Everyone: “?” Was this something they were allowed to hear?
Yu Jiuzhou recalled the way Chi Wan had just smoothed her brow. That couldn’t have been her imagination.
Hearing Chi Wan’s words, her hatred soared to the heavens. The humiliation of her past life flooded her mind, and the bone-deep loathing made her want to kill Chi Wan right then and there.
A simple death would not be enough to vent her hatred. Only making Chi Wan suffer a fate worse than death would suffice.
Chi Wan knew she had misspoken and quickly explained, “That’s not what I meant. I meant, I’ll help you apply a medicinal patch. It’s a new one I’ve made, and it needs to be placed on the gland.”
She pointed to her own gland, which had a similar patch on it. She had applied one to herself as soon as she’d finished making them.
Thankfully, her gland was covered by the patch. Otherwise, how awkward would it be for a Qian Yuan to display their gland to a Kun Ze!
Chi Wan had examined her own gland. It looked like a pattern, normally unnoticeable, like a birthmark the size of a fingernail. Hers was shaped like a leaf and was usually hidden behind her hair.
After being poisoned, Yu Jiuzhou’s hair was always left loose over her shoulders. The soft strands gave off a light fragrance, and the scent from behind her ear was still leaking out. However, after the acupuncture, only a tiny wisp of the cold fragrance remained—just enough to be covered by a patch to stop the scent from escaping.
“Your Highness, your body has reached its limit. You cannot get angry, nor can you allow your scent to flare up again. Otherwise, even if Hua Tuo himself were resurrected, Your Highness would be left crippled.”
Chi Wan was not being an alarmist. Yu Jiuzhou needed meticulous care right now. She would only be safe after the Rain and Dew Period passed, and she would have to be cautious during the next one. For at least this year, she would need someone with medical knowledge by her side during every Rain and Dew Period.
She didn’t want Yu Jiuzhou to refuse her treatment out of hatred. As things stood, there were many kinds of pills on the market to suppress one’s scent, but almost none could completely quell a Rain and Dew Period.
The dignified Grand Princess herself couldn’t obtain such a pill, and the Imperial Medical Academy certainly didn’t have one. If one searched the entire Great Zhou, perhaps only a reclusive medical master could produce it. And given the mindset of the ancients, such things were never shared with outsiders.
Yu Jiuzhou’s brow furrowed slightly. Leaning against the bed, she watched Chi Wan quietly. Then, she raised her hand slightly, signaling for Chun Gui and the others to leave.
She said nothing, but Chi Wan knew she had agreed.
After Chun Gui and the others had left, Chi Wan slowly approached. The fragrance from Yu Jiuzhou’s body lingered at the tip of her nose, creating a dreamy, soul-stirring sensation, like a goddess from the highest heavens.
The crucial point was that this fallen immortal was right beside her, close enough to touch. As she drew nearer, she could even feel the warmth of Yu Jiuzhou’s body.
The enchanting fragrance made Chi Wan feel as if she were in a dream, and the atmosphere suddenly became ethereal.
“Don’t be afraid. It will be a little cool at first, but it will pass,” Chi Wan said softly as she gently lifted Yu Jiuzhou’s hair, daring only to look elsewhere.
She fumbled for the medicinal patch beside her and carefully applied it. Then she took a silk ribbon and tied it around Yu Jiuzhou’s neck.
The fine hairs on Yu Jiuzhou’s neck stood on end. The delicate down was utterly adorable.
A white silk ribbon tied there created a strange sense of desire. Chi Wan could hear her own heart pounding, wanting to get closer, yet afraid of being presumptuous with the goddess.
Yu Jiuzhou felt the cool, gentle touch of fingertips on the back of her neck. The other person seemed afraid of hurting her, restraining her strength. When she parted her hair, her touch was light, as if not to startle her. As she tied the ribbon, Yu Jiuzhou could smell the unique woody fragrance on the person beside her.
It was like sipping tea while the finest agarwood incense burned nearby. The combination of tea, medicinal herbs, and agarwood calmed her heart.
Miraculously, Chi Wan’s scent could quell the restlessness within her, making her feel as if she were in a tea garden after an early morning rain, a fine, ethereal mist drifting above. It was just like the Chi Wan before her now, shrouded in a thin veil of mist, making it impossible to see who this person truly was.
Was Chi Wan truly a wandering soul from another place?
Yu Jiuzhou lifted her gaze slightly and saw a gentle, earnest face. She had always thought that a scoundrel was unworthy of such a beautiful face, with eyes full of calculation and lechery. The current Chi Wan was completely different. When she was serious, she seemed to glow, making it impossible to look away.
For a fleeting moment, she truly believed that a different person inhabited the scoundrel’s body.
Chi Wan slowly withdrew her hand and put some distance between them. “Alright. After you bathe this evening, I will come change it for you.”
Yu Jiuzhou nodded. She had been mentally steeling herself, telling herself that the person before her was merely a physician. Only then could she endure the discomfort and accept Chi Wan’s proximity.
There was also the fact that some physicians, in order to protect their special techniques or secrets, would not allow others to perform certain tasks.
Otherwise, she would never have let Chi Wan near her.
Chi Wan took a step back and, meeting Yu Jiuzhou’s cold gaze, asked, “How does Your Highness feel?”
She had a patch on her own neck as well. It truly did block the release of her scent and quell the desire within her body.
Yu Jiuzhou took a moment to assess herself. Just moments ago, her scent had been leaking out uncontrollably; a scent during the Rain and Dew Period was impossible to control. After Chi Wan’s acupuncture, the volcano that had been about to erupt within her had subsided, though it was still simmering, at risk of erupting at any moment. But after applying the patch, the volcano had become completely dormant.
She immediately realized that the current pills, potions, and patches for the Rain and Dew Period were not particularly effective. After using them, one either had to endure the period or be marked. Yet now, she could meet with a Qian Yuan without any issue.
Chi Wan had been standing before her for a long time, yet she felt no impulse, nor had the scent of a top-tier Kun Ze turned Chi Wan into a beast controlled by desire.
Thinking back, Chi Wan’s self-control was truly formidable. In the heated chamber, which had been saturated with her scent, Chi Wan had managed to endure it and administer acupuncture.
She had heard from Chun Gui that Chi Wan had inserted several silver needles into her own body just to avoid being affected by the scent while treating her. Such powerful self-control was something that scoundrel could never have possessed.
That said, once this patch developed by Chi Wan was released, it would surely be wildly popular. No Kun Ze was willing to suffer the agony of the Rain and Dew Period. Even she, the Grand Princess, had to endure it when it came.
A Kun Ze’s Rain and Dew Period begins the year after their first menstruation, and from then on, they must endure it until their menstruation ends, at which point the Rain and Dew Period also concludes.
But no matter how profitable the patch might be, she would not ask Chi Wan for the formula.
Seeing that she didn’t answer, Chi Wan simply smiled and continued, “This patch is called a Suppression Patch. It can effectively suppress the release of scent, allowing a Kun Ze to go out as usual even during their Rain and Dew Period. This subject also has formulas for even more potent Calming Pills, as well as Beauty Pills and Skin-Enhancing Pills. This subject wishes to open a pharmacy. I wonder if Your Highness is interested in this business venture.”
From the capital to Jiangning, and eventually with distribution points throughout the Great Zhou, just thinking about this business promised a great influx of silver.
More importantly, Chi Wan had thought it through. Prince Zhongshan, Prince Ying, Prince Bao’an—no matter who ascended the throne, none would spare the Princess’s Residence. She and Yu Jiuzhou were bound together, and death would be their only outcome. All three of them were hypocrites in their own ways; they would not let her go.
The people of Great Zhou required household registration. If she tried to flee, she would lose her registration and be considered a vagrant. Vagrants could do nothing and would not be missed if they were killed. Furthermore, one needed a travel permit to go anywhere. Without one, she couldn’t even leave the capital.
Therefore, if she escaped, she would either have to start a rebellion or live as a hermit. Without household registration and a travel permit, she could do nothing. Her only option was to wait for Yu Jiuzhou to take power, then obtain the necessary documents and leave the capital.
So, helping Yu Jiuzhou was, to a large extent, for her own sake.
Yu Jiuzhou naturally understood how profitable this business would be, but she had no desire to cooperate with Chi Wan. “Do you think I am short of silver?”
A faint smile touched Chi Wan’s lips. She had expected Yu Jiuzhou to say that. “If the Suppression Patch and Calming Pills were to be released, what a great boon does Your Highness think it would be for all the Kun Ze in the world?”
A Kun Ze’s Rain and Dew Period was a serious affliction, one that forced them to become caged birds. If they encountered a malicious Qian Yuan, they could be schemed against and marked.
Female Kun Ze had it the hardest, as they also had to deal with menstruation. As Chi Wan said, the release of these products would be an excellent thing for female Kun Ze. At the very least, those few days of their Rain and Dew Period could be almost no different from any other time.
Without her, Chi Wan alone would find it difficult to spread a Suppression Patch that could benefit all the people in the world beyond the capital. Anyone could see the profitability of this business. Too many people would covet it. Once it became known that this was merely Chi Wan’s personal venture, the business would either go bankrupt or become a money-making tool for someone else.
As a female Kun Ze herself, she was deeply aware of their hardships. In her past life, while vying with Prince Bao’an for control of the Great Zhou, she had often thought about what she would do if she became the emperor. The first thing she would do was allow Kun Ze to serve as court officials. Anything a Qian Yuan could do, a female Kun Ze could do as well, perhaps even better.
The world belonged to the Yu family, and her surname was also Yu. Why was it that only others could sit on the supreme throne, but she could not?
The business Chi Wan proposed could lay a significant foundation for what she planned to do in the future.
She found an excuse for herself in her heart: a ruler must know when to bend and when to stand firm. Since she wasn’t going to kill Chi Wan for the time being anyway, she might as well let her serve her greatest purpose before she died.
Yu Jiuzhou pondered for a moment, her cold eyes fixed on Chi Wan as she spoke. “I can cooperate with you, but I have one condition.”
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