Many thanks for Zoey for kindly deciding to edit for the series from now on!! ^.^
Hua Zhu Yu and Hui Xue had yet to reach the battlefield when – half way through – they met with the retreating North Kingdom soldiers.
They were retreating as they had lost the battle.
When Hua Zhu Yu met them, they had already retreated a 200 li distance away from the capital and were setting up the camp.
(li – half a kilometer)
The north wind blew violently and the moon showed its curved face from a layer of clouds, snow covered the ground – making it as white as a day in the la month of winter.
(la month: the 12th month of the lunar calendar)
Hua Zhu Yu riding the yanzhi horse, closely followed Hui Xue, passing through the soldiers until she saw Xiao Yin.
His soldiers escorted him and he rode a large black horse slowly. His ink-black armor let out a cold, austere light in the darkness. His handsome face looked as if it was covered with a layer of frost. His originally sharp gaze was now as chill as ice. His long eyes were narrowed slightly giving an innate majestic presence that made people want to surrender to.
“Why did you come here?” he asked Hua Zhu Yu when he saw her. Though his deep eyes darkened, his handsome face was still calmly composed.
Hua Zhu Yu flipped off from her yanzhi horse. She was still late! Just as she was about to speak, she saw the tall figure on the horse sway slightly as though he was trembling – and very shortly, fell heavily onto the snowy ground.
“Your Highness…” Hui Xue fell down in front of Xiao Yin, her face pale with shock.
Both Qing Yun and Bi Yue hastily got off their horses and carried Xiao Yin into the tent that was just set up, while a maid lit a candle, releasing a warm yellow halo of light.
As Xiao Yin lay on the bed, his handsome face under the candle light looked as pale as snow and it appeared as though he was strongly resisting enormous pain. His originally icy purple eyes were now as deep and dark as the night.
“His Highness is wounded! Weren’t any of you aware of it? How did you protect His Highness?” Hui Xue paled as she said.
Hua Zhu Yu looked at the Liu Feng, Qing Yun, and Bi Yue who were kneeling in from of Xiao Yin. Their situation was not very good either. Their clothes were also stained with blood, and it was difficult to identify whether it was their blood or their enemy’s.
It was clearly visible that the battle earlier had ended on a tragic note.
“When His Highness was wounded, he broke the arrow and told us not to inform the other soldiers that he was wounded, worried that the soldiers would be thrown into a state of disorder. He withstood the wound and continued to fight.” Liu Feng’s voice became lower and lower, even becoming a little choked with sobs.
Xiao Yin lightly coughed and said in a cold voice, “Liu Feng, circulate your true energy and pull out this short arrow from my chest!” Even though his voice was low, however, the domineering aura did not lessen a bit. When they heard this, someone quickly went out to call the army doctor. Liu Feng agreed in a heavy voice and stretched out his hand to pull out that arrow.
“Stop!” Hua Zhu Yu coldly said. She never thought that the people of the North Kingdom would be this rash! Xiao Yin’s was suffering from a chest wound and if the arrow was rashly pulled out, it would cause xuebeng. If that happened, even daluo xian would find it difficult to save him
(xuebeng – not sure exactly what this medical condition is, but it is related to profuse bleeding)
Originally, everyone had been observing Xiao Yin’s wounds and had not noticed Hua Zhu Yu. When they heard her talk, none of them comprehended what she meant. Even Xiao Yin was staring at her deeply with a penetrating gaze.
“You cannot pull out this arrow first. Has anyone prepared the medicine that can stop bleeding? Or have you sealed the juque, zhongji, baimang, acupuncture points? If you rashly pull out the arrow, and xuebeng occurs, what do you plan on doing?” Hua Zhu Yu leaned next to the door of the tent with her snow colored fur coat on. The fur of her coat gently outlined her chin, displaying a calm face which was as elegant as a lotus.
Xiao Yin slightly froze and thought for a bit before deciding that Hua Zhu Yu was right. He nodded slightly and said: “Liu Feng, seal those three acupuncture points for bendianxia.”
Liu Feng shook his head and said: “This subordinate…this subordinate is useless. This subordinate knows where the juque acupuncture point is, but does not know where the zhongji and baimang acupuncture points are.”
The rest of the personal bodyguards all shook their heads.
Xiao Yin’s chest rose and fell fiercely and he roughly breathed out, his eyes were, even more, colder.
The North Kingdom’s martial arts training method was not similar to that of the South Kingdom martial arts training. They only recognized a couple of important acupuncture points. However, when Hua Zhu Yu had just begun to learn martial arts, she had first learned to recognize acupuncture points – and very precisely at that.
“Dan Hong has learned some medical skills while in the army from the army doctor and knows those acupuncture points. Does His Highness trust Dan Hong?” Hua Zhu Yu slowly said. Xiao Yin’s heavy eyes lit up. That light was like a comet streaking past the sky – disappearing after only one flash. He nodded.
Hua Zhu Yu slowly walked to his side and circulated energy before pressing and sealing the three acupuncture points, causing the speed of blood flow to slow down. Precisely at that moment, the army doctors arrived. Liu Feng circulated his energy and pressed his palms to Xiao Yin’s back, pulling out the short arrow. The two army doctors hastily sprinkled medicine onto the wound and dressed the wound.
“Hui Xue, why have all of you come over here in a hurry?” Xiao Yin enquired coldly as he lay on his side.
“Replying to Your Highness, this servant arrived in order to stop Your Highness from seizing the enemy camp, except it was too late. Dan Hong said that since He Qiang Tribe produces salt, she was afraid that the enemy would use salt to melt the ice, and that when our army attempted to cross the river, the layer of ice would shatter, cutting off both the front and the end of the troop. The enemies would then lay an ambush, destroying our army in a complete defeat.” When Xiao Yin’s personal bodyguards heard, they were flabbergasted.
Hui Xue’s words were exactly like what they had personally witnessed. They had wanted to attack the enemy’s camp yet they were ambushed. Moreover, the originally thick layer of ice suddenly shattered leaving many soldiers dead, the troops were split from each other, separating the military power
They had originally thought that the ice was not thick enough, but now as they pondered over it, they recollected as soon as the horse hooves touched the layer of ice, it had not been that slippery. It should have been the salt!
“All of you withdraw except Dan Hong,” ordered Xiao Xin with slightly narrowed eyes as he leaned against the bed.
As soon as everyone heard the order, they left immediately.
“Dan Hong, did you come here in order to keep your promise? Since you have come, then tell bendianxia, how I should fight this battle?” Xiao Yin looked at her and his purple eyes, under his thick eyebrows, was very arrogant and sharp.
Hua Zhu Yu smiled slightly and softly said, “Actually, if Your Highness wants to turn the tides around, it’s not very hard.”
“Oh?” Xiao Yin lifted his eyebrows and stared intently at her.
Under the candlelight, the woman wearing the fur coat seemed tranquil, calm, and as beautiful as an expressionless perfect sculpture. Only that her pair of beautiful ink-like deep eyes had a flash of streaks of sharpness.
He had a distinct feeling that she had changed.
After her bout of serious illness, she had clearly become thinner and her chin seemed sharper and more pronounced, making people feel compassionate towards her. It was just not only her appearance that had changed. Her pair of watery black eyes had something extra that was not present before – heavy and deep grief. Even though she covered it up very well, he was able to find it out.
Moreover, her present personality now carried an aura of alienation that prevented others from either disturbing or approaching her. It seemed as though that no matter whatever happened, her resolve could not be shaken. It made him feel that she was helping him only because of her promise. Apart from than that, there was no other reason.