Blood Bucket
Rulan's master had chosen this spot for his house, a true divine healer's consideration. While the Qi Kingdom's borders were barren, the green mountains just outside the border were rich in medicinal herbs, and many rare herbs grew there.
Yuan Ming was in high spirits. Agile and light as a mountain monkey, she soon gathered an armful of herbs, including those that cleared heat and toxins, invigorated blood circulation, and replenished Qi and blood. It was a bountiful harvest. As she fiddled with the soiled herbs, Yuan Ming thought gleefully, Rulan would be astonished when she saw them.
It turns out that having a healthy body is the best medicine to heal the soul.
This was the first time since her rebirth that Yuan Ming fully felt the reality of her new life. But a question suddenly popped into her mind: what was the price? Yuan Ming knew that everything had its cause, so what would she pay for her rebirth?
As soon as the thought came out, it was like a basin of cold water poured on Yuan Ming's heart, making his originally cheerful mood feel a little heavy.
"Whatever it is, whether it's to atone for my sins or to avenge my hatred, now that I've been reborn, I shouldn't let myself regret it." With this thought, the haze in Yuan Ming's heart was swept away. Afterwards, she placed the dusty herbs into the gurgling stream.
Yuan Ming now knows how to have fun. She enjoys the golden sparkle of sunlight shining through the clear water, and feels comfortable as the water washes away the dust, as if life is just like this, a peaceful and quiet time. How wonderful it would be if people could stay in the time they love.
But how can this idea come true?
A streak of blood flowed down the stream and caught Yuan Ming's eye. He looked up upstream and saw something moving. This place was close to the border, and a few barbarians would bypass the border defenses and come into Qi State in search of food. Could it be that this barbarian was secretly hunting for food and Yuan Ming had just happened to see him?
Yuan Ming wrapped the washed herbs in cloth and decided to go upstream to find out what was going on. If he could catch the barbarian spies, he could also give a small reward to Zhong Yingqi for sheltering him for several days.
Upstream, two figures dressed in barbarian attire... "bowls and chopsticks." Yes, they looked like a pair of bowls and chopsticks. One was tall, his shadow in the sun like a thin bamboo pole. The other was bloated, probably the type who gained weight from drinking water. He was round and plump, like an overblown steamed bun. Together, they looked like a pair of lively bowls and chopsticks.
They sneakily poured a bucket of dark red blood into the stream. "Thin Bamboo Pole" spoke in a barbarian language, mumbling something incoherently. "Big Fatty," with a deep voice, heard what "Thin Bamboo Pole" said, curled his lips, and started yelling at him. The two of them started arguing and even came to blows.
They were so engrossed in the fight that they didn't realize that a woman in green was hiding among the swaying shadows of the trees. This woman was none other than Yuan Ming.
Yuan Ming couldn't understand the barbarian language, so he felt very impatient when he heard them cursing at each other. So when the two were fighting, he flashed behind them like a ghost, swung the back of the knife in his hand, and hit them twice, knocking them unconscious.
"What kind of bird talk is that?" Yuan Ming put away his sword and said with disdain, "It's so noisy, it makes me feel annoyed."
Yuan Ming kicked the obstructing bowls and chopsticks aside and went to check the blood in the bucket. Most of the blood had already been poured out by the two men, but the strong smell of blood still filled Yuan Ming's nostrils. He glanced at the bloodstains on his shirt and felt depressed. Why was he always seeing blood lately?
Although he was annoyed, Yuan Ming suppressed his inner restlessness, picked up the bucket of blood, then turned around and thought about how to get both him and the bucket back.
Yuan Ming's banditry had its reasons. The two barbarians had gone to such great lengths to cross the border, not to find food to survive, but to dump a bucket of blood into the Qiguo stream. There had to be something fishy going on.
…
The sun was at its zenith, and Rulan's forehead was covered in sweat, but her gaze remained fixed on the direction Yuan Ming had left. She worried that Yuan Ming might be in danger. Even though others saw him as anything but a weakling, in Rulan's eyes... to use a rather inappropriate metaphor, Yuan Ming was like a child she didn't dare to care for, while she herself was a loving mother, worried about whether her child would get hurt while out in the world. She couldn't help but feel like a mother to Yuan Ming's ways, and she felt frustrated when Yuan Ming "talked back," only to find herself nagging him afterwards.
It's such a strange feeling.
As Rulan waited anxiously, Yuan Ming finally appeared in the midday sun. Seeing Yuan Ming safe and sound, Rulan breathed a sigh of relief, but seeing that Yuan Ming had brought his family with him, she couldn't help but feel puzzled.
Yuan Ming walked into view, a blood-smelling bucket dangling from her wrist, a bundle of herbs slung over her other shoulder, and her two remaining hands each holding a man's collar. She even thoughtfully broke off a large branch to use as a cushion, protecting the men's lower bodies from the rubble and bruises.
Seeing this, several soldiers hurried forward to help and took over Yuan Ming's "heavy burden".
Yuan Ming, exhausted from the long walk, sat down on the ground. She pointed at the two men who had been knocked unconscious and said, "Keep an eye on them! This is a thank-you gift I prepared for your General Zhong."
Far away in the military camp, Zhong Yingqi, who was in a state of panic, suddenly sneezed.
Yuan Ming handed the bucket of blood to Rulan. Rulan took it and frowned, "What is this?"
Yuan Ming: "Those two barbarians went through mountains and rivers to dump this bucket of blood into the Qiguo stream. I suspect they poisoned it." Yuan Ming's words alerted Rulan. Rulan brushed her fingers along the edge of the bucket, sniffed it gently, and said with some disappointment: "It feels like two kinds of blood mixed together. I don't know what else it is."
"Human blood and animal blood are mixed together." Yuan Ming added, "This blood is very problematic. Let's take it back first."
Yuan Ming fell into deep thought: "I always feel that something big is about to happen. Maybe this blood is the fuse of the gunpowder."
Rulan's heart darkened after hearing this. Seeing Rulan's gloomy expression, Yuan Ming quipped, "If something really goes wrong, it's those high-ranking officials who should be worried. While most of them are heartless, there are some generals like Zhong Yingqi who serve their country and their people. Even if the sky falls, there are still tall people to hold it up. Little doctor, you should check if there's any poison mixed in with the herbs I collected."
Rulan shook her head, as if to shake off something annoying. "You can't say that. When the nest is overturned, all the eggs are broken. Besides, if something really happens in a place, the first people to suffer are the common people. But you did remind me. Let me see the herbs you picked. Don't really pick poison with them."
Yuan Ming's mouth twitched slightly: "I'm just saying this, don't really disbelieve in my ability, okay?"
Rulan ignored Yuan Ming, examining the herbs on her own. The more she examined, the more she admired Yuan Ming's extensive knowledge. Many herbs had similar properties, some even mutually beneficial or incompatible, but Yuan Ming had correctly separated them all and tied them neatly with fine straw ropes, ensuring a single, uninterrupted arrangement. This insightful observation, from the small details, proved that Yuan Ming was meticulous and his medical knowledge was no less than Rulan's.
Perhaps due to Yuan Ming's manic state, Rulan had overlooked the fact that Yuan Ming was once a glorious princess, and how could she be the useless child with only good looks as she thought. Rulan's cheeks flushed with shame as she thought of her previous doubts and worries about Yuan Ming.
After everyone had packed up, they finally arrived at the military camp before dark. However, as soon as they entered the camp, a commotion broke out.
Some soldiers clutched their stomachs and groaned in pain. The young soldier closest to Yuan Ming stumbled and fell. Yuan Ming rushed forward to support him, but found his lips were chapped and his eyes were vacant, obvious signs of poisoning. Yuan Ming immediately thought of the bucket of blood in his hand and cursed, "You came so quickly."
Rulan suddenly shouted, "Stay away from them, you might get infected."
As soon as he finished speaking, fear flashed across everyone's faces, and they all leaned back. Rulan, in particular, reacted with remarkable force. Yuan Ming immediately suspected that Rulan had seen something similar. However, the situation was critical, so Yuan Ming immediately ordered Rulan and her companions to leave the camp and not act rashly until they had a clear understanding of the situation. She then headed straight for Zhong Yingqi's tent.
Yuan Ming walked quickly, weaving through the soldiers' wails. She pushed aside the tents and breathed a sigh of relief. Soldiers fought, and the general's flag must not fall. Fortunately, Zhong Yingqi, the backbone of the army, was safe and sound.
When Zhong Yingqi saw Yuan Ming coming back, he didn't waste any words and said directly: "The soldiers have been poisoned and it is contagious." He pushed the square box in his hand, and there were a few black pills in it.
"Take one, just in case."
Yuan Ming took the square box, and a strong aroma of traditional Chinese medicine hit him. Yuan Ming looked intently at Zhong Yingqi, who met his gaze calmly and made a gesture of invitation with his hand. Yuan Ming's eyes rolled around, and he finally said, "Don't trust people too easily, and don't take medicine carelessly."
Zhong Yingqi showed disappointment on his face, but when he was about to say something, Yuan Ming swallowed the pill directly. The words he was about to say were blocked in his teeth by Yuan Ming's action.
Yuan Ming: "But one can't always betray others, otherwise no one will be willing to help me in the future."
Zhong Yingqi chuckled: "Your Highness is right, but where did I misunderstand Your Highness? Your Highness always seems to have some opinions about me."
Opinions? She must have a knot in her heart. It was Zhong Yingqi in her past life who had hastened the tyrant Yuan Ming's demise. Yuan Ming considered herself a vindictive person. Their past life was a special one. She wouldn't consider Zhong Yingqi her murderer, but she wasn't so ruthless as to trust him as Rulan did. These thoughts lingered in the dark corners of Yuan Ming's heart, unspoken to outsiders, but Zhong Yingqi always sensed them.
"I forgot. Now is not the time to talk about this." Zhong Yingqi spoke first and brought the topic to business.
"Your Highness should have noticed something unusual in the camp. In the short two days since Your Highness left, soldiers in the camp have been poisoned one after another. The symptoms are very similar to the epidemic that once broke out among the barbarians." Zhong Yingqi spread his hands slightly and invited the old man who appeared out of nowhere to come out.
Yuan Ming secretly praised in his heart: "This person's Qinggong is amazing."
Yuan Ming suspected that this man might be the doctor who had taken her pulse a few days ago, also the military doctor in the camp. Rulan had mentioned that he had predicted Yuan Ming wouldn't survive more than three days, but Yuan Ming had survived and was doing quite well.
Yuan Ming felt strange. There was always an indescribable sense of awkwardness when he saw this person. This awkwardness came from his old appearance - Yuan Ming couldn't help but become suspicious.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
