Wait for me to come back
Changfeng had never seen Xiao Chengyan so angry. His face turned deathly pale instantly, and he knelt down on one knee with a thud, burying his head deeply: "This subordinate...this subordinate deserves to die! I failed in my duty as a guard, please punish me severely, Your Highness!"
Xiao Chengyan's voice was as cold as ice shards, "Go to the punishment camp and receive forty lashes! Now! Immediately! Get out!!"
"Yes, sir! I obey!"
Changfeng dared not offer any explanation, his voice trembling as he agreed and quickly retreated.
The tent flap fell, leaving only Xiao Chengyan and Gu Jinghong inside the tent.
Xiao Chengyan's chest heaved, clearly still seething with anger.
He suddenly turned around, swept Gu Jinghong up in his arms, and walked inside, gently placing her on the bed.
He was still very angry, angry at himself.
How could she have been so easily swayed by Gu Jinghong's few words and allowed to go to Laoyatan?
It was indeed my fault for being too careless. I didn't expect the enemy to rush in at this time, and I didn't expect her to be so bold as to take the explosives meant for bombing the fortifications to bomb the enemy.
What if a piece of explosives detonates in her hands?
Xiao Chengyan was so angry that he didn't even glance at her, even though he knew she was injured.
"A military doctor!"
The military doctor, who had been waiting outside the tent, rushed in.
"Take her pulse! Examine her carefully!"
The military doctor quickly walked up to Gu Jinghong, his hands trembling as he began to take her pulse and examine her exposed skin.
The burning pain assaulted Gu Jinghong in waves. Her lips, which she had been biting tightly, involuntarily opened, and her breathing gradually became rapid. However, she was very good at enduring it, and she forced herself to suppress any moans of pain.
Xiao Chengyan could tell from her eyes and brows that she was in unbearable pain.
The next moment, the military doctor felt a chill run down his back, as a cold and oppressive aura suddenly descended upon him.
The military doctor froze slightly and hurriedly put Gu Jinghong's hand back in its place.
"The battalion commander's burns are quite severe. Let me bring some ointment to apply. There are two kinds of ointment: one is less painful but will leave a scar, and the other is more painful but will not leave a scar."
"It's going to hurt!"
"It shouldn't hurt!"
Gu Jinghong and Xiao Chengyan spoke almost simultaneously.
Xiao Chengyan frowned: "Gu Jinghong, I've seen your hands before. So what if you have scars?"
Gu Jinghong bit her lip, but still managed a smile: "It's not about whether it looks good or bad. The scar will affect my sense of touch, and I need a pair of sensitive hands."
The medic's gaze lingered on the two men's faces for a moment, then he seemed to have made a judgment.
He tentatively asked the prince, "Then... shall I take the one that serves best?"
Xiao Chengyan said coldly, "...If it hurts her, you can decide what to do."
Gu Jinghong said, "Please ask the military doctor to provide a highly effective one."
Seeing the two men's posture, the military doctor hesitated for a long time before finally taking out a blue ointment with a clear medicinal fragrance from his medicine box and offering it to Xiao Chengyan with both hands.
"...Your Highness, Master Gu...is mainly suffering from cold invading the body, requiring proper care to dispel the cold...burns...burns require daily dressing changes, this medicine will be somewhat painful, but within tolerable limits, and its effects are excellent..."
After speaking, the military doctor truly felt that he was incredibly clever!
"Leave the ointment! Go out and brew the medicine! Bring it here immediately!" Xiao Chengyan snatched the ointment box from the army doctor's hand, his voice still icy.
"Yes! Yes!" The military doctor, feeling as if he had been granted a pardon, scrambled out of the room.
Only two people remained inside the tent once again.
Gu Jinghong wrapped her damp, cold cloak tighter around herself, her body trembling slightly from the cold and nervousness. She wanted to explain something, but seeing Xiao Chengyan's stormy expression, she ultimately didn't dare to utter a sound.
Seeing this, Xiao Chengyan took out a set of clothes from Gu Jinghong's wardrobe and found a clean towel.
"Is there not a single servant here?!"
Xiao Chengyan tossed the items to the maid, then sat down on the side closest to the tent, his tone icy, "Change her clothes."
The maid quickly helped Gu Jinghong change his clothes, dried his hair, and then took the wet clothes out to wash.
She even forgot to say goodbye when she left the camp.
Xiao Chengyan then sat down next to Gu Jinghong's bed.
"hand."
Gu Jinghong was slightly taken aback, and then extended her injured hand.
Upon seeing the burns on her hands, Xiao Chengyan felt a sudden tightness in his chest.
It was once a warm and smooth hand. She once said that her hands were extremely sensitive, able to sense even the slightest changes in airflow and temperature.
But at this moment, even such sensitive hands were scorched red on one side by the blast of air, and blisters were even beginning to appear.
...He could hardly imagine how much pain she must be in right now.
He gently took her hand, then suddenly sighed, his tone softening: "Does it still hurt?"
Gu Jinghong shook her head: "Your Highness, actually... it doesn't hurt."
Xiao Chengyan used his fingertip to scoop out a piece of cool ointment and gently applied it to her injured area.
The moment the ointment touched her, her hand instinctively flinched.
Xiao Chengyan looked up at Gu Jinghong, who was biting her lower lip tightly, her lips turning pale.
—This stubborn girl, she was clearly in so much pain that tears were about to fall, how could she not be in pain?
He could only gently apply the ointment to her while blowing on it to help her.
At that moment, Gu Jinghong's pupils contracted—she was surprised to find that his fingers were also trembling!
It was a subtle tremor, which he suppressed so that ordinary people couldn't detect it, but her hands were incredibly sensitive!
Gu Jinghong endured the pain while staring blankly at his lowered profile.
His lips were pressed tightly together, turning deathly pale. Fine beads of cold sweat appeared on his forehead and the tip of his nose. His jawline was as hard as a rock due to extreme restraint.
His usually sharp and deep phoenix eyes were now fixed on her wound, his eyes surging with a fear she had never seen before, a fear so intense it was almost unbearable, and a lingering dread that bordered on despair.
He was scared.
He was genuinely scared.
I'm afraid she'll get hurt, afraid she'll be in pain, afraid she... will die.
Gu Jinghong suddenly remembered that back in the desolate, frigid miasma of Medicine Master Valley, when she held his cold, stiff body and finally waited for him to breathe... that feeling of extreme relief and fear at regaining what she had lost... she had experienced it all!
A bittersweet feeling welled up in my heart at the same time.
Her heart suddenly softened completely.
She slowly leaned against Xiao Chengyan's firm chest, and even subconsciously used her other uninjured hand to tentatively cover the back of his violently trembling hand that was gripping her wrist.
Xiao Chengyan was taken aback, his breathing becoming somewhat disordered.
If he remembered correctly, this should be the first time that Gu Jinghong had taken the initiative to lean on him when she was sober and without any major emotional fluctuations.
He let Gu Jinghong lean against him, and held a piece of gauze in his hand to bandage Gu Jinghong's wound.
After doing all this, he reached out and embraced her, the warm scent of spikenard enveloping her as he looked down at her.
Gu Jinghong looked up and saw Xiao Chengyan... Why were his brows furrowed again?
“Your Highness,” she gently pressed his furrowed brow, “…I’m fine. Look, it’s just a minor injury…I’m really alright…”
Strange—that familiar feeling is back...
He instinctively wanted to blurt out "A-Ning," but remembering Gu Jinghong's previous accusations—what relationship did he have with A-Ning, and that he was also calling her "A-Ning" in his sleep—he shut his mouth.
Whether Gu Jinghong was a high-ranking official or not was no longer important to him, and even whether she was A Ning was no longer important. Xiao Chengyan knew very well that the person he loved now was Gu Jinghong.
He suddenly pulled Gu Jinghong into a tight embrace, his breath brushing against her ear: "Ahong, promise me you won't do this again. Who would use their body to shield themselves from explosives? If anything had happened to you today, I can't imagine what I would have done..."
There are too many variables in military life, and she cannot make promises lightly.
Even Xiao Chengyan himself, before his body had fully recovered, was still working tirelessly.
But at this moment, Gu Jinghong finally nodded slightly and said in a low voice, "...Okay."
Okay, I'll try my best.
Upon receiving her response, Xiao Chengyan's tense body seemed to finally relax.
He pressed his head against Gu Jinghong's, the two of them extremely close. "Ah Hong, you should trust me as much as I trust you..."
The meaning of these words couldn't be clearer: he believed in her abilities, and she should believe in his plans as well.
Going even deeper—he already had his own plans regarding the secret passage to Laoyatan.
So, those arrows that suddenly appeared today and that elite troop... were all his doing?!
Before Gu Jinghong could figure things out, he caressed her face, his heart stirred with an irresistible urge, and he kissed her again.
Xiao Chengyan gently kissed Gu Jinghong's lips, and Gu Jinghong responded to him in a completely unpredictable manner.
Outside, thick clouds rolled in, and the wind and rain made it dark and gloomy.
The alluring, intertwined figures stood out conspicuously in the dimly lit tent.
Outside, Changfeng had already assigned positions to the guards of the armory, who were to stand with their backs to the tents, not to move, and not to allow anyone else to approach.
...
The kiss didn't last long; because Gu Jinghong was injured, Xiao Chengyan had to end it quickly.
He gently placed her on the bed, gave her a pillow, kissed her forehead, and told her to rest well.
As I was about to lift the curtain and leave, I couldn't help but look back at her.
"Ah Hong, wait for me to return."
Gu Jinghong nodded.
Then the curtain fell, blocking his view.
Gu Jinghong raised her injured hand, and the image of him applying ointment to her earlier flashed before her eyes again.
She laughed for no apparent reason, then reached out and rested her chin on her hand.
The next second, a hissing sound finally brought Gu Jinghong back to reality.
The earth-shattering scene from just now vividly replayed in my mind—the sturdy armor was as fragile as paper in the face of the devastating explosion.
At this thought, a flash of lightning suddenly struck her mind!
If explosives were used in a battle between two armies, they would be a powerful weapon for breaking through enemy lines and destroying strongholds!
However, to make it a true weapon of war, the most crucial element must be addressed—how to ensure precise control by the thrower? When will it explode? Where will it crack? What will the damage be?
All of the above must be meticulously executed, without the slightest error.
So... she threw back the covers and got up, and began to write and draw at the table again...
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