In the hall, the man standing there was pacing back and forth, repeatedly picking up and putting down the herbs in the winnowing basket.
“Doctor Li!” the eunuch holding the tray finally couldn’t hold back and shouted, “How do we prepare the medicine, exactly?”
Doctor Li held a handful of herbs in front of him, his hand trembling slightly.
“How would I know…” he muttered.
“Doctor Li!” the eunuch cried out, stamping his foot.
“I can’t cure this,” said Doctor Li, gazing at the array of herb-filled baskets before him. “But His Highness will certainly find a way.”
“Then treat it quickly,” urged the eunuch.
“She can cure even the illnesses I declare untreatable,” said Doctor Li, turning to dash out of the room. “I’ll go and ask for her help again!”
The eunuch flared with anger, grabbing him by the arm. Before he could speak, another eunuch rushed in from outside.
“His Highness is vomiting again,” he shouted.
Vomiting again…
Doctor Li looked out through the window – the sunlight was gradually slanting. If the vomiting continued until dusk… then it would stop, forever. And the person would be beyond saving…
“Doctor Li, if she can cure it, why can’t you?” the eunuch gripped him tightly and cried. “Since she can do it, then it is possible! You have practiced medicine all your life. And now, just because of one word, because of that girl, are you going to look down on yourself like this?”
“It’s not that I look down on myself,” Doctor Li said with a bitter smile. “Some things… even self-confidence isn’t enough.”
The eunuch stared at him.
“There’s no time to fetch her now,” he said. “His Highness… only has you.”
His Highness only has you.
“Even if you can’t save him, you can’t just let him wait for death like this!”
“At least let His Highness know that his life… wasn’t thrown away for nothing. Let him know someone cares, someone tried with all their heart!”
Forget it. Life or death, come what may.
Doctor Li glanced outside, then turned around without further hesitation. Swiftly, he began picking different herbs and placing them on the tray.
“Boil this one into a decoction and pour it into the bathtub.”
“Brew this one for drinking.”
Everything was quickly prepared as instructed. At the door of Duke Jin’an’s chamber, just as Doctor Li was about to step in, an advisor grabbed him.
The advisor looked at him, hesitating as if wanting to speak yet holding back.
“Sunset,” Doctor Li said, understanding his concern. “If the vomiting stops after sunset, it will be a success. If it continues…”
He trailed off, not finishing the sentence. The advisor nodded in understanding and patted him on the shoulder.
Without another word, Doctor Li turned and entered the room. The door closed behind him. Outside, everyone seemed to hold their breath all at once, instinctively lifting their heads to look at the sky.
Sunset…
“Master, your golden needles.”
Inside the room, a young assistant unfurled a set of golden needles – clustered densely together, some long, some short, the sight almost dizzying.
Doctor Li looked at Duke Jin’an lying in the bathtub. Even through the steamy haze within the small partitioned area, he could still see the unnatural bluish-black discoloration spreading across the skin.
Draw out the poison bit by bit along the meridians…
Doctor Li’s hand trembled slightly despite himself.
He had never performed such an acupuncture technique before, but he had seen it…
Seen it!
“Lady Cheng, should I step out?”
In the dimly lit room, the kneeling girl turned her head to look at him.
“No need. Even if you watch, you won’t be able to learn it.”
There’s nothing in this world that can’t be learned – it only depends on whether you dare to learn, and whether you have any way to retreat.
Doctor Li’s heart suddenly settled. He reached out and picked up a long needle.
“Master,” the young assistant couldn’t help but ask, “will this work?”
“Whether it works or not, you only know after doing it,” Doctor Li replied, bending down to insert the needle.
…
Many people stood outside the door of the room.
“Those who should leave, gather your things and go now,” an advisor suddenly said.
His words drew everyone’s attention.
“Master Gu, are you really asking us to leave? At this very moment? To abandon His Highness and flee?” a dark-skinned man rasped angrily.
“When I say leave, it’s not because I think you fear death, but because I want you to preserve your lives. His Highness’s grievance must not go unavenged,” Master Gu replied. “Go out there, calm our people, and keep them united.”
A man let out a desolate laugh.
“If His Highness is gone, how long can any of us truly stay together?” he said.
When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. How many in this age could match the loyalty of Yu Rang from ancient times?
“Stay united for as long as possible – a year, two years. Take whatever revenge you can, however much you can,” Master Gu said, clenching the hand hanging at his side.
“Gentlemen, perhaps it is better if all of you leave,” a eunuch standing to the side said.
Everyone turned to look at him.
“Those of us servants – if His Highness does not make it – will certainly not escape death,” the eunuch said, hands tucked in his sleeves, his expression calm. “But you gentlemen are men of great talent. It would be a true pity if you were to perish. Preserve your abilities – they will surely benefit the nation and the people in time. And if you can serve the nation and the people, you will also be helping Prince Qing. His Highness would surely wish for that.”
“Leave now, while there is still time. Even if there are already men deployed outside, we can fight our way out if we must. But if you delay until His Highness…”
The eunuch paused here, raising his head to look at the sky.
The last sliver of sunlight still lingered at the horizon.
“…then it will be too late…”
As soon as the words were spoken, footsteps sounded from inside the room.
“Someone come! The acupuncture is finished. Carry His Highness out,” the young assistant called.
Sunlight vanished from the earth, and lamps were lit inside the room, casting flickering shadows of the figures gathered around the bed in the lamplight.
“Your Highness… Your Highness?”
Under everyone’s watchful gaze, the eunuch knelt beside the couch and called softly.
Duke Jin’an on the couch showed no response.
Immediately, everyone’s eyes turned toward Doctor Li.
“His complexion is still bluish-black… What on earth…” one man muttered through gritted teeth.
Doctor Li remained silent, his expression tense, his gaze fixed on the figure lying on the couch.
Duke Jin’an’s body on the couch began to tremble slightly.
“He’s going to vomit!”
Everyone was already all too familiar with this reaction, and cries of alarm rose instantly, their hearts sinking.
If he’s still vomiting… then he’s beyond saving.
“No!” the eunuch kneeling by the couch, holding the spittoon, suddenly shouted. “No! His Highness isn’t vomiting blood!”
Not vomiting blood?
Everyone hurriedly pressed closer. Looking at Duke Jin’an on the couch, they saw his body tremble slightly before his rising and falling chest gradually steadied. Only a trace of drool escaped the corner of his mouth – nothing like the frightening black-red substance from before.
“Doctor Li! Does this mean…” Everyone turned to Doctor Li, their voices trembling as they asked.
Doctor Li nodded, then reached out to take the duke’s pulse for a moment.
“It’s done. Finally… we’ve pulled him back from the gates of the underworld once more,” he said, straightening up and letting out a long breath.
Everyone was instantly overwhelmed with wild joy, but before they could ask anything further, Doctor Li thudded to the floor in a faint.
The room immediately fell into chaos.
“…Doctor Li has fainted from happiness…”
“…No, no, my master is completely exhausted…”
“…Quick, call for a doctor to attend to Doctor Li…”
“We can send word to the palace now – let’s see what kind of words they try to spin to gloss this over…”
“Better wait until tomorrow. What if…”
“…What if it doesn’t go well?”
“…Not that – what if the villains refuse to give up? We have too few men to hold them off…”
Just as they were speaking, someone came rushing in from outside.
“Sir, Lady Cheng has arrived.”
The door slammed shut with a bang. Cheng Jiao-niang took a step back, still shrouded in the dim twilight, the lamps outside the gate not yet lit.
She raised her hand and knocked on the door once more.
“Stop knocking!”
Someone spoke from inside.
“I have come in response to your invitation,” Cheng Jiao-niang said.
A faint, cold laugh seemed to come from inside, and then the door swung open.
“Lady Cheng, you jest,” the man said, looking at her. “Didn’t you already refuse?”
Cheng Jiao-niang looked back at him.
“First, let me see the patient. Then we can talk,” she said, stepping forward to enter.
Four or five long swords slid from their scabbards with a sharp ring, pointing directly at her.
“Lady Cheng, thank you for your concern,” the man said calmly. “But there is no need now.”
“He is alright, then?” Cheng Jiao-niang asked.
“That’s right. His Highness is fine,” the man replied with a faint smile.
Fine now…
Cheng Jiao-niang let out a soft “oh,” then stepped forward once more.
“I would still like to see for myself,” she said.
As she moved ahead, the armed men opposite also advanced, their blades gleaming coldly under the lantern light.
“Lady Cheng, there’s no need for you to see him,” the man said, looking at her. “We do not trust you.”
…
Seeing the man return, the others inside the room moved to meet him.
“Was it really Lady Cheng?” they asked.
The man nodded.
“Why not invite her in to take a look? Perhaps His Highness might recover faster,” someone suggested hesitantly.
Master Gu, standing in the center of the hall, smiled faintly, a hint of mockery in his expression.
“Have you not considered that she might be here precisely because she worries His Highness might recover too quickly?” he said. “His Highness’s death has not been announced all this time. Someone might be growing anxious. Can you guarantee that letting her near His Highness would not bring harm to him?”
The man forced a bitter smile and shook his head.
“Though her legendary skills are widely known,” Master Gu continued, his gaze shifting toward the door. Outside, lamps were being lit one by one in the courtyard. “She is not someone His Highness can rely on. If we had truly depended on her and trusted her in this matter, His Highness would have already lost his life. What use is there now in speaking of faster recovery?”
Everyone present nodded in agreement. Just then, a sound came from within the inner chamber, and the crowd hurriedly pressed inside.
The newly arrived imperial doctor was checking Duke Jin’an’s pulse. The duke seemed on the verge of waking but ultimately struggled for a moment before slipping back into unconsciousness.
“How is His Highness?” everyone asked anxiously once more.
The imperial doctor nodded.
“Although the situation was critical, his life is no longer in danger,” he said.
With two trusted individuals now stating the same, everyone’s hearts finally settled.
“We have reliable people of our own. We trust our own people, so there is no need to let this Lady Cheng step inside again,” Master Gu said firmly.
Everyone in the room responded with an obedient “Yes.”
“However…” The man who had gone out first earlier spoke up again, as if remembering something.
“However what?” Master Gu asked.
“It’s just… Lady Cheng looked a bit unusual,” the man said hesitantly.
Unusual?
“See, I knew she was up to something!” Master Gu’s eyebrows drew together sharply. “Under no circumstances is she to be allowed inside. If she dares to force her way in, kill her without hesitation.”
No, not that kind of unusual – it was her appearance…
The man opened his mouth to explain.
“We absolutely cannot allow any further mishaps to befall His Highness,” Master Gu continued.
Yes, His Highness must not suffer any further mishaps – that was the most important matter now.
The man swallowed his words, nodded in agreement, then turned and left.
Except for the imperial doctor on duty, everyone else withdrew from the room. A maid stepped forward to straighten the bedding, when suddenly she noticed Duke Jin’an’s body trembling slightly.
“Doctor!” the maid called out anxiously, her voice trembling.
The imperial doctor hurried over and saw Duke Jin’an’s hand moving slowly across the couch until it found something and went still.
The doctor and the maid exchanged a glance.
Carefully, the maid turned over Duke Jin’an’s hand. Clenched in his fist was something that made both the maid and the doctor look surprised.
“How did a piece of bark get in here?” the doctor whispered. “Was His Highness’s couch not cleaned properly?”
The maid quickly shook her head, not daring to say much, and reached to take the bark. But Duke Jin’an seemed to sense it – his hand clenched even tighter.
“Forget it, let him hold it,” the doctor said softly. “Perhaps it eases the pain a little.”
The maid murmured an acknowledgment, placed His Highness’s hand back under the covers, and let down the bed curtains.
Silence filled the room as the deep night settled in.
Outside, facing the tightly shut door that would not open again, the girl standing there slowly turned around. She stood on the steps, gazing at the street cloaked in darkness.
If they didn’t need her… perhaps that was for the best.
Yes, it really was for the best.
