Qin Shi Ambitious

Page 145

The word "surrender" is constantly expanding and inflating...

After the Mohist disciples all left Ji City in the Yan Kingdom, Yan Dan arranged for a group of his personal guards and some of his trusted sons to join the Mohist school and follow them into the Mechanized City.

His queen, Yan Yun, and his daughter, Princess Gao Yue, were also included in the scope of the commission.

After making these arrangements, when the Vermilion Bird flew away for the last time, the only trustworthy people left in the city were himself and his teacher, Ju Wu.

"Your Majesty..." Ju Wu refused the order to become a disciple of the Mohist school and flee to the Mechanized City. He was a veteran minister of the Yan Kingdom for several dynasties and had now become the Prime Minister of Yan.

To perish alongside this country was, in Ju Wu's opinion, the best end.

"There aren't many Qin soldiers in Yan right now. We can send envoys to borrow troops from the wolf tribe on the grasslands. That way, we'll still have a fighting chance!"

Prime Minister Ju put forward a bold idea: "The wolf cavalry are extremely fierce. We can offer them gold, silver, jewels, land, and beautiful women. Once these wolves suddenly appear on the battlefield, they will surely catch the Qin army off guard."

"The Wolf Clan?" Yan Dan did not turn to look at his teacher, but focused on the direction in which the Vermilion Bird flew away in the distance: "The rulers of Yan have always been the mainstay in resisting foreign tribes. How can I go against the cause of my ancestors?"

"Times have changed, things are different now..."

"Teacher, there's no need to say any more." Yan Dan interrupted Ju Wu, who was about to persuade him further: "The Wolf Clan's soldiers are nothing but mud bricks and rickety dogs in front of Li Mu of Zhao. If we sacrifice our reputation to bring them into Yan territory, how much strength will they have against Wang Jian's Qin army?"

“Even in my dying struggle, I am still the King of Yan, and a king should have a king’s bottom line.”

"Don't mention this matter again!"

"Yes, sir." Ju Wu silently withdrew.

Since this plan has failed, all that remains is to maintain the dignity of a nobleman and face death peacefully.

In an unremarkable forest in the former territory of Korea, the hissing and breathing of venomous snakes, which should have been hidden killers, were incredibly noisy.

Wei Zhuang valued the letter sent from Xianyang.

The mention of the word "Xinzheng" above caused the disciples of Guigu to experience a constant emotional fluctuation.

“Bai Feng,” a man dressed in white feathers appeared on a treetop as he called out a name in a deep voice: “We’re going to the north.”

"The fighting there is very intense right now."

Chi Lian walked out of the forest with one hand on her hip.

"I went there precisely for the war."

Wei Zhuang didn't stop walking: "You stay here."

He and Bai Feng emerged from the forest, and soon after, a huge white bird took flight and flew north...

The open and covert struggles surrounding the Yan and Zhao regions will take some time to reach a final conclusion.

Lu Wei, the head of the Lu family, remotely controlled Wei Di and Da Ze Shan from Shou Chun. Occasionally, he would also send two letters to Jing Hu to inquire about Nian Duan's situation.

The messenger disciple had to wait until Duanmu Rong arrived at the village outside Mirror Lake to purchase daily necessities before he could deliver the letter, which was very slow.

Xiao Duanmu wrote him a letter, in which she expressed her concern for her master Nian Duan's health. From her detailed description, it seemed that Nian Duan was not seriously ill for the time being.

Lord Changping has recently been sending assassins to maintain increasingly close contact with General Xiang Yan's mansion. This is a dangerous move, as more contact means a greater risk of exposure.

It's not that Xiang Yan's residence wasn't being watched by other eyes; the fact that Lord Changping was willing to risk exposure to increase contact shows that the details of their plans were extremely important.

The chaos in the world has not yet reached its peak!

Chapter 165 Returning to the Medical Manor

On the southeast side of Mirror Lake lies a natural village, with about eighty households living together, and for over a hundred years they have continued to make a living by the lake.

When Lu Wei last came here with the two daughters of the medical family, the small boat they used to cross the river was bought in this village.

However, the village is far from the boat dock on the main road.

When Nian Duan was young, she studied medicine at Jinghu Medical Clinic and always maintained a harmonious relationship with the village elders. Now that she has returned with her disciple, Duanmu Rong will surely come frequently to exchange medicinal herbs for essential supplies with the villagers.

The villagers were very friendly and welcoming when they learned that the family of doctors had returned to their mysterious medical estate on the lake.

However, since Duanmu Rong was currently preoccupied with her master's health, she only had two contacts with the village on the seventh and fifteenth days after her return. On the second occasion, she only received a letter from Lu Wei from Shouchun at the village entrance before hurriedly returning to the medical estate.

For other occasions, Duanmu Rong would go to a more distant town to purchase supplies.

There are more options available there, and the pharmacies offer higher prices for medicinal herbs.

Although the journey was indeed quite long, some of the small ingredients needed to prepare medicine for the master could only be bought in town.

However, the problem is that traveling from the medical village to the town is very inconvenient.

It takes two days to go there and back.

Duanmu Rong always set off from the medical village before dawn, first by boat and then on foot, and only after dark could she reach the town.

They needed to stay in town to rest that night, and then set off early the next morning to return to the medical village after dark.

Almost every seven days, Xiao Duanmu would undertake this arduous journey once again...

That afternoon, the sun hung high in the sky, refusing to set. Duanmu Rong gazed at the lake, which had been turned golden by the sunlight, and let out a long sigh.

She reached up to steady the large bamboo basket on her back and quickened her pace to the makeshift dock.

The boats from the medical clinic are still moored here safely; they haven't been stolen.

After all, although we didn't interact much, it's certain that the villagers living near Mirror Lake are all good people!

"I haven't been to Dahuzhuang for a long time."

The bamboo basket was placed near the bow of the boat, and it made a dull thud as it hit the bottom of the boat.

Duanmu Rong wiped the sweat from her forehead, picked up the long oar, and, taking advantage of the time while rowing, let her mind wander and drift into random thoughts:

“My master said that the village had always given her a lot of help.”

"Once I'm done with this busy period, I'll go to the village to provide medical care and checkups for them!"

It has been more than a month since her last visit to Dahuzhuang...

For some reason, it's unusually hot today, even though it's already autumn.

Duanmu Rong had only paddled about twenty meters when sweat started pouring out again, sticky and uncomfortable.

Pulling off the blue-white headscarf from his head, he used it as a handkerchief to wipe his forehead and neck. Facing the scorching heat emanating from the persistent breeze, Xiao Duanmu couldn't help but sigh.

"The air feels like it's on fire."

With a slight twitch of her nostrils, she seemed to actually smell a burnt odor.

"Something's not right!" Duanmu Rong suddenly stood up straight, her eyes sharpening, and turned to look around: "Something really is burnt!"

Her slender eyebrows twitched slightly; the burning smell coming from her nostrils was real, not an illusion.

Moreover, the burning smell is getting stronger and stronger, which means the fire is very big!

The lake shore is surrounded by reed beds, so if the reeds catch fire, it will be easy to spot.

Therefore, the fire is in a more distant place.

"I also need to help my master brew medicine today..."

Duanmu Rong hesitated for a moment, but quickly made a decision: to follow the smell of burning and take a look.

She always allows extra time when she goes out in case of emergencies, and this unknown burning smell was one of those emergencies!

Such a strong, acrid fire could not have started out of nowhere in Mirror Lake and its vicinity.

Using her small, straight nose, which she usually used to distinguish the differences between herbs, she quickly located the direction from which the burning smell was coming:

"That's the direction of Dahuzhuang!"

A sense of unease crept into my heart: if the fire started in Dahuzhuang, how big must it be to make the smell of burning so strong that it could travel all the way here?

Turning the boat around, Duanmu Rong increased the speed of manual rowing...

...

Since the first ancestor moved to the vicinity of Dahu, Dahu Village has been peaceful and tranquil for 110 years.

But a month ago, since a traveler who had been away from home for many years returned, Dahuzhuang has been plunged into a nightmare that will lead everyone to destruction.

The returning traveler was in very poor health, looking like he had just recovered from a serious illness; his face was pale and he was emaciated.

An elderly man in the village invited a villager with some medical knowledge to diagnose him. Several precious and potent medicines were administered, but the young man, being too weak to handle them, died...

For over a hundred years, the villagers, like their ancestors, had never left the vicinity of the lake. This young man who died was the only outstanding individual among three generations of the village to leave.

After he died from the illness, the village elder felt guilty and sent someone to bury the body at the back of the village.

The ignorant and simple-minded villagers had no idea that their son had returned from abroad after contracting a disease...

Soon, one after another, the villagers contracted an unknown and strange disease. They instinctively wanted to seek help from Jinghu Medical Clinic, but Duanmu Rong had not come over because she had to take care of Nian Duan's health. They also could not find the location of Jinghu Medical Clinic by boat.

The only village elder who had ever visited Yizhuang, having had too much contact with the wanderers, was the first to fall ill, quickly fell into a coma, and died...

The village's strongest fisherman ran to the town for help, but instead of a doctor, he brought a troop of fully armed soldiers to the village.

The town's doctor diagnosed the fisherman's symptoms and discovered that it was most likely an epidemic from the Yue region, which was extremely contagious!

The town officials hurriedly reported to the county, and the magistrate made a decisive decision:

The outbreak is currently only occurring in a remote village with a population of two to three hundred. The source of the disease must be completely eradicated!

To ensure the effectiveness of the extermination efforts, the county magistrate personally went to the army's garrison and borrowed kerosene...

When Duanmu Rong saw the village engulfed in flames on the distant lake, she was horrified and hurriedly steered her boat to the nearest shore, but was prevented from entering by soldiers.

"This is a high-risk area for the epidemic. Are you also from this village?"

The soldier with his mouth and nose covered raised his spear to stop Duanmu Rong from approaching: This young girl may be pretty, but if she is also from Dahu Village, then she is a lively source of gossip!

Thinking of this, the two soldiers' eyes turned dangerous.

What happened here?

Duanmu Rong looked anxious. She could clearly smell another indescribable burnt smell besides the burnt smell of thatch and beams, which made her feel nauseous and her chest tight.

"They're dangerous elements too, let's execute them all!"

The two soldiers, already fearful and impatient from being sent to deal with the epidemic, saw that Duanmu Rong was unwilling to leave immediately, and without a word, they thrust their spears into her chest.

Duanmu Rong's pupils contracted as she faced the sharp object. She instinctively threw out several silver needles, which pierced the hands of two soldiers, forcing them to drop their weapons.

"Ah, a mob!"