Xiao Fang was naive, yes. However, she wasn"t entirely stupid. A few days in Yao Ling"s presence, she more or less learned one or two things. She knew that something was wrong, but she needed Yao Ling"s guidance. She remembered Han Yi"s words and decided to act as usual.
Han Xiang saw that something wasn"t right and she quickly said, "General Hu, Xiao Fang is coming for me. Please don"t misunderstand her!"
Han Yi furrowed her eyebrows when she heard this statement. She took a glance at the general"s face and the doubt on his expression started to clear up --- he was back to his previous state of distrust. He sneered at Xiao Fang and also at Han Xiang.
How could Han Yi didn"t understand what Han Xiang had insinuated? She might appear to care about Xiao Fang, but her words... gave the opposite effect! This type of thing usually happened in the battle of the inner courtyard, so Han Yi didn"t feel so surprised. Her mother had taught her a lot about these things, thus... she wasn"t as innocent as her young miss.
Han Yi could see how General Hu"s expression changed. From distrust, doubt of his own judgment, and back to distrust once again. All happened because of Han Xiang"s words. She implied that Xiao Fang was coming for her --- didn"t she mean that Xiao Fang was trying to rescue her? If the robbery didn"t happen, they would probably really throw the blame at Xiao Fang. But why? This part, Han Yi wasn"t really sure. What was the benefit that she got for framing her own best friend?
Other than she was an impostor --- there were no other possibilities, right?
Han Xiang asked for General Hu not to misunderstand Xiao Fang, but how could that be? Han Xiang could show that she was surprised by Xiao Fang"s appearance here, after all, she didn"t know that Xiao Fang would come for her. She was always on Xiao Fang"s side and Xiao Fang never once said that she would come for Han Xiang before her departure.
But judging from her look, it seemed like Han Xiang didn"t feel surprised at all or she must have been guessing about it in the first place. She took a glance at Xiao Fang and prayed to herself, "Young Miss ah~ please open your eyes! Don"t let yourself be deceived by her! Something is not right..."
Xiao Fang saw everything because Yao Ling had taught her a little bit how to read people"s behavior. She was no expert but General Hu was an upright person --- everything was displayed clearly on his face. A seed of doubt had been planted in her mind when she saw General Hu"s reaction.
Xiao Fang quickly said, "I heard about the news when I am on this way here. I quickly went to Lin Zhou first and especially prepare a lodging for all of you." Just like what they had planned before, they would be put on the same inn as the trio so it was easier for the trio to befriend them.
General Hu didn"t have any objection because he was severely injured, on the other hand, Han Xiang quickly agreed with her because of her own condition. Xiao Fang must have been preparing everything for her just like usual. The latter was in dire need of a comfortable bath and her stomach was also very hungry. They didn"t have many ransoms to eat and water to drink --- they could only make do with the available foods and water that they had.
Everything had been prepared beforehand by Xiao Fang. She pretended that she didn"t see through General Hu"s distrust toward her and asked, "I didn"t know that you are hurt. I will ask Han Yi to call a physician for you!"
General Hu stopped her when he heard the word physician. They needed to stay low key for now. Hence, General Hu quickly said, "No... just call someone with medical knowledge."
Xiao Fang couldn"t believe that what General Hu and Han Xiang"s movement so far was the same as what Yao Ling had predicted beforehand. Yao Ling was indeed very clever.
"But... why?" Xiao Fang asked in confusion.
"I don"t want people to know that I"m hurt..." General Hu trailed off.
"Er... why?" Xiao Fang asked once again while blinking her innocent eyes.
General Hu rolled his eyes. "I don"t want people to target our princess. I"m not good enough to protect her at the moment." If people knew that he was hurt, they would attack at the same time. There were too many people that wanted this mission to fail. General Hu was only around a twenty-something year old but he just recently became a general, so his experience was a bit lacking and the enemy was able to hurt him because of it.
"Oh... okay," Xiao Fang only said that. Even though in her heart, she already knew why. For the time being, it was better if she pretended to be oblivious.
General Hu could see her real confusion and start to wonder once again whether what he had heard was the truth or not, however, he didn"t say anything more. He would pay attention to Xiao Fang closely. Xiao Fang nodded and she let Han Yi find Yao Ling. They gave some time before Yao Ling appeared as to no making General Hu suspicious of them --- not too long and not too short, just enough time.
They wanted to integrate themselves with Han Xiang"s party slowly by doing this.
When General Hu saw that it was a beautiful young girl that was going to treat him, he looked at Xiao Fang in confusion. "Are you sure she has medical knowledge?" General Hu never looked down on women but this woman looked so elegant that it was quite unbelievable for such a beauty to have medical skill. After all, women usually learned about four arts --- why did she choose to learn medicine?
When he looked at her appearance, he knew that she was a Shu person. General Hu couldn"t let his guard down and ask, "Where did you find her?"
Xiao Fang looked at Han Yi to let her talk. Han Yi quickly answered General Hu"s question, "This woman is also a guest in this inn. We accidentally saw her helping a sick guest yesterday, so this servant presume that she is good enough to treat General Hu." They pretended that they didn"t know each other beforehand.
General Hu still looked at the woman doubtfully but he didn"t say anything more. Beggars can"t be choosers. Yao Ling didn"t look like that she was offended and laughed. "Gong zi, don"t worry! I"m quite good at it." Yao Ling deliberately didn"t call him General, pretending that she didn"t know about the general"s real ident.i.ty.
Yao Ling took a glance at General Hu"s condition and said, "It seems like your injury was actually not that severe before... unfortunately, you were poisoned." Yao Ling explained that she saw the poisoning symptoms from his bluish lips, red eyes, and his weak state.
General Hu was surprised. How could she know all of this in one glance?
Yao Ling continued talking, "However, I can"t determine what poison it is without examining your body and also checking on your pulse."
General Hu nodded. "Gu Niang, you are correct... Please... I hope Gu Niang can help me," General Hu humbly said. He was in dire need of help so he couldn"t be picky. Besides, the woman was able to see his condition in a glance, so she probably wasn"t that bad...
Yao Ling examined the man and it was easy for her to point out his poison, after all, she was the one who prepared the poison for him. She had given a batch of this poison to Lin Jian and it was handled by their subordinates. The one who could save him? It was only her...