Wen Qingluo not only got up early in the morning to secure an excellent viewing spot by the Yin River Grand Canal,
She even asked her mother to apply a touch of rouge to her cheeks, appearing quite excited about today’s event.
“Brother, over here!”
Wen Qingci had just arrived at the riverside when he heard his sister’s voice from afar.
“…It’s so close.” Despite knowing his sister had risen early to secure a spot, Wen Qingci was still surprised to see the Yin River Grand Canal so near at hand.
“Of course,” Wen Qingluo said proudly, “I want to get a good look at what the princes actually look like.”
The woman beside her smiled gently and rubbed her daughter’s head: “Oh, you.”
The people of Songxiu Prefecture were all extremely enthusiastic about the royal family.
Everyone around was dressed in their finest clothes, their faces filled with tension and anticipation.
Wen Qingci seemed out of place here.
He wasn’t looking at the distant dragon boat, but rather let his gaze wander aimlessly over the vast Yin River Grand Canal.
…I wonder how Young Master Su is doing now?
Seeing this, Wen Qingluo gently waved her hand in front of him and asked with concern: “Brother, what are you thinking about?”
“Nothing,” Wen Qingci paused for a few moments, then slowly smiled, “I was just wondering… where we could go after leaving Songxiu Prefecture.”
“Brother’s medical skills are so good, renowned throughout the jianghu, you can go anywhere!” Wen Qingluo didn’t think much of it and believed her brother’s explanation. “If all else fails, brother can go to Yongdu.”
“Yongdu?”
From birth until now, Wen Qingci had never left Songxiu Prefecture.
At least before today, he had never thought that one day he might practice medicine in Yongdu.
But Wen Qingluo’s words were like a spark landing on the plains of his heart.
In an instant, it was fanned by the wind into a roaring blaze.
Yongdu was the capital under the Emperor’s feet, naturally it wouldn’t have as many local bullies as Songxiu… nor as many medical clinics.
“What’s all this talk about Yongdu?” Song Junran, who had also come to watch the spectacle, lightly flicked Wen Qingluo’s forehead, then immediately turned to Wen Qingci with utmost seriousness and said: “How far is Yongdu? In my opinion, apart from being bigger than Songxiu, it has nothing good to offer. If I were you, I’d take this opportunity to go to the Valley of Divine Physicians.”
Hearing Song Junran’s words, Wen Qingluo immediately became excited: “Young Master Song is really here to poach!”
“What poaching?” Song Junran smiled, opening his fan and waving it gently, “I’m simply showing Qingci the way.”
Without realizing it, the area in front of the Yin River Grand Canal was already filled with people.
Suddenly a bell rang out, and the riverside instantly fell silent.
The river sacrifice ceremony had begun.
“Brother, look, it’s His Majesty-” Wen Qingluo tugged at Wen Qingci’s sleeve, directing him to look ahead.
The Emperor, dressed in bright yellow brocade robes, was walking toward the riverside holding a jade tablet, accompanied by numerous officials from the Imperial Astronomical Bureau.
Following closely behind was a woman dressed in magnificent attire.
“Mm.” Wen Qingci nodded slightly. He had no interest in the Emperor’s appearance, but thought… the woman behind the Emperor looked somewhat familiar.
The court musicians slowly struck the chime bells.
The grand music echoed along both banks of the Yin River Grand Canal.
Only when the two stood by the riverside and began to offer incense did Wen Qingci realize-
The consort dressed in splendid attire in the distance also had light amber eyes.
“Look, look, the one beside His Majesty is Consort Lan.”
“The current Emperor hasn’t established an Empress, so for grand ceremonies like today, Consort Lan accompanies him.”
“If the Crown Prince succeeds to the throne in the future, Consort Lan’s position as Empress will be even more secure. The Su clan must have truly excellent ancestral fortune.”
“Su clan?”
“Don’t you know? Consort Lan’s father is the current Prime Minister Su!”
The discussions of the surrounding people faintly reached Wen Qingci’s ears.
Looking at that elegantly dressed woman with her noble bearing, Wen Qingci felt inexplicably nervous.
“-Request the Crown Prince and Second Prince to sacrifice to the River God.”
The eunuch’s shrill voice pierced through the bell music and reached Wen Qingci’s ears.
Along with the crowd, he instinctively looked up toward the dragon boat.
The massive dragon boat floated silently on the Yin River Grand Canal.
The golden dragon at the bow was roaring toward the sky.
A young man dressed in black formal attire walked toward the riverside holding a jade disc.
The wind by the Yin River Grand Canal lifted the hem of his robe, embroidered with golden patterns, along with a few strands of hair at his forehead.
He inadvertently glanced down at the river below.
The sparkling light on the Yin River Grand Canal was reflected in the young man’s eyes at that moment.
Today, many people had come specifically to see the princes, just like Wen Qingluo.
Although they had heard rumors about his extraordinary handsomeness, when they actually saw the young man, a wave of soft gasps arose from the riverbank.
The reaction of Wen Qingci and his family, however, was different from those around them.
“Heavens…” Wen Qingluo silently took a big step back, muttering to herself, “Brother, um, why do I feel that this Crown Prince… looks a bit like your friend?”
“Qingluo, don’t talk nonsense!” Wen Qingci’s mother also widened her eyes, but her remaining rationality made her reach out and gently cover her daughter’s mouth, “How can you casually discuss matters of the royal family?”
Song Junran’s hand, which had been waving the fan, paused.
Wen Qingluo was startled and quickly nodded: “Oh, oh, alright.”
She tried to maintain her composure, but deep inside, she was screaming frantically.
From the corner of her eye, Wen Qingluo saw her brother slowly lower his head.
His hands were tightly clenched together, clearly not at ease.
So the “Young Master Su” who had been by their side these past few days was actually Crown Prince Xie Bufeng?
No wonder Ji Qirong had ended up in prison for misappropriating official silver.
…And she had unknowingly made him serve as a carriage driver?
Not only that, she had splashed water with him by the stream!
Just thinking about it made Wen Qingci feel unbearably embarrassed.
The river sacrifice ceremony was in full swing.
But with careful observation, one could see that the young man in black standing by the riverside kept looking around, as if searching for something.
People around Wen Qingci had already begun whispering speculations, while he suddenly lowered his head and turned to the people behind him: “Excuse me, I need to step out for a moment.”
Though he tried to keep his voice down, pushing out from the front of the crowd still created quite a commotion.
Just as Wen Qingci emerged from the crowd, before he could catch his breath, someone slapped his shoulder heavily: “Mr. Wen, where are you going?”
It was one of the men who had blocked the entrance to Wen Qingci’s clinic a few days ago.
At that time, he had still thought Wen Qingci might be joking.
But seeing him actually packing his belongings these past few days, the man had become involuntarily anxious.
Ji Qirong was in prison, and no one knew when he would be released.
Now they could only try to get some money from Wen Qingci.
Wen Qingci’s heart sank heavily, but his face remained calm: “Where I go is none of your business.”
“Listen to yourself,” the man laughed, “Our accounts haven’t been settled yet, how can you just leave?”
After speaking, he took out a thick account book from his sleeve: “Mr. Wen, don’t be in such a hurry to leave. Let’s go through the accounts one by one. A few days ago, I really thought you didn’t owe Ji Qirong money, but yesterday when I got the account book, I realized things might not be so simple.”
Though Wen Qingci had no similar experience before, having run a clinic independently for five years, he immediately saw through the other’s intentions.
This account book was almost certainly forged.
At this moment, Wen Qingci and the man were standing at the entrance of a small alley.
It was somewhat secluded, and their voices were completely drowned out by the distant bell sounds.
Wen Qingci realized that the other party had no intention of reasoning with him anymore.
He suddenly regretted not listening to Song Junran’s advice to learn some life-saving qinggong.
The man standing opposite Wen Qingci slowly raised his hand, then gently waved it down.
The people who had come with him immediately surrounded Wen Qingci.
The physician in moon-white instinctively backed away.
Only when his shoulders hit the wall did he realize he had been forced into a dead end.
“Today is the river sacrifice, there are soldiers everywhere. Do you really intend to make a move here?”
Wen Qingci’s tone was ice-cold, his usual gentleness completely gone.
However, his words didn’t frighten the other party.
“Mr. Wen, we’re also forced by circumstances,” the person standing opposite him smiled slightly, “I heard from neighbors that you’re leaving Songxiu Prefecture with your family tomorrow. If we don’t act now, won’t it be too late?”
The other party had clearly come prepared, and a wall of people instantly separated Wen Qingci from everyone else.
Even the bell music from the distance became indistinct.
However, far from despairing, Wen Qingci was carefully observing the people before him.
Just as the man finished speaking, footsteps suddenly reached everyone’s ears.
The man standing at the edge of the human wall turned to see:
A young man dressed in a black robe with a golden crown, leading a group of heavily armored soldiers, appeared not far away.
Since he hadn’t been waiting by the Yin River Grand Canal early like Wen Qingluo, he didn’t recognize who the newcomer was at first glance.
But the visitor’s attire told him that this young man was probably not someone to be trifled with…
In that moment of distraction, Wen Qingci, standing against the wall, suddenly pulled out his jade hairpin and thrust it hard toward the distracted person in front of him.
The rounded jade hairpin wasn’t sharp and had almost no offensive capability.
But in the hands of a physician who knew acupuncture points and meridian distributions like Wen Qingci, it was different.
A blinding silver light flashed.
Wen Qingci gripped the jade hairpin tightly and, relying on muscle memory, stabbed at the acupoint on the man’s neck.
“Ah-” The unexpected strike landed precisely on the man’s nerve point.
Wen Qingci had used all his strength.
A few drops of blood even rolled down the man’s neck.
He cried out loudly and fell heavily to the ground.
The back of his head hit the bluestone slabs with a dull thud, clearly injured badly.
Now’s the time!
While these people were still stunned, Wen Qingci pressed his lips together, gripped the jade hairpin tightly, and moved toward the alley exit as quickly as possible.
However, looking up, Wen Qingci finally realized belatedly: in front of him, somehow, stood a squad of heavily armored soldiers.
In the confusion, the fallen man was still unwilling to give up. He shouted at Wen Qingci: “Don’t run!”
As Wen Qingci ran past him, the man reached out and firmly grabbed his ankle.
“Watch out!”
With no time to react, Wen Qingci’s momentum carried him heavily into the arms of the person in front.
That familiar, sweet rose fragrance enveloped the young man opposite him in that instant.
Xie Bufeng instinctively held the person in his arms tightly.
The next moment, he suddenly turned, shielding Wen Qingci behind him.
At this moment, the young man suddenly realized: this physician, who was about the same height as himself, had a slender build completely opposite to his own.
Wen Qingci’s tightly pressed lips had not yet relaxed, and his eyes suddenly became sharp as ice.
Even the beautiful cinnabar mark between his eyebrows became bright red in that instant.
All of this, in Xie Bufeng’s eyes, was like a temple deity descending to punish mortals.
Just as his heart beat heavily with that figure,
Wen Qingci, like a piece of broken jade, gently fell into Xie Bufeng’s hands…
##
