Chapter 110: The Grand Princess's Worry

At that moment, Xiao Tianzhen’s eyelids stirred and he woke from his sleep. His hand shifted slightly. Realizing someone was taking his pulse, he moved his gaze from his mother’s face to Niu Youdao’s and stared at him for a while before suddenly asking, “How much longer can I live?”

Niu Youdao smiled. “In any case, you’re not going to die.”

The words were purely meant to comfort him. The boy was no longer a small child. Even if no one told him anything, he could guess that his condition was poor. Niu Youdao could hardly tell him outright that he did not have long to live.

“Truly?” Xiao Tianzhen pressed.

Niu Youdao’s easy tone filled Hai Ruyue’s eyes with expectation as well.

Niu Youdao smiled and nodded to Xiao Tianzhen, then lifted his fingers from the boy’s pulse.

He was smiling outwardly, but his mood was heavy. Not for any other reason, only because he pitied the youth lying in that sickbed. How much suffering had this boy endured from childhood until now?

Niu Youdao had come here because of Shang Chaozong’s plan to annex Qingshan Commandery, not to treat Xiao Tianzhen’s illness. He knew some traditional Chinese medicine and some Western medical methods. In his previous life, he had even been more capable than an ordinary practitioner of Chinese medicine in certain respects and knew some prescriptions that ordinary physicians did not. But he had never been a professional doctor, and what he knew was limited.

Of course, he also hoped he might solve Xiao Tianzhen’s illness along the way. That would give him greater leverage in what came afterward. But in truth, he could not even diagnose what illness Xiao Tianzhen had. Others, at least, had managed to name it Heavenly Yin Damaged Meridians. Niu Youdao could only determine the physical condition; he did not even understand what had caused it.

When he withdrew the Qian qi from Xiao Tianzhen’s meridians, he immediately noticed the same thing again. He had clearly expelled the cold from the meridians and warmed both the meridians and the entire body, but once the Qian qi retreated, cold emerged from some unknown source within them once more. He believed it would not be long before it spread through the entire body again.

A very strange illness. Niu Youdao had no clear idea of its cause and naturally no effective way to cure it.

He tucked Xiao Tianzhen’s hand back under the blanket, rose, and walked outside.

Hai Ruyue immediately followed. Zhu Shun quickly gestured for the servants to take good care of Xiao Tianzhen.

After the group emerged from the room, Zhu Shun asked, “Cultivator, do you practice a yang-aspected cultivation method?”

Niu Youdao asked mildly, “Why do you say that?”

Zhu Shun replied, “In the past, to save the Young Master, we invited people who cultivated yang-aspected methods. During treatment, the Young Master showed symptoms similar to what we just saw.”

Niu Youdao gave a quiet “Oh,” but did not answer whether his own cultivation method was yang-aspected.

The group returned to the hall. Hai Ruyue could finally hold herself back no longer. “Cultivator, what did you find?”

Niu Youdao shook his head with complete frankness. “Your son’s illness is very strange. For the moment, I have no way to cure it.”

Yuan Fang’s heart nearly leapt out of his chest. He groaned inwardly. Master Dao, Master Dao, what are you doing? This can get us killed!

Sure enough, Zhu Shun’s face darkened instantly, and he fixed Niu Youdao with a cold stare.

Hai Ruyue’s expression likewise turned frosty. “Niu Youdao, you dare make sport of me?”

Niu Youdao chuckled. “The Grand Princess is too impatient. I only said I have no way for the moment, not that I will never have one. What I want to know now is whether a Scarlet Yang Vermilion Fruit truly can cure your son.”

Hai Ruyue paused and stared at him through clenched irritation. This man always seemed to produce one twist after another simply to provoke people. Would it kill him to finish what he had to say all at once? She wanted to lose her temper, yet could not quite do so; she wanted not to lose it, yet could not help wanting to. He left her with nowhere to vent, and the frustration was suffocating.

Zhu Shun answered from the side, “There should be no mistake. We invited many experts to examine him, and all said that a Scarlet Yang Vermilion Fruit could cure the Young Master’s Heavenly Yin Damaged Meridians. The Sect Leader of Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion personally came to examine him and said the same. There can be no error.”

Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion was the cultivation sect supporting Jinzhou from behind the scenes, and one of the great sects of the State of Zhao.

Niu Youdao said, “In other words, as long as I can obtain a Scarlet Yang Vermilion Fruit for the Grand Princess, my promise is considered fulfilled. Whether it actually cures him afterward has nothing to do with me. Is that correct?”

His words inevitably kindled another thread of hope.

Hai Ruyue answered decisively, “Correct. As long as you can obtain a Scarlet Yang Vermilion Fruit, you will have fulfilled your promise. You need not concern yourself with anything else. I will immediately dispatch troops to support Shang Chaozong!”

“This isn’t something that can be explained in a sentence or two. Could we sit down and discuss it slowly?” Niu Youdao suddenly spread his hands and changed the subject.

Hai Ruyue wanted to spit in his face. After all this maneuvering with nothing to show for it, he still wanted to sit down? In a while, she would see where he planned to put that head of his.

After all, Niu Youdao had killed Song Long, the State of Yan envoy. If she killed him now and claimed she had acted according to law, probably no one would say much.

Still, she suppressed her anger for the moment, gestured for him to sit, then swept her long skirt aside and took the principal seat herself. Zhu Shun stepped outside to give an order, and servants soon brought tea.

Everyone’s attention remained fixed on Niu Youdao. Yuan Fang and Fang Zhe were both on edge, yet Niu Youdao looked utterly unhurried and composed. He slowly lifted his tea, took a sip, and leisurely set the cup back down. Only then did he ask, “Grand Princess, have you ever considered what happens if the Scarlet Yang Vermilion Fruit fails to cure your son?”

Hai Ruyue said coldly, “That is not something you need concern yourself with. You only need to obtain the Scarlet Yang Vermilion Fruit for me!”

Niu Youdao replied evenly, “And if it cannot cure him?”

Hai Ruyue snapped, “Are you hoping my son dies young?”

“The Grand Princess goes too far. I have neither grievance nor enmity with your son. I’m not so lacking in conscience as to wish such a thing. I am merely trying to reason this through calmly.”

“I have no need to hear your reasoning. Are you planning to invent some smooth-tongued excuse to wriggle out of obtaining the Scarlet Yang Vermilion Fruit?” Hai Ruyue warned him. “I have yielded to you again and again. There will be no further concessions on this matter. If you cannot produce it, the Song family will not need to make a move!”

Niu Youdao remained steady and composed. “Since I gave the Grand Princess my word, naturally I will not break it. I said that if I could not cure your son, I would find a Scarlet Yang Vermilion Fruit, and I will honor that promise. I also said before that I would resolve the Grand Princess’s most urgent predicament. I will honor that as well. Two matters. I will deal with both of them for the Grand Princess!”

Hai Ruyue froze for a moment. She remembered now. Niu Youdao had indeed said before that he would resolve some urgent predicament for her. At the time, she had assumed he meant treating her son’s illness. Only now did she realize he had been talking about two separate matters, and had even taken both upon himself, claiming he would solve them together. What was the other matter?

She glanced at Zhu Shun, who looked equally puzzled. Clearly, he did not know what Niu Youdao meant either. Hai Ruyue could only answer, “My most urgent predicament is my son’s illness. Once my son recovers, everything else will naturally resolve itself.”

Niu Youdao asked, “So in the Grand Princess’s view, for the moment the crux of the problem still lies with the Scarlet Yang Vermilion Fruit?”

Hai Ruyue said, “Does it not?”

Niu Youdao said, “Can the Grand Princess guarantee that the Scarlet Yang Vermilion Fruit will cure your son? What if some unexpected complication occurs and it does not?” He suddenly rose and walked over to Zhu Shun. Looking directly at him, he said, “Would Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion not choose someone else to inherit Jinzhou’s foundation? Is that not one reason the Grand Princess is so anxious to cure the young Provincial Inspector?”

He turned and walked toward Hai Ruyue as he continued. “As I understand it, after Xiao Huang passed away, Xiao Bieshan was frail and sickly, unfit to continue presiding over Jinzhou’s military and civil affairs. Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion feared disorder in Jinzhou and already intended to replace him with someone else. It was only because the Grand Princess used her own ability to assist the Prince Consort, and because Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion still remembered that the Xiao family had served it for so many years and did not wish to chill the hearts of those beneath them, that the plan was never carried out.”

He stopped before Hai Ruyue and watched the changing expression on her face. “After Xiao Bieshan passed away, his son was both young and physically weak, in even worse condition than Xiao Bieshan. Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion once again seemed inclined to replace the family, while people below began exchanging meaningful looks with the sect, hoping to take the Inspector’s position for themselves. Once again, the Grand Princess acted in time with iron-blooded measures and carried out a purge, suppressing the matter.”

“If some accident occurs and the Scarlet Yang Vermilion Fruit fails, once the Xiao family’s name is gone and with it the prestige the Xiao family has accumulated in Jinzhou over so many years, how long can the Grand Princess continue suppressing those below? Can you repeatedly resort to iron-blooded measures in Jinzhou? Instability in Jinzhou is certainly not something Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion wishes to see. And once the old ties between the Xiao family and Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion are gone, when the sect decides to sever the relationship, it will probably do so without hesitation. Where will the Grand Princess go then? Is that not the Grand Princess’s most urgent predicament?”

After saying all this, Niu Youdao returned to his seat.

These details were among the matters Fang Zhe had reported to him in full after Niu Youdao arrived in Jinzhou and requested the information.

His words left Hai Ruyue heavy-hearted, but she still sneered. “You certainly concern yourself with a great many things. I am the Grand Princess of the State of Zhao. His Majesty, the present emperor, is my elder brother, and the present Empress Dowager is my own mother. If I no longer wish to remain in Jinzhou, I can simply return to the capital and live out my days in wealth and comfort.”

“Then why has the Grand Princess struggled so bitterly to hold on here? Why not give this place up long ago and take your son to the capital to enjoy wealth and splendor?”

Niu Youdao countered her with a single sentence, then lifted his teacup and smiled faintly. “Leaving aside whether Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion would even allow the Grand Princess to depart with Jinzhou’s secrets, Jinzhou has relied on its own military strength for years. How many imperial clansmen and powerful nobles in the capital has that offended? I believe that if the Grand Princess returned to the capital, you would never lack food or clothing. But someone who spent years opposing the court would then return to the capital alone and pretend nothing had ever happened. Does the Grand Princess truly think that possible? Could the emperor encourage such a precedent?”

“With Jinzhou involved, could they possibly refrain from interrogating the Grand Princess until every detail was clear, from forcing you to account for everything completely? These are matters of state. Could the Empress Dowager cover the sky with one hand and stop it all? The Grand Princess grew up inside the imperial palace. You should understand certain people’s faces better than I do. Do you dare return? And even if you did, could life in the capital compare with being able to summon wind and rain here in Jinzhou?”

Hai Ruyue flushed with anger and embarrassment. Her voice sharpened. “What does any of that have to do with you?”

Niu Youdao replied calmly, “I already said it. I intend to resolve this most urgent predicament for the Grand Princess.”

Hai Ruyue’s face filled with mockery. “You needed to beg others just to deal with Song Long. Don’t tell me you can somehow control affairs in the capital of the State of Zhao as well.”

Niu Youdao smiled. “I don’t even know which direction the gates of the capital of the State of Zhao face. I have no such ability. But keeping Jinzhou firmly in the Grand Princess’s hands indefinitely? That, I can do.”

[End of Chapter 110]