After about two hours, Mo Sigui emerged covered in blood, his face pale. Standing on the corridor, he silently stuffed a medicinal pill into his pipe, lit it, and took a few puffs.
Seeing his state, An Jiu guessed that things were mostly fine but still asked for confirmation, "Is everything alright now?"
"Fine," Mo Sigui replied.
Upon hearing this, Sheng Changying stood up and left.
Just as An Jiu was about to turn away, Mo Sigui spoke again, "A Jiu, stay and talk with me for a while."
An Jiu stopped.
Yet both of them remained silent.
After standing for a long while, it was Mo Sigui who broke the silence, but all he said was, "It's fine. Go back and rest."
Mo Sigui and Lou Mingyue—both stubbornly walked their chosen paths. Only if one compromised could their paths intersect. Unfortunately, Lou Mingyue was the type to follow her path to the bitter end. Though Mo Sigui wavered slightly, An Jiu didn’t believe he could be persuaded to loosen his pursuit of the way of medicine for a woman.
For those destined not to be together, too much interaction would only bring more pain.
An Jiu didn’t dwell too deeply on it. She simply thought that if something couldn’t be obtained, it was better to let go. So she didn’t try to persuade him, but neither did she leave.
Mo Sigui took puff after puff from his pipe. When the medicine in it burned out, he stuffed in another pill. By the eighth pill, An Jiu reached out and pressed down on the pipe.
"Don’t mind me, you—"
Thud!
Before Mo Sigui could finish, An Jiu chopped him unconscious with a swift strike.
"Nothing works faster than this," An Jiu muttered, grabbing his collar and dragging him inside. Seeing Lou Mingyue lying on the bed, she hesitated briefly before hoisting Mo Sigui up and laying him beside her.
After finishing this, An Jiu returned to her room to rest.
Lying on the bed in her clothes, she closed her eyes, only for an image to inexplicably surface in her mind—a room aglow with lanterns, draped in red silk. Chu Dingjiang’s deep voice as he spoke of marrying her.
Tossing and turning, the scene refused to fade.
Oddly, it hadn’t felt particularly significant at the time.
By midnight, An Jiu rose and stepped into the courtyard. The moonlight filtered through a gauzy mist, casting a hazy glow.
She stared blankly at the nearly full moon in the sky, regretting that she’d knocked Mo Sigui out...
In Shangjing, there was no moon—only heavy snow that threatened to bury the buildings. After a brief clamor in the Liao palace, silence returned.
In a side chamber, Yelü Huangwu gripped a cup tightly. The water inside had long gone cold, but her grim expression kept the attendants from daring to approach and replace it.
After about the time it took to drink a cup of tea, a eunuch hurried in and bowed to her. "Your Highness, His Majesty is out of danger. The Miracle Doctor Ning said she needs to adjust the medical formula and sent this servant to report first."
Yelü Huangwu snorted through her nose.
Uncertain of her meaning, the eunuch stood for a few moments before saying, "His Majesty still requires attendance. This servant will take his leave."
"Go," Yelü Huangwu said.
Shortly after, Ning Yanli, clad in blue robes, arrived in haste.
"Master," she bowed.
Yelü Huangwu dismissed the idle attendants and asked quietly, "How is my brother’s condition?"
"Not well," Ning Yanli never minced words with Yelü Huangwu. "Originally, it would have been the perfect time to extract the heart blood, but the miracle drug is lost. For now, there’s no better solution. I can only try to prolong his life—a year or two at least, perhaps seven or eight at most.""One or two years." Yelü Huangwu frowned. "Even if my imperial brother can wait, that heart blood will likely be gone by then."
Ning Yanli replied, "The medicinal potency of heart blood is extremely intense; one cannot consume too much daily. Since it hasn't been missing for long, there must still be a significant amount remaining."
Yelü Huangwu snorted coldly. "Wei Yunshan, imprisoned for so many years, never grew any wiser—falling before his ambitions could be realized. And Wei Yuzhi is becoming more and more useless!"
Ning Yanli dared not respond. After a pause, she heard Yelü Huangwu say, "There's no time to waste. It seems I must personally retrieve the medicine this time."
"Your Majesty, actually..." Ning Yanli hesitated, then leaned in and lowered her voice. "You need not necessarily push someone else to the throne. That heart blood could be of great use to you as well."
Slap!
Yelü Huangwu raised her hand, and Ning Yanli took the full force of the blow, a red palm mark quickly blooming on her face.
She immediately dropped to her knees.
"Ningzi, after all these years by my side, you've grown increasingly presumptuous." Yelü Huangwu's voice was calm, but her slightly lowered phoenix eyes gleamed with a cold light, like a sword unsheathed in an instant. "There are some words I never wish to hear again!"
"Yes, this subordinate knows her offense," Ning Yanli said at once.
Yelü Huangwu stood, straightening her sleeves. "You will remain in the palace to attend to the Emperor until his recovery."
Ning Yanli prostrated herself. "Yes, this subordinate obeys."
Only when the footsteps faded did Ning Yanli dare to lift her head.
Yelü Huangwu was skilled in martial arts, and the slap had been merciless. Half of Ning Yanli's face quickly swelled. After kneeling for a while, she retrieved ointment from her medicine chest and applied it to her burning cheek.
Once the medicine was applied, Ning Yanli lowered her hands and raised her head, forcing back her tears. A trace of stubbornness surfaced on her face—the last remnants of her dignity, cautiously revealed only in this solitary moment.
She had been by Yelü Huangwu's side for many years, yet she had never truly understood what this woman, so close to her in age, was thinking.
Yelü Huangwu had exhausted every effort and strategy for the Liao Kingdom. Ning Yanli refused to believe she had never coveted the throne. The Khitan had a tradition of female rulers, and Liao's history held many precedents, among them Yelü Huangwu's mother, Empress Xiao, a standout example. After years of confinement and patience, meticulously plotting in secret to help her brother reclaim the throne, Yelü Huangwu had finally restored her former glory and could once again stand openly in the Liao palace.
Yet no one knew whether this was a beginning or an end.
The depths of winter spread, soon enveloping the entire territory of the Great Song in cold.
The case of "General Ling's treason" reached its conclusion—half-destroyed letters were found in Ling Ziyue's tent, and a large cache of gold, silver, and jewels was uncovered in the cellar of his Bianjing residence. Among them were many gifts the Great Song had sent to Liao.
The cellar had originally stored vegetables and cured meats for the New Year, and frequent openings would spoil the food. With fresh ingredients readily available during this season, the Ling family had no reason to visit the cellar often. They couldn't explain how a cellar full of winter provisions had inexplicably turned into a trove of treasure!
For a time, there was no defense against the accusations.
In truth, these discoveries had been made a month prior, but the Emperor had delayed for over twenty days. He was reluctant to execute Ling Ziyue hastily, as there were no civil officials capable of truly countering Prime Minister Hua. Though the Great Song traditionally prioritized civil over military affairs, Ling Ziyue at least commanded substantial forces, providing a counterbalance to the Prime Minister.Apart from the issue of colluding with the enemy, what the emperor cared about most was whether Ling Ziyue had secretly allied with Prime Minister Hua.
However, there was still no result, and the clamor from the officials for execution grew increasingly fierce. (To be continued...)
PS: Got home at five yesterday and immediately fell asleep on the sofa. Woke up at six this morning but dozed off again within half an hour. Though there haven't been updates these past few days, I've been working on the outline. Updates resume today, and I'll start making up for missed chapters tomorrow.
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