In the hearts of the people of Xizhou, the Crown Prince was clearly different.
Xiang Ying noticed that after everyone heard about the Crown Prince's misfortune, they appeared as if facing a great calamity themselves, showing expressions of sorrow and despair.
Someone went ahead to gather more information, constantly shaking their head and sighing while discussing with others around.
Xiang Ying also listened and understood the whole story.
Crown Prince Xiang Li, after the Emperor Xizhou abandoned the city and fled, insisted on leading the troops to resist the enemy forces.
Unexpectedly, as Emperor Xizhou left, in order to take a large number of City Guard Army and good horses, he damaged the city gates.
The enemy forces exerted little effort and entered the Imperial Palace, capturing the Crown Prince after he was severely wounded.
Those military generals of Xizhou who risked their lives to resist, along with the Crown Prince, were escorted by the heavy troops of Nanyue.
But it seemed the Crown Prince was beyond saving, being unable to receive medical treatment.
The desire of those military generals to protect their lord was incredibly strong, the tension was intense, and they wanted to rise and resist several times.
The Deputy General in charge of the Exile Team thought it unsafe to continue like this, so he decided to place the dying Crown Prince in Xiang Ying's column, which mainly consisted of women and literati.
Realizing the whole situation, Xiang Ying held her forehead.
In this light, in the entire Western Zhou Imperial Family, Crown Prince Xiang Li appeared to be the only normal one.
Father was a cowardly emperor who fled first; the sister was flirting with a handsome man at the moment the country fell.
For the Crown Prince, it was utterly shameless—a cowardly father, a licentious sister, a crumbling nation falling apart.
Hard for him indeed.
Under the scorching sun, about an hour later, they saw Huang Huzi leading people, dragging a wooden cart over.
The fallen nobles on both sides of the path saw the bloody figure lying on it, and all of them broke into tears of despair.
"Your Highness!" "Crown Prince—!"
Cries arose one after another, and when Huang Huzi pulled the wooden cart past Xiang Ying and her group, she gasped in shock.
This was a bloody person, with multiple scars on the body; the most severe were the knees on both sides, turned into rotten flesh, a mass of bleeding tissue.
Xiang Li was unconscious, lips bloodless, with blood dripping from the wooden board onto the road.
Tao Xue's knees buckled, and she directly knelt down: "Your Highness..."
The three children also rushed over, holding onto the wooden cart and crying bitterly.
"Uncle, boohoo, Uncle!"
Xiang Yuanshuo's pale little face was filled with hatred, clenching his small fists: "Who did this to my uncle, may they die a miserable death!"
Speaking, the little boy, heedless of everything, pounced on Huang Huzi, preventing him from dragging the wooden cart away.
Huang Huzi grimaced in pain: "Damn kid, you..."
Halfway through cursing, he realized Xiang Ying was still there, so he could only push Xiang Yuanshuo back with a fierce expression.
"Go wail somewhere else, he's not dead yet, what's all this crying for!"
Xiang Ying immediately embraced Xiang Yuanshuo, looking down to see that the little guy was so angry his nose was bleeding.
She wiped his little face: "Don't worry, he won't die."
Xiang Yuanshuo still clenched his teeth in anger, but hearing Xiang Ying's words, he didn't continue to rush forward.
Huang Huzi was appointed by the Military Supervisor to be responsible for dragging the Crown Prince.
So he planned to extort money from this team of exiled nobles under his control.
Huang Huzi collected them one by one, cursing as he did: "Hurry up, hand over anything you have, don't make us search you again."
"I can't help you drag this former Crown Prince for nothing; if you don't give me silver, I'll just leave him by the roadside to die!"
Xiang Yuanshuo clenched his small fists: "You dare!"
When Huang Huzi passed by Xiang Ying, he paused, thinking of extorting money, but upon seeing Xiang Ying's icy gaze, he pulled back his hand.
Xiang Qianqian noticed this and was immediately displeased.
"Team leader, where do we have any silver to give you? We were searched thoroughly before we even set off."
"Big sister, the Crown Prince is already like this, aren't you going to express something? You were willing to sacrifice yourself for food, now you should take responsibility to appease the team leader and help the Crown Prince."
In Xiang Qianqian's mouth, a woman's chastity was worth nothing.
Xiang Ying laughed coldly, looking at Huang Huzi: "Going to the forest again? Fine."
But Huang Huzi, remembering her methods, broke into a cold sweat down his back.
He was still not cured of the poison she inflicted!
Huang Huzi hurriedly strode toward Xiang Qianqian, slapping her across the face.
"Ah—!" Xiang Qianqian fell to the ground, covering her face, looking aggrieved, "Why did you hit me?"
Huang Huzi pointed at her and cursed: "In my business, where does a slut like you get a say? If it wasn't for the jewelry you gave me before, I wouldn't be so polite to you."
Xiang Qianqian bit her lip but dared not say anything.
Xiang Ying's quiet voice came: "That's enough; if you don't leave now, when the Military Supervisor comes to rush us, it won't end well for anyone."
One sentence made Huang Huzi give up on continuing to extort silver.
Anger and resentment filled his heart, and he hated Xiang Ying so much he gnashed his teeth, but could not do anything as she held his lifeline, so he had to comply.
"Damn it, so unlucky, move out!"
Huang Huzi cursed as he ordered the soldiers to drag the wooden cart and start the journey with the exile team.
The scorching sun blazed down, scorching the earth.
The early summer heat made people's mouths dry.
The mountain road was bumpy, the Crown Prince on the wooden cart must have felt even worse.
The three children didn't follow Xiang Ying anymore; instead, they clung tightly to the edge of the wooden cart, following and softly calling "Uncle" with tears streaming down their faces.
Tao Xue said, "When the Princess was busy before, it was His Highness the Crown Prince who taught the little princes their lessons and knowledge... "
So the three children were closer to the Crown Prince.
Their mother didn't care for them, but this uncle took the responsibility willingly.
Such a man of loyalty and righteousness, Xiang Ying admired him and decided to save his life.
After walking all morning, Xiang Ying showed no change of expression, while the others were already panting heavily, their faces pale.
They hadn't eaten, so naturally they had no strength.
Fortunately, the Military Supervisor ahead ordered a stop to rest, the horses needed water, so the large exile team stopped by a creek.
The weather was oppressively hot, some exiles couldn't hold back, and plunged into the creek to drink thirstily.
The soldiers dragging the Crown Prince were exhausted, putting down the wooden cart, and went off to cool themselves.
Seizing the opportunity, Xiang Ying went over and first poured a lot of water into Xiang Li's mouth.
Then she soaked a handkerchief in the creek water and wiped Xiang Li's cheeks and arms.
The blood quickly stained the handkerchief, so Xiang Ying washed it clean in the creek and repeated her actions.
She examined the wounds on Xiang Li's body.
Too many stab wounds, some of them seemed to be venting anger, varying sizes, likely more than a hundred in total.
For him to last till now, he indeed had a strong will to survive; if not treated, he truly would bleed to death.
But the most severe wounds were on Xiang Li's knees.
The clothes were stuck to the wounds, almost adhering to the flesh.
If not treated, they would fully adhere, and tearing the clothes would peel the skin off.
Xiang Ying didn't hesitate, tearing off his clothes with her bare hands.
Xiang Yuanshuo panicked: "What are you doing!"
Xiang Ying didn't stop her hands, her tone calm: "If you don't want his clothes to grow into the flesh, they must be torn off."
Xiang Yuanshuo was stunned for a moment, then without hesitation, climbed onto the wooden cart, and his small hands began tearing at the pants.
Xiang Ying saw him tearing more and more, and quickly stopped him.
"Leave some dignity for your uncle! Leave the fabric from the hip bone to the buttocks, just expose the knees."
This little guy almost stripped Xiang Li completely!
Xiang Yuanshuo's little face was serious: "Oh!"
Xiang Ying bent over, using a handkerchief to quickly wash Xiang Li's body, cleaning away the bloodstains.
In no time, another pair of hands joined her.
The person used a clean handkerchief, wetting it to wipe Xiang Li's arms.
Xiang Ying looked up, it was the daughter from the Lin family of Qintianjian, who had spoken to her before.
It seemed she was their Second Miss.
The other person said nothing, so Xiang Ying naturally didn't speak either.
The two of them cooperated with an unspoken understanding, Second Miss Lin wiped the upper body, Xiang Ying focused on below the knees, while Tao Xue constantly fed water into Xiang Li's mouth.
A moment later, some exiled nobles began taking off their outer robes, bringing them over.
"Elder Princess, place our clothes under the Crown Prince; this way, the bumps on the road will be easier for him."
Xiang Ying looked at them: "Alright."
In the face of national disaster, Xiang Li's act of not abandoning the citizens and subjects truly won the people's hearts.
Before departing, Xiang Ying took advantage when no one noticed, took out golden sore medicine from her space, and sprinkled it on Xiang Li's wounds.
She used the best medicine from the palace for him; as long as it didn't rain, hopefully, he could pull through.
However, Xiang Ying was still too optimistic.
In the afternoon, rain fell from the sky.