Chapter 30: This Spring Medicine
Crack.
The lock on the cell at the very end was opened.
Zhao Linxu stepped into the dim, damp room and saw Zhao Zhanqi leaning against the side, his eyes closed in rest.
Zhao Zhanqi seemed a little surprised to see Zhao Linxu, but he didn’t show it.
Zhao Linxu pulled a wooden chair and sat down in front of Zhao Zhanqi, smiling. “Have you submitted?”
Zhao Zhanqi looked up at Zhao Linxu.
“Ever since We left that Cold Palace, we have been fighting, fighting for our lives. We once nearly killed you, and you nearly cost Us Our life outside Luoye City that night.”
“We won the fight against you and sat on that dragon throne. We won the fight against you and held the Valiant Cavalry Army. After all these years, you still refuse to submit, insisting on ramming your head against a wall to seek death.”
Zhao Zhanqi snorted coldly.
“You’ve lost your power, lost the North-South army, and can’t even protect your beloved.”
Zhao Zhanqi was stunned.
“What happened to Xue Ni?”
Zhao Linxu said, “He committed suicide in his cell. He’s still breathing, but his chances are slim.”
Zhao Linxu’s words were like a clap of thunder, leaving Zhao Zhanqi’s mind and face completely blank.
…What?
What did Zhao Linxu say? Xue Ni, he…
“What did you say!”
Zhao Linxu shook his head. “You should be able to guess why he did it.”
Bastard!
Zhao Zhanqi stood up and rushed towards the cell door, then remembered that he was now locked up. He clenched his fists and angrily pounded on the iron bars, making a heavy clang sound.
Bastard!
Bastard!
That fool, Xue Ni!
Zhao Zhanqi’s whole body was trembling.
After a pause, Zhao Zhanqi walked up to Zhao Linxu and knelt down with a thud. “Save him!”
His tone was firm and forceful, but Zhao Linxu could hear the plea within it.
“Get up. The men of the Zhao family do not kneel and beg.” Zhao Linxu frowned. “If you want Us to do something, use your own abilities and methods.”
“I am now a traitor locked up in prison, at Your Majesty’s disposal, with nothing. But this rebellion was my idea alone. The North-South army is mine, and the Great Xi was a connection I made with my status as a prince. It has nothing to do with Xue Ni. I beg Your Majesty to save him. If you want to punish someone, punish me, the culprit.”
“You are not without anything.” Zhao Linxu bent down. “Calm down first. We will talk to you properly.”
Zhao Zhanqi looked up at Zhao Linxu.
XXXXXX
The room was in chaos. Doctors were coming and going, and maids were carrying water and towels.
Xue Ni had been moved to a comfortable guest room in the yamen for treatment. The sword had been pulled out, but the bleeding wouldn’t stop, and the situation was really not optimistic.
“City Lord…”
Li Jianyu was sitting on a chair at the side, waiting. One of the doctors came to him and gently shook his head.
Li Jianyu held a small brocade pouch in his hand, rubbing it constantly.
His uncle had once taught him that when saving someone, it wasn’t about whether they were worth saving, but whether they could be saved. If they could be saved, then they must be saved. Just like when he had seen the seriously injured Zhao Linxu outside the city before, even without knowing he was the emperor, he had taken him back to the inn.
Besides, Li Jianyu could see that Zhao Linxu had never intended to sentence Zhao Zhanqi to death.
“Doctor, give him this.”
If the person was already dead, he couldn’t bring them back. But now, Xue Ni was only gradually weakening due to excessive blood loss and was about to give out. The Heart-Protecting Pill could still have some effect. With the help of this pill, plus the full efforts of the skilled doctors, whether he could survive would depend on Xue Ni’s own fortune.
The doctor took the small golden pill that Li Jianyu handed him and turned to feed it to Xue Ni.
Before long, Li Jianyu heard the doctor’s exclamation.
“Oh my god! Heavens! There’s really an improvement!”
“This is as good as an immortal pill!” One of the younger doctors, who had come with his master to help, couldn’t hold back his excitement. His face red, he pulled on Li Jianyu and shouted, “What are the ingredients in the City Lord’s pill? Why is it so miraculous! That young master was about to die, but after taking one pill, there was a visible improvement!”
Li Jianyu dodged the question. “It was passed down to me by the Li family. I’m not sure either.”
“Then… then does the City Lord have any other pills? If we could study it, we could definitely…”
“Insolence! Stop fooling around.” The old doctor had lived for a long time and could naturally see that Li Jianyu was unwilling to say more, so he stopped his disciple’s pestering.
“I apologize for the embarrassment, City Lord. Please don’t take it to heart.”
“I won’t.” Li Jianyu shook his head and, while he was at it, dispelled the doctors’ thoughts. “This is my last one.”
In fact, it wasn’t a Li family heirloom at all, but a life-saving pill refined from a phoenix feather. After a phoenix reaches adulthood, it will shed the feathers on its back once, like a snake. And among the new feathers, it is said that the first one to grow has divine power. Li Jianyu had also read this from an ancient book. Thinking that it would be a waste not to take it, he had taken it when the phoenix molted and refined it into a pill.
Previously, after Li Jianyu had picked up Zhao Linxu, while waiting for the doctor to arrive, he had seen that Zhao Linxu’s condition was critical. So, in a last-ditch effort, he had given him the pill. Unexpectedly, it had actually worked, confirming what the ancient book had said.
Now, it seemed to be effective on Xue Ni as well. The doctors were overjoyed and did their best to stop his bleeding.
“He’s saved!”
Seeing the happy expressions of the doctors, Li Jianyu pulled one of them over. “Although this medicine can save lives, it has an additional effect.”
“What effect?”
Li Jianyu said in a low voice, “It’s an aphrodisiac.”
The doctor’s expression changed.
Was it… was it that miraculous?
“Don’t worry, City Lord. I have a suppressant here.” The doctor cleared his throat and had his disciple go and pour the suppressant powder into a cup of tea to give to Xue Ni.
“Little Carp, how are things?”
Just as they were busy, Zhao Linxu arrived. To Li Jianyu’s surprise, Zhao Zhanqi was following behind him.
Zhao Linxu came to Li Jianyu’s side. “If he’s alright, it’s good to let Zhao Zhanqi see him to put his mind at ease. If it’s really hopeless, at least let Zhao Zhanqi see him one last time.”
“He’s fine, he’s fine! He’s stable!” the doctor said with a chuckle. “Thanks to the City Lord’s miraculous medicine, this young master can be said to have been brought back from the dead, returned from King Yama’s gate!”
Zhao Linxu was stunned.
A miraculous medicine? Could it be…
Zhao Linxu’s expression was subtle.
On the other side, Zhao Zhanqi felt a sense of relief. The stone in his heart was lifted, and he felt his legs go a little weak. He collapsed into the chair by the bed and looked at Xue Ni, who was lying on the bed with his eyes closed, his face pale. A mix of emotions filled his heart.
He reached out and held Xue Ni’s hand. Zhao Zhanqi lowered his eyes and said in a low voice, “Why are you so foolish…”
The hand he held was soft and smooth, but it was very cold, so cold that it chilled Zhao Zhanqi to the heart.
After the doctor had bandaged the wound, Xue Ni slowly woke up.
Zhao Zhanqi tightened his grip.
“P…rince?”
“Mm.”
“Prince…”
Xue Ni frowned slightly, his face turning red, and his breathing became heavy.
Seeing that Xue Ni seemed to be in some discomfort, Zhao Zhanqi immediately turned his head and asked nervously, “Doctor, what’s wrong?”
Just as the doctor was about to say something, he saw Li Jianyu stand up and pat his shoulder. “Now that the Prince is here, we don’t need the medicine.”
“…Ah?”
The doctor’s eyes widened. He felt the amount of information was a bit large.
Li Jianyu said, “The aphrodisiac effect of the pill is very strong. Unless it’s absolutely necessary, medicine can hardly suppress it.”
I’ve experienced it firsthand, Li Jianyu thought.
“I… I see.”
Li Jianyu took a cup of tea from the side, took a few sips, and stretched. “It’s finally settled. Doctor, let’s leave and give these two some privacy.”
After the group left the room, Zhao Zhanqi stared blankly at Xue Ni, who was shrinking his neck on the bed, as if he were enduring something.
“Prince… please leave… leave first, hah… I can handle it myself…”
Zhao Zhanqi took a deep breath, got on the bed, and leaned over Xue Ni. “I will be very careful. I won’t touch your wound.”
“Prince… ah…!”
The room was filled with a spring-like atmosphere. Outside, Li Jianyu and Zhao Linxu walked side by side, preparing to return to Luoye Garden together.
“Little Carp, how many of those immortal pills do you have left?”
“None.” Li Jianyu shrugged. He hadn’t lied to the doctors; he really only had two. After all, he only had three phoenixes, and Dabao was already an adult when he came here. He had only had time to collect the feathers of Erbao and Xiaobao. He would have to wait for Jiujiu’s first molt.
Zhao Linxu frowned slightly.
“Then if you need it in the future, won’t you be out?”
Li Jianyu resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “Your Majesty, are you hoping that I’ll be seriously injured?”
Zhao Linxu was at a loss for words.
“No… won’t you regret it?”
“I won’t,” Li Jianyu said. “Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. Besides, with Xue Ni alive, the Prince will be able to serve Your Majesty in the future, truly and sincerely.”
Zhao Linxu laughed a few times and raised an eyebrow. “How does Little Carp know how I will deal with Zhao Zhanqi?”
“I guessed. A qualified emperor has the ability to eliminate all dissenters, but a wise and prosperous ruler will make all dissenters work for him, turning them into his own wings, making himself stronger.”
When Zhao Linxu hadn’t announced to the world that Zhao Zhanqi had colluded with the Great Xi to rebel, only saying that he was involved in the turmoil, vaguely, Li Jianyu knew Zhao Linxu’s plan.
It seemed that Zhao Linxu had originally had some hesitation and many considerations, but Xue Ni’s actions today had given him a rude awakening.
Hearing what Li Jianyu said, Zhao Linxu was stunned, then, as if he had been poured a large cup of fine wine, he was both drunk and excited.
Little Carp is praising me.
“In any case, Zhao Zhanqi has indeed guarded the border well all these years,” Zhao Linxu said with a smile. “Now that the border is not peaceful, the kings on the border are eyeing the Great Gong covetously, and only Zhao Zhanqi can lead the North-South army to quell all the turmoil on the border.”
“But I have asked him for the military power of the North and South. From now on, the North-South army and Zhao Zhanqi will fight for me. I have finally beaten Old Sixth into submission.”
Infected by Zhao Linxu’s good mood, Li Jianyu smiled. “Congratulations to Your Majesty for gaining control of another great military power.”
“Let’s go. We’ll take you back to Luoye Garden and grill meat for you!”
Zhao Linxu wrapped an arm around Li Jianyu’s shoulder. Just as he was about to take a step, he felt the person in his arms go limp.
Zhao Linxu was startled and held Li Jianyu. “What’s wrong?”
Li Jianyu leaned against Zhao Linxu, feeling a little hot.
“What’s wrong? Are you uncomfortable somewhere? Does your stomach hurt?” Seeing Li Jianyu’s cheeks as red as two tomatoes, Zhao Linxu immediately said, “I’ll go get a doctor!”
“…No need!”
Li Jianyu grabbed Zhao Linxu and, enduring the strange feeling in his body, recalled the scene in the room just now.
He seemed to have drunk a cup of tea before leaving.
And that cup of tea was probably the one mixed with the suppressant?
The cup of tea that would also have an aphrodisiac effect if an ordinary person drank it?
Fuck!
