Eastern Han Dynasty, not the Three Kingdoms

The next morning, leaden clouds hung low, and a bitter north wind, carrying dust and sand, swirled through Hanzhong City. Zhang Lu, clad in a dark brocade robe and belted with a jade belt, sat upright on a tall horse. Behind him stood dozens of armored guards, spears in hand. Dark banners embroidered with the eight trigrams rustled in the wind. Like a giant black python, the procession advanced towards Hua Tuo's medicine room. The clatter of horses' hooves on the stone pavement startled jackdaws from their perches.

The common people along the way gave way, casting awe-inspired and curious glances. The old locust tree in front of the medicine house trembled in the wind, a few withered leaves falling helplessly. When the menacing procession arrived, the guards quickly dispersed, surrounding the medicine house. Spears flared like a forest, swords flashed, and the air was filled with tension and oppression.

A chill wind whipped gravel against the bamboo fence of the herbal hut. As Hua Tuo stepped outside, he saw dozens of armored guards pouring in like a tide, their black banners adorned with the eight trigrams pattern rustling in the wind. He was dressed in coarse linen, his hair white, yet he retained the calm demeanor of a physician. Upon seeing Zhang Lu, he bowed slightly and saluted respectfully, "I didn't know you were so honored to be here, the prefect of Hanzhong. I'm sorry I didn't come to greet you."

Zhang Lu sat on his horse, looking down from above, nodded slightly, and looked past Hua Tuo and straight into the medicine hut. He said in a deep voice: "No need to be polite. This prefect came here to visit a patient." After that, he dismounted and strode towards the medicine hut. The guards behind him followed closely, and the sound of their armor colliding made a series of noises, which startled several medicine jars in the medicine hut and shook them slightly.

Hua Tuo's graying eyebrows twitched slightly, and his gaze shifted from Zhang Lu's solemn face to the uneasy Zhang Fubao. A chill wind, carrying dead leaves, swept across the courtyard of the medicine hut, swirling between father and daughter. Zhang Fubao bit her lower lip, her fingers twisting the hem of her skirt nearly wrinkling the brocade. Finally, she managed a sentence: "Mr. Hua, Father...wants to meet Sister Zhen's husband."

Before he finished speaking, Zhang Lu had already stepped forward, his dark robe sweeping past the medicine baskets hanging in the corridor, making a soft rustling sound. Hua Tuo looked at the tense situation, sighed softly, and raised his hand to gesture, "Please follow me." As he turned, his wide sleeves swept down a few dried herbs in the corner, but his steps were as steady as usual. He led the group through the corridor and stopped in front of the door of the west wing.

"This is it." Hua Tuo pushed open the creaking wooden door. Zhen Mi's grip on the medicine bowl suddenly tightened, oblivious to the scalding liquid splashing across her palm. She watched the imposing figure slowly step through the threshold, his boots embroidered with gold thread and cloud patterns grinding over the medicine residue on the floor. Zhang Fubao bit his lower lip as he followed behind his father, the newly-worn silver hairpin swaying gently with his movements, but he never dared to meet her gaze.

"Miss Zhen." Zhang Lu stroked his beard, his eyes moving meaningfully on her pale face. "How have you been since we last met?" He suddenly caught a glimpse of the bed looming behind the screen. "I heard that this talisman requires the Zhang family's secret medicine. Is it to save the second son of the Yuan family?"

Before he finished speaking, the atmosphere in the room froze. Zhen Mi's knees buckled, and she nearly collapsed. She knew Zhang Lu was testing her—the second son of the Yuan family was far away in Jizhou, and had nothing to do with this young general dressed in Xiliang attire. A rusty taste rose in her throat, and she forced herself to bow: "Thank you for your concern, Governor. However, my daughter's husband..."

"Father!" Zhang Fubao suddenly took a half step forward, her white skirt sweeping across the blue bricks. "Human life is at stake. Please take a look at his injuries first!" She secretly glanced at Zhen Mi, but saw that the fingertips of the other party holding the hem of her skirt had turned blue and white.

Zhang Lu stood before the couch, his hands behind his back, his gaze darting back and forth between the young general and Zhen Mi like a hawk. His fingertips stroked the jade pendant at his waist, a faint smile playing on his lips. "Miss Zhen was once engaged to the Second Young Master Yuan of Jizhou. This is known to all the world." He suddenly took a half step forward, his wide, dark sleeves stirring with a gust of wind. "But this young master..." Before he finished speaking, the hem of his robe lifted the young man's bloodstained shirt, revealing the Western Liang patterns embroidered on the lining. "Look at the embroidery on this garment. It's clearly Liangzhou style, not something you'd expect from a Jizhou noble."

The medicine bowl in Zhen Mi's hand shook violently, and the brown liquid splashed onto the bluestone, leaving a mottled mark. She fell to her knees with a plop, the pearl hairpins in her hair jingling with her movements. "Prefect, please understand! I..."

"Sister, there's no need to say anything!" Zhang Fubao suddenly rushed forward, blocking Zhen Mi's way, her hair swaying in disarray. "Sister Zhen, your husband is seriously injured and dying. Is father going to watch him die?" She clutched the jade pendant at her waist, her knuckles white. "If I can't save him today, I will pay with my own life!"

Zhang Lu's expression suddenly turned cold, and he slammed his whisk on the table: "Human life? Zhang family's secret medicine can save hundreds and thousands of people. Do we have to break the rules for this kid whose origin is unknown?" He narrowed his eyes and looked at the young man, "Besides, there may be other hidden stories behind such a strange thing." The atmosphere in the room froze instantly, with only the crackling sound of the charcoal fire in the medicine furnace, which startled the swallows and sparrows on the beams and made them fly around.

A chill wind suddenly rushed into the room, causing the smoke from the medicine furnace to slant. Zhang Fubao suddenly opened her shirt and pulled out the jade stone carved with a talisman from her inner pocket. This object, a sacred talisman passed down through the generations of the Tianshi Dao, its lustrous jade shimmered faintly in the dim light. She held the talisman aloft, her fingertips trembling slightly. "Father, are you really going to watch your daughter break her promise?"

Zhang Lu stared at the talisman that symbolized the supreme authority of the Heavenly Master Dao. Veins on his forehead throbbed, and he paced back and forth anxiously: "You silly girl! How can you touch this sacred object so easily..."

"My daughter has made up her mind!" Zhang Fubao suddenly raised the talisman high up, "If I can't save him today, this sacred object will be buried in the earth with my daughter!" There was a stubborn fire burning in her eyes, and her pale cheeks were flushed with a sickly color.

Zhang Lu's robe sleeves trembled violently. He reached out his hand and then retracted it. After a long while, he sighed heavily: "Forget it! Forget it!" He loosened the jade belt at his collar, panting and glaring at the person on the couch. "Let Hua Tuo do his best to save him first! But when this kid wakes up, I will definitely ask him to get to the bottom of it——"

The atmosphere in the room suddenly relaxed. Zhen Mi looked at Zhang Fubao's stubborn look, tears welled up in her eyes, and she kowtowed to the ground: "Thank you... Thank you, Governor!" The charcoal fire in the medicine furnace suddenly burst into sparks, and the cloud patterns on the jade talisman seemed to come alive.

Zhang Lu stared wide-eyed as his daughter unhesitatingly tossed a thousand-year-old ginseng wrapped in gold brocade and a ten-thousand-year-old Ganoderma lucidum shimmering with a faint purple light into the cauldron. The golden ripples of the herbs as they entered the water pierced his heart, and a muffled groan escaped his throat. His knuckles turned white as he gripped the armrest, and even his Taoist robe trembled slightly. "What a spendthrift! What a spendthrift!"

However, while the tonic was precious, its effects were extremely slow. Three times throughout the day, the young man was fed the medicine, yet his face remained as pale as paper, showing no sign of waking. As dusk deepened, Zhang Lu paced back and forth restlessly, his dark boots pounding against the bricks. "Even such precious medicine can't be fed endlessly!" He shook his sleeves and finally ordered a retreat to the City Lord's Mansion. He then deployed a heavy force around the clinic, armored like a forest and spears like clusters, completely encircling it.

At dawn the next day, urgent news arrived like snowflakes—Yizhou Liu Zhang's army had once again laid siege to Migang Mountain! Zhang Lu slammed his desk, sending bamboo slips crashing down his spine. "Liu Zhang, that brat, is truly going too far!" He grabbed his cloak and strode out the door, only to suddenly turn back. Gnashing his teeth, he shouted to the guard leader, "Make arrangements. Keep an eye on that man in the clinic! He's used the Zhang family's miraculous medicine. Even if he grows wings, he can't escape Hanzhong! When I return, I'll investigate him thoroughly!" Before he'd finished speaking, he'd already mounted his horse and galloped away with his personal guards. The thunder of his hooves startled a cloud of crows.

A sharp north wind whipped through the Mi Cang Mountain Pass, rustling the flags and banners. Zhang Lu, clad in a dark brocade robe and a jade crown, sat majestically atop his towering horse. Behind him, armored guards, spears in hand, stood like a forest, their dark battle flags embroidered with the eight trigrams billowing in the wind. Across from him, the banners of the Yizhou army fluttered in the wind. Yan Yan, clad in brilliant silver armor and mounted a snow-white warhorse, his eyes sharp as an eagle's, confronted Zhang Lu from a distance.

"Yan Yan!" Zhang Lu's eyes were wide open with anger, and his voice was like a bell, shaking the mountains and echoing. "What on earth is your son Liu Zhang doing? He just withdrew his troops a few days ago, and today he is coming back again. Do you think that there is no one in Hanzhong?" His voice was full of anger and confusion, and the whip in his hand unconsciously hit the saddle, making a crisp sound.

Yan Yan, however, remained unhurried. A mocking smile played at the corner of his mouth. He reached out and took off his helmet, revealing his graying sideburns, disheveled in the wind. He threw his head back and laughed, his laughter echoing through the valley. "Zhang Lu, ah Zhang Lu, it seems you're still not well-informed!" His tone was filled with disdain, as if he were laughing at a joke.

Zhang Lu frowned, a sense of foreboding welling up in his heart, but he forced himself to remain calm and shouted, "Stop talking nonsense here! Just say what you want to say!"

Yan Yan reined in his warhorse and took a few steps forward, a look of pride in his eyes. "The Xiliang uprising is only a temporary pain; it will be suppressed sooner or later. The current emperor is wise and virtuous. He first eliminated Ma Chao and then destroyed Sun Ce. With such wise leaders, it will only take a short time to pacify the world. Don't resist stubbornly. You're still calling yourself a traitor to Xiliang. You're simply courting death!"

"Absurd!" Zhang Lu obviously didn't believe it and was shaking with anger. He suddenly drew the sword from his waist, and the blade flashed with a cold light. "Sun Ce controls the six counties of Jiangdong and has a strong army. Didn't I hear a few days ago that he was going to raise an army to respond to Xiliang and attack the emperor? How could the emperor run to Jiangdong to kill Sun Ce? You are clearly talking nonsense!" His voice echoed in the mountains, full of doubt and anger.

Seeing this, Yan Yan burst into another hearty laugh, a piercing laugh, as if mocking Zhang Lu's ignorance. "It seems you, Zhang Lu, are truly limited by your small territory and lack access to information!" He laughed, shaking his head. "The news of Sun Ce's death has long spread throughout the land, yet you, Zhang Lu, remain in the dark. Now that Sun Ce is dead, Jiangdong is struggling to cope, so how can they even think of responding to Xiliang? Xiliang only has the upper hand now. When the emperor frees up his forces, it will inevitably be defeated!" Every word he spoke was like a knife, piercing Zhang Lu fiercely.

Zhang Lu's face instantly turned pale, and the hand gripping his sword trembled slightly. He didn't want to believe Yan Yan's words, but Yan Yan's confident expression and resolute tone made him waver. The mountain wind grew increasingly biting, chilling his heart. An unprecedented sense of crisis washed over him.