Fortunately, Shen Wushuang quickly regained his composure and rapidly processed the information in his mind.
The events at White Emperor Valley had long since spread throughout Northern Di, becoming a source of pride and conversation for the Northern Di people. Although Sha City was mostly populated by outsiders and the atmosphere wasn’t as intense, one could still hear Northern Di people proudly discussing the matter everywhere.
On the night Shen Wushuang learned of this, he had spent the entire night drinking. Forced to come to a foreign land, hearing that his home country had fallen to such a state, even though he no longer had any connection to it, he couldn’t bear the grief and anger.
Anger at their inability to fight back, sorrow for their misfortune.
The proud and unyielding Wei family, the backbone of Great Chu, had been broken just like that.
He had thought the Wei family was finished, after all, only a 14-year-old child, Wei Yun, was left. At the age of fourteen, holding onto everything the massive Wei family had left behind, no one could trust him, nor would they be willing to let him go.
He had assumed Wei Yun would have been disposed of by now.
However, at this moment, Wei Yun was right there…
No.
Shen Wushuang suddenly realized that this appearance could hardly be considered as being “right here” in good condition.
He immediately asked, “Were you chased here by assassins?”
“Not exactly,” Wei Yun said, somewhat tiredly. “The details are too complicated. My presence here has nothing to do with court politics.” After a moment of silence, Wei Yun asked, “Do you still plan to return to Great Chu?”
Shen Wushuang remained silent.
Return? How could he not want to?
He still had his brother’s death to avenge, of course, he had to go back.
After a long while, he finally spoke, “If I go back, will you take me with you?”
“If you want to go back,” Wei Yun said with his eyes closed, “I, Wei, will ensure your safety.”
“Good,” Shen Wushuang replied decisively. “I’ll go back with you. Whether I live or die, I accept it. But Zhao Yue’s dog life, I must take.”
Wei Yun gave a low sound of acknowledgment, then asked, “How did your brother die?”
“When the cunning rabbit dies, the hunting dog is cooked,” Shen Wushuang let out a cold laugh, then said, “You were wrong about one thing. I’m not Physician Shen. The Physician Shen from back then was my brother.”
Wei Yun wasn’t surprised. His guess that Shen Wushuang was Physician Shen was merely based on past clues.
Shen Wushuang removed the needles one by one, speaking calmly, “Back then, my brother had received favors from the Princess Royal and formed a gentlemanly friendship with her. So he became a royal physician in the palace, quite favored by Emperor Chunde. Later, during Crown Prince Qin’s incident, Gu Chusheng conspired with the Princess Royal to let Zhao Yue enter the palace. After taking a drug to fake his death, he committed suicide in the palace. Then my brother examined the body, and the Princess Royal requested to keep the corpse intact.”
Wei Yun nodded. What Shen Wushuang said was close to his guesses.
Shen Wushuang sat on the platform behind Wei Yun and continued, “My brother gave Zhao Yue the drug to fake his death, examined his fake corpse, watched as the Princess Royal’s people dug up Zhao Yue’s grave and carried him back to the Princess Royal’s mansion. He even personally made a human skin mask of Mei Hanxue for Zhao Yue. My brother knew too much.”
“The Princess Royal’s people?” Wei Yun frowned.
Shen Wushuang let out a scornful laugh, “My brother and Princess Royal had a gentlemanly friendship, how could she do such a thing?”
Then, in a low voice, Shen Wushuang said, “It was Zhao Yue.”
Shen Wushuang looked outside and spoke calmly, “Originally, the Princess Royal intended to let my brother go home to observe mourning, as long as he didn’t return to Huajing. But on the way home, Zhao Yue sent people to pursue and kill him. When I arrived, my brother was fleeing with my sister-in-law and Jiaojiao. He died on the road, unable to hold on any longer. Before his death, he entrusted my sister-in-law and Jiaojiao to me. With the help of friends, I escaped from Great Chu and came to Sha City to open a medical clinic.”
As Wei Yun listened, when he heard Shen Wushuang say he had fled to Sha City to protect his sister-in-law, his heart stirred. He wanted to ask something but ultimately didn’t speak.
As the two were talking intermittently, Chu Yu walked to the room and stood at the door, saying, “Mr. Shen, is my husband better?”
Now that she knew Shen Wushuang had connections with Zhao Yue, Chu Yu became even more cautious. Hearing Chu Yu’s words, Wei Yun’s heart trembled. In an instant, both sweetness and guilt surged within him. He didn’t know how to face Chu Yu’s address of “husband”. Sitting in the medicinal bath, he lowered his head without speaking.
Shen Wushuang responded and beckoned, “Come in, help me lift him.”
Fearing Chu Yu might feel embarrassed, Wei Yun had already wrapped himself while still in the water. Shen Wushuang gave Wei Yun a teasing look, but Wei Yun’s expression remained unchanged as he let Chu Yu and Shen Wushuang help him up and place him on the bed.
Chu Yu took a cloth and dried Wei Yun’s body, then brought clean clothes for Wei Yun to change into. After all, this was done, Shen Wushuang came to Wei Yun’s side, lifted Wei Yun’s trousers, pointed out the acupoints to Chu Yu, and demonstrated the massage while instructing her, “Just press like this.”
Chu Yu watched quietly as Shen Wushuang massaged from Wei Yun’s ankle to the root of his thigh. Wei Yun frowned slightly and glanced at Chu Yu, who remained calm and unbothered. Wei Yun watched as Shen Wushuang massaged for a while before Chu Yu took over. After Shen Wushuang gave some guidance, Chu Yu learned it quite well. Shen Wushuang watched for a while and then nodded, saying, “Alright, from now on, every morning after he eats, let him rest for half an hour, then bring him to this room for a bath. I’ll prepare the medicinal sachets for you in the evening. After the bath, massage him like this for half an hour.”
“How long should he bathe?” Chu Yu asked worriedly as she continued massaging. Shen Wushuang didn’t deceive her and calmly said, “Until he regains feeling. You’ve delayed too long; it won’t be easy to save his legs.”
Chu Yu frowned deeply, but thinking of the renowned medical skills of the former Physician Shen, she restrained herself.
Shen Wushuang watched for a while, and seeing that everything was fine, he said, “Alright, I’ll go check on other patients,” before turning to leave.
After Shen Wushuang left, Chu Yu looked up at Wei Yun and asked cautiously, “Does it hurt?”
Wei Yun shook his head, and Chu Yu frowned, “You can’t feel anything?”
Wei Yun smiled, “Don’t worry, you can trust Shen Wushuang’s medical skills. I’ll be fine.”
“Don’t worry,” he said calmly, looking at her. “Even if my legs are crippled, I can still protect you.”
“How could I be worried about that?” Chu Yu shook her head, looking down at Wei Yun’s legs and speaking softly, “I’m worried about you. You’re still so young, if your legs don’t recover, how will you live in the future?”
“Even if my legs don’t work, aren’t I still the Marquis Zhenguo?” Wei Yun calmly said, “If we don’t fight or compete, I’ll take you to Sishui. Didn’t we buy a lot of land there? We can go there with Second Sister-in-law and Mother, and live as local gentry.”
“Nonsense,” Chu Yu glared at him. “Then no good girl will marry you.”
“Then I won’t marry,” Wei Yun looked at her, smiling. “Sister-in-law, stay with me.”
He blurted out, “I’ll take care of you for a lifetime.”
Chu Yu’s massage stopped abruptly. Wei Yun noticed her embarrassment and smoothly added, “Along with Second Sister-in-law and Mother, plus the five little ones at home. We’ll be local tyrants in Sishui, no problem.”
Chu Yu laughed, looking up at him, “Is that all you aspire to? I don’t believe it.”
Chu Yu sighed, “Let’s not talk about the rest, but Yao Yong isn’t dead yet. If you can let it go, that would be good.”
Wei Yun didn’t speak. He remained silent, watching Chu Yu’s fingers dance on his leg.
He had no sensation at all. He couldn’t feel her temperature or her skin. He could only imagine that her fingertips must be different from his.
She should have a few calluses, but also the unique delicacy of a woman’s skin. Her temperature should be slightly low, as she always seemed to be cold. Her fingertips gliding across should cause a tingling sensation, traveling up from his legs to his mind.
His gaze fell on her fingertips, and he struggled to control himself, slowly speaking, “Indeed, Yao Yong isn’t dead, and neither is Zhao Yue.”
“What does Zhao Yue have to do with this?” Chu Yu asked casually.
Wei Yun smiled gently, “There’s something I’ve been thinking about for a long time before I finally understood, so I’m only telling Sister-in-law now.”
Chu Yu gave a low sound of acknowledgment, indicating she was listening. Wei Yun calmly said, “Back then, Su Can told me it was Zhao Yue who suggested to them to set up an ambush in White Emperor Valley.”
Chu Yu was slightly stunned. She slowly raised her head.
Wei Yun looked at her and spoke coolly, “I’ve thought for a long time about what Zhao Yue was trying to achieve by doing this. It wasn’t until I met you and you told me he had become emperor that I thought long and hard and finally understood his intentions.”
“He knew Yao Yong had arranged people in the Northern Di military camp, so he conspired with Northern Di to use this person to send false information to Yao Yong. But Northern Di deliberately sent the wrong number of troops. He knew Yao Yong’s cowardly nature and his reluctance to sacrifice troops, so he would certainly retreat, leading to my father and brother’s deaths.”
“The Wei family fell, and the emperor lost one of his right-hand men. But that wasn’t all. At that time, the Wei family went to battle with Yao Yong, but while the entire Wei family died, Yao Yong was unharmed. What would others think?”
“So the grudge between Yao Yong and me was set from the moment the Wei family died. I’m even wondering now if the Princess Royal’s willingness to save me was also secretly prompted by Zhao Yue. Zhao Yue pushed the Princess Royal to save me, giving me time to recover the Wei family’s power, and then I started to oppose Yao Yong. I forced Yao Yong to rebel, and what was the result?”
“Yao Yong betrayed Emperor Chunde, so he needed to find another legitimate person to support. That’s when Zhao Yue appeared, giving Yao Yong a reason. And I betrayed Emperor Chunde, putting him in danger, giving Zhao Yue the opportunity to lead Yao Yong to attack the city and kill Emperor Chunde.”
“You see, in every incident, everyone else suffered losses, but only Zhao Yue benefited like a fisherman. So tell me, is Yao Yong worse, or is he?”
Wei Yun laughed coldly, “He pushed everything step by step. I’m even wondering, you mentioned Shen You, was he Yao Yong’s man, or was he Zhao Yue’s?”
Chu Yu was slightly stunned. Wei Yun lowered his eyes, “Is Yao Yong the type of person who would go around saving people? And does Yao Yong have the mind to cultivate spies in Northern Di? Even if Yao Yong did cultivate a spy, how could he be discovered so easily? And if he was discovered, how did he just happen to appear in my sight at the right time, telling me the truth about the past, pushing me to confront Crown Prince Yao Yong?”
“But Shen You… doesn’t seem…” Chu Yu became uncertain.
Wei Yun calmly said, “I didn’t say Shen You was a bad person.”
“Do you know what the best chess piece is?” Wei Yun looked out the window, his eyes filled with pity. “It does not even know it’s a chess piece. Everything Shen You said was probably true, but he concealed one thing.”
“The person who saved him back then wasn’t Yao Yong, it was Zhao Yue. So after he came to tell me the truth, he didn’t think about returning to Yao Yong’s side at all. Instead, he stayed peacefully in the Wei family to atone for his sins. If he had ill intentions, we would have detected it long ago.”
“Unfortunately, he’s a good person,” Wei Yun sighed, remembering Wang Lan and Shen You, his voice tinged with regret. “It’s just that such people never live well.”
Mini Theater
Chu Yu: After all this talk, I suddenly feel like we’re the sweetest couple.
Shen Wushuang: Look at me, big face!