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"Take this. From now on, this will be your position. Chen Anyuan has disappeared from this world; you are Azure Thorn, the Xuanwu King of Jin Shao. You may call me Young Master."
"Yes, Young Master. Azure Thorn will follow you for life."
"You will go to Jun Jin's shop in Jiankang City, and someone will naturally take you to a place. Azure Thorn, I have prepared a gift for you that I believe you will like. The medical clinics under the Chain of Heaven and the newly established Charity will all be under your management. I think you can finally settle down and practice medicine to save lives, which is what you have longed for. If anything happens, find Vermilion Bird King Mai Qi. He will help you resolve it. In the palace, I will arrange an identity for you to work by my side."
"Yes. Thank you, Young Master Xie."
Vermilion Bird King?! Jin Shao?! Just a moment ago, Chen Anyuan—no, the future Xuanwu King—Azure Thorn felt these were things far beyond reach. But at this moment, looking at the woman leaning against the bed, her face pale as snow and her body weak, yet with a calm gaze and an imperceptible aura in her tone, he suddenly felt a deep admiration from within his heart. He was willing to follow her for life.
To be his Xuanwu King. To control the medical clinics and the medicinal herb business, to save the world, to become a reincarnation of Hua Tuo, a compassionate disciple.
Waking up in a daze, he thought he had already died, yet here he was still awake. Was this a moment of clarity before death? Upon waking up, he realized that fainting could also be a good thing; he would rather remain unconscious than face the unbearable pain of consciousness. His throat was dry; he tried to speak but found himself unable to utter a word. His eyes were red and his whole body felt hot, as if thousands of ants were devouring him from within. Suddenly, he recalled a movie called "The Mummy," where the priest who killed the pharaoh suffered from being eaten alive by insects—a cruel punishment in ancient Egypt for those who committed treason. He felt an illusion that it was he who was wrapped up and subjected to such torment.
In his hazy state, he sensed someone moving around him and saw many figures. He lazily drifted back into sleep, unwilling to endure such inhumane torture while awake; if this continued, he might just scratch off his own skin.
However, someone insisted on disturbing his peace. "Master, Master, wake up—wuwu, Master—" The annoying voice of Xiao Quanzi echoed in his ears. He felt so tired. Please don’t disturb me!
"Master, please don’t sleep! Don’t sleep!" The persistent voice continued. Frustrated, he opened his eyes with the intention of cursing but found that his voice came out weak: "Brat, stop bothering me in my ear; it's driving me crazy." The frailty of his own voice startled him; he forced a bitter smile—no need to pretend anymore; he was so weak that it resembled the sickly Xi Shi.
He lay there lazily and weakly asked, "Am I still alive?"
"Yes, Master is certainly still alive," Xiao Quanzi replied joyfully.
He looked around in confusion at the imperial physicians dressed in their robes moving about him.
Xiao Quanzi said with tears in his eyes, "Master's breath is getting weaker and weaker, and he has been unconscious. I went to invite the imperial physician. It was very secretive; no one knows, so you don't have to worry, Master. This physician can be trusted."
"Trusted? How do you know that, Xiao Quanzi?" I asked in surprise.
He forced a smile and finally lowered his head, saying, "Xiao Quanzi deceived Master. Xiao Quanzi is from Sword Sage Villa, the Chief Disciple of the Sword Sage. I was ordered to guard Master for a lifetime. The Master once said that if anything happened to you, you could seek that physician. He is a person of the Sword Sage."
"Sword Sage?!" I murmured. A glimmer of clarity broke through the fog in my mind. For some reason, the image of Old Buddy's beautiful, slightly mischievous face suddenly flashed in my mind again. Tears welled up in my eyes; I closed them, took a deep breath, and when I opened them again, my heart had calmed.
"Master, please don’t be silent. Xiao Quanzi knows he was wrong. Xiao Quanzi didn’t mean to deceive you; he just wants to stay by your side for a lifetime."
"Then that day was just a play directed by you." I knew he understood I was referring to the day I rescued him from the prince.
He awkwardly nodded and said, "Yes."
I closed my eyes and rested lightly. I felt so tired, yet a flicker of warmth surged within me. Thankfully, there was still Old Buddy.
"Xiao Quanzi is damned, but concerning Master’s life and death, please gather your strength. The Master has already arrived. You must hold on."
I wearily waved my hand. "It’s useless." I remembered Old Buddy mentioning a kind of poison in the world—colorless and tasteless—harmless to ordinary people but deadly to those with internal injuries. No wonder Xie De Fei dared to drink the potion openly that day; she remained unharmed because I had suffered internal injuries in my early years and had been disturbed during the last poisoning attempt, causing my injuries to flare up again. Everything was interconnected; it was truly vicious! To put me to death, they had even plotted against the emperor.
I didn’t want to admit it or dare to think about it: was the emperor also using me? I didn’t want to think about it or dwell on it.
I wanted water and called for Xiao Quanzi to help me sit up. Only then did I take a good look at the physician who had come to treat me—he had white hair and a grizzled beard, looking very kind. But now his face was filled with worry. Surely he was troubled by my poison. After taking a sip of water, I finally felt somewhat better. However, soon after, I coughed up a mouthful of dark blood, splattering it across Xiao Quanzi's blue robes.
I smiled apologetically at Xiao Quanzi, who had already shed tears. I looked at the kind old man and said, "Firefly, I am sorry for troubling you. Let everything be left to fate."
He knelt down, his face full of guilt. "This old servant is useless; please punish me, Your Highness."
At that moment, I suddenly saw a familiar figure following the old doctor. The man knelt there, tears streaming down his face, staring blankly at me with vacant eyes.
"Chen Ningyuan, what are you doing here?" I hurriedly got up to see him, but coughed up a mouthful of blood. Xiao Quanzi rushed over with a handkerchief to wipe my mouth, but the blood kept pouring out.
Seeing me about to faint again, the dazed Chen Ningyuan suddenly crawled over, tears flowing as he said, "If Your Highness is willing to trust me, I will help you detoxify."
I smiled, blood blooming at the corner of my lips like a stunning flower, looking exceptionally beautiful, captivating everyone present.
I nodded firmly and said, "I believe you." Then I finally collapsed into unconsciousness.
I found myself walking in a white pear blossom forest, where everything was covered in pure white. I kept running, trying to find a way out, but there were no paths to be found; everything around me was the same—endless pear blossoms. Suddenly, I saw two familiar figures; it was my parents. I rushed towards them, shouting, "Dad! Mom! Save me! Take me back! I want to go home!" But no matter how fast I ran, I couldn't catch up to them. They turned around and looked at me with gentle smiles; they were so close yet so unreachable. I couldn't help but cry, but they still didn't stop. At that moment, the faces of Head of the Family, Madam, Huan Wen, Brother Three, Sister Dan Yi, Brother Sima, Little Seven, Chen Anyuan, and Old Buddy appeared one by one before me. I shouted for them to wait for me and take me with them, but none of them paid attention to me; they all walked away. I was left standing alone in the vast pear blossom forest—empty and desolate—feeling so sad and lonely. Finally, I collapsed on the ground in despair and stared blankly into space.
They have all abandoned me. No one wants me anymore. I thought gloomily.
Let me die; let me die. After all, no one wants me; no one cares about me.
But deep down inside my subconscious, a voice was calling out to me: "Little Jin! Little Jin! Where are you? Little Jin! Don't give up—"
Such a familiar voice.
“Girl, Girl, wake up. Wake up.”
“Who is it?” I turned over and continued to sleep. “Don’t bother me.”
“It’s time to get up, lazy Girl.” A light laugh came through.
Wait a minute. I suddenly opened my eyes. Where am I? Heaven or hell?
I tried to sit up but found myself too weak and fell back onto the bed. Ouch!
It hurts, it still hurts. I was completely awake; I wasn’t dead. Realizing this fact made my heart leap with joy, and I couldn’t help but smile. I’m not dead! The King of Hell still wants me to wreak havoc in this world. Ha ha. I laughed.
“Smack!” I turned my head to see the culprit who had hit my forehead, only to find Old Buddy looking at me with a worried expression.
“Girl, are you okay?” When he saw me smiling at him without answering, he muttered to himself, “Could it be some kind of madness? Or has she gone silly? No way.”
I smacked him back and scolded, “What are you saying, Old Buddy? Are you cursing me to become foolish?”
Seeing that I was fine, he finally smiled—a smile so flourishing that I momentarily lost my focus. How beautiful.
But—my heart ached as I touched the stubble on his chin. “You look worn out.” I knew he must have rushed over after receiving Xiao Quanzi’s message, having gone several nights without sleep, naturally looking haggard.
He took my hand. “It’s okay. You rest well; I’ll go tell Xiao Quanzi that you’re awake. He’s been worried and crying all night. Also—” He glanced at Chen Ningyuan, who was sitting there in a daze. Then he continued, “Once he confirmed you were okay, he sat there like that all night. You should talk to him.”
I nodded, "You can go without worry. I'll talk to him."
"Mm." He hugged me once more before stepping out.
I sat up and found a comfortable position to lean against. After a long silence, I broke the quiet, "You saved me again. I owe you once more."
As if startled by my words, he abruptly turned to look at me, though his expression remained dazed.
"I believe in you; I've always believed in your medical skills. You can bring the dead back to life. See? You've proven it again." I sincerely praised him.
To my surprise, he smiled bitterly, feeling ashamed as he said, "It's my fault; I caused you to end up like this. I'm sorry."
I was puzzled, "What are you talking about?"
He looked up at me, his eyes filled with bloodshot pain. "Why?" Before I could respond, he continued, "Why did you go into the palace for me?"
I smiled lightly and replied, "As I said before, that's something I owe you. It’s time to repay it. Now that you've saved my life, I owe you again."
"You don't owe me anything; it's I who have wronged you." Suddenly, he knelt down, sobbing uncontrollably. "I deceived you; I wronged you and caused you to suffer like this. I'm so sorry."
"Please don't do this." I wanted to get off the bed to help him, but unfortunately, my whole body ached too much to move.
"By the way, if you're not with Second Sister, how are you working in the palace?"
"I—" he seemed to gather a great deal of resolve before speaking, "I deceived you. At first, I admired you, Second Sister, but you never liked me. I never dared to hope for it. However, one day she suddenly came to me, kneeling on the ground and begging for my help. She had fallen in love with Su Xunnan from the Jian Kang Five Young Masters and had been intimate with him, but your father insisted on making her a consort. She was unwilling. She didn't want to be separated from her lover, and she feared that not being a virgin would bring unnecessary trouble. She heard somewhere that you owed me, and as long as I helped her put on an act, you would surely help her enter the palace. I didn't think much of it at the time; seeing the woman I loved kneeling before me in tears made me lose my senses, and I agreed to help her. I never expected that you would truly be willing to enter the palace for her. After you went in, I felt guilty and restless; the Xie Family wouldn't allow me into their residence. I wanted to confirm how you were doing, so I entered the palace as an ordinary medical apprentice. I never expected that you were suffering there; it's all my fault, all because of me. Fourth Young Lady, An Yuan is here for you to punish as you wish; whether you want to kill or torture me, I will not object."
I was stunned for a moment, and after a long while, I calmly replied, "Second Sister is right. I do owe you. Do you remember three years ago when you saved a boy who was on the brink of death? That boy was me. This is neither your fault nor Second Sister's. You are merely pawns in this game." Xie Yushi, for your own benefit, how could you scheme against your own daughters and use them up completely? How ruthless.
How could Second Sister know that Chen Anyuan had saved me? He must have known long ago that Second Sister was no longer a virgin; after finding out, he approached Chen Anyuan and left me with no way out, willingly entering the palace for Second Sister.
It turned out that the letter which made Second Sister as happy as a flower was written by Su Xunnan. That playboy actually toyed with Second Sister's feelings; he clearly loved Sister Dan Yi and had knelt at the entrance of Spring Garden several times just to catch a glimpse of her. Yet unexpectedly, Second Sister fell under his spell.
I looked at him kneeling on the ground, guilt-ridden and wishing for death. Suddenly sighing, I struggled to rise and walked over to a dark corner where I retrieved something I had kept for a long time. Turning to the kneeling Chen Ningyuan, I asked, "Do you wish to follow me in this life?"
He trembled all over and finally replied firmly, "I do."
"Then take this item as thanks for saving my life; from now on, neither of us owes anything to each other. If you choose to follow me, I will let you live the life you desire—thousands or even millions of times better than before—with no compulsion whatsoever. However, from now on, you are no longer yourself." I threw him the jade seal and said coldly.
He caught it and looked at me in confusion.
I remained expressionless as I said, "Take it. From now on, this will be your status. Chen Anyuan has already disappeared from this world; your name is Azure Thorn, the Xuanwu King of Jin Shao."
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