Lin Mengya smiled demurely at the crowd, but no one dared respond to her.
Her expression was definitely one belonging to a little devil. It could well give people nightmares.
“Why? Does no one believe me? If you’re worried that your lives may be put in danger, please don’t. My teacher once said that even if a silver needle were to remain in someone’s body, he would only be half paralyzed. He would not die from it.”
Lin Mengya waved the silver needle in her hand as if she were an incarnated little devil, giving the people the chills.
“This… this won’t do. Please stop playing jokes on us, the lowly officials. We’ve not even heard of the art of needle control, right?”
All the people were starting to back out. They had been merely joking when they had said they had been sacrificing themselves for the sake of medical science.
Lin Mengya had long expected such reactions from them, so she merely grinned but remained silent. The art of needle control was something alien to people in general, and it was common for people to be apprehensive and fearful of the unknown.
Given that it was a natural instinct, there was nothing Lin Mengya could do about it.
After she managed to frighten the men, Lin Mengya held out the silver needle to point randomly at the people. Then she eventually pointed it at Pearl and Agate, who had been gloating over the misfortune of those men just a moment ago.
“After pondering for a while, I realized that all of you, officials, are the pillars of our nation, and the nation can’t do without you. How about we have these two maids to do it on your behalf? What do you think of the suggestion?”
As Lin Mengya spoke those words, the entire group of officials and subjects rejoiced like they had been liberated after having a close shave with death.
On the other hand, Pearl and Agate’s faces instantly drained of their colors.
The silver needles looked so long. Good heavens! Would they survive them?
“Princess! Please don’t do that! Now we… we know that we’ve done wrong. We won’t act rashly ever again. Please forgive your servants.”
Was it not too late to kneel before Lin Mengya to ask for mercy at this moment when mishap befell them?
Lin Mengya had totally no intention of harming their lives. She had meant this incident to be a warning this time. To flatter the powerful and trample on the weak was an intolerable act in the palace.
No one was able to predict who would become the master over the other the next moment, and their life would be in the hands of the master.
Pearl and Agate were so terrified that they were trembling all over.
“This is indeed a perfect solution. Although we’ve neither seen nor heard of the princess’ skill in the art of needle control, there are so many famous physicians present. Rest assured, ladies, that your lives would not be in danger. Why don’t you do us this favor?”
Su Tong had conveniently made himself Lin Mengya’s mouthpiece.
The two girls began weeping miserably, more miserably than if their parents had passed away. However, Lin Mengya was unmoved, and her expression remained indifferent.
Her intention was clear. It seemed that the two girls had no choice, regardless of whether they agreed to it or not.
“Please don’t, Princess Yu. We are sorry for what we’ve done. It all because Aunt Qinglan—”
Before they completed their sentence, Lin Mengya swiftly and neatly administered the silver needles into the acupoint at the back of their necks when their heads were lowered while weeping.
Instantly, the two girls with their big round eyes filled with tears fell to the ground, paralyzed.
Lin Mengya ambidextrously administered more needles onto the two girls with such speed that astonished even the famous physicians who were looking on.
They were thinking in their hearts that if they were the ones administering the needles, these two girls would have been dead by now.
“Get up and stand here, Pearl. Agate, you lie down flat on the bed.”
Lin Mengya instructed with a clear voice while the fingers of her hands moved in a strange manner as she manipulated the movements of the two girls.
Under the shocked gaze of everyone present, Pearl and Agate respectively fulfilled exactly what Lin Mengya had instructed each of them to do.
Lin Mengya was rather pleased with herself that, in fact, the System of the Farmer God had done the analysis before but had failed to fully understand this bizarre needle technique. Lin Mengya, too, did not understand why these strange hand gestures could control the silver needles.
“The skill to control the needle lies in the hand of the person who administers them. He is able to control the needles through special techniques. I am going to show you the art of the You Embroidery now.”
The administration of the You Embroidery was not only profound, but it was also extremely dangerous.
To pierce the internal organs was still not a big deal, but if the needle were to penetrate into the heart because of a minor mistake, it would cost the life of the person even in the presence of best doctors.
However, Lin Mengya was not at all afraid. To her, controlling a silver needle was easy-peasy.
Nevertheless, she had to make it look like it was ‘extremely risky’ so that those people would be frightened.
She used special skills to put a relatively short silver needle into Pearl’s wrist. There was fear in her eyes as she looked on. It was as if the needle had come alive and bored into her arm.
“Don’t be afraid. In fact, you should not be feeling any pain. The needle only moves along the channels by which vital energy circulates in the body and will by no means harm your body. If anything goes wrong, I will get it out of your body immediately.”
Lin Mengya smiled gently as she spoke, but she was sure Pearl was cursing in her heart by now.
Who would have known that this docile-looking Princess Yu was such a vicious but silent killer.
She was even more dreadful than the demons described in scriptures.
“In order for everyone to have a better view, I’ve specially chosen a more superficial channel by which vital energy circulates. If you can’t see clearly from where you are, you may come nearer to have a closer look. The needle will take some time to travel all over the channel. If you’re curious, you may even try to feel it through the skin.”
While Lin Mengya used her hand gestures to control the You Embroidery, she was simultaneously explaining like an affable commentator in the zoo.
Lin Mengya had created an enormous dark shadow over the heart of Pearl. On the other hand, the great physicians, who had just had a close shave with death, had begun giving play to their study and research instinct.
They were hesitant to step forward just a moment ago, but now, they had all come to surround Pearl.
“This is indeed miraculous! However, I heard that the art of needle control is able to directly eliminate the focus of a disease in one’s body. Is that true?”
Su Tong was naturally the one who had come closest to Pearl. He was undoubtedly the boldest of them all in that he had even mustered his courage to feel the You Embroidery when it passed through Pearl’s neck.
It was indeed a stiff silver needle, but his move almost caused Pearl to urinate in her pants. If Lin Mengya had not pierced her acupoint to prevent her from doing so, she would have utterly embarrassed herself by now.
At that moment, Pearl gave Su Tong a glare filled with rage with her big round eyes.
“Erm, that is indeed true. When I was administering the needle on Pearl’s acupoint a moment ago, I realized that she has stones in her stomach. Since all of you seem so keen, let me do a demonstration. However, it might be a little painful, Pearl. Please hang on.”
Lin Mengya commenced the demonstration almost with a mischievous intention to play a joke on Pearl.
In reality, the stone in Pearl’s body was not a serious problem. She only needed to drink more water to get it out of her body. Unfortunately, she had bumped into Lin Mengya today, like a day hell for her that started spectacularly.
The process of getting rid of the stone was supposedly not too painful. However, the pain seemed to have escalated ten times because of the psychological effect on Pearl when Lin Mengya had said those words to scare her.
“Damn, don’t you tense up, Pearl! You’re making me nervous as you get nervous. Although the silver needle usually obeys my command, it would be disastrous if the needle starts to roam. Are you feeling a prickly pain on your heart now?”
In reality, Lin Mengya was not controlling the You Embroidery. She was, in fact, making use of the silver needle in Pearl’s neck to hypnotize her.
By now, tears were streaming down the lass’ cheeks. She thought she was surely going to die.
In that instant, her face had drained of all its colors. She was truly terrified.
“I had made a mistake, but rest assured, it will be corrected in no time.”
As Lin Mengya continued acting in her monodrama, the hearts of the people from the Court of Imperial Physicians were rising one after another.
While Lin Mengya was enjoying herself, Pearl was scared out of her wits. It was then that Lin Mengya began to gradually complete the process so that the silver needle finally emerged from Pearl’s mouth.
“It’s come out. Come and have a look, this is the needle that I had administered on her body a moment ago.”
After Lin Mengya drew out the tiny silver needle from Pearl’s trembling lips, she wrapped it in a handkerchief and lifted it up in the air.
All the people gathered around it to take a closer look. However, nobody troubled to ask about Pearl, who had been scared out of her wits.
“Apologies for my itch to exercise my skill that caused Miss Pearl your misery.”
The moment Lin Mengya took out the needle, Pearl fell to the ground, paralyzed as she gazed at Lin Mengya with eyes filled with terror.
“This is indeed a miracle! Little did I expect to witness such skill in administering the needle, which had been lost over time. It’s so bizarre and unthinkable!”
Lin Mengya might not know what Su Tong was thinking in his heart, but he had apparently started to treat Lin Mengya as an immortal.
Lin Mengya did not put on a triumphant look on her face. She tried to look modest. Faced with the many questions from the group of physicians, Lin Mengya merely answered them selectively.
After a few coughs, Pearl spat out a grey stone from her throat.
Being sharp and quick to react, the imperial physicians caught the stone in a handkerchief and began studying it together.
“For someone to arrive at this skill level in administering the needle, you have definitely spent years practicing. Your Highness the princess, I wonder who your teacher is. We would like to meet with him.”
Su Tong smiled as he spoke, but Lin Mengya merely smiled and shook her head. As she had rehearsed with her teacher, she replied saying, “My teacher is into all things heterodoxy, and he is also antisocial and eccentric. Moreover, he had set out to tour around the world half a year ago. Even I won’t get to see him. My apologies for not being of help.”
Immediately, a look of disappointment appeared on Su Tong’s face.
Lin Mengya’s teacher had once cautioned her against this person if she met him. Although Lin Mengya did not know the reason, she believed that her teacher would never mean harm to her.
“Sigh, how regretful. However, the miracle-working doctors among the common folks do like to travel around to the four corners of the world to bring benefits to the people. This is something we hold a candle to. Thank you so much for today, Your Highness. You’ve indeed given us, a group of old people, a good lesson.”
