The deserted Taiping Medical Clinic was suddenly thrown into chaos.
Prince Jing acted like a vortex, sweeping up the rotten leaves and withered branches of past years, drawing in all the visible and invisible rights and wrongs to this place.
The robust servants brought by Consort Yun scattered about the courtyard, glaring like tigers and making the small yard seem a bit crowded.
A servant standing behind Consort Yun looked disdainfully at the simple and crude courtyard: the snow hadn't been swept clean, moss still grew in the gaps between the green bricks, a small chunk was missing from the large water vat in the corner, and the bamboo broom leaning against the wall was missing bristles.
Only the apricot tree wrapped in red silk cloth in the courtyard looked somewhat decent.
One servant reached out to touch a red cloth strip on the tree branch, only to have his wrist grabbed firmly by Liang Mao'er, who said with a muffled voice, "Don't touch it!"
The servant struggled desperately several times before managing to yank his arm back, muttering softly, "Who cares about that thing anyway?!"
At this time, Xi Bing was leaning her body sideways from behind Consort Yun, frantically giving Chen Ji looks to signal him to step aside quickly.
However, Chen Ji didn't retreat. He simply leaned on the Whale Blade and said, "Madam Consort Yun, stop right there. You cannot enter right now."
Consort Yun looked at him expressionlessly. "Do you know what you are doing?"
Chen Ji said earnestly, "Answering Madam: I know what I am doing. My master is currently applying needles to His Highness and cannot be distracted in the slightest. This matter concerns His Highness's life, so I beg Madam for your understanding."
Consort Yun sneered. "How do I know you aren't plotting against His Highness's life? Move aside!"
Having said that, she walked straight toward the room as if no one else was present, treating Chen Ji, who was standing right in front of her, as if he didn't exist.
Consort Yun was far more domineering than Consort Jing. With every step she took, Chen Ji had to take a step back.
Seeing that Chen Ji was about to be forced backward into the room, he said in a low voice, "Madam, I have some well-meaning words of advice, though I don't know if you are willing to listen."
Consort Yun slowly came to a halt, stopping just a single step away from Chen Ji.
She waved her sleeve, signaling the robust servants to retreat several steps, then stared intently at Chen Ji and asked in a low voice, "In what capacity are you speaking to me right now?"
As a medical clinic apprentice, or as a Jing Dynasty spy?
Chen Ji replied, "Madam doesn't need to care about my identity; you only need to judge for yourself whether my advice is useful or not."
Consort Yun slightly raised her chin. "Let's hear it."
After carefully weighing his words, Chen Ji lowered his voice and said, "On the way back from picking up the Commandery Princess, His Highness encountered a man with a Buddha tattooed on his wrist. Initially, His Highness didn't pay it any mind. However, later on, the Prince Heir told His Highness that this person had repeatedly gone to visit Bai Li, and His Highness's expression immediately darkened."
Consort Yun remained composed outwardly. "What does this matter have to do with me? Don't string together some nonsense just to delay me."
Chen Ji said earnestly, "If this hadn't actually happened, there is absolutely no way I could have made it up. If Madam knows this person, it would be best if you notify him to leave Luo City as soon as possible. Otherwise, I'm afraid once His Highness wakes up, he will order a city-wide manhunt for him, and by then, he won't be able to escape."
Consort Yun's expression changed slightly.
Chen Ji knew he had gambled right—that man really did have a secret connection with Consort Yun!
But despite gambling right, he couldn't bring himself to be happy. Because Consort Yun's reaction exactly led his guess toward the worst possible conclusion, revealing a truth the Commandery Princess would be unwilling to endure.
Consort Yun frowned slightly. "How do I know if your words are true or false?"
Chen Ji said candidly, "If Madam doesn't believe me, you can go ask the Prince Heir, or ask His Highness."
Consort Yun stood expressionless and silent. The next moment, she flicked her sleeve and turned to leave.
After walking two steps away, Consort Yun suddenly turned her head and asked, "How is His Highness's health?"
Chen Ji thought for a moment and said, "My master just told Consort Jing that His Highness has three months at most."
At this moment, the sound of dense footsteps and the clattering of armor echoed outside Taiping Medical Clinic, the noise startling enough to leave one's scalp tingling. The area in front of the main gate and the exterior of the back wall were completely tightly surrounded by guards from the prince's estate until not a single drop of water could trickle through.
Standing on the steps of the main room, Chen Ji looked up and saw Eunuch Feng, dressed in cloth robes, walking over with wide strides. Even when he arrived right in front of Chen Ji, he showed no intention of stopping.
Eunuch Feng was someone planted beside Prince Jing by the Directorate of Ceremonial. For the other party to lead soldiers to surround Taiping Medical Clinic and force his way in... it was completely impossible to determine his intentions.
In an instant, Chen Ji raised the Whale Blade and slashed upward toward Eunuch Feng. Only at this very moment did Eunuch Feng finally stop walking, calmly evading the edge of the blade by a hair's breadth.
As the blade edge sliced past Eunuch Feng's face, he casually flicked his finger against the flat side of the blade. With a loud
hum
, the Whale Blade violently vibrated without end.
Chen Ji's webbed flesh where the thumb and index finger meet went numb. With a heavy expression, he took a step back.
Eunuch Feng praised with a smile, "To think it didn't break. Good blade!"
Chen Ji gripped the hilt tightly once again and held the Whale Blade horizontally in front of him.
Seeing that Chen Ji was still unwilling to step aside, Eunuch Feng laughed softly with his thin voice. "A newborn calf is not afraid of tigers, but once it grows horns, it begins to fear people. Young man, you are acting somewhat oblivious to the gravity of the situation."
Chen Ji said calmly, "It has nothing to do with gravity."
Eunuch Feng smiled indifferently and continued raising his feet to walk toward the main room.
The atmosphere between the two of them was like a tautly stretched bowstring, ready to snap at any moment.
She Dengke and Liu Quxing couldn't help but stand up nervously. Liang Mao'er also hurriedly moved closer to Chen Ji, but it was already too late.
When Eunuch Feng arrived in front of Chen Ji, he lightly raised his right hand and flutteringly pressed a palm strike toward Chen Ji's face. The movement was clearly very slow, yet it gave Chen Ji the illusion of a tsunami crashing toward him.
He couldn't dodge it!
Just as this palm was about to land on Chen Ji's face, Prince Jing's weak voice came from inside the room. "Has Eunuch Feng arrived? Come in."
Eunuch Feng's palm abruptly stopped right in front of Chen Ji.
The wind whipped up by this palm violently blew Chen Ji's hair backward, and even the door curtain behind him was blown open, the gust making the oil lamp inside the room flicker wildly.
Eunuch Feng retracted his palm and asked with a smile, "Young man, His Highness has spoken. Are you still not going to step aside?"
Chen Ji lowered the Whale Blade and expressionlessly slowly retreated to the side.
Eunuch Feng gave him a deep look before lifting one side of the door curtain, lowering his head, and walking inside. "Your Highness, are you feeling any better..."
As the door curtain fell back in place, the voices inside the room were sealed off.
Chen Ji leaned against the window, trying to eavesdrop on the conversation inside, only to find he couldn't hear anything at all. It seemed both Eunuch Feng and Prince Jing had lowered their voices.
His gaze returned to the courtyard. Watching Consort Yun's retreating figure as she hurriedly left the clinic, he finally let out a long sigh of relief.
She Dengke and the others hurriedly crowded around him. "Are you alright?"
Chen Ji shook his head. "I'm fine."
He sat on the low stone steps in front of the main room and sighed. "What in the world is all this?"
She Dengke hesitated for a moment. "Chen Ji, where did you get this blade? Also, that upward slash you did just now looked very impressive—even more impressive than those tough guys from the Canal Transport Guild at the Eastern Market docks..."
Chen Ji thought for a moment and said, "Senior Brothers, you all go rest first. We can explain whatever it is tomorrow... If there's nothing else, don't get near Master's room for now."
Having said that, he slowly closed his eyes and sank into the Green Mountain dreamscape.
...
...
An unknown amount of time passed before someone lifted the door curtain of the main room.
Chen Ji forcefully opened his eyes just in time to see Eunuch Feng walking away hurriedly with his head lowered.
This master expert planted in the prince's estate by the Directorate of Ceremonial didn't spare Chen Ji a second glance, while the guards of the prince's estate still surrounded the medical clinic motionless like an impenetrable iron barrel.
At this moment, even a bird couldn't fly into Taiping Medical Clinic.
From inside the room, Prince Jing called out, "Young man, come in."
Chen Ji walked into the room. "Why has Your Highness summoned me?"
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Prince Jing once again pulled out the silver needles from his body and said in an annoyed tone, "Next time, absolutely do not say your master is applying needles to me. Otherwise, every time you lie, I have to be stabbed again. Even if I wasn't sick, I'd end up being stabbed until I am sick."
Chen Ji also lost somewhat of his respectful manner and replied in an annoyed tone, "Your Highness, if I didn't use this excuse, what other excuse could I use? If you didn't run around recklessly, why would I need to tell this lie?"
Prince Jing laughed continuously to soothe him. "Alright, alright, I just asked you to guard the door, how did you end up getting angry over guarding a door? Is there still food in the kitchen? Go fetch me another bowl."
Chen Ji sighed with emotion. "You really don't treat yourself as an outsider, do you? There's no more food in the kitchen. If you want to eat, I'll go cook some now. It will take about three quarters of an hour."
Prince Jing said regretfully, "That's too long."
As he spoke, he sat on the edge of the bed and carefully appraised Chen Ji. "Young man, how about you and I make a transaction?"
Chen Ji hurriedly said, "Unacceptable!"
Prince Jing's interest was piqued. "Why? The number of people in this world who want to make a transaction with this prince are as numerous as the hairs on a cow. Why do you avoid it like venomous snakes and scorpions?"
Chen Ji explained, "Your status is esteemed. Anything related to you is not something I can bear the consequences for. Why don't you try asking someone more capable instead? I think my master would be a good choice."
Old Yao glared at him. "You sure know how to find trouble for me!"
Prince Jing laughed. "I need to go out with an assumed name to handle some matters for the next few days, but I lack a trustworthy guard by my side. How about this: every time you accompany me out, I will give you fifty silver taels."
Leaning against the doorframe, Chen Ji said, "Not going. Being your guard is too dangerous. I still want to live to be over ninety like Master."
Old Yao stroked his beard. "Given your personality, I'm afraid that might be a bit difficult."
Chen Ji was suspicious. "Have you tried to calculate fortunes for me, or are you just trying to scare me on purpose?"
Old Yao said unhurriedly, "I can't calculate your affairs accurately anymore. I cast a divination trigram a few days ago, and shockingly, it said you would be scammed by someone when you are over nine hundred years old."
Prince Jing rubbed his chin. "Did he drink fake Meng Po soup to reincarnate?"
Chen Ji didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Your fortune-telling is way too inaccurate."
Prince Jing looked at him and said, "Do not make jokes and play the fool, you master and apprentice. Let's return to this transaction. You act as my guard, and if any Practitioner tries to kill me, I give you permission not to intervene. How about it?"
Chen Ji suddenly asked, "Your Highness, why did you choose me?"
Prince Jing also sighed. "Right, why you?"
Chen Ji was suspicious. "Hm?"
He couldn't shake the feeling that Prince Jing's words contained a hidden meaning.
Prince Jing spread his hands with a smile. "Young man, I have no one else by my side that I can trust. Just agree to it. If something happens to me, Bai Li and Yunxi will lose their father, and I'm afraid that annual dividend of two thousand five hundred silver taels of yours will also fall through."
Chen Ji narrowed his eyes. "How can you go back on the agreed-upon dividend? Are you threatening me?"
Prince Jing chuckled happily. "Yes, I am threatening you."
Chen Ji was exasperated. "How can a dignified regional prince holding real power act like such a scoundrel?"
Prince Jing said meaningfully, "Otherwise, how do you think I managed to become a regional prince holding real power?"
Chen Ji stood up. "I can act as your guard for the time being. But let's make this clear in advance: if a Practitioner attacks, the very first thing I will do is turn around and run."
"Don't worry," Prince Jing said as he pulled the bed aside and headed toward the tunnel.
Chen Ji was stunned. "We're leaving now?"
"Yes, we're leaving now."
(End of this chapter)