Fang Er, who had been laughing heartily, suddenly saw a large group of people appear at the entrance of the military camp.
Then he saw Qi Sui bowing and opening the military camp gate.
The only person who could make Qi Sui open the gate without reporting was Li Shimin.
Why was this guy running over so early in the morning?
Fang Er got up to greet him. As he got closer, he saw that Li Shimin was actually bringing a group of imperial physicians behind him.
What the heck was this?
Before he could even bow, Li Shimin waved his hand and said, "I heard that Sun Zhenren opened up the abdomen of Zhijie's wife last night?"
Fang Er then realized that this was a visit of concern.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, indeed, her abdomen was opened. She is inside."
"Take me to see her!"
Fang Er nodded, "Your Majesty, please."
Then he turned and walked towards the studio.
As the group arrived outside the studio, the robust wife of the Cheng family was guarding the door. She was startled to see Fang Er leading Li Shimin over.
She quickly bowed, "Your humble servant greets Your Majesty, and Grand Duke Fang."
Li Shimin was not a shy man; he had visited almost all the ministers' homes.
This robust woman had married into the Cheng family with Sun Shi and had also met him before.
"Where is Zhijie? I heard from Sun Zhenren that he was brought back yesterday. Where is he?"
Li Shimin, not hearing Cheng Yijin's voice from inside, asked the robust woman.
The robust woman replied with a hint of embarrassment, "My lord has gone to the latrine."
Cheng Yijin had woken up at dawn. He went to the studio to check on Sun Shi. Seeing that her breathing was steady and her face did not show the pain from yesterday, he felt relieved.
After washing up, he went into the latrine to relieve himself.
With Cheng Yijin absent, it was inconvenient for Li Shimin to enter.
Even though he was the Emperor, he still had to wait outside for Cheng Yijin.
Otherwise, who knew what the situation of Sun Shi inside was?
The group waited at the studio entrance for a full ten minutes before Cheng Yijin slowly walked back from a distance with a relaxed expression.
"Ah! Your Majesty! Why are you here!"
Upon seeing Li Shimin standing at the door, Cheng Yijin appeared surprised.
Li Shimin pointed to the imperial physicians behind him and said, "I heard from Sun Zhenren that your wife's abdomen was opened yesterday, so I brought them to take a look."
"Thank you for Your Majesty's concern."
Cheng Yijin cupped his fists in greeting.
After some pleasantries, he went in to take a look first, and then let Li Shimin and the others in.
Sun Shi had also woken up. Seeing Li Shimin, she hastily wanted to bow, but he stopped her with a look.
"No need for excessive ceremony. You just had an abdominal surgery yesterday, so just lie down."
"You all, check her pulse."
The imperial physicians quickly gathered around Sun Shi to examine her condition.
After checking her pulse, one of the leading imperial physicians said to Li Shimin, "Reporting to Your Majesty, Madam Cheng's condition is no longer serious. She has only lost some vitality and will recover with careful nourishment."
"What serious condition could she have?"
Fang Er had not held back anything. Ibuprofen, cephalosporins, glucose, Four-Herb Decoction—everything that was available in the warehouse and could be used at the moment had been brought out.
Sun Shi looked at Fang Er with gratitude. The robust woman had recounted yesterday's events to her in detail after she woke up.
"Thank you, Grand Duke Fang, for saving my life."
"Ah, sister-in-law, you are too kind to say that. Just rest assured and recover."
After confirming Sun Shi's condition and leaving a few imperial physicians in the studio, Li Shimin, along with Cheng Yijin and Fang Er, exited the room.
Once outside, Li Shimin began to inquire about the situation in the Western Regions.
Although the victory dispatches had already reached the capital, he still wanted to hear Cheng Yijin recount it personally.
Fang Er also pricked up his ears, as he knew nothing about the affairs of the Western Regions.
Thus, Cheng Yijin began to narrate his journey from Chang'an.
After leaving Chang'an, he traveled west, passing through Tuyuhun and the Eastern Woman Kingdom, all the way to Luoxie.
He had incidentally destroyed Tuyuhun when he passed by.
He had brought back all the citizens of the Eastern Woman Kingdom this time.
However, the situation at Luoxie was somewhat strange.
Luoxie was the capital of Tubo, and although it was heavily fortified with tens of thousands of elite troops, it could not withstand the firearms offensive of the Yangwei Army.
After two days of engagement, it was successfully breached, and Langri Songzan and his twelve-year-old son, Songzan Ganbu, were captured alive.
However, after searching the entire Luoxie, they could not find the men from the Eastern Woman Kingdom who had been abducted by Tubo.
The ten thousand female soldiers sent by the ruler of the Eastern Woman Kingdom became anxious and subjected the Tubo prisoners of war to severe torture and interrogation.
Finally, they found out the reason.
The young and strong men abducted from the Eastern Woman Kingdom had already been sold off by Tubo!
It was said that merchants from Tuyuhlu were eagerly buying male slaves, and they were very generous with their payments. Male slaves under fifteen years old and over forty years old were sold for two qian each. Young and strong male slaves were sold for three qian each.
This was why Tubo had sent troops to capture all the men from the Eastern Woman Kingdom.
However, this also benefited Cheng Yijin.
This fellow had ransacked the entire Luoxie from top to bottom!
All the gems and rare treasures in the palaces were confiscated by him without leaving anything behind.
At the same time, there were large quantities of Tang Dynasty copper coins, as well as gold and silver coins from unknown origins.
Converted to Tang currency, it was at least 1.7 million guan!
In addition to this, there were large numbers of livestock and prisoners of war.
Li Shimin was overjoyed upon hearing this.
Fang Er, on the other hand, was astonished. Eastern Woman Kingdom? A kingdom of women? He wondered if Tang Sanzang was there.
So, he asked curiously, "Brother Cheng, did you see Xuanzang?"
Upon hearing Fang Er's question, Cheng Yijin smiled.
"Hahahaha, you wouldn't believe it, but this old brother actually met him."
"That kid Chen Hui managed to get three disciples from somewhere. When they reached the Eastern Woman Kingdom, they ran out of travel expenses and started working as male prostitutes there!"
"By the way, Chen Hui is Xuanzang's lay name."
"He's not bad, this fellow's comprehension is really beyond that of ordinary people. He actually achieved enlightenment in the Eastern Woman Kingdom. From what he said, it was called 'Happy Zen'."
Fang Er was utterly bewildered!
The great Tang monk Tang Sanzang had actually comprehended Happy Zen?
"Where are they?"
"Hey! That bald man wanted to return to the Central Plains with this brother, but His Majesty had previously issued an edict to suppress Buddhism, so I sent him to Tianzhu."
"With his comprehension, he will surely fare better over there."
Cheng Yijin said this without any reservation in front of Li Shimin.
Suppressing Buddhism was such a major event; it wouldn't matter if one more person was missed.
He had some connections with the Hou family of Luoyang, so letting the descendant of an old friend go was understandable.
Fang Er was even more speechless.
Xuanzang, who had comprehended Happy Zen, after going to Tianzhu, would he choose to continue seeking scriptures or choose to preach the Dharma?
Tsk tsk tsk, the thought of it was exciting!
Hiahiahiahiahia!