Murong Xue let out a long breath and was about to turn around to report the good news when she saw Shen Ling'er and Meng Jiuning leaning their heads together on the riverbank, both of them collapsing into the muddy water.
Before Shen Ling'er closed her eyes, she said something.
"Don't tell my husband..."
Murong Xue was completely dumbfounded. She rushed over and hugged them, shouting loudly.
"Quickly!!! Female healer, stop their bleeding and prepare some sugar water!"
An hour later, in the main tent of the Great Yan.
Gu Moran threw the riding whip on the general's desk. Just as he unfastened the breastplate on his chest, he saw Shen Ling'er, who had recently regained consciousness, come out of the inner room carrying a bowl of hot tea.
She specially changed into a dark blue long-sleeved cotton dress, the cuff of her left sleeve tightly tied with a ribbon.
Her wrists were completely covered, and she deliberately applied a thick layer of rouge to her face to conceal her pale complexion.
"Your Highness must be exhausted from fighting. Please have some hot tea to soothe your throat..."
Shen Ling'er walked up to Gu Moran, holding the tea tray in both hands, intending to hand him the teacup.
But she had lost too much blood in her left arm, and her entire arm was trembling. Just as her fingertips touched the rim of the teacup, her wrist suddenly went limp, and the entire bowl of scalding tea, along with the celadon bowl, crashed down.
With a splash, it all splattered onto Gu Moran's iron armor leg guards and combat boots.
Shen Ling'er was startled, her knees buckled, and she was about to kneel down to pick up the broken porcelain shards:
"My lord, please forgive me, I hope you weren't burned."
I... I accidentally...
Ignoring the tea on her boots, Gu Moran bent down, grabbed her waist, and lifted her off the ground.
The moment his fingers touched Shen Ling'er's left hand, he sensed something was wrong. Her usually warm little hand was now as cold as ice.
Unfortunately, his pulse was pounding erratically, and his forehead was burning hot.
Gu Moran's gaze darkened. Ignoring Shen Ling'er's desperate attempts to shrink back, he hooked two fingers of his right hand and tore off the ribbon on her wrist, then rolled up her dark blue sleeve above her elbow.
The inside of my usually fair and delicate forearm was covered with layers of gauze, with two inches of blood seeping out. The surrounding skin had turned bluish-purple due to excessive blood loss.
How did you do that?
Gu Moran lowered his voice, and the usual playful smile on his face was completely gone.
Shen Ling'er bit her lip and lowered her head, trying to pull her arm back:
"It's nothing, I just accidentally cut myself while cutting herbs by the river..."
Gu Moran didn't believe her nonsense and glanced around behind the screen in the inner room.
On a low camp couch in the corner, Meng Jiuning was huddled under a thick quilt, only her pale face and blue lips were visible, her left hand also tightly hidden under the quilt.
Murong Xue, who was guarding outside the tent, realized she couldn't hide it any longer. She reluctantly lifted the curtain and came in, recounting the whole story of how she had bled the mother insect to death by the river.
The tent was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Gu Moran stared at the knife wound on Shen Ling'er's arm for a full three breaths, then suddenly bent down, slipped his right hand under Shen Ling'er's knees, and scooped her up in his arms.
Shen Ling'er gasped in surprise, instinctively wrapping her arms around his neck.
Through her cotton skirt, her hot, limp body pressed tightly against Gu Moran's hard chest.
Gu Moran strode to the large military couch behind the screen and placed Shen Ling'er next to Meng Jiuning.
He then reached out and pulled Meng Jiuning, who was huddled in the corner, over, pressing the two women's shoulders to make them lie down side by side.
He casually grabbed the fox fur cloak he had been using and wrapped the two of them up tightly inside.
"I'm not dead yet, and those thousands of men in the vanguard battalion aren't all dead. It's not your place, two women, to risk your lives to fill the river's eye!"
Gu Moran cursed under his breath, then reached out and pinched Shen Ling'er and Meng Jiuning's cool cheeks lightly, almost like a tickle.
"Lie here obediently. Anyone who dares to get out of bed and step out of this screen today will have their pants pulled down and their ass beaten to a pulp!"
Meng Jiuning Ning nestled inside the warm fox fur cloak, inhaling its rich masculine scent.
Her body, which had been frozen stiff, gradually warmed up. Looking at Gu Moran's ashen face, a layer of mist welled up in her eyes, and she softly replied:
"Understood, thank you for your kindness, Your Highness..."
This is a short comic strip.
Gu Moran snorted, turned around, and stepped out from behind the screen.
He squatted down in front of the small mud stove by the tent entrance, fanning the charcoal fire with a palm-leaf fan, and broke two old ginseng roots into pieces, throwing them into a clay pot to make soup.
Just as the ginseng soup was bubbling and steaming, Yun Shuyue, who was on guard outside, rushed in.
Holding a white hemp paper invitation sealed with red sealing wax:
"Your Highness, a crack has opened at the south gate of Hanseong, and a mute soldier with his tongue cut out has run out, carrying a white flag and delivering this letter to the front lines."
It is said that the invitation to negotiate peace was written in the handwriting of Inukami Jusaburo.
We have arranged for Your Highness to meet at noon tomorrow at White Sandbar in the middle of the Han River for a banquet and negotiations.
They even specifically requested that Princess Kim Seon-a come along!
Gu Moran stirred the clay pot with a soup spoon in his hand without even looking up:
"Take it to Qingdai to see."
Standing to the side, Lin Qingdai took the invitation, leaned closer in the firelight, and stared intently at the red sealing wax mark on the seal. Her expression changed slightly.
"Your Highness, someone used their fingernails to carve three deep marks into the lower right corner of this sealing wax seal while it was still wet."
This was the secret code that Park Roejang had agreed upon with us before entering the city.
The three marks indicate that he has been taken hostage by Inukami Jusaburo.
There must be a large army hidden beneath this White Sandbar; it's a trap with no chance of survival!
We can't go. Tomorrow we'll just use catapults to launch a direct assault!
Gu Moran didn't respond. He picked up the ginseng soup he had prepared and went into the inner room. He sat down on the cot, took a small porcelain spoon, and patiently blew on it to cool it down, feeding it to Shen Ling'er and Meng Jiuning in turn.
After finishing the large bowl of ginseng soup, he took the invitation from Lin Qingdai and casually tossed it into the charcoal brazier at his feet.
The flames suddenly leaped up, engulfing most of the white hemp paper and burning the signature " Inukami Jusaburo " on it to black ash.
Gu Moran lifted his combat boots, stomped out the remaining half of the flame, stood up, straightened his sleeves, and put on that inscrutable smile again:
"Go, why wouldn't you go?"
Park Roejang must have endured a lot of hardship to successfully infiltrate the enemy.
"If I, the king, don't go and support this event, wouldn't I be breaking the hearts of honest people?"
He turned to look towards the dark, gloomy direction of Hanseong, his fingers lightly tapping the hilt of his sword at his waist.
"That Inukami Jusaburo, wants to hide a water ghost under White Sandbar and use me as a scapegoat."
I must have this meal with him tomorrow.
If they don't stuff this wolf's appetite to burst, then those three thousand Satsuma villagers at the west gate of Hanseong, carrying white steamed buns...
How dare you open the city gates completely for us tomorrow?