gao Jie gritted his teeth and snorted coldly without saying anything.
He has an unshirkable responsibility in this matter. If he had not trusted Xu Dingguo, he would not have been injured, and his personal guards would not have suffered heavy losses.
Wang Guoxing saw Gao Jie wake up and said, "Since General Gao has woken up, I am relieved. If there is nothing else, I will take my leave and return to the capital to report."
"Wait a minute..." Gao Jie hesitated for a moment and asked, "Wang Tongzhi, my injuries are not serious but not light either. What should I do next?"
"What does General Gao want to do?" Wang Guoxing asked back.
"Of course I want to fight Li Chuang, but my injuries prevent me from leading the troops into battle."
"General Gao, please make your own decision. I am only delivering the message. I have no authority over other matters. Goodbye!" Wang Guoxing clasped his fists, bowed, and turned to leave.
Inside the central military tent, everyone stared at each other in amazement.
At this time, Xing came in. She filled a basin with hot water, wet a towel and wiped Gao Jie's face.
As she wiped it, she muttered, "Why are you all so sad... He's just injured, is his life in danger? Really."
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