After Magistrate Sun left, Su Wan saw that the door was locked and quickly crawled out from under the bed.
"How exactly did you do it?" she asked curiously, brushing the dust off her knees. "You managed to persuade the magistrate with just a few words?"
Bai Zhiyi sneered and sat back down on the edge of the bed, saying, "You don't believe me?"
Su Wan said, "It's not that I don't believe you, I'm just curious how you managed to convince him so quickly. Here, let me bandage your wound first."
Bai Zhiyi stretched out her arm: "This is where you fall short of me; you can't see through me as clearly as I do."
Seeing that she was still thinking about comparing the two of them at this point, like a child, Su Wan laughed and said, "Alright, alright, I am not as good as you."
Bai Zhiyi glanced at her upturned lips, then raised her arm and said, "Don't touch me. I get angry just looking at your face. How could His Highness fall for a fool like you?"
Su Wan wasn't angry at all. She took out some medicine and gauze and said, "Miss Bai, if you want to kill Xie Maoliang, you have to heal your wounds first. Put your arm down."
Bai Zhiyi snorted and lowered her arm, saying, "Do you think Magistrate Sun traveled all the way from the county town just to drink with Xie Maoliang?"
“Yes,” Su Wan cut off the excess sleeve near the wound and unscrewed the cap of the medicine bottle, “He must be trying to curry favor with the future marquis.”
“Typical weak-minded thinking,” Bai Zhiyi said. “Because you’re weak, all you think about is whether you can get some benefits or take advantage of others… Ouch, that hurts.”
Su Wan gave Bai Zhiyi a strong painkiller, but the wound was still very painful due to the stimulation of the medicine.
She slowed down her movements and said, "Although the hot iron stopped the bleeding, the wound is too big and will definitely get infected later. It must be sterilized and disinfected before bandaging."
“Since we landed, several officials have offered to host banquets for us, but Xie Maoliang has refused them all,” Bai Zhiyi gasped, then changed the subject, “Do you know when a person is most tired after a night without sleep?”
Su Wan was familiar with this person; she had once stayed up all night to treat a patient, and by six in the morning, she couldn't keep her eyes open anymore.
"If you don't sleep all night, you probably won't be able to hold on in the morning."
“Listen outside,” Bai Zhiyi said, “they’re all asleep.”
Su Wan stopped bandaging herself and then noticed that the noise outside had disappeared at some point, replaced by a chorus of snoring.
“Magistrate Sun sent Xie Maoliang wine and meat, letting them party all night,” Bai Zhiyi said. “He spent the whole night drinking with Xie Maoliang, clearly with ulterior motives. You can’t see it, Xie Maoliang can’t see it either, but I can.”
Su Wan seemed to understand, and said, "So he wanted to too..."
Bai Zhiyi said, "No one is easily persuaded by others. But if that's what he already thinks, then I only need to give him a gentle nudge to strengthen his resolve, and he will do it. Take Chu Yi, for example. Do you think I persuaded him to send troops? Actually, he himself had the idea of invading the Great Jin."
Su Wan said, "I understand."
Magistrate Sun desired this honor but dared not directly confront Xie Maoliang, a military general, so he used wine and meat to lull Xie Maoliang's army into a false sense of security. His visit to Bai Zhiyi, seemingly to admire her beauty, was merely an excuse.
Bai Zhiyi said, "It took you so much explanation to understand? Even my maid understood faster than you."
Su Wan quickly bandaged one of her arms and said, "Miss Bai, save your energy. I'm your ally."
Bai Zhiyi lifted her left arm, which was wrapped in gauze, and looked at it, saying, "It's passable, about the level of an average doctor."
Su Wan then treated her other arm and asked, "So what should we do next?"
Bai Zhiyi said, "Magistrate Sun wants to seize Xie Maoliang's honors; this is a life-or-death struggle. He must have considered everything carefully before taking action. We should just sit inside."
Su Wan asked, "Is it really just a matter of sitting?"
Just as Bai Zhiyi was about to answer, there was a loud bang outside, as if someone had hit the door. Then a soldier shouted, "Someone's here..."
The soldier shouted two words, then his voice abruptly stopped, followed by a thud as he fell to the ground. Several dull thuds came from the door panel.
Su Wan, a seasoned veteran, immediately recognized the source of the sound and said to Bai Zhiyi, "It's an arrow."
Chaos erupted outside instantly, with the continuous sound of arrows piercing the air, and shouts and screams filling the air.
“Look, Magistrate Sun really did make his move,” Bai Zhiyi said with a hint of smugness. “He timed it perfectly. Xie Maoliang’s soldiers were almost all drunk and couldn’t fight at all. It was a one-sided massacre.”
"Amazing, you were absolutely right."
After bandaging Bai Zhiyi's other arm, Su Wan got up and ran to the door, peeking out through the crack.
A torch burned on the ground near the entrance, illuminating the bodies of two soldiers. One leaned against the door, the other lay on the ground, both riddled with four or five arrows. Outside the courtyard, shouts of battle and the clanging of swords began to rise.
Bai Zhiyi was right; Magistrate Sun had clearly planned this all along, even arranging an ambush. No wonder Magistrate Sun left after Bai Zhiyi only said two sentences.
"What are you looking at? Let them fight first," Bai Zhiyi said from behind her. "Those soldiers can't resist, they'll probably be wiped out soon."
Su Wan turned around and said, "These soldiers are a minor matter. Are you sure Magistrate Sun can handle Xie Maoliang? Xie Maoliang has a defensive gun for protection."
Bai Zhiyi said dismissively, "No matter how powerful the defensive gun is, it can only fire one shot at a time, and it can't withstand the overwhelming numbers."
“You’re underestimating it,” Su Wan reminded her. “I’ve used this gun before. It can fire as fast as you press the button.”
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