From cute to empress

Chapter 158: Incognito Search for Medicine

The night was as cool as water, and the moonlight filtered through the window lattice, casting mottled shadows. I stood by the window, gazing at the dark night sky in the distance, feeling a mixture of emotions.

"Your Majesty, have you really decided?" The voice of Doctor Sun brought me back from my thoughts.

I turned around and looked at the white-haired old man in front of me, and said in a firm tone: "Doctor Sun, the epidemic on the border is serious and the morale of the army is unstable. Now only by finding that herb can we control the epidemic, save the lives of the soldiers, and preserve our dynasty!"

"But the border is a long way off. Not to mention the widespread miasma, just the raging war... you..."

"I know, and I also know that this journey is extremely dangerous. But as the ruler of a country, how can I be so afraid of death that I ignore my millions of people?" I interrupted Doctor Sun, a determined glint in my eyes. "I have made up my mind. Tomorrow I will leave the palace incognito and head to the border to search for herbs."

Upon hearing this, Doctor Sun sighed and said, "Your Majesty cares about the world, and I admire you! But this journey..." He hesitated, his face full of worry.

"Don't worry, Doctor Sun, I have made all the arrangements and will not let you and your companions fall into danger," I comforted him.

"Your Majesty, I am willing to accompany you for protection!"

I looked at the speaker. It was the usually taciturn Coroner Zhao. Although a coroner, he was well-versed in medical knowledge, meticulous, and observant. After the outbreak, he volunteered to go to the border to assist Dr. Sun. I didn't expect him to volunteer to accompany me to take this risk.

I was deeply moved and was about to speak when I heard Doctor Sun say, "Zhao the Coroner, you..."

Coroner Zhao bowed to Doctor Sun and said in a firm tone: "Doctor Sun, I know what you are worried about, but I believe that as long as we can find the herbs, we can control the epidemic and save countless lives, including..." He paused and didn't continue, but I knew who he was referring to.

Looking at these two people who were willing to take risks for the sake of the people of the world, a warm feeling welled up in my heart. I took a deep breath and said slowly, "Okay, if that's the case, then tomorrow..."

Before I could finish my words, I heard hurried footsteps outside the palace. Then, a young eunuch rushed in in a panic, knelt on the ground, and said in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, urgent news from the border..."

The eunuch's words resonated like thunder in my ears, and a sense of foreboding suddenly rose in my heart. "Tell me quickly, what happened at the border?"

"Your Majesty, General Zhen... General Zhen he..." The young eunuch was so frightened that he spoke incoherently, his face flushed red.

"What happened to Zhen Youcai? Tell me quickly!" I grabbed the little eunuch's shoulders and asked anxiously.

"General Zhen... he has contracted an epidemic and is now unconscious. The military doctor said..." The young eunuch's voice became smaller and smaller, almost inaudible.

"What?" My heart sank suddenly, and a chill ran from the soles of my feet to the top of my head.

"The military doctor said, said... unless we find that legendary herb, otherwise..." The young eunuch didn't dare to say anything more, but just kowtowed continuously.

"Otherwise what? Just tell me!" My voice became sharp due to my emotions.

"Otherwise...otherwise...it's too late to save the situation..." After the young eunuch said this, he buried his head deeply in the ground, not daring to look at me again.

"Nothing can be done about it..." These four words weighed on my heart like a thousand-pound boulder, making it almost impossible to breathe. Zhen Youcai, the passionate young man who always smiled and called me "Meng Meng," the man who would protect me and this land at all costs, was this... No, I would never agree to this!

I took a deep breath, tried to calm myself down, and said to Doctor Sun and Coroner Zhao, "There's no time to lose, let's set off immediately!"

Doctor Sun and Coroner Zhao exchanged a glance, each seeing the worry and determination in the other's eyes. They stopped trying to dissuade me and instead began preparing for departure.

Disguised as a caravan, the four of us left the palace overnight and embarked on the long journey to the border. Along the way, we slept in the open air and endured countless hardships. I witnessed firsthand the horrors of the epidemic, the suffering of the people, and felt the weight of the burden on my shoulders.

"Your Majesty, please have a drink of water." Doctor Sun handed me a water bag, his tone full of worry.

I took the water bag, but I didn't taste the sweetness of the water at all. Zhen Youcai's figure kept appearing in my mind, his voice, his smile, his heroism, and the gentle look in his eyes when he looked at me...

"Your Majesty, there seems to be a village ahead!" said Zhao the coroner, pointing to a forest in the distance.

I looked up and saw a few lights faintly peeking out from deep in the woods. We had been traveling for several days and were exhausted, but the sight of human habitation gave us a glimmer of hope.

"Let's go and take a look!" I said, urging the horses to go towards the village.

However, when we walked into the village, we were shocked by the scene before us. The village looked like it had been abandoned for a long time. The houses were dilapidated, the fields were barren, and weeds were everywhere. There was not a single living person in sight...

"Something seems off here..." I gazed at the strange scene before me, a sudden sense of unease rising within me. The sky darkened, the afterglow of the setting sun casting a shadow over the desolate village, adding an eerie touch to the dilapidated scene. The air was thick with the smell of decay, a blend of weeds and earth, leaving me feeling strangely oppressive.

"There's no one here..." Coroner Zhao's voice was particularly clear in the silence. "How could this happen?"

I dismounted and looked around, a growing sense of unease growing inside me. Most of the doors and windows of the houses were broken, weeds grew on the roofs, and some furniture and daily necessities were scattered on the ground, as if they had been through a catastrophe.

"Could it be that there is a plague and all the villagers have fled?" Doctor Sun guessed.

I shook my head, my gaze fixed on the fields beside me. They were overgrown with weeds, clearly having been abandoned for a long time. If it was just the plague, the villagers wouldn't have abandoned their crops when they fled.

"Something's wrong. Something must have happened here," I said in a deep voice. "Let's look around and be careful."

We walked cautiously through the village, leading our horses, taking every step with extreme caution. Suddenly, I noticed some strange symbols carved on the wall of a relatively intact house.

"Doctor Sun, look at what these are?" I asked, pointing at the symbols.

Doctor Sun stepped forward and carefully identified the symbols, his brows gradually furrowing. "These symbols... seem to be the patterns of some kind of herbal medicine, and they look very much like the kind we're looking for!"

My heart was shocked. Could it be that this village really has the herbs we are looking for?

"Let's go and take a look deeper into the village!" I said, and took the lead to walk deeper into the village.

After passing through several overgrown streets, we arrived at a relatively open space. There was a dry well in the open space, and beside the well grew a dense clump of plants. The leaves of those plants were exactly the same as those in the herbal atlas that Dr. Sun had shown me before!

"Found it! This is it!" I shouted excitedly, and walked quickly to the well, wanting to observe the plants carefully.

At this moment, a chaotic sound of footsteps came from not far away, accompanied by a burst of rough curses: "Search carefully! Don't let those villagers escape!"

Robber! My heart sank suddenly, and I subconsciously tightened my grip on the sword at my waist.

"Boss, look there!" a shrill voice rang out.

I looked in the direction of the voice and saw a group of ferocious robbers walking towards us, led by a bald man with a face full of flesh.

"Who are you? How dare you trespass into our territory!" The bald man glared at us fiercely, the big knife in his hand flashing with a cold light.

I took a deep breath, trying to stay calm, and said in a deep voice, "We are just merchants passing by. We saw that this place is deserted, so we came in to take a look."

"Merchants? You look like spies sent by the imperial court!" The bald man obviously didn't believe me and sneered, "Brothers, capture them!"

I thought to myself, this isn't going to end well today...

"Protect Doctor Sun and Coroner Zhao!" I shouted sternly, drawing the sword at my waist and rushing towards the group of robbers.

The bandits were clearly caught off guard by my sudden attack, and my swordplay was so sharp that they were forced to retreat repeatedly. I secretly rejoiced that all my years of diligent martial arts training were finally putting them to good use.

"Bitch, you're quite skilled!" The bald man roared when he saw my extraordinary skills, and swung his sword at me.

I dodged his attack by leaning sideways, my sword darting out like a snake, aiming for his face. The bald man frantically raised his knife to block, but the shock left his palm numb, and he retreated repeatedly.

"it is good!"

"Good fight!"

Suddenly, I heard cheers all around me, and I was startled. I realized that many villagers had suddenly poured out of the village, which had been deserted. They were holding hoes and sticks, with anger burning in their eyes, and they surrounded me and the bandits.

"You...you are not all..." I looked at these villagers in surprise, speechless for a moment.

"We all hid! Those bandits were too brutal, we didn't dare come out!" An old man stepped forward tremblingly, tears in his eyes, "Girl, thank you for saving us!"

I was shocked and realized that these villagers did not abandon their homes, they just chose to hide in fear.

"Fellow villagers, these bandits are committing all kinds of evil. We can no longer sit idly by and wait for death!" I raised my sword high and shouted, "Today, we must fight them!"

"Fight!"

"Protect your home!"

The villagers were outraged and rushed towards the robbers, waving their weapons.

A melee erupted, the sounds of shouting, screaming, and the clashing of weapons resounding throughout the village. Sword in hand, I weaved through the crowd, my blade blazing and the bandits falling to the ground.

"Bitch, I'm going to fight you!" Seeing that the situation was not good, the bald man rushed towards me with red eyes.

I calmly met his attack, and the sword in my hand stabbed out like lightning, hitting him in the chest.

The bald man screamed, and the big knife in his hand fell to the ground with a "bang". He widened his eyes in disbelief and his body slowly fell down.

"The boss is dead! The boss is dead!"

When the remaining bandits saw their leader being killed, they immediately lost their composure, dropped their weapons and armor, and fled in all directions.

"Don't chase the poor bandits!"

I shouted loudly to stop the villagers who wanted to chase us, turned to look at those villagers who were still in shock, and said in a deep voice: "Fellow villagers, although the bandits have been driven away, they will come back. We..."

Before I could finish my words, I felt a black screen in front of my eyes and my body fell backwards weakly.