Chapter 9: Save Me

Back at Huaxi Courtyard in the Prime Minister’s Residence, Ren Jingzhi was growing increasingly anxious.

“Lin Nan, hasn’t Lin Bei returned yet?”

He could no longer sit still.

Why hadn’t that kid come back yet? He had been gone for nearly two hours already. Surely nothing had happened to him?

Just then, Yun’er’s voice came from the entrance.

“Miss, slow down!”

At that moment, the worry hanging over his heart finally eased.

He couldn’t quite understand why he had been so concerned in the first place.

A moment later, he saw Lin Bei carrying armful after armful of packages toward the side courtyard, looking as though that lady, rather than himself, was his true Master.

Shen Yiran noticed the somewhat lonely-looking Ren Jingzhi sitting in the courtyard.

What’s wrong with him?

Is he in a bad mood?

Her instincts as a doctor prompted her to step forward.

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

She bent down and rested two fingers on his wrist.

His pulse was steady.

“I’m fine. Did you finish buying everything?”

“Mmm.”

Shen Yiran looked up, and their eyes met.

Ren Jingzhi saw his own reflection in her bright, lively eyes.

He quickly looked away, a faint flush creeping onto his cheeks.

He had never been this close to a woman before.

He gently withdrew the hand that Shen Yiran was still using to check his pulse and rolled his wheelchair forward a short distance.

Is he… embarrassed?

Watching his profile, Shen Yiran thought of all the ancient rules about propriety between men and women and couldn’t help smiling.

She abandoned the urge to tease him.

“We won’t do acupuncture tonight. Just continue taking your medicine.”

“Why?”

Hadn’t this woman said they would start acupuncture tonight?

Why had she suddenly changed her mind?

“Your body is still too weak. You already had acupunctured this morning. It’s not advisable to undergo acupuncture twice in one day.”

What Shen Yiran really wanted to say was:

This Miss is running low on energy. Performing the Thirteen Soul-Shocking Needles two days in a row is mentally and physically exhausting, alright?

But she could only keep those words to herself.

Back in the side courtyard, Lin Bei and Yun’er had already arranged everything neatly.

Yun’er happily admired her brand-new bed, touching it here and there like an excited child.

Yun’er was only thirteen years old.

In the modern world, she’d still be a middle school student.

Compared to the twenty-eight-year-old Shen Yiran, she was practically just a child.

After finishing his work, Lin Bei returned to the main courtyard.

The moment he saw his Master wearing the expression of a neglected husband, he was completely baffled.

What was going on with Master?

“Master, what’s wrong?”

“You seemed to have enjoyed yourself.”

His low voice carried a trace of displeasure.

Huh?

Wasn’t it Master himself who had ordered him to protect the Heir Apparent Consort?

So where exactly was this irritation coming from?

Still, he quickly put on a flattering smile.

“Master, I was only trying to make sure the Heir Apparent Consort would devote herself wholeheartedly to treating you.”

Ren Jingzhi looked at his ingratiating smile.

“Hmph.”

With a snort, he turned his wheelchair and headed toward the main hall.

Lin Bei hurried after him and took over pushing the wheelchair.

As he walked, he couldn’t help wondering when his Master had started showing emotions like this.

Shen Yiran’s arrival had brought a touch of life and vitality to the once-silent Huaxi Courtyard.

…

Meanwhile, in the Eastern Palace…

After dinner, Crown Prince Yu Gongchen was strolling through the garden with his Side Consort, Ning Rou’er, admiring the flowers.

Suddenly, a commotion broke out in the front courtyard.

Moments later, the Third Prince appeared with a face swollen beyond recognition, resembling a pig’s head, supported on either side by attendants.

“Crown Prince Brother, you have to save me!”

The moment he saw the Crown Prince, Yu Gongxuan burst into miserable sobs and recounted everything that had happened that morning at the Prime Minister’s Residence without leaving out a single detail.

“You’re saying she didn’t die… and even poisoned you?”

Yu Gongchen stared at Yu Gongxuan in disbelief.

His fists clenched instinctively, his bent fingers turning white as his knuckles cracked audibly.

“Ren… Jing…zhi!”

That crippled Heir Apparent…

The greatest obstacle on his path to the throne.

In order to ruin Ren Jingzhi’s reputation, he had deliberately arranged for the daughters of numerous officials to marry him as good fortune brides.

Who would have thought that the very last Heir Apparent Consort in his plan would become the unexpected flaw?

It had to be Shen Huaiyan, that useless old fool.

Always failing at the crucial moment.

“Exactly! You have no idea how ugly that woman is, and she’s incredibly cunning.”

As he spoke, Yu Gongxuan hurriedly rolled up his sleeves.

“Look! I don’t even know what kind of poison she used. None of the physicians can cure it. It hurts, and it itches so badly!”

Unable to endure it any longer, he began scratching himself wildly, completely abandoning any concern for his image.

Yu Gongchen carefully examined the exposed skin on his body.

It was covered in red welts, much like mosquito bites.

The only difference was that each welt had a tiny white dot about the size of a grain of rice in its center.

Ordinary allergies or insect bites wouldn’t produce symptoms like these.

What kind of poison could this be?

“It hurts! It itches!”

Yu Gongxuan rolled around on the floor in agony.

Watching his younger brother suffer, Yu Gongchen stepped forward and swiftly tapped his sleep acupoint.

He then instructed the attendants to carry Yu Gongxuan into a guest room.

“Rou’er, return to your chambers first. I have matters to attend to.”

“Brother Chen, your affairs are more important. Don’t worry about me.”

A gentle smile rested upon Ning Rou’er’s face as she replied softly.

Yu Gongchen gave her an apologetic glance before hurrying toward his study with his personal attendant, Bai Yi.

The instant the Crown Prince turned away, the smile disappeared from Ning Rou’er’s face.

In its place was a sinister, venomous expression.

Ning Yingying, that wretched woman.

Just because she was the legitimate daughter and favored by their grandmother, she had overshadowed Ning Rou’er ever since childhood.

And now she had even taken the position of Crown Princess.

Despite growing up as Brother Chen’s childhood sweetheart…

She could only become a Side Consort.

The thought made her fingernails dig deeply into her palms.

One day…

She would make that wretched woman lose everything and die a miserable death.

“Greetings, Your Highness.”

Inside the Crown Prince’s study, a middle-aged man respectfully bowed.

“What are Your Highness’s orders?”

“Uncle Li, come with me to the guest room first and examine the Third Prince’s pulse.”

The man known as Uncle Li cautiously followed behind.

The study wasn’t far from the guest room.

Only a corridor separated the two, and before long, they arrived.

Uncle Li carefully examined Yu Gongxuan’s condition before taking his pulse.

His expression gradually became grave.

“Your Highness, the Third Prince has indeed been poisoned.”

“What poison? Can it be cured?”

“Judging from the symptoms… it appears to be the poison of the Itching Herb. However, judging from his pulse, there is another poison mixed with it. The combination of the two… this old man cannot cure.”

The diagnosis gave Yu Gongchen a bad feeling.

Could it be that the Heir Apparent Consort who had survived was actually an expert in poison?

Otherwise, how could she have survived her wedding night?

After all, the poison had come from Uncle Li himself.

It had never failed before.

So where had things gone wrong?

“The poison won’t kill him,” Uncle Li continued, “but it is extremely tormenting. If no medicine is used to ease the symptoms, it will naturally disappear after a month.”

Learning that it wasn’t life-threatening, Yu Gongchen finally relaxed a little.

“What medicine can relieve it?”

“The only option is to use medicine to keep the Third Prince asleep. Let him wake for only an hour or two each day to eat.”

“Then I’ll trouble you to write a prescription, Uncle Li.”

“It is my duty. I’ll write it immediately.”

Yu Gongchen finally voiced the question that had been weighing on his mind.

“Uncle Li, the poison you gave the Heir Apparent Consort… could anyone else possibly cure it?”

The brush in Uncle Li’s hand suddenly stopped.

Seeing the puzzled look on his face, Yu Gongchen explained that Shen Yiran was still alive.

“This poison is my Li family’s secret formula, passed down through generations. To this day, no outsider has ever been able to cure it.”

Then something suddenly occurred to him.

“When I was young, my grandmaster once told me that if the poisoned person’s body already contained another toxin, the two poisons could counteract one another, greatly reducing the effectiveness of both.”

Yu Gongchen sincerely hoped it was the latter.

Because if his earlier suspicion proved correct, dealing with the crippled Heir Apparent would become an extremely troublesome matter.

Another day, he would have to arrange a meeting with Shen Huaiyan and find out whether Shen Yiran already had another poison in her body.

After seeing Uncle Li off, Yu Gongchen was about to return to his study to deal with official business.

“Brother Chen, you must be hungry. Rou’er has prepared some desserts in my chambers.”

Ning Rou’er stepped forward to the Crown Prince’s side, her slender, snow-white hands gently wrapping around his arm.

Faced with his childhood sweetheart and Side Consort, Yu Gongchen had virtually no resistance.

“Alright.”

His deep voice was filled with affection as he pulled her into his embrace.