“Foster Father.” Leng Yue hurried over as well, asking urgently: “How is the Young Lord now? Foster Father, is he…”

Emperor Ji raised his hand. Yu Jingfeng and Leng Yue immediately fell silent.

Leng Yue stepped forward and took hold of Emperor Ji’s wheelchair, pushing him into the adjacent room.

Yu Jingfeng exchanged a few brief words with the men on guard, then followed inside and closed the door behind him.

He listened quietly for a moment. Hearing no sign of anyone lurking outside, Yu Jingfeng immediately stepped closer.

“Elder Master, what is the Young Lord’s current condition? Can he — can he…”

He had wanted to ask whether the Young Lord’s condition was stable enough to endure the journey all the way to the Southern Wilderness. But he could not bring himself to say the words. Somehow it felt like an ill omen even to ask, and the thought alone made his heart constrict.

“The Gu Poison has fully penetrated the heart meridians. If it is not purged within half a month, he… will have no chance of survival whatsoever.”

“Foster Father!” Leng Yue cried out in distress, her nose stinging at once. “Foster Father, is there truly no other way?”

To purge the Gu Poison entirely, and in so short a time — easier said than done.

The Ghost Doctor had gone to the Southern Wilderness so long ago, and there had been not a single word of news since. No news meant no solution had been found.

Half a month — was this not asking them to watch helplessly as the Venerable Lord…

Leng Yue’s heart seized with a wrenching pain so intense that her breath came in shallow gasps, and she found herself utterly unable to speak.

Emperor Ji, however, was far less agitated than they were. When he had first learned of it, his heart had ached. But now, he had grown calm.

He looked at Yu Jingfeng: “When we set out, we heard that the Ninth Prince had personally led the Longqi new army in a march toward Phoenix City. That young woman holding the command token — what is she to you? Someone you arranged?”

Yu Jingfeng had very much wanted to say yes — it would have spared him a great deal of explanation.

But in the Old Venerable Lord’s presence, he dared not speak a single false word.

After a brief hesitation, he said: “Her name is Feng Jiu’er. She is the Ninth Miss of the Feng Manor.”

“The Feng Manor?”

“That is correct. One of the granddaughters of General Feng.”

Yu Jingfeng held back no further. He told Emperor Ji everything — how the Ninth Prince had inadvertently discovered that Feng Jiu’er’s blood could suppress the poison Gu for him, and how the two of them had grown close over time.

He laid it all out plainly, holding nothing back.

Throughout the entire account, Emperor Ji only listened. He showed no reaction whatsoever.

When Yu Jingfeng saw that the Elder Master’s expression did not appear particularly angry, he finally found the courage to continue — telling him without reservation about how the Ninth Prince, in order to save Feng Jiu’er, had exhausted all of his vital energy, leaving him with wounds now too severe to treat.

He kept a close watch on the Elder Master’s expression the whole time. But the Elder Master’s face remained utterly blank, completely unreadable.

“Elder Master…” Yu Jingfeng finished speaking but still felt a trace of unease. “The thing is — this cannot be blamed on Miss Jiu’er. She never once harbored any intention of harming the Young Lord.”

“And yet the Young Lord truly ended up like this because of her!” Leng Yue bit her lip, her face filled with bitter resentment.

“If only we had waited for the Ghost Doctor to return from the Southern Wilderness, everything would have been fine. But now, only half a month remains…”

She let out a shallow, pained breath. Saying all of this aloud made her heart hurt all the more.

All of this was Feng Jiu’er’s fault!

“Leng Yue, this truly cannot be blamed on Miss Jiu’er. And beyond that — Miss Jiu’er has been doing everything in her power to save the Young Lord. Her feelings for him are genuine!”

Yu Jingfeng looked at Emperor Ji, his voice sincere: “The sincerity of Miss Jiu’er’s heart — I am willing to stake my head on it as a guarantee to you!”

Others might not know, but he and Feng Jiu’er had spent a good deal of time together. How Feng Jiu’er truly felt toward the Ninth Prince — he had seen it all with his own eyes.