When an escaped convict was captured and brought back, they were supposed to be punished publicly.
But every time Hua Zhiyun coughed meaningfully, Chen Dali had no idea how he was supposed to carry out the punishment.
Fortunately, Hua Zhiyun pointed him toward a solution.
She gestured toward Bai Lian and the other guards.
“Isn’t it easy to make an example of someone? Strip off their shirts and give them twenty lashes. Make it bloody enough that everyone who sees it will be terrified.”
Bai Lian: “…”
So the Princess is taking revenge for personal grudges.
Hua Zhiyun raised an eyebrow with a mischievous grin.
Brat. Who told you to keep shooting daggers at me? Didn’t you know that when a woman decides to be ‘magnanimous,’ everyone gets caught in the crossfire?
Chen Dali wholeheartedly supported the idea.
Chu Lin’an, however, was an honest child.
“But… they’re not prisoners.”
Hua Zhiyun shrugged.
“Once they’re wearing prison uniforms, who cares whether they are or not?”
She had already figured out that these men had no intention of leaving.
Rather than sneaking around in the shadows, they might as well openly accompany Chu Linzhang.
Bai Lian looked at Hua Zhiyun with heartfelt gratitude.
He no longer thought she was taking revenge.
To him, she had practically descended from heaven.
She understood them perfectly.
Being able to openly stay by the Prince’s side…
Forget twenty lashes.
Although…
Two hundred definitely wasn’t acceptable.
Chu Linzhang also approved of the suggestion and nodded.
Chu Lin’an still hadn’t figured it out when Madam Fifth quietly tugged at his sleeve.
Having more people around wasn’t a bad thing.
They could help protect them.
Besides…
The Zhou family had failed to kill Chu Linzhang once.
There would undoubtedly be another attempt.
Just as everything had been settled…
Little Chu Linqing, already feverish and badly frightened, suddenly began convulsing violently.
His whole body shook uncontrollably.
One glance was enough to tell something was terribly wrong.
Madam Fifth panicked.
Holding her son in her arms, she knelt before Chu Linzhang.
“Your Highness!”
“Please save your younger brother!”
“He can’t die.”
“If anything happens to him…”
“How am I supposed to explain it to your Fifth Uncle?”
At the mention of Fifth Uncle…
Chu Linzhang pressed his lips together.
His deep eyes silently pleaded with Hua Zhiyun.
Hua Zhiyun felt a little guilty after having manipulated him earlier.
It was only some fever medicine.
Before the apocalypse, she had stocked enormous quantities of supplies.
She didn’t even have children.
In a zombie-infested world…
Very few children survived anyway.
As a result…
She still had plenty of pediatric fever medicine.
For Chu Linzhang’s sake, Hua Zhiyun motioned for Madam Fifth to hand the child over.
Madam Fifth was completely helpless now.
She no longer had the energy to wonder why the refined young lady of the Hua family knew medicine.
Turning her back to everyone else…
Hua Zhiyun secretly gave the child some fever medicine.
She then checked his condition.
The fever had been triggered mainly by fright.
Once it came down…
He would be fine.
If the fever continued…
Even if he survived, he would likely suffer brain damage.
After handing Chu Linqing back, she instructed,
“He’s taken the medicine.”
“If he feels unwell again, bring him to me.”
“Thank you, Princess.”
Madam Fifth finally relaxed.
As long as there was medicine…
There was hope.
Still…
She couldn’t help wondering.
Why wasn’t the medicine bitter?
Where had Hua Zhiyun gotten it?
Looking at Hua Zhiyun’s cold expression…
She didn’t dare ask.
By then, the child had already stopped convulsing.
His temperature was beginning to fall.
When they returned to where the prisoners were gathered…
Everyone was awake.
The attempted escape had alarmed the entire camp.
Some had even considered taking advantage of the escort officers’ absence to flee.
But the remaining guards had frightened them into submission with drawn sabers and murderous expressions.
Only after Hua Zhiyun’s group returned did the prisoners finally settle down.
The members of the Chu family were conflicted.
On one hand…
They hated Chu Linzhang for trying to escape without taking them along.
He would have escaped the hardships of exile while they suffered the wrath of the escort officers.
On the other hand…
They desperately wanted him captured.
Why should the man responsible for everyone’s downfall escape while they continued to suffer?
Some of them would gladly have helped catch him themselves.
So when Chu Linzhang was brought back…
The Chu family secretly sighed with relief.
Now that…
Was true sharing of blessings and hardships.
When Li Shi noticed there were two extra men in the group, she was about to report it.
Hua Zhiyun merely shot her a glance.
Li Shi immediately shrank back and quietly sat down again.
She had no desire to lose her tongue.
She knew perfectly well…
Hua Zhiyun was capable of doing exactly that.
Following Hua Zhiyun’s instructions, Chen Dali made an example of the two guards.
Bai Lian and Bai Zhong were stripped to the waist.
Their broad backs and well-defined six-pack abs were immediately exposed.
It was obvious they were trained martial artists.
Their physiques were impressive.
With so many women staring at his upper body…
Even Bai Lian’s ears turned red.
Bai Zhong simply lowered his head and pretended not to exist.
Chu Linzhang happened to notice Hua Zhiyun.
Unlike the noblewomen covering their eyes and shrieking in embarrassment…
She simply raised an eyebrow with obvious interest.
Her lively expression made her stand out completely.
She truly wasn’t the Hua Zhiyun he had married.
Meanwhile…
Hua Zhiyun was quietly counting.
Yep.
Definitely six-pack abs.
If the circumstances had been different…
She would have whistled in appreciation.
It had been a very long time since she’d seen abs that attractive.
Back in the apocalypse…
Both men and women had been too busy surviving to care about appearances.
She was simply appreciating the view.
Nothing more.
Compared with admiring handsome abs…
She actually found the whipping more satisfying.
Each lash carved another bloody welt across their backs.
That, to her, was even prettier.
When the punishment finally ended…
The two guards’ backs were a bloody mess.
Fortunately…
They carried their own medicine.
To avoid attracting suspicion, twenty personal guards had come.
Only Bai Lian and Bai Zhong stayed behind.
The others quietly dispersed along the route while continuing to gather intelligence from the capital.
The public flogging had an enormous deterrent effect.
Anyone who had considered escaping…
Now felt phantom pain in their own backs just thinking about those lashes.
Since Hua Zhiyun had agreed to treat Chu Linzhang…
After the punishment, she had him carried behind a large boulder.
Several pieces of cloth were hung up to block everyone’s view.
She actually had entire carriages stored inside her spatial dimension.
But producing one out of thin air would expose her secret.
So makeshift curtains would have to do.
Torches were lit, illuminating Chu Linzhang’s wounds.
Everyone else was ordered to turn around.
No peeking.
Even Chu Linzhang’s eyes were covered with a cloth.
Only then did Hua Zhiyun secretly retrieve her medical kit and surgical instruments from her space.
The operating conditions were crude and completely exposed.
Fortunately…
Her healing abilities made up for it.
She never agreed to something she couldn’t accomplish.
Once she accepted a task…
She didn’t fail.
The treatment began with cleaning the wounds.
The disinfectant stung fiercely.
Chu Linzhang clenched his teeth.
Sweat poured from his forehead, soaking the cloth over his eyes.
He could clearly sense Hua Zhiyun’s every movement.
Just as he expected the pain to become unbearable…
The feeling in his limbs suddenly vanished.
No matter what she did…
He couldn’t feel anything.
The anesthesia took effect.
Before long…
He fell unconscious.
Oblivious to everything.
Hua Zhiyun concentrated entirely on the operation.
It wasn’t a major surgery.
Just…
Time-consuming.
The conditions were primitive.
Even she felt somewhat exhausted.
Fortunately…
Half an hour later…
The operation was complete.
She applied medicine.
Wrapped the wounds in bandages.
He still hadn’t awakened.
Removing the blindfold…
She looked at his face.
The flesh had already begun to scab over.
Judging from his bone structure…
He should have been extremely handsome.
Unfortunately…
His face had been utterly ruined.
There was even a branded character burned into it.
To restore his original appearance…
He would need a skin graft.
Fortunately…
She knew how to perform that surgery.
Only after she finished did Hua Zhiyun realize what she’d done.
Almost unconsciously…
She had treated his face as well.
She wrapped fresh bandages around it, leaving only his eyes, nostrils, and mouth exposed so he could breathe, drink, and eat.
She lightly slapped the back of her own hand in annoyance.
Why did I treat that too?
After packing away every item that didn’t belong in this world back into her spatial dimension…
She stretched lazily and called to Bai Lian.
“Done.”
“You can take him away now.”
The guards finally turned around.
Seeing Chu Linzhang wrapped almost entirely in bandages like a mummy…
They froze.
Then Bai Lian bowed respectfully.
“Thank you for saving His Highness, Princess.”
None of them had expected…
That their prince had married a physician.
Just look at those bandages.
They were neat, clean, and professional.
Far superior to Physician Ma’s messy wrapping.
Now this…
This was real bandaging.
Hua Zhiyun, of course, had no idea about Bai Lian’s internal stream of praise.
She simply sighed helplessly.
“Princess.”
“Princess.”
Everyone kept calling her that.
She no longer had the energy to correct them.
Whatever.
Call her whatever they liked.
She had given up.
Anything was fine…
As long as they didn’t call her Miss Hua.
Otherwise…
She’d happily introduce them to her “castration package.”