“The Crown Prince’s pulse remains as thin as a silk thread. Though the medicine these past few days has temporarily stabilized his heart pulse, there’s been no improvement. Fortunately, his wounds haven’t festered, but they’re healing extremely slowly. At this rate, who knows how many more days he can hold on.”

“Indeed, looking at his pulse, three days might be the limit.”

“Alas, after all our efforts, we still can’t save his life. The Crown Prince is only twenty years old—it’s truly pitiful for someone so young to perish like this…”

“That aside, the main concern is that if the Crown Prince can’t be saved, it will inevitably cause conflict between Northern Wei and Great Zhou. When that happens, the common people in both border cities will surely suffer.”

“Exactly, but now even Young Lady Nine has no solution…”

With a swoosh, the tent curtain lifted, and Qin Wan walked in. The imperial physicians who had been discussing straightened their expressions. The Chief Physician stepped forward and said, “Young Lady Nine, the Crown Prince’s pulse remains weak. We fear he can only last three more days at most.”

Qin Wan nodded, “I understand this point, and I’ve thought about it. Therefore, I plan to change the Crown Prince’s prescription starting today.” As she spoke, Tuoba Wu entered the tent carrying a bowl of medicine.

Seeing the medicine bowl, the three imperial physicians exchanged glances. Just from the smell alone, they could tell it was very different from the previous prescription.

However, this time Qin Wan seemed intent on changing the medicine herself. She didn’t write down the prescription or let them know its contents. Seeing Tuoba Wu step forward to administer the medicine, the three physicians immediately stepped back. As Tuoba Wu fed the medicine, the three observed its aroma and color. Though they could identify several ingredients by smell, they couldn’t figure out the complete prescription.

In the Imperial Medical Institute, this would naturally be unacceptable—all prescriptions must be public record. However, at this moment, Qin Wan wasn’t part of the Imperial Medical Institute and wasn’t bound by these rules. Seeing both Qin Wan and Tuoba Wu present, the three physicians withdrew.

“I couldn’t guess the complete prescription just now, but it feels very different from the previous one.”

“Indeed. These past few days, Young Lady Nine had medicine boys prepare and brew the medicine, but today she brewed and delivered it herself.”

“Do you think it might be some secret inherited prescription?”

Their expressions changed slightly. Qin Wan didn’t want to reveal the prescription, and it could indeed be some life-saving secret formula. As medical practitioners, they each had their specialties and unique skills. Thinking of Qin Wan’s extraordinary medical skills, the three became interested in the prescription. One of them said, “Chief Physician, shall we take a walk to the medicine room?”

The Chief Physician considered it, hesitated several times, but finally nodded.

At the medicine room, they indeed found the pot Qin Wan had used to brew the medicine. The medicinal soup had been completely poured out, leaving only the dregs. The physicians examined them back and forth twice, their expressions becoming rather strange.

“I’ve truly never seen this prescription before, and the Veratrum and Scrophularia in it are incompatible ingredients.”

“Yes, and there’s also asafoetida. No wonder the medicine smells so pungent.”

“This prescription… if we didn’t know Young Lady Nine prescribed it, we might think it was made by someone who doesn’t understand medicine. Will it work? Or am I just being narrow-minded?”

“I don’t know either. Enough looking, it wouldn’t be good if someone saw us.”

The Chief Physician felt it wasn’t appropriate to linger, and quickly led the other two out. Though they had their doubts, the three decided to suppress their misgivings and wait to see if the medicine would have any effect on Tuoba Hong.

Meanwhile, Tuoba Wu held Tuoba Hong’s hand and spoke of past events.

“Crown Prince Brother, do you remember? When I was five years old, not long after Mother Consort passed away, I was scared every night. Later, it was you, Crown Prince Brother, who begged Empress Mother to let me stay with you. I lived with you for two years, until you were established as Crown Prince and moved to the Eastern Palace. Only then did I live alone again. Crown Prince Brother, you often said my personality wasn’t suited for being born into an imperial family. You said I never listened, that whether it was Father King or you, I always did the opposite of what I was told. Crown Prince Brother, when you wake up, I’ll listen to everything you say. Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do it. I won’t make you worry anymore. You’ve been sleeping for two days now, Crown Prince Brother. Including the time on the mountain, it’s been four days.”

Tuoba Wu spoke slowly, word by word, afraid Tuoba Hong wouldn’t hear clearly. However, after she finished speaking, Tuoba Hong still showed no reaction. Tuoba Wu sighed and tightened her grip on Tuoba Hong’s hand.

“Is it true my Crown Prince Brother won’t last three days?” Tuoba Wu didn’t turn around, her voice carrying traces of tears. “I heard everything just now. I can feel his hand getting colder and colder.”

Qin Wan stepped forward two paces. “I changed to a new prescription today. We’ll see if there’s any effect after two days.”

Tuoba Wu took a deep breath. “When you say it like that, does it mean there’s little hope?”

Qin Wan thought for a moment. “I can’t guarantee anything, but I will certainly try every method I know and do my absolute best. If I can’t save him after giving it my all, then there are probably few in this world who could.”

Qin Wan’s voice was calm and matter-of-fact, but her words carried a hint of dominance. Tuoba Wu turned her head with teary eyes to look at Qin Wan for a moment, the corners of her lips lifting slightly. Her expression, caught between crying and smiling, made Qin Wan’s lips curve upward. Qin Wan examined Tuoba Hong’s wounds once more before finally setting her mind slightly at ease.

Tuoba Wu spoke again, “When will His Highness the Heir return? Will he bring back good news?”

Qin Wan considered before answering truthfully, “It won’t be easy. The Crown Prince’s status is noble, so the perpetrator must not be a nobody. Moreover, the attacker struck ruthlessly, likely with careful planning. It won’t be so easy for Lord Chi to find them.”

Tuoba Wu looked at her. “You don’t have confidence in him either?”

Qin Wan couldn’t help but smile. “This isn’t about confidence or lack thereof. If things were that simple, that would naturally be best.”

Tuoba Wu carefully observed Qin Wan before finally turning her head back. “I saw that night.”

Qin Wan raised her eyebrows, not immediately understanding. “What?”

Tuoba Wu said softly, “I saw you and His Highness the Heir return together from outside the main camp.”

At Tuoba Wu’s words, Qin Wan’s cheeks immediately burned as if on fire. She was stunned for a moment, and before she could speak, Tuoba Wu continued, “That’s why I came to find you the next day, to see what abilities you had.”

Qin Wan smiled bitterly. Her guess wasn’t wrong—Tuoba Wu had indeed acted because of Yan Chi.

“Then I must have disappointed you. I don’t have any special abilities.”

Tuoba Wu shook her head. “No, you killed Taxue. If it were someone else, they definitely couldn’t have done it, or at least would have been more seriously injured.”

Taxue was naturally the white horse. Qin Wan said, “It’s not about being more seriously injured—they would have died.”

Tuoba Wu lowered her head even more. “I’m sorry. I’ve played such tricks many times in Northern Wei, but I forgot that while Northern Wei people are skilled at horsemanship and archery, most Zhou women are gentle as water.”

Qin Wan shook her head, and Tuoba Wu continued, “Two years ago, I saw His Highness the Heir once at the Northern Wei border city. He led the Shuoxi Army to help Northern Wei fight the Rong enemies. From then on, he became an obsession in my heart. I came this time just to see him once. I originally thought he remembered me, but I didn’t expect that he didn’t remember me at all. Not only that, he showed no warmth toward me, a Northern Wei princess. I almost suspected he preferred men.”

Does Yan Chi like men? Qin Wan couldn’t help but laugh.

“But later I realized that he can be gentle with the woman he likes, it’s just that person isn’t me, and can never be me… At first, I didn’t know what abilities you had, but later when I saw you treating my Crown Prince Brother, I finally understood. Your character is not that of an ordinary Zhou noble lady.”

First expressing her unrequited obsession with Yan Chi, then praising her—Qin Wan looked at Tuoba Wu’s thin back, unsure whether to frown or smile. After a moment, she heard Tuoba Wu let out a long sigh. “If only I could know medicine like you. If back then I had worn women’s clothes and had excellent medical skills, and then treated the soldiers and His Highness the Heir on the battlefield, maybe he would have remembered and appreciated me…”

Tuoba Wu’s voice was weak and particularly pitiful. Combined with her childish words, Qin Wan couldn’t help but laugh. “You think he first saw me when I was treating someone?”

Tuoba Wu turned her head, eyes wide as she looked at her. “Wasn’t it?”

Qin Wan’s lips curved up high. “No, when he first saw me, I was sharply criticizing someone. Later, I wasn’t treating anyone either. I was doing something else.”

“What were you doing?”

Tuoba Wu was curious, but Qin Wan didn’t intend to say. “You wouldn’t want to know.”

Tuoba Wu frowned. “Then why did you have to meet privately like that? Your statuses are well-matched. You have the Empress Dowager’s favor. If you explained and asked for an arranged marriage, wouldn’t that work?”

Qin Wan smiled bitterly. “It’s not that simple.”

Seeing Tuoba Wu about to ask more, Qin Wan lifted her chin. “Keep talking to him. He can hear you speaking.”

Tuoba Wu pressed her lips together and had to stop asking. She turned around and began speaking of past events again.

Qin Wan stood to the side listening and realized that Tuoba Wu’s life story was rather pitiful, almost the same as Yan Sui’s—losing their mother consort at a young age. However, there was indeed a difference between girls and boys. In an imperial family, those who inherited the throne were usually male. Even if girls fell from favor, they would at worst live a slightly worse life—it wouldn’t be fatal. But for princes, it was different!

Thinking of Yan Sui, Qin Wan’s heart sank. These days, space was cramped in the main tent, leaving no time for her and Yan Sui to be alone. Yan Sui also hadn’t mentioned anything about his mother’s consort again. Once they returned to the palace, opportunities would likely be even fewer.

After using the new medicine, Qin Wan insisted on watching over Tuoba Hong for an entire day. As she expected, it wasn’t until nightfall that Yan Chi returned with his men from Mount Wei. Tuoba Wu was very concerned about this and, seeing Yan Chi enter the main tent, hurriedly followed him in. Qin Wan waited outside. After a full half hour, Yan Chi finally came out.

Seeing Qin Wan, Yan Chi said directly, “Come with me.”

Qin Wan nodded and followed Yan Chi to the meeting tent. Seeing this, Tuoba Wu hurriedly followed behind. When Yan Chi reached the tent entrance and saw Tuoba Wu still following, his brows furrowed.

Tuoba Wu also frowned. “What’s wrong?! This is about my Crown Prince Brother—I can’t follow?”

Yan Chi’s eyes were cool. “When there are results, we will naturally inform the Princess.”

Tuoba Wu said angrily, “Wait for results? Who knows when there will be results—” As she spoke, Tuoba Wu looked to Qin Wan for help. Qin Wan sighed. Though Tuoba Wu had improved lately, her obsession with Yan Chi couldn’t be dissolved in a moment. Moreover, if she followed, she would certainly interfere, which wouldn’t help solve the case.

Qin Wan had to advise, “Princess, please be patient. You can’t help with these matters right now. Why don’t you go back to watch over the Crown Prince?”

Tuoba Wu hadn’t expected Qin Wan not to help her. She immediately pouted, glaring at Yan Chi and then giving Qin Wan a hurt look before turning and leaving.

Qin Wan shook her head with a smile and entered the tent with Yan Chi.

Inside the tent, Bai Feng had already laid out the maps they’d brought back on the table. As soon as Yan Chi entered, he said, “We’ve walked almost every team’s route, and among them, about forty small teams met and can verify each other’s locations.”

As he spoke, Yan Chi opened a map and drew a red circle on it. “This is where Tuoba Hong’s incident occurred. In the end, there were only about five teams that were close to this location around Chen time that afternoon.”

Qin Wan quickly asked, “Is Liu Yun’s team among them?”

Yan Chi’s expression became solemn as he nodded. “Yes, among them. Besides this, two teams were led by the Huai’an Marquis’s heir and his cousin, another by the Wu’an Marquis’s heir, and the last by the young master of the Left Cavalry General’s family.”

“These few teams were closest to the incident location, able to arrive within two incense sticks’ time. Based on the routes they identified this time, other teams definitely couldn’t have reached the incident location and returned by shen time.”

Qin Wan frowned. “So Liu Yun is highly suspicious?”

Yan Chi nodded. “Yes, the suspicion is growing stronger. How has Tuoba Hong been these past two days?”

Qin Wan quickly said, “We can only maintain his pulse. His wounds are healing very slowly, and his physical condition isn’t good. Today I just changed to the new medicine. If there’s improvement that would be good, but if not, it will be very dangerous later.”

Yan Chi’s eyes darkened slightly—this meant they absolutely couldn’t hope for Tuoba Hong to wake up on his own!

Qin Wan thought of something and quickly pulled a paper from her sleeve. “I found this mark of injury on Tuoba Hong’s body. The mark is a bruise, possibly from a blunt object, or it could be from punches or kicks. However, the pattern left is somewhat strange. Take a look—”

Yan Chi took the paper and looked, his brows furrowing. “This pattern is indeed strange.”

“If it was made by a fist, they must have been wearing some kind of iron gauntlet, possibly with some special decorative shape that left this mark on Tuoba Hong. These past two days his body couldn’t be moved, so I haven’t checked for more injury marks. We’ll have to wait until his wounds stop bleeding before I can examine more areas.”

Yan Chi nodded. “Good. For now, I’ll focus on interrogating Liu Yun, since he lied.”