The worst thing finally happened; even Yang Qiong was down. Zhong Lüping didn't have time to ask what exactly happened. She dropped the medicine bowl and ran.
Cui Xiang called after her, "Hey, hey, hey," but no one paid attention anymore.
When Zhong Lüping reached the south gate, there were very few people left. Over a dozen soldiers were desperately using their bodies to brace the gate. The thick wooden bolt, under continuous forceful impacts, emitted an ear-piercing creak, showing cracks. The soldiers' faces turned purple, their feet slipping, occasionally falling but quickly getting up.
If the situation at the south gate was like this, what would it be like at Hu Ben Pass in the west? Zhong Lüping felt a wave of sorrow. Since the founding of the Great Chu, Hu Ben Pass had been the northernmost stronghold, defending against foreign invasions, allowing the Central Plains to enjoy peace. Now, however, the opposing forces inside and outside Hu Ben Pass were brothers, direct descendants of the founding emperor!
"Lady Cousin! It's terrible!" An officer hurriedly ran down from the wall, "Another troop is approaching from afar!"
Zhong Lüping was shocked, "What did you say?" She quickly lifted her skirt and ran, "Where is it? Take me to see!" The officer promptly led the way to the arrow tower.
The Gan Zhou army, seeing victory within reach, was highly spirited, arrows raining down on the wall. The officer shielded her with a shield as Zhong Lüping looked into the distance. Indeed, she saw a cloud of dust rising at the end of the plain, even spotting a flag fluttering in the wind.
Bai Yingchun still had the strength to reinforce? She gasped in disbelief. With Cui Yi's large army approaching the capital, wouldn't Bai Yingchun rush to protect the Emperor? And why didn't Cui Jie recall the Gan Zhou army?
The officer looked utterly defeated, "Lady Cousin, what should we do now? Please make a decision quickly!"
Zhong Lüping stood motionless in the arrow tower, her gaze vacant.
Suddenly, she shouted, "Reinforcements! Reinforcements! General Cao is back!"
Her voice was shrill and loud, tears of joy streaming down her face. Several people on the tower looked in the direction she pointed, indeed seeing the banner with the word "Cao" waving in the wind. They cheered, "General Cao is back! We're saved!"
Morale instantly soared. Everyone felt like they had seen the light after a long night, shouting wildly.
Cao Qian and 18,000 Yan Zhou soldiers returned at the critical moment. Caught off guard by being surrounded from behind, the Gan Zhou army had no way to respond. The situation at the gate reversed instantly; the Gan Zhou commander was cut in half by Cao Qian, and the soldiers fled in disarray, suffering a crushing defeat in less than half a day, leaving behind corpses strewn across the ground.
"Miss Zhong!" Cao Qian strode onto the gate, "When did the Gan Zhou army arrive?"
Zhong Lüping was in tears, sobbing uncontrollably, "Yan Zhou Fu has been besieged for seven days. Ten thousand Gan Zhou troops, forty thousand Liang Zhou troops, attacking from three sides. Seventh Master was shot, and General Yang is also injured."
Cao Qian broke into a cold sweat, silently thanking heaven for returning in time. With less than five thousand people facing fifty thousand, it would have been like hitting a stone with an egg, certain death. He said with lingering fear, "Sorry I'm late. The siege at the south gate is lifted. I'll send people to the east and west gates immediately. You've worked hard; go rest!"
Zhong Lüping cried as she left. Cao Qian thanked heaven profusely, leaving three thousand men to guard the south gate, sending five thousand to the east gate, and leading the remaining ten thousand to Hu Ben Pass in the west.
Yang Qiong's injury wasn't severe. Unlike Cui Xiang, who couldn't get up due to pain, Yang Qiong ignored his wound, continuing to command the defense until the strange numbness spread throughout his arm, realizing the seriousness—there was poison on the arrow!
The archer who shot him had been specially instructed by Han Zhui. To capture the king first, Yang Qiong was now the backbone of Xuan Zhou Fu. If he fell, the city's fall was imminent. Han Zhui used poison taken from Northern Di cavalry, assuming no one in the Central Plains knew how to counter it. Even a tiny bit would mean certain death for Yang Qiong.
If the wound wasn't deep and the poisoning time short, tying off the area near the heart, cutting open the wound to bleed, or even removing flesh or amputating the arm could save him. But Han Zhui calculated that Yang Qiong wouldn't panic over a minor injury at such a critical moment. Delaying just a bit, the poison spreading through the body, even Divine Doctor Kang Zao reincarnated couldn't save him.
But he miscalculated one crucial person: Cheng Fengyi.
A woman who inherited Kang Zao's lifelong work and lived among the Northern Di for two years.
"This poison can be cured." Cheng Fengyi swiftly dug out the embedded arrow with her hand. A maid immediately brought a basin of water. Cheng Fengyi squeezed the wound, black, foul blood dripping into the basin, turning the water pitch-black.
Yang Qiong lay on the bed, pale-faced, sweating profusely, his entire left arm swollen like a log, veins darkened.
Cheng Fengyi placed his arm on her lap, calm and focused, inserting silver needles precisely into his shoulder and back.
Yang Qiong couldn't bear to look at her face, focusing on her hands, filled with admiration.