Chapter 244: The God of Life

“Father, Auntie, I can’t stay long. I need to take this ginseng to Sister Yue.”

“The martial arts school’s owner?” Minister Lan was very concerned about his daughter’s friends. Madam Yue was a straightforward person. She had met Xuan’er in Yucheng years ago, and after arriving in the capital, Xuan’er reconnected with her. Madam Yue’s husband ran a martial arts school, and Xuan’er often went there to practice martial arts. They had become close friends.

“Sister Yue is about to give birth, and some of her friends have just found out they’re pregnant too. I’m going to use this ginseng to make some soup for them.”

For most people, even a few years old ginseng root would cost several silver taels, so who would willingly buy one?

Lan Yixuan happily ran off.

“Sister, Xuan’er is incredibly lucky,” Lan Meiniang was still marveling at the ginseng in her hand.

A century-old ginseng was no longer a rarity in the Prime Minister’s residence.

She recalled that recently, when Lan Moxiu needed Dragon Snake Grass for his leg treatment, it was nearly impossible to find. But just when everyone was panicking, Xuan’er had grown one in her garden.

Minister Lan, who used to be skeptical of such miracles, now believed them wholeheartedly after seeing Xuan’er’s good fortune.

The world was full of wonders.

“I just heard Xuan’er mention that Madam Yue and some friends are all pregnant. Is there really such a baby boom in the capital lately?” Minister Lan frowned.

“Who knows,” Minister Lan replied.

The Minister of the Central Secretariat sighed with relief as he listened to the lively sounds outside, “I should go see what’s going on.”

After the Secretary of the Central Secretariat came out, he noticed that the people on the street were all heading towards the southern part of the city.

Most of them were women.

Judging by their hairstyles and attire, they were all married.

Prime Minister Lan and his sister, Lan Meiniang, followed him out. “What are they shouting about?”

“They’re saying that a ‘miraculous doctor’ has arrived in the capital, one who specializes in bringing joy and good fortune, especially helping women get pregnant. Pregnant women who receive his treatment have their pregnancies stabilized. Those who want children, as long as they’ve done that thing within the month, are guaranteed to find out they’re pregnant the very next day.” An old lady passing by said a few words before hurrying off.

Prime Minister Lan: ??

“Wait, isn’t that old lady way too old to be wanting children?”

“Brother, the important thing right now isn’t that, but the ‘miraculous doctor’ they’re talking about, isn’t it?”

Prime Minister Lan was equally puzzled. “Let’s go see who this person is, being talked about like he’s a living legend.”

Before they could get close, the street in the southern part of the city was already packed with people.

Prime Minister Lan craned his neck to look into the distance and saw someone seemingly trapped in the middle of the crowd, looking utterly helpless.

That person was—

“Sev…Sev…” Prime Minister Lan was dumbfounded.

“It’s the Seventh Prince!” The young Secretary of the Central Secretariat, with his sharp eyes, recognized him instantly.

Lan Meiniang widened her eyes. “I was helped by the Seventh Prince last night.”

Secretary of the Central Secretariat: “I was shoulder to shoulder with the Seventh Prince going to court this morning…”

The more they talked, the stranger it seemed.

“If women touching him can help them get pregnant, does that mean men touching him might transfer morning sickness?” Prime Minister Lan, being older, thought further. “No, that can’t be right. The Seventh Prince has always had terrible luck, he’s famous for it.”

Every time he’d seen the Seventh Prince in recent years, the prince had some kind of injury on his face.

“What on earth has happened? How did the unlucky prince suddenly become the prince of good fortune overnight?”

No wonder the Seventh Prince was standing alone in the corner of the court this morning, this—

He couldn’t have been blessed by the gods, could he?

“Prime Minister Lan! Hey, Prime Minister Lan, save me!” From afar, Di Zian spotted the familiar faces of Prime Minister Lan and the Secretary of the Central Secretariat among the crowd.

Finally, he had seen someone he knew.

You two, come here and help me out.

So many people, oh my goodness, they’re practically going to devour him.

Prime Minister Lan quickly waved his hand, “No, no way.”

He turned and ran away as fast as he could, afraid that if he wasn’t careful, Di Zian would catch up.

He was getting on in years and didn’t want any more children. With a son, Lan Moxiu, and a daughter, Lan Yixuan, he was content.

“Taoist Baiyun?” Prime Minister Lan only stopped after running a whole street and looked up to see Taoist Baiyun, who had just come down from the mountain. To him, it was like seeing a savior. “Taoist Baiyun, please go save the Seventh Prince.”

Taoist Baiyun, being a man of the Dao, surely wouldn’t be affected by the Seventh Prince’s pregnancy aura, right?

Taoist Baiyun was baffled. This was his first time coming down from the mountain early, and upon reaching the street, he found that there wasn’t a single person around.

This was the busiest street in the capital, where had everyone gone?

He suddenly remembered the task the elder had given Di Zian to boost his fortune.

Taoist Baiyun instantly understood.

Over there, Di Zian was being treated like a lucky mascot, surrounded and adored by the crowd. Meanwhile, at the inn, Leng Qingliu was tearfully tending to a two-headed dragon.

At this moment, the sun was shining brightly, and the two-headed dragon had its eyes and mouth wrapped in white bandages, lying at the door, basking in the sunlight.

Leng Qingliu had just applied medicine to it, saying that sunlight would help the medicine absorb better.

The dragon kept sighing and trembling, desperate to leave the capital quickly, to get away from the little demon, the Tenth Princess.

But its eyes couldn’t see, its mouth couldn’t eat meat, so it had to be fed liquid food by Leng Qingliu. It couldn’t move on its own, oh, how pitiful.

Leng Qingliu in the room wasn’t much better off. At this moment, he was holding a small golden flower pot, inside which was a tiny sapling, no thicker than a thumb. From top to bottom, it was entirely yellow, clearly dying.

Upon closer inspection, there was a tiny bit of green near the root.

This was the Sacred Tree of the Feng Kingdom, the Tree of Life.

Legend has it that the God of Life resides within the Tree of Life, and the state of the tree reflects the state of the God of Life.

Now, the Tree of Life was on the verge of dying, indicating that the God of Life was about to disappear.

Leng Qingliu knelt on the ground, tears streaming down his face. “Oh, divine one, I am the National Preceptor of the Feng Kingdom. I will find the last remaining bloodline of the Feng Kingdom and protect the divine spirit from dispersing. Please, God of Life, do not abandon the Feng Kingdom, do not abandon yourself.”

Thud, thud, thud.

Leng Qingliu kowtowed three times, so hard that his forehead turned blue.

The two-headed dragon, hearing the sound, silently glanced inside. Oh, right, it couldn’t see, but its hearing was still good.

That Leng Qingliu was a fool. The Feng Kingdom had been destroyed for so long, the dispersal of its national deity was only a matter of time. He kept kowtowing to that tree every day, but even if he knocked his head off, the God of Life would still eventually fade away.

The more Leng Qingliu cried, the worse he felt. He raised his head and looked out the window at the temple standing not far away, and suddenly had an idea.

The divine dragon possessed divine power. If he, just as a thought, put his Tree of Life inside the temple to bask in the dragon’s light, maybe it could keep the Tree of Life alive for a few more days?

He urgently needed divine power; the Tree of Life couldn’t die, the God of Life couldn’t vanish.

“Who’s there?” Just as Leng Qingliu was lost in his sorrow, he suddenly heard a commotion outside.