Baby, baby — surely what you want most is for your father to come protect you.

Jun Beiyue’s child — that title alone, that halo alone, would be enough to protect you across the entire Longyuan Continent.

Too bad your father still doesn’t even know you exist.

Too bad that misunderstanding still hasn’t let your father wake.

That day Baili Weisheng had seen Yelu Chenguang heading toward Da Zhou — it had been for exactly this consultation, happening today!

Sha Qiuzi had invited several of the most skilled imperial physicians from the Xijing palace to conduct a joint consultation on Jun Beiyue’s condition. The reason for inviting Xijing’s physicians was twofold: first, Sha Qiuzi trusted the skill of Xijing’s physicians — back when the Xijing Empress had fallen gravely ill, the Xijing Emperor had searched like a madman for miracle healers, practically gathering every renowned physician in the world into the palace; and second, the matter of Jun Beiyue’s serious condition was known only to the Xijing royal family — compared to imperial physicians from any other royal house, Xijing’s were the safest choice.

Unfortunately, this time the Xijing Emperor had specifically assigned Yelu Chenguang to escort them.

It had been Yelu Qianqian’s request originally — but by now she was busy plotting with Xuanyuan Lige over the excavation of the Mingsha Mountain desert.

Aside from that matter, the only other thing she still cared about was Situ Haonan!

As for exactly who had led the delegation to Da Zhou, she had no idea at all.

In the palace’s inner chamber, everyone present was an imperial physician, with no outsiders whatsoever — even Yelu Chenguang had been barred from entering, and Prince Baxian could only wait outside for the results.

Sha Qiuzi described Jun Beiyue’s condition in full detail, while Imperial Physician Gu laid out the treatment plan they’d been following, including the various medicinal materials used and their effects.

The four physicians present listened attentively, and even when questions or ideas occurred to them, they held back and simply noted them down silently rather than interrupting.

“That is the full situation. The reason we’ve invited you all here today is to gather everyone’s wisdom, to work out a new plan together, so that Prince Yao can regain consciousness as soon as possible.”

Though it was said that Sha Qiuzi and Imperial Physician Gu were treating the case jointly, Sha Qiuzi was actually the one leading the effort.

Imperial Physician Gu had insisted from the start on slowly restoring vital energy first before beginning wound treatment. Sha Qiuzi had raised no objection initially, and the two had agreed on a unified approach.

But a full four months had now passed.

Jun Beiyue could not remain in this stupor any longer — there was far too much waiting for him to attend to.

Though the chaos following the tornado had settled somewhat for now — with the exception of Nanzhao and Da Zhou, nearly every other nation had suffered severe losses — no one, whether Xijing, the Xiongnu, Xiliang, or Dongqin, was in any position to go looking for a new war right now. At most there might be small, localized skirmishes here and there.

But under these circumstances, if Da Zhou lacked someone strong enough to hold things together, that would mark the beginning of internal chaos within Da Zhou itself!

Even if the royal family itself had no serious hidden threats, factions among the high officials certainly did!

Once word got out that Jun Beiyue was gravely wounded and unconscious, those secretly harboring ambitions for the throne would inevitably come crawling out of the woodwork. However skilled Prince Baxian might be, he was, after all, growing old — and worse still, he held no military authority at all!

Military power rested in Jun Beiyue’s hands — but power of that kind could only truly be wielded if the person holding it was actually present!

Otherwise, the authority and power of a former ruler amounted to nothing more than an empty title!

Four months had passed, and it had made Sha Qiuzi anxious enough to abandon the original approach, leaving Imperial Physician Gu with no choice but to go along.

After Sha Qiuzi and Imperial Physician Gu finished their presentation, the group deliberated for a long while. After the Xijing physicians spoke, Imperial Physician Beiqiu finally spoke up. “Restoring vital energy first, then treating the wounds — judging by results, this yields the best recovery, but it’s also the slowest.”

Imperial Physician Gu nodded immediately. “Originally, this was precisely to prevent Prince Yao from suffering any lasting complications down the road.”

Sha Qiuzi said nothing, waiting for Imperial Physician Beiqiu to continue. “Judging strictly by results…”

Imperial Physician Beiqiu looked troubled, paused, then turned to Sha Qiuzi. “Elder Sha, forgive my bluntness…”

“Today’s consultation concerns only a patient before us, not a prince. I ask everyone to speak freely, without reservation.”

With Sha Qiuzi’s assurance, Imperial Physician Beiqiu finally spoke boldly. “Elder Sha, this treatment plan doesn’t match your usual style at all. The recovery quality is excellent, yes — but at this rate of progress, I would stake my reputation that Prince Yao will not wake within ten years!”

The moment these words left his mouth, Sha Qiuzi’s expression changed instantly.

“What!”

This treatment plan genuinely wasn’t Sha Qiuzi’s own approach — it had been proposed by Imperial Physician Gu, since Sha Qiuzi was less versed than Imperial Physician Gu in the art of restoring vital energy.

At the time, Imperial Physician Gu had said it would take, at most, two or three years!

Yet facing Sha Qiuzi’s gaze now, Imperial Physician Gu himself was thoroughly shocked. True, he had taken advantage of Prince Yao’s unconsciousness to drive Han Ziqing away, letting that misunderstanding remain a misunderstanding forever.

But he genuinely hadn’t intended for Prince Yao to remain unconscious this long!

Ten years — ten years from now, by the time Prince Yao woke, forget Da Zhou, even the whole of Longyuan would look completely different!

How could this be?

He had followed the standard procedure for restoring vital energy strictly, down to every last detail — the choice of medicines, the acupuncture points used, all of it!

“Imperial Physician Beiqiu, are you certain of this?” Imperial Physician Gu’s tone carried an unmistakable edge of challenge.

“Then how long does Imperial Physician Gu believe it would take?” Imperial Physician Beiqiu shot back, not rising to the confrontational tone at all.

“At most, two or three years!” Imperial Physician Gu blurted out.

At this, Imperial Physician Beiqiu only smiled. “Imperial Physician Gu, for anyone else, this treatment plan would indeed only take two or three years — and within that time, once the constitution was fully restored and vital energy replenished, recovery from any injury after that, internal or external, would be remarkably swift — a matter of ten days, half a month at most.”

Hearing this, Imperial Physician Gu kept nodding, thinking to himself that this Imperial Physician Beiqiu clearly knew what he was talking about — Prince Yao cultivated the Gu Clan’s internal art, and his constitution was fundamentally different from an ordinary person’s, so naturally the method of restoring his vital energy had to differ too!

The fact that Imperial Physician Beiqiu could say all this proved he truly understood the subject!

But it was the word “however” that followed, which made Imperial Physician Gu’s face change completely.

“However, Imperial Physician Gu, you’ve misjudged Prince Yao’s constitution. This method of restoring vital energy simply doesn’t suit his actual constitution — which is why the process will be so drastically slow. Ten years is the very minimum!”

The moment Imperial Physician Beiqiu said this, everyone in the room was stunned — even Sha Qiuzi himself was taken aback.

What shocked them wasn’t Imperial Physician Beiqiu’s firm claim of “ten years” — it was Imperial Physician Gu’s mistake.

Imperial Physician Gu was Jun Beiyue’s personal physician, having watched over him since childhood — there was probably no one in the world who understood his constitution better than he did.

And yet, he had somehow gotten it wrong. How was that possible?

Imperial Physician Gu himself was shaken to the core, unable to believe it, his brow furrowed as he stared at Imperial Physician Beiqiu, unable to stop himself from asking again, “Imperial Physician Beiqiu, you… are you certain?”

“This old man has not yet examined Prince Yao in person, nor felt his pulse. But based on what you’ve all described, I can deduce this much — Prince Yao’s vital energy has already recovered to about seventy percent, but it’s all gathered in his dantian, without having dispersed and integrated into the meridians and blood throughout his body. In other words, this is essentially equivalent to a full layer of vital energy still not having recovered at all!”

This statement left both Imperial Physician Gu and Sha Qiuzi utterly dumbfounded. Imperial Physician Beiqiu… hadn’t gotten it wrong at all!

“Imperial Physician Beiqiu, this way, please!”

Sha Qiuzi decided at once, inviting Imperial Physician Beiqiu to accompany him to Xuanlong Palace to see Jun Beiyue in person…