Before returning to Yongdu, Wen Qingci carefully checked Consort Lan’s pulse and prescribed medicine for her. Meanwhile, she used “seasickness” as an excuse to stay in bed, finally making it back to Yongdu without incident.
Only after disembarking did Consort Lan’s anxious heart finally begin to calm.
From a certain perspective, the Emperor’s wariness of the Su family wasn’t misplaced.
After returning to Yongdu, even the Emperor didn’t dare to secretly cause trouble as he had during the southern tour, and could only temporarily suppress his anger.
Even Wen Qingci, who had always been immersed in medical studies, had heard the legends about the Su family in Yongdu.
Everyone in Wei Dynasty knew that the Su family had survived two dynasties with immense power.
Even when the Emperor purged the former dynasty’s nobles, this family remained unaffected.
At the time, Wen Qingci had listened casually without paying much attention.
Only after arriving in Yongdu did he realize that the rumors about this family weren’t false.
A jianghu physician suddenly entering the palace would certainly arouse suspicion.
Therefore, before reaching Yongdu, Prime Minister Su had already fabricated a new identity for him and entrusted the Chief Imperial Physician, Yu Guanlin, to “recommend” Wen Qingci into the palace.
Thus, he entered the Imperial Medical Bureau with the sixth-rank position of “Imperial Physician.”
Though his position wasn’t high, an “Imperial Physician” was truly responsible for diagnosing illnesses for nobles and royalty.
A month after returning to the palace, Consort Lan suddenly slipped and fell one night.
That night, Wen Qingci “happened” to be on duty, and he naturally rushed to Huixin Palace with his medicine box, “accidentally” discovering Consort Lan’s pregnancy.
The task of protecting Consort Lan’s pregnancy, though officially assigned to the Chief Imperial Physician according to custom,
Still had Wen Qingci secretly overseeing everything.
*
Dusk, outside the Imperial Medical Bureau.
The sun was gradually setting, and the imperial physicians who had finished their day’s work were successively leaving to exit the palace.
Wen Qingci wasn’t on duty today, so he also left the Imperial Medical Bureau with this group while it was still early evening.
“Imperial Physician Wen!”
Just as Wen Qingci stepped out, he heard someone calling him from behind.
He turned to see a colleague smiling, fanning himself while quickly walking over to ask: “Tomorrow is the Summer Festival. What are Imperial Physician Wen’s plans? Every year during the Summer Festival, Yongdu celebrates for three consecutive days. This year, several of us plan to go to Imperial Physician Cao’s new residence to celebrate the Summer Festival and enjoy the cool air. Would you like to join us?”
Though Wen Qingci hadn’t been in Yongdu long, his gentle and amiable personality had quickly helped him integrate into the Imperial Medical Bureau.
Hearing this, he instinctively slowed his pace.
But before Wen Qingci could answer, the sound of hoofbeats suddenly came from the end of the palace path.
-The Imperial Medical Bureau was located at the corner of the imperial city, very close to the palace gate, but most of the time, only imperial physicians passed through here.
Everyone instinctively looked up toward the direction of the sound.
The setting sun was like a huge chicken-blood stone, standing at the end of the palace gate.
The red light, like a carpet, came from behind, covering the long palace path.
A young man dressed in black, riding a black warhorse, was holding the reins with one hand, coming from the palace gate.
The firelight illuminated his figure.
His loosely tied hair danced with his movements.
Dyed red by the sunset, it burned like flames behind him.
“It’s the Crown Prince.”
Someone spoke first, and everyone outside the Imperial Medical Bureau was stunned for a moment, hurriedly preparing to bow.
But before they could move, the young man had already ridden past, leaving the words “no need for formalities” as he brushed by.
In the blink of an eye, his figure had vanished without a trace.
“…That scared me to death. The Crown Prince’s aura is truly formidable,” the imperial physician beside Wen Qingci placed his hand on his chest, took a deep breath, then turned to ask him, “Were you frightened, Imperial Physician Wen? Don’t be afraid, you might not be familiar yet, but after staying in Taishu Palace for a while, you’ll know that the Crown Prince is always like this, often with a cold expression.”
Wen Qingci lowered his head and smiled gently: “It’s fine, let’s go.”
After speaking, he looked back in the direction where Xie Bufeng had disappeared, then withdrew his gaze.
“Oh, oh alright,” the imperial physician was stunned for a moment, then as if remembering something, slapped his forehead and leaned closer to Wen Qingci to ask, “I almost forgot, Imperial Physician Wen, will you join us at Cao’s residence during the Summer Festival?”
As they spoke, the group had already reached the palace gate.
Wen Qingci paused, thought for a few seconds, then shook his head apologetically and said: “To be honest, a good friend I met in Songxiu happens to be in Yongdu these days. I promised him that I would enjoy the sights of Yongdu with him during the Summer Festival.”
“Hahaha, good, good!” Hearing Wen Qingci say this, his colleague didn’t think much of it, “Then we’ll gather next time.”
“Yes, next time.”
As these words fell, everyone finally passed through the palace gate and reached the outside of Taishu Palace.
Although Consort Lan was supporting him behind the scenes, as a newcomer, Wen Qingci couldn’t be too high-profile.
Unlike his colleagues who had substantial backgrounds and each owned several residences, he had only rented a small courtyard not far from Taishu Palace.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, he turned and entered a narrow street.
His surroundings instantly became quiet.
Only the sound of footsteps echoed with his movements.
“Ahem-”
Wen Qingci had barely taken a few steps when he suddenly heard a light cough.
He instinctively stopped, then saw… a young man dressed in black, leading a warhorse, leaning against the wall not far away.
The moment their eyes met, the young man slowly straightened up and looked at the person opposite him, saying: “Qingci is a full two quarters of an hour late.”
Wen Qingci smiled and quickly stepped forward: “I apologize, Your Highness. There were many miscellaneous matters at the Imperial Medical Bureau today, and everyone only just left after being busy until now.”
Xie Bufeng walked side by side with Wen Qingci, leisurely leading the horse forward: “Next time, leave such trivial matters to the medical officers.”
The young man’s tone carried a hint of complaint.
“Alright, alright, I definitely won’t be late next time.” Wen Qingci hastily promised.
Since returning to Yongdu, Wen Qingci had been pretending not to be familiar with Xie Bufeng.
Everyone at the Imperial Medical Bureau thought he didn’t know Crown Prince Xie Bufeng.
But privately, the two had already arranged to go out of the palace together during the Summer Festival.
Under pressure from the court, the Emperor had finally allowed Xie Bufeng to establish his own residence outside the palace.
Today, he had waited early outside Taishu Palace.
After two quarters of an hour passed without seeing Wen Qingci, Xie Bufeng rode into the palace to find him.
Then, after seeing Wen Qingci, he accelerated to exit the palace through another gate before him.
“Finally here,” as they spoke, the two had arrived at their destination. Wen Qingci pushed open the wooden door, bringing Xie Bufeng into his home, “Your Highness, please rest first. I prepared the ingredients yesterday, and we can eat in just a moment.”
As he spoke, he rolled up his sleeves and quickly walked into the inner room to wash his hands with hot water.
“No rush,” Xie Bufeng’s voice came from behind Wen Qingci, “I’m not hungry yet.”
At the same time, he casually tied his warhorse to a magnolia tree nearby.
Wen Qingci moved very quickly.
By the time he finished speaking, he had already entered the kitchen.
Xie Bufeng paused, then followed: “I’ll help you.”
“This…”
Xie Bufeng looked matter-of-fact: “I like Songxiu cuisine, it’s no harm to learn.”
“…Alright then, Your Highness can start by boiling water.” After hesitating for a moment, Wen Qingci finally compromised.
“Mm,” Xie Bufeng walked naturally toward the water vat, but after a few breaths, his footsteps suddenly paused, “By the way, now that we’re outside the palace, don’t call me ‘Your Highness.'”
He disliked Wen Qingci using such a distant term to address him.
The busy Wen Qingci’s hands paused, thinking the other was concerned about revealing his identity. He looked up with a smile and said: “Alright, Young Master Su.”
Then he lowered his head and continued his previous actions.
Wen Qingci didn’t see that the moment “Young Master Su” was uttered, Xie Bufeng’s ears suddenly turned red…
The young man hadn’t told Wen Qingci that he didn’t actually like Songxiu cuisine as he claimed.
Xie Bufeng had merely learned from Wen Qingci’s family that he was also a good cook.
A few days ago, Xie Bufeng had said he would take Wen Qingci to tour Yongdu and spend the Summer Festival together.
Though he had gladly accepted, Wen Qingci insisted he couldn’t “take advantage of Your Highness for free.”
Knowing the other’s financial constraints, Xie Bufeng had thought of this reason to let Wen Qingci offer this meal as a gift to him.
Having left home at a young age, Wen Qingci was already fast at cooking.
Not to mention he had prepared half of it yesterday, and Xie Bufeng had helped a little.
In less than two quarters of an hour, they were done.
“Alright, let’s put it here.” Wen Qingci didn’t bring the dishes inside but placed them under the magnolia tree in the courtyard.
Without realizing it, the sky had completely darkened, and with the Summer Festival approaching, Yongdu had already started setting off fireworks from tonight.
As they spoke, another large burst of fire ignited before their eyes.
The fire instantly illuminated half of Yongdu, like a huge peony slowly blooming in the sky.
At this moment, Wen Qingci also stopped what he was doing and looked up at the sky.
His cheeks, illuminated by that peony, became especially radiant.
“How beautiful,” Wen Qingci smiled, and only after the peony disappeared did he reluctantly withdraw his gaze, “When I was in Songxiu Prefecture, I never saw such beautiful fireworks.”
Saying this, he sat down at the stone table under the tree.
Xie Bufeng slightly raised the corners of his lips: “After dinner, we’ll go to the Yin River Grand Canal. There will be fireworks over the water today, even more spectacular than what we just saw.”
Then he gently added: “They only have them during the Summer Festival.”
“Great, let’s go later.” Wen Qingci’s eyes instantly brightened.
He picked up his chopsticks, smiled, and said with deep feeling: “According to the Imperial Medical Bureau’s schedule, I was originally supposed to be on night duty in the palace today. Fortunately, a few days ago, an imperial physician had some family matters and asked to switch shifts with me. Otherwise, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have had the chance to see such a scene this year. Looking at it this way, my luck is really quite good.”
“Your luck has always been good.” Xie Bufeng softly agreed.
Under the cover of the fireworks, even he didn’t notice how serious his tone was at that moment.
“Indeed, otherwise I wouldn’t have met Young Master Su in Songxiu Prefecture.” After speaking, Wen Qingci slowly smiled.
The young man noticed that when Wen Qingci smiled, he always liked to slightly narrow his eyes.
Those eyes were like two crescent moons, gentle and beautiful.
Xie Bufeng couldn’t help but smile gently along with Wen Qingci.
Then he picked up the fruit wine from the table and slowly took a sip.
And in doing so, secretly hid that subtle emotion unique to a young man in the depths of his eyes.
Xie Bufeng hadn’t told Wen Qingci that his colleague’s temporary leave wasn’t a coincidence.
It was a surprise he had secretly arranged behind the scenes.
##
