"..."

"When I went outside, there was no one there, and I was almost frantic, so I rushed straight to the front hall and even bumped into the Princely Heir. Fortunately, he didn’t mind and immediately brought people to the backyard."

Shang Ruyi frowned: "Outside, not a single person?"

Wo Xue shook his head: "No one."

"..."

Shang Ruyi’s brow furrowed even tighter.

She had originally hoped that when Wo Xue went out to seek help, he could catch their unguarded moment, because even if those windows were securely nailed when they weren’t looking, the door must have been locked from the outside after she entered the room, and the fire was set after that.

Unexpectedly, Wo Xue was still too late when he went out.

Perhaps because the other party thought, with the sedative medicine like Hook Vine and the massive fire outside, when the sun was setting, anyone looking from afar wouldn’t even think that house was on fire, no one would intervene, and inside was a group of old, weak, sick, and women, they had no chance of survival.

That’s why they didn’t leave anyone to monitor.

Thinking of this, Shang Ruyi’s heart was filled with anger, but she could only grit her teeth and continued walking forward. Before long, she reached that bustling courtyard — the courtyard where Yu Wenye had been recovering. Because of her orders, no one dared approach, but after the fire, Yin Changyue, Dai Junliang, and even Song Yu, Ma Xu and others, all gathered here. Everyone stood solemnly outside the room’s courtyard.

Hearing footsteps, everyone turned and immediately greeted her.

"General’s wife."

"Why has the lady come here? You should be resting."

"The Great General, he —"

Seeing Song Yu and Ma Xu, Shang Ruyi’s eyes, already red from pain, grew even redder.

But at this time, she still gritted her teeth, suppressing the anger in her heart, only saying in a deep voice: "I’m fine. How is the General? I need to see him."

Dai Junliang took a step forward and said softly, "The General’s several attendants and personal soldiers are inside, you can rest assured. We just found a few doctors in the city to come over, but —"

"But what?"

"It’s just,"

Dai Junliang hesitated repeatedly, seemingly reluctant to speak, until Song Yu on the side stepped forward and said earnestly: "The Great General’s condition is not good, madam, you need to —" 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Shang Ruyi’s bloodshot eyes glared at him.

Somehow, Song Yu was forced to retreat two steps by her glare.

Yin Changyue furrowed brows stepped forward and said, "Madam, go in and take a look, we are also finding solutions."

Shang Ruyi took a deep breath and stepped forward to knock on the door. Heavy footsteps sounded from within, like someone hammering the ground with a heavy mallet, then the door opened, revealing a little face smudged by smoke and fire, eyes reddened with tears.

It was Shantong’er.

Seeing Shang Ruyi, he widened his round eyes in surprise: "Sister Ruyi! You’re okay!"

Shang Ruyi looked down at him. His face was still covered with a veil, the kind He Wenzhu had used before. She looked up inside, where a screen divided the inner and outer rooms. Mu Xian, Cheng Qiao, and others were guarding outside the screen, also wearing veils soaked in medicine. Through the screen, two figures were faintly busy around Yu Wenye’s bedside.

Shang Ruyi didn’t say much, just nodded and was about to enter.

Shantong’er hurriedly stopped her: "Sister Ruyi, you can’t come in."

Shang Ruyi frowned: "Why not?"

Mu Xian and others saw her, quickly approached and saluted: "Young Madam, the doctor just said, the General’s condition has worsened, ordinary people should not enter this room without this veil, but the veils were just used up."

"..."

"Young Madam, your body is already weak, perhaps wait a bit longer —"

Shang Ruyi immediately furrowed her brow: "No, I need to see Feng Chen!"

"Young Madam..."

Just as everyone was about to dissuade Shang Ruyi, suddenly, a calm voice sounded from behind: "Use this."

"..."

Shang Ruyi shivered slightly.

She slowly turned around to see Yu Wenqian standing behind her, reaching out a hand.

In his hand was a strange object, a rectangular, thick piece of cotton cloth the size of half a face, layered and stitched many times, with a cotton string on each side, forming crescent-shaped small ear loops.

"What is this?"