The royal physician in the prince's mansion rushed out of the door, drenched in sweat, his face ashen.
If Shen Muzhou were to have any mishap, everyone in the mansion would be buried with him.
Xiao Liu grabbed the physician by his collar and demanded, "What? Then why aren't you finding a way to treat him quickly!"
"If anything happens to the prince, none of you will live to see the outside of Prince Mu's mansion."
Xiao Liu finished speaking and drew his broad saber from his waist as a threat.
The physician anxiously wiped the sweat from his forehead, his face contorted in despair, "Do you think I don't want to save the prince? The prince was already on the verge of death the last time he was injured. With his current external wounds unhealed, what more can I do?"
"However, there is one thing, if it can be found..."
The physician trailed off, his words unspoken.
Xiao Liu released the physician's collar and shoved him, holding his saber to the man's neck. "Speak quickly! No matter what method it is, you must save the prince!"
He detested this physician's habit of leaving things unsaid, acting mysterious.
The physician glared at him, then took out a drawing from his sleeve and said, "Unless we can find the rare pomegranate flower, grind it into powder, it has a miraculous effect in stopping bleeding."
After speaking, the physician quickly drew a diagram and said, "The common pomegranate flower is easy to find, but the double-petaled variety is difficult to obtain. It's not available in pharmacies, alas."
Lin Yanxi also leaned in to look at the drawing of the pomegranate flower. This flower...
She took the drawing and examined it carefully. "I know where to find it."
After she was beaten before, the golden wound powder box that Yu Gu brought her had an engraving of such a pomegranate flower.
Lin Yanxi hastily dropped this statement, lifted her skirt, and ran out quickly, with Si Yue following behind her.
The physician hurried to follow, adding, "Shen Muzhou can only hold on for at most another hour, miss, please hurry back!"
---
Grand Tutor's Mansion.
"Miss, you're finally back." Li Zi, sitting on a stone stool in the courtyard, brightened when she saw Lin Yanxi return, her worried heart finally at ease.
Lin Yanxi rushed into the room without a word, rummaging through a small cabinet.
"What is Miss looking for?"
Lin Yanxi remembered that the last time she had quarreled with her mother, she had carelessly tossed this ointment on the table. She wondered if it had been put away.
She pulled Li Zi over and asked, "Li Zi, where is the ointment that Yu Gu gave you last time after my mother beat me with the ruler?"
Li Zi rubbed her head and recalled, "I think Madam put it away. Yu Gu said that ointment is very precious."
"Ah..."
Lin Yanxi was troubled in the room. After circling the table for the third time, she stood firm and pulled out a gold hairpin from her bun.
"Miss, what are you doing? Is it worth hurting yourself for that prince?" Si Yue quickly grabbed Lin Yanxi's arm.
Lin Yanxi's gaze paused. She only knew that her heart was in turmoil. Shen Muzhou's injuries twice were related to her.
"Si Yue, Shen Muzhou has been injured twice because of me, I cannot stand by and do nothing. If one day you or Li Zi were injured, I would do the same, and I would not abandon you."
Si Yue looked into her clear, limpid eyes, black and white distinct. Miss said she would not abandon him.
He slowly released his grip on Lin Yanxi's arm.
Lin Yanxi did not hesitate. She raised the gold hairpin, and with its sharp tip, fiercely stabbed her own arm. Blood instantly flowed out.
She gritted her lower lip in pain, clutching her injured arm. With Si Yue and Li Zi supporting her, she ran towards Jiang Wan's courtyard.
"Madam, Madam, something's wrong, Miss is injured!" Li Zi knocked on the door from outside.
Soon, the door opened, and Yu Gu also hurried over, "Oh dear, Miss is not lightly injured."
Jiang Wan, wearing only a thin robe, said, "Yu Gu, quickly go get the golden wound powder."
She walked closer, grabbed Lin Yanxi's arm, and examined the injury. "How did you get this wound?"
Lin Yanxi endured the pain, speaking somewhat guiltily, "I accidentally scratched myself."
Jiang Wan's gaze lingered on her face for a moment. She said nothing and let go of her arm.
Yu Gu had just brought the medicine when Lin Yanxi glanced at Si Yue.
Si Yue stepped forward and snatched the medicine from Yu Gu's hand. "I'll apply the medicine for Miss."
Lin Yanxi nodded eagerly and said, "Yes, Mother has a cold at night, so I won't disturb your rest. Si Yue, quickly help me back to my room to apply medicine."
As she spoke, she made a move to leave. Yu Gu stopped them, "How can a young boy like Si Yue apply medicine? I'll bandage it for you, and then you can go back."
Lin Yanxi's expression froze. She quickly refused, "No need, Yu Gu. You should rest early too. I'll go back now."
After she finished, she hurried out.
Jiang Wan descended two steps and called out to Yu Gu, "Yu Gu, go guard the dog hole by the west wall. I want to see what tricks she's up to."
Jiang Wan had long known that Lin Yanxi had escaped from the mansion several times through the dog hole. The reason she hadn't filled it in was actually out of compassion for Lin Yanxi.
She had been soft-hearted, not wanting Lin Yanxi to be denied even the opportunity to slip out and get some fresh air.
But this child was simply not one to be left to worry about.
Lin Yanxi hastily bandaged the wound on her arm, put away the medicine, and quietly sneaked to the vicinity of the small dog hole with Si Yue.
Si Yue grumbled, "Miss, ever since we entered the Grand Tutor's Mansion, I've never gone through the main gate with you. We've only ever climbed through dog holes."
Lin Yanxi turned her head and made a shushing gesture at him, "Shh! Do you want everyone to know!"
She led the way, navigating along the wall by the faint moonlight.
With a dull thud.
As soon as Lin Yanxi crawled out of the dog hole, before she could even get up, her head hit something soft. She straightened up and felt upwards bit by bit.
Only then did she see that the person in front of her was Jiang Wan.
"Mother..."
The lantern was instantly lit. Jiang Wan, along with Yu Gu, had been waiting outside the wall.
Jiang Wan's face was grim. She waited for Lin Yanxi to confess voluntarily, not speaking first, but simply looking at her coldly.
Lin Yanxi's slender brows furrowed. She lowered her head and whispered, "Mother."
Seeing the anger in her mother's eyes, she couldn't help but tremble. Bracing herself, she pulled on her mother's sleeve and pleaded, "Mother, I beg you, just let me go out. I really have something urgent to do."
Yu Gu, holding a wind lantern, spoke to persuade her, "Hurry and tell Madam the truth."
She gave Lin Yanxi a look, signaling her not to further anger Jiang Wan.
Lin Yanxi looked troubled. How should she tell the truth...
"I... I have a friend, he..."
Jiang Wan could no longer contain her emotions and sharply scolded, "How many friends can you have in the capital!"
Her voice carried a formidable authority in the quiet alley.
Lin Yanxi's limpid eyes welled up with tears. She tried hard not to let them fall, "Mother, he saved me many times, and he was injured because of me! Please, just let me take the medicine to him."
Jiang Wan, furious, poked Lin Yanxi's forehead with her finger, "It's Shen Muzhou?"
"I told you long ago not to contact him. You wouldn't listen and brought disaster upon him! And now you come begging me. If you had stayed away from him, this wouldn't have happened!"
Lin Yanxi lowered her eyes. Her head bobbed back and forth from the poking, but she dared not retort a word.
"Mother, don't be angry. I won't go. I'll have Si Yue deliver the medicine, okay? He really needs this medicine to save his life."
Jiang Wan trembled with anger. She looked at Lin Yanxi's tear-filled eyes. If she were to soften even a little now and let Lin Yanxi deliver the medicine, she would be forever entangled with Shen Muzhou.
Then she thought, what medicine is lacking in the prince's mansion? How could they be short of this bottle of golden wound powder to save a life? There might be some conspiracy brewing behind this to harm the Grand Tutor's mansion, and only this foolish girl would believe it.
"No one can go! As long as this medicine comes from the Grand Tutor's mansion, no one is allowed to send it to Prince Mu's mansion. Shen Muzhou is a man of deep schemes. Perhaps this is all a trap he designed, waiting for you to fall into it. Are you going to drag the entire Grand Tutor's mansion down with you?"
Lin Yanxi's legs felt rooted to the ground, unable to move. She stood in place, refusing to budge.
Jiang Wan grabbed Lin Yanxi's ear and pulled her towards the mansion gate, trying to make her go back.
She bit her lip and remained silent, stubbornly standing her ground. Her ear turned red from the pulling, throbbing painfully. Her body swayed slightly, refusing to move.
Yu Gu quickly grabbed Jiang Wan. Si Yue directly knelt on the ground and begged on Lin Yanxi's behalf, "Madam, I'll take the medicine to Miss and come right back. Please, don't pull Miss's ear. If you want to pull, pull mine."
Jiang Wan glanced coldly at Si Yue and asked sharply, "You will deliver it? If there is a trick involved, can you bear the responsibility for the entire Grand Tutor's mansion?"
Lin Yanxi also knelt on the ground, sobbing, "Mother, I beg you. He was injured because of me. This is the last time I will disobey you. I promise I will be good from now on."
"I will stay in the courtyard and study diligently, never bring up strange questions again, and not make Mother angry. I won't go anywhere, okay?"
"Shen Muzhou, Shen Muzhou is now in critical condition, his life or death is uncertain. I really cannot let him die like this. I will have a guilty conscience for the rest of my life."
Jiang Wan cursed, "Enough! What guilty conscience? His royal mansion has every treasure, and he's forcing you, a young girl, to deliver something to be done?
"And 'he was injured because of you'? Do you know how much gossip your words will stir up if they get out? This gossip could bring about the downfall of the Grand Tutor's mansion!"
"It is precisely because you are like this now that you cannot go! Yu Gu, take her back."
Lin Yanxi knelt and took two steps forward, shaking Jiang Wan's sleeve, "Mother, let me deliver the medicine to him. After today, I promise I will no longer contact Shen Muzhou."
She could choose never to see Shen Muzhou again, but she couldn't stand by and do nothing when she knew why he was injured.
Jiang Wan pulled back her sleeve, taking half a step back. She no longer believed anything Lin Yanxi said.
"Don't force me!"
Yu Gu's expression changed drastically, knowing that Jiang Wan had some intention.
She quickly stepped forward and took Lin Yanxi's arm, trying to help her up. "Miss, Madam is saying all this for your own good. Please listen to Madam. Madam is not well, don't make her angry. We can discuss anything tomorrow during the day."
Lin Yanxi knelt on the ground, stubbornly refusing to get up. She looked up at the moon in the sky. An hour had already passed.
Shen Muzhou's condition was critical, his life or death uncertain. She could not wait any longer.
Jiang Wan supported herself by the wall. The intense anger caused her lung ailment to flare up. She coughed a few times, managing to suppress it.
Pointing at Lin Yanxi kneeling on the ground, she asked, "Are you trying to anger me to death?"
"Fine, then swear that you will never again dabble in talismans and spells, and I will agree to let Si Yue deliver the item to the prince's mansion!"