BLPSG Chapter 69.1

 

“In the mountains, there are no calendars, and the end of winter is not marked by the year.

 

Indeed, the Valley of the Divine Physician is like a paradise on earth, where there are no calendars, and it’s hard to distinguish between the seasons.

 

When Wen Qingci first woke up, he still kept track of time, but later he simply put it aside.

 

A few days, a few weeks?

 

Or a few months, a few years?

 

Wen Qingci couldn’t say for sure how long he had been back in the valley.

 

He spent his days tending to the flowers and plants near the bamboo house, living a leisurely life. As time went on, everything that happened in Yongdu seemed like a dream, becoming less and less real.

 

…Or it felt as distant as something that happened in a previous life.

 

The method left by the old valley master indeed worked. After day by day of treatment, Wen Qingci’s hand could finally be lifted.

 

Although it still hurt, when he was in good condition, there was no problem lifting a cup of tea.

 

The only regret was that Wen Qingci’s wrist was covered with countless scars left by snake bites.

 

Dense and tangled, like thorny vines, they wrapped around his body.

 

Song Junran tried many kinds of ointments, but none could remove them for him.

 

Wen Qingci himself didn’t mind at all.

 

Even when Song Junran asked him to look at medical books together, or study the formula of ointments, he was too lazy to do it.

 

Wen Qingci slowly let down his wide sleeves, hiding his arm. He said indifferently, “Let the scars be scars. Besides me, no one can see them here. Besides, as long as the hand can be used, it doesn’t matter whether it looks good or not.”

 

Wen Qingci meant what he said, and after saying it, he gently touched the head of the little white snake.

 

The first time he tried this kind of treatment, Wen Qingci was a little scared.

 

But over time, he found that this cold-blooded animal, which bit him several times a day, looked quite cute.

 

Wen Qingci found that there were many silver knives in the original owner’s room, which should have been his self-made scalpels.

 

…Seeing them many times, he couldn’t help but want to try.

 

These few days, he had been silently estimating the time and the recovery of his arm in his heart.

 

The breeze passed through the bamboo house, and a rustling sound came to his ears.

 

“You dare to say this to me. If ]father were still alive, he would care more about the scars on your wrist than I do.” Song Junran sighed helplessly and ignored Wen Qingci.

 

He lifted the zither on his knee and slowly pulled it with the sound of bamboo.

 

The next moment, a sound like sawing wood came from the zither.

 

Hearing this sound, even the little white snake wrapped around Wen Qingci’s wrist bit down a little harder.

 

Wen Qingci: “…”

 

Song Junran not only looks like a hermit, but also likes to do some elegant things in his daily life.

 

However, Wen Qingci found that apart from medicine, Song Junran had no talent in other fields, such as until now, he still couldn’t find the pitch of the zither.

 

The first time Wen Qingci heard Song Junran play this instrument similar to the erhu, he thought it was his first time.

 

Unexpectedly, he later found out that Song Junran had been learning since he was a child…

 

Song Junran himself didn’t seem to realize that his zither playing was unpleasant.

 

Whenever he was free, he would take out the zither and play a couple of tunes.

 

Wen Qingci touched the head of the little white snake, silently got up and wanted to leave.

 

“Wait,” Seeing him about to leave, Song Junran suddenly spoke, “I’m going to take you somewhere later.”

 

Wen Qingci paused, “Where to?”

 

“Back mountain,” The song ended, and Song Junran slowly put down the bow in his hand. He turned around and looked at Wen Qingci, “To pay homage to your master and mistress.”

 

Wen Qingci was stunned for a moment, not realizing that it was already the second year after Qingming.

 

…

 

Behind the Valley of the Divine Physicians, on the green mountain, are buried all the past valley masters and all the medicine attendants who have lived here.

 

Song Junran took Wen Qingci for a long walk and finally found the two graves.

 

“Dad, Mom, Qingci has safely returned to the valley, and has also avenged himself and the people of Songxiu Prefecture… The new emperor, his attitude towards his old man… is very cruel. Xie Zhaolin was tortured to the point of being worse than death, you can rest assured!” Saying this, Song Junran poured a cup of wine on the empty ground in front of the grave, “Hey… It’s not your fault for what happened back then, you just saved one person.”

 

After saying this, he poured another cup of wine up, paused for a moment and said with a smile, “I think you should have figured it out, I won’t mention this matter here anymore.”

 

What did Song Junran’s words mean?

 

Wen Qingci found that he didn’t quite understand what he was saying.

 

The fine rain fell from the sky, kissing the cinnabar on Wen Qingci’s forehead.

 

A chill spread throughout his body.

 

Wen Qingci’s heartbeat suddenly quickened.

 

He clenched his fist, suppressing his curiosity.

 

“Here, Qingci, you also pay them a cup.” After saying this, Song Junran turned around, handed an empty cup to Wen Qingci, and filled it up again.

 

Immediately after, the strong smell of wine rushed into Wen Qingci’s nostrils.

 

His forehead suddenly stung.

 

The left hand holding the wine cup shook heavily, and the next second he spilled most of the cup on his wrist.

 

His body also staggered a bit.

 

“What’s wrong?” Song Junran looked at Wen Qingci nervously.

 

Wen Qingci smiled stiffly, hurriedly explained, “I’m fine, the road is a bit slippery… I almost fell.”

 

“Look at my memory, why did I give the wine cup to your left hand,” Song Junran knocked his forehead with his finger, “Come on, change hands, pour another cup.”

 

“…Okay.”

 

Just at that moment, a large chunk of unfamiliar memory flooded into Wen Qingci’s mind.

 

In a daze, he saw…

 

The old valley master, with white hair and beard, struggled to open his eyes at the end of his life.

 

His gaze passed over Song Junran and fell on “himself”.

 

The old valley master’s eyes were already cloudy and lightless, and his voice was hoarse and hard to hear, “…cough cough, sin, it’s really a sin.”

 

“The old man cough cough… owes his wife and children, and also owes… the people of Songxiu Prefecture, owes Qingci…” This simple sentence seemed to exhaust all his strength, and after saying it, the old valley master could no longer make a sound.

 

He just muttered in his mouth, “Back then… the old man shouldn’t, shouldn’t have meddled in Yongdu’s affairs… shouldn’t have cough cough… treated the Emperor Ai…”

 

Wen Qingci, dressed in moon-white, slowly knelt down in front of the old valley master’s sickbed. He held the other’s hands and said with red eyes, “This matter, from beginning to end, has nothing to do with the master, let alone you saved me and took me in. How could I hate you?”

 

“Really… really?” The old valley master asked with difficulty.

 

“It’s true, it’s true, Master…” His voice was still trembling slightly.

 

“That’s good… that’s good…” After saying this, the old valley master finally closed his eyes in exhaustion.

 

At the last moment, he muttered in his mouth, “Go, Master won’t stop you…”

 

Although he didn’t say it clearly, Wen Qingci understood in an instant that the last sentence of the old valley master meant letting the original owner go to Yongdu to take revenge on the old emperor.

 

Wen Qingci’s heart ached, and then it started to beat like a drum.

 

…The old valley master’s words before his death were not without reason.

 

It wasn’t until he was seriously ill that the original owner knew that the Valley of the Divine Physicians had avoided the world and stayed away from the court to seek peace. The only exception in all these years was to admit the Emperor Ai into the valley for treatment.

 

In theory, even the royal family couldn’t find the trace of the Valley of the Divine Physicians.

 

Until one person appeared.

 

–She was Song Junran’s mother, the female official by the side of the Emperor Ai at that time, and also the person who had watched him grow up since he was a child.

 

The Emperor Ai was weak since he was a child, and the imperial physicians in the palace were helpless.

 

Having no other choice, she, who was responsible for taking care of the Emperor Ai, had to go to the people to search for elixirs everywhere.

 

Songxiu Prefecture is a well-known medicine capital, and she almost went to every medical hall in the city.

 

It was during this period that the female official encountered the elixir of the Valley of the Divine Physicians, and followed the vine to touch the melon, touched the medical hall of the Valley of the Divine Physicians, and met the old valley master here.

 

The two were somewhat different in age, but at that time, the old valley master was not the old man in Wen Qingci’s impression.

 

He stays in the valley all day and pays attention to health, and looked only in his thirties or forties.

 

The two developed feelings for each other during their daily interactions.

 

Not long after, Emperor Ai became seriously ill again.

 

In order to save him, the female official had to plead with the valley master repeatedly on behalf of the emperor, hoping that he could lend a helping hand and bring Emperor Ai, who was still the prince at that time, back from the brink of death.

 

After making excuses several times, the old valley master finally agreed to the female official’s request and intervened in Yongdu’s affairs for the first time.

 

At this point, the female official left Taishu Palace and stayed in the valley to marry the old valley master.

 

The two lived in harmony and happiness for quite some time. Song Junran was born at this time.

 

At that time, the old valley master thought that he had only saved an ordinary patient.

 

It was not until many years later that the Yinchuan Grand Canal dam collapsed…

 

That day, Song Junran’s mother happened to go to Songxiu Prefecture with her medicine attendant to buy daily necessities. After the dam burst, the two of them rushed to the scene as soon as possible.

 

They wanted to save people, but unexpectedly the dam collapsed for the second time, and they themselves… died there.

 

The old valley master finally realized that…what he did that day might have accidentally changed history.

 

——If the Valley of Divine Physicians had not taken action, Emperor Ai would have died of illness at that time.

 

Xie Zhaolin, who was still relatively young at that time, would not have been able to ascend the throne smoothly, and those things that happened later would not have happened.

 

He felt extremely guilty from then on, and believed until his death that the root of all this was that he had interfered in court affairs because of his personal feelings.

 

After taking Wen Qingci in, he treated this second disciple better than his own son, even to the point of doting on him.

 

“What a sin, what a sin…”

 

Until he was lying on his sickbed and about to die, the old valley master kept repeating these words.

 

The memory becomes clearer bit by bit.

 

Wen Qingci felt an extremely bitter feeling in his heart.

 

He slowly poured the wine into the ground and forced himself to suppress his complicated emotions.

 

Wen Qingci gently placed his hand on his chest.

 

This was the original owner’s emotion. Wen Qingci didn’t know what the original owner was thinking when he first heard about this matter.

 

He only knew that at this moment there was sadness and nostalgia in his heart, but no resentment.

 

“Let’s go and take another look at your home. Now that you have taken your revenge, you should at least go back and tell your family about it, right?” As he said that, Song Junran handed an umbrella and a white veil to Wen Qingci, then turned around and left with him.

 

“Can I leave the valley?” Wen Qingci couldn’t help but be surprised.

 

Didn’t Song Junran say that if he didn’t pay back the huge sum of money, he would never be able to leave the world in this life?

 

The man in the green walking in front of him paused and looked at him with a half-smile: “You don’t want to go?”

 

“Wait!” Wen Qingci immediately held up his umbrella and followed. He chuckled and said softly, “I’ve been away for a few years, so I naturally want to go home today.” –

 

The Valley of Divine Physicians is located deep in the mountains and forests, and it is not easy to get out.

 

On ordinary days, it would take four to five days to complete a round trip.

 

Therefore, after coming out of the mountain, the two did not rush to Wen Qingci’s home, but went to Songxiu Prefecture to rest first – after all, Wen Qingci’s health was not yet fully recovered.

 

As luck would have it, the place where Song Junran took Wenqing to resign was the “Zang Ya Xuan” that he and Xie Bufeng had visited a few years ago.

 

It was noon at this time, and there were quite a lot of people in Zang Ya Xuan.

 

After staying in the Valley of Divine Physicians for a long time and suddenly entering such a noisy environment, Wen Qingci frowned slightly with some discomfort.

 

As the restaurant owner served the dishes, Song Junran couldn’t help but ask him, “Why is Songxiu Prefecture so lively today?”

 

“Are you two not locals?” Seeing Wen Qingci’s attire and the sword by Song Junran’s side, the restaurant owner naturally took them for wanderers from elsewhere.

 

Song Junran paused for a moment, then nodded and said, “Yes.”

 

Seeing this, the restaurant owner excitedly put the serving plate aside and said with great enthusiasm, “Then you two have come at the right time today!”

 

Wen Qingci looked over curiously, meanwhile picking up the teacup on the table to take a sip.

 

Song Junran: “…Why do you say that?”

 

Somehow, he suddenly had a bad feeling.

 

“Hehe, young hero, you don’t know yet, in a few days, His Majesty will come down here! His trip is said to be to worship the spirits of the Yinchuan Grand Canal, but in reality… he must be coming here to see that physician Wen.”

 

The hand that Wen Qingci was using to hold the teacup trembled slightly.

 

“What?” Song Junran couldn’t help but be surprised, “How many days until he gets here?”

 

The Valley of the Divine Physicians had been out of contact with the outside world for several months.

 

So it wasn’t until now that he found out that Xie Bufeng was actually coming to Songxiu Prefecture.

 

The restaurant owner thought for a moment and replied, “About four or five days, by then we will also close the shop and go to the dock to welcome His Majesty’s arrival.” His tone was quite excited.

 

After Xie Bufeng took the stage, he issued numerous edicts in a thunderous manner, causing one reform after another in a short period of time.

 

At that time, some people were skeptical of his actions.

 

But now, more than a year has passed, and the edicts that were issued at the beginning have all been smoothly issued and implemented.

 

The Wei Dynasty has been completely renewed in a short period of time.

 

Perhaps the people in other regions would still say behind their backs that Xie Bufeng disregards etiquette and human relations, is an unfilial son, and a brutal monarch.

 

But the people of Songxiu Prefecture, who had suffered deeply from his actions, would only feel that Xie Zhaolin deserved his punishment.

 

When they mentioned the current emperor, their mouths were full of pride and praise.

 

Song Junran: “…”

 

Seeing that Song Junran didn’t respond, the restaurant owner simply sat down next to them and started talking non-stop, “Young hero, you don’t know! When the current emperor was still a prince, he was called a ‘monster’, and there was only one physician who cared for him. Unbeknownst to His Majesty, he secretly fell in love with that physician. But before he could express his feelings… the physician died to save him, and from then on, they were separated by life and death. Alas, it wasn’t until now that His Majesty realized that the physician also had feelings for him…”

 

“Cough cough cough…”

 

This story is a bit too abbreviated, isn’t it? And what does “before he could express his feelings” mean?

 

He and Xie Bufeng had clearly already…

 

The scene from that night in the North once again surfaced in his mind.

 

Wait, stop!

 

Wen Qingci immediately cut off his thoughts and threw out all the waste.

 

“Qing… uh, junior brother, are you okay?”

 

The climate in the Valley of the Divine Physicians was conducive to recuperation, and Wen Qingci had been taking his medicine on time after returning to the valley. It had been a while since he had coughed up blood.

 

Hearing him cough, Song Junran immediately became anxious.

 

“It’s okay…” Wen Qingci took a deep breath, gently waved his hand and said, “I just choked on my tea.”

 

The sound of Wen Qingci’s cough interrupted the restaurant owner’s train of thought, and he finally remembered that he had other things to do, “Alright, alright, young heroes, I’m going to continue serving the dishes. If you’re curious and want to hear more, I’ll come find you when I’m free.” With that, he finally picked up the tray and slipped away from here.

 

The atmosphere at the table suddenly became stiff.

 

In order to ease the awkwardness, Wen Qingci picked up his chopsticks, picked up a piece of cake and put it to his lips, and slowly lifted the curtain.

 

Song Junran finally came back to his senses from the conversation just now, he sighed deeply, turned around and looked at Wen Qingci, “What a bunch of nonsense, how can Xie Bufeng let these things spread around, it seems that he is not a good emperor.”

 

However, what Song Junran didn’t expect was that as soon as he turned around, he saw Wen Qingci’s obviously flushed face.

 

Song Junran’s heart sank.

 

……No way?

 

He looked at Wen Qingci with a somewhat complicated expression, and after a few seconds of silence, he said, “Let’s finish eating quickly and go to Shan Yu Jian, so we can get back to the valley before the emperor arrives at Songxiu Prefecture.”

 

“Okay.” Wen Qingci slowly nodded his head, without any objections.

 

Seeing this, Song Junran finally let go of his heart.

 

He didn’t care what Xie Bufeng thought of Wen Qingci, as long as his junior brother didn’t run off with that little emperor!

 

The original owner’s hometown had a nice name called “Shan Yu Jian”.

 

There wasn’t much farmland here, and most people made a living by going up the mountain to gather herbs.

 

After the event of corpses all over the field in his memory, Shan Yu Jian was left without a single survivor.