"Nie Fengxing, tell me what to do. That man, he's a demon; he took everything from me. I've poured my soul into cultivation, fought to join the army, all for the sake of revenge. But I realized today that all of it has been for naught; I can't even protect the things most important to me."

Ye Huangyu cried like rain on pear blossoms, and Nie Fengxing stood at a loss. He thought for a moment, then reached out his arms.

But his arms were just held out there, not daring to touch Ye Huangyu's shoulder.

Nie Fengxing hated nothing more than men who cry like women at the drop of a hat.

During earlier training of the new recruits, anyone who dared shed a tear would be drilled into the ground by him.

But in the face of Princess Ye, all of this became an exception.

Nie Fengxing only knew, when he heard Princess Ye's sobbing, it cut his heart like a knife.

He even had the impulse to charge into the military barracks and kill Hong Fang, the one who angered Princess Ye.

But in the end, he swallowed this resentment and embraced Ye Huangyu with the gentlest movement he had ever used.

When the man's rigid arms held Ye Huangyu, her crying paused for a moment, and she suddenly realized that she had lost her composure.

"Princess Ye, I will help you. I don't know what grudge lies between you and Hong Fang. But you need not despair. If you want revenge, you must climb high, even higher than Hong Fang. You currently have a great opportunity. If I remember correctly, you've already accumulated First-level Military Merit eight times, just two more and you can become a General. Even more, you have the chance to earn Special Military Merit." Nie Fengxing's words reignited the dim spark in Ye Huangyu's eyes.

Ten times First-level Military Merit, ennobled as General.

One Special Military Merit, enfeoffment.

"Moreover, don't underestimate Commandery Princess Ye. She is certainly not a person of weakness." Nie Fengxing had only met Ye Lingyue a few times, but he had to admit that she made a profound impression on him.

Ye Lingyue was definitely not a woman who hides in someone's arms, needing protection.

Ye Huangyu suddenly understood something.

She wiped away her tears and knelt on one knee.

"Thank you, General, for the reminder. Princess Ye was out of sorts just now. I have a request. For this suppression of the beast chaos, I would like to request to serve as the team leader of the Vanguard Camp."

This beast chaos was not ordinary; according to the information Nie Fengxing had, this could be the largest and most dangerous one in the history of Xixia Plain.

Yet seeing the fiery gaze, clinging to that last shred of hope, Nie Fengxin knew he could only agree.

After receiving the promise, Princess Ye immediately went to report to the Vanguard Camp.

Nie Fengxing watched her back, his eyes revealing a sense of determination.

Princess Ye, I will protect you at all costs.

Even if one day I must abandon the title of Tiger Wolf General and return to my former self, as long as it's for protecting Princess Ye, I will give everything.

Ye Huangyu had someone bring the news to Moon City about Hong Fang and the Fourth Prince beginning to suspect her identity and that the Fourth Prince intended to denounce her to the court.

"Commandery Princess, rest assured, the entire Ye Family has been silenced about your identity," Ye Huangcheng and Ye Yinsuang also realized the critical nature of this event.

The secret of Ye Lingyue's heritage must not be revealed.

"Fourth Uncle, cousin, don't worry. Even if their memorial reaches the court, they won't be able to touch me," Ye Lingyue said with a calm smile.

Privately purchasing Moon Iron?

What a joke, she was completely legitimate, having registered with the Military Department, and buying Moon Iron with the treasury silver of Moon City, entirely at market price.

Personally training Alchemists?

Moon City's Alchemists had all passed the Alchemist examination in Xia Capital and were officially registered, qualifying as regular Alchemists of Daxia.

Even if the Fourth Prince petitioned to his death, it would be futile.

However, dared Hong Fang and the Fourth Prince to frame her? She would let them witness the might of the Alchemist Mansion.

Ye Lingyue smirked twice.

To play a dirty game, both Hong Fang and Xia Houhong were still too naive.

In places like the Xixia Plain, no one should dare to scheme against an Alchemist.

These past few days, Xia Houhong from Qi City had been gathering information diligently, preparing to submit a plea to the court, accusing Ye Lingyue of Moon City of recklessness, dereliction of duty, and incompetence.

The memorial was written at length, spanning over a dozen pages, yet Xia Houhong felt it was still not enough.

While drafting the memorial, he suddenly felt a tumult in his abdomen, a twisting pain like being cut with knives.

"Summon the Imperial Physician."

Xia Houhong was in such unbearable pain that he hastily called for someone.

Similarly plagued with unbearable stomach pains was Hong Fang.

Even though they were both expert Martial Artists, their bodies were made of flesh and couldn't withstand being sick.

Both men, retching and suffering from diarrhea, struggled through the day and night.

Imperial Physicians and Alchemists from the Imperial Hospital came in waves, but all to no avail.

The food had no issues, the water had no issues, other soldiers and generals from Qi City showed no signs, it was only Hong Fang and Xia Houhong who were tortured to the brink of death.

Eventually, an idea from a Military Alchemist and Imperial Physicians from the Imperial Hospital suggested that maybe they could seek help from the Alchemists of Moon City.

After all, the sickness emerged after arriving at Qi City, perhaps the local Alchemists had a way to deal with it.

Weakly, Hong Fang commanded his men to send a message to Moon City, but after waiting a long time, there was no response from Moon City. When someone was sent to hurry them,

Cauldron Master Ye sent a message back from Moon City.

He said that recently on the Xixia Plain, beast disturbances were occurring frequently, and the Alchemists from the Alchemist Mansion were busy day and night refining Elixir Pills for various locales, and they temporarily couldn't spare the time to come to Qi City to look at some "diarrhea."

Even more infuriating was that Cauldron Master Ye added that diarrhea was not much of an ailment, and that after enough purging, it would naturally get better.

When they received this message, both Hong Fang and Xia Houhong nearly rolled off their beds in anger.

Unfortunately, after suffering from vomiting and diarrhea for several days and nights, having almost spit out even their gastric juices, they lacked any strength at all, let alone to perform such a strenuous action as rolling.

Hong Fang and the Fourth Prince finally understood that this woman, Ye Lingyue, bore grudges.

The last time when fixing the city walls, Qi City had refused to send help.

This time when Qi City fell ill, she too refused to send help.

"Fourth Prince, right now Qi City is at a crucial period for quelling the beast disturbances. The group of Alchemists from the Alchemist Mansion cannot be moved temporarily. We are probably going to have to wait until Ye Lingyue returns to Xia Capital before we can settle the score," Hong Fang weakly commanded his men to carry him to Xia Houhong's tent.

After discussing with gritted teeth, Xia Houhong could only temporarily give up on submitting that memorial.

But that wasn't all; Hong Fang also dispatched a thousand soldiers to Moon City to help with the situation.

However, not long after Hong Fang made the compromise, both he and Xia Houhong miraculously recovered from their symptoms.

Indeed, as Ye Lingyue said, after enough pulling and praying, it naturally got better.