Chapter26

Grand Princess Zhaoming’s kick not only opened the door but also dispelled the cold and silent atmosphere that had enveloped the King’s mansion for the past month. She strode to the bedside and dumped the person from the burlap sack onto the floor by the bed, not caring if he could stand—Lin Yan’an had to help him up. She then took out a porcelain bottle from her bosom, poured out a small red pill, and stuffed it into Lin Que’s mouth.

Li Mu quickly brewed a cup of water and poured it into Lin Que’s mouth, unsure if he was conscious.

After Lin Que swallowed the pill, Lin Yan’an and Lin Qiwu pulled the man out of the sack. He was disheveled, pale, and even a bit blue.

Grand Princess Zhaoming yanked the unsteady man to the bedside and coldly said, “Hurry up, or I’ll make sure no one in Shaling Village survives.”

Village?

Li Mu stepped aside, watching the man, who looked like he was on the verge of collapse, hurriedly take Lin Que’s pulse, check his eyes and tongue, and finally pull out a needle, heat it over a candle, and prick Lin Que’s finger to draw a drop of blood.

After a quick examination, the man muttered to himself, trembling as he instructed them to undress Lin Que for acupuncture.

Without thinking, Li Mu and Nanny Liu undressed Lin Que. The man listed several herbs, which Lin Yan’an noted down before heading off with Lin Qiwu to gather them.

The man had his own set of needles, which looked extraordinary compared to his disheveled appearance. He took several deep breaths before starting, as if entering a state of focus. His body stopped trembling, and his hand became steady like a machine, precisely inserting needle after needle into Lin Que.

By the time Gu Chi arrived, Lin Que, still unconscious, was covered in needles like a porcupine. Gu Chi visibly relaxed upon seeing the man’s face.

It hadn’t been long, as the man worked quickly, but to Li Mu, it felt like half a day had passed. When the man finally stopped, he said, “Remove the needles in two-quarters of an hour, then check his condition. Don’t forget to brew the medicine. I… I need to rest.”

Out of his focused state, the man began trembling again as if cold, even dry-heaving, looking extremely frail.

Grand Princess Zhaoming frowned and instructed Gu Chi to take the man to the adjacent room to rest. She then turned and saw Li Mu cautiously checking Lin Que’s breathing. Confirming that Lin Que was still alive, Li Mu’s tense body relaxed, and a relieved smile appeared on her face, despite her red eyes, which softened Grand Princess Zhaoming’s heart.

Grand Princess Zhaoming’s frown eased, and she patted Li Mu’s back, wanting to say something comforting. However, a maid reported that someone had arrived outside, so she left with a quick “Don’t be afraid” and strode out.

Li Mu stayed in the room, waiting for Lin Yan’an and Lin Qiwu to return with the medicine. Nanny Liu prepared the medicine, and the two children went to the adjacent room to wake the man up at the right time to remove the needles from Lin Que.

After removing the needles, the man took another sample of Lin Que’s blood. Grand Princess Zhaoming returned from outside, and after the man finished his examination, she asked, “How is he?”

The man looked troubled, “What has he been doing to himself these past six years?”

Grand Princess Zhaoming coldly replied, “If you hadn’t run away, he wouldn’t have suffered for six years.”

Before removing the needles, Gu Chi had told Li Mu that this man was Wudu, whom they had been searching for a long time.

Wudu tried to downplay his actions, “If I hadn’t run, I would have perished in the fire long ago.”

No one in the room responded to him, so he awkwardly defended himself, “It was indeed my fault back then. I was deceived by others and had a prejudice against Lord Lin. Later, I realized my mistake and wanted to return to the capital to detoxify Lord Lin, but…”

Wudu gestured a few times and finally sighed, reciting a Buddhist prayer, and promised to find a way to treat Lin Que. However—

“Lord Lin must have used Doctor Qi’s life-extending method. That method is very harmful to the body. The healthier he appears, the closer he is to the end of his life. Even I cannot guarantee that his lifespan will be the same as an ordinary person’s.”

Doctor Qi was the doctor from Princess Huai Shu’s mansion who had once pulled Lin Que back from the brink of death. After Lin Que had coughed up blood, Gu Chi brought him back, and he stayed at their mansion.

Over the past six years, Lin Que had several episodes of poisoning. The last time, they had no choice but to seek Doctor Qi’s help. They knew the consequences but hoped it would extend Lin Que’s life by a few more years.

After Doctor Qi’s treatment, Lin Que no longer needed daily herbal decoctions and wasn’t plagued by various ailments as before. Apart from headaches, he had no other issues and could even wield a knife to kill. They didn’t regret their decision, as without the life-extending treatment, Lin Que wouldn’t have lasted until Wudu was captured.

Grand Princess Zhaoming bluntly asked, “How long can he live?”

Wudu replied, “How can this poor monk guarantee that? Detoxifying him is already difficult enough…”

Seeing Grand Princess Zhaoming’s displeased expression, Wudu reluctantly added, “At most five years… maybe seven years. Hey! This poor monk will find a way to make Lord Lin live a few more years!”

Grand Princess Zhaoming wasn’t satisfied with this answer, but regardless, detoxifying him was the priority. As long as the poison was completely removed, with some luck, he might live another ten or twenty years.

With his long black hair, Wudu referred to himself as a poor monk without feeling awkward and asked, “What about Shaling Village…”

Grand Princess Zhaoming replied, “Bandits with blood on their hands should be executed according to the law.”

“No blood, no blood. Even if there were killings, it was other bandits. My wife is the kindest, always taking money but never lives. She even distributed a lot of the stolen money to the nearby villagers, which is why they were willing to inform her of any news.” He no longer referred to himself as a poor monk.

Grand Princess Zhaoming coldly said, “The kind Blood Lady of Shaling Village?”

Wudu laughed dryly, knowing it sounded absurd but was true. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have stayed in a bandit village for so many years, being the only doctor and the captured husband of the bandit leader, with two grown children. No wonder his master said he had the face of someone blessed with both sons and daughters.

Grand Princess Zhaoming hadn’t expected to find Wudu in one of the bandit villages while suppressing bandits in Guide Prefecture. At that moment, she was extremely grateful that she had left Mingtai Temple. After hearing Li Mu mention that Wudu might have returned to secular life, she wouldn’t have connected the weak husband of the Blood Lady, who knew some medical skills and could only take care of children, with Wudu. Holding onto a “what if” mentality, she sent a deputy to investigate, and they indeed found Wudu. They then went through great efforts to take down Shaling Village and brought Wudu back. The main force she led was still in Guide Prefecture handling the aftermath—after all, they had taken down more than one village. She brought Wudu back first while the people of Shaling Village, including the Blood Lady and her two children, were on their way under escort. Escorting a group was not as fast as a single rider, so it would take at least half a month to arrive.

Wudu stayed at the King’s mansion to continue detoxifying Lin Que. Lin Yan’an, being thorough, feared that any accidents involving the people of Shaling Village might affect Wudu. He asked the Grand Princess for a token and some men, and with a token from Wudu that the Blood Lady could recognize, he went to meet the escort team heading to the capital.

During this trip, Lin Yan’an, using his skills that could make the leader of the Jiangnan branch of the Yian Sect treat him like a son, persuaded the Blood Lady to bring her children to live in King Yan’s mansion. As a result, Lin Qiwu gained a new female teacher who taught her how to use the nine-section whip and the meteor hammer.

The capable fighters of Shaling Village joined the Grand Princess’s forces. Those who couldn’t or wouldn’t join the army were properly settled by Grand Princess Zhaoming, allowing Wudu to focus on treating Lin Que.

The New Year passed with busy activities without much festive atmosphere.

This time, Lin Que’s coma lasted the longest, spanning the New Year and into the first month. The Nine-Nine Dispel Cold Chart had not been updated since Lin Que’s last stroke, and in the blink of an eye, it was the last day, the Awakening of Insects.

Lin Que missed the appointment, but Li Mu felt quite good when she put away the painting. She planned to draw one for Lin Que next year, letting him experience the charm of modern children’s drawings.

Thinking this, Li Mu unfolded the painting again and took a look. She made a simple plan based on Lin Que’s drawing and thought it shouldn’t be too difficult.

The afternoon sunlight was just right. Li Mu spread out the freshly written characters on the table. After more than a year of practice since her time travel, she, a modern person who only knew how to use a pen, could finally write decent calligraphy and had vaguely grasped the method, no longer blindly tracing characters. The bookshelf on one side had more than doubled in books compared to the beginning. These were the ones she had been reading recently, while many others were placed in the study in the west wing. She stood straight in the sunlight streaming through the window, her posture upright. Her height was the same as before the time travel, 1.68 meters. The weight she lost due to anxiety before marriage had been regained after marriage, but she lost some weight again when Lin Que fell ill. Fortunately, she kept exercising, so even though she was thinner, she didn’t appear weak.

Li Mu wasn’t considered short, but Grand Princess Zhaoming was taller than her. She didn’t know about the Prince Consort, but Lin Que and Gu Chi were both tall. Excluding the still-growing Lin Qiwu and Lin Yan’an, she was the shortest in the family.

When Lin Que woke up, the first thing he saw was Li Mu putting away the painting. The turquoise green glaze thumb ring on her right thumb tapped against the sandalwood scroll as she quickly rolled up the painting. As she tied the ribbon and looked for a place to put the painting, her gaze swept over Lin Que on the bed without noticing him. Then, she suddenly pulled her gaze back, stunned for a few moments, and revealed a smile that, in Lin Que’s eyes, was warmer and more radiant than the afternoon sun.

“The painting was put away too early.”

It seemed there was still time to add one last stroke.