Chapter 240

At this time, Ning Si also walked over with a smile, "What A Ying said is right. I examined those flame marks carefully just now. It seems like they were imprinted on instead of carved, which means someone deliberately wanted to make it look like these dead people were from the Qilin Army."

Gu Ying's heart stirred slightly. Before coming here, she had already prepared for the worst.

All the way here, after witnessing these disasters and dead people with her own eyes, the anxious heart in her chest gradually calmed down.

A strong intuition told her that the Prince must be alright.

In her previous life, although she didn't have much contact with him, she had heard of his reputation for being extremely cunning and his unparalleled strategies.

He was the God of War of Dong Li, the cold-faced King Yama who struck fear into the hearts of the Qiang Tribe. How could he be defeated by a mere Jiang Yin?

Tears rolled in Hui An's eyes. He hurriedly looked up to stop them from falling. Upon closer inspection, he realized that some of the corpses did look unfamiliar.

He angrily wiped away his tears. "Nonsense! I said... How could our Qilin Army brothers die here? If we were to die, it would be on the battlefield!"

Not far away, when she heard this, Yin Lan's heart trembled slightly. For some reason, she suddenly felt uncomfortable.

After passing Banma Slope, Gu Ying's group headed east.

Sinkholes caused by the avalanche could be seen everywhere, with broken walls and remnants of buildings everywhere. Many displaced commoners on the road were slowly fleeing towards Bianjing.

Most people they encountered along the way were fleeing towards Bianjing. Very few were going against the flow towards Yueyang like them.

The road was rugged and difficult. In the end, Gu Ying's group had no choice but to abandon their horses and proceed on foot by climbing the mountain.

Only when they arrived in Songyang County did they see some more lively crowds. The few of them rested in the county for a while, purchased some supplies, and finally spent a lot of money to buy a carriage to continue towards Yueyang.

Although the heavy snow had stopped, the carriage still had some difficulty moving on the road.

Gu Ying slept in the carriage last night. The stabbing pain in her stomach finally eased a little.

Yin Lan and Ning Si sat by her side. Seeing her awake, Yin Lan quickly brought the water bladder to her lips, "A Ying, are you thirsty? Drink some water first and take your medicine."

This medicine was prepared by Aunt Yu before they left. She said it could prevent cold and protect their inner Qi and blood from dispersing. If they encountered poisonous bugs, snakes or ants, it could help them detect and avoid them in time.

One kind was jet black. It was specially prepared for Gu Ying to better nourish her body. The other brown pills were for Yin Lan and Ning Si to take.

Aunt Yu's medicine was quite effective. When they felt low on energy, taking one pill could restore a lot of vitality.

Gu Ying nodded, sat up from inside the carriage, leaned against the carriage wall, tipped her head back and swallowed the black pill handed over by Yin Lan, then guzzled a large gulp of water.

As the icy cold water entered her stomach, she could clearly feel a stab of pain in her lower abdomen.

Seeing her frown, Yin Lan hurriedly leaned out of the carriage, "Lord Huai, let's stop and take a break before moving forward. My Lady is uncomfortable and may need to rest a while."

Ever since the two of them cleared the air, Yin Lan felt that Huai An was somehow different from before when facing him. He no longer spoke gently to her, nor was he joking around. In work matters, he was strictly professional and businesslike, no longer intimate, always appearing as a stranger.

They returned to the relationship dynamic when they first met - he was the Prince's attendant and she was a palace maid.

It seemed like there was now a layer of hazy gauze between them. Other than polite aloofness, there was nothing more.

Seeing Huai An ignoring her, Yin Lan's heart ached. She called out to him again. Only then did Huai An react slowly, his indifferent gaze turning towards the carriage as he glanced emotionlessly at Yin Lan's pale little face.

In the past dozen days or so, the horses were exhausted from traveling long distances while everyone had been missing meals and living poorly.

Yin Lan had also visibly lost a lot of weight that could be seen with the naked eye.

He suppressed the heartache in his heart and expressionlessly pulled on the reins to stop the carriage, finding a relatively clean location to start a fire. Then without saying a word, he turned and left to find some dry firewood.

After the carriage stopped, Gu Ying's complexion did get much better. She closed her eyes to adjust for a while, then held onto Yin Lan and Ning Si as she got off the carriage.

This was a rare snow-free open space. Yin Lan brought over some rocks and laid down cushions.

Gu Ying and Ning Si sat down in succession. "Yin Lan, don't be busy. Come sit with us and take a break."

Yin Lan was not pretentious and sat down, listening to her two mistresses chat while pouring cold water into a kettle to boil over the fire.

It was not easy to drink something hot in the wilderness. Moreover, her Lady's body was deteriorating day by day for some unknown reason.

She had to keep a closer eye on her and not let her body collapse before they could find the Prince.

Seeing Yin Lan busying about silently, Gu Ying smiled helplessly, "Yin Lan, didn't I say, when we're outside, there's no need to pamper us so much. I can also drink cold water and eat cold buns."

She and Ning Si were both dressed as men with thick padded jackets that commoners wore in winter.

Ning Si rubbed her flushed cheeks and poked at the fire with a wooden stick. "Me too. I wasn't raised as some young noble daughter in my grandmother's house. I know how to climb mountains, climb trees, dig mud and dig out bird eggs. My grandmother always said I was a naughty monkey, and I only started behaving properly after growing up."

Yin Lan grinned. "This servant just had nothing to do, so I wanted to heat up the water and buns to warm my Lady and young miss's stomachs."

Sitting by the fire, Gu Ying cupped her hands around her mouth and breathed out a few puffs of air. The corners of her lips curled into a smile as she took the bun and toasted it over the fire. After a while, she started feeling somewhat worried.

Since her rebirth, she had started practicing martial arts and strengthening her body, without slacking off for a single day after marrying into Prince's manor. During breaks, she would diligently take medicines to nourish her body.

Yet when she went out this time, it turned out that she was the one dragging everyone down... Her stomach pains were becoming more and more frequent... If they traveled overnight for too long, she would faintly bleed down there...

Her menstruation period had passed, so by right there shouldn't be this situation.

Yin Lan had asked her once if she was pregnant. But how could she possibly conceive in her condition?

Her period had ended, and after that she did not sleep with the Prince again, so it was absolutely impossible for her to get pregnant.

Moreover, when she conceived in her previous life, in the first month, she felt all kinds of nausea, dry heaving and wanting to vomit all the time. In severe cases she couldn't eat anything, and the smell of oil fumes from food would make her want to throw up, not to mention being listless in spirit, only able to stay in bed every day to rest.

Now in this situation, she was also very helpless, only able to force herself to stay spirited every day, relying on the belief of finding the Prince to persevere.

"Sister Si, how much further is it from here to Yueyang City?"

Ning Si looked ahead. "Not far. If we travel by carriage, we can reach Yueyang City after another full day and night."