He thought he would never see him again. When he was besieged by the army back then, it was this man who led a group of secret guards and fought desperately to carve out a bloody path for him.
"Qier, save him. Please, you must save him." Mu Fengqie nodded at Jing Xunche, whose eyes were moist.
"Take him back first. I don't have any medicine with me now."
"Okay." Jing Xunche squatted down and carried Hong Yi on his back.
The crowd around didn't know what had happened to them, but seeing them carry Hong Yi away, they knew these people would surely not harm him. Since they wouldn't harm him, they must be trying to save him.
"These people are really good Samaritans."
"Indeed they are!"
"May good people be rewarded."
"I don't know about the noble folks' fates, but I know about these three. They're bound for the netherworld."
This remark roused public indignation.
"That's right! These three have killed many of us. We mustn't let them go!"
"Right!"
The three bound men on the ground looked terrified. They knew they wouldn't meet a good end in the hands of this mob.
"Aaaah!" Their shrill screams pierced the sky.
"Qier, I know you haven't forgiven me yet, but I still want to plead with you to help me save him."
"Jing Xunche, do you think I'm a selfish person? Let me tell you, no matter who it is that we bring back today, as long as they haven't done any heinous deeds and are good people, I will save them."
Mu Fengqie was furious. She was angry that Jing Xunche saw her in such a light.
"Qier, it's not like that. I didn't think of you like that. I..." Jing Xunche knew he had said the wrong thing and wanted to explain, but Mu Fengqie didn't give him the chance.
"Stop talking. Go out first. Don't disturb me while I'm saving him."
Jing Xunche was heart - broken. The last incident hadn't been explained clearly yet, and Qier had already misunderstood him. Now he had made another mistake. She must surely misunderstand him even more.
"Zhanzhi, who is the person you brought back today?"
"He's one of my secret guards, Hong Yi. When I was in trouble back then, it was he who led others and fought desperately to create a way out for me. I thought I'd never see him again. I never expected he'd still be alive." How wonderful...
"Don't worry. Your wife is very skilled in medicine. He'll surely be fine." Besides this attempt at consolation, Yuan Yuhan really didn't know what else to say.
If such a thing had happened to him back then, he didn't know if he could have survived.
In the afternoon, near evening, Mu Fengqie finally came out, looking utterly exhausted.
"Don't worry. He's fine. I'm so tired. I'm going to rest."
Mu Fengqie was so weak that she could barely walk. Jing Xunche stepped forward and held her in his arms so that she could lean on him and feel more comfortable.
"I'll carry you back to rest." Mu Fengqie glanced at Jing Xunche but said nothing. She was simply too tired.
"Qier, thank you. I know anything I say now is superfluous, but I still want to thank you."
"Without you, I might never have seen Hong Yi again in my life."
"You can't say that. It's the fate between you two. When fate brings you together, you'll meet. Besides, it's not my credit. If it weren't for your business with the Empress of Nanqing, we wouldn't have gone to the Witch Clan, and we wouldn't have seen him on the way."
Jing Xunche didn't know how to respond to Mu Fengqie's words. Whenever the topic of the Empress of Nanqing came up, Jing Xunche felt a bit guilty. If it weren't for him, none of these things would have happened.
It was ultimately his responsibility. Sigh... He hoped that their trip to the Witch Clan would go smoothly. There mustn't be any more mishaps.
After watching Mu Fengqie fall asleep, Jing Xunche tiptoed out.
"Zhanzhi, what do you plan to do with those refugees today?" Yuan Yuhan was waiting for Jing Xunche at the door. He caught him as soon as he came out.
"Qier said she wants to set up an intelligence station in Nanqing."
"But setting up such an intelligence station is no easy feat. The people have left. Where will they gather intelligence? How will they do it? These are all problems."
Jing Xunche knew this matter was difficult, but it was Qier's wish. No matter how hard it was, he would help her achieve it.
"Anyway, you should arrange for those people first. Let them settle down properly and make them loyal to us."
"Don't worry. I'm capable of this." In fact, Yuan Yuhan was quite looking forward to the establishment of this intelligence station because it would also be of great help to him.
At noon the next day, Hong Yi woke up.
He looked at the bed curtains in front of him, feeling a bit dazed. He remembered that he had been in a coma the day before yesterday. Then he didn't know how long he had been unconscious. He vaguely heard his master's voice.
But he was too badly injured to wake up. He could only grab someone instinctively.
Presumably, it was that person who saved him.
"You're awake?" A Ru had just come in casually to check. Unexpectedly, she saw the man on the bed was awake. Her elder sister had said this man might not wake up until evening or the next day. She didn't expect him to wake up so early.
"Don't move. I'll go and call my elder sister."
"Elder sister! Elder sister, the man you saved yesterday is awake."
This really surprised Mu Fengqie, but the surprise only lasted for a moment. It seemed that this man's physical constitution was much better than she had thought.
"Okay, I see. I'll go and have a look." Mu Fengqie put down the teacup in her hand and got up to see Hong Yi.
Jing Xunche and Yuan Yuhan had gone out to buy food, so only Mu Fengqie and A Ru were left in the inn.
"You're awake. Do you feel any discomfort?"
"I'm much better. Thank you, miss, for saving my life. I'll surely repay you in the future." With that, he wanted to get out of bed to bow to Mu Fengqie, but was stopped by her.
"If you want to thank someone, thank your master."
Hong Yi was suddenly stunned. Master? Could it be...
"Is the miss referring to..." The master is still alive!
"Could the miss let me see the master?" Hong Yi's eyes were shining brightly.
"He's not in the inn now. He's gone out to buy something and will be back soon. Don't get too excited. He's right here and won't run away. Your main task now is to recover well."
"In a few days, we're going to set out for the Witch Clan. If your injury isn't healed by then, you'll only slow us down."
"Okay. I'll do whatever the miss says. I'll surely recover well."
When Jing Xunche came back, he saw Mu Fengqie boiling medicine. He was a bit entranced by her focused look.
He composed himself and walked in.
"Qier, what are you doing?"
"Oh, your subordinate is awake. I'm boiling some medicine for him. This is my exclusive recipe. It will surely speed up his recovery from this kind of injury."
"Thank you for your hard work, Qier."