Chapter 344: A big disaster
The roof of the imperial palace was situated directly opposite the guesthouse in the Duke of Qin’s estate. Long Feiye elegantly withdrew his bow, his face was completely cold and expressionless. A guard rushed forward to take away the weapon, leaving him to stand with hands behind his back while staring at the door to the guesthouse. An icy breeze fluttered past his ink-black cloak.
Soon enough, the door to the guesthouse opened to reveal Zhao mama running out in a hurry. She was shouting something unintelligible. It wasn’t long before Imperial Physician Huang arrived with his medical kit in tow. A bit after that, the estate’s archers arrived as well to surround the guest house on all sides. Finally, Long Feiye furrowed his eyebrows, turning his expression somewhat uncertain.
Still, he kept calm and remained on watch.
Soon enough, yet another guard rushed over with a report. “Here to report from the Tang Clan, a messenger pigeon brought news that the young Tang master’s already been placed into a sedan chair off to meet his bride. The situation…doesn’t look good.”
Long Feiye was supposed to stay a few more days at the Tang Clan. According to his plan, he’d personally rescue Tang Li and take him away, then go with him to Pill Fiend Valley to take revenge on Gu Qi Sha. Unfortunately, he actually left ahead of schedule, leaving Tang Li feeling even gloomier than before. Today was the day of Tang Li’s wedding, but Tang Li was already on his way to get married.
“Your lordship has already arranged everything for him. If he still can’t escape, there’s no need for him to find me anymore,” Long Feiye said coldly.
“Yes!” the guard said as he respectfully withdrew.
Long Feiye settled to sit down on the roof, staring with interest at the guesthouse door. His assorted bodyguards standing watch on the side could only sigh with emotion. After following His Highness Duke of Qin for so many years, they’d never seen him deal so patiently with any man. Gu Beiyue had to be the first.
Currently, the atmosphere was extremely somber within the guesthouse. Nobody expected a stray arrow to enter the room after the assassins left. Han Yunxi had helped Gu Beiyue stop the bleeding in the wake of the chaos, while Imperial Physician Huang was helping to remove the arrowhead now. Gu Beiyue had just regained consciousness, so his body was weak to begin with. The arrow had struck him precisely in the center of his abdomen, making it a mortal wound.
“Judging by the depth, aye…” Imperial Physician Huang had already heaved multiple sighs. The average arrow length meant that the tip of this one had stabbed directly into Gu Beiyue’s dantian (丹田) region–an area three inches below the navel. Though only a fraction of the arrow had penetrated into his flesh, the location was enough to take his life. He had no idea how much blood Gu Beiyue would lose if he took the arrow out, much less the degree of injury it’d do to his dantain acupuncture point. Gu Beiyue was still conscious now, but once they took out the arrow, would he…
Han Yunxi was clear on this as well, having examined Gu Beiyue long before Imperial Physician Huang arrived. Both of them couldn’t bear to imagine the consequences of removing the arrowhead. She dearly wished that Gu Beiyue knew martial arts, because it’d make things much easier. If he could lightly circulate his internal energy, then it’d shake the arrow right out. But the world was rarely full of such maybes!
Han Yunxi wished she could think up other solutions too, but her mind was in too much chaos right now. She still had no idea what was going on with today’s assassination attempt. Was this arrow related to the assassins? Just who were they aiming at? Her mind was full of regrets at getting to know Gu Beiyue in the first place. He had spent so many years as the Head Imperial Physician while playing it safe and remaining uninvolved. He had never offended anyone in power, but after meeting her, he became the target of public criticism, framed on false charges, locked in the imperial prisons, and tormented and tortured! His wisdom and temper would have ensured he had a peaceful life in Tianning if he never got involved with her!
Imperial Physician Huang finished his examination and carefully told Gu Beiyue all the details. Gu Beiyue’s medical skills were far superior to Imperial Physician Huang’s. It’d be best to let the victim decide about the arrow while he was still conscious!
Pulling it out could result in uncontrolled blood loss that led to death; keeping it in could cause inflammation and infection over time, delaying his death while making it more terrible. All the fuss had already left Gu Beiyue’s lips colorless. He listened carefully to Imperial Physician Huang’s words while his eyes flickered imperceptibly to Chu Xifeng, who was standing on one side. The glance was so quick that Chu Xifeng didn’t even notice.
“Imperial Physician Gu, this is the current situation. You should decide on your own.” Imperial Physician Huang looked extremely grave. The dangers were equal for leaving the arrow or pulling it out. Gu Beiyue’s choice was a life-and-death decision. As the room fell silent, everyone watched Gu Beiyue as they waited for his reply. Time trickled by, before a smile revealed itself on Gu Beiyue’s face.
“Esteemed wangfei, you were the one that rescued this official’s life. Please make the choice for this official.”
Han Yunxi turned her head aside, her eyebrows furrowed! Gu Beiyue’s handing his life over to me!
“Esteemed wangfei, don’t be afraid. This official believes in you.” If Han Yunxi had turned around now, she would have seen his smile as warm as an April spring breeze and found strength from that warmth. Unfortunately, she didn’t dare to turn her head. If this was her own body at stake, she’d make a choice without hesitation, but when faced with Gu Beiyue…she couldn’t bear to act ruthless.
“Give me some time!” Han Yunxi said as she strode out of the room. She had to calm down. Perhaps that would allow her to think up a better idea. She didn’t stray far, but sat on the stone bench next to the door, her hands pressed against each other as they rested over her forehead to hide her anxious expression. Her fingers hid her face, but threw the entire world around her into darkness as well. There was none of the self-confidence or intellectual brilliance she’d displayed in former days.
Long Feiye watched from a distance. Finally, a flicker of dissatisfaction appeared in his eyes. He hated it when this woman grew gloomy and disappointed, especially when she was grieving for the sake of another man. Despite that, he still remained cool-headed. Some accounts could be settled later. He’d spent a ton of effort on Gu Beiyue, so there was no way he’d let that work go to waste. Gu Beiyue did know martial arts, even if Chu Xifeng couldn’t sense it from his pulse. That was already proof enough that his martial arts levels were extremely high. Moreover, he was able to restrain himself and not fight back even in the face of the recent chaos. Not only did he refuse to dodge any attacks, he didn’t even make a move to save Han Yunxi or himself. Here was clear evidence of how deeply he hid his heart!
If Long Feiye hadn’t managed to catch Gu Beiyue’s display of martial arts skills by luck, he might have kept overlooking the imperial physician. But once he was certain the other had skills, he wouldn’t go easy on him. He refused to allow such an ambiguous man to conceal himself so deeply in Tianning’s capital city, much less keep him so close to Han Yunxi’s side. A fraction of the arrow had buried itself in Gu Beiyue’s dantian region. With his current condition, the only way to expel it safely was to circulate his inner energy. He’d like to see whether Gu Beiyue chose to die–or reveal his true colors!
Long Feiye’s icy eyes shifted away from Han Yunxi as he continued to wait. Han Yunxi was deep in thought with her eyes shut, thinking and thinking. The more she thought, the more agitated she felt. There wasn’t much time left. But..
She stood up, feeling thoroughly vexed. But it was at this moment that she suddenly remembered something! Gu Beiyue had once been struck by Gu Qishao with a Plum Blossom Needle next to his heart. Luckily, the needle had missed the heart itself. She hadn’t dared to do surgery on him directly, but she had used poison to dissolve the needle within his body and save his life.
Heavens, how could I forget something so important?! I can use the same method this time!
Poison could be used to dissolve the arrowhead. Then she’d detoxify the poison from within. Why didn’t she remember she did this in the past? This was wonderful! Han Yunxi was so moved that she started jumping up and down in the courtyard, excited beyond words. Even Long Feiye could feel her joy from a distance. He narrowed his eyes so much that the guards beside him had to tremble involuntarily for esteemed wangfei’s sake!
Han Yunxi quickly entered the room. “I have a solution, we don’t need to pull out the arrow!”
Everyone turned to look at her in disbelief. Imperial Physician Huang was deeply moved. “Esteemed wangfei, what’s your good idea?”
“The same old one!” Han Yunxi grinned mysteriously.
Gu Beiyue’s lips curled up into an imperceptible grin, as if he knew her solution already.
“All of you, get out. Zhao mama, close the windows and shut the door.” Han Yunxi didn’t have time to explain herself, so she simply ordered the rest as she took out her poison, antidote, and other necessary tools.
Imperial Physician Huang couldn’t fathom what she was doing. “Esteemed wangfei, you…”
“Imperial Physician Huang, it’ll be alright…don’t worry,” Gu Beiyue said weakly.
Han Yunxi was delighted. “You remember it too?”
“Mm,” Gu Beiyue nodded with a smile.
Nobody understood the exchange between them. Chu Xifeng’s mouth was twitching uncontrollably at the sight. He was curious about Han Yunxi’s self-confidence, but conflicted as well. How was he supposed to report this to his master waiting outside? For the sake of probing Gu Beiyue, Long Feiye had used no end of work to make everything happen. To make it more realistic, he’d even sacrificed the lives of countless guards. Even his long-distance arrow had consumed quite a bit of internal energy to strike Gu Beiyue in the right spot. As Chu Xifeng moved to wait by the door, he could only pray to the gods for help in his heart: Please, have that equally intelligent and stupid woman fail!
Would Han Yunxi really fail? That was still undetermined.
Long Feiye had already stood up from his sitting position. He could see the windows of the guesthouse being closed off, and a crowd of people gathering outside the door. In other words, Han Yunxi and Gu Beiyue were now the only ones left inside. Gu Beiyue had clearly been injured in his dantian region, which was located three inches below his navel.
How is that woman planning to save Gu Beiyue?
Long Feiye’s self-possession would never lose to Gu Beiyue’s calm, but he was teetering on the edge in a situation like this!
Suddenly, Zhao mama gave an exclamation. “Not good!”
Everyone was startled by her outburst. Imperial Physician Huang hastened to ask, “Zhao mama, what is it?”
Zhao mama suddenly remembered where the arrow had struck. Everyone had been too alarmed and bewildered just then to figure out what was going on. When esteemed wangfei first helped Imperial Physician Gu stop the bleeding on his stomach, all she did was sprinkle some medicinal powder around the location of the arrowhead. Nobody had noticed anything amiss. But after shutting all the doors and windows, Zhao mama realized that this was…a big disaster!
