"Well, this is quite the lively scene!"
Feng Luan looked at the kneeling Nan Dynasty Yin couple, then at the couple gazing at each other with such affection, feeling a phantom ache in his molars.
Nan Shiying and Ji Jinmo simultaneously withdrew their gazes and turned them back to Feng Luan.
Feng Luan felt his entire body stiffen. He instinctively reached for his fan, but as his wrist began to turn, he remembered that Thirteen had thrown his feather fan to Jia Huan.
Ah, so that's how Thirteen recognized him.
It was the feather fan!
Ji Jinmo showed no intention of letting Nan Dynasty Yin rise. He gave Wei Yuan a slight nod and then said, "Brother Feng, can you take a look at Nan Yuan'er's hand and see if it can be saved!"
Feng Luan widened his eyes dramatically and exclaimed, "No way, no way, you guys..."
Before he could finish, his voice dwindled into silence under the stares of Ji Jinmo and Nan Shiying. Wei Yuan gritted his teeth. Wasn't this the persona he was supposed to play? Wasn't Feng Luan just like this?
Nan Shiying suppressed the urge to kill Wei Yuan.
Seeing Wei Yuan wearing Feng Luan's face, Ji Jinmo also held back the impulse to peel off his skin.
Receiving a clear "DANGER" signal from the two powerful figures, Wei Yuan said no more. He strode to Nan Yuan'er's bedside, bent down to take her pulse, then feigned a thorough examination of Nan Yuan'er's right hand before turning to Ji Jinmo and declaring, "It's beyond saving. Take her away!"
He didn't know if Nan Shiying could heal Nan Yuan'er's wrist, but as for the wrist being injured to this extent, he was done trying.
"No, this is impossible!"
He couldn't believe that Feng Luan, who had snatched Madam Wang back from the clutches of death for half a year, could not heal Yuan'er's hand. His expression was stern, utterly unable to accept this answer. He had invested too many chips and placed too much hope in Nan Yuan'er. If she became crippled, how could she enter Jingren Palace, how could she become the empress presiding over the land? And how could he, through her, achieve his own goals step by step?
Nan Dynasty Yin's eyes were about to split. He looked at Nan Shiying and threatened, "Ying'er, don't forget what I told you at the princely manor!"
Nan Shiying trembled all over and collapsed into Ji Jinmo's arms, grief-stricken. She clutched Ji Jinmo's robes tightly, as if grasping a lifeline. "My lord, I beg you, please ask Divine Physician Feng to heal Nan Yuan'er."
"Prime Minister Nan threatened me with my mother's remains. I... I..."
Ji Jinmo was furious. Thirteen stepped forward and kicked Nan Dynasty Yin to the ground. The shards of porcelain on the floor pierced his flesh, and blood began to flow.
Ji Jinmo pointed at Nan Dynasty Yin's nose and asked Nan Shiying, "So, Ying'er, were all your actions just now forced by his threats?"
Nan Dynasty Yin had not expected Qing Yuan to make this public. Such a threat using the bones of a deceased concubine was enough to be scorned by the world. Although the Nan Mansion's servants dared not make a sound, Nan Dynasty Yin could still discern their astonishment from the shifting breaths of everyone around.
Nan Shiying bit her lip and nodded. "My birth mother died in childbirth. For years, I never knew where my mother was buried. On Tomb-Sweeping Day, I couldn't even offer a stick of incense at her grave. I am unfilial, I..."
"Prime Minister Nan said that if I didn't come to the Nan Mansion with him, if I didn't play this scene with him, he would... he would dig up the graves and scatter my mother's ashes to the wind. My lord, I didn't intentionally deceive you, it was truly... truly because I feared that my mother's remains would not even be preserved, and would ultimately be reduced to ashes."
As Nan Shiying spoke, she was about to kneel before Ji Jinmo for her deception. How could Ji Jinmo allow her to kneel? He immediately held Nan Shiying's arm and pulled her back into his embrace.
"Nan Dynasty Yin, you are truly unworthy of being a husband, unworthy of being a father, to threaten your own daughter with such despicable means. Fine, truly excellent. Thirteen, bind him and escort him to the princely manor. I wish to see who in this world dares to dig up my future mother-in-law's grave, who dares to touch my future mother-in-law's corpse!"
"Yes!"
Thirteen took the order.
The hidden guards of the Nan Mansion, disguised as servants, grew restless, reaching into their chests.
Nan Dynasty Yin knew well that the hidden guards of the mansion must not be provoked. He climbed up from the ground, looked at Ji Jinmo and Nan Shiying, his voice devoid of any discernible emotion, yet the words he spoke sent a chill through everyone: "Your Highness, since I have already decided to commit such a despicable act, how could I not have made preparations in advance? I had already anticipated this scene and sent people to the vicinity of Ying'er's birth mother's grave. If Your Highness takes any action against me, or if Divine Physician Feng is unwilling to fully treat Yuan'er, then the people I arranged will immediately dig open her mother's grave!"
Upon hearing this, everyone present gasped. Their master had gone to such lengths for the fourth young lady, willing to ruin his reputation of a lifetime.
If it was said that their master was not worthy of being called a father to the fifth young lady, then for the fourth young lady, he had done everything a father could possibly do.
Madam Liu, far from finding Nan Dynasty Yin ruthless, actually felt that Nan Dynasty Yin's love for her and Yuan'er was utterly extreme. Officials always valued their reputation the most, and for Yuan'er's hand, their master had even disregarded his reputation.
How could this not move and touch her!
Among those present, perhaps only Ji Jinmo and Nan Shiying knew what schemes this old scoundrel, Nan Dynasty Yin, was plotting in his heart.
"Nan Dynasty Yin, you, how could you be so wicked?"
Nan Shiying rushed towards Nan Dynasty Yin, drew the long sword that Thirteen had sheathed at his waist, and pressed the sword against Nan Dynasty Yin's neck. If Nan Shiying applied a little more force, she could cut through his skin.
Nan Dynasty Yin did not dodge, even leaning towards the blade. The sharp sword instantly cut through Nan Dynasty Yin's skin, and blood welled from the wound, flowing slowly down the blade.
"Ying'er, kill me, and you will never see your mother again!"
"You..."
Nan Shiying's hand holding the sword trembled slightly. Her gaze towards Nan Dynasty Yin was filled with blood-red anger, yet she dared not push the sword any further towards his neck.
"Feng Luan!"
Ji Jinmo turned his head and looked at Feng Luan. Wei Yuan's scalp tingled. No, Nan Yuan'er's hand was indeed severely injured, and he truly couldn't treat it.
However, the situation had come to this, and he couldn't say so now. He could only brace himself and pretend to be competent... pretend to treat it. After all, aside from Nan Shiying, no one else present understood medicine.
Feng Luan tutted and turned back to Nan Yuan'er's bedside. He said to Nan Dynasty Yin, "Go and find me a set of silver needles!"
Nan Dynasty Yin turned and shouted outside, "Are you deaf? Didn't you hear? Silver needles!"