The troops here were all stationed in the border town. Though called a military camp, it was nothing like the traditional concept of one. Traditional camps were mostly made up of tents, but here, the camp consisted of fixed courtyards. The border town had almost no civilians; the original residents had either perished in the war or fled elsewhere. Now, aside from a handful of merchants, the town was inhabited by soldiers' families. Naturally, the camp was also within the town.
As the two passed a relatively secluded courtyard, they heard coughing from within from a great distance, along with a strong smell of medicine. Tang Yuan stepped forward to enter, but General Wei quickly moved to block him, advising, "Everyone here has caught a cold. They've been isolated to prevent contagion. Your Majesty... young master, it's best not to go in."
Tang Yuan looked at Shen Yunyun, who gave a slight nod. He still had plenty of the nearly expired medicine he'd taken from Tang Yu, and since his trip to the beast world hadn't used much, he could now give it to them. "Don't worry, I have the protection of the Heavenly Dao," Tang Yuan said firmly. Shen Yunyun knew he had taken the Nine-Turn Resurrection Pill before, so this cold couldn't harm him. When General Wei heard that the emperor had the protection of the Heavenly Dao, he dared not say more.
They entered and saw the soldiers lying on piles of dry straw on the ground. Some had persistent high fevers, others coughed incessantly. Some coughed so violently it sounded as if they were trying to cough out their hearts and lungs, making anyone who heard them want to cough along. All of them were thinly dressed, carrying an air of deathly stillness. It was clear they had resigned themselves to fate, feeling there was no way out.
Just then, two people stumbled over, carrying a corpse. The deceased looked only about sixteen or seventeen, clutching a wooden hairpin tightly in his hand. Shen Yunyun felt a pang in her heart, biting her lip in silence. The emperor clearly sensed her sudden drop in mood and quickly asked General Wei Min, "What's going on here?"
Wei Min called over a soldier to inquire, then reported back: "This is Wang Laoqi, who enlisted last year. He's seventeen this year. The wooden hairpin in his hand was carved by him for his fiancée." He paused for a moment before adding, "His family is a military household. His father was injured last year and sent back. His older brothers are all married, so he was sent here. He got engaged last year; if he hadn't joined the army, he would have married early this year. The peach wood hairpin he's holding was carved by himself, meant as a gift for his wife."
Shen Yunyun couldn't bear to listen anymore. She loved happy endings, perfect bliss, and princesses living joyfully with their princes. She couldn't stand heartbreak or scenes of separation and death. The emperor shot a glance at Wei Min, who immediately fell silent. He had spoken with ulterior motives, hoping to make the court aware of the hardships faced by soldiers on the frontier, to show the emperor the price they paid to defend their homeland. Whether the emperor was moved, he didn't know, but this Miss Shen was clearly affected.
The emperor looked at Shen Yunyun again, sighing inwardly. She was still the same as before—soft-hearted. In his past life, he had won her over by playing weak and pitiful, and in this life, he would use the same tactic. He had to be gentle with her, not forceful. She was someone who yielded to softness, not hardness. Shen Yunyun, meanwhile, was imagining all sorts of tragic stories about Wang Laoqi and his fiancée—including but not limited to Wang Laoqi dying at the frontier, his fiancée committing suicide for him, her being branded as a jinx who brought bad luck to her husband, and finally being sold by her family to an old widower.