Facing this question, Gao Lin didn’t understand. Why, didn’t the prince himself come to the study with Second Young Master Liu last night?

Liang Shu looked at him. I came to the study, but how did I fall asleep?

Gao Lin: “……”

How would I know this?

The two were puzzled, and stared at each other for a long moment. In the end, Gao Lin analyzed that there were only two possibilities. The first one was that the Liu family members secretly drugged him!

Liang Shu raised his hand and slapped him.

Gao Lin quickly dodged. To make an addition, drugging was not necessarily a bad thing. It was rare for people to see the prince, right? It was hard to control themselves, so they wanted to take him home when they lost their senses and build a luxurious golden house in Baihe Mountain Village to hide him away in. It’s not impossible, I understand, I understand.

Liang Shu didn’t want to hear this nonsense: “The other option.”

The second possibility. Gao Lin coughed twice. The second is a common problem in our Northwest camp. People feel sleepy as soon as they enter the school. This time especially, listening to medical principles, what ordinary person could stand it? Isn’t it normal to fall asleep? I would sleep too.

Liang Shu recalled carefully. His memories of the night before indeed cut off the moment Liu Xianche spoke. After a long string of ancient prescriptions, his eyelids were immediately glued together. Especially since the brazier in the study was still burning very warmly, making it even more hypnotic.

Gao Lin comforted his prince, it’s nothing, medical principles are not common sense things that everyone should understand. The prince is busy with military affairs, working day and night and dragging his exhausted body to accompany Second Young Master Liu. It’s very touching!

Now that it had already happened, Liang Shu could only think of it this way. Taking care of all kinds of business every day sounded better than an illiterate who fell asleep the moment he entered school. In order to restore his image, he deliberately went back to the room to wash up and change his clothes before going to find his sweetheart.

Liu Xian’an was eating breakfast, a bowl of hot shrimp shredded egg wontons. There was also a plate of crispy golden potstickers, and even the pickles were Jiangnan flavored. The fried cakes were sweet and salty, and the table was full.

“Your Highness, come and eat too,” A-Ning invited. “These were sent by the First Young Master.”

Liang Shu had previously thought that he was meticulous enough, but never thought that there could be an even higher mountain. After sending back the group of servants prepared by Liu-furen, the cook of Xiao Wang Palace had been taking care of everyone’s food, so it could not be said that they ate poorly, but there were not many Jiangnan-style dishes. However, the other party had a temperament where he could eat with gusto even if it was a piece of hard biscuit, so he wouldn’t mention it at all……things had been overlooked!

“Your Highness,” Liu XIan’an called to him, “Come and eat wontons.”

Liang Shu pulled out a chair and sat down: “In the future, I will also hire a Jiangnan chef for you.”

“All right.” Liu Xian’an served his food for him.

Liang Shu asked: “Why didn’t you wake me up last night?”

“It’s rare for the prince to sleep so soundly.” Liu Xian’an handed him the bowl. “You didn’t have a good rest when we were in Raven City, and you have accumulated exhaustion for many days, so you must recuperate. Da-ge was still saying this morning that I should prepare some qi-invigorating medicine for the prince.”

“You didn’t get beaten last night, did you?” Liang Shu pulled his hands over to check.

“No, Da-ge praised me.” Liu Xian’an patted Liang Shu on the shoulder. It could be seen that people still needed to rely on themselves, and could not count on the prince’s help.

Liang Shu touched his nose. Nothing had happened. “Eat, then come with me to see Ku You.”

Ku You’s eyes could hardly see clearly before Liu Xianche arrived in Garrison City. The illness was severe, and it would take at least three months to cure it.

“So long?”

“Maybe even longer.”

The clear, cold voice was like a basin of cold water, and Commander Ku didn’t dare to raise any objections, because it was said that this capable miracle doctor was very indifferent and taciturn, and if he asked too many questions, he might be beaten.

Liang Shu said: “Three months is three months. Your eyes can’t see, but your ears can hear and your mouth can speak. Don’t worry, you will not be left behind in this battle.”

With Ku You suffering from a sudden eye disease, the southern garrison had initially panicked. After all, considering the recent atmosphere, anyone could feel that the Baifu Sect was not holding back their evil designs. The commander was ill at this time, and everything felt hopeless. They all thought that the lieutenant general would take up the flag next, but never expected that His Royal Highness Xiao Wang would lead them personally. How could there be low morale now? Suddenly, everyone in the garrison was rearing up to beat those grandsons!

Liang Shu had taught Ku You the methods of managing an army, so the entire Southwest Camp was almost a scaled-down version of the Northwest Camp. Gao Lin felt no discomfort after taking over, and hugged Ku You’s shoulders: “You can rest easy and recuperate. Watch how lao-ge cleans up the cult!”

“Shut up.” Ku You’s head was buzzing. Although Gao Lin had only been back for less than three days, thanks to his own prince’s Dayan love story, he nattered on around Commander Ku, who was blind and couldn’t even run away. Ku You wanted to cry but had no tears.

Liu Xian’an had been lying in the study with Liang Shu, watching him dispatch troops. There were tens of thousands of troops stationed in the Southwest, with even more rugged terrain. Even a Sleeping Immortal with a perfect memory would feel a little dizzy after seeing so much.

Liang Shu dipped his fingertips in some cool tea and flicked them disagreeably. Liu Xian’an was so stimulated that he shivered, and opened his eyes blankly. This look of his was very cute. Liang Shu wiped the liquid off his face with his hand and sent him off: “If you’re tired, go back to the bedroom and sleep, don’t sleep here.”

“I’m not tired.” Liu Xian’an leaned closer to see where circles had been placed on the map. “These places all need to be controlled?”

“Yes,” Liang Shu said. “These areas must be linked so that no matter where the Baifu Sect causes trouble, the garrison can arrive within three days.”

Every red dot on the map represented a lair where the cult may be hidden. Liu Xian’an looked at the densely packed dots like rotting sores, and felt a chill in his heart.

“Don’t worry.” Liang Shu patted him on the shoulder. “Sooner or later, it will be cleaned up piece by piece.”

. . . . . . .

Liu Hengchang stood by the bed and watched as the witch doctor changed Wumeng Yunyou’s dressings. After the gauze was removed, the bloody wound on his abdomen had healed a lot.

“Master,” the witch doctor reported, “Young Master Yunyou will be able to practice martial arts normally tomorrow.”

Liu Hengchang thought to himself, what nonsense is this, how can a person so wounded kill people? Walking would not be easy, and it would take a hundred days to heal the muscle and bone injuries.

He raised his eyes and looked at the leader, trying to decipher the other person’s intentions. The demonic leader who had stirred up the Southwest was actually just an ordinary middle-aged man in his forties or fifties, with a commonplace appearance. He didn’t have three heads and six arms, and of his whole body, the only thing that could be called “evil” may be his eyes. The triangular eyelids drooped over eyes that were filled with turbid yellow gloom.

Since the leader didn’t speak, the witch doctor took it as tacit consent and brought a huge ceramic jar. The frame clinked and clanked like some kind of living thing was crawling around in it, and after opening the lid, a furry black claw stretched out. Liu Hengchang had seen countless poisonous insects in his early years, but now he was horrified.

Wumeng Yunyou didn’t react much to this, and only closed his eyes. The witch doctor moved the mouth of the jar over the wound, as if to pour out the black insect inside. Liu Hengchang couldn’t bear this kind of filthy treatment, and was about to stop him, but footsteps could already be heard outside the door.

The one who came was Feng Xiaojin, who was also the only one in the Baifu Sect who dared to speak against the leader. The witch doctor knew that he hated all kinds of poisonous insects, so he wisely took the jar away and left through the door.

Feng Xiaojin looked at Wumeng Yunyou’s bloody, oozing wound with an expression of displeasure on his face. Seeing this, Liu Hengchang quietly walked forward and tied the bandages back on with haste.

The leader, who had been watching coldly, opened his mouth now and said lightly, there is no shortage of manpower at the moment, and there is also no need to use the Embroidered Spider Lady.

Feng Xiaojin said: “I hear that Liang Shu is arbitrarily dispatching soldiers and horses, and now the entire Southwest is under his control, just like an intricate chess game.”

“Then send him a dead-end game with no solution,” the leader said. “Start from the Valley of Ten Faces, and then towards the throne of the dream capital.”

Embroidered Spider Lady. Valley of Ten Faces. Liu Hengchang gathered up the information he had collected these days, and when he went down the mountain to collect medicine, he took the opportunity to hand it over to the secret agents of the Southwest Garrison.

. . . . . . .

A-Ning asked: “What is the Embroidered Spider Lady?”

“It is a giant poisonous spider, also known as the Embroidered Wound Doctor. But it is poisonous, and it is better to use it once or twice. If used for many years, I think it will damage the heart arteries to some extent.” Liu Xian’an backtracked, “However, according to the theory of witch doctors, this kind of spider is a gift from the heavens to a healer, and is completely non-toxic.”

A-Ning also felt that such heretical treatments sounded unreliable.

Ku You, leaning on a cane, bang bang’d all the way into the courtyard. A-Ning quickly supported him: “Why did Commander Ku come alone?”

“The prince sent me to invite Second Young Master Liu. Everyone is discussing the Valley of Ten Faces,” Ku You said. “Let’s go……ah!”

As soon as he turned around, he bumped into a tree. In the past two days, Commander Ku’s eyes had been blocked, and he often tripped and fell. A-Ning was very befuddled, and asked his young master, this big camp is not short of manpower, so why does the prince have the blindfolded commander walk around to deliver messages?

Before Liu Xian’an could answer, Ku You heard it first and turned around, saying with a smile: “The prince wants me to adapt as soon as possible.”

This had nothing to do with whether he believed in Liu Xianche’s medical skills. Surgery was always risky. If he could adapt now, even if there was an accident in the future, he would not be caught in blind despair.

In Liang Shu’s original words, “Even if you can’t see, you have to practice your ability to climb on the back of a horse.”

“His Highness has such a temperament,” Ku You said. “No one around him is ever depressed or negative.” If the sky was falling, the people of the Northwest Military Camp would be the first to hold onto their faith.

Liu Xian’an liked this sort of temperament very much……but having said that, there was no part of Liang Shu’s temperament that he didn’t like. His eyes were mostly blinded by love, and the little bit of reason he had left was used to hide in bed covered up in sleeping clothes.

He had lost his head over love, but not completely.

The front hall was already full of people. Liu Xian’an hesitated, and sat across from his elder brother, mainly because His Royal Highness Xiao Wang was surrounded by three to five lieutenants, and he probably couldn’t squeeze in.

“The Valley of Ten Faces is here, not too far from Garrison City.” A local adjutant pointed at the map. “The area around it is surrounded by villages of varying sizes. They have a tradition of sending boys to the military camp, and were originally key targets of the Baifu Sect.”

This was also normal, because if they were able to win them over, it was the equivalent to planting countless spies in the garrison camp. But the villagers in the Valley of Ten Faces were very clear-headed. On the surface, they were “En, en, ah, ah.” They promised well, and then turned their heads and rushed to report the news, bringing officers and soldiers to arrest those people.

After suffering many infuriating losses, the Baifu Sect learned that they could no longer win over the Valley of Ten Faces. They treated them as a thorn in their side, and awaited an opportunity to get rid of them. 

Liu Xian’an asked: “Will they massacre the villagers?”

“It is unlikely. Our army is halfway up the mountain, overlooking almost the entirety of the Valley of Ten Faces,” Ku You said. “If there is a slight abnormality, it will be detected immediately.”

But the information sent by Liu Hengchang should be correct, because in recent days,  Ku You’s other informants also said that the Baifu Sect was planning to attack the Valley of Ten Faces.

“Are there any wild animals in the mountains that could be used?” Liang Shu asked. “For example, wild elephants or giant apes.”

“No, neither elephants nor apes live in this area.”

“Shall we go in and investigate?”

“No, this forest is too deep, and the road is narrow and difficult to traverse, with withered and knotted vines. The horse’s can’t go in, and there is miasma everywhere. It’s really impossible to go in and investigate.” Ku You said, “We can only judge based on whether there have been any incidents of animals injuring people in that area in the past ten years.”

“Has it ever happened?”

“No, life in the Valley of Ten Faces is very stable.”

With three “no’s” in a row, what he said was indeed the truth. But the forests were so vast, and Liang Shu was still skeptical without verifying it in person. Gao Lin understood his temperament, and said, “The carriage and horses are ready. We can leave at any time.”

“We leave tomorrow morning,” Liang Shu said. “Everyone together.”

Naturally, Ku You was also included. Liu Xianche refused initially. No doctor would approve of his patient running around, but Liu Xian’an said: “It’s rare to have such an opportunity to learn with the prince. Da-ge, just agree with Commander Ku, and I can learn how to improve eyesight with acupuncture needles on the way.”

Liu Xianche said: “You can’t learn if you stay here?”

“I still must follow the prince.”

“Don’t follow him.”

He was not allowed to follow the prince, but also must follow. The Sleeping Immortal had incomparably rich experience when it came to selectively ignoring the words of his father and his elder brother. 

So he gave a light “hm,” turned around, and left.

His cloak was blown up by the wind, almost covering his brother’s face.

It was also a cloak given by His Royal Highness Xiao Wang.

Embroidered gold on a black background, entirely domineering.

His elder brother was crushed on the spot.

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Chapter Ninety-Two << Table of Contents >> Chapter Ninety-Four