Blind Princess

第十五章

The whole world whited out for a second, bringing Rong immediately to his feet once he could see again. he jumped onto the roofs towards the faint figures of Dongmei and Cheung. the Lan cultivators followed closely behind. They arrived right as Dongmei fell over, fainting for a millisecond.

"Dongmei!" Rong hurried to Cheung's side, checking Dongmei's pulse and temperature. Down below, the clamor of villagers filled the night as people came out to check what the flash was. Dongmei struggled to stand back on her feet, her legs just crumbling under her.

"Don'g try and move right now," Rong instructed the princess, Cheung taking her down to the alleyway. The moment they stepped out of the alleyway, a girl dressed in faded red grabbed Cheung's arms.

"Follow me. I can help the princess." the girl said, quickly leading the three young cultivators through a manor gate. "Daiyu!" A small girl appeared, "Prepare the back room." The small girl bowed and hurried away. "This way." the girl dressed in red led the three young adults through the courtyard, past the main house toward the back of the manor.

"Who are you?" Rong asked, following closely behind Cheung.

The girl shook her head, "Now is not the time for introductions. In here. You, Young Master Lan, you can put the princess down on the bed. Daiyu, tend to Wang Gongzhu for me." The girl slipped out as Cheung put Dongmei down on the bed. The small girl, Daiyu, immediately started wiping the sweat from Dongmei's brow.

After a while, the girl in red returned with a bowl of soup for Dongmei. "Here, princess, drink this." the girl in red lifted Dongmei's head, holding the bowl to her lips. Dongmei took a couple of sips before putting her head down. "Just rest, my princess." Dongmei complied, closing her eyes and falling quickly asleep. The girl in red whispered something to Daiyu. Daiyu nodded and hurried out of the room.

The girl in red turned to the two boys, both of their hands on their swords. "Who are you?" Rong demanded, his sword slightly coming out of its sheath.

"There is no need for violence, General Chang." Rong's sword flashed as he pulled it out, pointing it right under the girl's chin.

"How do you know my name?" the girl sighed and moved the sword point away.

"I am Huang Xiuying, the heir to the Siwang Clan of Baiyunju. Doctor and lang zhong." the girl said calmly. "And before you say anything about me being a Siwang, let me assure you that there is a difference. Siwang Clan of Baiyunju and other similar small village Siwang Clans are doctors. We have no interest in taking the throne and ruling the nation. Our priority is restoring life, not bringing death everywhere."

"We also view the Imperial Family as our rulers, and our rulers for the rest of life on this world." Rong opened his mouth, but Xiuying held a hand up, "And you might be wondering what we use our gift of death for. First, not everyone in the small village of Siwang Clans has power over death. Those who do use them to release dying people to spare them of misery. We use it to hunt for food and use it to dry plants for medical uses. We can also knock people out to let them sleep, especially if we doctors need to do surgery. Power over death has many good uses. Death is not always evil."

Cheung nodded his head wisely, putting a hand on Rong's shoulder when the young general was about to talk back. "I see...Tell me, guniang, how do you know our names?" Rong nodded vigorously in agreement, his red eyes flashing. Xiuying laughed softly.

"Even if we are a branching Siwang clan, that doesn't mean we are completely separate from the main branch. The leader of the Siwang Clan has sent out soldiers and notices about the princess, the general, and any Lan Clan cultivator. Word came out yesterday that the princess at the palace is not the real princess and that the young and famed general is missing."

Rong mumbled something under his breath, resheathing his sword and crossing his arms, glancing at Dongmei. Daiyu knocked on the screen door before she stepped in, placing a tray on the small table, bowing to Xiuying first then the two boys before hurrying out.

"My little sister has prepared her Winter Melon soup for you two. Please enjoy it. Both of your rooms are to the right of this room, first door. Please call me if you have any concerns." Xiuying bowed and left, leaving the boys to eat.

"I told her that the plan wouldn't work. Look, we're already one month into this, and the Emperor has already found out." Rong shook his head, Cheung chuckling.