He didn't know which tent Tang Youyou was in, so he had to check them one by one.
After patrolling all the way, he found that this was the army camped outside the city. Rong Jiangyu was indeed a meticulous man. There were guards everywhere around the tents, and soldiers patrolled constantly. If they detected anything amiss, they would immediately throw the signal flares on their waists to the ground, sending up thick smoke into the sky.
This kind of signal flare was often used in the palace. As a former crown prince, Rong Jiangyu had learned this trick.
He carefully checked many tents and noticed that not far away, there were not only guards but also a maid standing in front of a tent.
There must be a woman inside that tent, and there was a high chance it was Tang Youyou.
However, it wouldn't be easy to get close to this tent. Rushing in would do no good for either side.
He pretended to be a patrolling soldier and walked past the tent. He saw that the little maid was the one who had been harassed by the Hu people on the street that day. That meant the two men had been talking about this girl just now.
To be honest, this girl bore a bit of resemblance to Tang Youyou in her features. No wonder Rong Jiangyu had taken a fancy to her.
He didn't dare to linger and walked away in a hurry. It wouldn't be good if he aroused suspicion.
He returned to the tent filled with firewood and saw that the two men had woken up, but they were tightly tied up by Ye Yue and couldn't move.
Ye Yue stepped forward, pressing the blade of his knife against one of the men's throats. "If you listen to me, you might still live. But if you say a single extra word—"
Saying that, Ye Yue took out two black pills from somewhere and stuffed them into the two men's mouths one by one. With two swift chops of his hand, the pills were swallowed.
"If you don't get the antidote for this poison, you'll wait for your bodies to rot and die."
The two men were so scared that they nodded vigorously, their terrified pupils wide open.
He didn't actually have any poison. Those two pills were just some round things he had picked up that looked like feces and resembled poison.
Counting the days, if Zhuifeng understood the meaning of the characters, she should arrive today.
So far, Tang Youyou was still safe, but how could he explain this situation to his master?
Last time it was Lin Yuan, and this time it was Rong Jiangyu. Why did these things always happen to him? He really felt unlucky. He only had one life, and it didn't seem enough.
He hoped Zhuifeng would come quickly. With her around, the probability of successfully rescuing Tang Youyou from the tent would increase significantly.
The weather in Quzhou was extremely changeable. The cold in early spring was even colder than in the severe winter. Tang Youyou was naturally prone to feeling cold. After standing at the door for a long time, her ankles were freezing cold.
Unable to stand it anymore, she quickly wrapped the fox fur from the couch around herself.
For some reason, perhaps due to the acclimatization, she soon felt weak all over and even had a headache.
She supported her slightly swollen but not very noticeable belly and lay down to rest for a while. Before she knew it, she fell asleep with her eyes closed.
In her dream, she returned to her original world and lived the same life as before. Every night, she indulged in nightlife, and places like bars and dance halls were her regular haunts.
Just as she was dancing to her heart's content on the dance floor, suddenly she felt dizzy and her stomach ached. She fell to the ground in pain.
"Rong Xun, Rong Xun—"
She called out desperately, but no one answered. Everyone around stared at her in unison, but no one offered a helping hand.
At this moment, Rong Jiangyu came in with a plate of delicate pastries. Seeing the person tossing and turning in pain on the couch, he immediately threw down the plate and rushed forward to check.
"What's going on?" Rong Jiangyu shouted. "Hurry up and call the doctor!"
Tang Youyou was already too weak from the pain. Her calls had become weak murmurs.
"What did you say?"
Rong Jiangyu leaned closer to her ear to listen, but he couldn't hear clearly what she was saying. He could only keep urging the people outside.
"Why hasn't the doctor arrived yet!"
Seeing that Tang Youyou was already sweating profusely on her forehead from the pain and her face had turned pale, and her vitality was gradually fading, Rong Jiangyu felt a pang of panic.
Just then, an old doctor with a long white beard rushed in from outside, carrying a medicine box.
Seeing the woman curled up in pain on the bed, he pushed Rong Jiangyu aside, took out a transparent sky - blue porcelain bottle from his bosom, poured out two pills, and stuffed them into Tang Youyou's mouth.
"Water."
His apprentice who was following him immediately poured a glass of water and handed it over.
The doctor helped her swallow the pills with the water and then checked if there were any other abnormalities on her body before he felt relieved.
Rong Jiangyu looked at this rude doctor expressionlessly. "What's wrong with her?"
The doctor didn't even look at him. He just focused on taking care of the patient on the bed.
Seeing this, the apprentice following him quickly said, "This young lady has a rare deficiency syndrome. This disease has been with her since she was in her mother's womb. I've only seen it once when I traveled with my master to foreign countries. It's really a rare disease in the world."
The apprentice shook his head as he spoke. Then, remembering his master's impolite behavior just now, he added, "My master is used to traveling. He doesn't pay much attention to etiquette. He always puts the patient first. Please don't mind if there are any offenses, my lord."
Rong Jiangyu frowned and didn't care about what he said.
"Can this deficiency syndrome be cured?"
The apprentice said again, "Well... it's really hard to say. This deficiency syndrome is congenital. If treatment had started from childhood, there might have been hope for a cure. But since treatment is starting now, we can only alleviate the symptoms. As for whether it can be completely cured, it's really hard to say. However, my master is highly skilled in medicine. If given some time, he might be able to find a way to cure it."
Rong Jiangyu looked at the old doctor sitting beside the couch. "I order you to find a way to cure her. If you can't, you'll lose your head."
After saying that, Rong Jiangyu left the tent.
Zhuifeng let out a sigh of relief. Looking at Tang Youyou, whose breathing was gradually returning to normal, and then at the cold - faced "master" in front of her, she knew that this time Rong Jiangyu wouldn't get away easily.
Tang Youyou didn't have any deficiency syndrome. She was just simply over - tired. Coupled with the lack of nutrition in the past few days and catching a cold, she had fallen ill.
But none of these were difficult for Rong Xun. The pills in his hand were worth a fortune. Even a dying person would be able to jump around lively after taking them.
"Rong Xun, Rong Xun—"
"I'm here."
Rong Xun tore off his mask and tightly held her hand, rubbing it against his cheek.
Zhuifeng quickly ran to the door to stand guard.
In her dream, Tang Youyou seemed to hear Rong Xun's voice, but she couldn't touch him. She followed the voice and walked forward, but there was a thick white fog in front of her, and she couldn't see anything clearly.