FID – Chapter 825

Chapter 825: Night Battle

“How is she?” As soon as the imperial physician finished checking her pulse, Feng Mohan urgently asked.

The Empress Dowager was also watching the imperial physician closely.

“Reporting to Your Majesties, the Princess’s condition is due to excessive worry, which allowed wind evil to invade. Fortunately, there is no serious issue. However, Her Highness is currently pregnant, so we cannot use strong medicine. I suggest a prescription combined with external applications, which will take about two days to reduce the high fever.”

“Two days? With your level of medical skill, you were accepted into the Imperial Medical Academy?” Feng Mohan pushed the physician aside angrily. “Get another imperial physician!”

“Your Majesty, please don’t be rash. This is the best physician in the Imperial Medical Academy.”

“My Imperial Aunt can treat a high fever with just two doses of medicine, and this imperial physician needs two days? This is the best physician?” Feng Mohan’s voice rose in disbelief.

“Your Majesty!” The Empress Dowager spoke in a calm tone.

Feng Mohan closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. He knew he was being unreasonable.

“AHHH! It hurts… hurts…” At that moment, the woman on the bed murmured in her sleep, her brow furrowed even tighter. Her face was pale, and a fine sweat began to bead on her forehead.

“Imperial Aunt! Where does it hurt? Where does it hurt?” Feng Mohan was frantic and helpless, leaning over the bed, but afraid to touch her.

Feeling lost and helpless, at this moment, he didn’t know what to do without his uncle around.

The Empress Dowager stepped forward and noticed the princess had her hands clutching her belly. Her brow suddenly furrowed. “Doctor, hurry and check, do not let the fetus be harmed!”

The imperial physician didn’t dare delay and quickly took her pulse again.

Liu Yu Sheng was completely unaware that her unconscious murmuring and movements were alarming those around her. She was trapped in a dream, unable to wake.

It felt as though something was tearing at her insides, a wave of painful sensations coursing through her. In front of her was a misty fog.

She clutched her belly, running through the mist, trying to escape. Eventually, the fog cleared, but what she saw before her eyes was a scene that tore her heart apart.

She saw Feng Qingbai.

She saw a heavy sword plunged directly into his chest, blood splattering everywhere!

The warm blood splashed onto her eyes. She froze for a moment and wiped it away, her fingers stained with the glaring red blood.

Her eyes widened in shock, and she screamed, “Feng Qingbai!”

“Feng Qingbai… No… don’t kill him! Feng Qingbai…!” The woman on the bed suddenly struggled violently. “Feng Qingbai, it hurts… It hurts so much! Feng Qingbai—!”

This scene equally caused those by the bedside to feel their hearts tighten.

Chenxiang and Zisu were both scared to the point of turning pale, their eyes reddened.

“Her belly hurts, my aunt’s belly hurts!” Feng Mohan’s eyes were bloodshot. He grabbed the imperial physician by the collar. “If something happens to her, I’ll have you all beheaded!”

The Empress Dowager watched the woman muttering in her sleep, her eyes filled with tears. She bit her lip and remained silent, her fingers clenched tightly under her wide sleeves.

With the Princess Consort ill and the Emperor furious, the entire Imperial Medical Academy was thrown into chaos.

A group of imperial physicians stood in the side hall of the Yangxin Hall, working through the night to finally calm the woman down, allowing her to fall back into a peaceful sleep.

Outside the window, the sky had already reached the fourth watch of the night.

Back in her own palace, after dismissing the granny, the Empress Dowager sat by the window, gazing out at the starless night. Her mind was filled with the image of Liu Yusheng from earlier.

Her hands tightly clutching her belly, crying out in pain, her face pale, sobbing silently in her unconscious sleep.

She opened a nearby cabinet, and from the very bottom, she took out a small garment. Her fingers lightly traced over the garment, trembling.

She just stared at it, caressing it for nearly half the night.

Finally, a silent tear fell onto the garment.

“Come out,” the old woman’s voice was barely above a whisper.

As soon as her words fell, a dark figure dropped down beside her.

From her sleeve, she took out a small object. After hesitating for a long moment, she slowly handed it over. “Go to the Purple Bamboo Forest in the western suburbs. Release this.”

The shadow vanished immediately.

Outside the window, the first pale light of dawn broke through the darkness on the distant horizon.

Inside, the old woman slumped from her chair, clutching the small garment tightly, tear stains covering her face.

Her eyes were dull and lifeless, the last trace of vitality extinguished.

“AHHHHH—!” At daybreak, a cry of utter grief and despair shattered the silence in the Yangxin Hall.

Dongyue border, north of the reed marshes.

The night was thick with darkness, heavy and suffocating, pressing down on the chest like a stone.

Feng Qingbai had been trapped within Dongyue border for four days. For four days, he hadn’t eaten a single grain, surviving only on reed roots and muddy swamp water.

Just as he was about to break through the northern edge, he was surrounded by a group of men in black.

Xue Honglian pointed her sharp sword directly at him. “Feng Qingbai, this time, only one of us will walk out alive.”

“I’m not that easy to kill,” Feng Qingbai replied, drawing the soft sword from his waist and leaping forward. “Neither are you.”

In the darkness, no figures could be seen—only the occasional sparks that burst forth when blades clashed.

In that fleeting flash of light, their equally cold and resolute eyes were illuminated.

Both were fighting with everything they had.

They were evenly matched, and neither could gain the upper hand. Their blades sliced across one another’s bodies again and again, filling the air with the sharp scent of blood.

The two exchanged blows with such speed and ghostly precision that even the men surrounding them couldn’t find a single opening to intervene. They could only hold their breath and stay alert, waiting for a chance.

Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye.

Their fight shifted from one spot to another, their battlefield constantly changing.

“Pfft!” The soft sound of a blade piercing flesh echoed sharply in the tense night.

Their eyes met—one pair cold as ice, the other calm and unruffled.

Shrouded in the cover of darkness, Xue Honglian grasped the tip of the soft sword that hovered just half an inch from his body. Instead of retreating, he advanced, letting the blade plunge straight into his chest, near his heart. “Ugh—!”

Feng Qingbai’s pupils contracted sharply.

Weakened from days of entrapment and deprivation, he was already at a disadvantage in this fight with Xue Honglian.

What he hadn’t expected was that he would make such a move at the end.

“Go.” A whisper—barely audible—brushed against his ear.

As they passed each other, Feng Qingbai tore the pendant from his chest and pressed it into his palm. He threw down a smoke bomb and used the cover to leap away into the night.

With their leader gravely injured during the battle, the black-clad men didn’t immediately pursue, giving Feng Qingbai the chance to escape.

Once he had gotten far enough away, he turned back to look in the direction he came from. The night was dark, but he knew clearly where his sword had struck. Without exceptional medicine, Xue Honglian’s life was in danger.

But the pendant he had given him—the potion inside could ensure his survival.

He had spared him. This debt, he would remember.

This guy really couldn’t stand even the smallest loss. He’d clearly already decided to let him go, yet at the last moment, he still had to stab him once before doing so.

By now, Feng Qingbai had crossed out of Dongyue’s territory and reached the borderlands between the two nations. Just a bit farther north, about a quarter of an hour’s journey, he would reach the side path leading to Yigu City.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t fire a signal flare to summon Wei Zi for support. Once it was released, it wouldn’t just bring allies; it would also bring pursuers.

Moreover, his pursuers might arrive faster than the reinforcements.

Pressing his lips together and steadying his gaze, Feng Qingbai rushed toward the small path.

Although he hadn’t been able to contact Wei Zi these past few days, he could tell the two armies had already clashed. Even from a great distance, the thunder of war drums could still be heard.

After being gone for days, someone like Cheng Sheng definitely wouldn’t be able to stay put. The Nanling army must have already begun to move.

Thud-thud-thud. 

The sound of horse hooves clopped lightly and slowly—yet in the dark of night, each step felt like it struck directly at the heart.

On horseback, the rider’s silhouette stood tall and imposing.

Feng Qingbai halted, silently staring at the figure on the horse.

Qin Xiao.