Chapter 48: Nine Peaks Clear Sky Scattered Brook

  For several days, she had been staying in the east room of the distant spring pavilion, hardly leaving her door or sleeping. The small white mice used for experimentation kept dying, and for fear of spreading infection, they could only be disposed of by fire. Today was already the tenth one. She felt exhausted, disappointed, and sorrowful all at once, as if a huge stone was pressing on her chest, making it hard to breathe. She looked at the medical books and herbs with a suffocating feeling. If there were experimental equipment and necessary medicines, this epidemic would not be unsolvable. Now she was like standing in the desert for three days and nights, knowing that water was nearby but couldn't get it, almost going crazy.

  Everyone was isolated outside, only the snow war that no one could stop, drove out and ran back, lingering around Qingchen's side. Qingchen stretched out his hand to press against its head, at a loss for what to do.

  Xue Zhan was quietly lying there, letting her press against him. Suddenly, his golden pupils glared and he darted out with a "whoosh", startling her. She looked up to see that he had caught a small white mouse in his mouth. It turned out that after feeding the medicine earlier, the cage door hadn't been closed tightly, and one of them had escaped. She hastily shouted: "Xue Zhan!"

  Xue Zhan is extremely obedient to human nature, and as soon as he hears his master's command, he puts down the little white mouse. The little white mouse, because of its intense struggle, has a wound on its neck, with a few drops of blood flowing out. Xue Zhan licks his tongue and instantly cleans up the bloodstain on the edge of his mouth.

  You didn't have time to stop it, and you're worried. The Snow War God's strange beast has a highly toxic body, and this little white mouse is probably going to die, but the little white mice are specifically fed with patient sputum for drug testing, in case Snow War is also infected, it would be very troublesome. Who knew that on the second day, not only was Snow War fine, but the little white mouse that had been bitten by it was also jumping around, without any signs of illness.

  You are indeed surprised, a flash of inspiration in your mind, and Snow Battle bites another small white mouse again. However, this time the small white mouse convulses all over and dies within half an hour. She doesn't give up, concentrating her thoughts, searching through books for medicine, and grabbing another small white mouse that has already fallen ill. First, she feeds it some rhubarb, then lets Snow Battle bite it again. This time, just like the first time, although this small white mouse is limping and staggering on the second day, its spirit is no longer as weak and listless as before.

  You were overjoyed, thinking of the antidote, and carefully took some blood from Snowball's front paws while comforting it. Snowball was very obedient to her, although it let out a few unhappy "woos", but didn't struggle too much.

  Qingchen bandaged the wound, mixed blood and rhubarb, and experimented on the white mice. He spent a night dozing off at his desk, waking up several times to check on the mice. By dawn, two of the mice that had been on the verge of death were dead, two showed no obvious improvement, but three had regained their vitality. After more than two hours, the remaining two mice also started looking for food in their cage. Qingchen felt an overwhelming joy, as if the darkness had suddenly lifted and the sky had cleared. He forgot his exhaustion and rushed out, shouting: "Fourth brother!"

  These days, Ye Tianling has been patrolling everywhere and handling affairs in the west room, staying close to Qingchen. He had even flipped through many medical books beside her. At this moment, he heard her suddenly shouting loudly and put down his book to come and see what was happening.

  Qing Chen ran a few steps along the winding corridor, suddenly her heart hurt as if it was being squeezed by an invisible hand. Her body stumbled forward and she fell. Ye Tian Ling quickly flashed in front of her and hugged her: "Qing Chen!"

  You leaned against Ling Hua's chest in the dark of night, only feeling a dull ache in your heart that spread out and made it hard to breathe. You grasped at your chest, wincing in discomfort as you spoke in fits and starts: "Hold... hold me... lay... down..."

  Yè Tiān Líng slowly laid Qīng Chén flat on the ground while hastily shouting: "Xuān Yùyī! Quickly!"

  Yan Yu didn't wait for him to finish and quickly rolled out. Qing Chen slowed down and said to Ye Tianling: "Medicine... Empress Dowager..."

  Ye Tianling saw that her face was as pale as paper, with cold sweat dripping down, and her originally calm voice also carried a few hints of anxiety: "Don't speak first, the imperial physician will arrive immediately."

  You shook your head, knowing in your heart that this was a symptom of heart disease, but you didn't expect it to suddenly occur without warning. You could only barely adjust your breathing to try to alleviate the pain.

  Yan Yu and Song Defang rushed in quickly, with Yan Yu urging, "Song Imperial Physician, hurry up."

  On a cold winter day, Song Defang suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. Seeing this, he was shocked and quickly knelt down to feel his pulse. He said to Ye Tianling: "Your Highness, this is a heart disease. Don't move the county lord, it's best to lie flat. I'll write a prescription right away."

  The maid who came to attend Song De Fang took the prescription to decoct the medicine. Jing Chen's consciousness was still relatively clear, and the pain had eased a bit at this time. She said weakly: "I found...the prescription...there is medicine in the white porcelain bowl..."

  Song De Fang suddenly raised his head and exchanged a glance with Ye Tian Ling: "Has the princess found the prescription to cure the plague?"

  "You nodded slightly: 'Still...not sure...be careful when taking it...'"

  "Go ahead and rest, don't think about anything else, they will handle it themselves."

  A wave of dizziness surged up in her mind, and she felt the familiar voice of the night sky getting farther and farther away. The endless fatigue drowned out her willpower, and soon the world before her eyes receded into a blank sheet. A heavy wave crashed over her, and everything around her plunged into darkness.

  A bitter taste seemed to flow into my lips amidst the daze, and after tossing and turning for an unknown amount of time, I woke up again to find it was already early morning.

  You were in a daze for a moment, unaware of where you were, and felt that your whole body was soft and couldn't muster up the strength. Your gaze fell on the window, and you saw a tall figure standing still, with the morning light pouring in quietly from outside, casting a faint shadow on his collar, making his figure look even more majestic.

  The old wooden window lattice, the red cloud canopy, everything started to become familiar, especially the figure of Ye Tianling. She had just straightened up when Ye Tianling turned around, a flash of surprise in his eyes, and immediately ordered the maids waiting outside: "Summon Song Defang."

  He gently placed her in his arms and whispered: "Don't rush to get up."

  "You smiled faintly: 'Nothing.'"

  Ye Tianling gazed at her for a moment without blinking, as if he had never seen her before. After a long while, he let out a sigh and asked, "Do you feel any better?"

  "You nodded: 'Much better, just a bit tired, did I sleep for a long time?'"

  Ye Tianling gazed at her pale face, his brow furrowed: "For a whole day and night, Song Defang said you have heart disease. These past few days of exhaustion will trigger an episode. You're a doctor who treats illnesses and saves lives, yet can't even take care of your own body."

  You leaned your head against his chest, with a hint of a smile at the corner of your mouth: "Song Defang didn't tell you, can't I get excited? You're still lecturing me."

  Yitian Ling was taken aback for a moment, as if he had no choice but to say: "The Empress Dowager took medicine last night and the fever has subsided this morning. Her condition is much better."

  "Really?" He supported himself with his hands and was about to get up: "I'll go take a look."

  Ye Tianling raised his hand and pressed her down: "You lie down, I just went to see, the imperial doctor is adjusting beside him, and something will come to report at any time."

  "You still entered the imperial harem."

  "Already have medicine, what are you afraid of?"

  You quietly leaned back into his arms, and it wasn't until then that you truly relaxed, your heart finally at ease, with a sense of being reborn. She tilted her head to the side: "I'm afraid... of that feeling of being helpless, anxious and burning..."

  The night sky was quiet for a moment, and then he said in a low voice: "I've been spending my days and nights like this, do you know?"

  His low voice was laced with unspoken worries, and Qing Chen's heart ached slightly as she listened, so she gently grasped his hand. Outside, the maid He Feng's voice said, "Your Highness, Imperial Physician Song has arrived."

  "Let him in."

  You dust is familiar with Song De Fang, and also does not put down the pearl curtain to avoid. Song De Fang carefully diagnoses the pulse, looks at the complexion again, and says after a while: "Now it's fine, but the county master should take good care of herself."

  "You know, in the next few days, the Empress Dowager will have some tasks for you."

  Song De Fang said: "This is a duty-bound responsibility. To treat the county master well, we still need to discuss with the county master how to use medicine."

  You carefully asked about the Empress Dowager's situation and learned that Dan Juan had already taken the medicine. "How is Dan Juan now?"

  Song Defang said: "I woke up last night and although I'm a bit weak, my life is saved."

  "You're right, the Empress Dowager is old and different from Dan Jing. We must be careful." As she spoke, Ye Tian Ling revealed a thoughtful expression, making her feel slightly uneasy. Ye Tian Ling had come to Yan Xi Palace to investigate how the epidemic had entered the palace, but due to the Empress Dowager's illness, he hadn't conducted a thorough investigation yet. Now, she feared that he would soon take drastic measures. How could they hide this from him? Besides, she didn't want to deceive him anyway.

  Yè Tiān Líng said to Sòng Dé Fāng: "You go down first, and I'll think of a way to take care of it and come up with a plan."

  After Song De Fang left, Qing Chen saw that Ye Tian Ling's eyes were filled with hidden bloodshot lines, knowing he hadn't rested well at night: "Fourth Brother, you should also go rest for a while."

  Ye Tian Ling sat down beside her: "It doesn't matter, I'll keep you company for a while."

  He Feng brought over a few dishes of snacks, including osmanthus cloud cake, thousand-layer almond pastry, drunken honey dates and clear braised fragrant bamboo shoots. She also cooked a pot of soft and fragrant medicinal congee, which Qing Chen slowly savored while leaning against the couch.

  Ye Tian Ling stood beside her, the warm stove in the room dispelling the chill, making it feel like a warm spring. Such a quiet moment made one feel that if this life were to pass by just like this, it wouldn't be bad at all.

  "You look at what?" asked the fourth brother with a smile, raising his eyes.

  "Look at you eating so deliciously."

  "I'm hungry." Qing Chen said: "Do you want to try some? The culinary skills of the Yanxi Palace's Shangyuan Si seem to have made great progress today."

  Ye Tianling shook his head: "Shang Xun's craftsmanship has always been good. In the past, there was an old chef who made a great dish, with chicken and golden silk bamboo shoots, lychee meat, Ban Zhi Gan Bei, scallion ginger crab, and Su Baizhen were all done extremely well."

  "You're someone I've never met before."

  "The old people in the palace are all gone, and although this dish still exists, it's no longer the same flavor."

  You'd think that someone as calm and composed as Ling Tian would have been an angel when he was young, but nope, he was actually a little troublemaker back then. The whole of Yanxi Palace was turned upside down by his antics every day.

  But this so-called carefree childhood was extremely short-lived, as Ye Tianling began to follow the army and train on the battlefield at the age of nine, led by Mu Emperor's eldest son, De Wang Ye Yanshao.

  It was during the campaign against the southern barbarians in the tenth year of Shengwu that Duke Te, who was only twenty years old at the time, disagreed with Emperor Tian over the rewards given to their generals. The emperor rebuked him harshly and spoke some severe words. Upon returning to his residence, he became despondent and took his own life by slitting his throat.

  Five years later, Mu Emperor's second son Ye Yanxu died of illness, and from then on, Mu Emperor cut off his descendants. The next year in January, the Heavenly Emperor appointed his eldest son Ye Tianhao as the Crown Prince, announced sacrifices to the ancestral temple, and granted a general amnesty to the world.

  In the same year in September, 15-year-old Ye Tianling led his troops to war against the Turks for the first time and won a great victory. From then on, for more than ten years, the Tian Dynasty had a wise, virtuous, kind-hearted crown prince, a stern and cold royal highness, while Mu Emperor's two princes were gradually forgotten by everyone.

  As he spoke, Qing looked up at the night sky with a calm and peaceful expression, as if he was talking about someone else's affairs. Now that he has returned to his former identity, he is in a different state of mind. He had long since become indifferent to the twists and turns of his relationships with his parents and brothers, perhaps from that time on, there was a place in his heart that began to harden, no longer allowing anyone to get close to him.

  The night sky was deep and silent in Ye Tian's eyes. At this time, Yan Yu came in to report: "Your Highness, all the palace maids of Yanxi Palace are waiting at Changchun Hall."

  "Alright," Ye Tian nodded and stood up, saying to Qing Chen, "I'll go take a look."

  You nodded, watching Ye Tianling go out, but furrowed your delicate eyebrows slightly, still feeling weak and limp all over, leaning lightly on the warm couch in a daze.