【Xi Zixing's Affection +8】
【Xi Zixing's Affection +3】
【Total Affection: 45】
In a daze, Qu Dubian faintly heard such a prompt.
Since the night, Xia Fuyang's affection points had been rising, and now it was Xi Zixing's.
He suspected he was hallucinating from the fever. With great effort, he mustered a bit of spirit, wanting to check the simulator, but soon, his consciousness was overwhelmed by unbearable exhaustion.
Mentally cheering on Imperial Physician Yang and the others, he fell back into a deep slumber.
"Young Master Xi? Young Master Xi?"
Magistrate Hua was puzzled. "What's the matter with you?"
Xi Zixing suddenly snapped back to reality and grabbed Magistrate Hua's wrist. "Where did this disaster management protocol come from?"
His expression was unusually intense. Magistrate Hua paused, deftly pulling the original manuscript from his grasp.
He laughed it off, saying, "Ah, I dug it out from the Seventh Prince's belongings. He didn't even know what it was. When he gave it to me, he even said he almost used it to wipe his shoes."
Clearly meant to imply the Seventh Prince couldn't recognize a treasure, it was precisely this statement that erased the last trace of doubt in Xi Zixing's mind.
Wipe his shoes?
Completely clueless?
That was just talk to fool a child.
While the Seventh Prince's academic reputation wasn't great, under the tutelage of Grand Tutor Fang and his own father, his basic comprehension was sound. He himself was intelligent, not some illiterate playboy. How could he possibly fail to recognize the importance of what was written in that protocol?
Now, the label of "the Seventh Prince has poor scholarship" was slowly being torn off in Xi Zixing's heart.
Xi Zixing almost wanted to laugh.
He truly didn't know if he had been blind, or if the Seventh Prince had hidden himself too well.
For so many years, no one had ever discovered that beneath that playful, food-loving exterior lay genuine talent he was desperately unwilling to let anyone see.
Moreover, the handwriting on the original manuscript was completely different from the script the Seventh Prince usually wrote.
So he could even write in two different styles.
At the age of fourteen, he lacked nothing in intelligence, knowledge, or martial skill. Having been friends with him for years, Xi Zixing knew the Seventh Prince had his share of minor flaws, but they were harmless. As for his character, no one knew better than Xi Zixing himself.
Item by item, Xi Zixing stood completely still.
Magistrate Hua waved a hand in front of his eyes. "Are you really alright, young master? You look like, uh..."
Like the lovesick men or jealous women in storybooks who suddenly discover their spouse has someone else on the side.
Xi Zixing: "Magistrate, I must take my leave for now!"
Magistrate Hua was left scratching his head.
"Are people from the capital all this strange nowadays?"
Xi Zixing hurried towards Qu Dubian's courtyard.
The joy and frustration of discovering a hidden pearl had no time to be fully savored before he remembered the Seventh Prince was still lying inside, not yet having survived the perilous plague.
It felt like a bucket of cold water had been dumped over his head.
Xi Zixing stopped, panting, outside the courtyard, his eyes frighteningly bright.
Xia Fuyang found it baffling. "What are you doing?"
Xi Zixing rolled his eyes. "You wouldn't understand."
Now the Seventh Prince was the one with the highest score!
Xia Fuyang: "..."
Three days passed.
Progress on the plague prescription advanced rapidly, with more than half of it developed.
To keep the patients alive in the meantime, large cauldrons outside began brewing the semi-finished prescription into medicinal decoctions, distributed to the people. Those without the illness drank it for prevention, those with it drank it to slightly alleviate symptoms.
Yet, despite their speed, many had already died.
They wept as their family members passed away, and amidst their grief and despair, resentment grew.
While queuing for medicine, someone grumbled:
"They say there's a royal physician from the capital, with excellent medical skills. But ever since some noble in the county office fell ill, he hasn't come out again."
"He's just treating the noble, isn't he? Not coming out to see us anymore."
"And the other doctors, to treat him, they hardly come out either. The medicine they give us to drink is probably just their leftovers."
Someone nearby quickly pulled at the grumbler, scolding in a low voice, "What are you saying! The government is giving out free medicine. We should be grateful to have any at all. Be careful, or the noble might get angry later and take even this away from us..."
"Right... keep your voice down. A noble from the capital, their temper must be even bigger... If you don't want to drink it, we still want to live."
Some whispered in agreement, others remained timidly silent.
The common people jostled against each other. A child complained about the overly bitter medicine and was forced to drink it by their parents, accompanied by scolding and hitting.
Imperial Physician Yang, returning from the severe illness area, overheard a snippet or two on the way. His eyes reddened, and he was filled with pent-up anger.
Too bitter?
This bitter, semi-finished medicine was developed based on how the Seventh Prince's pulse reacted after he was forced to drink countless bowls of decoction over these three days!
Yes, it was bitter. The Seventh Prince hadn't uttered a single word of complaint because he no longer had the strength to speak.
His plague symptoms were strangely stuck in the late stage, almost unchanging. Yesterday, he was in a deep sleep the entire time and barely ate two mouthfuls of food.
The Seventh Prince didn't mind, but Imperial Physician Yang couldn't bring himself to be indifferent!
Imperial Physician Yang fanned a clay pot over a small stove in the courtyard. As the medicinal steam slowly rose, he muttered to himself, growing more and more upset the more he thought about it.
Finally, he stood up abruptly, only to turn and see someone emerging from the room on the left.
Yi Shier, his hair untied and face pale, leaned against the doorframe, having stood there for who knows how long, listening to his muttering.
Imperial Physician Yang: "Ah! You're finally awake!"
Two people were lying ill in Qu Dubian's small courtyard: the unconscious Liu Liu, and him, the master of the main room who had fallen ill.
Yi Shier said hoarsely, "Don't go and tell them."
Imperial Physician Yang was taken aback. "But..."
Yi Shier shook his head. "I'll go see His Highness."
He himself looked very weak. Imperial Physician Yang really didn't want another patient in the small courtyard. "Sir, perhaps it's better not to."
"It's fine."
Normally, using internal energy to hold one's breath has a limit of about five or six minutes. Imperial guards are trained in breath control through special methods, allowing them to hold it for much longer.
Yi Shier entered the room.
Inside, he dragged a small stool and sat by the bed.
Qu Dubian was still asleep.
Yi Shier watched him for a long while.
His memory stopped at the shout and threat he heard just before diving into the water.
Upon waking, although his body felt weak and feeble, it was also completely relaxed. The Three-Day Drunk poison had been completely purged, and his internal energy remained.
His Highness had saved him.
While unconscious, he wasn't completely unaware. Hearing those few words His Highness said beside him, he struggled to wake up, but several days had still passed.
His Highness had deliberately contracted the illness, deliberately made himself the test subject for the medicine.
His Highness was wrong about one thing. If Yi Shier hadn't been unconscious at the time, he truly wouldn't have stopped His Highness, but he would have told everyone around His Highness, so they could stop him.
Yi Shier said softly, "If you wake up, from now on, I am completely yours. My life and death are in your hands alone."
【Yi Shier's Affection +1】
【Affection has reached 60. Removed from the conquest list. Future increases in affection will not be counted by the simulator.】
He remembered His Highness's furious shout before he lost consciousness and grew a bit worried that His Highness might be angry and not want him anymore.
Contemplating this possibility, Yi Shier fell silent again. After staring blankly for a few seconds, he gently pulled the quilt up for Qu Dubian.
Renowned physicians from neighboring prefectures gradually arrived in the three afflicted counties.
The ashes of those who had died from the plague, after being burned, were piled into small hills and buried underground.
Even with a concerted effort, they could only barely extend the time from falling ill to death—from lasting one day to managing three days before passing.
People were still dying in Le'an County.
The medicinal decoction could delay things a bit, but everyone vaguely sensed it wasn't very effective.
The common folk were ignorant, yet also perceptive.
"A doctor! Please, we need a doctor! My mother is dying!" Geng Da, who had caused trouble earlier, knelt before the county office gates, utterly distraught.
He had thought he had no family left, only to discover his mother was still alive. The bad news was that she too had contracted the illness. After drinking the medicinal soup, she held on for a day, but now she couldn't even speak to him.
Geng Da kowtowed repeatedly: "I know the doctors are inside! Just one, send out just one! Please, my lord—"
The county office doors remained shut.
Geng Da pleaded with the guards stationed at the entrance, "Officers! Officers, I was wrong before, I shouldn't have led people to steal grain. I admit my fault. Please, go in and tell the magistrate, just send out one doctor..."
He kowtowed at the officers' feet, not stopping even as his forehead broke and bled. This grown man wept with a hoarse, ragged voice.
An officer helped steady him, saying helplessly, "It's not that we won't go in. It's that even if we did, it would be useless. Imperial Physician Yang and all the doctors are gathered at the distinguished guest's courtyard. They say it's a critical moment; no one can leave."
Geng Da sat dumbfounded on the ground.
A wave of grief and indignation suddenly surged in his heart.
"We till the soil for food, our lives are cheap, not worthy of an imperial physician's care. But... but Doctor Zhang, he's our county's own doctor! With the one inside the county office fallen ill, are we not even worthy of having our own doctor anymore?"
"If my mother dies, I'll dash my brains out right here on these county office steps! I'll haunt you all as a ghost for eternity!"
More and more commoners gathered at the county office gates.
"Give us back our doctors!"
"Give us back our doctors!"
"I came back from another county. Their doctors are all working on prescriptions. Only here in Le'an County, all the doctors have gone to attend to one person! So only the most precious life matters, is that it?"
"Magistrate Hua, we demand to see you, Magistrate Hua!"
"It's that distinguished guest delaying our treatment! Magistrate Hua, we beg you, send the guest away!"
Whether you act or not, the outcome seems dire.
Words usually left unsaid now spilled forth under the pressure of sickness and death, fueling growing collective anger.
Magistrate Hua had no choice but to come out to placate the crowd.
The disaster had progressed to this point, with the shadow of death constantly weighing on everyone's hearts. Even a small spark could easily ignite a riot. Throughout history, during calamities, people would do anything to survive.
The county office's current manpower could not withstand a popular uprising.
Magistrate Hua: "Quiet! Quiet!"
Geng Da stood below the county office steps. "Magistrate Hua, we just ask you one thing: Are all the doctors inside treating that distinguished guest, refusing to see us?"
"Is he so domineering, not leaving a single doctor for us, trying to cut off our last hope?"
Magistrate Hua was sweating profusely with anxiety. "Of course not! They are developing a prescription! The decoction you drank the day before yesterday was what the imperial physician and doctors developed."
"Then why develop it inside the county office?"
"Why do people still die after drinking it?"
"Does developing a prescription require all the doctors?"
"..."
Just as they were about to force their way in to seize the doctors, the county office gates opened once more.
Imperial Physician Yang emerged, leading a group of doctors. He held a freshly written prescription in his hand, dark circles under everyone's eyes.
"They're out!"
"The doctors are out!"
"Thank goodness..."
"The distinguished guest must have gotten scared. With all our shouting and so many of us, he surely heard."
These last remarks were, of course, not spoken loudly, but even whispered, fragments reached the ears of Imperial Physician Yang and the doctors.
Suppressing his emotions, he handed the prescription to Magistrate Hua.
"Your Honor, please have a pot of medicine brewed from this formula and administer it to the critically ill among the people."
"Things are settled inside. All of you, go over there and observe the patients' recovery after taking the medicine. If its efficacy is confirmed, disseminate the prescription immediately."
Several doctors cupped their hands in acknowledgment: "Yes."
"But Physician Yang, what about His Highness inside..."
"Someone is watching over him."
"Very well then."
They turned towards the direction of the Seventh Prince's courtyard and bowed slightly.
They were all physicians. The matter of testing the medicine could be hidden from laymen, but not from them. The new medicine wasn't tested on the common people but was instead delivered first to that room. Each time it was taken in, Imperial Physician Yang's prescription was refined further.
From initial disbelief to the heartfelt admiration and awe they felt now had taken only a few days.
The medicine brewed from this final prescription, when drunk by the afflicted, showed improvement after one dose, significant relief after two, and after three, even severely ill patients could basically get up and walk around.
Imperial Physician Yang walked through the quarantine area and nodded.
"Magistrate Hua, please arrange for Le'an County's doctors to be dispatched to the other counties to spread this prescription."
Magistrate Hua replied, "Understood!"
The plague was finally about to recede!
The sound of someone weeping grew louder. Imperial Physician Yang stopped.
A person crouched, crying over a corpse.
Doctor Zhang tried to console them: "It truly wasn't for lack of medicine. He was just too far gone, hanging on by a thread. The medicinal soup isn't a miracle cure. Getting him to hold on until he could say his final words to you was already the limit."
The person's eyes were red, choking back sobs: "If it had been just one day earlier, he wouldn't have died! Who is that distinguished guest? Why did he come to Le'an County? If he hadn't kept all of you detained, Doctor Zhang, couldn't you have come out sooner?"
"If he hadn't held the doctors back, surely many wouldn't have had to die..."
Doctor Zhang: "That's not the truth of it! Ah... how can I explain."
He was truly at a loss.
Imperial Physician Yang looked around.
Clearly, yesterday's commotion had led many to believe that their protest had forced the doctors out, that the distinguished guest inside had been frightened by their demonstration.
Even the deaths of patients too far gone to save were now being blamed on him by some of the commoners.
These past few days, Imperial Physician Yang had steeled himself mentally. He had finally convinced himself: if the Seventh Prince wished to remain anonymous, so be it.
But he could accept unrewarded sacrifice; he could not bear slander and malicious speculation!
Imperial Physician Yang took a deep breath and strode over. "If you can't say it, I will!"
At worst, he'd lose his official post upon returning. A beating at most—wherever he practiced medicine would be the same!
He addressed the people in the quarantine area:
"The prescription for this plague, our Le'an County was the first to develop it. The prescription has just been sent out. Those who doubt can follow the messengers to see for themselves, to see if infected people in other counties are recovering."
"This wasn't due to our exceptional medical skill. It was because someone willingly volunteered to test the medicine for everyone!"
"How great is the risk borne by those who test the medicine," Physician Yang said, pulling Doctor Zhang aside. "If the wrong one is used and the properties clash, the person is gone."
Doctor Zhang sighed. "That is indeed true." He cupped his hands respectfully towards the common people. "I have often provided free medical consultations for everyone. You should trust me. The noble person in the county office is not selfishly holding us back out of fear of death. Rather, he is personally testing the medicine for the sake of saving more people across the three prefectures, enduring immense suffering."
The quarantine area gradually fell silent.
The people looked at each other.
Geng Da asked, "Doctor Zhang, is it really true that a noble from the capital is testing medicine for us?"
Doctor Zhang nodded emphatically. "It is true. I'll say it again: if you don't believe it, you can go to the neighboring county and see if they have a prescription for treating the plague.
How many people have to die during every major flood and epidemic before a prescription is developed? This time is truly the fortune of Le'an County, the fortune of the three prefectures."
Physician Yang added, "You ask who he is? He is the youngest son of His Majesty the Emperor of Great Zhou, the Seventh Prince, Qu Dubian." He couldn't hold back any longer, his nose and eyes stinging with emotion. Pointing a trembling finger towards the county office, he said, "His Highness is only fourteen years old. He's usually so lively and spirited... What state is he in now..."
He couldn't continue.
It was as if a lump of cotton was stuck in Physician Yang's throat. After a moment to compose himself, he spoke again.
"I can understand everyone's feelings. The pain of losing loved ones is unbearable. You can blame us for being slow, but please do not direct your blame towards His Highness. He should not bear this."
He also didn't want the Seventh Prince to hear even a whisper of complaint when he awoke.
Having said his piece, Physician Yang did not linger and returned directly to the county office.
Magistrate Hua had also just learned about the medicine testing. His face filled with astonishment, he stood rooted to the spot, seeming to merge with the silent quarantine area, unsure of what to do.
The next day.
After Physician Yang's emotional outburst the previous night, the news that the Seventh Prince was testing medicine for the people of the three prefectures had spread. Everyone who should or shouldn't know now knew, except for the prince himself, who remained unconscious.
As the prescription spread, the situation fermented wildly outside.
Consort Xuan could no longer hold back. She kicked aside Xie Jingshan, who was trying to stop her, and rushed straight to Le'an County.
In Yu Ruo's courtyard.
"No wonder he fell ill so suddenly," Yu Ruo mused. "Although the imperial physician didn't say it, I suspect he probably did it on purpose..."
Gu Xin was also wide-eyed with astonishment. "I've never heard of a prince testing medicine for commoners before." Historically, it's always been the other way around.
Yu Ruo looked out from her courtyard, her feelings complex.
"The news can't be contained. With the public's hopes resting on him, the hearts of the people in the three prefectures—whether he wants it or not, they are his now."
The political storm in the capital is right before our eyes. This time, he finally won't be able to hide as he usually does, will he?
Qu Dubian's small courtyard was quiet.
The prescription had been developed, and the plague was no longer fearsome.
Xi Zixing and Xia Fuyang had both entered the small courtyard to stay.
The condition of the commoners outside improved rapidly, but Qu Dubian alone, who hadn't yet turned off his simulator and was mentally exhausted, kept sleeping, seeming to have a relapse of the illness.
Even Physician Yang began to worry.
"His Highness's constitution is really... Who knows how long he'll have to endure this."
Yi Shier had mostly recovered. He wasn't accustomed to showing his face, but his mask had been discarded, and Qu Dubian hadn't permitted him to wear another.
So he often hid inside Qu Dubian's room, guarding him without letting others see him.
Outside.
Xi Zixing waited anxiously.
Xia Fuyang had wanted to say this for a while. "Friends don't necessarily have to go to such lengths. You snuck away, didn't you? Not writing to your family is one thing, but guarding here for so long..."
Xi Zixing retorted, "Aren't you the same?"
Every day, you squat outside the courtyard eating your meals, craning your neck to look inside at the slightest sound. What's the difference between you and Yidianbai the guard dog? And you have the nerve to talk about me.
Xia Fuyang: "Likewise, likewise. I'm just worried that if you get too close to Little Seven, people might suspect you when you choose your lord after the Spring Examinations. It's for your own good."
"..." Xi Zixing glanced at him sidelong and said, "You don't need to probe anymore."
He took out the dossiers on the Second, Fourth, and Fifth Princes from his robe, tore them to pieces right in front of Xia Fuyang, and tossed them directly into the charcoal brazier in the courtyard used for warming water.
"You just want to ask if I have a dossier on the Seventh Prince, don't you? I do. I made one for him a long time ago." Xi Zixing said through gritted teeth, "I swear I really want to deduct all his points!"
The veiled probing hidden in Xia Fuyang's teasing vanished. He asked, "Then you..."
Xi Zixing let out a sigh and looked towards the room.
"He is incredibly infuriating."
"But if he pulls through this, from then on, Xi Zixing will acknowledge only him."
A moment later, Xia Fuyang hooked an arm around his shoulder and leaned in. "Good brother, you have good judgment. But first come, first served. You're behind me."
They had known each other for so long, but the subtle wariness between them only now disappeared.
Xi Zixing noticed this, but first come, first served?
He sneered, "Without the title of Top Scholar, I disdain to share the position."
Xia Fuyang's smile froze. He said angrily, "You haven't even taken the Spring Examinations!"
Xi Zixing: "I will in the next session."
Xia Fuyang gritted his teeth. "Fine, I'll be waiting."
After their bickering, the two began staring eagerly towards the room again.
Qu Dubian woke to the sound of incessant ding-ding-dang-dang notifications of increased favorability.
Upon waking, he groggily opened the interface to look.
[Wen Xiaochun: Already above 60, not counted in statistics]
[Yi Shier: Already above 60, not counted in statistics]
Xie Mingxuan (Consort Xuan): 57
Xia Fuyang: 46
Xi Zixing: 45
Fang Hechuan: 43
Zhang Chansi: 40
Yu Ruo: 36
Qu Dubian: "..."
Yu Ruo's score had increased by three points while he was unconscious. Zhang Chansi's score, long stuck at 39, had broken through the major threshold to 40.
He could understand Consort Xuan's mother gaining two points, but why had everyone else's increased?
Especially Grand Tutor Fang, who was far away in the capital, and Xi Zixing, whose score had shot up like a rocket by at least ten points.
And Xia Fuyang too.
Before he fell asleep, this guy's favorability definitely hadn't changed.
Qu Dubian wondered suspiciously, "Did I sleepwalk while I was unconscious?"
Simulator: [You did not.]
Simulator: [Reminder to Host: The plague prescription has been successfully developed outside.]
Qu Dubian promptly and happily turned off the simulator. His body would gradually recover at a normal speed.
Once the negative mental symptoms were eliminated, he immediately felt much better, the discomfort greatly reduced.
But these past few days had been too taxing; losing some blood from the cuts had weakened him. He'd probably feel weak for a few more days... Tsk, and I still wanted to find a chance to spar with Xia Fuyang.
Qu Dubian slowly opened his eyes.
He raised a hand somewhat unsteadily to shield them from the light.
His vision was still a bit blurry upon waking.
"His Highness is awake!"
It was Ye Banban's voice.
"His Highness is awake! Physician Yang! Consort Xuan, His Highness is awake!"
Hurried footsteps sounded in the room. Soon, a crowd of people gathered around the bedside.
Qu Dubian steadied himself and looked at those by the bed.
Ye Banban, Xia Fuyang, Consort Xuan, Xi Zixing, and Physician Yang were all there.
Xia Fuyang stretched out five fingers nervously and asked, "How many is this?"
Qu Dubian rolled his eyes, his voice still hoarse. "Get lost."
Xia Fuyang patted his chest in relief. "Good, good, he's not addled."
Qu Dubian slowly propped himself up to sit, raised his small eyes, and shuffled closer to Consort Xuan, resting his head on her shoulder. "Consort Xuan, does your head still hurt?"
Consort Xuan was both angry and heartbroken. This boy probably didn't realize they already knew everything, and here he was acting as if nothing had happened.
But now wasn't the time for a lecture. She would wait until he had fully recovered.
She pinched Qu Dubian's cheek. "You really are going to be the death of me! Are you feeling unwell anywhere else? Quickly, have the imperial physician examine you."
Physician Yang, drawing on his experience, said, "He should be fine now." His pulse had stabilized.
"I'm fine. I feel quite good now," Qu Dubian glanced at Xi Zixing. "What are you doing here?"
Xi Zixing replied, "I came with the capital's procession."
"Oh..."
Qu Dubian looked at them, then checked the favorability panel on his simulator.
He couldn't help but ask, "Has anything happened outside that I don't know about?"
A chill ran down his spine, giving him a strange feeling.