turmoil

Under the silent gaze of the former commander of Jinyiwei, Hou Dingbian's temples were soon drenched with cold sweat. After careful consideration, he decided to choose the lesser of two evils—snatch the medicine bowl with his hands, and drink it up on his neck.

Then I was so miserable that I couldn't speak for a long time.

After a stick of incense, the effect of Mafeisan took effect, Yang Fan fell back limply, was caught by Zhang Jingche halfway, and was gently carried back to the couch.

"If you can't keep it up, it doesn't matter if you sleep for a while," the former commander of Jinyiwei repented decisively, threw aside his "stay awake" exhortation, and said gently and indulgently, "Don't worry, I can handle it."

Yang Fan was numb all over and couldn't speak, so he could only grin at him stiffly.

Zhang Jingche didn't intend to complete the operation alone. Soon, Wang Xuan walked in and took over the assistant's job very skillfully: "We are running out of distilled wine..."

Zhang Jingche glanced: "It's okay, it's enough."

Wang Xuan said again: "Look at the location of the wound. The hidden weapon is very close to the main blood vessel. Once it is pierced, it will cause a lot of bleeding in a very short period of time. Yang Hou will lose blood and become comatose in light cases, and in severe cases..."

Zhang Jingche glanced at her, and Wang Xuan's voice suddenly stopped.

Yang Fan couldn't make a sound, he could only roll his eyes, expressing his doubts with overworked eyes: What's the seriousness?

Zhang Jingche swallowed the diagnosis of "may cause leg amputation, or even die from blood loss and shock", and covered Dingbianhou's eyelids with a hand wearing a gut glove: "It's okay, you can rest at ease. "

Although Yang Fan was numb all over, he didn't completely lose consciousness. He could feel the coolness of the blade cutting through the flesh and cutting the wound, and even heard a soft "chi" sound when the blood spattered out.

Yang Fan turned his head with all his strength, and found that at such a short distance, blood was sprayed on Zhang Jingche's face.But he didn't care, he just turned his face and gestured.Wang Xuan stretched out her hand with ease, and wiped the blood off his face.

Zhang Jingche had no other distractions, only heard two "chokes", and the drawn hidden weapon fell into the copper basin.It was indeed a very rare sharp weapon, with two sharp ends, blood grooves on three sides, and barbs hanging from the edges.However, at this moment, none of the three people present paid attention to these details, and all their attention was on that thin blood vessel.

Zhang Jingche quickly hooked out the blood vessels, and then took the prepared gut from Wang Xuan's hand, and threaded the needles on the blood veins, the precision was comparable to that of an embroiderer.Wang Xuan tried hard to see his movements clearly, but Zhang Jingche's speed was so fast that he almost turned into an afterimage. It seemed that in the blink of an eye, winding seams had been left on the thick veins of his fingers.

"How did he do it?" Wang Xuan wondered in disbelief, "Why is his hand so steady?"

When she was distracted for a moment, Zhang Jingche's hand had already reached out.Wang Xuan regained consciousness, and handed the dagger that had been sterilized by the fire to Zhang Jingche's hand.

Suturing blood vessels is only the first step. The next step is to clean the wound, cut off the rotten flesh, disinfect and apply medicine, and finally suture the wound.After a series of procedures, every step is like dancing on the tip of a knife.Wang Xuan, a bystander, squeezed her hands in cold sweat, but Zhang Jingche did not rush, his fingers were as steady as a rock from the beginning to the end.

It wasn't until the last stitch was finished that Wang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief, reminiscing about the operation process just now, and felt that he had benefited a lot: "Master...is this considered a success?"

The hidden weapon was successfully removed, the blood vessels were sutured in time, and the amount of bleeding was kept to a minimum. In Wang Xuan's view, this was already a complete victory.

But Zhang Jingche knew that this was just the beginning.

"Yang Hou was eroded by the poison and his physique was weakened. The real difficulty lies not in the suturing operation, but the recovery after the operation," Zhang Jingche said, "I will take care of Yang Hou personally tonight, as long as Yang Hou does not have a fever in the past three days Symptoms of coma, even if the difficulty is over."

Wang Xuan said cautiously: "Master has come all the way, and he didn't take a lot of rest, so let's take a break. I'm here to watch, if symptoms appear..."

"If symptoms appear, things will be troublesome," Zhang Jingche said gently but unquestionably, "I've made up my mind, so there's no need to argue."

Wang Xuan dared to be rude to Ding Ru'an, but she never dared to treat Zhang Jingche with the same attitude.Her courage was only enough to tactfully raise a question, but after being dismissed by Zhang Jingche, she didn't dare to fart, quickly cleaned up the mess on the floor, and left with her tail between her legs.

Dingbianhou has been tempered for many years in the battlefield, his physical fitness is excellent, and his fate is even more excellent.Others went through such an operation, which was tantamount to being on the verge of life and death, but he woke up the next day, with no fever or discomfort, and before he could open his mouth, his stomach roared.

At that time, Zhang Jingche was leaning on the corner of the couch and taking a nap, and was immediately awakened by this blow.He rubbed his eyes, sat up lazily, raised his hand and lightly touched Yang Fan's forehead: "Fortunately, I don't have a fever."

Yang Fan narrowed his eyes slightly, seeing that white hand slipping away from his eyes, in a flash, he didn't know which muscle was wrong, so he stretched out his hand quickly, and grabbed Zhang Jingche's wrist.

Zhang Jingche was caught by him like an iron hoop, tried to struggle, but found that he couldn't move, so he simply let him hold it: "Why, is there any discomfort?"

Yang Fan realized that it was wrong to do so, but he was reluctant to let go. The man's wrist was too delicate, like the finest silk. After Dingbian Hou was still interested, he gently scratched the inside of his wrist with his thumb.

Zhang Jingche was a little helpless, but he didn't feel offended, he just slapped Yang Fanjingui on the forehead: "Okay, don't be so excited if you know you have saved your life, just lie down honestly, I'll get you something to eat .”

Yang Fan was just recovering from his injury, Zhang Jingche originally wanted to get some light porridge, but unfortunately this is not a prosperous imperial capital with everything one should expect, but a barren land in the northwest.He turned around and came in with milk tea and noodles. Yang Fan stretched his neck to look at it, and was a little dissatisfied at once: "Why are they all vegetarian? There is no meat at all, and the birds are fading out of his mouth!"

Zhang Jingche stared at him reproachfully: "You just woke up, the residual poison has not been cleared, and the spleen and stomach are still weak..."

Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Ding Bianhou who faded out of the bird: "Isn't it just a cut in the leg? It's not a disembowell! I think I was stationed at the border and got an arrow in the chest, so what should I do?" , what to eat, what to eat, and I didn't see..."

Zhang Jingche tore a piece of bread, stuffed it into Yang Fan's mouth, and stopped what he hadn't finished saying: "That was before! With me watching from now on, these careless problems have to be corrected!"

Dingbianhou, who was scolded, fell silent.

Yang Fan has been fighting at the border for many years, and his physical fitness is indeed excellent. He rested in the tent for one day, and he was alive and well the next day.Zhang Jingche couldn't resist the revived Dingbianhou, so he had to get a carriage and drag him around the Qidal Exchange Market.

"The Qidal trade market has been developed in the past two years." Zhang Jingche didn't ask Yang Fan's recent situation. The team had to be plucked by the imperial court and the Northwest camp, and some merchants simply found another way and set up a small market in Qidal."

Dingbianhou touched his nose in embarrassment.

He knew that Zhang Jingche couldn't hide his private actions - in the past two years, the imperial court's restrictions on the Northwest Camp have become more and more severe, Yang Fan can't just sit back and watch the soldiers starve to death, but can only make money in different ways.In addition to paying taxes to the imperial court, merchants who come and go have to be exploited by him. Although Marquis Dingbian carefully controls the proportion of making money, he can't stand the high tax, and many merchants who are only profit-seeking take risks.

Zhang Jingche is not a clear stream in the two courts, and he will not catch Dingbianhou's tricks, so he naturally changed the subject: "Qidale Exchange has robbed a lot of business in the Western Regions. In the past two years, I have sent people here a lot. , it’s just that Zidal is too messy, and it took a long time to find out some clues.”

Yang Fan calmed down his expression: "I would like to hear the details."

Zhang Jingche pointed on the coffee table and drew a triangle: "This place is located at the junction of the Central Plains, Huihe, and Beile, but I have observed carefully that although there are many Hu merchants coming and going, there are very few caravans from Beile. , which is unreasonable in itself.”

Yang Fan said without hesitation: "If something goes wrong, there must be a demon. Beile is not a place with abundant supplies. How could there be no caravan to exchange items?"

He paused, and added: "Unless the new Khan of Bei Le issued a ban!"

"There are two possibilities," Zhang Jingche had already thought about it, and now he said it in an orderly manner, "Either Bei Lexin Khan is arrogant and feels that there is no need to send a caravan to exchange goods..."

Yang Fan pondered for a moment, then shook his head: "Improbable! Although Beile has always looked down on the Central Plains, the new Beile Khan is not good at doing such stupid things."

"That's because Beile Khan has a conspiracy. He doesn't want to be too conspicuous, so he deliberately controls the frequency of Beile caravans appearing in Qidal," Zhang Jingche said. "The question is...why did he do this?"

Yang Fan is not a single-minded stunned young man. Zhang Jingche mentioned it a little bit, and he has already reacted: "He is deliberately avoiding suspicion! The exchange market is right under Beile's nose, but he is deliberately avoiding suspicion, which shows that the people in Beile are not small! "

Zhang Jingche put his fingers together and tapped lightly on the case table: "I have heard a little about Yuanzhou's situation these years. The court's money and food are not abundant, and they are peeled off layer by layer. The military rations sent to the northwest are decreasing year by year... But what I can't figure out is , now that he has a clear mind and has witnessed the chaos in northern Xinjiang, he will not understand the importance of the Northwest Camp. Even if he wants to limit military power, will he use this method of self-destructing the Great Wall?"

Yang Fan heard the implication in his silent voice, and a layer of cold sweat broke out on his back.

"You mean, someone exchanged the military rations of the Northwest Camp, smuggled them to the Qidal Exchange Market, and traded with the Beile people?" Yang Fan said Zhang Jingche's unfinished subtext, "How is it possible... this is not, it is not Chili Climb outside?"

"This is just a conjecture, but it's not without trace," Zhang Jingche said calmly. "There are only two places that can swallow such a large amount of food, either Liaodong or Northwest...Although the climate in the Northeast is bitter and cold, the land It is fertile, and many military settlements have been reclaimed. In recent years, Sanhan and Jurchen have stopped, and the consumption of food is actually not that big. Then, there is only one answer."

Yang Fan lifted the curtain of the car and took a look outside. The cloud-like tent was reflected in his eyes, like a haze under the hood.

Zhang Jingche suddenly grabbed the curtain of the car, cutting off Yang Fan's vision of the distance: "Don't look, let's go."

Yang Fan was taken aback: "Where are you going?"

Zhang Jingche smiled: "Master Hou can't stay still? I'll take you out for a walk."

Yang Fan inexplicably sensed a hint of danger from the smile of the former commander of Jinyiwei.

The carriage drove around the exchange market twice, then suddenly left the camp and headed for the depths of the desert.The accompanying guards looked at each other, seeing that his Lord Hou showed no sign of dissent, so he wisely shut his mouth and followed silently.

Yang Fan looked at Zhang Jingche's face, and secretly opened a corner of the car curtain, only to see that the sky was approaching dusk, and the sky was full of glowing clouds.Going forward, Da Mo opened his unobstructed arms and embraced the two uninvited guests.

Yang Fan slid his throat with difficulty, and shrank into the corner of the car: "You... What do you want to bring me here?"

Zhang Jingche smiled softly: "Why, Master Hou is afraid that I will sell you?"

In fact, Yang Fan's heart was pounding, and he wanted to pretend not to care: "Cut! This Marquis's status is precious and hard to change. Who dares to buy it? Who can afford it!"

Zhang Jingche twirled his fingers subconsciously, as if he wanted to play with something. Seeing this, Yang Fan took out the folding fan from his sleeve and stuffed it into Zhang Jingche's hand.

The Commander of Jin Yiwei stroked the folding fan he had not seen for many years, and smiled almost imperceptibly.

"The Marquis of Dingbian is my chaodongliang, of course I can't just buy it casually," he rubbed his upper lip with great interest, "Dare to ask Lord Hou, what is the asking price?"

Yang Fan didn't seem to understand his teasing, and really thought about it seriously: "If it's someone else, one or two million taels of silver is too cheap, but if it's Mr. Zhang..."

Zhang Jingche flipped his wrist, and the folding fan boldly raised Dingbianhou's chin: "How?"

Yang Fan was aroused by him and was full of longing. He spent countless words and told himself to be patient and not to be in a hurry. He would rather moisten things silently and have a long stream of water than chase after him hard and touch the cold and hard thread in the other party's heart.

But he didn't expect Zhang Jingche to make such a statement. To Dingbian Hou, this was like opening a gap in the door that was thought to be strictly guarded.

The carriage stopped at this moment, Zhang Jingche took it away when he saw it was good, and jumped out of the carriage first, followed by Yang Fan.The personal guard got off his horse and wanted to step forward to help him, but was dragged back by his companion.

"Do you have any discernment?" The older companion whispered, "Look at the situation, the commander-in-chief obviously has a good conversation with Mr. Zhang, are you going up now to fight?"

The young companion suddenly realized, and silently shrank back.

Yang Fan walked two steps forward, only to find that the carriage came to a sand dune, with thousands of miles of yellow sand under his feet, and the night sky above his head, thousands of stars swayed and rose from behind the sand dune, illuminating the night sky.

Yang Fan was stunned for a moment: "This is... Kongming Lantern?"

Zhang Jingche smiled slightly: "One or two million taels of silver, I can't get it out for the time being, and one or two hundred Kongming lanterns are still not a problem... Hou Ye, may I give you a piece of starry sky?"

Yang Fan's throat was slightly choked, but his face was pretending to be indifferent: "This is really a great gift... You will not be rewarded for no merit. It is really uncomfortable for me to accept such a big favor for no reason."

Zhang Jingche turned the folding fan and patted him lightly on the shoulder: "Since I feel uneasy, Hou Ye... why don't you promise me with your body?"

He spoke lightly, but Dingbian Hou was almost choked to death by his own saliva.

"What, what did he say?" Yang Fan thought incredulously, "I promise you with your body... Is that what I mean?"