Chapter 1128: This Is Only the Beginning

"Princess Consort, what's wrong?"

A startled cry rang out inside the room. Two maids who heard it hurried in, asking after her in alarm.

Shao Liuer had jolted upright on the bed, breathing hard, still visibly shaken. Her forehead was drenched in cold sweat.

She had remained beside Hao Zhen's sickbed for several days without even removing her clothes to sleep. Only after the retainer cultivators confirmed beyond any doubt that Hao Zhen was safe did she finally relax. By then she could no longer endure the exhaustion and at last lay down to rest.

But the nightmare had returned.

That old nightmare of being trapped inside a pig cage submerged in river water, absent for so long, had appeared again. This time there had been new scenes as well, enough to wake her in terror. Even after opening her eyes, it took her a long while to recover.

In the dream, that scholar had asked her: they had agreed on three years, so why had she not waited for him?

She had desperately tried to explain that she had believed he was dead, and so on.

But the scholar kept asking over and over why she had not waited for him. In the end, he had even drawn silver needles from his sleeve and stabbed Hao Zhen with them, then stabbed her son as well.

What occupied the heart appeared in dreams. She could dream such a thing because she had already sensed something.

Whether Wuxin admitted it or not, two people who had once truly loved each other could not spend too much time together. Otherwise, they could not hide the truth from one another.

During the time she had spent at the Ghost Doctor's disciple's residence, she had suddenly understood.

It was not that Wuxin merely resembled that scholar.

That scholar had come.

Tan Yaoxian had come.

Combining everything with the time the Ghost Doctor's disciple had appeared in the Qi capital, she now understood with perfect clarity: Tan Yaoxian had never forgotten her. He had come looking for her. That period was exactly when he should have returned to fulfill their three-year agreement.

Nothing more needed to be said. She could now confirm that Wuxin was the man she had once eloped with regardless of the cost, the lover she had once loved desperately enough to live and die for.

She did not understand why Tan Yaoxian had remained in the Qi capital for so long without coming to see her. If he had no intention of seeing her, why had he remained in the capital instead of leaving?

She did not know what Tan Yaoxian had experienced during those three years, nor how he had somehow become the disciple of the elusive Ghost Doctor.

Hadn't Shao Pingbo said he had already killed Tan Yaoxian? Had he lied? Had he never killed him at all, merely deceiving her so she would marry into Qi?

If Tan Yaoxian had not died, if he had lived safely throughout those three years, then why had he never contacted her? Why had he sent her not even the slightest word?

Back then she had thought of him day and night. Had he truly not missed her at all? Had he really been able to endure without contacting her in any way?

If he could give her no word at all, why had he appeared again only after she married someone else? How was she supposed to bear that?

She did not blame Tan Yaoxian. From what she knew of him, she felt certain he must have had some unavoidable reason for not contacting her.

She cried.

Sitting quietly on the bed, tears streamed down her cheeks.

Shao Pingbo had said back then that Tan Yaoxian would have three years. No matter what trade or profession he entered, as long as he managed to make something of himself, Shao Pingbo would agree to let her marry him.

Those had been the words.

But never even in her dreams had she imagined Tan Yaoxian would become the Ghost Doctor's disciple.

That seemingly useless scholar, physically weak enough to have no strength even to bind a chicken, had somehow become the Ghost Doctor's disciple whose fame shook all beneath Heaven, a man before whose feet an entire group of imperial clansmen would kneel and beg.

Such an achievement was surely beyond anything Shao Pingbo could have dreamed of back then. If Shao Pingbo had known Tan Yaoxian would become this successful, perhaps he would never have dared force her to marry into Qi. Perhaps he would even have had to curry favor with Tan Yaoxian instead.

That useless scholar had finally made something of himself.

And not merely a little something. He had achieved far, far more than anyone could have imagined. There would never again be any need to worry about whether he could keep them "fed and clothed."

Shao Liuer smiled foolishly through her tears. She did not know whether she ought to feel happy for him.

Seeing their Princess Consort as though possessed, crying one moment and smiling the next, then smiling and crying at once, the two maids were badly frightened. No matter how they called to her, she gave no response.

One maid told the other, "Quickly. Go invite a cultivator to come take a look."

The other had just turned when Shao Liuer suddenly spoke. "No need. I'm fine."

She raised her sleeve and wiped away the tears, then asked, "How long did I sleep?"

The maid replied, "A full day and night. You were truly exhausted."

Shao Liuer asked again, "How is His Highness?"

The maid said, "His Highness has already awakened. He woke not long after you fell asleep."

"Help me dress!" Shao Liuer immediately got out of bed.

After washing and dressing, she first went to look at her son. Seeing him sleeping soundly, she then hurried to Hao Zhen's sickbed.

Hao Zhen truly was awake. His condition was steadily improving, and color had returned to his cheeks.

Jade Corpse Poison was said to turn the body transparent after the victim died from the poison, leaving behind a dried corpse like carved jade. That was how the poison had gained its name.

Seeing Shao Liuer sit lightly beside the bed and ask after him with gentle concern, Hao Zhen gave a heartfelt smile. "I heard you exhausted yourself and slept for a very long time."

Shao Liuer said, "You were the one who truly frightened me to death."

"Come here." Hao Zhen gestured for her to lean closer.

Shao Liuer did not understand, but leaned over anyway.

Hao Zhen reached out and hooked one finger under her collar, pulling it down enough to reveal the wound on her fair neck. He asked, "You did this to yourself? Does it hurt?"

Only then did Shao Liuer understand what he wanted to see. She pressed his hand back down and tucked it beneath the quilt. "It's only a small wound. It doesn't hurt. It's nothing."

Hao Zhen said, "Don't be so foolish again. What if you lost control and went too far? Where would I find another Princess Consort?"

Shao Liuer smiled bitterly. "At the time, I truly had no other way. I could only stake everything on it."

Hao Zhen gave her a gentle smile. His hand emerged from beneath the quilt again and lightly took her soft hand. "After I woke, Mr. Che told me everything that happened. Even Bu Xun personally went to beg and achieved nothing, yet you succeeded. To save me, you drew a sword and threatened to kill yourself, then knelt outside Mr. Wuxin's gate and kowtowed countless times, begging again and again. In the end you couldn't even stand, and only then did Mr. Wuxin finally show mercy. You truly suffered for me."

Shao Liuer tucked his hand back beneath the quilt again. "Your Highness, it was what I should have done."

Hao Zhen said, "With a wife like you, what more could a husband ask for? Liuer, you saved my life."

"Your Highness speaks too seriously..." Shao Liuer did not want to claim the credit. But once Wuxin was mentioned, her thoughts drifted again and she stared blankly into space.

Only when Hao Zhen squeezed her hand did she return to herself. "I heard you haven't slept properly for several days. Are you still exhausted and not fully recovered? If you're tired, go back and rest. You don't need to stay beside me. I'm fine. Someone, escort the Princess Consort back to rest!"

...

Wuxin had awakened as well. He had forbidden anyone from disturbing him and lay alone on a reclining chair in the courtyard, staring blankly at the bright moon in the night sky.

After staying in the Qi capital for so long, the person he had always wanted to see but had never dared face had finally appeared before him.

He had wanted to ask her why she had broken their promise, why she had married another man.

He had wanted revenge against everyone who had torn them apart. He had wanted revenge against Shao Pingbo. He had wanted revenge against Niu Youdao. He had even wanted to kill the man who possessed her now.

And what had happened in the end?

He had gone and saved her man.

After saving that man, he had sent him back to live beside her day and night, while Wuxin himself could only sit alone beneath an empty moon. He no longer knew what he was doing.

He remembered the first time he had awakened all those years ago, lying in a place filled with bottles, jars, and the heavy scent of medicine.

When he learned that the old man who had saved him was the famous Ghost Doctor, he remembered Shao Pingbo's three-year agreement. Only after he had achieved something would Shao Pingbo agree to let Shao Liuer marry him. And so he had frantically begged the Ghost Doctor to take him as a disciple, determined to seize the opportunity no matter the cost.

The old man eventually became irritated by his persistence and dealt with him perfunctorily, tossing him a medical text and saying that if he could memorize the entire thing within three days, he would agree to accept him as a disciple.

Wuxin did it.

It was the one thing this scholar had always been best at.

Left speechless, the old man nevertheless kept his word and accepted him.

What surprised the old man even more was that this foolish disciple of his—a pedantic scholar seemingly useless in every practical way—actually possessed talent in this field. He learned medical knowledge extraordinarily quickly and seemed born for the study of medicine. It was almost as though the Ghost Doctor had stumbled onto the right person by accident.

But the old man knew why Wuxin wanted to study medicine. It was for a woman. The old man did not want him leaving the mountain and urged him to forget all those rights and wrongs from the outside world.

Wuxin refused.

And so the old man made things difficult for him again. If he wanted to accomplish something, the old man said, then first his own ability had to be up to standard. Otherwise, once he went outside, not only would he make a fool of himself, he would ruin the Ghost Doctor's reputation as well. If that happened, how could he call himself successful? What qualification would he have to marry the woman?

The old man gave him one hundred and eight illnesses and said that only when Wuxin could successfully treat all of them would he truly be considered ready to leave his master's tutelage.

To complete his training, to fulfill that three-year agreement, Wuxin dragged his sickly body through frantic study. Medicine Valley possessed every condition he could have wanted for learning, and he absorbed knowledge like a starving man.

In the end, when master and disciple parted, Wuxin would never forget the speechless expression on the old man's face.

He had fulfilled every condition his master set for finishing his apprenticeship.

Not only had he fulfilled them, he had done so before the end of the three-year agreement.

The old man told him his talent was excellent and that he truly did not want to see him destroyed by romantic entanglement. Then he gave him a long list of warnings.

Only after leaving Medicine Valley did Wuxin understand what some of his master's words had meant.

Shao Liuer was already married.

His master must have known before he left but had lacked the heart to tell him the truth. Wuxin's body was not suited to suffering too great a shock.

The first thing he did after leaving the mountain was, in passing, complete a task his master had entrusted to him. His junior brother's family had encountered trouble, and Wuxin went to detoxify them...

The Qi capital looked peaceful on the surface.

Beyond the capital, however, the winds and clouds were truly surging. What was coming was destined to stir the entire land of Qi.

After long and meticulous preparation, Shao Pingbo had mobilized Jin's formidable intelligence apparatus and, regardless of cost, broken through the communication hubs of several armies under Huyan Wuhen.

That was only Shao Pingbo's opening move.

Shao Pingbo knew perfectly well that this alone could not truly affect Qi's forces reinforcing Wei. At most, it could delay the armies for several days.

Qi possessed far too many channels of communication. Exposing the deception would be too easy. It was fundamentally impossible to seize genuine control over Qi's military communications.

But that was exactly the effect he wanted.

The incident itself might be small, but from Qi's perspective, the enemy had actually taken control of channels used by its own military. How could that be tolerated? How could a war be fought like this? Even the destruction of the state was conceivable. The incident was certain to force Qi's Office of Investigation to throw its full strength into purging the hidden danger.

First came the mass poisoning of the imperial clan, drawing out the Office of Investigation's power.

Then came the loss of control over armies in active operations, provoking the Office of Investigation into an all-out counterattack.

The successive incidents had nearly mobilized every ounce of strength the Office of Investigation possessed in Qi.

And Shao Pingbo had already prepared the opponent against whom the Office of Investigation would exhaust that strength.

Breaking through several of Qi's military communication hubs had been the bait.

This was merely the beginning of the chain of traps.

To penetrate those communication hubs, Blackwater Terrace had been forced into reckless operations regardless of cost. The unavoidable exposure of Jin's hidden network was itself the lure.

By creating an incident severe enough, and dangling a lure costly enough to be believable, Shao Pingbo had successfully mobilized and drawn in the power of the Office of Investigation.

This was only the beginning.

[End of Chapter 1128]