Chapter 352: The Demon Physician Jiang Xun
Lu Yan was dumbfounded for a moment before he asked Qi Qingyao with a serious expression on his face, “You were actually unaware that the young man constantly by your side was a grand master?”
Si Jin was close to her after all.
Qi Qingyao dismissed his comment as she slowly picked up her teacup and took a sip from it. She then raised her brow and replied somewhat lazily, “If he really is a grand master, then he’s alive for sure, so I’m quite happy.”
“You actually weren’t aware of that kid’s power?” Lu Yan asked adamantly.
Qi Qingyao looked up at him and asked, “Would I have been that worried if I knew?”
“…”
That was true. She had not looked like she was faking it. He could see the worry in her eyes, but when Lu Yan thought about the fact that Si Jin was a grand master, he could not help but ask Qi Qingyao more about it as his expression turned gloomy.
“I have a lot of questions in my head right now. First of all, that kid is only seventeen or eighteen years old, but he’s a grand master already. Is he a monster or something?!
“Secondly, why would the world’s youngest grand master follow you around? What’s his story? What’s your story?!
“Third, why did he tell you that he was an eighth rank pract.i.tioner? Why did he lie? Why is he hiding his powers on purpose?
“And why did he even try to lie about his past? If he is a grand master, then everything he’s told you before must be fake.
“Now that the State Preceptor and the Head Grand Secretariat have exposed him, will he show up again? Or will he disappear just like that, gone forever?”
Qi Qingyao was all smiles as she replied, “You have a lot to ask, don’t you?”
Lu Yan then said, “Answer my questions, then. I’m very curious.”
Qi Qingyao thought about it for a moment and then said calmly, “Firstly, I don’t know. Secondly, I don’t know either. Thirdly, I still don’t know. And fourth, I have completely no idea. I cannot answer any of your questions, only Si Jin can. Either that, or he doesn’t show up ever again, and you never get any of your answers.”
That response made Lu Yan give up entirely as he licked his dry lips, “Aren’t you at least a little bit curious?”
Qi Qingyao opened her eyes, waves seemed to roil within her pupils. Her irises were full of complicated emotions as she replied in a steady voice, “Of course I’m curious. How could I not be? I’m more curious than you are. Who did I sleep with five years ago and bear children for? And why couldn’t the Zhaixing Administration discover the man either? It’s simply miraculous! Also, about Si Jin being a grand master? My goodness, I had a grand master by my side? What did I even do to deserve that? I’m not that attractive! So why did a grand master want to follow me around? Who am I, anyway? I’m just a mere villager. Tell me, could Si Jin be eighty years old instead of eighteen? Do grand masters have the ability to reverse old age to make them look younger? Also, are my children his? Is that why he might have felt guilty and stayed by my side to protect me?”
If Qi Qingyao’s words had made Lu Yan worried before, then the things she had just said must have dumbfounded and embarra.s.sed him.
She…
She was being very logical.
Lu Yan moved his lips but said nothing. “…”
“Come on, say something.” Qi Qingyao prodded him.
Lu Yan sighed, “Reversing old age? You’re imagining things.”
Qi Qingyao shrugged and smiled, “I’m just a normal person who has never seen a grand master before, so I don’t know what amazing things they’re capable of. What if they really can reverse old age and keep themselves young forever?”
“I’ve seen one before.” Lu Yan’s eyes were still as cold as ever, but the agitated look in his eyes was calm now. He said to her, “They’re just a bunch of old geezers, they just look more energetic and spirited than usual people their age. If we ignore the white hair on their heads, they might very well be just the same as regular middle-aged people.”
“…” She blinked at him, looking blank.
“Forget it, from the way you look right now, you might very well know just as much about Si Jin as I do,” muttered Lu Yan.
“…”
Qi Qingyao simply pursed her lips and remained silent.
…
…
Qingzhou City, in a certain courtyard.
Outside and inside the courtyard walls were stationed three layers of guards both inside and out.
People on the streets could not help but look twice.
A middle-aged man with ragged clothes sat in the middle of a bedroom. There was a chamber in the middle of the room, and another bed was outside the chamber. Two people were lying on each of the two beds.
They had been lying there for a few days now.
The wounds on their flesh have been bandaged, but they still looked worse for wear, almost on the brink of death.
The middle-aged man was the infamous demon physician, Jiang Xun.
Jiang Xun looked at the mens’ wounds and looked over to Zhu Shen and Zhao Xin standing off to the side, “Did they get into a fight with a grand master?”
Zhu Shen hung his head and replied, “No… I don’t know.”
He had said he did not know.
However, his tone was slightly panicked and that gave away his emotions.
Jiang Xun raised his brow.
He then wrote down a list of herbs on a piece of paper.
He then said to them, “Look at this. If a grand master had not done this, they wouldn’t have suffered so seriously.” After that, he took two bottles of antidotes from his medicine bag and told Zhu Shen and Zhao Xin to feed their masters the antidotes.
Zhao Xin was very frustrated.
His eyelids had kept twitching that day.
That night, Zhu Shen had secretly called him over to the courtyard.
That was how he saw the Head Grand Secretariat laying in bed on the brink of death…
Zhao Xin fed the antidote to his master as his heart ached for him.
Jiang Xun said slowly, “The poison that they have in their bodies right now is the one I gave to the State Preceptor. I think they tried to poison someone else, but somehow ended up ingesting the poison themselves instead.”
After Zhu Shen fed Li Ruoxuan the antidote, he fell to his knees and begged, “Lord Physician, please, you have to save them both.”
Jiang Xun had a sunken expression on his face as he remained silent. “…”
He said to himself, he could save them both, and if he did not, the entire city would be in shambles without the State Preceptor and the Head Grand Secretariat in the imperial court. However, he also said, “You two have to keep this an absolute secret. No one else can know about this.”
“We understand.” Zhu Shen and Zhao Xin nodded.
Jiang Xun muttered as his head hung low, “If anyone knows about their current state, they would definitely try to s.n.a.t.c.h some power for themselves.”
Zhu Shen and Zhao Xin’s hearts pounded as Jiang Xun said those words.
They knew that better than anyone else. That was why Zhu Shen had arranged such tight security around the perimeter.
After they bought the herbs, Jiang Xun instructed his discipline to brew the medicine.
He then sat in front of Li Ruoxuan to check on the wound on his eye.
Zhu Shen asked anxiously, “Lord Physician Jiang, how is my master?”
Jiang Xun replied expressionlessly, “He’s been blinded in that eye. I can’t do anything about it.” If Li Ruoxuan had encountered some serious limb injury, Jiang Xun would still be able to treat him, but now, his right eye was gone. He was completely blind!
“…” Zhu Shen’s lips curved downward as his face filled with guilt.
Zhao Xin heard what Jiang Xun had said and suddenly felt a chill in his chest, “What about my master, Lord Physician Jiang?”
Jiang Xun checked Jiang Yeqian’s wounds with much focus, after which he said, “I can still save his leg. I just reconnected it. However, he will have to hobble for half a year before he can completely recover.”
Zhao Xin, “…”
For some reason, he suddenly felt a wave of relief coming over him.
It was because his master still had his limbs intact… and he was not blind like the State Preceptor now was! His leg could still be treated…
However, he was still not that pleased about it.
After all, his master had never suffered such heavy injuries before.
He had also never seen his master lying on a bed showing no signs of waking up at all.
After Jiang Xun patched up their wounds, he called Zhu Shen and Zhao Xin over to his side, closed the door, and said to them solemnly, “Everyone knows the both of them are in Qingzhou City. Other grand masters are on their way here too, and there will surely be people eager to meet them, perhaps casually or maybe for dinner.”
“But my master is…” Zhu Shen nervously said as he stared at the men who were still lying unconscious.
Jiang Xun replied, “They can’t stay hidden forever. If the grand masters have arrived and neither one of them shows up to a public event, there will definitely be rumors. People might think that something has happened to them.”
Zhao Xin asked, “Then what should we do?”
“How am I supposed to know? I’m just a doctor.” Jiang Xun shrugged indifferently and continued, “You two had better pray that one of them wakes up first so they can stabilize things in Qingzhou City.”
Zhao Xin, “…”
Zhu Shen, “…”
Jiang Xun stared at the clueless duo and muttered to himself, ‘They are so used to taking orders, surely they wouldn’t dare to make any decisions of their own.’
He spoke after a moment of silence.
“Tell all the guards at the front to fall back!”
“Ah!” Zhu Shen was astonished.
“There are too many people standing outside the walls, that will only attract the attention of other spies. They might think something is going on in this place,” said Jiang Xun. It simply attracted too much attention. He then continued, “Order them to guard the inner walls and kill anyone who tries to discover or spy on what’s going on. Show them no mercy. Don’t even capture them for interrogation, just kill them all! Continue like this until the both of them have woken up.”
“Thank you, Lord Physician.”
Zhu Shen nodded.
Zhao Xin did not react.
Zhao Xin did not dare bring his troops over here. After all, this was the State Preceptor’s residence. Spies might think the State Preceptor and the Head Grand Secretariat had joined forces!
Thus, all that Zhao Xin was concerned about was Jiang Yeqian’s wounds.
Things would be much easier once he recovered.
Besides… he also had to pa.s.s the message to Bai Mei.
As for what happened at Qiang Jinjiu Restaurant, Mr. Tan did not have to know about it!
After Jiang Xun taught the medicine boy how to prepare the medicines, he left them some antidotes before silently leaving the residence.
He was a wandering doctor, after all, so he did not want to get too entangled with political figures.
That was why he did not stay at the residence any longer.
After Jiang Xun got out of that place, he felt a little bored, so he went to Chun Jiang Restaurant to have some wine, enjoy the scenery around him, and listen to the other customers’ chit-chat.
They were all talking about the legends of Qingzhou City…
One of the names made Jiang Xun raise his brows.
Qi Qingyao…
That name was very unfamiliar to him.
However, it had some connection to the Mysterious Divine Physician Su Hexiao.
Tsk!
Jiang Xun suddenly had a huge interest in this Qi Qingyao.
After he finished his drink, he went to Heir Pei’s residence after the sun went down.
“Who are you? And who are you looking for?” The guard looked curiously at the middle-aged man with ragged clothes.
“Jiang Xun.”
He only said those two words.
The guard narrowed his eyes.
He invited him in without announcing his presence.
Jiang Xun and Heir Pei were old friends. The Heir had once asked for his help after being poisoned, but he was not cured yet!
Heir Pei invited Jiang Xun into the guest hall when he heard the Demon Physician himself coming to visit.
Under the flickering candlelight.
Heir Pei said, “It’s quite rare for you to come to visit me, Uncle Jiang.” He still had to call him Uncle Jiang out of respect for his elders.
“I heard the poison in your body was treated by someone else, so I had to come and see for myself.”
Jiang Xun sat down lazily, took a piece of pastry from the plate, and stuffed it into his mouth as he expressionlessly glanced up and down Pei Fengtang’s body.
Pei Fengtang did not go out much, and he had recovered quite a lot.
He could even practice sword fighting in his courtyard during the daytime.
After Jiang Xun finished the pastry, he got up, walked over to Heir Pei, and grabbed his wrist. He then checked his pulse and confirmed that Heir Pei’s system was completely rid of the toxin.
He could not help but raise his brow.
“Interesting.” It had been a poison that even he could not cure.
A little lady called Qi Qingyao had saved him?
Jiang Xun let go of Pei Fengtang’s wrist and returned to his seat.
He had a very curious look on his face.
“How did she do it?
“I didn’t have any idea how to even start.
“She’s a walking wonder.”
Heir Pei could not help but smile as he watched Jiang Xun mutter to himself with self-doubt. He suddenly thought of a piece of information he had gotten earlier that day. His brows s.h.i.+fted as his eyes grew reserved.
He then said, “You were at the State Preceptor’s residence.”
“…”
Jiang Xun looked up, and then sipped his cup of tea as if nothing had just happened.
“Li Ruoxuan called you there.”
“…”
“No, Li Ruoxuan didn’t call you there, Zhu Shen did. Something has happened to Li Ruoxuan…”
“…”
“Zhao Xin went to the residence as well. There were many guards stationed outside all of a sudden! Looks like someone is trying to hide something. I presume Li Ruoxuan has suffered some serious injuries?”
Something rang inside Jiang Xun’s head as he listened to Heir Pei’s calm and smooth words. He quickly raised his hands as if surrendering, “Alright, alright, stop a.n.a.lyzing everything already. Everything you’ve said is true.”
“Oh?” Pei Fengtang’s voice was light.
Jiang Xun sighed heavily and reluctantly replied, “I think the both of them challenged some grand master and almost got killed in the process. I think they’ll have to lie still for quite some time. Since you’re an heir, I suppose you can take care of things within Qingzhou City since you’ve recovered now. Don’t you let this piece of news get out to the public!”
“…” Heir Pei was dumbfounded.
Jiang Xun, “What’s with that awful look on your face? You just figured everything out, didn’t you? Why do you look so surprised now?”
Pei Fengtang suddenly felt a dryness in his mouth as he stuttered, “I’m just saying, I didn’t think…”
It was true!
Li Ruoxuan and Jiang Yeqian had gotten into trouble?
This…
They had to be crazy for trying to challenge a grand master, right? They must have gone insane.
Did they even bring their brains along with them when they came to Qingzhou City?
Had their brains left them?
Before Heir Pei could make sense of the two’s reasoning, he realized something else. He asked, “Eh, that’s not right. Which grand master did they challenge? Is the grand master from Eastern Ling here already?”
Jiang Xun replied, “It should be the audacious and mysterious grand master that came to Qingzhou City.”
Pei Fengtang, “…”
The information that Li Qing gave him was that Qi Qingyao had gone back to the village to settle Qi Qingzhu’s funeral matters and that Si Jin had been nowhere to be found on the second day. Besides that, an explosion had also happened in Xingli Village and there were signs that a fight had taken place there.
After that, Lu Yan had sent Dong Jing there to keep QI Qingyao safe.
Even after Qi Qingyao and the others came back to Qingzhou City, Si Jin was still nowhere to be found.
Could it be…
The grand master actually was…
Pei Fengtang suddenly felt a little dizzy.