Time Travel: The Best Doctor in Ancient Times

Chapter 726: Chapter 563: The Once Prominent Families of the Southern Border

After these words, Gu Changsheng suddenly felt that the scrutinizing gazes from behind him had significantly weakened in intensity!

Hallelujah, the sweat in his heart!

Gazing intently at the row of mother-and-son bandits before him, Gu Changsheng was certain that if Hongyan Jiaojiao dared to promote her son again, she might as well go home, hang up the white silk, and dig graves!

After rescuing Hongyan Jiaojiao and her family from the brink of death, Gu Changsheng felt that it was absolutely necessary for him to protect himself!

After all, no one knows what terrible consequences an enraged evildoer could bring about—not even herself!

Turning his head with a wry smile and beseeching eyes, Gu Changsheng’s actions were swift and perfectly performed as he looked to Zhou Mu and stuttered, ”Evildoer, you’ve got to believe me, this is definitely an accident, maybe this whole family was sent by Xiangka Tianji to create strife between us!”

Definitely, it must be!

And this time, Xiangka Tianji clearly hit her sore spot with pinpoint accuracy!

Upon hearing this, Zhou Mu’s lips curved into a faint smile. This woman was always so off-key!

Did he really look like a man-eating tiger? His eyes were ablaze because of her avowed love that could testify heaven and earth!

If Gu Changsheng knew what Zhou Mu was thinking, he would bash his head against the wall in frustration! Damn it, this was absolutely a misunderstanding! He could distinctly feel a thick murderous intent in Zhou Mu’s gaze—a sense that he might actually kill her!

In fact, Zhou Mu was quite wrongly accused. That was clearly a look of wanting to devour her, not at all related to the blood-soaked act of killing!

But at this very moment, someone was even more wrongly accused than Zhou Mu—like Hongyan Jiaojiao, who had been implicated as the one sent to sow discord between them!

”What do you mean? Xiangka Tianji sent me to create a rift between you two? She wishes!” As soon as Gu Changsheng’s words ended, the playful smile on Hongyan Jiaojiao’s face vanished, replaced by contempt and disdain!

At these words, Gu Changsheng turned speechlessly, only to see Hongyan Jiaojiao spitting disdainfully on the ground, her face seething with loathing, as if she harbored a deep grudge against someone!

”Er...perhaps, this is just a misunderstanding?” Gu Changsheng ventured, his face showing embarrassment.

Oh my god, can we not take this so seriously? She was just looking for an excuse to diffuse the evildoer’s anger!

As for whether Xiangka Tianji’s reach was long enough to make a bandit serve the Xiangka Clan, Gu Changsheng really wasn’t sure!

”Misunderstanding? How is this a misunderstanding!” Hongyan Jiaojiao retorted furiously, glaring at Gu Changsheng and thunderously declaring, ”This is clear defamation! It’s slander!”

”...” Gu Changsheng fell silent, eyeing the fierce Hongyan Jiaojiao and hiding behind Zhou Mu.

Damn it, how did this bandit old lady suddenly turn from a seemingly genial person to an actual ferocious tiger?

With his face peeking out from behind Zhou Mu, Gu Changsheng raised his eyebrows and looked at the red-faced and fuming Hongyan Jiaojiao, mentally taking eighteen turns!

From her reaction, it seemed that Hongyan Jiaojiao and Xiangka Tianji were not on the same side...

”If not for that old devout woman from the Xiangka Clan, would I have had to become an outlaw? Would my beloved husbands have had to die such horrific deaths? My Hongyan Clan has been stationed at Red Rock Mountain for generations, defending the vital passage through the Southern Border Hinterland, and we were once one of the noble families bordering the Southern Border. Had it not been for the Xiangka Clan’s conspiracy to usurp the throne, would my Hongyan Clan have fallen to such a state?” As Hongyan Jiaojiao’s anger mounted, she railed against the heavens and the earth, continuing, ”The old devout woman from Xiangka sending me to drive a wedge between you? How faceless would she have to be to order me around? Even if my Hongyan Clan has dwindled to just a few men, and even if we’ve fallen so low, I would never collude with the depraved Xiangka Clan!”

With that, Hongyan Jiaojiao stepped forward, her somewhat wrinkled face serious, and pointing at Gu Changsheng, who was hiding behind Zhou Mu, she spoke in a heavy tone, ”Gu Changsheng, do you think I don’t know who you are? The moment you set foot on Red Rock Mountain, I knew exactly who you were! Had I not known, why would I have sent my sons to rob you despite knowing no merchants would pass by, and even warn you that your unobstructed journey was all arranged by the old devout woman of Xiangka? The Southern Border Hinterland, controlled by the Xiangka Clan for over twenty years—do you think it’s that easy to enter?”

”...” At these words, Gu Changsheng was speechless.

Well, he had indeed felt that Hongyan Jiaojiao’s initial remarks seemed ulteriorly meaningful and were actually a warning. Turns out they really were!

It seems that this Hongyan Jiaojiao indeed harbors deep hatred for Xiangka Tianji!

Adjusting his garments, Gu Changsheng slowly stepped out from behind Zhou Mu, dropping his playful demeanor and advanced two steady steps. He then bowed slightly to Hongyan Jiaojiao and said, ”Changsheng thanks Senior Hongyan for the reminder. It was truly presumptuous to halt your journey, but I seek something...”

At this point, a hint of difficulty appeared on Gu Changsheng’s face.

Gu insects, for the daughters of the Gu Servants from the Southern Border, are more important than life itself, and what she sought was precisely the Gu insect on Hongyan Jiaojiao!

The Gu insect that could move the Dandan Bug on the body of Hongyan Jiaojiao!

”Gu? Haha...” Upon hearing this, Hongyan Jiaojiao suddenly let out a bitter laugh as she looked up, then shaking her head at Gu Changsheng, ”The mark of the Flame of the Red Sun is the Clan Mark of the Phoenix Clan! As a descendant of the Phoenix Clan, you say your surname is Gu? Phoenix Changsheng, remember your surname. Your name was chosen before you were even born in this world!”

At this moment, Hongyan Jiaojiao shed the fallen aura of a bandit completely, replaced by a sense of vicissitude from having experienced the secular world.

Her six sons, all stunned by such a change in their mother, had grown accustomed to her as the leader of bandits. Such a transformation was even a bit unsettling for them!

Her name was chosen before she was even born?

Gu Changsheng heard this and instantly looked up in disbelief, instinctively believing that the middle-aged Lady Xu had a close connection to her heritage!

For the first time, she learned that the Phoenix Clan Mark on her brow was called the Flame of the Red Sun!

And the Southern Border worshipped the God of the Red Sun!

Seeing Gu Changsheng in disbelief, Hongyan Jiaojiao’s eldest son touched his nose and stepped forward, speaking hesitantly, ”Don’t doubt it, what my mother said is true. I was wondering why, with the Xiangka Clan ordering the prohibition of merchants’ passage and no one at Red Rock Mountain to rob, my mother still sent us down the mountain. It turns out she was waiting for you! It’s my poor memory that didn’t recognize the mark of the Flame of the Red Sun; I saw it as a child in the Great Swamp Temple...”

Great Swamp Temple? Great Swamp Mountain? Gu Changsheng, upon hearing this, was startled, a trace of shock flashing through her Phoenix Eyes!

Her conjecture was likely to become reality!

Hongyan Jiaojiao looked at the resplendently beautiful woman before her with a complex gaze, her eyes filled with nostalgia, loss, and traces of mild sorrow...

”My Hongyan Clan has guarded Red Rock Mountain for generations, protecting the Southern Border Hinterland from disturbance. Born into a reputable family of the Southern Border, I was summoned to Great Swamp Mountain not long after and entered the Great Swamp Temple to serve the Phoenix Imperial Clan...” Hongyan Jiaojiao seemed to fall into reminiscence as she murmured, ”The Phoenix Imperial Clan finally gave birth to a daughter, the entire Southern Border celebrated, and this new daughter was to be the Empress of the Southern Border, named Fenghuang Ruoshui...”

”Ruoshui...” Gu Changsheng murmured softly upon hearing the name, realizing for the first time the name of her mother as a daughter of the clan!

Ignoring Gu Changsheng’s words, Hongyan Jiaojiao continued trance-like, ”When I was ten, I was sent to serve the young Empress in the Ruoshui Palace... until twenty-two years ago, when the Xiangka Clan committed treason. The Phoenix Clan was slaughtered almost to extinction. Xiangka Tianji led troops into the Ruoshui Palace, and with the duty to protect the Imperial Gu upon me, I could only watch helplessly as Empress Ruoshui was captured. My four husbands died in the process of protecting me and my six children as we escaped from Great Swamp Mountain, back to the Hongyan Clan’s base...”

Upon hearing this, Gu Changsheng was shocked, her eyes widening, and even Zhou Mu’s gaze towards Hongyan Jiaojiao changed.

Hongyan Jiaojiao, lost in her recollections, showed an endless sorrow on her face, and tears fell from her clouded eyes, ”To protect the Imperial Gu, my four husbands died on Great Swamp Mountain, and to protect the Imperial Gu, my Hongyan Clan suffered numerous attacks from Old Devout Woman Xiangka Tianji’s armies. Once a renowned family of the Southern Border, we withered in the repeated battles to defend our home...”

As she spoke, Hongyan Jiaojiao intently looked towards Gu Changsheng, stepping forward trance-like towards the familiar face, her rough, calloused hand slowly caressing Gu Changsheng’s cheek...

Gu Changsheng did not evade. Her once light-hearted mood became increasingly heavy with Hongyan Jiaojiao’s words...

”Phoenix Changsheng, your Queen Mother was always calm and restrained. Before she matured, she would often say that she would have a daughter, that her daughter would live a long life, free from disasters. She named her future daughter Changsheng... The usually reserved young Empress fancied having a daughter soon, her only childhood chatter. Unbelievably, she truly gave birth to a daughter for the Phoenix Clan and named you Changsheng...”

The calloused hand caressed her face, stirring in Gu Changsheng thoughts of Granny Wu Shan, the Ghost Witch who guarded the Bridgehead of the Heavenly Road. Gu Changsheng’s long lashes drooped slightly, a hint of bitterness flashing in her heart. She thought her past and present life began in the Central Plains and that the affairs of the Southern Border were far, far away from her!

She once wanted to escape everything related to her maternal clan, to live quietly in Liuzhou City without concern for the rest. In fact, that’s exactly what she did! If it were not for her little bundle being taken to the Southern Border, she would never have set foot on Southern Border soil!

She hadn’t known that so many people had made such sacrifices for her maternal clan...

The Tan Nv lurking by Zhou Mu’s side to find her in the Central Plains, Granny Wu Shan who had guarded the Bridgehead of the Heavenly Road for over twenty years, the ever-loyal Xia Ruyan, the female general of the Northern Great Camp, and now, Hongyan Jiaojiao who, in loyalty to the Phoenix Clan, had lost everything and turned to a life of banditry...