The low voice slowly arose—not particularly loud, nor particularly cold, but hearing it in the ears of Qin Zhimin and Prince Qin Zhicheng, it was like a sharp blade scraping across skin, carrying intense murderous aura and terror. They looked at Qin Zhiyan in disbelief, seeing the man in blue robes with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, his gaze slightly slanted as he looked at the two of them. The long wind from outside whooshed in, sweeping across his fluttering robe hem, as if carrying the bloody scent of battlefields, lightly drifting in the air.
When had they forgotten what this gentle and refined man looked like when angry? When had they naively thought he would forever remain calm as light clouds and gentle breeze, facing everything around him with faint smiles and composure? When had they even forgotten that this seemingly frail and weak man was the Great Qin war god who commanded respect in the northern frontier, making the cruel Xiongnu people flee in terror at the mere mention of his name?
Thus, they became increasingly arrogant and domineering, increasingly unscrupulous, increasingly complacent, until they angered the slumbering fierce tiger—only then did they suddenly realize they were merely weak ants.
Qin Zhiyan looked coldly at his brother, at this man who had been so arrogant just moments ago but could now only stand trembling in place. He slowly said in a deep voice, “The Great Qin bloodline shares the same roots and branches. I ask myself—I have never treated you poorly. Yet you repeatedly pressure me, taking advantage inch by inch. Do you truly think there’s no one in Prince Xuan’s mansion? Or do you simply bully me, Qin Zhiyan, as an incompetent fool?”
“Third, Third Brother,” the Seventh Prince Qin Zhicheng’s face was pale, his voice almost trembling. Some images buried deep in memory surfaced again before his eyes, piercing his nerves like screaming ghosts. He half-raised his hand, wanting to step forward and grab Qin Zhiyan’s hand, yet somewhat afraid to do so. He could only urgently say, “Ninth Brother acted rashly and spoke without thinking—he meant no harm.”
Qin Zhiyan smiled coldly, his eyes slightly narrowing as he said in a deep voice, “Good people get bullied, gentle horses get ridden. I understood this principle deeply ten years ago. Ninth Brother, ten years ago in Taihe Hall, Fifth Brother’s blood splattered on Xuanyuan Platform, and Eleventh Brother severed his own arm to barely save his life. You were there too—have you forgotten so quickly?”
Qin Zhimin’s face grew even paler. After several attempts, he finally recovered from his terror, no longer displaying his previous arrogance as he said, “Third Brother, I didn’t mean anything else, I…”
“No need to speak,” Qin Zhiyan coldly interrupted him, slowly lowering his sword and turning aside. “This is my final warning to you. If you transgress again in the future, don’t blame me for disregarding brotherly affection. The Great Qin imperial family has always been a den of tigers and wolves—ancestral teachings never prohibited our private conflicts. If you still want to try, you might as well test the weight of my Yan Character Camp.”
Having said this, he paid no more attention to the others and turned to leave decisively. His hunting blue robes fluttered and danced in the long wind, like hardy grass from the northern lands, carrying both vigorous vitality and cold, stern killing intent.
Qing Xia’s lips curved in a cold smile. She coldly released Qin Zhimin’s shoulder and with a skillful application of force, actually dislocated his arm with a wrench. Qin Zhimin gritted his teeth and endured stubbornly without making a sound, only looking at Qing Xia and the others with a gloomy expression showing no sign of repentance.
Qing Xia picked up the ginseng from the table and slammed the box shut with a bang, saying to Li Xian, “Throw all these things out—don’t let them pollute Prince Xuan’s mansion.”
Qin Zhimin snorted coldly and turned to leave without looking back. Qin Zhicheng frowned deeply, bowed to Qing Xia with cupped hands, and chased after him. Before they could leave Prince Xuan’s mansion, they ran straight into the Sixth Prince Qin Zhiying and Thirteenth Prince Qin Zhiyu who had come together. Qin Zhiyu was always someone who feared the world wasn’t chaotic enough. Seeing Qin Zhimin’s unpleasant expression, he still approached with a grin and asked, “Oh! Ninth Brother, what’s with this look? Could it be that after just a few days, Ninth Brother has followed Eighth Brother to the battlefield?”
Qin Zhimin burned with fury and ignored Qin Zhiyu’s provocation, departing with a flick of his sleeves. Qin Zhicheng chased after him, greeted the two men, and hurriedly ran out.
Qin Zhiying and Qin Zhiyu laughed heartily and strode into the main hall. Seeing Qing Xia, Qin Zhiying smiled cheerfully, exaggeratedly bowing deeply as he called loudly, “Greetings, Third Sister-in-law.”
“What nonsense are you talking?” Qin Zhiyu protested. “Miss Zhuang hasn’t married Third Brother yet—she should be called County Princess Minrui.”
“It’s a matter of sooner or later. I think you’re just unwilling to give up your lustful thoughts.”
Qing Xia was worried about Qin Zhiyan and didn’t want to watch these two fellows of unclear allegiance create trouble here. Just as she was about to send them away, she suddenly saw Lian Zhou run in with a grave expression, saying in a deep voice, “Miss, where has Master Baishi gone?”
Like a thunderbolt suddenly striking Qing Xia’s head, her body trembled and she nearly fell to the ground. She shook her head in confusion and ran toward Qin Zhiyan’s bedchamber.
That night, Qin Zhiyan remained unconscious throughout. The eight witch doctors from Nanjiang were helpless—medicines were ineffective, and there was no cure. Witch Doctor Baishi stated clearly that even if the Grand Elder came in person, there might not be a miraculous recovery. Only by surviving this night might there still be a chance for treatment. The entire Prince Xuan’s mansion was shrouded under gloomy skies. Everyone held their breath in silent anticipation, waiting for daybreak to come.
In her entire life, Qing Xia had never known that nighttime could be so difficult to endure. She repeatedly told herself that she must be strong—she was a modern agent who had witnessed countless births, old age, illness, and death. How could she be defeated by such a thing? But Witch Doctor Baishi’s mouth kept opening and closing before her eyes repeatedly, his voice seeming to come from the twenty-first century—distant and hollow. He said Qin Zhiyan was at the end of his rope. That day at Bailu Plain, upon receiving Qing Xia’s letter, he had coughed up blood and fallen seriously ill. After awakening, he refused to return to the capital for treatment, forcibly suppressing his condition with medicine. Now, with fury attacking his heart and his five organs failing, he was at death’s door—eight or nine chances out of ten that he wouldn’t survive the night.
Those words were like enormous thunderclaps, repeatedly bombarding Qing Xia’s already unclear sky. At the end of his rope? At death’s door? He was only twenty-four years old—why would he be at death’s door? She shook her head frantically in disbelief, gripping Witch Doctor Baishi’s sleeve tightly, barely holding back the tears that were about to fall, saying in panic, “No, it won’t happen. What are those people anyway? Zhiyan is such a composed person—how could he be angered to death by them? Save him—aren’t you the best doctor in Nanjiang? Save him. He won’t die. You won’t let him die. You won’t!”
Witch Doctor Baishi’s expression was grave as he said bitterly, “County Princess, it’s not that this old man is unwilling, but that I cannot. Given the Third Prince’s current condition, even if the Grand Elder came in person or if the Xilin family head were resurrected, there would be no possibility of cure. The medicine the Grand Elder sent a few days ago was originally a spiritual medicine to suppress the spread of toxins—it treats symptoms but not the root cause. Once it breaks through, the harm is even greater. The Third Prince now… alas…”
“Why are you sighing?” Qing Xia flew into a rage, grabbing Witch Doctor Baishi’s collar tightly and shouting angrily, “You’re a doctor! Even if you can’t save him, you have to try! Can we just wait like this?”
Li Xian rushed forward, grabbing Qing Xia’s hands and shouting, “Sister Qing, calm down a bit.”
“How can I calm down?” Qing Xia screamed furiously, tears finally flowing uncontrollably down her cheeks. She stood in the room, before all the authority-holding servants of Prince Xuan’s mansion, crying torrentially as she shouted, “How can I calm down? He was fine just now—how did it suddenly become like this? You’re all lying to me.”
“Right! I must enter the palace!” Qing Xia suddenly raised her head, her eyes staring blankly as she frantically searched around the room.
Bi’er was frightened into tears, pulling at Qing Xia’s hand and following behind her, crying, “Miss, Miss, what are you looking for?”
“Bi’er,” Qing Xia’s eyes stared straight ahead. She suddenly turned around and gripped Bi’er’s hands tightly, saying in a deep voice, “Where are my court robes? Didn’t the Emperor bestow court robes upon me? I must enter the palace. I must enter the palace to find doctors for Zhiyan. If that Grand Elder dares refuse to come, I’ll tie him up and drag him here.”
“County Princess,” Witch Doctor Heimu said in a deep voice, “There’s no turning back. Unless the Shangqiu clan suddenly appears in this world, there’s no chance.”
“Right!” Qing Xia’s eyes suddenly lit up with a glimmer of brilliance. Like a drowning person grasping the last straw, she suddenly said in a deep voice, “Right! There are still divine physicians hidden in the great mountains. I must go find them. Lian Zhou, prepare horses—I must go find them.”
“Miss!” Lian Zhou dropped to his knees at Qing Xia’s feet with a thud. This agile, tough, and stubborn man was already in tears. He gripped Qing Xia’s skirt tightly and shouted, “Stop this! Even if you rode a thousand-li horse now, you couldn’t possibly find divine physicians who haven’t appeared for decades in one night. Even if you found them, you couldn’t bring them back before dawn!”
Qing Xia suddenly froze in place. All those facts struck her heart like a heavy hammer. Large tears fell drop by drop. Her face was pale and she could barely stand, swaying as she supported herself against the table, forcing her body to remain upright. She slowly raised her head like someone in a nightmare, asking Witch Doctor Baishi with a pitiful pleading voice that sounded like a dying small beast, “No chance? Can’t be saved?”
Her gaze was so pitiful, as if all hope remained only as thin as fragile paper. Witch Doctor Baishi sighed deeply and finally closed his eyes, shaking his head heavily.
With a thud, Qing Xia’s vision went dark and she collapsed to the ground. Everyone around frantically rushed forward trying to help her up, but she struggled to crawl up by herself, pushing away their hands as she said sadly, “Go away. I want to stay with him. All of you go away.”
Lian Zhou wanted to reach out and pull her back, calling softly, “Miss.”
“Go away!” Qing Xia turned around and shouted sternly, “Don’t you all have things to do? Go outside the city and stabilize the Yan Character Camp. If anything happens to Zhiyan, I want Prince Qin Second, Prince Qin Seventh, Prince Qin Ninth—I want the entire Great Qin imperial family to pay blood for blood!”