Don't be tempted, sir

Chapter 123 Entering the camp

To the west of the Qiang State is Loulan, and the bleak winter scene comes into view. Without a country, there is no family. Many Loulan refugees would rather live in the three continents occupied by the Liao State than under the rule of the Qiang State. When many people saw the Qiang army coming, they closed the doors and windows and refused to go out.

Loulan is mostly desert, and Song Xiaoyuan and the Qiang soldiers arrived at the border camp amidst the raging sandstorm. Ah Wu helped him get off the horse. He was feeling unwell from the long journey and was about to fall. Ah Wu helped him steady himself: "Sir, lend me some strength to get down!"

"Okay." Song Xiaoyuan relied on Awu's strength to get down. He held his left chest and frowned in pain from coughing. His previously upright posture was slightly bent in pain.

A bearded Qiang leader came out of the camp, walked forward and pushed A Wu aside, looking at Song Xiaoyuan, who looked like a weak scholar, with disdain: "Are you the assistant sent by the Saint King?"

Ah Wu was pushed away and was unhappy about going forward. Song Xiaoyuan coughed and raised his hand to stop him. He looked up at the leader of the Qiang army and said weakly, "Yes, you are the leader of Pang."

"Yes, we serve the Holy King, but you...can't live or die." Pombal's eyebrows were as long as a beard, and his squinting eyes were full of doubt.

When Ah Wu heard this, he got angry and rushed forward to push away the burly leader who was blocking his way: "How can you talk like that? Even if you die, the young master will not die!"

Pombal was unhappy and bumped into Awu. The two were about to fight, but Song Xiaoyuan stopped them: "Okay, where is the tent?"

"Yeah." Pombal turned around and signaled his men to take the two men over, and he exchanged glances with Awu.

Ah Wu had been suppressed for a long time, and seeing his young master like this made him even more angry, his face was full of resentment: "Young master, he is so rude, we should just have a good fight!"

"Forget it. We are under each other's roof. Ah Wu, please be more restrained in the future..."

"Sir, are you okay on this journey?"

"Not good. Your son is just as he said. It is uncertain whether he will live or not."

"Young Master!" In the past, his young master needed help from others when he walked. Although he was a civil servant, he had a steady step and an extraordinary heroic demeanor. Now he is so sick and weak. A Wu lowered his head and couldn't help feeling sad.

Song Xiaoyuan lowered his eyes and said: "Save the tears for me to cry when I die..."

The two followed the Qiang soldiers around and came to a remote camp, which was close to the laundry camp. The Qiang slaves were washing clothes all day long, and the sounds of washing clothes and pouring water were one after another. It was not suitable for rest. When they entered the camp, it was a mess. Ah Wu rolled up his sleeves and was about to go out. Seeing his posture, Song Xiaoyuan asked, "Where are you going, Ah Wu?"

"Fetching water! I have to lower my head. I remember that, young master!" He left the camp without looking back. Of course, he wanted to kill that tribe leader, but he could not forget what the young master said!

Song Xiaoyuan brushed his sleeves and found a cleaner place to sit down. The wound that had healed after the bumpy ride was now in great pain. He unbuttoned his clothes a little and found that the gauze was bleeding. While he was still putting his clothes on, Ah Wu brought in some water. Seeing the wound, he put down the water and hurried forward to check: "Master, let me take a look!"

"It's okay, let's clean up first." He stood up, straightened his clothes, and started to clean up with Awu. Awu didn't need to be stopped: "Young master, let me do it. What happened to this injury?" The last time Awu went out of the city, when he looked back, the city gate was closed. He didn't see his young master being stabbed by a spear. He didn't know that the injury had not healed for almost three months.

"It's okay, let's hurry up." Song Xiaoyuan didn't want to talk about what happened in the past few months, lest he couldn't bow his head under the eaves. Although Awu didn't want to do it himself, he still helped to do what he could. Moving the bed was not something that required strength, so Song Xiaoyuan threw the gray straw mat out of the camp. The white feathered clothes were stained with gray and stood outside alone, waving his sleeves to beat them. The female slave who was washing clothes beside him raised her eyes from time to time and couldn't help but glanced. It was the first time she saw the elegant young man in white clothes in the military camp.

Song Xiaoyuan naturally noticed the gazes, raised his clapping hands, waved and greeted them with a gentle smile. The group of female slaves were too embarrassed to watch and quickly lowered their heads to focus on their work.

"Do you think we will wash the man's clothes?"

"No way, that's not how you wash clothes. They'll sparkle in the sun."

"Who is he and why is he here in the ministry?"

The female slaves lowered their heads and whispered to each other, discussing the man in white who had suddenly appeared.

Song Xiaoyuan turned and went into the tent. Ah Wu also packed up and put down the basin and undressed with him. He hadn't felt anything because he had worn so many winter clothes, but now that he had taken off his layers of brocade clothes, he felt even thinner. White gauze covered his entire chest. Ah Wu peeled off the gauze with trembling hands, and the shocking scars appeared in front of him, some were smooth and torn, and there were also stitches that had been stitched many times and then broken.

"Sir, how could you be in such a miserable state!"

"It's cold, hurry up..." Song Xiaoyuan was most afraid of pain. He didn't know how he survived every day and month. Maybe as long as the light in his heart was not extinguished, he could see the light even in a dark building.

Ah Wu hurried to get the bag he brought with him, but he couldn't find the one he brought with him. He scratched his head awkwardly and said, "Sir, that one is for medicine..."

"The blue one."

The saint ordered a lot of white feather clothes to be made, and all the ladies came here this time, because she really didn't like the yellowish common people's clothes he was wearing when she caught him. Since she was raising birds, she naturally loved their feathers.

Wu was terrified while cleaning and bandaging the chest. He quickly finished with gauze and wrapped the chest with clothes. He couldn't help but say, "Young Master is like a girl this time, weak and wearing so many clothes."

Song Xiaoyuan: “…”

After taking a different style of feather-white clothes and putting them on with him, Ah Wu said with emotion: "Sir, I will definitely take good care of you!"

"Well, thank you, Mr. Wu..." He turned his head away with a blank expression.

Ah Wu felt that this was a bit too strange, so he scratched his head and went out: "Master, I'll go get dinner...hahaha"

Song Xiaoyuan had not returned yet, so he lay down on the couch and closed his eyes to rest. The sounds of washing clothes came one after another outside the tent. He was so tired at the moment that he did not notice the noise and fell asleep after a while.

The sunset faded until there was no afterglow left. Shen Yining waited outside the temple every day. Her knees ached from the cold wind, but she refused to leave. Although Xiao Yuan told him not to worry about her, she didn't want him to suffer like this. The saint who had been asking to see her for many days finally summoned her into the temple.

Shen Yining endured the pain and walked in steadily, bowed and said, "Greetings, Saint Lord."

Under the candlelight, the saint smiled with curved lips, beautiful yet sinister: "Liao country knows etiquette, princess, you have been in my Qiang country for many days and still haven't learned how to perform etiquette in Qiang country?"

A lady beside her demonstrated. Shen Yining's knees were in pain and she could hardly bend them, but she still followed suit, bent her knees and half-knelt, and saluted with her hands on her right side: "Princess Ning'an pays respect to the Holy Lord."

The Saint took a sip of tea from the cup and put it down again. Then she raised her hand slowly. Shen Yining stood up trembling unconsciously. The Saint lowered her eyes and looked at him: "Princess, what are you doing here?"

"I want the antidote. Last time, the Saint said it was with the Lord. I asked and he said it was with the Saint, so I came here. I know the antidote is not so easy to come by. You can tell me what you want me to do."

She thought about stealing it but didn't know where to start. Shen Yining knew how important this medicine was to Xiao Yuan, so she was determined to get the antidote even if it meant her death.