Chapter 157: Notification
Editor: Atlas Studios
Mu Yangling quickly sent the medicine back and handed it to Fei Bai, who was hiding in the kitchen, for him to brew the medicine. Only then did she push her father to Shu Wanniang’s room and hand the medicine to her. “Mother, apply the medicine for Father. I’ll go out for a while.”
Mu Yangling went to the camp to look for Qi Xiuyuan and Fan Zijin.
Qi Xiuyuan would only stay here for a day. If she went to look for him now, she could still find an excuse to muddle through. It would be difficult to look for him when he returned to the prefectural capital. After all, it wouldn’t be nearly as easy to cover her tracks.
The reason why Qi Xiuyuan came was because Qi Haoran had, on a whim some time ago, requested to go into battle. The assistant commanders were eager to come over to take a look at Qi Haoran’s training results. If he could really be like how he trained the 4th Division back then, there was nothing wrong with agreeing to let him fight.
Qi Xiuyuan was happy to agree to this, since it was a glorious matter for his younger brother. Moreover, the recent war with the Jin soldiers had come to an end, so he brought a group of people over.
Unfortunately, Qi Haoran had brought people into the mountains to hunt and probably wouldn’t come out for three to five days.
Fan Zijin explained to everyone with a smile, “Haoran is energetic. Not only does everyone have to train their troops, but they also have to build a campsite. Hence, now that he’s free and happened to hear that some wild beasts went down the mountain to destroy grains, he brought a few people into the mountain. The last time he went into the mountain, he stayed for four days before coming out. I don’t know how long he’ll stay this time.” At this point, Fan Zijin smiled helplessly and said, “So I’m afraid I’ll disappoint everyone this time. I’m afraid I can’t let everyone review the troops.”
Qi Xiuyuan glanced at his cousin and did not say anything.
Jiang Ze smiled and said, “No big deal. At most, we’ll come again next time. Just look at this camp area and it’s obvious that Little General has spent a lot of effort. It’s much more organized than our old camp area.”
With Jiang Ze and Fan Zijin livening up the atmosphere, everyone gradually forgot that Qi Haoran was not at the campsite. Qi Xiuyuan brought everyone to play for a day. When he saw that the sky was about to turn dark, he stood up and smiled. “Alright, we should go back.”
Fan Zijin quickly invited him to stay. “Cousin, why don’t you stay here for dinner with the assistant commanders? Everyone, try our 5th Division’s food.”
The corners of Jiang Ze’s mouth twitched. He had thought that he would invite them to a restaurant in Mingshui County. It was obvious that Fan Zijin did not want to keep them.
Qi Xiuyuan’s eyes darkened even more. He glanced at Fan Zijin without batting an eyelid and shook his head. “No need. There are so many assistant commanders here so we can’t stay outside overnight. Everyone has to go back today.”
However, before they reached the entrance of the 5th Division, they heard a commotion.
Qi Xiuyuan could vaguely hear crying and couldn’t help but frown. “What’s going on ahead?”
Fan Zijin’s heart skipped a beat, for he recognized Mu Yangling’s voice. How could Mu Yangling cry? Back then, she didn’t even cry when she crawled out of the pile of corpses. Moreover, she knew that his cousin would come today, but she had promised him that she would help him cover it up.
Jiang Ze had already strode out. When he saw Mu Yangling crying at the entrance of the camp, he couldn’t help but be stunned. He shouted, “Miss Mu, what’s wrong?”
Mu Yangling wiped her tears and pushed a soldier away before running to Qi Xiuyuan’s side. “General Qi, please save my mother.”
“Your mother?” Qi Xiuyuan looked at her in surprise. “What happened to your mother?”
“My mother is sick and urgently needs good ginseng. But my family doesn’t have money or connections and can’t afford good ginseng at all. General, please help save my mother.” Mu Yangling reached out to grab Qi Xiuyuan. Her fingers couldn’t help but tighten as she gently tapped his wrist.
Qi Xiuyuan glanced at her without batting an eyelid and sighed. “I don’t have any good ginseng here either, but it’s fine. I’ll get someone to go back and look for it now.” As he spoke, he looked at Jiang Ze and said, “Take the soldiers back first. Then, get the butler to find the 100-year-old ginseng in the storeroom and send it over immediately.” He then said gently to Mu Yangling, “Miss Mu, don’t be anxious. I’ll go take a look with you. If it doesn’t work, I’ll send a post to invite a famous doctor from the prefecture capital.”
Mu Yangling wiped her tears again and looked at Qi Xiuyuan gratefully.
Fan Zijin immediately said, “I’ll go take a look too.”
Qi Xiuyuan nodded. “Bring the military doctor along.”
Yanmo dashed off, and not long after, the military doctor came out with a first aid kit. The four of them got on their horses, and Qi Xiuyuan smiled as he reached out to Mu Yangling. “Come here, I’ll bring you.”
Mu Yangling reached out to him and sat behind him.
Qi Xiuyuan waved at Jiang Ze below and rode out on his horse. After the horse ran far away and Mu Yangling was sure that no one would hear them, she whispered into Qi Xiuyuan’s ear, “General, Qi Haoran is seriously injured and is lying in my house now. Fei Bai said that he caused a huge disaster. No one must know that he’s injured.”
Qi Xiuyuan’s expression darkened as he asked, “How is he now?”
“He’s still unconscious. He’s injured his vitals.”
Qi Xiuyuan silently sped up.
Fan Zijin followed a few steps behind the two of them. As the wind was strong and the horses’ hooves were fast, he could not hear what the two of them were talking about at all, but his intuition told him that this matter had something to do with Qi Haoran.
Thinking about how Qi Haoran had gone deep into the enemy’s territory this time, he could not help but worry. Could something have happened to that silly boy?
The horse stopped at the Mu residence and Qi Xiuyuan quickly walked in. Mu Shi hurriedly came out of the house to welcome him. Qi Xiuyuan only glanced at him and smelled the blood and medicine on him. He nodded slightly at him and asked in a low voice, “Where is he?”
Mu Yangling had already run in from outside and said to Qi Xiuyuan, “General, thank you for coming to see my mother. Come here and have a seat first.” She directly invited him to her room.
As soon as he entered the room, Bai Li knelt down in front of Qi Xiuyuan. Qi Xiuyuan did not even look at him and directly sat by the brick bed to look at the unconscious Qi Haoran.
At this moment, Fei Bai had already applied medicine for Qi Haoran. His entire body was wrapped in a white cloth, and his face was pale as he lay on the bed lifelessly.
Qi Xiuyuan looked at him deeply for a while before turning to look at Bai Li with anger in his eyes.
Mu Shi and Bai Li knelt at Qi Xiuyuan’s feet and did not dare to say a word. Even though Mu Yangling’s heart ached for her father, she did not dare to speak at this moment.
Fan Zijin followed Qi Xiuyuan into the house. When he saw Qi Hao on the brick bed, his body swayed. Holding onto the door frame, he barely managed to stand still. Trembling, he tried to feel his breath under his nose. After being slapped away by Qi Xiuyuan, he heaved a sigh of relief and looked at him with red eyes. “Cousin, Haoran is still alive, right?”
“Of course he’s alive.” Qi Xiuyuan suppressed his anger and growled. “If he dares to die, I’ll go to the King of Hell’s palace and drag him back.”
Fan Zijin slumped on the edge of the brick bed while Qi Xiuyuan said to Yanmo, “Invite the military doctor in. Go outside and guard the door. Don’t let anyone peep.”
Now that something had happened in the Mu residence today, the villagers would stand far away and peep at them. Some of them were thick-skinned enough to stand outside the wall and look in without hiding anything. This was also the reason why Mu Yangling did not dare to show it.
Qi Xiuyuan naturally understood her concerns and directly asked Yanmo to stand outside. Country bumpkins were all afraid of those in power. Seeing Yanmo, no matter how curious they were, they didn’t dare to get close and peek. This made it easier for them to speak inside the room. At least now, Qi Xiuyuan felt at ease kicking Bai Li away, causing him to fall to the corner with a bang. He didn’t have to worry about the people outside hearing it.
