Chapter 189: Impossible—I've already seen my great-grandmother!

Cheng Qiuluo hurriedly took out a medicine bottle from her bosom.

"Big Brother, take the Healing Pill and go save Uncle Xu quickly!"

Cheng Sitao nodded.

"Alright!"

After they left, Cheng Qiuluo knelt down at the edge of Xuan Ya, kowtowed heavily three times, her eyes blood-red, and said in a choked voice.

"Father, Uncle, and all the sons of the Cheng Family Army who fell in battle—Qiuluo will definitely get justice for us!"

Then she stood up, curled her fingers, and put them in her mouth to whistle.

Big Yellow darted out from a corner.

Seeming to sense her low spirits, Big Yellow lowered his head and nuzzled her hand twice with his head.

"Roar, roar."

"Don't worry, I'm fine."

Qiuluo rubbed the huge tiger head a couple of times.

"Let's go, Big Yellow—we'll catch up with Big Brother!"

Big Yellow suddenly lunged forward, and in no time, the girl and the tiger vanished without a trace.

……

The moment Cheng Sitao returned to the Military Camp, he saw Xu Zhongquan's Tent surrounded by a large crowd of soldiers, packed tight inside and out.

No one knew who shouted.

"Everyone disperse, the Prince's Son is back!"

The crowd stared at him with reddened eyes; some were secretly wiping tears in a corner, sobbing softly.

"Prince's Son, the Imperial Physician said, General Xu he……"

Cheng Sitao tried his best to keep his tone calm as he addressed the crowd.

"Don't worry, everyone. General Xu is a blessed man—heaven will watch over him. He'll definitely pull through."

Having said that, he strode quickly into the Tent.

The moment he lifted the curtain, a thick smell of blood mixed with the bitter scent of medicine rushed at his face.

Xu Zhongquan lay on the couch, his wounds already treated; nearly his entire body was wrapped in clean white cloth.

At this moment his face was deathly pale, bloodless, and he had already fallen into a coma.

The Imperial Physician stood nearby holding a bowl of medicine, his face creased with worry, shaking his head and sighing.

"Sigh!"

Noticing him come in, the Imperial Physician beckoned to him.

"Come quickly, you watch him for a while. Little Xu's jaws are clenched tight now, he can't even swallow the medicine—it all spills out."

Having said that, the old Imperial Physician hurried outside.

"This old man will go brew another dose."

Taking advantage of the Imperial Physician turning his back on them, Cheng Sitao quickly took out an Elixir and tucked it into Xu Zhongquan's mouth.

The Elixir melted the instant it entered his mouth, flowing down his throat.

The medicine's effect took hold very quickly.

The unconscious Xu Zhongquan first rolled his eyes a couple of times, then suddenly opened them.

The moment he saw Cheng Sitao, his eyes reddened; this burly, rough-featured seven-foot man cried like a child.

"Heir?!"

"How did you also come down here?"

"What on earth happened? Did those bastards from Nanjiang hold back some dirty trick and ambush you?"

As he cried, he pounded his own chest hard—"bang bang bang."

"It's my fault, all my fault!"

"If only I'd stopped you, not let you act alone."

"Marquis, I've let you down!"

The moment Cheng Qiuluo stepped inside, she saw the old Imperial Physician with a face full of terror, looking as if he'd just seen a ghost.

Her gaze shifted, landing on the burly man throwing himself into her Big Brother's arms, wailing loudly.

"Big Brother, what's wrong with Uncle Xu?"

Hearing her voice, Xu Zhongquan raised his head, his lips trembling as he asked.

"Miss Qiuluo? You're dead too?"

Hearing this, Cheng Qiuluo's face was covered in black lines; she waved her hands repeatedly.

"No, no, I'm alive and well, and you're alive and well too."

She pointed behind her.

"But I feel like he's about to have a problem."

Cheng Sitao and the other looked at the old Imperial Physician.

Indeed.

The old Imperial Physician was so scared his face turned deathly pale, his body trembling, gasping for breath in great gulps, as if the very next breath might not come.

The old Imperial Physician stared in terror, his eyes wide, and pointed a trembling finger at Xu Zhongquan.

"You—are you man or ghost?!"

Xu Zhongquan scratched his head.

"Does that even need asking? I'm definitely……"

As if knowing he would certainly say something shocking, Cheng Sitao pinched his arm hard.

"Forgive me, Uncle Xu."

"Hiss!"

Xu Zhongquan sucked in a sharp breath.

"Young Master, why are you pinching me—"

The pain in his arm made him suddenly realize—

"I'm not dead?!"

He jumped straight off the couch, ran over to the Imperial Physician, grabbed his hand, and bounced up and down a few times.

"Hahaha, I'm really not dead!"

"U-Uncle Xu."

Cheng Qiuluo spoke up to interrupt him.

"Maybe let go of the Imperial Physician first."

He looked like he was about to run out of breath.

"Oh, right."

Xu Zhongquan quickly let go of the Imperial Physician.

The other man clutched his chest, gasping for air.

"No, no! Returning Light, it must be Returning Light!"

Before the Imperial Physician had even caught his breath, he grabbed Xu Zhongquan's hand and began taking his pulse, his brow indeed creasing tighter and tighter, his expression growing more and more incredulous.

"How can this be?"

"How can your injuries have healed so quickly? Or were you never actually injured in the first place?!"

After saying that, the Imperial Physician himself shook his head repeatedly.

"Impossible. Your wounds were just now treated by me personally."

"How can this be? Did you take some kind of medicine?"

Hearing this, Xu Zhongquan stroked his chin with a thoughtful look.

"Medicine?"

In his half-conscious state, he seemed to have indeed swallowed something, and then a gentle force had circulated through his whole body.

Could it be…

"Uncle Xu!"

Cheng Qiuluo raised her voice to cut off his train of thought, and she glanced at the Imperial Physician, whether intentionally or not.

"Could it be that your injuries weren't actually serious to begin with, and what was on you was just someone else's blood?"

Xu Zhongquan: "…"

That can't be right!

Just now I had already seen my great-grandmother!

But noticing her gaze, Xu Zhongquan suddenly had a flash of inspiration and immediately nodded in understanding.

"Yes, yes, my injuries really weren't serious."

Now it was the Imperial Physician's turn to be dumbfounded. He muttered to himself, falling into deep self-doubt.

"Could it be that this old man's eyes have grown dim, misread the pulse, and seen things?"

The other three exchanged a glance, and none of them spoke.

……

The fighting here in Nan Jing came to a temporary close.

Over in Muyuan, after Shang Gu received the letter from Da Yin, he was instantly so furious his face turned iron-blue, and he directly flipped over the chessboard in front of him.

"This is absolutely outrageous!"

"What does he take my soldiers of Muyuan for?!"

"Dogs that come when called and leave when waved off, wagging their tails for a bone?!"

Yuanchen Daozhang, however, looked thoroughly unsurprised, gathering the scattered chess pieces from the floor and putting them neatly back into the chess box.

Only then did he softly offer a word of reassurance.

"Didn't you already know it would be like this? Why get so angry?"

"Besides, this trip was never about helping the Shen clan in the first place."

Meeting his calm gaze, Shang Gu's expression eased considerably.

"But I can't swallow this insult, and the soldiers of my Muyuan can't swallow it even more!"

Just then, his trusted aide knocked at the door.

"National Lord, a letter has arrived from over there."

A letter from Cheng Chengxuan?

Shang Gu raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Bring it in."

After reading it, he let out a cold laugh.

Going to the capital to receive a reward?

Shunhe Emperor, this is an opportunity you've delivered right to my door.

But very soon, his brow furrowed slightly, and a thoughtful look crossed his face.

He had only just received the Shunhe Emperor's letter himself—how had the Cheng Family's plan already gotten out?

So, they had actually received the news even earlier than him?

The Cheng Family's intelligence network was actually this formidable?