Although the internal energy clashing within his body had calmed down, the stabbing pain on his forehead had not yet dissipated.
The memories of Shan Yu Jian had long since returned.
In the past few hours, Wen Qingci remembered more about his adventures in the martial world, traveling and practicing medicine, and countless pieces of knowledge buried deep in his mind.
The intense hatred had faded with Xie Zhaolin’s death.
At this moment, Wen Qingci knew clearly that his task was to save the people of Lianhe County.
He had never been so determined.
Upon waking from his sleep, Wen Qingci’s mind was filled with the names of various herbs.
Hearing a strange noise in the courtyard, he walked out the door, not realizing what had happened.
Eating? Wasn’t the Senior Brother only capable of cooking plain porridge…
Most importantly, since when had he become so familiar with Xie Bufeng?
Before Wen Qingci could ponder, Song Junran quickly ran up the steps and grabbed Wen Qingci’s shoulder. “Come on,” he said in a low voice, “Don’t get up so quickly after waking up. Go back and rest for a while.”
Wen Qingci’s gaze passed over Song Junran’s head and looked into the courtyard.
The sun had already set behind the western hills, leaving only a silver moon hanging in the sky.
Xie Bufeng stood under the moon, quietly watching him.
His gaze was not calm.
It could even be described as scorching.
Under such a gaze, Wen Qingci’s heart couldn’t help but flutter.
He couldn’t help but take half a step back until his shoulder accidentally hit the door frame, waking him up.
Xie Bufeng, tall and long-legged, crossed the courtyard in a few steps and stood beside Wen Qingci.
Even though he was standing on the steps, Wen Qingci still had to look up slightly to see Xie Bufeng.
Once again, he was enveloped in the other’s aura.
A faint scent of wafted in with the wind.
Under the veil, his long hair was unbound.
The evening breeze tousled his silky black hair, tangling a few strands in the carved window.
Xie Bufeng slowly approached.
Their bodies were almost touching.
“What are you doing!” Song Junran immediately became alert.
But Xie Bufeng seemed not to hear him, carefully untangling the hair caught in the window and gently brushing it behind Wen Qingci’s back.
He condensed all the words he wanted to say into a gentle reminder: “Rest well.”
With that, he turned and went into his room.
His deep voice licked Wen Qingci’s ear like a snake’s tongue.
At that moment, he held his breath.
…The distance between him and Xie Bufeng seemed a bit too close.
“Come inside, don’t stand here in the wind,” Song Junran pulled Wen Qingci into the house and closed the door. “Do you still feel uncomfortable?”
Wen Qingci slowly shook his head and sat down at the table.
He couldn’t help but ask, “Senior Brother, don’t you think Xie Bufeng just now… was a bit strange?”
“It was nothing just now!”
As he spoke, Song Junran placed his fingers on Wen Qingci’s wrist, preparing to take his pulse.
As the sleeve was lifted, faint red marks on Wen Qingci’s arm suddenly appeared before them.
“……This is?”
Wen Qingci was startled by the marks on his arm.
What is this!
Just as Wen Qingci was about to take a closer look, Song Junran quickly pulled down his sleeve.
Damn, beast.
Song Junran couldn’t help but curse inwardly.
“Oh, the climate in Lianhe County is hot and humid, you probably got a rash on your arm.” As he spoke, Song Junran didn’t even take his pulse, turning to take out ointment from the medicine box and applying it to Wen Qingci’s arm.
His movements were exceptionally fast. After applying the ointment, he carefully wrapped Wen Qingci’s arm with gauze, not giving him a moment to react.
To cover his guilt, Song Junran didn’t forget to scold his junior brother: “Look at you, you never apply the ointment properly. The skin around the wound is already more fragile and can’t withstand any torment. After we solve this matter, you must strictly follow the physician’s orders when we return to the valley! Understand?”
“Understood, understood.” Wen Qingci nodded repeatedly.
Afraid that Song Junran would continue nagging, he immediately changed the topic back to the epidemic, discussing serious matters with his senior brother, temporarily putting aside the previous topic.
After Song Junran left, Wen Qingci, alone in the room, slowly squatted down.
—The stone floor was covered with shards of porcelain bowls.
There was even spilled plain porridge.
Wen Qingci reached out and picked up the porcelain pieces.
After a moment of silence, he slowly unwrapped the gauze on his arm.
The marks on his skin were not deep, and with the special scar-removing ointment from the valley, they had faded to the point of being barely visible.
For a moment, Wen Qingci couldn’t determine from his fading memories whether the marks on his arm were simply a rash.
He looked down at the scattered porcelain pieces on the ground.
Wen Qingci lowered his head to look at the shattered porcelain on the ground.
Under hypnosis, Wen Qingci only had vague memories of his past life.
There was a certain innocence and naivety.
But now, as his memories returned,
The experiences and worldly wisdom of the past twenty years became clear.
Wen Qingci no longer felt as easy to deceive as before.
His senior brother had just lied… He definitely had a significant conflict with Xie Bufeng.
But why did he do this?
Wen Qingci couldn’t help but feel a burning curiosity.
…
The next morning, just as dawn broke, Wen Qingci walked out of the Yamen office alone and headed towards the open space filled with people.
The medicine had been distributed for a long time, but it had not taken effect.
The people on the open ground had already begun to doubt the imperial physicians from the capital, as well as Wen Qingci and Song Junran.
Not to mention, the cremation of bodies the previous day had dealt a severe psychological blow to them.
The moment they saw Wen Qingci, the open space fell silent.
But he was not affected by the atmosphere.
Wen Qingci walked straight to a wooden bed and took the pulse of a sleeping patient.
Sensing someone approaching, the patient struggled to open his eyes and looked at Wen Qingci.
Having been in a daze for days, he might not have known what happened yesterday.
At this moment, his gaze towards Wen Qingci was one of pleading and trust.
“Save… save me…”
Under the veil, Wen Qingci bit his lip.
He was extremely nervous.
Try again…
Give it his all one more time.
He had studied medicine for over twenty years for this very moment.
Wen Qingci took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes.
At this moment, his world was reduced to the faint pulse under his fingertips.
The pulse was deep, thin, and slow…
The rhythm under his wrist suddenly triggered Wen Qingci’s memories.
Unlike the previous days, what surfaced in his mind now were not just the records from “Xinglin Jie’e,” but fragments of memories.
Wen Qingci’s thoughts suddenly became clear.
In just a few seconds, his heart was no longer flustered or anxious.
Countless names of herbs surged from the depths of his mind.
What he needed to do now was to grasp this information and remember it.
After finishing the pulse diagnosis, Wen Qingci immediately opened his eyes.
“Wait for me a moment.”
Without further ado, he quickly returned to the yamen office, took out paper and pen, and swiftly recorded the herbs that came to mind.
Then he hurried to the kitchen filled with small stoves.
Time waits for no one!
“Stop—”
Hearing Wen Qingci’s voice, the servants and imperial physicians who were decocting medicine turned around in unison.
He slowly placed the prescription on the table and directly ordered, “Change the medicine, use this prescription.”
Wen Qingci’s tone was exceptionally firm and unquestionable.
The kitchen fell silent for a moment, and everyone looked at each other.
One of the imperial physicians slowly took the prescription.
The next moment, his already tense expression became even more serious.
What kind of prescription was this? Was he joking?
“But…” Seeing his colleague’s extremely conflicted expression, another young imperial physician slowly stood up and said, “Your prescription hasn’t been discussed, it can’t be used rashly.”
As an imperial physician, he already looked down on these two wandering physicians who appeared out of nowhere.
Seeing Wen Qingci come up and order him to change the prescription, the young imperial physician immediately felt indignant.
“Discuss?” Wen Qingci, under his veiled hat, suddenly lowered his head and chuckled softly. “The prescription I wrote needs no discussion.”
Even through the white gauze and the veil, his gentle tone was unmistakable.
But just as clear as the gentleness was the unwavering firmness.
Wen Qingci had never come here to seek others’ opinions.
After speaking, seeing that these people had no intention of cooperating, he simply turned around and began to gather the herbs according to the prescription.
“Hey, hey! What are you doing—” The young imperial physician reached out to stop him.
“The quantities of these herbs are all calculated! Don’t mess with them, okay? If you mess them up, what will we do later?”
The noise from the kitchen spread throughout the small courtyard.
The next moment, Yu Guanlin, the chief imperial physician, was helped in from not far away.
“Chief Imperial Physician,” the young physician hurriedly saluted and stepped forward quickly, “this wandering physician suddenly brought in a prescription and wants us to follow it—”
As he spoke, Xie Bufeng also walked into the kitchen.
Seeing him appear, the physicians immediately became nervous.
Xie Bufeng had already instructed that his identity should not be revealed on this journey.
Therefore, upon seeing him, everyone could only stand there, suppressing their urge to salute, growing more anxious by the moment.
“Ahem,” Yu Guanlin coughed lightly, turned carefully to glance at Xie Bufeng, then extended his hand to the physician, “Let me see the prescription.”
“Yes.”
The old physician handed over the prescription with trembling hands. Although Wen Qingci had written it in a hurry, he hadn’t forgotten to disguise his handwriting.
The characters on the paper were flamboyant and difficult to decipher.
He focused his gaze and saw—
The new prescription was entirely different from the one previously discussed by the group, relying solely on the word “risk.”
“…Sir, these are all strong medicines.” Despite his many years of practice, Yu Guanlin was still startled by the boldness of the prescription in his hand.
What he didn’t say was that the combination of several herbs in the prescription could even produce strong toxicity.
…Such a prescription could probably only be written by one person in the world.
Yu Guanlin, conservative by nature, would normally say nothing at this moment.
But with thousands of patients in Lianhe County, if this prescription went wrong, he would be blamed for the rest of his life.
“Yes,” Wen Qingci slowly turned and said, “With cause, there is no harm, adjust the dosage according to the symptoms. If we continue to be cautious, we might not save a single person.”
He had already prepared a dose of medicine and placed it on the table: “If we don’t use a large dose to curb the disease now, what are we waiting for?”
Wen Qingci’s voice came through the white gauze.
The physicians in the room fell silent, none daring to speak.
Wen Qingci paid them no mind.
He picked up the prepared dose, bypassed Yu Guanlin, and walked towards an empty purple clay pot, ready to start decocting the medicine himself.
“Wait!” Seeing Wen Qingci about to act, the young physician guarding the stove became anxious.
He instinctively reached out, trying to push Wen Qingci’s hand away.
However, in the end, he didn’t touch Wen Qingci.
“Slap—”
With a clear sound, the physician’s hand landed heavily on Xie Bufeng’s hand!
“Your Majesty, I, I…”
He had accidentally hit the emperor?
Immediately, the young physician knelt on the ground with a thud, his body stiff and trembling, forgetting even how to kowtow.
—Just as the young physician waved his hand, Xie Bufeng suddenly reached out from behind, gently wrapping Wen Qingci’s right hand in his palm, blocking the blow for him.
“Do as he says,” Xie Bufeng’s deep voice came through his chest, pressed against Wen Qingci’s back, “No mistakes, do it now.”
Along with the voice, a faint tremor climbed up Wen Qingci’s spine.
Under the veil, Wen Qingci’s face turned red enough to drip blood.
Thank you for the double update~ 💕
Wait, was Wen Qingci was the original Wen Qingci all along?
But he knew about the novel and had a second life in the real world? I’m not really clear on this, does someone understand it better?
He’s the original who knew about his past life as a modern person who read the novel(current life). When tragedy hit, he voluntarily embarked onto the road of revenge even while knowing his gruesome ending according to the novel. In order to not get caught by the mind-reading protag, he used his spiritual power to temporarily suppress his own memories. That’s why he was so pure and naive in the beginning, since he lost his memories of his current life.
Now that the memory suppression has worn off, he now recalls all of his medical skills of his current life and well as overall knowledge and wisdom from living 2 lives, but still has his compassion and passion for medicine. So we can also say that now, Wen Qingci is truly his real self.