When Yue Ning looked at Yan Ze’s bright eyes at Prince Yi’s residence, she frowned deeply. “Why can’t he still see? Third Brother’s eyes seem more lively than before and look no different from normal people’s, yet he still can’t see…”

Secretary Qin and Sun Muqing were writing a new prescription nearby. Upon hearing this, Secretary Qin looked over with slightly furrowed brows.

The incense curled up from the corner censer, but Secretary Qin couldn’t calm her mind. “I think there’s nothing wrong with this prescription, I just don’t know why His Highness still can’t see.”

Sun Muqing also wore a worried expression. “Should we continue with this prescription or…”

After some thought, Secretary Qin still sighed, “Let’s continue with this prescription. We can’t find a better one. Stronger medicines would do more harm than good. This prescription has warming, nourishing, and blood-stasis-removing effects. Let’s see how things go after another dose.”

Sun Muqing nodded and added, “I think the main treatment from here on will rely on the Princess’s acupuncture skills.”

Secretary Qin looked at Sun Muqing, who continued, “Since Young Lord still can’t see, I suspect it’s still an issue with the meridians. The medicine won’t have much effect now.”

Yue Ning overheard Sun Muqing’s words and immediately stepped forward, “Should we do acupuncture now?”

While Secretary Qin had brought needles, she still harbored some doubts. However, Yue Ning stepped forward, “Secretary Qin, I trust you. Right now, only you can cure Third Brother’s eyes. Let’s proceed as before?”

Secretary Qin had no choice but to have Yan Ze lie down in the inner chamber.

The eye area has many meridians and is sensitive to touch. Each acupuncture session would inevitably cause Yan Ze pain. As usual, Secretary Qin first covered him with a medicated cloth. After waiting a moment, she began inserting needles. When the first needle went in, Yan Ze showed no reaction before long beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

“Does it hurt, Your Highness?”

Yan Ze’s lips moved slightly, “It’s fine, I can feel something.”

Seeing the sweat on Yan Ze’s forehead, Secretary Qin’s eyes flashed with deep thought, but she said nothing and continued inserting needles as usual.

By the time the acupuncture was finished, a full cup of tea’s worth of time had passed. The sweat on Yan Ze’s forehead was notably more than in previous times, causing Secretary Qin to fall into deep contemplation.

Yue Ning tiptoed in from outside. Seeing Secretary Qin lost in thought, she called out to her. Secretary Qin came to her senses and looking down, saw Yan Ze seemingly asleep with closed eyes. She gestured outside indicating she would step out first, while Yue Ning stayed to keep Yan Ze company.

Outside the inner chamber, Sun Muqing was copying the prescription. Seeing her emerge, he quickly stood up, “Princess, how did it go?”

Secretary Qin hesitated for a moment before shaking her head, “Same as usual.”

Sun Muqing nodded and continued copying the prescription. After finishing, his expression suddenly changed as he looked around. At present, only he and Secretary Qin were outside. Two days had passed since they last met, and Sun Muqing couldn’t help but step forward and whisper, “Princess, has there been any progress regarding the burial site…”

Secretary Qin was more composed than Sun Muqing, only saying softly, “There should be news in the next couple of days. Once there is, I’ll send someone to tell you. These days you’re staying at Shen… at your residence?”

Sun Muqing nodded, “Yes since Young Lord’s condition has no obvious major issues now, I’ve moved over there.”

Secretary Qin understood, “That’s good then. I’ll send someone to find you when the time comes.”

Sun Muqing nodded, “I’m grateful to you, Princess. Without you, this wish of mine would probably remain just a wish, and I might even have gotten myself into trouble.”

Secretary Qin felt uneasy inside, “Your little junior sister must be very grateful to you. You’ve done what she should have done.”

“Ah.” Sun Muqing let out a long sigh, “The person is already gone, what do these things I’m doing count for? I’ve sorted out all those things, most of which will be taken there. Once this matter is settled, I can finally put one thing to rest in my heart.”

Secretary Qin wanted to say more words of gratitude, but they caught in her throat. What position did she have to say such things now?

After exchanging a few words, Sun Muqing was still wary of being in Prince Yi’s residence, so he turned the conversation back to Yan Ze’s illness. Soon after, Yue Ning’s voice came from inside – Yan Ze had awakened.

Secretary Qin entered the inner chamber to find Yan Ze sitting up with eyes open. She walked to stand before him and raised her hand to examine his eyes. She looked very closely at his pupils, longer than any previous time. Yue Ning stood by suspiciously asking, “What’s wrong? Is there a problem?”

Secretary Qin straightened up and shook her head, “I can’t tell anything for now. Continue with the medicine.”

Yue Ning nodded and was about to get the medicated cloth, but Secretary Qin raised her hand to stop her, “Let’s not use this for now.”

Yue Ning was puzzled. Secretary Qin pointed to the sky outside, “Let His Highness’s eyes see more daylight.”

Yue Ning made an “oh” sound and stopped her movement. After the acupuncture, everyone moved to sit in the flower hall outside. It was already cold this season, with lots of precious chrysanthemums arranged outside the flower hall. Secretary Qin’s gaze swept over them one by one before she suddenly asked, “I heard earlier that Young Lord mentioned that Prince Yi’s consort was also from Medicine Valley. What was she skilled in?”

This question made Yue Ning pause momentarily.

Prince Yi’s consort had passed away years ago, and people generally avoided mentioning her, mostly worried about upsetting Yan Ze.

Yet Secretary Qin had asked, and Yue Ning blinked at her while Secretary Qin watched Yan Ze.

However, Yan Ze’s face remained calm, and he even smiled slightly saying, “I don’t know about that. Father should know. Mother was devoted to medicine at that time, she probably studied everything. Later when I learned to write, I read Mother’s medical books – they covered many subjects.”

Yan Ze spoke very calmly about these things. Secretary Qin nodded and looked at Sun Muqing, “Master Sun, do you know who the Princess Consort studied under?”

Sun Muqing thought uncertainly for a moment, “It should have been one of the grand masters. The Princess Consort was considered an external disciple of Medicine Valley. There were quite a few such disciples back then. I only learned about this connection when I met Young Lord at Medicine Valley before. As for who the Princess Consort studied under, I never asked.”

Yue Ning asked, “Why are you asking about this?”

Secretary Qin replied without changing expression, “Since we seem to have hit a bottleneck, I was wondering, given the Princess Consort’s medical expertise, how would she treat His Highness’s eye condition…”

Yue Ning worriedly glanced at Yan Ze, as if afraid he would be saddened.

But Yan Ze said, “My mother’s medical skills were indeed excellent. When the Emperor nearly lost his life, it was Mother who saved him.”

Not only was Yan Ze not saddened, but he actively brought up past events. Secretary Qin’s attention was immediately drawn in. Though Yan Ze couldn’t see, he seemed to know everyone was watching him and waiting for him to continue, so he went on, “Back then, the Emperor was rescued from a sea of corpses and blood. Because of the fire at Thunder Ridge, the Emperor had countless sword wounds and burns, even his face was severely burned. Fortunately, my mother’s medical skills were good. Not only did she save the Emperor’s life, but when his wounds healed, there weren’t even obvious scars left. If not for this, it might have damaged imperial dignity.”

Although the Emperor was favored by the previous Emperor at that time, the royal family had an unwritten rule that princes with disabilities would generally not be made crown prince unless necessary. If the Emperor had been left disabled or disfigured back then, the matter of establishing the crown prince probably wouldn’t have gone so smoothly.

“So that’s how it was. I didn’t expect the Princess Consort’s medical skills to be so advanced.”

Secretary Qin sighed, speaking from the heart. It wasn’t easy to prevent scarring from burns – even she might not be able to achieve that.

Yan Ze smiled, “Although my mother was a lady of the capital, she didn’t aspire to marry into a noble family. If not for Father being my maternal grandfather’s student, Mother probably would have married an ordinary person…”

Yan Ze’s tone was somewhat wistful. Sun Muqing couldn’t help asking, “Then what happened later? Why did the Princess Consort pass away from illness?”

Hearing this, Yan Ze was stunned for a moment before giving a bitter smile, “I’m not very clear about this either. Those who heal others but cannot heal themselves – this is probably the most helpless thing in the world. I was still very young when Mother passed away, I can barely remember.”

Sun Muqing sighed, “Indeed regrettable.”

Seeming to feel the topic too heavy, Yue Ning quickly asked, “Are we going to the palace tomorrow to accompany the Empress Dowager? We didn’t go today because of your treatment, the Empress Dowager must be feeling unaccustomed…”

These days, Yan Ze and Yue Ning had been going to the palace every day, either to play chess with the Empress Dowager or to chat about old times. The Empress Dowager’s mood had improved considerably.

“Tomorrow… we should. I had thought to let Father go to the palace to accompany Grandmother, but Father has been refining medicine these past few days. Grandmother hasn’t remembered these leisurely pleasures for so many years, she must be engrossed in chess these days. If we don’t go to the palace, she won’t have anyone to accompany her.”

Yue Ning said, “The Emperor could accompany her. Wasn’t the Emperor also obsessed with chess back then?”

Hearing this, Yan Ze looked troubled, “It’s strange, the Emperor seems to have lost interest in chess these years. When Father took over the Zhenlong chess manual earlier, he didn’t even look at it before giving it to the Empress Dowager, and never asked for it back. Later, I heard from a young eunuch in Chongzheng Hall that the Emperor hasn’t played chess for years.”

Yue Ning raised an eyebrow, “Perhaps he’s too busy with state affairs…”

Yan Ze did not comment. Secretary Qin, listening to these conversations and thinking of the previous conversation she had overheard between the Empress Dowager and the Grand Princess, felt an inexplicable sense of oddness in her heart. Something seemed wrong, but she couldn’t quite figure out what.

By the time the medical consultation was finished, it was already late. Secretary Qin soon prepared to take her leave. After exiting Prince Yi’s mansion gates, she was still thinking about Yan Ze’s words.

Back then, Yan Huai had suffered so much because of his brother’s rebellion. If it were her, she probably couldn’t have let it go either. Yet now Yan Li had still been granted a title, which was enough to show Yan Huai’s tolerance and magnanimity. But… Secretary Qin’s brows furrowed tightly. But if Yan Huai could be so tolerant towards Yan Li and his mother, how did Prince Rui’s household end up in trouble?

Although Yan Chi hadn’t said explicitly, it was clear who had ordered the Qianzhou general. The Emperor must have had something to do with Prince Rui’s matter. That Yan Huai could forgive something as serious as rebellion, yet couldn’t forgive Prince Rui who had been loyal and dutiful for so many years – this didn’t make sense.

Secretary Qin wasn’t in a position of power, so naturally, she couldn’t fully comprehend the psychology of those in power. But this thought, combined with Yan Ze’s words, gave her a strange and inexplicable sense of incongruity. She needed things to have logic, but Yan Huai’s actions seemed to defy logic.

Secretary Qin went straight back to the Marquis’s mansion. These confused thoughts gave her a vague sense of unease. Upon returning to Pine Wind Court, Secretary Qin suddenly thought of the wooden hairpin that Princess Gong had given her before. Her heart stirred slightly, and she hurried to find the hairpin. She hadn’t used it since receiving it. Previously she didn’t know the origin of this hairpin, but after hearing the conversation between the Empress Dowager and the Grand Princess last time, she understood this hairpin was very likely made by Prince Gong himself.

When she took out the wooden hairpin from her jewelry box, Secretary Qin became increasingly certain of this guess. This hairpin had been worn for many years, and the engraving on it had a tiny flaw. How could the noble Princess Gong buy a flawed hairpin if she were purchasing one?

But if it were a gift, who would give a hairpin that she would wear for so many years…

The answer was obvious. Secretary Qin couldn’t help but carefully examine those few characters. Though the writing was somewhat blurred, one could still see the bold and powerful strokes. Secretary Qin could imagine that Prince Gong, who was impatient and martial and could even forge swords himself, must have been a person of boundless ambition. It was precisely because of this that the later rebellion occurred. However, the victor becomes king while the loser becomes a bandit – he not only caused himself and his surrounding soldiers to lose their lives at Thunder Ridge but also brought suffering to Yan Li and his mother.

Secretary Qin sighed and put the hairpin back in her jewelry box.

Secretary Qin had thought that Old Master Han’s arrangements for the burial ground would take several days, but unexpectedly early the next morning, a worker from Han Dong’s shop came to inform her that the requested matter had been handled. Secretary Qin was overjoyed. She had planned to enter the palace but changed her route to head to the Qin residence where Old Master Han lived.

This was no small matter. Secretary Qin wanted to handle it with utmost care, even though the gravestone would bear no name.

Arriving at the Qin residence, Old Master Han was somewhat surprised, “Why did Young Miss come personally?”

Secretary Qin could only control her emotions, “I came to ask about it, after all, it’s a burial ground, not a small matter.”

Old Master Han smiled, “Please rest assured. The burial ground isn’t on Qiwu Mountain but in a forest north of it. That place was originally a tea field, but since Young Miss said the feng shui needed to be good, this humble servant had people buy that tea field. The Taoist priest has already chosen a good spot. The grave can be dug out today, tidied up tomorrow, and the day after we can raise the tomb outside the city. Young Miss should discuss with your friend about when would be suitable to go.”

Secretary Qin pondered briefly, “I’ll have to ask about this, but it should be in the next few days. Once I have an answer, I’ll let you know.”

Having settled this, Secretary Qin felt somewhat relieved. She had originally planned to enter the palace, so she thought she would go to the palace first and then find Sun Muqing to discuss the timing. Thus, after leaving the Qin residence, she took her carriage straight to the palace gates. Just as she was about to reach the palace gates, Secretary Qin had the carriage turn toward the Ministry of Justice – she needed to tell Yan Chi about this matter soon.

Thinking of Yan Chi’s expression after learning everything that day, Secretary Qin’s lips curved slightly upward.