Nanyi straightened her back and remained composed. Regardless of whether she felt confident inside, she had to keep up the act until the very last moment – this was what she had learned from Xie Queshan.

After a moment of silence, she slowly turned around and said calmly: “Lord Wanyan, you’re allowed to toy with me, but I’m not allowed to toy with you?”

Wanyan Jun was stunned and raised his hand to stop the guards: “What do you mean?”

Nanyi said: “The pulse I felt showed a weak chi pulse and strong cun pulse – the person behind the curtain is clearly a man.”

Wanyan Jun narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing this female doctor.

Nanyi appeared calm on the surface, but could only hear her own violently beating heart in her ears.

In that critical moment just now, her mind had raced – Wanyan Jun only became suspicious after she gave her diagnosis, which meant her judgment was wrong. Could it be that the person inside absolutely couldn’t have a pregnancy pulse…

Then she noticed the curtain seemed to move slightly. Looking down, she glimpsed half a boot showing beneath the curtain, appearing to be in the style of a man’s official boot. This confirmed her guess, so she boldly straightened up to speak with Wanyan Jun. As for the chi pulse and cun pulse, these were descriptions about pulse patterns she had memorized beforehand.

A light laugh came from behind the curtain: “Quite a capable female doctor indeed. In all of Li Du Mansion, you’re probably the only one who dares toy with Lord Wanyan.”

This familiar voice struck Nanyi’s ears like thunder on flat ground – was that Xie Queshan?! He didn’t recognize her, did he?

Nanyi’s heart jumped, thinking she had already disguised her voice, deliberately roughening her throat when speaking. Through the curtain, Xie Queshan might not be able to recognize her. If he recognized her, how could he not expose her?

He had only let her go, but hadn’t given her permission to oppose the Qi people. If he discovered she was from the Bingzhu Division, disguised as a doctor in Wanyan Jun’s mansion, wouldn’t he skin her alive?

Nanyi more carefully concealed her original voice, cupping her hands and replying: “I wouldn’t dare. I just thought Lord Wanyan enjoyed jokes, so I catered to his preferences.”

Nanyi’s gaze nervously fixed on that shadowy figure behind the curtain.

Xie Queshan couldn’t help but laugh – she didn’t really think changing her voice would prevent him from recognizing her, did she? He knew who it was the moment she opened her mouth upon entering.

Afraid of frightening the child, Xie Queshan decided not to tease her anymore and quickly give her a way out.

“Lord Wanyan, what do you think?” Xie Queshan stopped making statements and threw the question back to Wanyan Jun.

The suspicious-minded – the more others said, the less they believed. He had to figure it out himself.

Slowly, Wanyan Jun waved for the guards to withdraw. He stared at Nanyi, still somewhat suspicious of this female doctor who had been so bold from the start, but also felt she had some real ability – otherwise where would she get the arrogance to challenge him?

Her background had been thoroughly vetted and was clean. Wanyan Jun ultimately convinced himself – after all, the person was under his nose, just a small woman, how much trouble could she cause? The most important thing right now was still treating Xu Kouyue’s illness.

“The mansion hasn’t been peaceful lately, so we must be careful about everything. Doctor, please don’t take offense. As long as you can cure the Princess’s illness, even though you’re Han Chinese, I’ll reward you handsomely.”

“Thank you, Lord Wanyan. I will certainly do my utmost.”

“Come with me then – Young Master Queshan, please have some hot tea first. I’ll be right back.”

Two female servants stepped forward and slowly lifted the hanging curtain.

Nanyi first saw those slender hands on the table, blue sleeve edges, a red thread wrapped around his wrist, fingers resting casually.

Li Du Mansion was so vast that two people who had parted might never meet again. For no particular reason, Nanyi felt this reunion stirred up waves in her heart. She wanted to look at him, but she knew she absolutely could not have her identity exposed by Xie Queshan here.

Her ability to be sent in represented enormous effort by the Bingzhu Division behind the scenes. Although disguising as a doctor was an overly risky desperate measure, the current situation was special – Wanyan’s mansion was heavily guarded, and this was the only way to approach Xu Kouyue most quickly. She couldn’t let all their efforts be wasted.

Before the curtain was completely lifted, Nanyi turned to follow Wanyan Jun’s steps, not looking back.

Entering the inner room, Nanyi finally saw Xu Kouyue, who was unconscious with high fever.

Compared to their last meeting, Nanyi felt she had grown much thinner. Every time she saw her, her heart filled with melancholy. She couldn’t help but exhaust everything she had seen and heard to imagine how a dynasty’s princess had grown into the most delicate flower amid countless indulgences, then comparing it to her current loneliness, feeling utterly powerless.

She dared not show too much emotion under Wanyan Jun’s watchful eyes. She set down her medicine box, knelt beside the bed, and skillfully performed the routine of observation, listening, inquiry, and pulse-taking. While checking Xu Kouyue’s tongue coating, she secretly slipped a pill into her mouth without anyone noticing.

Wanyan Jun stood anxiously behind Nanyi. Seeing her finally complete the routine, he couldn’t help asking: “How is the Princess?”

Nanyi had originally prepared the “pregnancy pulse” explanation, but it was somewhat inappropriate to use it now, so she began to solemnly recite her second prepared script: “The Princess has long-standing liver qi stagnation with pathogenic heat obstruction – this is chronic illness leading to deficiency syndrome. I can only help regulate the Princess’s condition, but like a weak candle flame that needs oil added slowly, one must not be hasty. Also…”

Although Xie Queshan sat outside drinking hot tea, his ears were pricked to carefully catch the sounds from inside. Hearing Nanyi’s flawless response, his worried heart slowly settled. Today’s situation was truly too dangerous. Fortunately, she had the ability to memorize everything at a glance and had apparently crammed quite a bit of medical terminology, performing as a doctor quite convincingly. He felt very gratified, believing he hadn’t misjudged her from the beginning.

Seeing Nanyi pause, Wanyan Jun urged: “Speak directly if you have something to say.”

Nanyi shook her head gravely: “The Princess’s qi and blood cannot circulate properly, her primordial yang is insufficient. Lord Wanyan must not engage in intimate relations with her for the coming month.”

Xie Queshan couldn’t suppress a spray of tea and immediately began coughing violently.

Who taught her to make up such words? Song Muchuan? How could an unmarried young lady speak so seriously and righteously about others’ bedroom affairs?

Xie Queshan coughed until his face was completely red, truly embarrassed.

Wanyan Jun looked strangely toward the outside, somewhat flustered by the commotion, and said hastily: “I understand. Just prescribe medicine for her. Until the Princess recovers, you’ll stay in the mansion. Give the prescriptions to the female servants – someone will go out to get the medicine.”

Nanyi stood and curtsied: “Yes, my lord.”

She knew that no matter how much Wanyan Jun relaxed his vigilance, he couldn’t possibly allow people to come and go from the mansion daily – this was within their expectations.

Since she was here, she might as well make the best of it. She could take this opportunity to investigate the layout and defenses of Wanyan Jun’s mansion. Although her eyes were covered every time she walked in the courtyard, walking the same routes several times gave her a general impression. Based on footsteps from different positions, she could also judge the strength of the defenses.

What appeared impregnable from the outside, Nanyi gradually sensed some laxity from within – small strange disturbances could no longer cause great upheaval, guards chatted idly in small groups, boasting about their own strength and how incompetent the Yu Dynasty’s military and civilians were, claiming they could easily break through.

It seemed Nanyi’s previous repeated false alarms had had some effect. With the enemy failing to appear repeatedly, the unchanging calm made the guards begin to think there were no problems at all. Everyone felt Wanyan Jun’s excessive tension showed he was being paranoid about everything.

Daily, Nanyi had to take Xu Kouyue’s pulse three times. Her illness was pre-designed – she would recover with the antidote, and the other prescriptions were prepared in advance. Nanyi memorized them and wrote them out, mostly mild tonics. Apart from ugly handwriting, there were no other flaws – doctors’ handwriting was ugly anyway, and didn’t need to be legible to others.

During each consultation, someone monitored from outside. Nanyi couldn’t say much to Xu Kouyue, only slipping her notes to gradually inform her of the plan.

Xu Kouyue dared not show too much expression. She wasn’t good at disguising and feared appearing too nervous would give them away, so she spent most days pretending to be unconscious. Only she knew that when Nanyi arrived and slipped notes into her hand, she, who had been lost and helpless for so long, finally had something to depend on.

When departing from the Daqi capital, her father the Emperor had placed that important item in her hands, telling her to find a way to transfer it to reliable people – beyond that, no useful information.

Who should she give it to? Who were the reliable people? She waited, searched, even felt hopeless, thinking perhaps her mission would end in failure. Even though she endured humiliation to stay alive, she brought no benefit to this crumbling dynasty, only adding some ridicule.

This female doctor’s arrival was like a crack opening in the darkness, letting light pour in. Her anxious heart settled – she felt she could finally die.

She wanted to give the item to this spy and let her leave, but she refused, saying: “Princess, I want to take you away together.”

Xu Kouyue didn’t think she needed to be rescued, but she was very insistent. Xu Kouyue silently shook her head at her, but she only gripped her hand firmly.

Both their hands were cold, desperately trying to pass some warmth to each other. She wrote her name in her palm, telling her she was called Nanyi.

Nanyi – “hard to rely on” – a name that sounded very drifting. Xu Kouyue didn’t know how much hardship she had endured to reach this point. She didn’t look strong, but she wanted to rely on her firmly, and also hoped that the thing she brought could give these spies something to depend on.

Just like this, in silent exchanges, three days passed, reaching the appointed time.

Everything proceeded according to plan. Just as Nanyi was about to go feel Xu Kouyue’s pulse, before she could step through the door, an assassin took advantage of the guards’ fatigue to break into Xu Kouyue’s room, wound her, ransack the room completely, then flee across Wanyan’s mansion like a dragonfly touching water, disappearing on distant rooftops.

When Nanyi entered, she saw the Princess already lying in a pool of blood. The two exchanged glances, Xu Kouyue closed her eyes, and Nanyi shouted at the top of her lungs that there was an assassin.

The mansion immediately erupted in chaos. Wanyan Jun rushed over, seeing Xu Kouyue stabbed and unconscious, and furiously told Nanyi: “Save her for me! Otherwise I’ll make you all accompany her in death!”

Nanyi silently cursed – you should go die yourself – but didn’t dare overstep on the surface, only nodding obediently.

Wanyan Jun calmed down slightly and observed the scene in the room. What he most feared had still happened.

Had the assassin found that important thing he couldn’t locate but was very significant? Were they from the Bingzhu Division? Were they discarding the millstone after grinding the grain, planning to kill Xu Kouyue to silence her after taking the succession edict?

“My lord, the assassin fled south!” Soon, his personal guard came in trembling to report.

South was toward the river – did the assassin want to escape by boat? To be absolutely certain, Wanyan Jun had to personally pursue and keep the person firmly under his control. Because the succession edict was too momentous and concerned his fate, he absolutely couldn’t entrust it to anyone else.

Nanyi waited for Wanyan Jun to fall for their diversion tactic and take away most of the mansion’s forces, so she could signal the people outside to escort her and the Princess out.

Just as Wanyan Jun was about to leave, a voice came from the doorway: “Lord Wanyan, I happened to pass by here and noticed an assassin, so I hurried over to see if there’s anything I can help with.”

That voice… it was Zhang Yuehui!

Why was it so difficult for her to accomplish anything! All the various immortals were coming to join the commotion? Nanyi was frantic with worry, hoping nothing would go wrong and that Wanyan Jun would leave quickly.