Wild winds rose in succession, sweeping the fallen leaves on the ground up into the air.
Langyue Xiansheng’s absolute resolve to kill only deepened the confusion in Feng Jiu’s heart.
Just who was this Long’er? Why was it that her very existence was enough to plunge the entire manor into the danger of total annihilation?
If the stakes were not so enormous, Langyue Xiansheng would not have genuinely sought to take her life.
In an instant, the air all around seemed to freeze into ice. That icy mist was then as though crushed by some force — shattering into small fragments that hurtled forward with savage ferocity, as if seeking to pierce her body, to pierce deep into her very organs!
Long Yan struck out with all the strength he could muster, and yet it was enough to neutralize only three parts out of ten of Langyue Xiansheng’s power.
The remaining seven parts were more than sufficient to drive those frozen shards of air straight into Feng Jiu’s body.
A thread of blood seeped from the corner of Feng Jiu’s exquisitely beautiful lips. She gathered every last trace of internal energy in her body into both palms and thrust them forward.
The icy mist surged and swirled; fierce wind swept everything along with it. With a sharp crack, the wooden hairpin in her hair was snapped apart by the razor-edged gust — her thick dark hair tumbled loose and then rose, floating on the wind.
In that moment, the air around them seemed to freeze entirely. The wind rose; strands of hair flew. Her face was hidden behind the swirling locks — yet that silhouette, somehow, was achingly, inexplicably familiar…
“Elder Sister…” Langyue Xiansheng was stunned, and the inner force building beneath his palm dissolved into nothing in an instant.
As though bewitched, he stared in a daze at that figure, took two steps forward, and could not help but reach out a hand — wanting to brush the hair away from her face: “Elder Sister…”
But then, the very moment he clearly saw Feng Jiu’s face, the hand he had extended snapped back at once.
In that moment, he finally understood why his father had been willing to share a meal with this stranger — why he had been willing to let her remain in his courtyard for an entire morning.
After falling ill, his father had shut everyone out — rejecting even him, rejecting everyone, spending his days doing nothing but clutching his wooden figures.
And yet, the servants who had gone to report back said that today, the Old Manor Lord had given a strange young man the camellia cakes he treasured most every single day — cakes so precious he could not bear to eat them himself.
Her silhouette really did look very much like his elder sister’s…
Long Yan was utterly dumbfounded. How could this Sir Feng Jiu be a woman? And yet… her chest was completely flat, no different from an ordinary man’s.
Then there was her height — if she were a woman, she was exceptionally tall. Although the military camps were not without statuesque women, a girl this tall and yet with a figure this slender was truly a rare sight.
So Feng Jiu was a young woman — how could this be?
Long Yan felt his intelligence had been thoroughly insulted. The worst part was that he could not even blame her for it — he could only blame himself for his own lack of discernment.
“Sir…” Long Yan hesitated, suddenly uncertain how to address Feng Jiu any longer. But he only faltered for a moment before stepping forward at once and planting himself in front of Feng Jiu, facing Langyue.
“Manor Lord, this truly has nothing to do with Sir Feng Jiu… Miss Feng Jiu. She… the Old Manor Lord probably also felt that she somewhat resembled…”
He could not finish that part, naturally, but Long Yan’s manner was resolute: “Miss Feng Jiu approaching the Camellia Courtyard was my idea. I told Miss Feng Jiu that you suffered from pollen allergies — she simply wished to see what the only flower in the manor was. This matter…”
“Manor Lord, you are not suffering from pollen allergies. I rather suspect you have been poisoned.”
Feng Jiu stepped out from behind Long Yan and looked up at the tall figure standing before her.
Only now did she finally have the opportunity to get a clear look at the face of Langyue Manor Lord.
His bearing was extraordinarily striking. He appeared to be no more than twenty-eight or twenty-nine — she had not imagined that the legendary Langyue Manor Lord would be so young. Feng Jiu had assumed that someone who had built the Number One Manor Under Heaven to its current scale would be at least in his forties. Yet he looked to be not even thirty.
He wore a mask. The half of his face exposed beyond the mask was, without question, that of a remarkably handsome man. As for the half concealed behind the mask — Feng Jiu could not see it clearly, but she understood instinctively that the hidden half of his face had been destroyed.
The small traces of injury that remained visible were strange-looking — not the marks of blade or sword, nor the scarring from burns. They did, in truth, resemble the effects of an allergic reaction.
But with Feng Jiu’s many years of medical experience, a single glance was enough to tell her: this was not a simple allergic response. This was… poisoning!
Long Yan startled, glancing between Feng Jiu and the Manor Lord: “…Poisoning?”
“That is correct. Langyue Manor Lord has been poisoned — and furthermore, the poison has been present in the Manor Lord’s body for at least ten years.”
Langyue said nothing. He only stared at her face, his expression growing gradually distant and cold.
There was no longer any killing intent emanating from him — and it was precisely because of this that Feng Jiu dared to walk forward and speak.
“Langyue” was certainly not his true name — she understood that, of course. Their manor undoubtedly concealed great secrets as well.
“I am only a physician. If you are willing, I can attempt to examine what poison you have been afflicted with. As for whatever secrets your manor harbors…”
Langyue’s large hand tensed again in an instant. Feng Jiu immediately said: “As I have said — I am only a physician. Other than treating illness and earning a living, I have no interest in anything else.”
Langyue said nothing. His entire presence was ice-cold. Yet that killing intent had, in truth, dissipated.
Long Yan could sense it as well — the Manor Lord no longer insisted on killing Feng Jiu.
He let out a breath of relief and said gently: “Manor Lord, since Miss Feng Jiu has already seen your face, why not… why not let Miss Feng Jiu take your pulse and examine you?”
Until now, they had all assumed the Manor Lord was suffering from some strange ailment — they had brought in countless physicians, all of whom had merely said it was an unusual condition and could offer no real explanation.
Poisoning — this was the first time he had heard such a thing. And it was precisely because of it that Long Yan felt both uneasy and, for the first time, a flicker of genuine hope.
If Feng Jiu had been able to identify at a single glance that the Manor Lord was poisoned, then perhaps she truly had a way to neutralize the poison within him.
Langyue still said nothing. His resistance to the idea of treatment was unmistakable.
Feng Jiu understood a patient’s state of mind far too well. She smiled and said: “The Manor Lord is afraid of yet another disappointment and another hope come to nothing — is that not so?”
Langyue let out a cold snort. Did she think that merely because her silhouette bore some resemblance to his elder sister, she was entitled to act freely in his presence?
Feng Jiu continued: “I make no promises that I can cure the Manor Lord. However, is life not itself composed of hope, disappointment — and even despair? If one is afraid of disappointment, then in this lifetime, hope can never come either.”
Long Yan felt that Miss Feng Jiu’s words were entirely right, though he was uncertain whether the Manor Lord could bring himself to hear them.
Feng Jiu added: “To speak frankly — the reason I have disguised myself as a man is because appearing in woman’s clothes would invite enormous trouble. It could even bring about a mortal calamity.”
The reason she had kept her distance from Ninth Imperial Uncle for this entire half-year — she had never spoken it aloud. She had not dared say it even to those closest to her.
This was her secret — just as the Number One Manor Under Heaven had its own secrets that could not be spoken.