A broken bone—about as common an ailment as they came, yet often the smallest afflictions proved the most tormenting.
Imperial Physician Gu, a physician himself, had never personally experienced the pain of having a bone set, but he knew perfectly well just how excruciating it was. Seeing Yingzi step forward, he waved his hands frantically. “No need, no need, I’ll have an apprentice handle it later—I’ve found news of Prince Yao’s birth mother!”
Though everyone was eager to hear it, there was no urgency in this particular moment.
“Oh, Imperial Physician Gu, and you call yourself a physician—at your age, with an injury like this, the most important thing is to treat it right away! Let’s get it set and splinted quickly, before it leaves any lasting damage. What if you end up with a limp down the road—wouldn’t that trouble Prince Yao too, once he found out?”
As Situ Haonan spoke, he crouched down in front of Imperial Physician Gu without any regard for his wishes at all.
Though Prince Baxian was anxious, he couldn’t disregard Imperial Physician Gu’s injury either, and so said nothing—setting and splinting a bone was, after all, quick and simple enough.
Sha Qiuzi had already prepared medicine, wooden splints, and bandages, waiting off to the side.
Yingzi and Yelu Qianqian watched coldly. If Situ Haonan hadn’t beaten him to it, Yingzi would have already stepped in himself.
But this time, he’d let Situ Haonan have his turn—after all, the man had spent months sleeping uselessly through everything.
This stubborn, hard-headed old fool couldn’t be dealt with all at once for now, but taking him down slowly, bit by bit, was certainly within reach!
Situ Haonan used scissors to cut open the leg of Imperial Physician Gu’s trousers, the ice-cold blade repeatedly brushing against his warm skin. Situ Haonan moved deliberately slowly, and though Imperial Physician Gu desperately wanted to refuse, he didn’t dare voice a single word of protest!
After all, medical scissors were razor-sharp—sharp enough to cut through cartilage. If Situ Haonan happened to slip, or simply happened to feel like it, Imperial Physician Gu didn’t dare imagine the consequences!
Guilt and fear made Imperial Physician Gu want desperately to look away, yet he didn’t dare do that either, staring fixedly at the tip of the scissors, every organ in his body trembling. Unconsciously, he found himself returning to that same question—what exactly were Situ Haonan and his people here for, and how much did they actually know?
Imperial Physician Gu was desperate to simply confront them directly, but if they flatly insisted they knew nothing at all, wouldn’t he only be exposing himself?
Caught between a rock and a hard place, unable to advance or retreat—there was no better description for his situation.
Finally, under his trembling, watchful gaze, Situ Haonan finished cutting off the entire trouser leg, exposing Imperial Physician Gu’s well-cared-for shin, now cold and exposed, swollen and red in one large patch.
Seeing Situ Haonan set down the scissors, the heart that had been hanging in mid-air finally settled—but before he could even catch his breath, Situ Haonan suddenly grabbed his knee without warning!
“Ah—”
Imperial Physician Gu couldn’t hold back a muffled groan.
“Does this hurt too?” Situ Haonan asked, looking genuinely puzzled.
Even a three-year-old knew that simply grabbing a knee like that wouldn’t hurt!
“No… it doesn’t hurt, your hand’s just… a bit cold.” Imperial Physician Gu’s mouth twitched with embarrassment—it wasn’t pain at all, he’d clearly just been startled out of pure fear.
Situ Haonan immediately smiled. “Good thing it doesn’t hurt—I thought you might be afraid of pain. Setting the bone is the most painful part of all.”
How was Imperial Physician Gu supposed to respond to that?
He could only force down his fear, maintaining the composure befitting a physician, nodding as though he understood perfectly well.
Yet he had no idea that Yingzi and Yelu Qianqian, standing off to the side, were silently screaming inside.
“Situ Haonan, here’s your chance for revenge!”
“Situ Haonan, if you don’t put everything you’ve got into this, don’t even bother calling yourself a man!”
“Situ Haonan, what are you waiting for, get on with it!”
…
Yingzi and Yelu Qianqian were practically vibrating with excitement inside, both hands clenched into fists, and just then, Situ Haonan took hold of Imperial Physician Gu’s calf, gripping firmly around the bone!
Imperial Physician Gu shuddered violently at once, a cold shiver racing up his spine from his feet to the crown of his head—Situ Haonan hadn’t even done anything yet, and already he was so terrified his very soul felt ready to flee his body!
“Imperial Physician Gu, brace yourself, this’ll hurt a bit,” Situ Haonan said, his tone unusually solemn.
Imperial Physician Gu’s jaw was clenched so tight he couldn’t have spoken even if he’d wanted to. Brow furrowed tight, he simply kept nodding.
A flicker of something crossed Situ Haonan’s eyes, and without warning, he applied full force!
“Aaah… aaah…”
No one could say exactly how much force he used, or whether the bone had actually been properly set. All that was certain was that Imperial Physician Gu’s face went deathly pale, and after one shrill scream, foam bubbled from his mouth as his eyes rolled back and he fainted dead away!
Seeing this, Prince Baxian panicked immediately. “What happened?”
Yelu Qianqian quickly clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from bursting out laughing, while Situ Haonan put on his most innocent expression, throwing up his hands and shrugging. “I was just setting the bone—why would this happen?”
Sha Qiuzi could tell at a glance—this wasn’t just fainting from pain, this was fainting from sheer fright!
Yet he said, “Prince Baxian, no need to worry—at Imperial Physician Gu’s age, fainting from pain is only natural.”
Something still felt strange to Prince Baxian, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on it, and he pressed again, “Then how long until he wakes—everyone’s waiting on the news he brought back!”
“Don’t worry, he’ll wake up soon enough,” Sha Qiuzi said with a smile, and just as Situ Haonan had done, he too placed one hand on Imperial Physician Gu’s knee and the other beneath his calf, slowly gripping the bone.
Seeing this, Prince Baxian startled. “Did he… not set it properly just now?”
“Congratulations, correct answer!” Situ Haonan sneered—silently, of course, only in his own head.
Sha Qiuzi remained perfectly calm. “At Imperial Physician Gu’s age, it’s entirely normal for the first attempt not to take.”
“That’s not… this prince recalls hearing…” Prince Baxian was still puzzling over it in confusion when Sha Qiuzi had already acted—a sharp “crack” sounded, followed immediately by, “Ahh…”
Imperial Physician Gu had, in fact, been woken by the pain! And of course, the fracture had now been properly set as well.
“Imperial Physician Gu, honestly now—you’re a physician yourself, surely you’ve told your own patients plenty of times not to cry out over nothing?” Sha Qiuzi teased lightly, his tone easy, as though this were nothing more than a trivial matter.
That single remark left Imperial Physician Gu, who’d been about to erupt in fury, utterly speechless—arguing further would only make him look petty and unreasonable.
Imperial Physician Gu’s face cycled between shades of dark and pale, and all he could do was swallow his rage, letting Sha Qiuzi proceed with the post-reduction splinting.
But even as Imperial Physician Gu was still reeling from shock, his pain far from subsided, Prince Baxian had no patience left to spare for any of that, not even offering a single word of concern, pressing urgently instead, “Imperial Physician Gu, what exactly did you find out? Tell us!”
Seeing Prince Baxian’s rather impatient expression, an inexplicable pang struck Imperial Physician Gu’s heart, and he suddenly felt utterly isolated, without a single ally.
“Oh come now, hurry up and tell us! Everyone’s waiting!” Yingzi added urgently.
“Yes, yes, Imperial Physician Gu, don’t delay any further, just tell us!” Yelu Qianqian chimed in as well, joining the chorus of urging.
Imperial Physician Gu was practically choking with fury—these people were really going too far. He was a patient, after all, an elderly man!
But no matter how furious he was, he had no choice but to endure it. “I’ve learned of Consort Wan’s origins. Consort Wan’s real surname wasn’t actually Wan at all, but Meng—she should properly be addressed as Consort Meng. She… she was a member of Nanzhao’s Meng Clan!”