Chapter 53
LIN QINGYU DIDN’T SEE Shen Huaishi as a friend, but he knew quite well what the man had been through. The shadow guard had known Xiao Cheng since they were children and had begun learning martial arts to protect him. He’d positioned himself as the prince’s loyal servant. Xiao Cheng had saved his life once, which had been all the more reason for Shen Huaishi—who thought it necessary to repay every act of kindness—to obey the crown prince’s every command.
Objectively, Shen Huaishi was a passable servant. However, what Lin Qingyu wanted was not Xiao Cheng’s loyal lackey, but someone he could use to kill the crown prince.
He’d tried repeatedly to sway Shen Huaishi to his side, only to achieve inadequate results. It was evident now that if Lin Qingyu wanted to make use of Shen Huaishi, his words alone would be far from enough—he would have to do something more drastic.
Faced with Shen Huaishi’s silence, Lin Qingyu didn’t bother saying any more on the subject. “Show me your injuries,” he ordered instead.
The ointment Shen Huaishi had grabbed was usually for consorts who had experienced the emperor’s favor for the first time. Shen Huaishi was clearly suffering from injuries in an area most people would hesitate to mention.
Shen Huaishi looked up abruptly. The flush that had receded crept up his neck again as he fell into dumbfounded silence.
“I’m a physician—I’ve seen everything there is to see,” Lin Qingyu told him impassively.
Shen Huaishi shot up from his seat, his words coming out in a barrage. “They’re nothing serious. And I have something to attend to now, so—”
“For someone as physically strong as you to come here for medicine, you must be suffering from significant injuries. You needn’t feel shy—I don’t like men.” Lin Qingyu paused, feeling vaguely as if what he’d just said wasn’t quite right.
Shen Huaishi was on the verge of prostrating himself just so that Lin Qingyu would stop talking. “Thank you, Imperial Physician Lin, but I’ll go now.”
The moment he did turn to leave, a voice came from outside the door. “Who’s in there in the middle of the night?”
Lin Qingyu recognized the voice—it belonged to Hong Changfeng, a sixth-rank imperial physician. A feud had developed between them after Hong Changfeng gave Lin Qingyu erroneous information that delayed the delivery of Gu Fuzhou’s antidote.
Now that Lin Rushan had been demoted, Hong Changfeng no longer bothered to conceal his jealousy and hatred of Lin Qingyu. He deliberately used terms like “male wife” in front of Lin Qingyu, assigned him night shifts frequently, and gave him unpopular tasks like treating the late emperor’s worst-tempered elderly consort or tackling patients with off-putting symptoms.
Lin Qingyu didn’t have strong feelings about all that. Probably because he’d become close with Hu Ji, he’d grown to see all patients as equal. A life saved was a life saved, even if it was a servant’s. But if Hong Changfeng insisted on causing Lin Qingyu trouble outside that, Lin Qingyu would definitely give the other man a piece of his mind.
Unsurprisingly, Hong Changfeng frowned the moment he saw Lin Qingyu. “It’s already past curfew. What are you doing, sneaking around in the apothecary?”
“His Majesty granted me permission to enter and leave the premises as I please,” Lin Qingyu replied coldly. “Do you know what that means?”
Hong Changfeng had no response ready, but he didn’t want to lose face just like that, so he turned on Shen Huaishi accusingly. “Who are you, and what are you holding?”
Shen Huaishi pressed his lips together. Noticing his reluctance to divulge his identity, Lin Qingyu said, “He’s a good friend of mine.”
Shen Huaishi looked at Lin Qingyu’s profile, stunned. The constant meekness and obedience in his gaze lightened as something else flickered in his eyes.
Hong Changfeng thought that he could hold this against Lin Qingyu. “His Majesty granted permission to you, not your friend, and yet you’ve brought him here this late at night and let him steal,” he lambasted the junior physician. “Are you so arrogant that rules and regulations mean nothing to you?”
Shen Huaishi opened his mouth, wanting to explain, but Lin Qingyu stopped him. “This was an oversight on my part. I’ll apologize to Head Imperial Physician Chu tomorrow. Shen-xiong, put that medicine back for now.”
Hong Changfeng smirked. “You’d better go apologize in person, or I’ll take the appropriate measures as your colleague. Don’t blame me for that when the time comes.”
Having said that, he turned and left.
“I got you in trouble,” Shen Huaishi said guiltily.
“That may not be the case.” Lin Qingyu gave him a small smile. “On the contrary, you may have done me a great favor.”
“I may have done you a favor?” Shen Huaishi repeated doubtfully.
“That depends on how deeply the crown prince cares about you.”
“His Highness doesn’t care about me, I’m sure,” Shen Huaishi murmured.
Lin Qingyu didn’t comment on that. “We’ll see.”
From the moment Lin Qingyu stepped through the door the next day, Hong Changfeng’s gaze was on him constantly. He even took care to oh-so-kindly remind Lin Qingyu about the matter during their midday meal. “When will you apologize to Head Imperial Physician Chu, Imperial Physician Lin?”
Lin Qingyu didn’t even deign to look at him. “Now.”
Chu Zhengde didn’t work in the same space as the other imperial physicians. He had his own room—which, not long ago, had been Lin Rushan’s.
Lin Qingyu announced his arrival with a knock on the door, then entered the room when asked to, greeting the man inside. “Head Imperial Physician Chu.”
Chu Zhengde was in the middle of writing a prescription for the emperor. He hadn’t managed to devise anything innovative and effective despite shedding all his white hair in the process of attempting to do so. Naturally, upon seeing Lin Qingyu, he had nothing good to say. “Ah—what a rare guest I have here. You don’t usually think so highly of me, Imperial Physician Lin; you must be here about something important.”
Lin Qingyu got straight to the point. “I know of one way to treat His Majesty’s condition.”
“You?” Chu Zhengde glowered. “As if you could have any good ideas.” Before Lin Qingyu could answer, he added, “Or do you have the same thing in mind as your father—treating His Majesty with poisonous insects?”
“You should know how effective those insects from the South can be, Head Imperial Physician Chu,” Lin Qingyu said.
Chu Zhengde’s sardonic expression was replaced with something more serious. “The South is far away from the Central Plains, and people here cower at even a passing mention of those poisonous insects. During the late emperor’s reign, his consorts and concubines used such insects to harm his children. His Majesty is the most revered person in Great Yu—the empress and crown prince would never allow such filth to fester in His Majesty’s body.”
“What you call ‘filth’ can be ground into powder and made into medicine. That’s not as effective as live insects, but it could still alleviate His Majesty’s headaches.”
Chu Zhengde sneered. “That’s easy for a naive young man like you to say. You want His Majesty to ingest a powder made completely from dead insects without added herbs or ingredients that could enhance its medicinal effects. How would that be different from an attempt at regicide?”
“A miracle physician from the South and I found the herbs best suited for this purpose.” Lin Qingyu pulled a sheet of paper from inside his sleeve—the fruit of their labor over the past few days. “This is the prescription, complete with the exact quantities of the ingredients required and how they should be added.”
Chu Zhengde stared at Lin Qingyu in disbelief for a while, then snatched the prescription and took it in hungrily.
“You can read through the prescription yourself and conduct a trial before making a decision,” Lin Qingyu said indifferently. “I’ll take my leave now.”
While Lin Qingyu spoke to Chu Zhengde in private, Hu Ji visited the Eastern Palace. Xiao Cheng hadn’t been able to get any shuteye for the past two days, troubled by the military officials’ demands for an audience with him. Noble Consort Chen had noticed that he didn’t look well when he came to greet her that morning, so she’d told Hu Ji to look the crown prince over at the Eastern Palace.
Hu Ji took Xiao Cheng’s pulse. “You’re fine, Your Highness, just tired from a lack of sleep. I’ll give you a dose of calming medicine, and you should sleep better after taking it.”
Xiao Cheng waved for Hu Ji to leave, his eyes shut. He did not expect the physician to add, “I have something to report to you, Your Highness.”
“Oh?” Xiao Cheng opened his eyes. “What do you—a mere imperial physician—have to report?” he drawled.
“Guard Shen went to the Imperial Academy of Medicine for ointment last night, only to be driven out by Imperial Physician Hong Changfeng. Guard Shen was quite seriously injured when he arrived, so much that it affected his gait. Only when I asked him did I learn that he works for you, Your Highness,” Hu Ji said, withdrawing a full case of ointment from his medicine chest. “I worried that Guard Shen couldn’t treat his wounds when he needed to, so I brought the ointment with me today.”
Hearing that his shadow guard had been bullied worsened Xiao Cheng’s bad mood. “I didn’t know about this,” he said coldly, his gaze darkening with rage.
“Imperial Physician Hong didn’t know who Guard Shen was. He mistook him for a thief, which caused this misunderstanding,” Hu Ji answered deferentially.
Xiao Cheng had indeed unleashed his lust on Shen Huaishi the previous night, but he hadn’t thought that Shen Huaishi would neglect to apply medicine to the spots that had become tender. “He’s as good as mute,” he snapped.