Because of his relationship with her Er-ge, Liu Nanyuan’s impression of His Royal Highness Xiao Wang had recently changed a little. It had seemed that he was not as cruel as the rumors said, but now he had been beaten back into his original shape by Cheng Suyue. Although the excuse may be reasonable, this was still very different from the men she had met before. 

Thus, after finishing up for the day, Liu Nanyuan made a special trip to visit her Er-ge.

“Why do you ask?”

“Curiosity.”

Liu Xian’an made a pot of flower tea and said: “Because he can come to my world and be friends with my friends.”

Liu Nanyuan had also heard about her brother’s Three Thousand Worlds. She drew a circle in the air with her finger: “Is the prince also willing to go to that world and drink tea and discuss the Dao with the ancient sages?”

Liu Xian’an was perfunctory. Something like that, something like that.

Liu Nanyuan thought, wow, people cannot be judged by their appearance.

She was at the age of first love, but Baihe Mountain Village was full of patients, and the atmosphere was mostly repressed and solemn. Several of her close friends also had strict family traditions, and never left the house or stepped out the door all day long. No one was willing to accompany Liu Nanyuan to talk about the sickly and handsome men she liked. The only person she was able to discuss issues of the heart with seemed to be her Er-ge.

“What about you?” Liu Xian’an poured her a cup. “Traveling every day, you must have met many romantic and carefree youngsters, right? Take Head Escort Chang as an example, I watched him blushing and stammering when he saw you.”

“I have met a lot of them, but not the kind I like.” Liu Nanyuan’s attitude was very firm. They must be weak and pale.

Liu Xian’an adopted the attitude of “anything is fine” on this matter, but he also raised a question with rather philosophical implications. If you do meet someone in the future who is weak, pale, and in poor health, after getting married, will you treat him or not? If he is not treated, he may become more seriously ill, and it will go against the family motto of Baihe Mountain Village. But if he is treated and cured, he will be neither pale nor weak in the future, which will go against your aesthetic tastes.

Liu Nanyuan said blankly: “…..I’ve never thought about this problem.”

Liu Xian’an comforted: “You can start thinking about it from now on. In any case, you haven’t met your sweetheart yet, so don’t worry. Perhaps when you do, you will find that it is okay for them not to be weak or pale.”

Liu Nanyuan insisted: “They at least can’t look too rosy.”

Liu Xian’an nodded: “That’s fine.”

Having no bottom line when tolerating his sister’s unique views on mate selection may be due to the advantage of being forty-eight thousand years old. Since the whole world was just a drop in the ocean, then a girl in this vast world who wanted to find a sickly husband was just a miniscule drop inside a drop, truly insignificant. It didn’t matter, didn’t matter.

Liu Nanyuan received sincere affirmation, and happily walked out of her Er-ge’s door with the medicine basket in hand, happening to meet Chang Xiaoqiu head-on. He had originally come to see His Royal Highness Xiao Wang, but unexpectedly met a beautiful girl. At once, the blood all over his body began to rush to his face again. He stood aside to get out of the way and tried to say hello, but he stuttered for a long time without getting out a word. Gao Lin witnessed this scene from a distance and was in awe. He walked up and smacked him on the head, cursing: “I thought you were rather intelligent before, but why are you such a disgrace at the critical moment? Work harder, ah!” Could it be that the ‘aphasia at the sight of a girl’ passed down by the Northwest Dayan ancestors could be transmitted through the air?

“I’ve tried a lot harder, but Third Young Lady Liu doesn’t like my type,” Chang Xiaoqiu said. “I also asked Second Young Master Liu specifically and he said I’m not pale enough.”

Gao Lin looked at the young man’s pink and white face and said regretfully: “If even a pampered New Year painting doll like you is not pale enough, then doesn’t that mean nobody in our camp has any hope? Yes, those big men should proceed to lighten up. The prince is in the study at the moment. Is there something you need from him?”

“Yes.” Chang Xiaoqiu said, “First Young Master Liu has prepared several anti-miasma pills and masks and wants to try them later in the forest.”

“The local southwest soldiers will test the medicine. They are experienced enough and can sense any danger immediately. Why are you joining in?” Gao Lin said, “In the military camp, in addition to being brave, one must still have a plan. If you rush forward blindly, the losses will outweigh the gains. There is no need for you to go into that dense forest, just continue to accompany First Young Master Liu.”

“But I don’t understand medical science.”

“If you don’t understand, you still must accompany him,” Gao Lin ordered. “Have you not seen those people from the Scimitar Silver Moon Clan running into the pharmacy when they have nothing to do recently? I heard that several girls are coming in the next two days. You dress up handsomely and elegantly and stand there to block the miracle doctor’s pursuers.”

Chang Xiaoqiu took a step back, rejection written all over his body: “I’d better go and test the medicine.”

“You’re going against the heavens.” Gao Lin learned from others and gave him a kick in the same style of His Royal Highness Xiao Wang. “There is no telling how many people envy this job, but you still pick and choose. Hurry up and go!”

After sending the bitter-faced boy away, Gao Lin went to find Liang Shu again and said: “The medical hut has been set up. I took a look, and it is even more beautiful and exquisite than in the drawings.”

It was also more luxurious than the shabby thatched shack where Second Young Master Liu had his first consultation. In addition to the medical hut, Gao Lin also found people to make many new sets of white clothes with blue belts, and carefully selected a group of white, tall, and heroic soldiers from the army. In short, from the building to the personnel, everything was pleasing to the eye.

Liang Shu was going to ask Liu Nanyuan to do consultations in person.

Although beauty and ugliness in the world did not amount to right and wrong, people’s pursuit of beauty was nearly instinctive. The so-called “Holy Maiden” of the Baifu Sect also made use of this instinct, and there currently happened to be someone more beautiful than her in the Dayan army.

Liu Nanyuan herself had no objection to this. She had never been secretive about her beauty. She loved beautiful clothes, beautiful jewelry, and loved to look in the mirror. Therefore, when she received the clothes from Cheng Suyue, she changed into them on the spot. She had just finished bathing. Her half-wet hair was still loose, and the room was full of fragrance. The red gauze skirt lining made her even more gorgeous, like a peach or plum flower. She applied a bit of lip balm with her slender white fingers, swiping it between her lips. Cheng Suyue felt as if she was beholding a goddess under the moonlight.

Her vitality and exuberance and the silent saintess of the Baifu Sect were two extremes. Cheng Suyue leaned against the door and watched her change out her jewelry one by one. In the end, a butterfly hairpin was forcibly pinned Cheng Suyue’s own head. When she went back, she was glimpsed by Liang Shu. His Royal Highness Xiao Wang’s brows jumped slightly, and this person who usually kept a low profile made a very rare comment: “Pretty good. It’s rare that you wear something that doesn’t look like it conceals a weapon.”

Cheng Suyue: “…..Third Young Lady Liu is ready.”

“Good, it’s up to you to handle this matter.” Liang Shu nodded. “Put her safety first in everything.”

The “Holy Maiden” that the Baifu Sect had worked so hard to create would never allow others to take a piece of the pie. If they really couldn’t control the situation, they would most likely be in a life-or-death struggle.

In the dense forest, Liu Hengchang untied layers of gauze and asked anxiously: “Commander Ku still cannot see anything?”

Ku You said: “Indeed.”

“Then…..” Liu Hengchang hesitated, not knowing how to tell the other party the truth. Ku You took the initiative and said, “You can just assume that I’ll spend the rest of my life in darkness, and brief me on the situation. How is it going?”

“Recently, the guard posts at various locations have been changed very frequently, sometimes once a day.” Liu Hengchang said, “Even if I continue to observe for another ten and a half days, I may not be able to conclude a pattern.”

“What about the back mountain?”

“The back mountain?” Liu Hengchang asked. “The back mountain is full of miasma. If you want to escape from the back mountain, you would need Young Master Feng’s help. What did he say?”

Ku You said: “He vowed to cooperate with me.”

Liu Hengchang was overjoyed, but before he could speak, he heard the next sentence. Cooperation was possible, but he must first marry Wumeng Yunle. There was no need for all the ceremonies, and they didn’t even need to wear new clothes to bow, let alone a bridal chamber and candles. Just a nod was enough.

Liu Hengchang probed: “Then…..what does Commander Ku think?”

He felt that no matter how he felt about it, this was a really good deal. With just a nod, he could escape from the devil’s cave. If it were him, he would definitely not refuse. Moreover, Wumeng Yunle was the pinnacle of holiness and beauty in the hearts of the Baifu believers. Were it to be known that she had actually become a man’s wife, wouldn’t that mean that the psychological defenses of a large number of people would collapse without the prince having to put in more effort?

Ku You said: “You think it over and find a place.”

Liu Hengchang was puzzled: “Where?”

“A convenient place to hide without being discovered by anyone,” Ku You said. “Prepare enough dry food and water. Not much is needed, just enough for ten days.”

Liu Hengchang obeyed his order and went down to make preparations. Ku You calculated the days in his mind. He was actually eighty percent certain now that he could leave this ghastly place without anyone noticing, but after some thought, it had taken a lot of effort to come here. How could he leave empty-handed? He must bring something with him.

Thus, he was still very patient.

Liu Xian’an was also very patient.

He rolled up his sleeves and wrote medicine names on small pieces of paper, preparing to dry them and stick them on the medicine bottles. The weather had turned hot recently, so he was wearing thin clothing. As soon as Liang Shu entered the door, he saw white arms. He stretched out a finger to poke, but was turned away: “Don’t make trouble.”

“Miracle Doctor’s Heaven and Earth pill.” Liang Shu picked up a piece of paper and said, “What does it treat?”

“Diarrhea,” Liu Xian’an said.

“Immortal Vigor pill?”

“Loss of appetite.”

“Is there a relationship between the two?”

“No, ah, but wasn’t this the prince’s request? It should be majestic, easy to understand, and as convincing as possible. I even made a special trip to ask my elder brother’s servants. They said that people like these kinds of names. When people hear Miracle Doctor and Immortal Vigor, they want to swallow two of them.”

“That’s right.” Liang Shu put the paper back. “The medicine bottles have also arrived, and are pink and blue. They look very lovely, like clouds reflected in a clear sky. Just looking at them makes a person feel good.”

In short, they were definitely more like fairy supplies than those strange and bizarre things from the Baifu Sect.

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Chapter One Hundred Twelve << Table of Contents >> Chapter One Hundred Fourteen