Still half-asleep, Yun Si opened the door. “What happened?”
The person knocking was Lan Xin. “Mistress, His Highness was ambushed on his way back from the palace! This servant saw that he was covered in blood and seemed to have suffered serious injuries. Lu Yu has already gone ahead to find out what happened. Shouldn’t you go take a look as well?”
Yun Si was startled. How could this be? In her previous life, Qin Ye had never been ambushed. Could it be that fate had taken a different route to bring about the same calamity? Twice already, events had diverged from the course of her previous life. What exactly had gone wrong?
At that moment, Yun Si had no time to dwell on it. She quickly forced herself to calm down, turned around, and went into the apothecary next door. Taking the medical kit she had prepared earlier that day, she headed straight for the main courtyard.
“Mistress!” Lan Xin called after her. “The night air is cold. Put on an outer robe before you go!”
But Yun Si never slowed her pace.
Lan Xin had no choice but to fetch a cloak from Yun Si’s room herself. She then hurried after her and draped it over her shoulders.
Upon arriving at the main courtyard, Yun Si headed straight for Qin Ye’s residence. However, the entrance to his bedchamber was strangely quiet. There was no one there.
“Mistress!” Lu Yu came running over, slightly out of breath. “He’s in the side hall.”
Yun Si frowned. A trace of confusion rose in her heart, but she asked no questions and simply followed Lu Yu to the side hall. The moment she reached the door, she spotted Qin Ye standing on the stone steps outside. She hurried over, her gaze sweeping over him from head to toe. His clothes were stained with a great deal of blood. Most notably, his left arm was drenched in it, and fresh blood was still dripping from his sleeve onto the ground. Compared to what had happened in her previous life, however, his condition didn’t look too serious.
Yun Si silently let out a sigh of relief. “You’re injured. Why are you standing outside?”
She reached out, her fingertips just brushing the bloodstained sleeve of Qin Ye’s robe before he turned slightly and avoided her touch.
Under the dim yellow glow of the lanterns, the sharp contours of the man’s profile seemed especially cold and severe. When his gaze met Yun Si’s worried eyes and the thin clothing she wore, his brows unconsciously drew together. An unfathomable darkness seemed to linger in the depths of his eyes.
“I’m fine.” He stared at her for a moment before speaking, his voice low and rough, like gravel scraping together. “This blood isn’t mine.”
Not his blood? Indeed. Other than his arm, the blood on the rest of his clothes appeared to have been splashed onto him.
Yun Si noticed Qin Ye’s gaze shift toward the room in front of him. His stern jaw was tightly set, and a trace of hidden frustration flickered in his eyes. Was he worried about the person whose blood had stained him from head to toe? Her intuition told her that the injured person inside had to be a woman.
“Your arm is bleeding.” Yun Si grabbed his bloodstained wrist. The medical kit at her side struck her leg with a dull thud, causing a sharp pain that nearly made her lose her footing. Suddenly, a burning-hot hand appeared at her waist, steadying her firmly.
The two looked at each other.
Qin Ye released her and gently pushed her aside. With a cold expression, he said, “Why are you here? Go back.”
“Let me treat the wound on your arm.”
“It’s only a minor injury. There’s no need.”
“A minor injury?” Yun Si snapped. “You’ve lost this much blood. Do you not want your arm anymore?”
Out of the corner of her eye, Yun Si caught sight of the candlelight spilling from the side hall. The faint sound of a woman’s pained groans drifted out, confirming her suspicion. An inexplicable chill rose in her heart.
“Or is it that Your Highness cares more about someone else’s life than your own?”
Qin Ye looked at her, an icy aura radiating from him.
Yun Si paid it no mind and tugged him toward the front hall.
The night wind swept through the corridor, carrying the scent of blood with it.
Yun Si pressed him down into a grand armchair. With a pair of scissors, she cut open his bloodstained sleeve and discovered a long wound that ran deep enough to expose bone. Fortunately, it had not injured any vital areas.
“Is the young lady inside the side hall the secondary consort you intended to marry?”
She pressed a cloth soaked in medicinal wine firmly against the wound. Seeing Qin Ye’s brows knit slightly, a scene from her previous life suddenly flashed through her mind: he had charged into the Shen residence and had a spear driven straight through his shoulder blade by Shen Qian’s hidden guards, yet he hadn’t frowned even once. A painful tenderness welled up in her heart. Unconsciously, her hand movements grew gentler.
Qin Ye raised his eyes to look at her. He stared directly at her face, his dark, ink-black eyes concealing emotions that were impossible to decipher. He did not answer. And in her heart, Yun Si already had her answer. She said nothing more and continued treating his wound in silence.
The worry that had crossed her face earlier was gone. No trace of concern, nor even the slightest sign of heartache, showed when she saw the severity of the injury. Only concentration and professionalism remained.
Qin Ye turned his face away, a mocking smile appearing at the corner of his lips.
Just then, footsteps sounded from outside.
Physician Ji hurried in, his hands covered in blood. “Your Highness,” he said urgently, “Miss Lin’s condition is critical. The dagger is lodged near her heart. I don’t dare pull it out rashly…”
Qin Ye shot to his feet. But Yun Si stepped in front of him first. “You aren’t a physician. Going won’t help.”
“That’s none of your concern.”
Yun Si took a deep breath. Stuffing the hemostatic powder into Qin Ye’s hand, she said firmly, “Get your wound bandaged properly before you go.”
“…”
A moment later.
Carrying her medical kit, Yun Si followed Qin Ye into the room in the side hall. As the candlelight flickered, Yun Si finally got a clear look at the person lying on the bed. Not the slightest hint of surprise crossed her face. As expected, it was her.
Lin Shuyan. Qin Ye’s younger neighbor from his years living among the common people.
Yun Si remembered that in her previous life, Lin Shuyan had relied on her connection with Qin Ye to marry into a noble family. As for whether her married life had been happy, Yun Si did not know. But in her previous life, Lin Shuyan had not appeared by Qin Ye’s side this early. In this life, she had not only arrived in the capital ahead of time, but had even nearly become Qin Ye’s secondary consort.
Such a drastic deviation in fate could not possibly have occurred without some unseen force arranging it behind the scenes.
“Your Highness, if the dagger isn’t removed, Miss Lin’s life could be in danger at any moment. But if we do remove it, I’m afraid she may not be able to draw another breath afterward. In that case, she could die even faster.”
Physician Ji’s voice pulled Yun Si back from her thoughts. The way he put it was enough to frighten anyone to death. Not even a trace of tact.
Lin Shuyan’s face was as pale as paper, covered in fine beads of sweat. A large patch of blood had soaked through the chest of her light-colored gown. Her whole body looked weak and drained, as if she might drift away with the wind at any moment. With great difficulty, she stretched a hand toward Qin Ye.
Qin Ye merely stepped forward and offered a cold reassurance. “Don’t worry. You’ll be fine.” Then he turned to Physician Ji and said, “I don’t care what method you use. You must keep her alive.”
Physician Ji looked as though he were on the verge of tears. He was a physician, not a miracle worker. There was no way he could guarantee such a thing.
“I-It’s alright… I don’t regret taking this stab for Your Highness. Physician Ji, please don’t worry about me. Go ahead… pull out the dagger.”
Yun Si watched coldly from the sidelines, with no intention of meddling. She had studied medicine, but she had never subscribed to the doctrine of a healer’s boundless compassion. Besides, she was only a half-trained amateur whose knowledge was entirely theoretical. She didn’t dare show off in front of a real physician like Doctor Ji.
However, when she heard Lin Shuyan say that she had taken the stab for His Highness, Yun Si’s eyes flickered slightly. First there was their childhood friendship. Now there was a life-saving debt. If Lin Shuyan was also someone who had been reborn, then had this assassination attempt truly been an accident? Or a carefully orchestrated scheme? If it was the latter, then this woman was frighteningly ruthless in pursuing her goals.
Yun Si glanced at Qin Ye. His brows were tightly furrowed, his expression dark and grim.
The sight left Yun Si feeling unexpectedly irritated. If Lin Shuyan died, would Qin Ye remember her for the rest of his life? If that happened, Yun Si would have no place left. She would repay what she owed him. But if his heart belonged to someone else, she would not shamelessly cling to him. Being foolish once in her previous life had been enough. In this life, she wanted to be clear-headed.
Yun Si did not believe Lin Shuyan had failed to leave herself a way out, unless even she hadn’t anticipated things turning out like this.
“Since Miss Lin herself has spoken, then I shall do my utmost and give it a try.”
After making all the necessary preparations, Doctor Ji was just about to remove the dagger when a voice suddenly rang out from the doorway: “Wait!”
A maid came rushing in, frantic and out of breath. “Physician Ji, please take a look and see if this medicine could help! Our young lady obtained it through a fortunate encounter on the journey to the capital. She was told it could save lives.”
Physician Ji looked at the exquisitely crafted medicine box in her hands. He took it, opened it for a closer look, and his eyes immediately lit up. “A remarkable treasure!”
Curious, Yun Si glanced over as well.
The moment the box was opened, a peculiar medicinal fragrance wafted through the air. It carried a faint herbal bitterness mixed with an almost imperceptible sweet, metallic scent.
Inside lay a pearl-white pill. A subtle sheen seemed to flow across its surface, making it look like a fragment of solidified moonlight beneath the candlelight.
Physician Ji clicked his tongue in amazement. He had never seen a pill like this before.
A trace of confusion flashed across Yun Si’s face. How strange. Why did this medicine also feel vaguely familiar? Ah, that’s right.
The notebook contained a formula for this very medicine. It was a miraculous life-saving remedy. Later, she would have to experiment and see whether she could reproduce it herself.
Physician Ji’s excited voice rang out: “This medicine can sustain a pulse that is on the verge of stopping and temporarily slow the loss of blood and vital energy. While it cannot directly cure severe injuries, it is enough to see a patient through the most dangerous moment during blade removal. It’s just a pity…” He left the sentence unfinished.
But seeing the expression on his face, Yun Si immediately understood what he meant. The medicine had to be given to Lin Shuyan immediately. Otherwise, he would have loved to extract its ingredients and study the formula behind it.
A faint gleam flickered in Yun Si’s eyes, and the corners of her lips curved upward almost imperceptibly. The outcome was no longer in doubt. Having no interest in staying any longer, she picked up her medical kit and left. She could feel Qin Ye’s gaze was fixed on her retreating figure, intense and unmistakable. But he did not follow her out and she did not look back.
On her way back to Qiwu Courtyard, she passed by Nanny Qian’s room and noticed that the lamp inside was still lit. It looked as though the old woman’s hand had been scalded, and she was applying medicine to it herself. The burn looked about two days old. The wound was red and moist, with a layer of small blisters forming over it. Clearly, the medicine she was using wasn’t very effective.
Yun Si took a bottle of the wound medicine she had been experimenting with from her medical kit and quietly placed it outside the door before leaving without a word. During the second half of the night, her sleep was far from restful. Her mind was filled with scattered, tangled thoughts.
Thoughts of Shen Qian, Qin Ye, Lin Shuyan, her parents, and her elder brother. Who exactly was the mysterious person behind Shen Qian?
The Shen family had always supported the First Prince, Prince Jin, Qin Su. Could the mysterious figure backing Shen Qian be Prince Jin himself?
As for Qin Ye, he seemed to have little influence at court, but in reality, even before returning to the capital from among the common people, he had already been making preparations. Many talented and capable individuals had gathered around him, and the officials supporting him within the court were hidden extremely well. For now, however, his power was still immature, and he needed to keep a low profile while building his strength.
As for Lin Shuyan, Yun Si was certain of one thing: She had been reborn as well.
Carrying the memories of her previous life, Lin Shuyan had to know that, according to the original course of events, Yun Si should already have been dead by this point. How could she possibly have returned to Prince Xiao’s residence and disrupted her plans? So when her first scheme failed, she immediately set a second one in motion. In truth, it wasn’t difficult to guess her motives.
Lin Shuyan knew that Qin Ye would eventually ascend to the highest position of all. She wanted to marry into the prince’s residence before the prime minister’s legitimate daughter could do so, and perhaps, in the future, even contend for the position of Empress.
Amid this whirlwind of thoughts, Yun Si gradually drifted off to sleep. In her hazy dream, she seemed to return to three years earlier, to that cave. Her fever had refused to break. She alternated between chills and burning heat. The same gentle young man was still there, watching over her, holding her, wiping the sweat from her brow, and warming her cold body. The fever had left her delirious. She desperately wanted to open her eyes. She wanted to see clearly what that young man looked like. Yet no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t open them. Summoning every ounce of strength she had, she finally managed to pry her eyes open, little by little.
And then she saw his face. It was actually…