Spring arrives and the land smiles

While Ningyuan and Yunxuan were in trouble, Qingyan was also restless day and night in the Yushan military camp.

Having been wounded in an assassination attempt and delayed for several days in the Yushan military camp, Qingyan worried that the iron and gold mines might be taken advantage of during this time. So, when his condition improved slightly, he ordered the troops to set off back to the Yushan Inn.

Concerned for the safety of the Princess, Chu Shen dispatched a force of three hundred elite soldiers to escort her.

Qingyan did not refuse. At this moment, given her status, her life, death, injury, and illness were all tied to the entire country.

Upon returning to the inn, Qingyan left Zhuier behind to take care of things, and then went to the mining area without stopping. Once there, she immediately summoned Li Renhe.

Upon receiving news of the assassination attempt on the eldest princess, Li Renhe's first reaction upon seeing Qingyan was surprise. This Princess Pingqiu was indeed unlike any other woman; her willpower was comparable to that of a man.

"Has anything amiss at the mining area these past few days?" Qingyan asked.

Li Renhe replied respectfully, "Your Highness, everything in the mining area is normal and there is nothing amiss."

Hearing this, Qingyan was somewhat puzzled. He had been assassinated and injured, and Chu Shen had publicly claimed that the Princess was seriously injured. The mining area was the focus of competition among various forces, so why was there no movement at all?

"Have you investigated thoroughly?" Qingyan pressed.

Li Renhe was startled, naturally guessing the princess's thoughts, and cautiously said, "There is something that puzzles me."

"What is it?" Qing asked seriously.

"Your Highness was assassinated. I thought that Sichuan would take action, so I contacted the border commander guarding the gold mine. But I didn't expect that he would be replaced at this critical time," Li Renhe replied.

This Li Renhe is indeed meticulous; no wonder Yunxuan sent him to manage the Yushan mining area in this remote and impoverished place. He certainly has the ability.

Qingyan thought to herself that Yunxuan had really gone to great lengths for her.

"It's alright, the newly appointed General Lu is a trustworthy person." At this point, Qingyan could only gamble on Chu Shen's sincerity.

Qingyan gave Li Renhe a few more instructions, urging him to be extremely careful, and then dismissed him.

At this moment, Qingyan was also tired from the long journey and was just about to rest for a while in the backyard of the council hall when she suddenly felt dizzy and her wound was in great pain.

"Princess."

Seeing that Qingyan was unsteady, Sicheng took a step forward and supported her.

Qingyan clung to Sicheng's arm, the pain from her wound making it difficult for her to support herself, so she had to put most of her weight on Sicheng.

"...It hurts!" Qingyan looked down at the wound on her left shoulder near her chest, her clothes gradually becoming stained red with the gushing blood.

Si Cheng was greatly alarmed. He ordered his servants to fetch a doctor, picked up Qing Yan, and walked towards the backyard of the council hall.

Fang Wenxiao, the chief administrator of Yushan, and Li Renhe, the military equipment supervisor who had just left, rushed over upon hearing the report from their servants.

The wound grew deeper and deeper, and Qingyan became delirious with pain.

The doctor was dragged in by the servants. Upon seeing the noblemen outside, he knew that the doctor was of high status and quickly went inside to treat him.

Since Qingyan is a woman, it is inconvenient for everyone. Moreover, this is a time of great turmoil, and Sicheng does not even trust the servants. He has no choice but to dismiss everyone and stay by Qingyan's bedside.

The doctor glanced at Si Cheng, who was dressed in official robes, and saw his anxious expression. He then observed the pale-faced woman on the bed, carefully checked her pulse, and finally his gaze fell on the wound on Qing Yan's left shoulder near her chest.

"Please, sir, help your wife undress so that I may examine her carefully."

The doctor didn't distinguish between genders when it came to patients, but Si Cheng was stunned.

Husband, wife!

Seeing that Sicheng did not move, the doctor had to repeat himself, and only then did Sicheng come to his senses.

Si Cheng clenched his fists at his sides, made up his mind, reached out to Qing Yan, and pulled down the collar of her left shoulder.

The doctor carefully examined the wound, his expression growing increasingly grave.

After a moment, the doctor spoke hesitantly at Si Cheng's urging: "The lady seems to have been infected with a putrefactive poison."

Si Cheng recalled that the old military doctor had said something similar, but he did not mention that the necrotic wound would recur when it was about to heal.

"I was treated by a military doctor before, who also mentioned the putrefaction, but the wound had improved. Why is it like this all of a sudden?" Si Cheng asked, staring at the doctor taking his pulse.

The doctor quickly replied, "Ordinary putrefaction can be treated with Euphorbia humifusa, but judging from the wound, this is no ordinary putrefaction. Euphorbia humifusa can only delay the damage for two or three days. It seems that the putrefaction has already taken effect."

"Then, how can this be resolved?" Si Cheng asked anxiously.

"This..." The doctor looked troubled. "Please forgive my incompetence, but I'm afraid we'll have to seek medicine from the Valley of Immortal Physicians for this kind of putrefactive poison."

Upon hearing this, Si Cheng dismissed the doctor and immediately sent someone to Immortal Doctor Valley to invite Luo Qing to come and detoxify the princess.

When Luo Qing arrived, the sun was already setting.

The girl on the bed was deathly pale, and Luo Qing stood by the bed, her brows furrowed deeply.

It's only been a little over half a month since the Soul Cleansing and Marrow Cleansing, and now I've been infected with the Corrosive Toxin. Even an iron body can't withstand this kind of torment!

Clenching her fist tightly, Luo Qing's aching heart eased slightly. She bent down to take Qing Yan's pulse and carefully examined the condition of her wounds. She sighed deeply again, feeling a sense of helplessness and frustration at Qing Yan's lack of progress.

Even if she is the crown prince, she is still a woman. If she always acts like a man, then what is the point of having men?

Luo Qing took out a silver needle and inserted it into Qing Yan's acupoints, then instructed Si Cheng to help her up and restrain her.

Si Cheng was slightly taken aback at first, but trusting Luo Qing, he didn't ask any more questions and simply held Qing Yan tightly in his arms.

“I’ve sealed three acupoints on her to alleviate her pain. Mafeisan can’t be used to treat the putrefactive poison. No matter how much she struggles, don’t let go. You have to scrape off the rotten flesh so that my medicine can take effect.” Luo Qing finished speaking in one breath, his tone leaving no room for doubt, thus blocking Si Cheng’s idea of ​​asking him to use other methods to detoxify.

Si Cheng could only nod.

Seeing Qingyan's wound constantly oozing blood, Sicheng was filled with unbearable remorse. The thought of Qingyan soon suffering the pain of having her flesh cut out made him wish he could take her place.

She was his mistress. This injury could have been a capital offense for him, a derelict bodyguard. However, when he apologized as soon as he woke up, she let it go so easily. Afterwards, she showed him no distrust whatsoever. He could never repay such kindness and affection, even in the next life.

Now, this frail woman has to endure the fury of this hellish ordeal, and Si Cheng's hatred for himself is almost driving him mad.

"Are you ready?" Luo Qing's question brought Si Cheng back to his senses.

Si Cheng stared at Qing Yan for a moment, then nodded, his heart bleeding.

Luo Qing slowly peeled off Qing Yan's clothes on her left shoulder. When she saw the bloody wound, her hand trembled slightly. She remembered how stubbornly she had gritted her teeth and persevered during the marrow cleansing, and her heart ached so much that her breathing became erratic.

Luo Qing tried to calm herself down, took a deep breath, and then spoke:

"I'm going to start."

These words were spoken not only to himself, but also to Sicheng, and even more so to Qingyan, whose consciousness was in a daze.

Luo Qing and Si Cheng exchanged a glance, receiving a look of affirmation.

Looking at Qingyan again, Luo Qing saw that she seemed to nod slightly. Luo Qing immediately became excited, and her movements became even more meticulous.

Cutting flesh is a skill that tests not only the surgeon's technique but also the skill of the person being cut.

When Qingyan was in the worst pain, this thought popped into her head at an inopportune moment. So she tried her best to control her struggles, because it wouldn't be worth it if she tore off some healthy flesh.

Luo Qing's hands moved swiftly, each strike landing precisely where it should, with just the right amount of force, all to minimize the pain.

Even so, the pain of having flesh cut out was enough to make Qingyan's pain nerves go hysterical.

"Okay, all done...?" Qingyan asked, her body tense, squeezing out a few words from her throat.

"Almost there." Luo Qing didn't dare to say more, and her movements became even lighter.

Si Cheng felt the person in his arms trembling uncontrollably from the pain, in sync with the frequency of Luo Qing's knife strikes, and a large chunk of his heart was instantly ripped out as well.

"Let me...slow down, calm down..." Qingyan was in so much pain that she was weak and powerless.

Luo Qing's heart clenched, and she quickly stopped.

The two men looked at Qingyan, not daring to breathe too deeply, for fear of disturbing her.

"Alright... let's continue." Qingyan exhaled a breath of stale air and closed her eyes again.

Si Cheng grasped Qing Yan's hand, hoping to alleviate some of her pain, and Qing Yan immediately tightened her grip on his hand.

With another swift cut, Luo Qing removed the remaining rotten flesh. Although the force was somewhat strong, a short, sharp pain was better than a long, drawn-out one. In just a few flicks of her fingers, she had removed all the rotten flesh.

The moment she sheathed her sword, Qingyan's body relaxed, she finally regained her breathing, and then she fainted.

Luo Qing quickly and carefully applied medicine and bandaged Qing Yan's wounds, then put a light gray pill into her mouth before Si Cheng gently put her down.

"Young Master Luo, thank you for your trouble. I am deeply grateful." Si Cheng clasped his hands in a salute.

"You're welcome." Luo Qing wiped the fine sweat from her forehead, but when she looked up, she noticed a drop of blood falling from Si Cheng's clasped right hand.

Luo Qing opened his palm to examine it, and sure enough, there were obvious marks from fingernails digging into his palm.

"It's alright." Si Cheng withdrew his hand, seemingly unconcerned.

These must be scratches Qingyan sustained when she was in pain.

Luo Qing turned around, took a bottle of wound medicine, and handed it to Si Cheng. Si Cheng was slightly taken aback, then took it and thanked her.

The two seemed worried and stayed by Qingyan's side. Two hours later, Qingyan woke up.

"How are you feeling?" asked Luo Qing.

"Much better." Qingyan nodded slightly.

Si Cheng brought the warmed medicine to Qing Yan and helped her up.

Qingyan stared at the bowl of thick, dark medicine for a long time without opening her mouth.

Si Cheng looked at his princess, unsure of what to do.

Seeing Qingyan's worried face, Luo Qing couldn't help but smile. He then took out a piece of licorice candy from his medicine box, placed it in his palm, and presented it to Qingyan.

Qingyan's gloom immediately vanished, and she reached for the candy in Luo Qing's palm with her right hand. Her face was beaming with smiles, and her joyful and obedient appearance dazzled Luo Qing.

After holding the licorice candy in her mouth for a while, Qingyan finally drank the bowl of medicine, and Sicheng finally breathed a sigh of relief. Alas, if his princess continued to look at the medicine with such bitterness and resentment, he would truly believe he was a heinous criminal.