CH 118

January 4, 2023Merchie

The carriage continued to travel, before it stopped in front of the gate to the General’s Manor, and the people inside it climbed out.

The General’s Manor also looked incredibly grand and impressive, but because General Zhao couldn’t return to stay in it very often, it would inevitably seem a bit cold.

There weren’t many servants in the manor either. Jiang Yubai and the others stepped into the manor grounds, but no one came to greet them.

Jiang Yubai seemed to be accustomed to this, and led Shen Shijiu and Shen Huan to a nearby couryard to wait.

At this moment, Zhao Litang’s subordinate, Wu Quan, finally came, followed by a few servants.

“Imperial Physician Jiang, the general just coughed up some contaminated blood again. I’m afraid the toxins have already begun to spread through his body, you must hurry and take a look at him!”

Jiang Yubai called out, “Master Shen?”

Shen Huan put down a few pieces of luggage and nodded.

The group followed Wu Quan and hurried toward Zhao Litang’s quarters.

The man lying on the bed had a pale complexion, and his eyes were tightly shut. He appeared to be dead; there were a few thin streaks of blood near his lips.

Shen Huan could tell that his condition was far from good. She quickly walked over, and carefully examined Zhao Litang’s injured arm.

Shen Shijiu also walked over, and stood at the side to assist Shen Huan.

Wu Quan stared at their backs, and asked Jiang Yubai, “Imperial Physician Jiang, these two are…?”

Jiang Yubai smiled mysteriously, “They’re masters.”

First, Shen Huan untied the bandage wrapped around Zhao Litang’s arm. The bloody hole was still bleeding, but the blood flowing out of it was black. His entire arm was a bit off-color; it appeared to be slightly dark purple.

It must have been Jiang Yubai’s idea to let the poisonous blood drain out bit by bit. But after so many days, the blood still hadn’t stopped flowing, and the wound showed no signs of healing.

Fortunately, Shen Huan had encountered this rare poison before, and she even knew of a way to detoxify it.

Shen Huan was a bit curious, and asked, “This poison is very rarely used, how did General Zhao get shot by this poisoned arrow?”

She had just spoken when the door was pushed open, and a thin, weak-looking figure was standing in the doorway, carrying a basin of hot water.

This visitor appeared to be rather young. He was wearing a wide robe, and the little body within it was swaying slightly. However, he did look rather cute and delicate.

He obviously did not expect that there would be so many people in the room, and stood timidly at the door, not knowing what to do.

Wu Quan glanced at the boy by the door, “Yue Nu1, come in. Put the water next to the bed.”

Yue Nue silently walked in with his head bowed, and placed the basin beside the bed. Then, he lifted his head and glanced at Zhao Litang, who was lying there, unconscious.

Shen Shijiu could tell that he was extremely worried, and consoled him in a quiet voice, “Don’t be too worried. Now that shifu‘s here, General Zhao will definitely be fine.”

Yue Nue looked at Shen Shijiu and nodded.

Shen Shijiu noticed that there was a small, crescent-shaped mark on the left side of his face, right above his left eye; it was a rather conspicuous maroon color.

Yue Nu saw Shen Shijiu staring at his birthmark. He hurriedly lowered his head, turned and quickly left the room.

Shen Shijiu gazed at Yue Nu’s back as he suddenly hurried off, and opened his mouth. He wanted to tell him that his little crescent moon mark was very pretty, but Yue Nu seemed to think that this mark was something that was too shameful to be seen.

The door closed once more. Only then did Wu Quan respond to Shen Huan’s inquiry.

“The general was injured by a poisoned arrow while he was saving that boy…”

***

Zhao Litang was leading his army back to the Imperial City, and their journey had been smooth thus far. But when they reached the section of a trade route near the Imperial City, they encountered a gang of bandits as they were robbing a caravan.

Everyone in the caravan had already been killed, except for a child who was surrounded by several bandits; one couldn’t tell what they were doing to him.

Zhao Litang shot the leader of the bandits with a single arrow. The rest of the thieves were killed by the other soldiers.

The child was hiding behind the caravan’s chests of goods, shivering. His clothes were in tatters, and his gaze was wary as he watched Zhao Litang dismount his horse and walk over.

“Don’t be afraid.”

Zhao Litang squatted in front of him, so that their gazes were level.

“What’s your name?”

The child stared at Zhao Litang for a long while. He seemed to be frightened, and responded timidly, “Yue, Yue Nu…”

“Where is your home?” Zhao Litang put down his bow, and his tone softened a bit.

Yue Nu didn’t speak. He merely shook his head.

Zhao Litang thought that Yue Nu didn’t trust him, so he didn’t press him for a response.

At this moment, one of the thieves lying next to Yue Nu suddenly moved, before he picked up a nearby arrow and stabbed at Yue Nu.

Zhao Litang could only stretch his arm out to block it. The arrow impaled his arm, before Zhao Litang suddenly yanked it out, and thrust it into that bandit’s head.

Yue Nu’s eyes widened, as blood splattered onto his face. He was so terrified that he couldn’t even move.

Wu Quan hurried over to examine Zhao Litang’s wound.

“General, this isn’t good! There’s poison on the arrow!”

Zhao Litang looked at his bleeding wound, before he glanced over at the child whose face was covered in blood.

“Let’s go.”

Zhao Litang and the others mounted their houses, and the troops continued to march forward.

From time to time, they would pass a caravan on the path, and rescue a few more children.

But the troops had only marched for a short time, before a soldier ran up to Zhao Litang’s horse with something to report.

“General, that child is following us.”

Zhao Litang turned his head and looked back. Indeed, at the end of the convoy, a small, skinny figure trailed behind; he had to walk quickly in order to keep pace with the soldiers.

“Bring him up here.”

The convoy temporarily stopped for repairs, and the child was brought from the end of the long line all the way up to the front.

“Why are you following us?”

The child lowered his head and didn’t utter a word.

“Your name is…” Zhao Litang racked his brains, but he couldn’t remember what it was.

“Yue Nu.” The child replied softly.

“Yue, Nu.” Zhao Litang recited back, “Were you sold into slavery?”

Yue Nu nodded, and reached up to wipe his dirty face with his hands. However, the more he wiped, the dirtier his face became.

Zhao Litang ordered Wu Quan, “Get him a clean handkerchief.”

Wu Quan passed the handkerchief, and Yue Nu carefully received it. Then, he looked at Zhao Litang and didn’t move.

Zhao Litang tilted his chin at him, “Wipe your face.”

Only then did Yue Nu begin to wipe his face with the handkerchief. He was diligent in the way he wiped; his skin had reddened a bit before he finally stopped.

His face was clean, but the handkerchief was soiled. He carefully folded it up and tried to hand it back to Zhao Litang.

Only then did Zhao Litang get a good look at the boy’s face. It was clean, fair, and elegant, but there was a very distinct birthmark next to his left eye.

Some people would probably be very concerned about this strange birthmark, and would consider it to be a symbol of bad luck.

But Zhao Litang didn’t care.

He didn’t take the handkerchief, “Keep it.”

Then, Zhao Litang turned and nimbly mounted his horse, “Go home. Now that you don’t have a master, you’re free. Go back to your original home. Don’t follow us anymore.”

After he finished speaking, he galloped away, and the rest of the army quickly followed.

Dust flew into the air, blinding Yue Nu. He stood alone in the middle of the wide path, his face covered in tears.

The troops continued to march. Zhao Litang sat atop his horse. The wound on his arm had already been bandaged, but he felt that it was becoming more and more painful.

If that wasn’t enough, waves of dizziness were crashing through his head. Finally, his vision went dark, and he toppled off of his horse.

“General!

Wu Quan hurriedly yelled for the troops to stop, and everybody froze in place, awaiting additional orders.

Since he had some knowledge of medicine, Wu Quan took Zhao Litang’s pulse. But he had never encountered this poison before, so he had no idea what to do.

They weren’t too far from the Imperial Capital; the best option they had was to hurry back as fast as they could and summon Imperial Physician Jiang; perhaps he would have a cure.

But the general had already fainted, so there was no way that he could ride a horse.

“Out of the way! Get out of the way!”

A shout sounded from behind them, accompanied by the whinny of a horse.

A carriage raced over, jerking and jolting, before it stopped beside Zhao Litang.

Yue Nu jumped off the carriage. Because he lacked strength, it took him a lot of effort to drive the carriage, so his face was a bit flushed.

“Have.. the general get into the carriage… it’ll be… faster this way….”

Wu Quan’s gaze was full of suspicion. He was just a child, where did he get a carriage?

Yue Nu explained, “I don’t know how to ride a horse… so I bought this carriage from a passing caravan, I spent all my savings…”

He looked over at Zhao Litang, who was already unconscious. He wore an extremely anxious expression, and his eyes began to shine with tears

“I know all of this happened because the general tried to save me, so I don’t want anything bad to happen to the general… please believe me, hurry and take the general back so he can be treated, otherwise it’ll be too late!’

Wu Quan also knew that time was of the essence, so he carried Zhao Litang into the carriage, before he sat onto the driver’s seat.

“Get in there and watch over the general, I’ll drive.”

Yue Nu nodded, and hurriedly climbed into the carriage. Then, Wu Quan entrusted the army to another lieutenant, and drove the carriage, rushing back to the Imperial City.

Yue Nu sat inside the carriage. He watched as Zhao Litang’s face grew paler and paler, and felt extremely guilty.

He had witnessed those ruthless thieves brutally slay everyone in the caravan. They had even laughed at the crescent birthmark on his face, and had tried to violate him.

Fortunately, General Zhao appeared just in time, and had even gotten injured while saving him. If something were to happen to General Zhao…

Yue Nu didn’t dare to think about it anymore.

He had been sold to his current master when he was very young, and his parents had gone missing long ago. So right now, he didn’t have a home to return to.

He had spent eighteen years in his master’s home, living in fear. He still looked like a fifteen-year-old child, but that was because he had been malnourished since he was young, so his body was unable to fully develop.

After being a slave for so long, Yue Nu had mastered the art of reading people and being cautious. No one had ever bent down and looked into his eyes as they spoke to him.

So, he couldn’t let anything bad happen to General Zhao!

After they returned to the Imperial City, Jiang Yubai was ordered to come to the General’s Manor. Later, Shen Huan and Shen Shijiu came as well.

After listening to the full story, Jiang Yubai clicked his tongue loudly.

“I never expected General Zhao to be such a merciful man as well.”

Wu Quan’s expression changed, ”I-Imperial Physician Jiang, why do you say that? The general isn’t that kind of person.”

Jiang Yubai gave him the side-eye, “Really? He let that boy follow him back to his house, what’s next? Is he going to let the boy follow him into the heavens too?” He pointed at the bed.

Wu Quan was speechless for a moment. Imperial Physician Jiang’s ideas were always so eccentric.

Notes

Poor Zhao Litang… he can’t ever catch a break ;-;

Thanks for reading~

1. His name is 月奴 (yuè nú) or ‘moon servant’, so yes, there were some big brains in the naming department.