Jiu Qing was indeed feeling nostalgic, but it was not the kind of replacement-substitute nostalgia Qiu Ci imagined.
Just moments ago, when Qiu Ci declared with absolute certainty that they were going to find the prefect, in Jiu Qing’s eyes, time seemed to instantly roll back several hundred years in that brief flash. The sickly yet tender-hearted young miracle doctor felt as though he had materialized right in front of him once again.
Indeed, he missed those days deeply.
Back then in the mountains, before they were found by the Four Divine Beasts and Bai Ze, only he and the young miracle doctor lived together. He had personally guided the young doctor in recognizing medicinal herbs, taught him to understand the human body’s meridians and collateral channels, and helped him become the renowned miracle doctor he eventually grew into.
Occasionally, he would secretly bring the young doctor down the mountain to provide free consultations and treatments for chronic ailments to the impoverished villagers who made their living cultivating medicinal herbs. Sometimes, when the young doctor’s health permitted, they would put on disguises and head into the city together to share a stick of candied hawthorn.
Too much time had already passed.
Seven or eight hundred years felt like the snap of a finger to him, sometimes leaving him in a momentary trance. Yet, in the end, it was still this very same person sitting before him.
Identity, preferences, and temperament might shift in a thousand ways, but what remained eternally unchanged was that sacred soul and sincere heart.
Jiu Qing’s gaze remained deep and enigmatic, though he said nothing more. Qiu Ci felt too apprehensive to continue asking, nervously letting Jiu Qing push him toward the prefectural yamen.
Logically speaking, the yamen should have been quite easy to locate. Although they were filming a reality show, much like Wu Feng’s gentry residence, which was somewhat dilapidated yet highly recognizable within the small town, the yamen ought to have a similar vintage architecture or prominent landmark. Yet, after circling the vicinity twice, the two of them failed to find it anywhere.
After a moment of consideration, Qiu Ci decided to randomly select a local pedestrian extra to ask.
“Elderly sir, do you happen to know the way to the prefectural yamen?”
The old man’s makeup looked rather terrifying. It was impossible to tell how many layers of contour powder had been used; his cheeks were sunken and the skin beneath his eyes was stained a bruised grayish-blue, making him look genuinely terminally ill.
Hearing someone speak, the old man coughed violently a few times before answering, “Why would a young man want to go to the yamen? That old prefect has no time to care whether ordinary folks like us live or die.”
Those words carried considerable weight.
Qiu Ci pondered it briefly. Wu Feng’s persona was an arrogant, overbearing gentry, and the prefect was Wu Feng’s uncle. In ancient times, an official who tolerated his relatives running amok in the town, combined with the old man’s remarks, made it obvious that the prefect was no honest, upright official.
Well, this complicated things.
Even though the old man had spent a long time bitterly complaining about the prefect, he still pointed Qiu Ci in the right direction.
After expressing his gratitude, Qiu Ci had Jiu Qing push him away. Along the way, he continuously actively analyzed the current storyline trajectory while occasionally pulling out the persona and mission cards he had initially received from the director to review them.
Jiu Qing spoke very little, conscientiously fulfilling his role as a medicine boy, yet whenever Qiu Ci asked a question, he always provided precise and flawless answers.
No matter how one looked at it, he acted precisely like someone who had been patiently listening to Qiu Ci’s analysis all along and stood ready to act at a moment’s notice.
To sum it up in a single sentence: whenever you need me, I will always be there.
In the live stream, an increasing number of viewers were won over by the dynamic between the two.
“Do you guys seriously not feel that the atmosphere between these two is completely unusual?”
“Clearly, they aren’t doing anything special and there are no overtly ambiguous actions, but I just think it’s so sweet.”
“Ahhhhh, I will forever surrender to this kind of tenderness and exclusive favoritism.”
“I constantly feel like a stray dog getting kicked on the side of the road.”
“The pink bubbles are about to burst right through the screen.”
“It’s not that we want to ship them, it’s just that the sugar is literally being shoved directly into our mouths.”
“Think about Qiu Ci’s usual demeanor when facing the camera. Aside from acting, even when he appears on hilarious variety shows, he always keeps his composure and only offers a mild smile.”
“True, true! Ever since Mr. Qin stepped onto the set today, nothing about him has looked normal.”
“Indeed, Qiu Ci’s expressions today are way too rich.”
It was no wonder the shipper fans suddenly emerged out of nowhere; the sight of the two standing in the same frame was simply too visually striking, compounded by the fact that Jiu Qing’s gaze barely left Qiu Ci for half a minute, while Qiu Ci’s behavior today genuinely felt a bit out of character.
Soon, a shipping hashtag named JiuCi began rising steadily on Weibo, rapidly gathering a dedicated crowd of enthusiastic romance analysts.
Fans were going all out to ship them today anyway, especially since Mr. Qin wasn’t part of the entertainment industry, meaning it would likely be difficult to see them share a screen again in the future. Consequently, the analysts pulled out all the stops.
In less than half an hour, fan fiction and fan art were already flying everywhere.
What kind of expressions would the two principals have when they saw all this after finishing the show? Heh, never mind that for now; let’s enjoy the shipping first.
At the recording site, Qiu Ci and Jiu Qing finally located the yamen.
Outside the yamen, a few bailiffs stood crookedly, bantering back and forth and occasionally letting out cryptic bursts of jeering laughter.
These bailiffs looked indistinguishable from local ruffians and scoundrels.
Submerging himself into the role of the Miracle Doctor X, Qiu Ci couldn’t help frowning. Centuries ago, was this the exact scene the original miracle doctor had been forced to face?
In a momentary trance, he felt a strange sense of empathy toward the miracle doctor. Although they were filming a variety show, the historical figure hadn’t been acting.
Centuries ago, an unknown young physician heard of a plague outbreak and traveled specifically down the mountain, only to find himself doubted and looked down upon by ordinary citizens due to his youth and sickly constitution, lacking any power or influence to back him up.
In the end, he could only drag his frail body through the dust, striving merely to secure a lifeline for the people.
With that thought, Qiu Ci’s gaze instantly sharpened. “It is not yet the hour for court to adjourn. For the lot of you to behave so dissolutely and uninhibitedly, are you not afraid the prefect will have you beaten with boards?”
The bailiffs reacted as if they had just heard a hilarious joke, bursting into uninhibited laughter.
One of the bailiffs swaggered down the steps with a slouch, his lewd gaze sweeping over Qiu Ci before landing on the wheelchair with a look of disgust.
“What is a sickly weakling like you hoping to accomplish by coming to the yamen?” He cracked his knuckles menacingly. “The yamen gates open wide, but don’t enter without reason or coin.”
“This junior has come specifically to pay my respects to the prefect regarding the plague in the city. I must trouble elder brother to announce my arrival.” Qiu Ci suppressed his rising anger, or rather, the anger his role as the miracle doctor demanded.
So he summoned his patience once more and repeated the purpose of his visit word for word.
The bailiff let out another derisive laugh. “Kid, has your facial hair even grown in fully? You don’t look too healthy yourself; why don’t you come home with big brother, and big brother will take good care of you? Hahahaha.”
Even knowing this was a reality show recording, hearing such insulting remarks still triggered a natural sense of discomfort.
Qiu Ci wasn’t a pushover either. “I see that your lower limbs are weak and unstable, your eyes are turbid and muddy, and a foul stench emanates from your mouth even from a distance. These are all textbook early symptoms of the plague.”
Upon hearing the word plague, the group of bailiffs panicked slightly.
Immediately afterward, the bailiff who had walked down first appeared to grow irritated out of shame. “Where did this yellow-haired brat come from, daring to claim this granddaddy’s mouth reeks? Brothers, beat him!”
Before Qiu Ci could even react, several bailiffs raised their padded water-fire staves and charged forward.
Qiu Ci was momentarily stunned, half-expecting an actual beating, but when the first staff landed on his arm, it felt merely like being tapped by a cotton swab, leaving him utterly speechless.
He even felt a strong urge to complain internally about taking a variety show recording this seriously.
As for the bailiff who had spoken just moments ago, his acting skills were actually quite impressive; for a fleeting second, Qiu Ci had genuinely been sucked into the immersion of the scene.
While Qiu Ci’s mind was storming with internal thoughts, the anticipated second strike never landed. Instead, a muffled grunt echoed beside his ear.
Lifting his gaze, he saw Jiu Qing pulling him tightly into his embrace, taking the brunt of the cotton-stuffed staves as they landed with dull thuds against Jiu Qing’s back.
Although these cotton-stuffed staves didn’t hurt or cause actual injury, the impact was not entirely imperceptible.
Qiu Ci’s ear was forced directly against Jiu Qing’s chest, his immediate sensation being how broad and warm that chest felt. Then came the rhythmic beat: thud, thud, thud. This was the first time he had ever heard Jiu Qing’s heartbeat, and the first time he had ever pressed this close to Jiu Qing.
So close that he could feel Jiu Qing’s warm breath scattering across the top of his head.
In that instant, he found himself thinking entirely out of place: Jiu Qing’s heartbeat is beating so fast.
He struggled slightly to lift his head, meeting Jiu Qing’s amorous eyes. He had to admit that he was completely bewitched in that single second.
He had never seen Jiu Qing look like this before. Usually, he always felt that Jiu Qing’s fox-like eyes carried a flirtatious air, but right now, he felt that anyone fortunate enough to be reflected in those eyes would be blessed for three lifetimes.
Yet right now, those eyes transparently and unmistakably mirrored his own silhouette, leaving not an ounce of space for anything else.
Thud! Thud! Thud! In that moment, he felt as though his own heartbeat was pounding as densely and intensely as a rock concert drumbeat.
The pale red flush on his earlobes instantly deepened as if stained with fresh blood.
“Stop, these things don’t actually hurt when they hit,” Qiu Ci said with very little conviction. “Get up first.”
His voice was as quiet as a mosquito’s buzz. It was hard to tell whether he was playing hard to get or simply too shy to speak properly.
Jiu Qing didn’t move, whether because he hadn’t heard amidst the chaos or because he was deliberately pretending not to hear.
The bailiffs didn’t actually dare to lay into them heavily. Even with the padded staves, they kept their strength carefully controlled, as this was a variety show recording, after all, not a real street brawl.
Seeing that the point had been made, the lead bailiff waved his hand. “Alright boys, that’s enough.”
The bailiffs lowered their staves, spat viciously with fake ferocity, muttered a few curses, and turned to walk away.
The lead bailiff puffed his chest out with arrogant disdain. “Next time, check what kind of place this is before walking in! This is the prefectural yamen, not some place where just any stray cat or dog can wander in. You want to see Lord Prefect? Hell, I can’t even see Lord Prefect. Scram, get out of here right now!”
Today’s recording was meant to reenact the story of the ancient Miracle Doctor X. They had only suffered a few light taps from cotton staves, but what about the actual young miracle doctor and his medicine boy back then?