The captain took a deep breath. He had initially thought this would be a simple mission, never expecting the Empress Dowager would intervene so forcefully.
He wasn’t afraid of the Empress Dowager herself, but if she were to get injured in front of him, his fate would likely be worse than that of the kneeling guards below.
He felt a headache coming on. What had these guards done to make the Empress Dowager willing to risk her life to protect them?
Wang Ben glanced at the guards, his gaze settling on the fair-faced young man in the middle. His expression turned peculiar. Could it be that the Empress Dowager had taken a liking to him?
Considering why the Empress Dowager had come here, Wang Ben felt his guess was probably correct, and his eyelid twitched involuntarily.
Seeing his distorted expression, Zhao Yuanxi thought she had hit the mark and sneered, “I won’t let you take them away. Investigate if you must, but torture is absolutely forbidden! Also, send a message to the King for me – they cannot die. If the King still wants their lives, he’ll have to kill me first. After all, without them today, I would already be dead.”
Wang Ben sighed helplessly, “Your Majesty, please put down the knife first.”
He was genuinely worried this Empress Dowager might accidentally kill herself!
“Send the message first!” Zhao Yuanxi insisted stubbornly. Though the knife was heavy, she could bear it a while longer.
Wang Ben signaled to the Black Armor Soldiers behind him. A soldier received the order and immediately rode off toward Xianyang.
Seeing that the messenger had departed, Zhao Yuanxi finally put down the knife, rubbing her sore wrist.
Wang Ben’s mouth twitched. The Empress Dowager really didn’t allow herself to suffer any disadvantage.
When Ying Zheng received the message, he wasn’t angry but instead asked, “How is the Empress Dowager’s health?”
The soldier, recalling how the Empress Dowager had been holding the knife earlier, affirmed, “Her Majesty is in good health. She was even able to hold a knife and confront the General.”
Ying Zheng’s expression turned strange. Confronting Wang Ben with a knife? Since when did that woman have such courage?
“Tell me everything in detail.”
The soldier recounted the entire sequence of events.
Ying Zheng initially thought the same as Wang Ben, but upon reflection, he realized that even at her most reckless, the Empress Dowager wouldn’t bring Ziying along to fool around with a guard.
Just then, Lü Le entered. “Your Majesty, I’ve investigated. The assassin who targeted the Empress Dowager was Yu Nuo, a former retainer under the Chang’an King. He intended to take both the Empress Dowager and Prince Ziying, install Prince Ziying as the new ruler, and use the Empress Dowager to threaten you.”
“Was he captured?”
“All others have been apprehended, but Yu Nuo escaped.” Lü Le kowtowed.
“Good, very good! Those traitors truly never give up. First they deceived Chengjiao into betraying me, now they’ve set their sights on Ziying!” Ying Zheng flew into a rage. “Guards! Issue a nationwide order to capture all remaining followers of the Chang’an King, dead or alive!”
“As you command.”
Rubbing his temples in frustration, Ying Zheng glanced at the trembling soldier below and waved his hand. “Return and tell Wang Ben to continue the investigation. If they’re truly uninvolved and haven’t overstepped boundaries, let the Empress Dowager handle them herself.”
Back at Liyang Palace, Zhao Yuanxi was still confronting Wang Ben when she saw the imperial physician returning in haste. She grabbed him and asked, “What happened?”
Startled by the surrounding Black Armor Soldiers, the physician wiped sweat from his forehead and stammered, “Your Majesty, one of the guards is too severely injured. I truly cannot save him.”
“Not even with the best medicines?”
The imperial physician shook his head, a hint of helplessness in his eyes. “The wound is too deep, and he has lost too much blood. I regret my inability to save him.”
Zhao Yuanxi fell silent for a moment, her voice slightly hoarse. “Take me to see him. All of you, come with me.”
She was referring to the five guards still kneeling on the ground.
Wang Ben was puzzled. He had assumed the Empress Dowager wanted to save this pretty-faced man because she fancied him, but now he found himself confused by her actions.
Moreover, he strongly suspected that the Empress Dowager was taking the man away to prevent him from arresting the prisoner while he was vulnerable.
Wang Ben found it somewhat amusing. Did the Empress Dowager truly see him as someone who would take advantage of others’ misfortune? Out of curiosity, and also out of a sense of duty to guard the prisoner, Wang Ben followed them.
The two injured guards lay on wooden plank beds.
One had his lower leg severed. Although the wound had been bandaged, blood had already soaked through the gauze, and he writhed in agony, moaning incessantly.
The other was in even worse condition. His face was ashen, and a deep gash ran from his collarbone down to his abdomen, exposing the bone beneath. The flesh was torn and mangled, forming a long, gruesome wound. Were it not for the faint rise and fall of his chest, one might mistake him for dead.
Zhao Yuanxi felt a lump in her throat. She couldn’t help but ask, “Why hasn’t this wound been stitched up?”
“Stitched?” The imperial physician looked bewildered.
Zhao Yuanxi paused for a moment, a flicker of hope suddenly flashing in her eyes. “Physician Yu, if we can stop the bleeding now, is there still a chance to save him?”
The physician nodded blankly. If the bleeding could be stopped, there was indeed a chance of survival. But with such a severe wound, hemostatic medicine would be useless!
“What if we sew the wound shut with a needle and thread? Don’t ask me why—just tell me if it’s possible!”
“It might be worth a try!” the physician said, steeling himself, though his heart was pounding. He knew how to mend clothes, but this was human flesh!
Zhao Yuanxi ordered hot water to be prepared and had mugwort burned to disinfect the surrounding area.
“You, go boil some Coptis chinensis water,” she instructed.
In this era, there was no alcohol or other disinfectants, so Coptis chinensis water would have to suffice.
Noticing the crowd gathered around, Zhao Yuanxi found them obstructive. “All of you, leave now.”
“Your Majesty!” Zhang Han’s eyes pleaded with her as he kowtowed three times.
Zhao Yuanxi did not give him a definite answer. In truth, she wasn’t sure if this method would work, but given the circumstances, they had to try.
She heated an embroidery needle over a flame, bent it into a hook shape, and threaded it with hemp string.
Watching the Empress Dowager’s actions, the imperial physician began to grasp something extraordinary.
“Physician Yu, I leave this to you,” Zhao Yuanxi said, placing the needle and thread before him.
The physician pressed his lips together, his expression serious. His hands, accustomed to acupuncture, now held the embroidery needle with steady precision.
As the needle pierced the guard’s skin, his body convulsed. Startled, Zhao Yuanxi quickly held him down. “You, hold his legs still. Don’t let him move.”
Without painkillers, they had to suture the wound by force. Fortunately, the man was deeply unconscious and, aside from the initial convulsion, did not struggle much.
The physician watched silently, his lips twitching slightly, but he said nothing.
After a somewhat clumsy start, the physician’s movements became swift and precise. Tying the knot and cutting the thread, he completed the task in one fluid motion.
The wound was now stitched shut. Though the sutures were somewhat crooked, the bleeding had indeed stopped.
Zhao Yuanxi sniffled, so moved she nearly shed tears.
The imperial physician sprinkled another layer of hemostatic powder on the wound, bandaged it, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and let out a long sigh. “Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, the rest is up to him now.”