Winter, the Imperial City.
The north wind howled all night, and snow fell like goose feathers.
Before dawn, merchants on the street opened their doors, and shop assistants came out with brooms, preparing to sweep away the snow.
Suddenly, a fast horse splashed them with snow.
"Who is it, blind..."
The shop assistant was halfway through his curse when he saw the rider's attire. His expression changed, and he quickly retreated.
The rider was dressed as a guard, with golden thread embroidered trigrams on the back of his clothes. There was also a long, rectangular package on the horse, bobbing up and down with the ride.
It was the Imperial Guards of the Qianji Pavilion!
"Slacking off as soon as you wake up, hurry up and sweep the snow!"
The shopkeeper slapped the assistant on the head.
The assistant adjusted his askew hat, not feeling the pain, and muttered,
"Qianji Pavilion sends things out of the city every day, what are they sending?"
"Hiss... you don't want your head anymore, daring to inquire about royal matters, hurry up and get to work!"
The shopkeeper kicked him, and the assistant came to his senses and busied himself sweeping snow.
In a mass grave outside the city, a pile of similar rectangular packages lay scattered. Some were already buried by snow, while others were blown open by the wind, revealing frost-covered faces of the dead.
The guard reined in his horse, grabbed the package behind him, and threw it away. Then he turned his horse around and left without looking back.
His practiced movements suggested he had done this countless times.
The wind suddenly gusted, drowning out a muffled groan from within the package.
The package fell apart, revealing a pale, tender face, delicate eyebrows, thin lips, and long eyelashes trembling in the wind.
As soon as Rong Zhi opened her eyes, she sneezed.
"Achoo! Why is it so cold?"
Rong Zhi looked at the snow-covered scene before her and froze.
Medicine King Valley was spring-like all year round, with only peach blossoms in the sky. Where did this snow come from?
No!
Hadn't she died already?
Rong Zhi had studied medicine since childhood, traveled all over the world, and founded Medicine King Valley herself, taking in countless disciples and making Medicine King Valley famous.
She clearly remembered that she had unfortunately contracted a poison while saving a poisoned patient and had died.
The cold wind seeped into her bones, and Rong Zhi couldn't help but curl into a ball, only to see a pair of arms as thin as fire pokers.
This was not her body.
A thought suddenly occurred to Rong Zhi.
Could it be... transmigration into another body?
13 years later.
"Hey, little gentleman, where are you going? Want to play with us brothers..."
Two men blocked her path with open arms, their eyes shining, almost drooling.
Rong Zhi's lips twitched. She had disguised herself as a man to avoid trouble, but she hadn't expected the current social climate to be so wild that these rich idlers would not even spare same-sex individuals.
"Why aren't you speaking? Oh, you're shy."
"Don't waste your breath, just take her away."
Seeing Rong Zhi's slender limbs, the two men assumed she was easy to bully. They leered, grabbed Rong Zhi, and prepared to drag her into an alley.
Rong Zhi sneered. These two men had sallow complexions and looked exhausted, with dark circles under their eyes like pandas. They looked utterly weak.
And they thought they could take advantage of her?
With two screams, the two men collapsed on the ground in a heap before they could even see how Rong Zhi had attacked, groaning in pain.
"Still want to play with me?"
Rong Zhi sneered.
"Please spare us, my lord! Please spare us!"
The two men quickly begged for mercy, trying to get up but unable to move.
Rong Zhi found two bulging money bags on them, weighed them, and smiled with satisfaction.
Coincidentally, General Xia Yunting was returning to the capital today, and Rong Zhi wanted to get acquainted with him. This was the time to use money.
"Thank you, my two benefactors."
Rong Zhi pocketed the money bags and left with satisfaction, leaving the two men shouting "bad luck" behind her.
The main street was getting crowded, and it seemed Xia Yunting would enter the city soon.
For 13 years, Rong Zhi still didn't understand why she had resurrected, nor why she had resurrected in the imperial capital of the Tianque Kingdom, thousands of miles away from Medicine King Valley.
Perhaps the heavens had eyes, seeing that she had saved people in her past life but died so unjustly, and thus gave her a chance to start anew.
For 13 years, Rong Zhi had been doing her old job, practicing medicine and treating illnesses under the alias Lin Mo.
She was always at home wherever she went, so it made no difference to her whether she was in Medicine King Valley or the Tianque Kingdom.
However... there were still a group of disciples in Medicine King Valley that she couldn't leave behind, and she had to go back and see them.
But time had changed. When she returned to Medicine King Valley, she found it heavily guarded.
It turned out that Medicine King Valley was now under the jurisdiction of the Tianque Kingdom, and outsiders were not allowed to enter.
Rong Zhi tried many times but not only failed to get in, she almost got poked into a sieve by the mechanisms and formations inside.
At this point, she had no choice but to find the general guarding Medicine King Valley, Xia Yunting.
Although Xia Yunting governed Medicine King Valley, he was not stationed there. He had been fighting on the frontier for many years and was coincidentally returning to the capital today.
Rong Zhi's feelings were actually very complex.
In her opinion, doctors should practice medicine for the people, and regardless of a patient's status, they should have a benevolent heart.
Medicine King Valley gathered many excellent doctors, but now they could only be subjects of the Tianque royal family. If they couldn't travel the world to practice medicine, how many patients would be neglected?
The Tianque royal family was simply shameless! And this Xia Yunting was an accomplice. When she returned to Medicine King Valley, she would definitely teach them a lesson!
As she was thinking, her wrist was suddenly grabbed.
Rong Zhi frowned, instinctively twisted her wrist, and struck back with a palm.
The person behind her took a step back, flashed, and appeared behind Rong Zhi, twisting her arm.
Rong Zhi was somewhat surprised.
Even if this body was weak, not reaching the peak of her past life's strength, she shouldn't be so vulnerable.
Who was this person?
Rong Zhi turned her head and met a strikingly handsome face.
The man was tall. Though thin, the slight bulge of muscles under his plain clothes was discernible.
His skin was slightly tanned, his sword-like eyebrows slanted upwards, his eyes were deep, his nose was high-bridged, and he exuded an air of authority. Especially his phoenix-like eyes, which seemed to see through everything.
Rong Zhi found the face inexplicably familiar but couldn't recall where she had seen it.
The other party spoke first.
"Why did you steal money?"
"Steal money?"
Rong Zhi turned her head and found that the two idlers from earlier were gone.
So he mistook her for a thief, wanting to right a wrong.
Rong Zhi sighed inwardly. This person was handsome, but his eyesight was poor.
Did she look like a bad person?
She feigned annoyance and said, "You've wronged me, sir. They saw that I was good-looking and molested me. I was just teaching them a lesson. Oh dear... you're hurting me, sir. Are you also smitten with me since you're so close?"
In the latter part, Rong Zhi deliberately slowed her tone, with strong innuendo.
The man's face darkened, and he immediately let go of Rong Zhi.
"My apologies."
He had acted impulsively, seeing a resemblance to someone in his memory and rushing out.
Now that he thought about it, even if that person were still alive, they shouldn't be this age.
Rong Zhi watched the retreating figure and chuckled.
So easily flustered, and yet he called himself a hero.
Wait!
She suddenly remembered why the man looked familiar.
More than a decade ago, a group of uninvited guests had come to Medicine King Valley.
They were soldiers returning from battle, poisoned, and seeking medical treatment at Medicine King Valley.
They had contracted a very rare poison that Rong Zhi had never seen before. She could only alleviate the toxicity while preparing an antidote, but she was unfortunately poisoned and died.
It was likely that those soldiers had not been saved either.
The general among them was called Xia Yang.
Xia Yang... Xia Yunting?
Those strikingly similar phoenix-like eyes, could it be...
"Wait a moment!"
Rong Zhi used her Qinggong and quickly chased after him.
She reached the side of the main street but was stopped by soldiers.
"Don't push, the General is about to enter the city!"
Rong Zhi was pushed back. Just as she regained her balance, she saw a procession slowly entering.
Two soldiers led the way, followed by a man on a tall horse, wearing a phoenix-wing war helmet and shining silver armor.
He smiled at the surrounding citizens, who responded enthusiastically.
Judging by his bearing, this must be the General.
He was also handsome, but not as imposing as the man she had just met.
Rong Zhi frowned. She would rather believe that the man she just met was Xia Yunting.
Suddenly, with a "zing," an arrow shot out, hitting the man on horseback directly in the chest.
The General stiffened and fell off his horse.
The crowd instantly began to stir.
Someone shouted, "Assassin!" and the citizens began to flee in all directions.
Rong Zhi looked around. If she guessed correctly, the arrow had been shot from the second floor of the nearby Drunken Immortal Pavilion.
A scream came from the second floor, followed by a "bang."
A person fell from the second floor, hitting the ground heavily, staining the ground red.
Along with him, a silver bow, half as tall as a person, fell to the ground.
A man landed beside the corpse, the one who had spoken to Rong Zhi earlier.
The crowd fell silent instantly, all attention focused on that man.
The "General" who had fallen from his horse stood up and pulled the arrow from his chest.
Strangely, the arrow had no trace of blood.
He walked to the man's side.
"General! Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. Are you injured?"
"Your subordinate is fine, thanks to the soft-quilted armor you bestowed. An arrow like this can't pierce it," Zhang Can replied.
Xia Yunting grunted.
"Get on your horse, we're returning to the manor."
Xia Yunting mounted his horse again. The corpse on the ground was also taken away. The procession quickly regrouped and moved on, the entire process swift and orderly.
Rong Zhi was somewhat impressed.
Could it be that Xia Yunting knew someone was going to assassinate him, so he deliberately left the procession?
His actions were swift and decisive, his methods ruthless. It seemed this general was not simple.
Snapping back to reality, Rong Zhi quickly pursued.
She had underestimated the enthusiasm of the imperial city's citizens.
The citizens crowded around, three layers deep. By the time Rong Zhi caught up to Xia Yunting, he had already entered the General's manor.
The main gate was slammed shut with a "bang," leaving only two stone lions with stern faces at the entrance.
Rong Zhi tidied her clothes and stepped forward to knock.
An old steward opened the door. Perhaps he was happy because the General had returned, and his entire face was beaming. However, upon seeing Rong Zhi, his smile instantly disappeared, changing faster than a Sichuan opera mask.
"Who are you?"
Rong Zhi bowed respectfully and said with a smile, "Esteemed steward, I am Lin Mo. My brother once followed the General..."
"Scram, scram, scram! Who is this charlatan? Get lost!"
"Bang!"
The door closed.
Rong Zhi almost got her nose pinched.
She had expected it not to be smooth, but she hadn't expected it to be so difficult.
If only he had let her finish speaking, she would have been confident of getting in.
Rong Zhi looked at the tightly shut door and snorted.
She had plenty of patience.
Half a month later, Rong Zhi found that things were not as simple as she had imagined.
The steward wasn't being snobbish; he treated everyone the same way.
She thought that with the General's return, there would at least be a banquet to celebrate his victory, but officials who visited the General's manor were all turned away.
She tried many methods but couldn't get into the General's manor, and Xia Yunting never came out.
This General was a bit reclusive...
Unfortunately, Xia Yunting was an orphan and had no relatives or friends in the imperial capital.
He had been fighting on the frontier for years, and she didn't know who he was close to among the officials, so besides going directly to the General's manor, there were no other options.
Rong Zhi was a little worried.
"Waiter, a pot of wine!"
Rong Zhi came to the Drunken Immortal Pavilion, not to drown her sorrows in wine, but to gather information.
As soon as she sat down, a sigh came from the next table.
"What should I do? The wedding is next month, and my daughter flatly refuses to marry. She's even threatened to kill herself."