Chapter 711: Chapter 259: Production

In his twenty years of life, this was the first time De’an realized he actually fainted at the sight of blood!

The midwife’s voice came from inside. "You’re already dilated to seven fingers, it’ll be quick. Bear with it a little longer, my lady. We can already see the little young master’s head."

Chen Wanqing lay on the bed, her face completely drained of color. Sweat soaked her clothes and hair, leaving her looking as though she had just been fished out of the water. If not for the faint rise and fall of her chest, one might easily have feared the worst.

The Imperial Physician came over to check her pulse, then administered acupuncture. The needles provided a certain degree of pain relief, which would make her feel a little better. Taking advantage of this brief pause, the Imperial Physician said to Xu Su Ying, "She has exhausted all her strength. It would be best for her to eat something more..."

After the Imperial Physician stepped out, a maid brought over a bowl of chicken noodle soup. Leaning against her mother, Chen Wanqing forced herself to eat a few bites. When she lay back down on the bed, she placed a slice of Centennial Ginseng under her tongue. Perhaps because her body was utterly exhausted, the moment she lay down, she actually fell into a brief sleep.

In her dream, a fierce gale roared and surged across the wilderness like a rampaging wild beast. Even though the weather had been incredibly muggy, the night here was piercingly cold.

Chen Wanqing looked up, only to see yellow sand stretching out in all directions. There was not a single soul in sight. She did not know where she was, nor did she know what she was looking for. She merely walked on aimlessly.

The wind seemed to grow stronger, and the sand began to shift rhythmically, as if it had come to life. Chen Wanqing’s heart pounded so hard it felt like it would leap out of her throat. Her hands and feet began to tremble, yet she still could not remember what she was doing here or who she was trying to find.

Suddenly, she heard several faint, disjointed voices:

"Get up quickly. If we don’t leave now, we’ll never make it out."

"Keep it down. Don’t wake up those Wei Dynasty lapdogs."

"They won’t wake up. I drugged today’s dinner heavily enough. This sleep will last them a lifetime."

"Stop dawdling and move faster! I don’t want to stay here and pay with my life."

When Chen Wanqing heard these voices, they were clearly speaking the language of the barbarian tribes, which she shouldn’t have understood at all. Yet at this moment, as if touched by some mystical force, she suddenly understood every word. Upon understanding, an unprecedented wave of immense terror washed over her.

Stumbling forward, she ran in the direction of the voices. She had to find Zhao Jing!

Before she spotted Zhao Jing, she first saw a group of burly, heavily bearded men dressed in Western Regions attire. Riding on camels, they charged madly off in a specific direction.

In that instant, the wind and sand seemed to come alive, piling over the remaining people out in the open. If they didn’t wake up in time, they would likely be buried forever in the dunes.

Chen Wanqing spotted Zhao Jing at a glance. He and her father were supposed to be sitting back-to-back, but now they both lay unconscious on the ground. Wind and sand blew into their mouths and noses, yet they remained completely oblivious.

Chen Wanqing stumbled and threw herself over to them. "Jing! Jing, wake up quickly! Dad, Dad, get up! A sandstorm is coming! Run for your life!"

But neither of them could hear her. They seemed to be drunk or heavily drugged. Chen Wanqing shouted a couple more times, but there was still no response. At that moment, she noticed the dagger at Zhao Jing’s waist.

Without hesitation, she drew the blade and viciously stabbed the camel lying next to Zhao Jing. The camel let out a long, startled shriek. At the sound, Zhao Jing and Chen Song’s eyelids began to twitch restlessly.

Chen Wanqing yelled again, "Jing! Dad! Get up and run! If you don’t leave now, it’ll be too late!"

Zhao Jing and Chen Song opened their eyes almost instantly.

"Sister!"

"Qing’er!"

The two voices rang out one after another. They looked around in shock, but Chen Wanqing was nowhere to be seen. The Western Regions Envoy and his entourage were also nowhere to be found. However, the camel behind them, wounded and panicked, was rising up and bolting wildly away.

With no time to figure out exactly how all of this had happened, Zhao Jing and Chen Song watched as the small, grave-like mounds of sand began to bury their men. Their expressions drastically changed. They scrambled to their feet, rushing to wake up the others. But as soon as they stood up, they felt their limbs turn to jelly and their entire bodies go weak. Even after shaking their heads a few times, their vision remained blurred with phantom shadows.

"Not good, it’s a trap."

"Never mind that now! Hurry up, wake the others, and run for your lives!"

While Chen Song went to yell for the men, Zhao Jing hurriedly took out a small medicine bottle hidden in his robes and swallowed a pill. He then went around distributing the medicine to the rest of the men one by one.

As more and more people woke up, they stared at the scene before them, their scalps tingling with dread. By now, how could they not realize that they had been completely played by the men from the Western Regions?

This time, if Zhao Jing and Chen Song hadn’t startled awake in time, every single one of them would have been buried in the desert.

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