The Crown Grandson was entirely devoted to her.
She could have invested more effort in winning the Crown Grandson’s affection — and once she was wed into the Crown Prince’s residence, the Crown Grandson would naturally have avenged her. All she would have needed to do was remain securely within the Crown Prince’s residence, stay by the Crown Grandson’s side, and enjoy her wealth and splendor.
But she had not done that.
She had not chosen that easier path. Instead, she had walked a different road — one overgrown with thorns and difficult to traverse.
Ling Jingshu raised her head. Her face, still marked by the traces of dried tears, was both deeply moving and unmistakably resolute: “Wei Yan — when the Empress Xu harbored ill intentions toward you, you knew perfectly well that a little false warmth toward her would have been enough to placate her. Why did you refuse?”
He had been willing to remain alone, willing to never take a wife — but he would not yield to Empress Xu.
Why?
Because he and she were alike at their core — both proud, both unyielding. Neither would bow to power; neither would submit to a degrading fate. Knowing full well that the road ahead was uncertain and fraught with difficulty, both had walked it with their backs straight and their heads held high.
It was precisely because they shared this quality that they had been slowly drawn to each other, had stirred feeling in one another, and had come together.
Ling Jingshu and Wei Yan looked at each other for a moment. Then he suddenly broke into a smile — a smile of thorough satisfaction and delight: “A’Shu — just now I was wrong. I should not have said what I did to test you, and I should not have had even the slightest doubt of you.”
“The two of us — we are the most perfectly matched pair in this entire world.”
What, after all, could surpass the wonder and happiness of two hearts that truly understood each other?
Ling Jingshu smiled softly in kind: “So — I intend to have Qiao Yun pass the information I gather to the Crown Grandson. I trust you won’t be jealous over that, will you?”
Wei Yan: “……”
Ling Jingshu suppressed her amusement and blinked at him with playful mischief: “What is the matter? Could it be that your generosity is only on the surface, while your heart is actually full of resentment?”
Under the gaze of Ling Jingshu’s knowing, smiling eyes, Wei Yan cleared his throat and replied, “Of course not. These matters are already making so much noise that the Crown Grandson has surely heard something by now. But the two of us are both here in the traveling palace — the information we gather will be more accurate and faster. Passing these messages to the Crown Grandson in a timely fashion so that he can take precautions and respond early is simply the right course of action. Why would I be jealous over something so trivial?”
He spoke with righteous conviction, his expression utterly composed.
Inside, however, his heart was brimming with inescapable sourness.
If messages were sent over, the Crown Grandson would inevitably send messages back. Though he was quite certain of Ling Jingshu’s heart, he felt far less confident about the Crown Grandson.
A man understood other men. To exchange letters with the girl you loved, even if it was for proper business — one’s thoughts could not help but wander and stray.
Ling Jingshu read the faint reluctance in Wei Yan’s eyes with perfect clarity. A sweet warmth rose quietly in her heart, and her voice softened of its own accord: “Wei Yan — my heart is decided. No matter what comes, I will not waver again. You need not worry about anything. Had I any feelings for the Crown Grandson, I would have accepted him long ago — I would not have waited until now.”
Wei Yan had been seen through entirely, yet felt no embarrassment. Instead, he broke into a relaxed, relieved smile: “I know your heart. But having you say it aloud — I feel so much more at ease.”
The two looked at each other, and in both their hearts a gentle sweetness rose like a tide.
The last thin shadow of doubt and uncertainty that had hung over them quietly retreated. Honest and open with each other, two hearts in true accord — nothing in the world could pull them apart.
……
Wei Yan remained in the bedchamber for over an hour before parting from her with great reluctance and making his way back to the Emperor’s quarters.
The moment he stepped through the door, Eunuch Ding came hurrying over: “Imperial Physician Wei, you have finally returned. The Emperor has matters to summon you about. I could not find you anywhere, and was just about to send someone to Noble Consort Wei’s quarters to look.”
Wei Yan was the Emperor’s dedicated Imperial Physician and took the Emperor’s pulse every day as a routine matter. He spent most of his time in the Emperor’s quarters and rarely ventured out. On the occasional times he was absent, it was invariably because he had gone to visit Wei Xianfei.
Wei Yan mentally turned over the possible reasons for the Emperor’s urgent summons while responding apologetically: “Forgive me — I left without a word to pay my respects to Noble Consort Wei. I have worried you, Eunuch.”
Eunuch Ding was especially courteous toward Wei Yan, this favored figure close to the Emperor, and continued to smile warmly: “Imperial Physician Wei, please do not speak like that — it quite overwhelms me. The Emperor is still waiting inside. We can talk at leisure another time. Please, come right in!”
Wei Yan nodded with a smile and quickened his step.
The Emperor was indeed waiting in the hall.
Prince Yan was at the Emperor’s side, evidently having said something that had left the Emperor in high spirits and greatly cheered.
Several Daoist masters dressed in Daoist robes stood respectfully to one side — varying in height, stature, and age, most of them appearing to be in their thirties or forties. Among them was one Daoist master of tall build, with jet-black hair and unusually fair and rosy skin, full of vitality, his sleeves billowing in the manner of an otherworldly figure — he had quite the bearing of an immortal.
This Daoist master was none other than Master Yu — the one the Emperor had lately been placing such particular trust and favor in.
Wei Yan kept his gaze forward and walked ahead, bowing respectfully. “Your subject pays his respects to His Majesty, and to Prince Yan.”
The Emperor responded with a warm smile: “No need for formalities. Imperial Physician Wei — the reason We have summoned you today is to have you meet these several immortal masters. In particular, this Immortal Master Yu has devoted himself to the Dao for decades and is most accomplished in the arts of cultivation, nourishment, and pill refinement. There are many points of correspondence between Daoist practice and the art of medicine. The two of you would do well to become better acquainted in the future — it may prove of mutual benefit.”
Prescribing medicines and regulating the Emperor’s health was the duty of the Imperial Physicians. This Master Yu claimed expertise in cultivation and nourishment, and was now to refine pills of immortality for the Emperor.
If the Emperor needed only pills to be free of all illness and live forever — what need would there be for Imperial Physicians at all?
…So this was an open and aboveboard challenge thrown down before him — a declaration of war?
Wei Yan laughed inwardly with cold contempt, yet his expression revealed nothing. With a composed smile, he clasped his hands in greeting and exchanged pleasantries with each of the Daoist masters in turn.
At last it came to the immortal-bearing Immortal Master Yu.
“I have long heard of Immortal Master Yu’s great renown. Seeing you today, you surpass even your reputation.” Wei Yan said with a smile. “I look forward to your guidance in the days ahead.”
Wei Yan was sizing up Master Yu, and Master Yu had not been idle either — he was quietly sizing up Wei Yan in return, inwardly struck with considerable surprise.
This Wei Yan was indeed young and accomplished — barely past his mid-twenties, and already the most skilled Imperial Physician in the entire Imperial Medical Academy. Beyond that, the Noble Consort Wei, currently the most favored consort in the Emperor’s inner quarters, was his eldest full sister.
Given these two connections, the Emperor’s exceptional trust and regard for him came as no surprise.
“Imperial Physician Wei is so young, and already a master of the healing arts — it is this old Daoist who ought to seek guidance from Imperial Physician Wei.” Master Yu smiled with serene courtesy, bearing not the slightest trace of arrogance.
In the instant their eyes met, both men issued a silent inward snort in the same moment.
This impudent little brat who still smells of his mother’s milk! Just you watch as this Daoist reclaims every last bit of the Emperor’s favor and trust for himself!
This shameless old fraud with his mouth full of nonsense! One look at him and you can tell he’s up to nothing good!