CHAPTER 92: CHAPTER 90: THROWN SUDDENLY INTO THE BONFIRE!

Afterwards, the military doctor came, and his basic diagnosis was similar to Ruan Mian’s.

Ruan Mian referred to the prescription he prescribed, combined it with her spiritual spring water, and some antiviral drugs, and brewed a pot of traditional Chinese medicine.

During this period, she also had all the tents used for the meal camp burned down.

Regardless of what was inside, it was all discarded. Some soldiers were reluctant to part with the flying squirrels they had caught, thinking of offering them to Huo Zong to taste.

Fortunately, Ruan Mian stopped them quickly.

"You must not eat these things anymore, the toxins in your body probably came from them."

The soldiers were shocked, as if they were holding a hot potato!

They immediately threw them into the fire pit!

She arranged for those with milder symptoms in the camp to be set up together, and those who were more severe to be relocated to another area. She also found the young servant by the General’s side.

That young servant had not entered the tent and had been staying in the carriage. Ruan Mian stood at the entrance of the tent, shouting instructions for him to jot down the items that needed to be prepared.

Besides the specified medicinal herbs, there were also some fabric and other supplies.

Knowing she needed to stay here for a few days to monitor the situation, she requested permission from General Huo: "General, could you let that young servant send someone to inform my family I am safe? I don’t want them to worry."

Huo Zong naturally agreed.

After everything was arranged, it was already late at night.

Many people felt much better after taking her medicine, especially those with milder symptoms, who soon felt relieved from dizziness and headaches.

They were overjoyed, but before the night was over, the coldness of the tents caused their condition to fluctuate due to catching a chill.

At this time, the camp could not be entered or exited, and the prepared firewood was almost depleted. Even the limited supplies the young servant brought were sparse and not centralized, only providing a little warmth rather than enough energy for their bodies.

Seeing this, Ruan Mian ventured outside in the middle of the night, carrying a rusty iron sword, heading to the small slope behind the tent.

By the bright moonlight, she swept away the snow. As expected, the soil underneath was loose, relatively pure, well-balanced, and slightly sticky.

Presumably, this was due to the nearby wetlands.

Hence, she dug some out vigorously. Not long after, she heard Xie Huai’an’s voice from behind.

"What is Miss Ruan doing?"

He noticed her leaving the tent and had followed her all the way over.

Seeing his arrival, Ruan Mian found herself with an extra helping hand.

She called out, "You arrived just in time, sir. I plan to make a good thing that’ll keep everyone warm and aid in the recovery process. I now need some loose and clean soil. Since you’re here, why not join in?"

"Something to keep warm?"

This piqued Xie Huai’an’s interest, prompting him to call over Huo Zong as well.

Huo Zong was still bleary-eyed at the time, appearing impatient, but Ruan Mian, afraid of his possible grumpiness, quickly reassured him.

"General, please go rest. The two of us can manage."

Hearing her words, Huo Zong immediately perked up!

"How could I let a lady like you toil alone? Wait, I’ll call for help right away."

Before Ruan Mian could stop him, he had already roused several subordinates from their tents. With these strong men, it didn’t take long to excavate a pile of black soil.

The mound was almost like a small hill.

Yet, this still wasn’t sufficient. She also needed stones, as many as possible.

She observed earlier that the rocks here were quite regular, and many of the city walls were constructed using materials from these nearby hills.

Huo Zong led the men to gather a pile of stones overnight.

"There are still many dried grasses in the grain camp, and the unburned charcoal can also serve as a backup. Fetch all of these."

Charcoal was scarce, so Ruan Mian surreptitiously mixed some of her dried clay coal into the charcoal pile while the others weren’t looking.

This way, it would burn longer.

Everything was ready except for one last thing. She looked toward the General, saying, "General Huo, I must trouble you to have your subordinates fetch some glutinous rice slurry."

Building city walls requires a lot of glutinous rice slurry, and such materials are readily available at the post station or their labor sites.

However, Ruan Mian was unaware this camp had them.

Huo Zong procured a considerable amount: "Previously, this was a supply point for constructing city walls. We have plenty of what you need. Now that everything’s here, what’s your plan, Miss Ruan?"

With materials on hand, Ruan Mian swiftly started building a kang bed-stove inside an empty tent using stones, fixing them with glutinous rice slurry.

Following that, she layered the kang bed-stove with dry grass, providing warmth while adding comfort.

Next, she filled the kang bed-stove with damp soil, wrapping it around the stones, tamping it down firmly.

Finally, she scattered combustible charcoal in the center of the kang bed-stove and ignited it.

A simple yet extremely warm kang bed-stove was completed.

Dusting off her hands, Ruan Mian gestured to Huo Zong, saying, "General, would you like to lie down and try it?"

Curious, Huo Zong was about to lie down when Ruan Mian laid some thick animal skin blankets over the kang bed-stove.

Huo Zong felt the warmth spreading from the kang bed-stove, and soon his body was warmed!

"Miss Ruan, you’re truly brilliant! With this, several people could lie down and not feel cold! Come, come, Mr. Xie, you should try it too!"

Huo Zong dragged Xie Huai’an to lie down, murmuring under his breath.

"Miss Ruan is indeed a capable person recognized by Mr. Xie. It’s a pity she’s stuck in that reception camp!" Huo Zong recalled what the court had said, eyeing Ruan Mian twice before asking her.

"Miss Ruan, your Ruan Family hails from merchants, and it’s just your brother who serves at the court for three generations. You shouldn’t get entangled in court disputes, so why were you exiled this time?"

"Moreover, why with those from Uncle’s Mansion and Xie Mansion? Their crimes aren’t light."

Ruan Mian caught the implication in General Huo’s words, lightly smiling as she replied.

"The human heart is unpredictable. Although my brother got implicated in the downfall folk song case due to poetry this time, who knows how many forces were driving it behind the scenes."

"Even if Mr. Xie personally handled the trial, he might have overlooked certain aspects, don’t you think?"

This was merely the first incident of King Yan’s rebellious thoughts. How much influence his faction had planted behind the scenes and how many things they had done couldn’t be uprooted all at once.

The people from Uncle’s Mansion joined the team later. It’s quite possible that after their sentencing, someone else added fuel to the fire.

In other words, it wasn’t clear if it was because of her or her brother; in any case, someone at the court was watching them.

Currently, Ruan Mian speculated that it might have something to do with the Fifth Princess.

But she couldn’t be certain about it.

As she pondered, Huo Zong suddenly smelled a different scent: "Did you burn clay coal here?"

Ruan Mian was surprised by his sensitive nose since the clay coal was burned inside the kang bed-stove mixed with so much charcoal that he could detect it so quickly.

She pointed at the kang bed-stove to explain: "I mixed a bit of dried clay coal with the charcoal, fearing it wouldn’t be enough. By the way, General, if charcoal is temporarily unavailable, clay coal could serve as a substitute."