BLPSG Chapter 32: A moment of dirty thoughts

Abyss: Thanks a million Jujü女王Joō for the Kofi! Enjoy the next five-updatesss! ૮⸝⸝> ̫ <⸝⸝ ა

 

The soft long hair was lifted by the night breeze, gently brushing past the youth’s cheek.

 

Wen Qingci’s body temperature was slightly lower than that of ordinary people.

 

The momentary touch brought not only a familiar bitter fragrance but also a strange tingling sensation.

 

Both held their breath at the same moment.

 

The youth was at the age of growth, his body covered with a thin yet powerful layer of muscle.

 

The collision did not hurt, it felt… dangerous.

 

Like a lone wolf watching him from behind.

 

The touch lasted only a moment before Wen Qingci immediately steadied himself.

 

Xie Bufeng’s hand supported his left arm, lending him the strength to step out of the swaying boat—after stopping the bleeding last time, Wen Qingci’s hand often lacked strength.

 

In the darkness, Xie Bufeng faintly heard a voice: “Thank you, Your Highness.”

 

“…It’s nothing.”

 

As he spoke, Xie Bufeng subconsciously supported his arm.

 

Wen Qingci was even more slender than he had imagined.

 

Through several layers of clothing, one could vaguely feel the shape of his bones and his cold body temperature.

 

His skin was as cold and delicate as jade, beautiful yet fragile.

 

At every moment, there was a danger of being shattered.

 

Xie Bufeng knew that he naturally lacked a sense of pain and had always been unaware of his own strength.

 

He, who had never cared about this before, now unconsciously lightened his movements.

 

Even his breathing involuntarily slowed down.

 

Wen Qingci dared not look back, he quickly walked out of the cabin, even using a bit of lightness skill.

 

Not until he boarded another boat did he take a long breath.

 

“Wen Xiansheng, look, these are the herbs we’ve collected.” An official beside the Second Prince hurried over, finally drawing Wen Qingci’s attention back.

 

The man held up a lantern, illuminating the small mountain of herbs piled up in front of them.

 

Wen Qingci frowned and looked forward.

 

“These two are Astragalus and Atractylodes, both common herbs for preventing colds.” He turned sideways, signaling Xie Bufeng to come and look.

 

The youth nodded lightly.

 

After saying this, Wen Qingci suddenly fell silent.

 

His slender fingers gently pushed aside the outer layer of Astragalus, taking one in his hand.

 

Then he brought it to his nose and slowly sniffed.

 

At this moment, everyone on the boat focused their gaze on Wen Qingci and held their breath subconsciously.

 

Among them were those responsible for purchasing the herbs.

 

“The Astragalus is moldy.” After a few seconds, Wen Qingci took it away from his nose and said indifferently.

 

“This one in my hand is not very obvious; you should take a closer look at the bottom, there should be some that are completely spoiled.”

 

As his words fell, those guarding here hurriedly followed his instructions, digging through the mountain of herbs and taking out those at the very bottom.

 

Unlike the Astragalus in Wen Qingci’s hand, which appeared unproblematic on the surface.

 

The Astragalus at the bottom of the pile had developed black mold spots.

 

“This, this is indeed… just as Wen Xiansheng said.” The color drained from the face of the person who had brought Wen Qingci here.

 

This time, without needing to smell, one could see the mold spots on the herbs and their obviously swollen appearance with the naked eye.

 

“Your Highness must be careful in the future to check whether the herbs are moldy, worm-eaten, or have gone rancid,” Wen Qingci said, picking out a few with more obvious characteristics from the pile to show Xie Bufeng.

 

Xie Bufeng couldn’t help but frown slightly.

 

He didn’t know why Wen Qingci was admonishing him about these matters, he only knew that the words of the person beside him made his heart inexplicably empty for a moment.

 

Wen Qingci, focused on inspecting the herbs, didn’t notice that with each sentence he spoke, the faces of those responsible for purchasing the herbs grew paler.

 

In the midst of speaking, another small boat approached.

 

Xie Guanzhi, dressed in a deep-purple brocade robe, leaped aboard before the plank was set.

 

“What’s the matter, have you reached a conclusion?” he asked his subordinate.

 

Before the man could organize his words, Wen Qingci put down the Astragalus and looked up to reply: “This batch of herbs, they are all expired.”

 

In matters of his expertise, he spoke very directly.

 

The official responsible for the purchase broke out in a cold sweat on his forehead instantly.

 

At that moment, Xie Guanzhi’s expression turned ugly.

 

It might be understandable if there were problems with some of the herbs.

 

But if the entire batch was problematic, there was only one answer left—his subordinates were embezzling for personal gain, substituting inferior goods for good ones.

 

Wen Qingci’s words left no room for return.

 

“You really have the nerve,” Xie Guanzhi looked coldly at this group of people, “Is this the result of your first time handling a serious matter? Truly, you are all great helpers of my palace.” His eyes were filled with anger.

 

If it weren’t for not wanting to alarm the Emperor, Xie Guanzhi would have thrown these people into the canal long ago.

 

Seeing the Second Prince’s anger, those few people hurriedly knelt down and begged for mercy.

 

Xie Guanzhi didn’t spare them another glance, bypassing them and quickly walking to Wen Qingci’s side.

 

He took a deep breath as if he had made a great decision, and said through clenched teeth: “This time, the purchase of the medicine—”

 

The Second Prince had never asked anyone for anything since he was a child, nor had he ever conceded.

 

He got stuck here, not knowing how to continue.

 

Wen Qingci looked down and smiled faintly, saying: “I will rewrite a prescription, and Your Highness can follow it to repurchase. If there are concerns, you can hand over the herbs to me for inspection one by one.”

 

As his words ended, the Second Prince’s subordinate, who had not risen from his knees, suddenly looked up deeply at Wen Qingci, then lowered his head again, looking at the floor.

 

“Meddling in others’ affairs, what? Have you finally realized that Xie Bufeng is of no use and decided to curry favor with the Second Prince?”

 

“Damn it.”

 

His eyes were full of resentment and hatred.

 

If Wen Qingci hadn’t interfered, he might have been able to muddle through this matter.

 

Xie Guanzhi didn’t understand herbs and could only distinguish those that were obviously spoiled.

 

At that time, he would just say that some of the herbs were spoiled, and he was also deceived by the merchants.

 

But now, the divine physician had stated that the herbs were all expired and problematic, and of course, Xie Guanzhi would choose to believe him.

 

Xie Bufeng, leaning against the cabin, suddenly turned his gaze over.

 

…Damn it?

 

His amber eyes were like knives, slicing towards the man’s neck.

 

Finally, he slowly closed his eyes and smiled.

 

In the end, Xie Guanzhi still suppressed the matter.

 

He sent people early in the morning according to the new prescription given by Wen Qingci, leaving the canal to repurchase the medicine in the towns along the way.

 

And his subordinates found out—Wen Qingci’s previous words were not a joke, just as he said, he stayed on the small boat storing the medicine, checking each herb that was bought, watching them being stored, and then bundling them according to the prescription.

 

Everyone on the small boat that day was on edge.

 

Until a scream broke the quiet on the boat.

 

“Something’s happened, something’s happened—”

 

The attendant responsible for moving the medicine stumbled to the front of the cabin and shouted loudly: “Someone jumped into the river out of fear of punishment!”

 

Then they saw the boatman use a long pole to fish the man’s body out of the canal.

 

The Second Prince on the same boat recognized at a glance—the person in front of him was the one who had bought the expired herbs and knelt down begging for mercy…

 

Having such an incident occur during an inspection tour was somewhat unlucky.

 

He quickly ordered: “Wrap it in a straw mat, send it ashore first, be mindful of the noise, this matter must not reach His Majesty’s ears.” The youth’s face was full of disgust.

 

“Yes, Your Highness,” his subordinates hurriedly complied.

 

In the midst of this chaos, Xie Guanzhi saw—a dark purple patch seemed to be on the back of the corpse’s neck.

 

It seemed he had been knocked unconscious and then thrown off the boat.

 

Thinking of this, the Second Prince felt a chill down his spine, then subconsciously pursed his lips.

 

The situation today was special, and it was impossible to thoroughly investigate the matter.

 

On the surface, Xie Guanzhi could only treat it as a simple accident.

 

But his heart was tightly knotted at this moment.

 

This prince, accustomed to being high above, now suddenly had the feeling that he was just prey.

 

As if in a trance, it seemed there were eyes always watching every person here…

 

At dusk, the boat stopped.

 

The boatmen also rested on the shore.

 

A medicine boat moved from the middle of the river to the shore.

 

The cabin was filled with checked and packaged medicines.

 

“Come and get the medicine…” an attendant of the Second Prince shouted after disembarking, “Hurry up and distribute it, we’ll decoct it tonight!”

 

“Yes, sir!” The leading boatman hurried forward, starting to distribute the medicines.

 

After pulling the ropes all day, the people were already exhausted, even walking without strength.

 

His movements to take the medicine seemed particularly heavy.

 

The attendant looked around and suddenly focused on a corner not far away, then frowned.

 

“What’s the situation with those people?” he asked.

 

The riverbank of the Yinchuan Grand Canal was full of broken stones and mud.

 

Several boatmen lay on the shore, their bodies only cushioned by a thin coarse cloth sheet.

 

They lay there motionless, and if not for the occasional cough, one might think they were corpses.

 

“Oh… they accidentally fell and choked on water,” the leading boatman glanced over and said, “After tonight, they will be sent home, and others will replace them tomorrow.” His face was numb.

 

As soon as he finished speaking, someone asked, “Sent home, and then what?”

 

The voice was clear and gentle, out of place with the surroundings.

 

Without much thought, the boatman answered, “They’ll lie at home for two days, and if they’re lucky, they’ll naturally recover. If not, they might even die.” His tone was flat.

 

Of course, there was no treatment.

 

To put it bluntly, going home was just waiting to die, leaving it to fate.

 

Hearing this, the people on the boat frowned slightly.

 

The boatman lying on the ground groaned with difficulty.

 

He trembled, trying to pull the sheet over himself, but his arms shook uncontrollably, unable to grasp anything.

 

The water of the Yinchuan Grand Canal was full of mud, especially near the shore.

 

The boatmen, with ropes on their backs, struggled to move forward in the water.

 

After falling, those nearby were afraid of being trampled by others and dared not help easily.

 

So the exhausted boatmen could only rely on their own strength, struggling to roll out of the line, then with their last bit of energy, forced themselves to stand up and head towards the shore.

 

Both their stomachs and lungs had taken in a lot of dirty water.

 

…Perhaps those who could lie here and be sent home were already the lucky ones.

 

“Wen Xiansheng?!”

 

The attendant of the Second Prince exclaimed, and before he could stop him, the physician in a moon-white robe had already come down from the boat.

 

Following him, Xie Bufeng also disembarked.

 

“Please be careful, the ground is all mud…” the attendant reached out to help Wen Qingci.

 

“No need,” the physician waved his hand to refuse.

 

The mud on the bank of the Yinchuan Grand Canal splashed onto Wen Qingci’s hem in an instant.

 

But he, who was somewhat fastidious, did not frown more than usual today.

 

Wen Qingci, as if blind to his surroundings, stepped on the muddy ground and walked to the boatman lying there.

 

Wen Qingci glanced at him, then turned to the people who had come down from the boat with him and said, “First help them up and find a clean place to lay them down.”

 

“Yes…” The well-dressed attendant reluctantly lifted the people and placed them on the bluestone by the shore.

 

They did not understand what Wen Qingci was doing this time.

 

But this time, their doubts did not last long.

 

They had just put the people down, and Wen Qingci also came over.

 

Then, something unexpected happened…

 

The physician in moon-white, as if he did not see the mud on the boatmen, simply extended his finger and gently touched the other’s wrist.

 

…Was Wen Qingci taking the boatman’s pulse?

 

This scene left the attendants who had come with him stunned.

 

Who in the Taishu Palace had not heard the name “Wen Qingci”?

 

Everyone knew he was highly valued by the Emperor, and his daily work was to take the pulse and treat the supreme ruler.

 

Moreover, besides being a “physician,” Wen Qingci was already a third-rank Hanlin—a high official among high officials!

 

Yet today.

 

He was actually treating these boatmen?!

 

Those following Wen Qingci blinked heavily, making sure the scene before them was not an illusion.

 

Although the attendants had placed the people on the large bluestone, Wen Qingci still had to bend down to take the pulse.

 

His originally spotless moon-white robe was now covered in mud.

 

But this did not make him look embarrassed; instead, it made the cinnabar mark between Wen Qingci’s eyebrows even more dazzling.

 

…He was like someone who had descended from the heavens.

 

This scene was all witnessed by Xie Bufeng.

 

For a moment, the youth felt… even the relentless waves of the Yinchuan Grand Canal seemed to calm down with Wen Qingci’s movements.

 

The physician did not slacken in the slightest because of the low status of his patients.

 

After carefully taking the pulse, Wen Qingci took out a wooden stethoscope from the medicine box and placed it on the patient’s chest and lungs—this was a stethoscope he had made himself.

 

After listening carefully for a while, he finally put the object back in the medicine box and quickly wrote a prescription.

 

From beginning to end, Wen Qingci did not say an extra word.

 

Although the boatmen were still unclear about his exact identity, this did not prevent them from understanding Wen Qingci’s intentions.

 

“Cough cough… Physician Xiansheng,” one of the boatmen in slightly better condition tried to speak, “No, cough cough… there’s no need for such trouble.”

 

Hearing this, Wen Qingci finally put down his pen: “Why?”

 

He pursed his lips, and the usual smile on his face had disappeared at some point.

 

The boatmen might not understand “medicine” and “first aid,” but they had common sense and experience accumulated over the years.

 

After the boatmen came ashore, their companions immediately squeezed most of the water out of their lungs.

 

In this era, surgery was not possible, but the medicine Wen Qingci prescribed was for clearing the lungs and preventing infection; as long as it was taken properly, there was no need to wait for death as they said.

 

Hearing Wen Qingci’s question, the boatman who had just spoken laughed a few times, then said with a helpless cough: “Cough cough… cough, even if you write the prescription, we… we can’t afford it.”

 

Wen Qingci’s hand holding the pen paused.

 

After transmigrating, the people around him were all high-ranking officials and nobles.

 

So much so that Wen Qingci almost forgot that most people in this era could not afford to see a physician or buy medicine.

 

“It’s alright,” Wen Qingci picked up the pen again, smiled faintly, and said, “I’ll write down a few names of medical halls, you can take the prescription directly to get the medicine.”

 

—He wrote down the names of several medical halls under the Valley of Divine Physicians.

 

The original host had done the same when researching water epidemics.

 

Wen Qingci’s words not only stunned the boatmen lying on the stones but also drew the attention of everyone around.

 

Silence fell upon the place in an instant.

 

“It’s settled, go to the places I’ve written to get the medicine… If this happens again, do the same,” Wen Qingci handed the prescription to the leading boatman.

 

The boatman, who had a numb expression before, started trembling uncontrollably as he took the prescription.

 

“—This humble one thanks the great physician for his immense grace and kindness!” After saying this, he knelt down with a “thud.”

 

Not until his knees were pained by the stones on the ground did he dare to believe that all this was not a dream.

 

A royal physician had truly come to treat them, the boatmen!

 

…And even took on the burden of the medicine costs.

 

Thinking of this, the boatman immediately began to kowtow.

 

As a modern person, Wen Qingci was always uncomfortable with people bowing to him.

 

Seeing this, he quickly stepped back and had the boatmen helped up from the ground.

 

But he was not the only one who heard Wen Qingci’s words.

 

As everyone was about to bow to him, Wen Qingci quickly gave a few more instructions and then turned to board the ship and enter the cabin.

 

The setting sun’s afterglow scattered across the river’s surface.

 

That moon-white figure, like a deity descending to earth, merged into the twilight.

 

It was not until he sat in the boat that Wen Qingci belatedly realized—at the moment he boarded, he had subconsciously held onto the hand extended by Xie Bufeng.

 

“Your Highness, is your clothing dirty?” Wen Qingci frowned slightly, looking apologetically at the young man.

 

But Xie Bufeng just stood there silently, watching him.

 

After a few seconds, the youth suddenly asked, “Why did you help them?”

 

Wen Qingci paused.

 

…As a medical student, he could not stand by and watch someone die.

 

It seemed that the option “not to save” had never arisen in his heart.

 

Besides, Wen Qingci believed that if the original host were here today, he might have done the same.

 

—The thick stack of notes on water epidemics left by the original host was the summary of his many years of medical experience.

 

He had saved countless ordinary people from writing those notes.

 

At the same time, he had dissected many bodies.

 

The golden afterglow shone through the ship’s window onto Wen Qingci’s body.

 

He squinted his eyes and smiled, looking down: “The path of medicine is inherently equal, just as life and death are equal.”

 

“Today, I was interested in the diseases they carry, that’s why I helped them, it has nothing to do with status. Whether they are high officials or commoners, in my eyes, they are just patients.”

 

Wen Qingci’s tone was exceptionally open.

 

After speaking, he smiled and looked at Xie Bufeng.

 

In that moment, Xie Bufeng suddenly realized something—

 

The world had misunderstood Wen Qingci’s cause and effect.

 

Wen Qingci treated and saved people, not for any “benefit.”

 

What he sought was the act of “treating and saving people” itself.

 

Wen Qingci was the only such “strange” person Xie Bufeng had encountered in his life.

 

If it had been a few months earlier, the youth living in the imperial mausoleum of Suzhou would have disdained this, even thought him foolish.

 

But at this moment… Xie Bufeng was irresistibly drawn to the person before him.

 

Like a seed buried deep underground, wanting to break free from the shackles of the soil, struggling upwards to see the sun.

 

The ship swayed, gently sailing towards the center of the river.

 

Wen Qingci, busy with medicinal matters, had hardly closed his eyes all day.

 

Exhausted, he coughed a few times, bowing his head.

 

And Xie Bufeng’s heart sank with those coughs.

 

The cold wind blew through the open cabin door.

 

As if possessed, Xie Bufeng took two steps to the side, blocking all the cold wind of the Yinchuan Grand Canal behind him.

 

Seeing this, Wen Qingci subconsciously looked up at Xie Bufeng.

 

The glow of the sunset and the shimmering water all poured into Wen Qingci’s eyes.

 

Illuminating those dark pupils.

 

At the same moment… The words Wen Qingci had said earlier suddenly came to Xie Bufeng’s mind.

 

“Loving the same sex is not a pastime or entertainment, but something we are born with…”

 

Wen Qingci’s words, like a spell, lingered in Xie Bufeng’s mind.

 

But the usually bold and reckless youth had never dared to think about it.

 

Until this moment, awakened by those eyes.

 

A crazy and absurd thought suddenly arose in his heart:

 

Men and men can also be together.

 

Then… what about Wen Qingci?

 

Would he be with a man?

 

In the next instant, Xie Bufeng suddenly clenched his teeth and looked away.

 

The youth, who lived amidst disdainful voices, couldn’t help but think—

 

Wen Qingci, devoted to medicine, would surely despise the dirty thoughts he had for a moment.

 

“What’s wrong, Your Highness?” Wen Qingci noticed something was off with Xie Bufeng and couldn’t help but ask.

 

“I’m fine.” With that, Xie Bufeng quickly walked out of the cabin and stood outside.

 

The cold wind blew, chilling to the bone, but it did not take away the moment of madness in the youth’s heart.

 

He even couldn’t help but think…

 

The words just now, Wen Qingci had spoken only to him.

 

And such a Wen Qingci, only he had seen.

 

Abyss: FINALLY OUR WOLF CUB REALIZED HIS FEELINGS…….why do I feel so proud