Priceless: A widow with a baby asks the prince to marry again

Chapter 299 Setting Fire to the Palace

The days of death haze were finally dispelled by the Mobei wind, leaving only faint traces.

On the morning of the seventh day, when the first rays of warm sunlight penetrated the mist and shone into the medical tent, Liu Rusi finally emerged from her last surgery. Her eyes were bloodshot, but her expression held a hint of the clarity of someone who had survived a disaster.

After leaving the tidying and finishing work to the already experienced Xia Lian, Liu Rusi cleaned herself up briefly. She rubbed her sore neck and was about to stretch her stiff limbs, intending to take a good rest.

Just as she was about to leave the medical camp, Fang Qiu approached. The heroic young woman frowned slightly, one hand instinctively pressing against her chest. "Rusi, are you busy right now? Can you help me?" She was a woman, and the discomfort was so awkward... Fortunately, Liu Rusi was in the army, providing her with medical help. Fang Qiu had been patient for several days—after all, with so many critically wounded and dying soldiers awaiting Liu Rusi's care, her situation wasn't particularly urgent.

Liu Rusi immediately perked up, led Fang Qiu to the empty treatment tent, gestured for her to sit down, and deftly took her pulse. Just as doctors like Li Chunfu gained a deeper understanding of first aid for traumatic injuries under Liu Rusi's guidance and practice, Liu Rusi's diagnostic skills also advanced rapidly under the meticulous guidance of her master, Li Chunfu. As long as the case wasn't rare or difficult, she could handle it.

After observing Fang Qiu's complexion and tongue coating, and carefully feeling his pulse, Liu Rusi asked, "Have you done anything sudden and excessive recently?"

"Yes! That day, I put in a lot of effort to pull His Royal Highness Prince Kang onto the horse! Since that day, I have felt a little chest tightness!" Fang Qiu was very excited. Liu Rusi was really amazing. She could actually see the reason!

Liu Rusi paused as she felt her pulse and looked up at her in surprise! She had actually personally rescued Prince Kang from the midst of a vast army? This was a truly tremendous achievement!

The young woman before her, a few months ago, was still anxious about disguising herself as a man to infiltrate the military camp, and she was even more confused and at a loss when she discovered that her father had secretly sent female secret guards to protect her. It was Liu Rusi's patient guidance that helped her find her direction again: to strive to become a female general who would go down in history.

This is certainly a good thing for Fang Qiu, but Liu Rusi also has her own plans in mind - if Fang Qiu can really make great military achievements and become a female general, when she returns to Beijing in the future, the two women, one civil and one military, will support each other in the court, and her pressure will be greatly reduced!

However, starting from the bottom of the ranks as a soldier and ascending to the rank of general, what astonishing feats would be required to achieve this goal? Adding the word "female" before the title of general would likely double the effort! Liu Rusi hadn't known exactly what level of achievement was needed to achieve it, and even felt that hope was slim. She was just trying to plant flowers with ease, figuring that regardless of success or failure, at least she could help Fang Qiu live a happy and carefree life.

And at this moment, with the successful rescue of King Kang, the dawn of hope has truly shone into reality and is no longer dim!

……

The most intense and busy period of the medical camp, when life and death were at stake, has passed.

Although there are still many wounded, the most dangerous operations and rescue efforts have been completed, and the atmosphere in the camp is no longer suffocatingly tense.

Liu Rusi was finally able to take a breath and began her routine ward rounds.

She walked steadily between the wounded tents, carefully checking on each patient's recovery, adjusting their medication, and gently asking how they were feeling—all while filling out medical records with a homemade paper and pencil. These records were not only valuable medical information but also a solid foundation for her future resume.

Finally, she walked towards the center of the camp, the most heavily guarded and spacious tent - the residence of King Kang Chu Shikun.

The guards outside the gate had already recognized Madam Liu, the female military doctor who had saved their master. They nodded and saluted, then quietly let him pass. "The master is still weak and needs to rest." As for the concern that Doctor Liu might harm His Highness? Not to mention the servants inside, if she truly had the intention to harm him, why would she have risked her life to save him in the first place?

The tent was filled with a faint medicinal aroma and a lingering smell of blood.

King Kang was half-leaning on a specially made soft couch, his face still pale, his lips so pale as to be almost transparent, but his beautiful eyes were open, and although he was weak after his illness, he had regained the clarity and composure of a superior.

The wounds on his body were wrapped in layers of white gauze, some of which oozed a faint trace of blood, silently telling the cruelty of the life-and-death struggle.

"Do you have a fever?" Liu Rusi walked to the bedside and habitually stretched out her hand to check his forehead temperature, just like she did when checking every wounded person - this is the most direct way to check for fever at the moment.

However, just as her fingertips were about to touch the skin on his forehead, Prince Kang Chu Shikun tilted his head slightly inward. Although the movement was light, he avoided her touch with extraordinary determination.

Liu Rusi's hand was suspended in mid-air, and she was slightly stunned.

A low, hoarse voice with a superior tone sounded: "Doctor Liu...you have a close relationship with the third prince, so you should not have physical contact with other men." His tone was gentle and calm, as if he was stating a self-evident rule.

Liu Rusi slowly withdrew her hand, a flicker of surprise in her eyes. This romantic prince, who always brought beauties with him wherever he went (he only left them when he came to the war), could actually be so... old-fashioned?

The corners of her lips curled up slightly, and her tone was gentle, even carrying the soothing feeling unique to doctors, but her words were like the tip of a needle wrapped in soft silk: "Your Highness, Prince Kang, this is wrong. In the eyes of doctors, patients are equal, regardless of status or gender. Moreover..."

She paused, her gaze resting calmly on his gauze-covered chest. "If we're talking about 'skin-to-skin intimacy,' it's more than just skin. That day, to save His Highness's life, my fingers penetrated deep into his flesh and touched his blood vessels... We've experienced such 'flesh-to-blood intimacy,' and now, just touching our foreheads, are we still being cautious?"

Her words were cleverly delivered, highlighting the danger and depth of saving his life, hinting at the gratitude she felt for saving his life, and clearly expressing her understanding of the "doctor-patient relationship" as a transcendental relationship. Beneath her gentle exterior lay an unyielding edge.

Prince Kang had obviously not expected her to be so blunt and blunt, and was even more choked by the vivid description of "fingers digging into flesh and blood." His delicate eyes fixed on Liu Rusi's calm, gentle face, which was covered with a faint smile, and he was stunned for a moment.

The tent fell into a subtle silence.

At this moment, a corner of the tent curtain was silently lifted. Duan Wang Chu Shiyu, who had rushed over after handling urgent military affairs, happened to hear Liu Rusi's vehement counterattack and the sudden silence in the tent.

Chu Shiyu paused, his tall figure hidden in the shadows inside the tent curtain. He held his breath and waited for the conversation inside the tent to continue.

Prince Kang remained silent for a moment, seemingly digesting Liu Rusi's words. His frown didn't relax, but instead deepened his confusion. He spoke again, his voice weak, as if recovering from a serious illness, yet crystal clear: "Chu Shiyu is a domineering and overbearing person, and particularly possessive. He considers you...important, so even if he's treating someone, he wouldn't allow you to be so 'close' to other men." He emphasized the word "close," clearly still believing Liu Rusi's behavior had crossed a line.

Chu Shiyu couldn't help but frown in the shadows—was Chu Shikun trying to sow discord?! He suppressed the urge to rush in and interrupt. He wanted to know what Ru Si would say.

Liu Rusi frowned slightly and corrected seriously again: "Your Highness, regardless of gender, age, status, or social status, everyone is equally vulnerable in the face of death. In other words, in the eyes of a doctor, those worldly views are not worth mentioning." Although her tone was calm, it carried an unquestionable power.

Even after she finished speaking, she could still see the lingering "incomprehension" in King Kang's eyes, and she understood. Changing the deeply ingrained notions of a prince steeped in feudal ethics for decades was not something that could be accomplished with just a few words.

Liu Rusi wasn't a pure idealist, and she had no intention of forcing others to change their minds. With a soft sigh, she changed the subject and asked, "Why does Your Highness Prince Kang feel that Your Highness Prince Duan is overbearing and tyrannical? ... He may be overbearing, but 'overbearing' seems a bit strong. If it's reasonable, Your Highness Prince Duan will understand."

Upon hearing this, Prince Kang couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and chuckled weakly, "Heh... He's only reasonable around you, right? If we were to describe Chu Shiyu's true character, the word 'domineering and overbearing' would be an understatement, and 'unreasonable'... wouldn't be quite as good either."

His eyes were somewhat dazed on his handsome but pale face, as if he was racking his brains to find a more appropriate word to describe Chu Shiyu's excessive dominance.

Liu Rusi was speechless for a moment. She calmly observed Prince Kang's condition and appearance, confirming he was in good spirits. Then, while he was distracted, she quickly reached out and took his forehead temperature—luckily, it was normal.

The cool touch on his forehead snapped Prince Kang back to his senses. He subconsciously frowned, but then thought of Liu Rusi's words about "blood ties" and swallowed back the scolding on his lips. He glanced at Liu Rusi helplessly and continued with his previous words, "I can't find the right words to describe Chu Shiyu's personality... How about telling Doctor Liu an example?"

Seeing that Prince Kang didn't reprimand her, Liu Rusi continued with her work. She began carefully unwrapping the blood-stained gauze from his body, feigning interest as she replied, "Your Highness, Prince Kang, tell me about it? I've never heard anyone talk about Prince Duan's affairs in detail!"

"Well," Chu Shikun's frail face became vague again. He began to reminisce and narrate, "Let me tell you an old story from his childhood in the palace. It was the dead of winter, and the weather was bitterly cold. One day, a huge fire broke out in the Firewood and Charcoal Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The palace servants rushed to put out the fire with buckets of water, but Chu Shiyu rudely stopped them. He stood in the middle of the road and shouted, 'You can't even tell charcoal apart, what's the point of having a Firewood and Charcoal Department? It's better to burn it all down!' ... He personally admitted that he was the one who started the fire in the Firewood and Charcoal Department..."

When Liu Rusi was untying the gauze, she inevitably touched it. When she heard King Kang pause, she looked up and saw that King Kang was frowning at her, as if he wanted to interrupt her action of untying the gauze - obviously, the chest is a part that needs to avoid "suspicion of sexual intercourse" more than the forehead.

Liu Rusi immediately brought the focus back to the story by asking a flattering question: "How old was His Royal Highness Prince Duan at that time?" Her tone was natural, as if she was just attracted by the story.

Chu Shikun couldn't help but laugh as he watched Liu Rusi, intently changing the dressing while still asking questions, chuckle. The female doctor before him seemed smooth, but in reality, she was incredibly stubborn. Once she'd set her mind to something, she'd see it through, just like she was insisting on changing his dressing right now… He simply didn't bother to correct the hypocritical "avoidance" that seemed so pretentious after their "blood relationship."

Chu Shikun paused, his mind returning to the story, before answering Liu Rusi's question: "At that time, this prince was about to turn fifteen... Chu Shiyu should have been eleven... It was around that year or two that he began to show his domineering and overbearing nature."

His tone was filled with the certainty of someone reminiscing about the past: "It was only because of the Chai Tan Si incident that everyone saw how tyrannical he could be."

Liu Rusi carefully peeled off the sticky gauze, her movements gentle but firm, but her heart was silent.

Chu Shiyu had told her about what happened a few hours ago - although in his narration, he described himself as extremely pitiful and suffered from bullying, and did not mention his fierce resistance at all.

She remembered him saying that when he was nine, his biological mother was accused of having an affair with the deputy commander of the Imperial Guards. If he hadn't been born with the same auspicious phoenix eyes as his father, he might have been killed. He had been in a difficult situation ever since, facing neglect and bullying. Prince Kang must have known the reasons, but when he recounted them, he completely ignored the root cause of Chu Shiyu's arrogance, focusing solely on his shocking and rebellious behavior...

Liu Rusi lowered her eyes and remained silent, concentrating on her subordinates changing the dressing while listening to King Kang continue his story.

"Although he was the only one who tried to stop the fire, and wasn't able to stop all the palace servants, the Firewood Department was piled high with firewood, which was a truly raging fire!" Chu Shikun's voice was tinged with a barely perceptible rage. "The fire engulfed a corner of the palace. If the palace servants hadn't discovered it and put out the fire in time, I'm afraid a large area of the palace would have been burned down! Even so, half of the Imperial Household Department's warehouse area was burned down!"

"Chu Shiyu committed such a heinous crime! He even deserved the emperor's personal discipline!"

The anger in Chu Shikun's tone was revealed: "Use the python whip dipped in salt water to execute the family law of a hundred whips!"

In his narration, his father's discipline was only briefly mentioned, and the focus was still on Chu Shiyu's rebelliousness: "But guess what? He actually jumped up and tried to snatch the whip from his father's hand! He was so bold that he even started to pull with his father!"

"Cough cough..." Chu Shikun started coughing lightly, as if the overly intense story had affected his injuries.

"Speak slowly, there's no rush!" Liu Rusi hurriedly helped King Kang breathe, fearing that his cough would rupture the wound! If King Kang died from "telling stories" and implicated her, she would definitely die with regret!

Chu Shikun gradually calmed down, as if he found the absurd story worth recalling. He continued, "But Chu Shiyu was only eleven years old at the time. Even if the emperor had strictly ordered that no one else should come to his aid, how could he be a match for the emperor? He was easily subdued. In the end, he received a full and thorough blow from those hundred lashes."

He paused and added, "Afterwards, my father punished him by making him kneel in the Imperial Ancestral Temple for seven days for the crime of offending the emperor."

Liu Rusi listened, her hands cleaning the wounds with steady movements, but a heavy weight weighed on her heart. She imagined the frail young man kneeling on the cold ground in the dead of winter, his back lacerated with whip wounds... However, Prince Kang's next words caused her fingertips to tremble, almost imperceptibly.

"However, an even more shocking act of rebellion has occurred." King Kang's voice took on a strange chill. "Chu Shiyu...actually stole the tribute offered to our ancestors!"

Liu Rusi suddenly raised her eyes and looked at King Kang, her eyes filled with shock - this was simply challenging the double bottom lines of imperial power and patriarchal system!

"Upon hearing the news, the Emperor was furious and personally went to the Imperial Ancestral Temple to reprimand him." Chu Shikun observed Liu Rusi's reaction and continued, "Guess how Chu Shiyu tried to argue?"

He imitated the boy's stubborn voice in his memory, but it was also filled with cold sarcasm. "He said, 'The ancestors of the Chu family will naturally protect the descendants of the Chu family. Since I am a descendant of the Chu family, I am so hungry that I can't see the blackness in my eyes. Will the ancestors not allow me to eat a few of the tributes from the ancestors?'"