Disease rights policy

Before Qiao Ran could even take a step, her ankle was encircled by a cold hand. A chill ran through her, and the hairs on her body stood on end. Suppressing the urge to scream, she looked down and saw that the person was not dead.

A handsome face came into view. He had been slightly scratched when he fell, so there were many bloodstains on his face, but you could still tell that he was fair-skinned. His eyes were full of the will to survive. His hand gripping Qiao Ran's ankle tightened, making Qiao Ran's bones ache.

Seeing that Qiao Ran remained motionless, the man regained his senses and spoke in a hoarse voice, "Miss, don't go..."

Qiao Ran gazed at him. He was dressed in fine material, with a brocade belt adorned with auspicious clouds around his waist. The embroidery was exquisite, clearly not made by an ordinary person. She slowly squatted down and took the warm jade from the boy's waist. It was top-quality mutton fat jade, pure and flawless, without even a trace of impurity.

She could sell it for a good price, so Qiao Ran put it in her pocket without thinking.

The panic in the boy's eyes intensified, and he gripped Qiao Ran's ankle so tightly it felt like it was about to break.

She sighed helplessly, "I'm not a scavenger. You are a man of extraordinary status. If I help you, I'll be the one who suffers in the future. Let go."

The young man shook his head with difficulty, tears welling in his eyes, "Miss..."

Qiao Ran glared at her, "Let go! If you don't let go, I'll cut your hand off!"

"No..." The boy was so frightened that tears streamed down his face. He didn't know whether the person who had harmed him earlier was more terrifying, or whether she was more terrifying now.

But he slowly let go of her hand. Qiao Ran snorted coldly, left a "farewell" and strode away mercilessly. The boy looked at that figure, the light in his eyes dimmed. He knew that this world was full of injustice, and his life had always been bitter.

Dying here today might not be such a bad thing as a release.

Tears of humiliation streamed down the boy's thin face. Though he was filled with resentment, he could only bite his lip and swallow it all. His limbs gave way, and he slowly closed his eyes.

Qiao Ran hadn't originally intended to lend a hand, but as she walked along, clutching the jade pendant carved from mutton fat jade, her conscience bothered her, and she couldn't help but turn back. There she saw the boy crawling forward pitifully, but he was too exhausted and collapsed on the spot.

This place is bordered by snow-capped mountains, and it must be bitterly cold at night. If he were injured and left here, he would either freeze to death or be carried off by wild wolves, which is indeed quite pitiful.

Qiao Ran hesitated for a moment, then walked back dejectedly, "Hey, please wake up again."

At that moment, the voice above his head was like celestial music, striking a dying soul directly. The boy slowly raised his head and saw that Qiao Ran's cheeks were as white as snow, and the few strands of black hair that fell down were as bright as her smiling eyes, radiant.

The boy's eyes were quickly overwhelmed by the burning heat.

Qiao Ran's smile gradually froze. She had never seen a man cry so easily. She squatted down and quickly checked his injuries, then turned him over. The boy groaned several times when his injuries were touched, but the tears in his eyes stubbornly refused to fall.

“Your leg is broken,” Qiao Ran glanced at him and said, “I’ll find something to stabilize it first to save your life. Consider the jade from earlier as payment for the medical treatment.”

The boy blinked and let Qiao Ran do as she pleased.

Qiao Ran rolled up the boy's trouser leg, and her eyes widened in surprise. His already pale skin was covered with countless scars, none of them healed. Some were burns, some were knife wounds. Although there were many, none of them were deep or fatal. At most, they would only cause him pain for a few days.

Qiao Ran frowned and asked him, "Are you usually annoying?"

No one likes being bullied like this.

The young man endured the pain of Qiao Ran's bone being set for a long time before weakly replying, "I'm sorry for frightening you, young lady."

"Ah."

Qiao Ran chuckled lightly, not taking it seriously. She checked his other leg and found that the bone was not broken, but it had been cut by a stone and was bleeding a lot. She took out the remaining gauze skirt from her bundle and bandaged it up for him.

He had wasted most of his time rescuing people. He listened carefully and heard the chirping of birds and the sounds of spring breezes rustling through the woods, but there was no sound of footsteps searching for him.

She scrutinized the boy's appearance closely. "You've been down here for so long, hasn't anyone come looking for you? Did you run into some enemies?"

The boy was still unable to move, lying flat on the ground staring blankly at Qiao Ran. "They're not my enemies. The people looking for me will be here by tomorrow at the earliest."

"Are you so easily forgotten? Do you know that tomorrow, they won't be looking for a person, but your corpse?" Qiao Ran spoke the truth. "Perhaps not even a complete corpse, just a few bones to take back."

The boy was quite frightened by her; his already pale face turned even paler, making him look weak and vulnerable.

Qiao Ran had seen sickly people before; Chen Jiu was one such person. But she didn't see the fear and cowardice of someone facing death in Chen Jiu. Even in danger, his eyes remained calm and deep. But this young man before her...

It's a far cry.

She realized, upon comparison, that Chen Jiu's resilience was rare in the world.

Since no one would come looking for him anytime soon, Qiao Ran felt much more at ease. She helped the boy up and found that he was very light. Underneath the wide brocade robe was a withered body. She pulled the boy into the cave and channeled some of her internal energy into him. The boy's complexion gradually became rosy, and at least he didn't look like he would die any moment later.

Don't think Qiao Ran is genuinely kind. Rather, she feels that this young man might be her chance to openly and legitimately enter Jin-Chu. If she were to leave without helping him now, she would have a hard time getting past the border defenses. If she were discovered by the border guards, she could easily end up with a thousand arrows piercing her heart.

"Thank you for saving my life, young lady," the boy said timidly.

Qiao Ran fed Yuehu some food, disassembled the sword and put it aside, then turned to him and asked, "Don't rush to thank me. I can tell you're not an ordinary person. Tell me your identity so I can consider whether or not I should save you."

The boy was quiet for a moment, and Qiao Ran heard him say, "My name is Baili You, and I am... I am from Pingjing."

Qiao Ran suddenly looked at him, "This is Pingjing? Isn't this Jin-Chu?"

The boy explained, "This is Jin and Chu, but I am a hostage, so..."

Qiao Ran waited a while, but he stammered and couldn't finish his sentence. However, she was secretly delighted, thinking that she really did have some luck and had saved someone who was very useful.

"So, you are Prince Pingjing, sent to Jin Chu as a hostage, a dignified prince, yet someone dares to treat you like this," Qiao Ran said. "It seems you're having a really bad time as a hostage in Jin Chu."

Baili You turned his head away. He was already in a bad situation. As the thirteenth prince of Pingjing, he was born to his father's least favored concubine. So when Jin and Chu negotiated to open a trade route, his father did not hesitate to send him, who was not yet of age at the time, to Jin and Chu as a hostage.

The Jin-Chu imperial palace was like hell; he was not even as good as a servant there. Finally, when he came of age, he realized he should no longer stay in the palace, so the Jin-Chu emperor gave him a seemingly magnificent but actually dilapidated house in the imperial city of Ye.

He thought he could escape the palace and those demons, but he never expected them to be so carefree, going out of the palace every day to amuse themselves. The servants he brought from Pingjing were tortured to death one by one by them, and now only two people remain by his side, an old man and a young boy, who are even less able to protect him.

"These past few days, His Majesty has granted the princes special permission to go on a spring hunt outside the palace. They deliberately chose this remote border town as the location, which I was unwilling to come to."

Qiao Ran fed the moon fox and played with its fur. After listening, she said, "Did you have a choice not to come? They wanted to bully you, so they deliberately chose this place. They could kill you and no one would know. What would they play if you didn't come?"