There were no lights in the Taiping Medical Clinic's courtyard, only the newly risen moonlight.
The sweat on Chen Ji's forehead evaporated into white mist in the cold air. The robust servants Consort Jing had brought wore solemn expressions, looking as if they would lunge forward to kill at any moment.
They stared coldly at Chen Ji, and Chen Ji stared coldly back at them. She Dengke and Liu Quxing squatted at the kitchen door, at a complete loss for what to do. The whereabouts of Liang Gou'er were unknown since he'd gone out to drink flower wine.
Liang Mao'er, however, ignored everyone else. He brought a bowl of rice from the kitchen, handed it to Chen Ji, and said frankly and honestly, "You haven't eaten yet, right? Hurry up and pad your stomach with a couple of bites."
Chen Ji looked at the white rice and neatly arranged slices of cured meat in the bowl. "You saved this for me?"
Liang Mao'er smiled and placed a pair of bamboo chopsticks on the bowl. "At noon, Master said you would be coming back, so he told me to save it for you."
Chen Ji let out a slight sigh of relief. "Thank you, Big Brother Mao'er."
Holding the bowl, he slowly shoveled the rice into his mouth while leaning near the window outside the main room, secretly listening to the sounds inside.
From within the room came the faint, suppressed sobbing of Consort Jing, as well as Prince Jing's voice and coughing.
Gradually, the voices of Prince Jing and Consort Jing conversing grew softer and softer, and it seemed Prince Jing had drifted back into a faint slumber.
After a long time, Chen Ji heard Consort Jing sobbing weakly through the white paper window, "Physician Yao, tell me the truth. How exactly is His Highness's illness?"
Old Yao said casually, "Madam Consort Jing, His Highness merely needs to rest quietly for a few days to fully recover. There is no need to worry excessively."
The sobbing inside the room gradually ceased. Chen Ji turned his head and peered through the white paper window at the shadows cast by the kerosene lamp inside.
Consort Jing seemed to hand something to Old Yao, then asked, "Physician Yao, tell me the truth. How is His Highness doing?"
Old Yao hesitated for a moment. "His Highness's constitution was already frail, and his previous illness of wind and cold had not fully healed. Now, he has exhausted even more of his essence, energy, and spirit for the Prince Heir and Commandery Princess. Looking at his pulse, it will be a month at the shortest, or three months at the longest. You should start preparing for the funeral arrangements."
Chen Ji's pupils slightly contracted. He subconsciously glanced at the others in the courtyard to ensure no one had heard the conversation inside the room
before he felt at ease.
Prince Jing was going to pass away?
Could it be that the other party had insisted on traveling out in disguise precisely because he knew his days were numbered, so he wanted to take advantage of the time when he could still move to accompany his children out for one last look?
Normally, after Prince Jing passed away, the Prince Heir would naturally succeed to the title of prince. But right now, the Liu Family's rebellion was imminent.
How could the Prince Heir possibly handle such a situation?
Consort Jing was frightened and full of doubts. "One month—doesn't that mean he won't even live to see New Year's Day?"
Old Yao said softly, "If you could manage to invite the 'Feather-Generating Pill' refined by the Medicine Official Pathway of the Mount Laojun Daoist Temple, his life might be dragged out for another three years."
Chen Ji was puzzled. What kind of alchemical pill was so noble that his master actually used the word "invite"?
Consort Jing asked doubtfully, "I only know that the Feather-Generating Pill is the Daoist Court's sect-protecting treasure, but I never knew this item was so miraculous."
Old Yao explained, "That is the culmination of a lifetime's worth of effort from the cauldrons of the Medicine Official Pathway. Today, there are only two such pills left in the world. One was offered to the current Saint by the Huangshan Daoist Court, and the other is in the hands of the Mount Laojun Daoist Court, enshrined at the Jade Emperor Peak to absorb the essence of the sun and moon. One Feather-Generating Pill prolongs one's lifespan by three years—not a day more, not a day less. Even if someone is suffering from an incurable, heaven-defying illness, they could still live like an ordinary person for those three years."
Consort Jing made a move as if to leave for the door. "I will go beg for the medicine for His Highness."
Old Yao added a sentence behind her, "Prolonging life is only a secondary medicinal effect of the Feather-Generating Pill. Its true purpose is to help Practitioners undergo Tribulation Crossing. If Daoist Head Cen Yunzi of Mount Laojun wants to undergo the human tribulation to break through to the Divine Path Realm, he absolutely must use this item."
Consort Jing was put in a difficult spot. "Would the Daoist Court be willing to give such an important item?"
"That depends on what kind of price Madam is willing to pay." Old Yao then said calmly, "However,
birth, aging, illness, and death are the natural course of human life. What must come will come, and what must go will go. Therefore, there's no need to force the issue to defy heaven and change fate."
Consort Jing remained silent for a long time, then lifted her skirt and walked out. "Since His Highness insists on staying at the medical clinic, I will say no more. Please trouble yourself, Physician Yao, to take good care of him. As for the matter of the Feather-Generating Pill... I will think of a way."
Having said that, Consort Jing, with red-rimmed eyes, lifted the door curtain and stepped out, the emerald-green pendants on her earlobes swaying back and forth.
She shot Chen Ji a cold glance before finally walking out with Chun Rong's support.
Chen Ji noticed that the jade hairpin she had been wearing in her hair bun when she arrived was gone. Holding his rice bowl, he lifted the door curtain and entered the room just in time to see his master, holding a kerosene lamp, put that hairpin away in a cabinet.
He glanced at Prince Jing, then looked at Old Yao's back and asked, "Master, even you can't save His Highness?"
Old Yao chuckled. "I am not an Immortal."
Chen Ji felt a bout of regret.
Old Yao closed the cabinet, turned around, and glanced at him. "Are you sad?"
Chen Ji shook his head. "No. I wasn't close with Prince Jing; I just thought he was a pretty decent person. For him to die young at just forty-five years old... it's a bit of a pity, that's all."
"How truly saddening. And here I thought we were already quite close."
Chen Ji violently turned his head. In the dim room, Prince Jing suddenly opened his eyes, sat up, and personally pulled the silver needles out of his chest one by one.
Chen Ji, "..."
He had been tricked.
Prince Jing smiled at him and looked at the half-eaten meal in the earthen bowl in his hands. "Give it to me, I'm starving to death."
Chen Ji silently handed over the bowl and chopsticks. Without showing any distaste that Chen Ji had already used them, Prince Jing shoveled the food into his mouth in a few large bites, eating with great relish.
"The cured meat is a bit salty." Prince Jing handed the empty bowl back to Chen Ji. Chen Ji looked down and saw, to his surprise, that not a single grain of rice was left.
He was puzzled. "You were coughing up blood just earlier. Now you look like a perfectly fine person who never had any issues."
Prince Jing smiled. "We aren't too close, why should I tell you?"
Chen Ji, "..."
Prince Jing stood up, pulled his clothes closed, and smilingly patted him on the shoulder. "It's a good thing you caught me when I fell from my horse, otherwise I would have fallen miserably. Young man, tell the truth: on the way back to the medical clinic while carrying me on your back, were you worried that after I died, no one would pay out your annual dividend of two thousand five hundred silver taels?"
Chen Ji answered honestly, "I was extremely worried. Otherwise, I wouldn't have run so fast."
Prince Jing laughed softly. "You are quite honest."
With that, he turned around and pulled the bed in the room aside, revealing a deep tunnel underneath. Inside the tunnel, there was a two-foot-wide flight of stairs that led to an unknown destination.
Chen Ji looked at Old Yao, then at Prince Jing.
So there had always been a tunnel leading to the outside hidden inside this medical clinic. The reason Prince Jing had put on an act to feign death and insisted on staying at Taiping Medical Clinic for treatment was exactly so he could shed his golden cicada shell and slip away via the clinic's tunnel on the eve of the Liu Family's imminent rebellion.
And his master had known about all this long ago.
Chen Ji was puzzled. "Where does Your Highness plan to go? Will you be coming back? If you just leave like this, what will happen to the Prince Heir and Commandery Princess?"
Prince Jing was amused. "I'm just going out to meet a person, and I'll be back in a bit. What, did you think I was going to flee and roam the ends of the earth? Although this world is vast, there is no place for me to hide in it."
Chen Ji suddenly understood. Prince Jing was going out to secretly plot with someone in order to deal with the Liu Family.
But in Luo City, who was worthy of a regional prince going through such great pains to meticulously shed his golden cicada shell?
The Secret Spy Division?
Or could it be the important figure he had secretly met with in Yichuan County Town?
Chen Ji asked again, "Your Highness, why didn't you avoid me when it comes to a sky-shattering secret like this?"
Prince Jing said meaningfully, "Because you will know sooner or later."
Chen Ji fell deep into thought.
At this moment, Prince Jing took the oil dregs lamp from Old Yao. Lifting the hem of his robe, he walked down the stairs step by step. Right before disappearing into the tunnel, he looked back at Chen Ji and smiled. "Young man, guard the door and don't let anyone force their way in. Also, for breakfast tomorrow, I want a bowl of millet porridge, a small dish of fermented tofu, and two steamed buns. The fermented tofu has to be from 'Harmony Guild.' I'll trouble you to help me buy it tomorrow morning."
Chen Ji raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure right now is the time to be talking about this?"
Prince Jing chuckled as he walked into the tunnel. His voice lightly floated back from within. "The sky hasn't fallen yet.
One still has to eat their fill, right?"
The room returned to tranquility.
Chen Ji looked at Old Yao, only to see the other party unhurriedly take out unlit fire wood strips and light another oil dregs lamp.
Old Yao raised his eyelids, his expression aloof. "Why are you staring at me?"
Chen Ji investigated further. "Master, exactly what did you come to Luo City for three years ago?"
Old Yao said casually, "Trying to micro-manage me now? It's not your turn to call the shots and run the house at Taiping Medical Clinic yet,
so ask less bullshit questions. I will tell you the things you should know; as for the things you shouldn't know, don't ask."
Chen Ji took a deep breath. "Are you Bing Hu?"
The small main room fell silent. It wasn't until the wick of the oil dregs lamp popped with a soft crackle that Old Yao slowly spoke. "If I were Bing Hu, the first thing I would do is expose you, a Jing Dynasty rebel thief."
Chen Ji glanced nervously at the tunnel. "Don't spout nonsense! The people who knew my identity are either dead or gone. I'm no longer a Jing Dynasty spy!"
Old Yao sneered. "Do you really think breaking away from the Jing Dynasty Military Intelligence Division is that simple? Someday, the people who know your identity will return to this land of the Ning Dynasty. When that time comes, how will you handle yourself? Go on another mass killing spree?"
Chen Ji remained completely silent.
Old Yao said methodically, "You were too rash this time. You shouldn't have offended those baldies just to show off your mettle for a moment for the Commandery Princess. If they were truly easy to bully, Buddhist Prayer Beads Currency wouldn't have become a hard currency used across areas both north and south of the great river. When they bring their hands together in a prayer motion at you, it doesn't mean they're being polite; it means they are going to use underhanded methods against you."
Chen Ji asked, "... Is the entire Buddhist Sect like this?"
Old Yao smiled. "Of course not. The monks in the Jing Dynasty's Bitter Awakening Temple are true monks who keep their full precepts and practice austerities unceasingly."
However, right at this moment, Liu Quxing's voice came from outside the door. "Madam Consort Yun, Master just finished applying needles on His Highness, and he has just fallen asleep."
Consort Yun's cold voice drifted into the room. "Scram."
Chen Ji and Old Yao exchanged glances. "Master, what do we do?"
Old Yao curled his lip. "His Highness instructed you to guard the door; he didn't instruct me to."
Chen Ji was dumbfounded. "Is that how you understand it?"
"How else should I understand it?"
Without time to think further, Chen Ji turned around, lifted the door curtain, and stepped outside.
Outside the door, Consort Yun wore a brown luxurious dress, its edges embroidered with gold thread. On her head rested a gold wire hair bun, with floral ornaments tied to both sides. She looked dignified and majestic.
She stared at Chen Ji expressionlessly. "Are you going to stop me?"