“Are these prescriptions all written by Master Han Jiu?”
In the capital, within a secluded courtyard, the brightly lit study housed a fair-faced, long-bearded man holding a stack of papers. His expression was one of excitement as he eagerly flipped through them.
After reading through them once and feeling unsatisfied, he began carefully reviewing them a second time.
When these prescriptions were delivered, Qi Yunchi had already looked through them once. Though not well-versed in medicine, Qi Yunchi’s basic understanding was enough to know that these prescriptions shouldn’t have made Fu Ling this excited.
“Judging by your expression, are you saying these prescriptions are quite brilliant?”
Qi Yunchi didn’t know much, but Fu Ling’s demeanor seemed to suggest as much.
“You wouldn’t understand!” Fu Ling shot Qi Yunchi a disdainful glance. “These are actually just simple prescriptions, but they do reveal Master Han Jiu’s years of progress. Most importantly, they reflect the ingenuity he displayed when drafting them…”
“Ingenuity?”
Qi Yunshi genuinely didn’t understand. Could prescribing medicine really be described as having ingenuity? Wasn’t there a risk that this so-called ingenuity could end up doing more harm than good?
Fu Ling sighed lightly. “It’s hard to explain, isn’t it? Perhaps ‘ingenuity’ isn’t the most accurate term, but you can see Master Han Jiu’s boldness in his use of medicine and his innovative ideas that break through conventional limitations. Just looking at these prescriptions has been quite enlightening for me.”
“Bold?”
That word’s meaning depended heavily on the context, and it wasn’t always a compliment.
Qi Yunshi chuckled softly. “I can’t tell much from the prescriptions, but the handwriting is certainly bold.”
Fu Ling glanced over. He hadn’t noticed before, but now it was clear—the characters on the prescriptions were so wild and untamed that the paper seemed barely able to contain them. It felt as though they might leap off the page at any moment, exuding a sharp, piercing intensity.
“Indeed, a physician’s prescriptions often reflect their personality. If handwriting mirrors the person, then Master Han Jiu is quite the bold one.”
Fu Ling nodded. “Yes, Master Han Jiu’s handwriting could rival yours.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Fu Ling suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with anticipation as he gazed at Qi Yunshi. “Your Highness, is there really no trace of Master Han Jiu? If we can’t find the Divine Physician Yu Changsheng, this Master Han Jiu should be a decent alternative. I was fortunate enough to see one of the Divine Physician’s prescriptions once. While Master Han Jiu’s work is still a bit immature, that bold and audacious style of his does carry a touch of the Divine Physician’s flair. I’m not sure if Master Han Jiu is his disciple, but I’m certain there’s some connection between them.”
“Or at the very least, he must have received some guidance from the Divine Physician.”
Tracking down Yu Changsheng, the Divine Physician, was nearly impossible. Yet stories about him never ceased to circulate, making it seem as though his name echoed everywhere.
The abundance of conflicting accounts made it difficult to discern truth from falsehood, let alone pinpoint his true whereabouts.
In recent years, the only reliable rumor was that the Divine Physician had passed through Jiangnan, where he was invited by the Qin family to treat their Fifth Master. Once a brilliant and renowned figure, the Fifth Master had tragically fallen from grace and been left crippled.
As for Master Han Jiu, according to the latest information, he was a relative of the Qin family’s Madam, from the Han family. It was said that his health had been poor since childhood.
He had lived in a mountain temple as a child before being brought to the Qin family when he was a little older, raised by the eldest madam, though he kept a low profile and rarely appeared in public.
So, based on the timeline, it wouldn’t be surprising if Master Han Jiu had some connection with the Divine Physician.
Qi Yunshi, however, tapped the investigation letter his subordinate had brought, pointing at the section about Master Han Jiu. He gently tapped it with his finger.
“Timeline…”
It all felt a bit strange.
Fu Ling had already gathered up the prescriptions, carefully tucking them into his chest, planning to study them further later. He then walked over to Qi Yunshi’s side, and while Qi Yunshi was lost in thought, Fu Ling grabbed his wrist and began to take his pulse.
“Mm, not bad. The poison’s already been cleared. Tsk, you really have good luck.”
What Fu Ling meant was that Qi Yunshi always seemed to encounter benefactors on the road, with someone always showing up just in time to solve his biggest problems—essentially saving his life.
The poison was extremely vicious, but not without a remedy. The trick was to gather the necessary antidote ingredients, which would take considerable time and effort, and the proportions needed some trial and error.
As time passed, the poison would sink deeper into the body, like a maggot gnawing at the bones, slowly consuming a person’s health. After all, even the strongest person couldn’t endure constant blood loss indefinitely.
A significant loss of vital blood would leave lasting damage, even if the poison were neutralized later. The harm done would be hard to recover from.
What’s worse, the longer the poison lingered, the stronger its residual toxicity would become, making it nearly impossible to eradicate completely. In some cases, its effects could persist for a lifetime—this was the greatest danger of the poison.
Fu Ling had already begun preparing the antidote as quickly as possible, but Qi Yunshi just wouldn’t sit still. He insisted on running around, and Fu Ling was worried that by the time he finished preparing the remedy and waited for Qi Yunshi to return, the man would be in such a dire state, barely clinging to life.
But this young master had a temper and wasn’t one to listen to his advice. Fu Ling had already been thinking about how to help Qi Yunshi recover after the poison was neutralized.
However, when Qi Yunshi returned, looking ragged, Fu Ling was surprised to find that the situation wasn’t as bad as he had expected.
At least, Fu Ling thought, the troublesome poison didn’t seem to have caused any major harm to Qi Yunshi’s body. Instead, it appeared to have been expertly contained in a corner of his body, almost as if it were waiting patiently for him to come and deal with it.
For a moment, Fu Ling even had the impression that whoever had dealt with the poison might have been capable of completely neutralizing it, rather than just suppressing it in a corner.
However, the young master had said that the person who helped was just a stranger he encountered on the road.
For someone to achieve such results was already impressive enough, and anything beyond that—Fu Ling didn’t dare to imagine.
Still, he kept pressing Qi Yunshi, insisting that, when the chance came, he would definitely introduce the person to him.
Although Qi Yunshi didn’t explicitly agree, he didn’t refuse either, so Fu Ling took it as a tacit approval.
But what Qi Yunshi didn’t tell Fu Ling is that the person who stepped in was actually a young lady he had met on the road, who also had a close connection to the Qin family.
She is the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Yong’an’s household, who had just returned from Jiangnan.
Qi Yunshi had initially been suspicious about the relationship between the young lady and Master Han Jiu, thinking it might not be as simple as it seemed.
This was because, at the inn, he had clearly heard the Qin family’s Seventh Young Master referring to the young lady as “Xiao Jiu.” Whether it was his sensitivity or not, the “Jiu” in the name always struck him as rather subtle.
However, the information that came through confirmed that Master Han Jiu was indeed a man, and that when Wen Ninghan had already returned to the capital, Master Han Jiu was still in Jiangnan. It seemed he had only recently started making his way to the capital.
Was it just a coincidence, or was it a deliberate arrangement?
In any case, it seemed the capital was becoming more and more lively.
“Your Highness, you should stop overthinking this. You’ve got so many people working for you—leave these matters to them. You still need to focus on taking care of yourself. While the poison has been cleared, the process of neutralizing it was a form of toxin attacking toxin, so the aftereffects will need time to recover. It’s already so late, you should get some rest.”
Qi Yunshi chuckled. “What’s this? With Feng Shu not around, you’ve taken on his responsibilities, following me around and nagging every day?”
Fu Ling helplessly shrugged. “I don’t want to either, but I don’t have a choice. Feng Shu spent a fortune to have me watch over you. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t bother, but if you die, I’d be free. The world is so big, I could go anywhere I want.”
Instead, here I am, bound by a promise to stay by Qi Yunchi’s side, running around every day, exhausting myself. And on top of that, I have to watch someone like him disregard his own health.
It’s simply a waste of the medicine I’ve made. As a doctor, there’s nothing more frustrating than a patient like this. Sometimes, I just want to knock him out to save myself the effort.
Qi Yunchi laughed, took a breath of cold air, and his throat immediately started itching. He coughed a few times, and with the cough came a rush of bitter, sweet taste.
Fu Ling chuckled triumphantly. “See? See? It’s starting already. This problem of you coughing up blood after just a few steps? It’s going to last for quite a while.”
Qi Yunchi wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and shot Fu Ling a glare. “Quack.”
Fu Ling wasn’t a traditional doctor. His medical skills were self-taught, learned through unconventional methods. In fact, his rather radical techniques had once caused quite a bit of trouble.
It just so happened that Qi Yunchi had crossed paths with him at the time and, on a whim, decided to step in and save him. After that incident, Qi Yunchi kept the so-called “quack” around.
Part of it was because he didn’t want to waste someone with potential, and part of it was because such a person couldn’t be allowed to roam free and cause harm to others.
“Well, if I’m a quack, then so be it!” Fu Ling shrugged. After all, over the years, he had been called a “quack” by Qi Yunchi many times, and since he wasn’t exactly a great doctor himself, it didn’t bother him at all.
But opportunities to tease Qi Yunchi didn’t come often, so naturally, he couldn’t pass it up. “I’m actually quite pleased right now! After all, not everyone gets to witness our mighty young lord, the one who used to charge across the battlefield, suddenly turn into a delicate willow tree, coughing blood in the wind. It’s truly a rare sight!”
Qi Yunchi: ???
Not only coughing blood in the wind, but what was this about a delicate willow tree?
Qi Yunchi struck with a palm wind, and Fu Ling, already prepared, dodged in a hurry. He watched as the chair beneath him was shattered with a single blow, and his scalp tingled, his back teeth clenching.
“Young lord, you’re really ruthless! Aren’t you afraid you’ll crush the one doctor who can actually handle you? What if, next time, you get hurt or poisoned? There’ll be no one to take care of you, and you’ll end up left to rot in the wilderness or something?”
Having just made the move, Qi Yunchi couldn’t hold back and coughed up another mouthful of blood.
This time, Fu Ling didn’t even need Qi Yunchi to make a move. He laughed so hard that he fell to the ground.
It was just a normal aftereffect of the poison detox, and while it looked alarming, it wasn’t serious, so Fu Ling wasn’t worried at all. However, he didn’t forget to give his usual reminder.
“Although it’s nothing major, young lord, you should take it easy for a while. Don’t overexert yourself or get too worked up, and don’t make any big moves. A little blood when you cough is fine, but if it happens too often, it’s bad for your health. Tsk, tsk. Fine, I’ll go work on some more medicine. You need a good supplement to recover. Your body’s a mess, and if you don’t take care of it, you’ll end up with all kinds of ailments. If you die young, don’t expect me to be the one laughing and burying you, alright?”
Qi Yunchi didn’t pay any attention to Fu Ling’s sarcastic remarks. After all, they had known each other for so many years.
Fu Ling knew exactly what kind of person he was, and he, in turn, knew exactly what kind of person Fu Ling was. There was no point in arguing with him.
Instead, he gazed at the deep crimson in his palm, lost in thought. After a moment, he muttered, “The young lord of the Dingguo Duke’s residence, gravely injured and barely clinging to life, should be returning to the capital soon.”
Fu Ling’s laughter faltered. “Hmm? What did you say?”
Qi Yunchi curved his lips into a smile, the bloodstains still lingering at the corners of his mouth. The entire image exuded a kind of tragic beauty. If Fu Ling hadn’t long been accustomed to this face, he might have found himself dazzled. After all, wasn’t it this very face that had once deceived him all those years ago?
“I said, the young lord of the Dingguo Duke’s residence should be returning to the capital.”
