The news of the rebellion of the Wuyun bandits reached the capital, making Rong Sui finally understand the late emperor's words back then: "Raising a tiger only to invite trouble."
It was rumored that this was a suddenly emerging rebel force. The commoners in the neighboring towns suffered terribly from their atrocities of rape, looting and killing. The prefect of Wuyun was unable to resist and asked the Rong Family Army for help. Led by Rong Heng, the General Conquering the West, the Rong Family Army brought tens of thousands of troops to suppress the rebellion.
Unfortunately, the rebels were extremely cruel. In order to protect the commoners, the Rong Family Army fell into the rebels' trap. By the time they managed to turn the situation around, General Rong Heng had disappeared without a trace.
In a small border town, a female doctor was taking the pulse of an old woman in front of her. Her hand rested on the woman's wrist, but she didn't move for a long time.
The old woman was impatient and couldn't help urging, "Doctor Zeng, is there something seriously wrong with my health?"
The doctor came back to her senses, quickly shook her head, frowned and carefully took the pulse again. Then she wrote out a prescription. "It's nothing serious. This prescription is for the heat syndrome of excessive vaginal discharge. Take three doses and you'll be fine."
The old woman thanked her profusely and then said, "My sister - in - law said that you're a well - known divine doctor and you even met the late emperor once?"
The female doctor replied vaguely and didn't call the next woman in line for a long time.
Instead, she heard two women queuing not far away talking about the hottest current event.
"Have you heard? The General Conquering the West is missing. Rumor has it that he was captured by the rebels, who intend to use him to control the Rong family."
"Come on. Who are the Rong family? The general would never live on in humiliation."
"It's a pity for such a good general. Tsk, tsk, tsk. I heard that the general is only in his early twenties. He had such a great future ahead of him."
The woman queuing behind couldn't wait any longer. She stepped forward and sat on the chair. "Doctor Zeng, Doctor Zeng? Is it my turn?"
The female doctor's face turned pale. It took her a long time to regain her composure, but she refused to examine the patient. She just asked, "Is what they said true?"
The woman looked back at the chatting women and nodded. "It's definitely true. The news has spread everywhere. I heard that the Rong family has even hung up white mourning flags."
The female doctor's eyes turned red. She still shook her head in disbelief and forced a smile. "It's impossible. The General Conquering the West is the guardian of the Great Zhou. How could he be captured? It must be false news. Just like a few years ago, there was also a rumor that the second branch of the Rong family all committed suicide."
The woman looked at her as if she were a fool. "Doctor, you must be so devoted to medicine that you don't often hear the outside news. The general is really pitiful. He has dedicated himself to the country and the people. Those bandits deserve to be hacked into pieces."
The female doctor stood up and said, "I'm sorry. I'm not feeling well. I can't see any more patients today."
Without caring about the long queue, she packed up her things and walked out.
The shopkeeper of the clinic quickly ran over. "Doctor Zeng, what are you doing? Didn't we agree that you would be seeing patients for three days?"
The female doctor turned around, tears rolling down her face. She couldn't hold back her sobs.
The shopkeeper was startled and didn't dare to stop her. He just flattered her gently, telling her to go back and rest first and come back to see patients when she felt better. Then he went to the shop and posted a new notice, saying that Doctor Zeng was ill and couldn't see patients for the next few days.
The border town was abuzz with discussions about the bandits' atrocities. People were worried that without the General Conquering the West, the Rong Family Army might not be able to resist the bandits and that the bandits would come to their town.
There was also another piece of news. The female doctor from the Zeng family, who was originally going to see patients in the town, suddenly got an infectious abscess and couldn't see people. Since there were a lot of medicinal herbs on the Western Mountain adjacent to the town, Doctor Zeng simply moved to a village at the foot of the Western Mountain to treat her abscess and search for herbs at the same time.
The villagers were very kind - hearted, and Doctor Zeng was also a warm - hearted person. If she heard that a neighbor was ill with a minor or moderate illness, she would put the appropriate medicinal herbs in front of their door and tell them through the door how to decoct the medicine. She didn't even charge a consultation fee.
Moreover, the prescriptions were always very effective. So the villagers trusted her even more.
One day, when Doctor Zeng came back from the mountain, she saw Aunt Daniu from next door greeting her. "Doctor Zeng, you're back. Your Uncle Niu went fishing in the river at the foot of the mountain today and brought back a seriously injured man. Could you please take a look?"
Doctor Zeng was curious. Although the villagers were warm - hearted, how could they dare to casually rescue an unknown person?
Aunt Daniu explained, "The man was carrying a plaque. Your Uncle Niu can read. He saw that there was a character 'Rong' on it. He thought the man might be from the Rong Family Army."
The Rong Family Army were all good people who protected the country and the people in the hearts of the commoners. If they happened to meet a member of the army, they would surely save him.
But from Aunt Daniu's expression, it was obvious that she didn't hold much hope. She was just trying to save him as a last resort.
Doctor Zeng had told the outside world that she had a poisonous abscess and couldn't get too close to people. She just asked Uncle Daniu to put the man under the tree outside the house and she went over to take a look.
Although the man's clothes were tattered, it seemed that Uncle and Aunt Daniu had tidied him up a bit. He wasn't too messy. When Doctor Zeng saw the man, she was greatly shocked.
"Sizhong?"
Rong Heng woke up groggily. He saw the beautiful scenery outside the window, with birds singing and flowers blooming, and the curling smoke from the kitchen chimneys. There was also a strong smell of medicine in the air.
He looked around. It was an ordinary rural courtyard. How did he end up here?
The curtain of the door was lifted. A long - braided girl came in with a bowl of medicine. She smiled at him. "You're awake. Great. Drink this bowl of medicine quickly."
Rong Heng looked at her warily and asked, "Who are you? Where is this?"
The girl looked surprised and pointed at herself. "Don't you recognize me?"
Rong Heng asked blankly, "Should I recognize you?"
The girl tilted her head and looked at him for a long time. "Do you remember who you are?"
Rong Heng was stunned. Who was he? Why couldn't he remember? He couldn't remember anything!
The girl burst out laughing. She carried the medicine bowl over and put it on the bedside table. "Drink the medicine quickly. I have to go and cook."
Rong Heng quickly grabbed her. "Who are you? No, who am I?"
A sly look flashed in the girl's eyes. She pretended to be heart - broken. "Don't you remember me? I'm your wife!"
"Wife?" Rong Heng's confusion deepened. After thinking for a long time, he tentatively asked, "Are you Ruoyun?"
The girl was stunned. "You remember me?"
Rong Heng shook his head honestly. "I don't remember."
The girl asked again, "Then how do you remember that I'm Ruoyun?"
Rong Heng still shook his head. "I don't know. But you said you're my wife. My wife should be Ruoyun, Zeng Ruoyun."
While Rong Heng was still curious, the girl threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly.
Later, he learned that his name was A Heng and he was the husband of the divine doctor Zeng Ruoyun who had been separated from her for three years.
Every day, Ruoyun would go out to treat patients, and he would go up the mountain to chop firewood and dig herbs. The days were simple but fulfilling.
Every evening, A Heng would light a fire, move a stool and sit in front of the door, looking down the path from the town, waiting for Ruoyun's figure.
When he saw Ruoyun, he felt at ease.
Ruoyun nestled in his arms and asked, "A Heng, do you like this kind of life?"
A Heng smiled. "Of course I like it."
Ruoyun asked again, "Then do you want to spend the rest of your life with me like this?"
A Heng was confused. "I'm your husband. Naturally, I'll spend my whole life with you like this."
Ruoyun persisted, "But what if you have another kind of life?"
A Heng got annoyed by her question. He rolled over and pinned her down, and they got entangled in a passionate embrace.
However, A Heng often had headaches and sometimes had strange dreams, such as battles on the battlefield and rivers of blood.
When Ruoyun heard A Heng talk about these things, she never said a word. If it was at night, she would hug him even tighter, so tight that he could hardly breathe. He would have to grab her hand and kiss it deeply.
They spent three happy months together.
A Heng sat on the stool in front of the door as usual, waiting for the figure on the path. But he waited until the sun set and night fell, and that figure never came back.
His Ruoyun was gone.
A Heng searched the whole town but couldn't find his Ruoyun.
Aunt Daniu from next door gave A Heng a cloth bag, saying that it was left by Ruoyun before.
In the cloth bag, A Heng found the medicine and a letter that Ruoyun left for him, as well as a plaque with the character "Rong" engraved on it.
There was only one sentence in the letter: Sizhong, three months of sharing weal and woe is enough.
Rong Heng remembered everything.
He returned to Wuyun and back to the battlefield.
Sometimes his mother would urge him, saying that he was an adult and it was time for him to marry a wife. But Rong Heng shook his head. He didn't want a wife.
The bandits of the Third Prince's faction were much more cunning than the people from the northern desert. It took Rong Heng a whole year to wipe them out.
When he returned to the capital in triumph, Rong Heng was the most popular young man in the city. But he just carried Zhi'er on his shoulders and asked, "Do you want to be a general, Zhi'er?"
Zhi'er nodded and shouted, "Yes!"
Rong Heng carried Zhi'er and walked quickly. Zhi'er laughed merrily.
"Your elder brother went to Wuyun at the age of five. You're also five now. Come with me."
Zhi'er tilted his head and asked, "But grandma said that Uncle Si should marry a wife first and then go to Wuyun together."
Wife?
Rong Heng smiled. "Your Aunt Si doesn't want to go back to Wuyun with me."
When he was about to set off for Wuyun, Rong Heng unexpectedly met an old acquaintance, someone he couldn't even remember before, Shi Ningxin.
Shi Ningxin was dressed like a married woman, holding a half - year - old baby in her arms. She held the baby out in front of him.
Rong Heng was startled. "What are you doing?"
Shi Ningxin said, "General Rong, take a look. Who does this baby look like?"
Rong Heng instinctively looked at the baby. With red lips and white teeth, it was a little young master. He originally thought it was Shi Ningxin's baby, but it didn't look like her. Instead, it looked like a baby from the Rong family.
Shi Ningxin smiled slightly. "Doctor Zeng refused to say who the baby's father is, but I recognized at a glance that he is clearly a baby from the Rong family, clearly your baby, General Rong."
Rong Heng's hands trembled a little.
The guard beside him shouted angrily, "Stop talking nonsense. If you dare to be so presumptuous again, you will be punished according to the law for harassing the general."
Shi Ningxin was not afraid. She continued, "General Rong, although I admire you, I admire Doctor Zeng even more. She refuses to tell others the truth, but do you really want this baby to grow up without a father and let Doctor Zeng be criticized for the rest of her life?"
Rong Heng stared at the baby and then looked back at his precious horse, which was given to him by his grandfather after his victory. It was a symbol of honor.
But he already had Ruoyun.