Alpha = Qianyuan
Beta = Zhongyong
Omega = Kunze
Coming of Age
“Physician, physician-”
“Someone help, Yunshu suddenly came of age!”
Wen Qingci was reading medical texts in the Imperial Medical Bureau when a commotion suddenly erupted nearby.
He paused, immediately putting down his brush to look outside the side hall.
The next second, he saw several palace maids dressed in light cyan gauze skirts, supporting someone and hurrying toward the Imperial Medical Bureau.
The palace maid being supported was pale, with not a hint of color in her lips.
Most importantly, her steps were unsteady, appearing as if she didn’t even have the strength to stand.
“What happened?” A medical officer hurried forward to support her.
The palace maids around her explained in a jumble: “Yunshu was too young when she entered the palace. At that time, she was said to be a Zhongyong… who could have imagined she would suddenly come of age and become a Kunze. Just now, while on duty at Xingao Palace, she suddenly fainted!”
Another added: “Many people in Xingao Palace were affected. They’ve all taken suppression pills and returned to their quarters to rest.”
Most people come of age at fourteen or fifteen, becoming either Qianyuan or Kunze.
If they don’t transition, they remain Zhongyong.
The imperial palace didn’t restrict this when recruiting people.
But after entering the palace, they would be assigned to different palaces for duty according to their status.
Cases like Yunshu, who came of age after entering the palace, while not unheard of, were certainly uncommon.
The Imperial Medical Bureau immediately fell into chaos because of this incident.
“How could you be so careless!” The medical officer was stunned for a moment, then immediately instructed, “First, take her to the small room in front. The few days after coming of age are when a person’s scent is strongest. Even if she takes suppression pills now, the effect won’t be very significant.”
“Yes, yes!” Though these palace maids were all Zhongyong, they were frightened enough by the medical officer’s words and immediately supported the person into the side hall.
Seeing this, Wen Qingci also left the side hall and quickly walked toward that small room.
“Wait,” Wen Qingci spoke up, stopping the medical officer who was about to close the door, “I’ll take a look too.”
“Master Wen? You…” The other was about to refuse, but after a moment realized that Wen Qingci could indeed enter.
Recalling a certain palace rumor, his expression suddenly changed.
-Wen Qingci appeared warm as jade, with the demeanor of a refined gentleman, fitting people’s imagination of a Kunze.
But in reality, he wasn’t a Kunze.
Wen Qingci’s situation was very special:
Since childhood, he had been a “medicine person,” which had changed his physical constitution.
The most obvious aspect was that Wen Qingci’s neck had been eroded by toxins, preventing him from ever coming of age.
This matter didn’t seem to bother Wen Qingci himself, but it was a thorn in His Majesty the Emperor’s heart.
Though the medical officer’s mind wandered, his actions didn’t slow.
He immediately opened the door, letting Wen Qingci enter.
As everyone commonly understood,
Suppression pills had almost no effect on a Kunze who had just come of age.
Fortunately, Wen Qingci was present. He quickly used silver needles to seal several major acupuncture points of the palace maid.
After a quarter of an hour of effort, her condition finally gradually stabilized.
“That’s better…” Wen Qingci couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
“This servant thanks Master Wen!” The palace maid herself, also frightened into a cold sweat by this incident, immediately struggled to sit up, wanting to kowtow to Wen Qingci.
But the imperial physician in moon-white robes standing opposite her only smiled lightly and helped her up, saying: “This is my duty, no need for such formality.”
The former Chief Imperial Physician Yu Guanlin had already retired, and all matters in the Imperial Medical Bureau, big and small, were now Wen Qingci’s responsibility.
After giving her a few more instructions, Wen Qingci pushed open the door and walked out.
-This palace maid’s coming of age was too sudden, and many people in the palace had been affected.
Though there were many Zhongyong in the Imperial Medical Bureau, worried they might not handle the matter well, Wen Qingci still rushed over to assist them in resolving it.
This took a full two hours.
By the time everything was finished, it was already evening.
Though Wen Qingci’s body was somewhat better than before, such intensive acupuncture still caused fine beads of sweat to appear on his forehead.
Seeing this, someone nearby hurriedly reminded him: “Master Wen has worked so hard today! Please go back and rest, we can handle things here.”
“Cough, cough…” Wen Qingci couldn’t help but cough lightly, and didn’t refuse further, “Alright, if you need anything, come find me in the back.”
“Yes, Master Wen!”
He smiled and nodded to them, then quickly headed toward his quarters.
As he walked, Wen Qingci, being a transmigrator, couldn’t help but think: his condition, in modern terms, would be called “gland damage.”
Gland damage might not be a major illness in modern times, but in this era, it was a significant defect.
After resolving the Tianci poison, Senior Brother Song Junran had also hinted that perhaps a way could be found to treat this condition.
But Wen Qingci himself didn’t see it as a regret; rather, he found it quite convenient.
-After all, in his previous life in the modern world, he had never differentiated due to a congenital disease.
Therefore, even now, he had never smelled any pheromones.
And had long grown accustomed to a world without pheromones.
Thus, Wen Qingci, with his damaged glands and lifelong focus on medical studies without distractions, was perhaps even more oblivious than an ordinary Beta…
Just as he was thinking this, Wen Qingci arrived outside the small courtyard.
He paused, just about to raise his hand to push open the courtyard gate when the wooden door in front of him creaked open by itself.
Xie Bufeng was standing at the doorway, gazing deeply at him.
Seeing that Xie Bufeng was still wearing his court robes, Wen Qingci instinctively called out: “Your Majesty…”
Then he walked slowly into the small courtyard: “Why are you dressed like this?”
Unable to smell pheromones, he didn’t realize how dangerous his behavior was at this moment.
-Like a lamb voluntarily walking into a trap, there was an innocent purity about it.
Intuition told Wen Qingci that Xie Bufeng was somewhat different from usual right now.
Besides the court robes he hadn’t yet changed out of,
Xie Bufeng’s eyes had reddened for some reason, and his gaze was more dangerous than usual.
Leaning against the doorway, Xie Bufeng didn’t answer Wen Qingci’s question, but as the wooden door closed, he stepped forward and tightly embraced him from behind.
Xie Bufeng’s body temperature was somewhat high.
The arm restraining Wen Qingci’s neck was hotter than usual.
Wen Qingci instinctively placed his hand on it, asking: “Do you have a fever?”
At this moment, Xie Bufeng slowly buried his face in the crook of Wen Qingci’s neck.
“Don’t move.” A somewhat muffled voice came from beside Wen Qingci’s ear.
Thinking Xie Bufeng was feeling unwell, Wen Qingci very naturally stopped moving, while comfortingly patting his arm lightly.
He didn’t see that Xie Bufeng’s gaze became even more dangerous because of his actions.
“What is that scent on you?”
A deep and slightly hoarse voice came through.
Scent?
Wen Qingci instinctively thought Xie Bufeng was referring to the medicinal smell on him.
But the moment the other’s arm tightened again, he finally belatedly realized-what Xie Bufeng meant was the scent of pheromones.
While helping at the Imperial Medical Bureau earlier, his body had been covered with countless people’s pheromones.
Unlike himself, Xie Bufeng, as a Qianyuan, was particularly sensitive to these scents.
“I’m sorry,” Wen Qingci immediately pressed his hand on Xie Bufeng’s wrist, trying to break free from his restraint, “A palace maid suddenly came of age earlier, and I went to help a bit. The scent must have accidentally gotten on me then.”
“No need to apologize to me.” Xie Bufeng frowned in response.
He disliked it most when Wen Qingci was formal with him; the words “I’m sorry” seemed to instantly distance them from each other.
…Just as he disliked the scent on Wen Qingci.
In Xie Bufeng’s heart, Wen Qingci was like a pristine snowflake in winter.
Gentle, cool, clean, without any scent.
But today, the usually clean Wen Qingci was covered in inferior scents.
Unease and anger, like having his territory invaded, lingered in Xie Bufeng’s heart.
As a Qianyuan, he felt particularly unsettled.
Driven by instinct, his hand locked on Wen Qingci’s shoulder tightened more and more.
At the same time, his lips, which had been pressed against Wen Qingci’s shoulder, slowly moved to the back of the person in his arms’ neck.
Sharp canine teeth grazed over the delicate skin on Wen Qingci’s neck.
Leaving a moderate red mark.
…The person beside him had irregular breathing at that moment, and Wen Qingci finally sensed the approaching danger.
“I’ll go bathe and change clothes, wash off these scents before coming to find you.” He tried again to forcefully move Xie Bufeng’s hand away, but Xie Bufeng’s arm was like iron, immovable.
“No need.”
The next moment, Xie Bufeng finally released his grip.
But he didn’t let Wen Qingci go; instead, he picked him up and walked toward the room.
“What do you mean ‘no need’?” Wen Qingci instinctively hugged Xie Bufeng back.
Though he couldn’t sense the presence of pheromones, both the behavior of those around him and the information learned from medical books told Wen Qingci: no Qianyuan would tolerate their partner being covered in someone else’s pheromones.
Xie Bufeng stopped at this moment, suddenly lowering his gaze to kiss the cinnabar mark on Wen Qingci’s forehead.
With a voice as light as sleep-talking, he said extremely slowly by the ear of the person in his arms: “It’s enough to cover them with Our scent.”
After speaking, he slowly raised his hand, lifting Wen Qingci’s hanging hair and tucking it behind his ear.
When with Wen Qingci, Xie Bufeng always referred to himself as “I.”
This unexpected “Our” made his words particularly dangerous.
Even with damaged glands, Wen Qingci had the illusion at this moment.
-It was as if he could smell Xie Bufeng’s pheromones.
No candles were lit in the small room.
The moment they entered, the scene before Wen Qingci’s eyes immediately darkened.
At the same instant, he heard Xie Bufeng press his lips to his ear and say softly: “We’ll go to the Summer Resort tomorrow.”
…Summer Resort.
Hearing these words, Wen Qingci instinctively clutched the fabric on Xie Bufeng’s chest.
As a Qianyuan, Xie Bufeng had “rut periods.”
According to custom, whenever the emperor entered his rut period, he would leave Taishu Palace for a temporary palace or villa.
In an instant, memories of previous visits to the Summer Resort flooded Wen Qingci’s mind.
But before Wen Qingci could think further, Xie Bufeng’s light amber eyes, now like wolf eyes in the night, were already looking at him.
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