April 14. Today, Bianjing basked in beautiful weather.
Early in the morning, Li’er got up to clean out the wooden tub from the previous night. These past few days were the most critical period for the young master—he could fall ill at any moment. Over the years, Li’er had grown used to this. Even back in Yuzhou, she had always been the one taking care of Lin Ce alone.
By the time Lin Ce woke up, Li’er had already tidied everything.
Seeing her busy figure, Lin Ce’s nose tingled slightly. The girl with ox-horn braids was even younger than him, yet she had taken on so much exhausting work.
“Young Master, you’re awake?” Li’er walked up with a cheerful smile and naturally placed her hand on Lin Ce’s forehead.
“Not bad, not bad. It’s not cold anymore.”
Others feared a fever, but with Lin Ce, the danger was in his forehead going cold. A chill meant his body was about to break down again, and when that happened, Li’er had her hands full.
“Today feels much better. Maybe it really was the scent of Aunt’s sachet yesterday that triggered it.” Lin Ce rubbed his nose in frustration. His body would fall ill without warning, all because of the Frost Marrow Curse!
The Frost Marrow Curse was composed of three elements: the venom of the Northern Desert Ice Spider, the blood of the Southern Miasma King, and the curse of the Eastern Sea Lost Dragon.
Neutralizing it was extremely difficult. Even Prime Minister Lin, while still in office, had been powerless against it.
“Tomorrow is the fifteenth. Let’s hope I can make it through.”
“Young Master, you’ll get better!” Li’er’s eyes turned red.
Every full moon on the fifteenth marked Lin Ce’s tribulation.
Lin Ce said nothing, merely sighing quietly to himself.
“I must resolve the poison in my body soon. Even just the Frost Marrow Curse is enough of a headache…” Lin Ce thought to himself. Of the three toxins in the curse, the Northern Desert Ice Spider venom was the easiest to neutralize, but the required antidote wasn’t easy to find.
The Ice Spider was of the yin attribute; to counter it, something of pure yang was needed.
And the blood of the Mountain Lord of Mount Changbai was exactly that—pure yang.
As long as he could find the Mountain Lord’s blood and use it to cleanse his body, he could eliminate this poison.
The Lin family had searched for this Mountain Lord for over a decade. But even ordinary tigers were rare in the Changbai Mountains, let alone the one-in-a-million Mountain Lord. Though there were rumors each year of people being attacked by one, any real search ended with nothing.
But Lin Ce had been reborn. In his previous life, he had already resolved two parts of the Frost Marrow Curse.
And that Mountain Lord in his past life had been captured by the Celestial Bureau. Its blood, being pure yang, had been used to refine pills for the Emperor. Lin Ce had secretly stolen a portion of that blood, allowing him to neutralize the Northern Desert Ice Spider venom.
“Looks like I’ll need to figure out a way into the Celestial Bureau.”
Rubbing his chin, Lin Ce muttered to himself. If he could obtain the Mountain Lord’s blood, he could eliminate one of the three poisons.
At that moment, Li Jiayin knocked on the door.
“Brother, are you feeling better?”
The door was open. Li Jiayin walked in and observed carefully. The room was very clean—Li’er had clearly done her part. Yesterday, some servants from the Duke of the Empire’s residence had also helped, so it hadn’t taken long to tidy up.
But this morning, the servants had already returned.
After all, people from the Duke of the Empire’s residence couldn’t stay long in the Li residence, especially since Duke Qin Shizhong and Li Jingchun were political enemies, often shouting at each other in court. Yesterday’s exception was only because of Lin Ce.
“Much better.” Lin Ce stood up with a smile. “Sorry to have worried you all yesterday. Are Uncle and Aunt awake yet? I’d like to greet them.”
He moved to leave, but Li Jiayin grabbed his arm.
Today, she wore a plain white dress, no longer dressed in male attire. Still, she carried the aura of a scholar—elegant and captivating. She whispered, “Father’s gone to court, and Mother went to the Noble Attire Pavilion. She said she wants to sell some things.”
Lin Ce was puzzled. “Sell things? Isn’t that unnecessary?”
“My mother wants to sell her rouge and powder. She said it was those things that made you sick yesterday, and she feels bad about it.” Li Jiayin herself carried no scent of cosmetics, only a light milky fragrance that was very pleasant.
Though not stunningly beautiful, her natural looks were more than enough. Besides, Jia Xifeng had always raised her like a boy and forbade her from touching makeup.
“There’s no need for that…” Lin Ce twitched his lips. He’d only blamed the sachet yesterday to cover for Li Jingchun. But now, Jia Xifeng actually felt guilty.
Still, it wasn’t all bad—perhaps his life in the Li residence would be a little easier from now on.
“By the way, I have to attend a poetry gathering today. Father asked me to bring you along.” Li Jiayin suddenly remembered her main purpose and urged Lin Ce to get ready.
If they wanted to recommend Lin Ce to enter the Imperial Library Pavilion, the first step was to make him known among the elite circles of Bianjing.
That way, word of him would reach the Emperor. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
As long as the Emperor didn’t react negatively, or better yet, showed some interest, Li Jingchun could move forward with his plans.
Lin Ce understood what was happening. “Where’s the poetry gathering?”
“It’s at Xun’an Ward.”
Li Jiayin smiled, and Lin Ce’s eyes lit up.
It was already April. The spring exams had long passed. Those who made the honor roll had been assigned posts, but those who failed still had a chance to enter officialdom.
Many of them lived in Xun’an Ward, networking with nobles and high-ranking officials. As long as they held the title of a certified scholar, they only needed a recommendation to enter the court.
So this poetry gathering must involve some of these disappointed scholars.
But Lin Ce’s interest wasn’t in them—it was because the Fragrant Butterfly Pavilion was located in Xun’an Ward!
This was his perfect excuse to visit the pavilion and see if they had the means to get him into the Celestial Bureau. He needed the Mountain Lord’s blood.
“Alright, I’ll go with you,” Lin Ce nodded.
At the side, Li’er’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “Young Master, I’ll go with you too!”
“You’re not going.”
“I won’t accept that! I didn’t get to meet Miss Su, and now I can’t even go to the poetry gathering?” Li’er pouted and acted playfully. If both Li Jiayin and Lin Ce left, she’d be stuck alone with Fu’er. And she really didn’t want to deal with that mean girl.
“Be good. Tomorrow is very important. I need your help to prepare,” Lin Ce sighed.
The moment he mentioned the fifteenth, Li’er’s face went stiff. She silently lowered her gaze and walked to the side to boil water.
Li Jiayin didn’t quite understand, but she could tell that Li’er wasn’t just a regular maid. After all, she had slept in the same room with Lin Ce the previous night.
It wasn’t uncommon in large households, and Li Jiayin wasn’t surprised by it. Still, she felt a slight irritation in her heart. She didn’t want her cousin to be entangled with a lowly maid.
Especially since Lin Ce was still engaged to the daughter of Minister Su. She couldn’t let a mere maid ruin her cousin’s future.
“Brother, let’s go.” Li Jiayin shot a glare at Li’er before taking Lin Ce’s arm and walking out with him. The sudden gesture left Lin Ce baffled.
Did Li’er offend Li Jiayin somehow?