In her previous life, perhaps due to Wang Daxia's self-castration, his body hair was sparse, and his calves were straight and smooth like two chopsticks, because Wei Caiwei had not been "fortunate" enough to witness his leg hair.
So this is what Wang Daxia looked like before castration.
I wonder if I’ll get to see it in this lifetime… Oh dear, I shouldn’t entertain such improper thoughts—he’s still young.
Wei Caiwei coughed lightly twice, using the sound to chase away her improper thoughts, and said, “I’ll ask Brother Ding tonight. Perhaps he’s worried about his father again. This year, Yan Shifan found out that Lord Lu always delays Ding Rukui’s case review until the end of the year, when death sentences are finalized. I’m afraid Lord Lu won’t be able to use the same tactic again.”
Lu Bing had just resolved Wang Commander’s metropolitan evaluation issue, preserving the Wang family’s hereditary title passed down through five generations. Thus, Wang Daxia had confidence in Lu Bing and said, “Don’t worry. There’s nothing Lord Lu can’t accomplish. He’ll surely find a way.”
Wei Caiwei nodded with a smile. “Yes, if Lord Lu doesn’t want Ding Rukui to die, he won’t die.”
But inwardly, she thought: In my previous life, Lu Bing died on the 25th of the twelfth lunar month this year, after a drinking banquet with Yan Shifan, Yang Fu, and others. He suffered a stroke and didn’t recover.
In this life, I’ve already examined Lu Bing and repeatedly warned him against drinking. Lu Ying is also keeping an eye on him. Surely, he won’t repeat the same mistake in this lifetime?
Though abstaining from alcohol and avoiding late nights can’t cure a stroke, they can effectively delay its recurrence and even extend one’s lifespan.
If so, could Lu Bing live a few more years?
No, I only need half a year. I’ll use my position as a palace female physician to get close to the future favored consort, Consort Shangshou, just like in my previous life. Then, relying on her influence, I can save Ding Rukui.
I’ve saved Chen Jingji’s life, altered Wang Commander’s tragic fate, preserved Wang Daxia’s manhood—I should be able to extend Lu Bing’s life by half a year too.
Wei Caiwei said, “Your Lord Lu is indeed formidable, but his health is poor. Since you’re now serving in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, you should help Commander Lu keep an eye on Lord Lu. Make sure he doesn’t touch alcohol and avoid agitating him. Extreme emotions like joy or sorrow can also easily trigger a stroke.”
Before Consort Shangshou rises to power, Lu Bing is our greatest backer. No one wants to see him fall.
Wang Daxia said, “Lord Lu goes straight home after leaving the office now. But according to Commander Lu, the Emperor often summons Lord Lu to the palace to talk, regardless of day or night. After that fake heatstroke incident pretending to be a stroke, the Emperor showed consideration for Lord Lu’s health and told him to take care of himself. He hasn’t summoned Lord Lu in the middle of the night since, but once the weather cools down, Lord Lu will probably be overworked again.”
Just then, Ding Wu returned with the reheated chicken and mushroom stew, seasoned with salt. “Here, taste and see if the saltiness is right—I overheard you talking about Lord Lu having had a stroke. I recently made some Huoluo Tongqiao Pills. I’ll bring some to Lord Lu tomorrow.”
Though the Ding and Lu families were enemies, Ding Wu knew his father’s life was tied to Lu Bing’s.
Besides, delivering medicine would give him a chance to see Lu Ying.
“The saltiness is perfect. Brother Ding, your cooking is excellent,” Wang Daxia said after taking a sip of the soup. He volunteered, “Let me deliver the medicine for you, Brother Ding. I have to report to the Imperial Guard Office early tomorrow morning anyway. I can bring it along. It’s scorching hot in this dog days of summer—no need for you to make the trip under the blazing sun.”
As he spoke, Wang Daxia used serving chopsticks to place a chicken drumstick in Wei Caiwei’s bowl, a beaming smile on his face, as if saying, “See how good I am to Brother Ding? Praise me now!”
Who asked for your helpFor the first time, Ding Wu felt that being helpful wasn't always a good thing—Wang Daxia was truly meddlesome.
Wei Caiwei said, "It's better for Brother Ding to deliver it himself. Whether Lord Lu takes the medicine is his decision, but delivering it shows Brother Ding's goodwill. If Lu Bing happens to like it, Brother Ding might get a chance to visit his father in prison."
Ding Wu thought: My dear Banxia is truly considerate! Daxia can go jump in a lake!
The next day at the Imperial Guard Office, Ding Wu was no longer distracted. He calmly competed with Wang Daxia for meat during the meal.
After eating, as usual, Wei Caiwei was responsible for washing dishes while Wang Daxia carried the bamboo basket of dirty bowls. They went to the Sweetwater Well at the end of Sweetwater Alley to fetch water for cleaning.
Wang Daxia lowered a bucket into the well with a rope. "Brother Ding ate quite heartily today." He even ate more than me, hmph!
Wang Daxia was tattling again.
Wei Caiwei explained, "He's just happy about me passing the palace female physician examination."
Wang Daxia poured water from the wooden bucket to rinse the bowls. "While your fortunes rise, mine decline. My family has fallen from grace, and I'm just an obscure nobody now. I'll be coming over often for meals—you can't turn me away."
In your past life you lived off others, now you're mooching meals—some things never change.
Wei Caiwei replied, "How could I refuse? You're my landlord. I wouldn't dare."
A starved camel is still bigger than a horse. Though the Wang family had scattered wealth to avert disaster, they still retained their fields and properties—far from begging for food.
Wang Daxia laughed, "I won't eat for free. Let next year's rent count as payment for meals."
"No, let's keep things separate," Wei Caiwei insisted. "The rent goes to your father. I feel better paying for my accommodation."
Wang Daxia squirmed awkwardly. "Ah, this doesn't feel right. Eating and drinking for free makes it seem like you're supporting me."
It's not like I haven't supported you in a past life, Wei Caiwei joked. "I can afford to keep you now. Today I went to the Duke of Chengguo's residence for a consultation—they provided carriage service both ways and paid five taels. Since I diagnosed a pregnancy, they additionally rewarded me with two bolts of cloth. One house call equals what I used to earn in two or three months. Unless you eat like Zhu Bajie, I can certainly afford to feed you."
A growing husband can eat his wife into poverty. Now that Wei Caiwei was earning well, what did she have to fear?
Hearing this, Wang Daxia became immensely cheerful, completely forgetting his family's decline.
The following day, Ding Wu changed into a freshly starched bamboo-cloth robe, properly washed and capped himself, wrapped up the Orifice-Clearing Vitality Pills, and went to the Imperial Guard Office to present gifts to Lu Bing.
Unfortunately (though fortunately for Ding Wu), Lu Bing had been summoned to the palace by the Jiajing Emperor, so Lu Ying came to meet him instead.
Being silver-tongued, Ding Wu presented the pills. "Banxia passed the palace female physician examination entirely thanks to Lord Lu's recommendation. She's deeply grateful but, being an established physician now, fears that visiting Lord Lu without cause might lead to rumors about his health. So she asked me to deliver these self-made Orifice-Clearing Vitality Pills."
He then offered a package of Qingliang Plums. "These are plums I prepared yesterday—excellent for relieving summer heat. I heard from Banxia that Commander Lu also enjoys them, so I brought some along."
Lu Ying accepted both. "Are you versed in medicine as well?"
Ding Wu replied, "I merely recognize some herbs and perform manual tasks like preparing medicines according to prescriptions. I lack the talent for medicine—unlike Banxia who grasps everything immediately. Back in Tieling, I assisted them with groundwork. Later I became a clerk at the county magistrate's office."Ding Wu put away his memories, his expression calm as if recounting someone else's experiences. The son of a former Minister of War, reduced to being an apprentice and scribe, yet he felt no shame, always striving to support himself through his own efforts.
Lu Ying observed Ding Wu's refined and unperturbed demeanor, coupled with her constant worry that Yan Shifan might target him again, and said, "There's currently a vacancy in the Embroidered Uniform Guard's storeroom—the position left open after Masked Wu's death. Originally, his son was supposed to take over after the funeral, continuing the family trade. But his son has no interest in guarding the storeroom and wants to work outside with us, so the position remains open. Since you've worked as a scribe in the county office, you should have no trouble handling this. I wonder if you're interested?"
Lu Ying thought it would be safer to keep the scholarly Ding Wu, who could only kill chickens, under her direct protection.
This was an unexpected delight.
It was a proper job, close to his father, making it convenient to look after him.
Ding Wu hurriedly replied, "This humble commoner thanks Commander Lu for her kindness. I will be loyal to my duties and will not disappoint you."
Lu Ying handled matters with official efficiency, without any unnecessary pleasantries or small talk with Ding Wu. She said, "Go familiarize yourself with the storeroom and the procedures for incoming and outgoing goods today. Start your duties tomorrow."
With that, she ordered a subordinate to take Ding Wu to the storeroom for the handover.
Ding Wu had prepared a slew of questions to find out which member of the Lu family had married into the family of Wu Peng, the Minister of Personnel. But Lu Ying was so swift and decisive that he had no opportunity. Thinking there would be time later, he took his leave.
Lu Ying still had to help her father deal with a mountain of official duties and had not a moment to spare. She picked up the cooling plums Ding Wu had brought, ate one, and thought, "Huh, these seem even better than Wei Caiwei's."
It seemed Wang Daxia was right—he understood the harmony of flavors and had excellent culinary skills. Even the summer-relief plums he made were delicious.
Lu Ying ate more than half of them that morning.
Lu Bing went to the palace and did not return until evening, just before the office closed, his complexion somewhat off.
Lu Ying quickly dissolved the circulation-activating pills Ding Wu had brought. After Lu Bing took the medicine, she noticed a smoky, fire-scorched smell on her father, as if he had spent the entire day in a winter smokehouse curing meat.
Lu Ying immediately understood what her father had been doing that day. "Father, were you assisting the Emperor in alchemy today?"
Lu Bing drank the medicine and lay back on the folding chair. "Yes, the Emperor held a fasting ceremony today. I wrote a green verse to pray to heaven. Later, the Emperor opened a batch of freshly refined elixirs and, saying my green verse was well-written, bestowed one upon me."
Green verses were parallel prose essays written with vermilion ink on green vine paper, read aloud during fasting ceremonies, and then burned.
The Jiajing Emperor had not held court for over thirty years. After handling state affairs in the Western Garden, he devoted himself to cultivating immortality and refining elixirs. The Grand Secretariat ministers, catering to his preferences, all excelled at writing green verses. Most of the green verses by Grand Secretary Yan Song were actually penned by his son, Yan Shifan.
Yan Shifan's deep favor with the Jiajing Emperor was closely tied to his skill in writing green verses.
Lu Ying felt her blood rush to her head. "Father, did you take the elixir?"
Lu Bing nodded. "What the Emperor bestows is all imperial grace. How could I refuse? I took it on the spot."
"Summon Physician Song at once!" Lu Ying immediately ordered her trusted aide. She urged her father, "Elixirs are poisonous and should not be consumed. Who has ever ascended to immortality by taking them? Ascending to heaven, perhaps. The Emperor has been obsessed with this for years—how can you not see through it? Besides, you've already suffered a stroke. How can you recklessly take elixirs?"Lu Bing sighed, "I have no choice but to eat it. Back then, Wu Jinghe, the emperor's brother-in-law, refused to write Taoist prayer texts and declined to take the Elixir bestowed by the emperor. He provoked the emperor's wrath, was stripped of his title as imperial son-in-law, reduced to a commoner, and exiled back to his hometown. The emperor only has one elder sister, who married Wu Jinghe. Despite such a close relationship, wasn't he still exiled without hesitation? I cannot follow in Wu Jinghe's footsteps. If I were sent back to my hometown, what would become of the emperor?"
Wu Jinghe was the imperial son-in-law of Princess Yongfu and had once been the top martial scholar. The princess and her consort were deeply devoted to each other, and the Jiajing Emperor held this brother-in-law in high regard. Unfortunately, Princess Yongfu died too young, leaving no children. Wu Jinghe, being deeply affectionate, never remarried or took concubines to bear heirs, remaining alone his entire life. He was straightforward by nature and disapproved of his brother-in-law Jiajing's alchemical pursuits, even daring to confront him directly. As a result, he was dismissed from his position and made a commoner.
Even Wu Jinghe met such an end—how could Lu Bing dare risk angering the emperor? He treated the elixirs like candy.
Author's Note: Living off patronage is too sweet—one lifetime isn't enough, so here's another. Last time it was Eunuch Mai Fu, and now characters from the old story "Storm in the Mu Residence" make a cameo again. Wu Jinghe was Niu Er, and his bond with Princess Yongfu was indeed "deep affection cut short by fate."
OpenNovel