"Take off your clothes!" Qingyan ordered without hesitation the moment the unfamiliar man was helped into the carriage.
The man grimaced, clutching his wound as he stared at Qingyan in disbelief. "What? Miss... please mind your boundaries. Men and women shouldn't touch each other so casually, especially—"
"Ugh, enough with the whining!" Qingyan snapped impatiently. Without wasting any time, she moved with lightning speed, ripping and yanking at the man's battle clothes until his chest was completely exposed.
SRAKKK!
"Miss! Oh my gosh, Miss! Cover your eyes!" A-Man jumped in shock and reflexively covered his face with both hands, occasionally peeking through the gaps between his fingers. "Miss, he's a man! That's improper!"
The man stiffened, trying to brush Qingyan's hands away with what little strength he had left. His face flushed from both pain and embarrassment. "Miss... act like a proper woman!"
Qingyan's movements suddenly paused for a moment. Her eyes blinked twice. Spread out before her was a broad, powerfully muscled chest, with perfectly defined six-pack abs and arm muscles that made her stare in awe.
Damn... Qingyan swallowed as she thought to herself. His proportions are insane! His muscles are sculpted perfectly, like a modern bodybuilder's! If this were the real world, he'd be a top-tier fitness model!
But the doctor's focus quickly returned when she saw fresh blood gushing from the slash across the man's abdomen.
"Listen up, handsome!" Qingyan snapped sharply, staring into the man's eyes. "If you want to live, shut up and listen to me! In my eyes, you're nothing but a living chunk of meat that needs stitching up! So stop acting so high and mighty!"
The man fell silent, stunned by the courage and determination in Qingyan's eyes.
"A-Man! Get the small wooden box from under the bench! Hurry!" Qingyan ordered.
A-Man hurriedly handed over the emergency medicine box Qingyan had prepared before they set out. "M-Miss... can you really treat a wound this severe? You never studied to become a physician..."
"Less talking! Hold his shoulders!" Qingyan cut him off.
With practiced skill, Qingyan took out a small knife heated over a candle, a measuring needle, silk thread, and a bottle of herbal alcohol. Without modern anesthesia, Qingyan immediately cleaned the wound, poured disinfectant over it, and stitched the torn skin with astonishing speed and precision.
"AAAGHHH!" The man groaned in agony, the veins in his neck standing out taut.
"Ugh, you're so loud!" Qingyan grabbed a clean cloth from beside her and stuffed it straight into the man's mouth. "There. Much quieter."
"Mmpfff! Mmmph!" The man glared wide-eyed, gripping Qingyan's hand tightly as the pain burned through him.
A-Man shuddered in fear as he watched the stitching. The man's sturdy body was covered in countless old scars—a sign that he was a true fighter. A-Man busily wiped the sweat pouring down Qingyan's forehead. "Miss... you're amazing... your hands aren't shaking at all..."
"I'm used to it," Qingyan muttered, focused on tightening the final bandage knot.
After the blood had been cleaned away and the wound fully bandaged, Qingyan pounded on the carriage wall. "Coachman, stop for a moment!"
The carriage stopped. Qingyan rummaged through one of her cloth bags and tossed a pink women's dress into the man's lap.
The man—who had already removed the cloth from his mouth—stared at it in horror. "What the hell is this?!"
"Put it on. Now!" Qingyan commanded firmly.
"No way!" the man flatly refused in his deep voice. "I'm a man! How could I possibly wear this horribly gaudy women's outfit?!"
"Do you want to survive, or do you want to die like an idiot?" Qingyan folded her arms and glared at him. "There are bound to be pursuers blocking this carriage soon. If they see a blood-soaked, muscular man inside my carriage, we'll all be slaughtered! This is the only way for all of us to survive!"
"But this isn't how you—"
"Put it on, or I'll strip you again?!" Qingyan threatened, moving forward as though she meant to open his clothes again.
"Fine, fine! I'll change by myself!" the man cried out in panic. "You two get out!"
Qingyan and A-Man climbed down from the carriage for a moment. Not long afterward, the curtain was pulled aside.
The sturdy man was now wrapped in a woman's dress. Qingyan climbed back in, picked up a bundle of scrap cloth, and without asking permission, shoved it beneath the man's dress right over his abdomen.
"There. Now you're a pregnant woman!" Qingyan declared in satisfaction. She took out a black veil and put it over the man's face, then adjusted the wig bun on his head.
A-Man covered his mouth, holding back his laughter until his shoulders shook. "Oh my gosh... Miss... he looks like an incredibly muscular and fierce pregnant woman..."
The man growled from behind the veil, his murderous glare fixed on her. "Miss... if I survive today, I promise you'll pay for every one of these humiliations."
"Whatever! The important thing is that you're alive," Qingyan replied casually.
The horse-drawn carriage started moving again. The atmosphere inside became extremely quiet and serious. Qingyan stared out the window with a focused expression.
Exactly one hour later...
SRIIIK! CRASH!
The carriage suddenly came to a violent stop. The pounding of dozens of horses surrounded them from the front and rear, followed by the ringing of swords being drawn from their scabbards.
"Inspection! Stop the carriage!" a loud, authoritative voice barked from outside. "We are the Imperial Palace Guards! We're searching for a royal fugitive who fled toward the borderlands!"
The three people inside the carriage jolted. The man disguised as a pregnant woman tensed, his fingers reflexively clenching into tight fists.
The man stared at Qingyan with widened eyes. How could this woman's guess have been exactly right?!
A-Man suddenly went deathly pale, clutching Qingyan's sleeve with trembling hands. "M-Miss... what should we do? T-They're government officials! Could it be... the person you saved... is a fugitive from the state?!"