She Came to Heal, Stayed to Conquer

The benefactor rode his steed and galloped swiftly, passing through the winding official road to enter the county town.

The steed’s four hooves trotted on the bluestone pavement, making crisp sounds. Finally, the steed stopped steadily in front of the County Magistrate’s residence in Qingshui County.

The benefactor dismounted cleanly, like a nimble leopard.

At this moment, Ping Chuan, the deputy commander of Zhao Zun’s trusted aides, was standing on the steps in front of the government office with Scarface and several other trusted aides.

Ping Chuan looked at the benefactor dismounting and asked loudly, ”Carbon, how is it?”

Carbon grinned, revealing a mouth of white teeth, full of pride.

”Haha, don’t worry, it’s settled. I even kindly gave her two pancakes, and now she sees me as a benefactor!”

It turns out, this ”benefactor” was Zhao Zun’s trusted aide—Carbon.

A few days ago, Han Lei and Ping Chuan went to the battlefield, sending Mr. Meng to deliver a message to Luo Hai in Qingshui County, but left him at home to take care of the old lady and Zhao Ling’er.

Seeing that everyone had tasks to do and he could only stay at home caring for the elderly and children, he had been itching for action.

This time, upon hearing that Ping Chuan and the others were going to Qingshui County for a mission, he immediately volunteered to come along.

Carbon, although usually carefree, never messes up when it comes to getting things done.

”Hey! Someone like her still dreams of marrying our Prince, truly foolhardy.” Scarface said disdainfully.

”Exactly, dared to abduct Miss Han. Really needs to weigh herself to see her worth.” Another trusted aide chimed in.

”Hey, hey, hey! The Prince has said, from now on, she shouldn’t be called Miss Han, she should be called Princess Consort.” Ping Chuan solemnly corrected.

”Oh, yes, yes, call her Princess Consort.”

The others nodded, showing expressions of realization.

The trusted aides joked while standing on the steps, waiting for Carbon to hand the horse to the guard at the gate. Only then did Ping Chuan go up and pat Carbon’s shoulder, saying, ”Let’s go inside.”

The group walked into the government office, followed the long corridor under the guidance of a Government Official, heading towards Luo Hai’s study.

Luo Hai did not go to the wasteland today. At the moment, he was holding a recently intercepted letter, pacing back and forth in the study.

His brows were furrowed, his eyes revealing a hint of unease.

A couple of days ago, the trusted aide of Zhao Zun, Mr. Meng, rushed over to deliver a message, saying that Zhao Zun, following Emperor Jing’s decree, had gone to the battlefield as a vanguard to repel the Turkic force of two hundred thousand men.

Han Lei also went to the battlefield to find Zhao Zun. Before leaving, Han Lei urgently instructed Mr. Meng to tell him to block all outgoing messages from Canzhou, including carrier pigeons flying in the sky.

Although Luo Hai didn’t know why Han Lei wanted to do this, he could still vaguely sense the coming storm from Mr. Meng’s anxious face.

Qingshui County was the inevitable path from Canzhou to the Capital City. Since Han Lei had someone inform him to block messages, it must be referring to messages sent to the Capital City.

Luo Hai was family friends with Zhao Zun’s father and always regarded Zhao Zun as his own son. Involving Zhao Zun, he dared not be careless.

Moreover, Zhao Zun was now the Vassal King of Canzhou. Naturally, Zhao Zun’s words were considered commands to him.

Thus, he immediately dispatched soldiers from the County Magistrate’s residence to seal off all the routes from Canzhou to the Capital City.

Sure enough, just half an hour ago, the soldiers delivered a newly intercepted war report seized from the messenger at Beiguan.

In any dynasty, intercepting military reports was a capital offense. Yet Luo Hai couldn’t be sure if military reports counted among all the messages Han Lei mentioned.

Luo Hai truly couldn’t afford to be negligent; he thought it best to inspect the report first and, if no issues were found, let the messenger leave with the war report.

However, when he opened the war report and saw its contents, his hairs stood on end.

The contents of the war report caused waves of shock in his heart, as if a huge stone weighed on his chest, making it hard to breathe.

The report stated that Zhao Zun, leading the Vanguard Camp, had carried out a surprise attack and won the battle, forcing the Turkic army to retreat.

It was a success report.

Yet the report also mentioned that Zhao Zun managed to win despite being outnumbered because they used a mysterious weapon called ”handgun.”

This weapon, with terrifying power, could kill invisibly from over a hundred paces away, requiring the court to exercise caution.

”Mysterious weapon? Exercise caution?”

Luo Hai murmured to himself, filled with shock and unease.

At this point, he finally understood why Han Lei had instructed him to block messages from Canzhou.