Chapter 56 - 3#

He had to die.

If he didn’t die, he would suffer a fate more terrible than death.

At this moment, he didn’t want to live so much anymore.

He simply couldn’t bear the pain of the punishments he had once inflicted on others being inflicted on himself one by one.

“Your Majesty, how do you plan to deal with this person?”

Zong Yuanxin looked at Kangman with great interest. This guy was really sturdy.

Although he was dug out of bed in the middle of the night to treat an illness, he wouldn’t say much since the subject was the emperor. Not to mention, he had just seen a wonderful show.

Although the stage was a bit simple, the actor on stage was Emperor Jingyuan.

Just a glance was worth the trip tonight.

Emperor Jingyuan said slowly: “I remember… before, you said that you were still short of a few medicine men.”

Zong Yuanxin’s actions were both righteous and evil. Even when treating illnesses, he had to follow his strange temper. But most of the time, he was a good person.

But in a small number of cases, especially when it came to medicine men, he was probably the most terrifying monster in their hearts.

His medicine men were all given to him by Emperor Jingyuan.

They were all death row prisoners taken from the prison. Before they were about to die, they were given to him to try out his medicine. By the time they were half-dead and dying, it was almost time for their execution.

It was just a way of recycling waste.

Zong Yuanxin raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: “Your Majesty, isn’t this person an important witness? Just giving him to me like this… be careful, when I return him to you in the future, he won’t be able to speak.”

“Cut him, dig him out, burn him, bury him, it’s all up to you.” Emperor Jingyuan’s face was cold, and he didn’t pay any attention to Zong Yuanxin’s teasing. “Just one thing, you must remember.”

Zong Yuanxin made a gesture of listening attentively.

“The more painful the better, it’s best to make him regret that he ever crawled out of his mother’s womb in this life.”

Kangman said hoarsely: “Your Majesty, Your Majesty… spare this servant’s life, this servant will not say anything…”

Emperor Jingyuan stood up and looked at the thing on the ground with disgust.

The only reason he didn’t do it himself was that he couldn’t be sure if he would kill this person again when he did it.

He wanted him to live.

To live and enjoy the taste of pain.

The stupid thoughts that Kangman had were enough for him to die a thousand times, ten thousand times.

But if he really died, it would be too easy for him.

…

In the side room, after Jingzhe changed his clothes, he asked Shi Li to go out. He wanted to be alone for a while.

The guard didn’t ask anything and turned around and went out.

This made Jingzhe very grateful.

The series of events that happened today left Jingzhe exhausted.

He lay on the table and looked at the window in silence.

There were no tall ancient trees in the imperial palace, no lush greenery growing freely in the Shangyu Garden. Overly large trees would bring trouble to patrols. There were only low bushes and those flowers and plants that were trimmed to be exquisite and small.

Looking out of the window, there was no moonlight outside the window. What hung on the branches were a few broken stars.

Jingzhe was lost in thought in silence. The blood on his hands had been washed clean, but he still felt that the sticky feeling was on his skin, which made him particularly unhappy.

The sound of the tip of the knife piercing into flesh and blood seemed to still linger in his ears, very subtle, but it hit his ears with extreme clarity.

Jingzhe slowly hugged his head.

“Knock, knock—”

The door was knocked gently.

Jingzhe stood up abruptly. The movement was so big that it knocked over the chair he was sitting on.

The person outside the house heard the movement and, fearing that something had happened inside, directly pushed open the door.

Jingzhe met Zong Yuanxin’s face and smiled awkwardly.

He was bending down, wanting to put the chair back up.

“Did you think I was Lord Rong?” The doctor smiled. “He originally wanted to come over, but something suddenly came up and he was temporarily called away.”

He saw the fleeting disappointment on Jingzhe’s face, but also felt his tense emotions relax a little.

Even a person with the thickest skin would not be completely unfazed after what had just happened.

Zong Yuanxin: “Lord Rong said that your body is a bit weak. In the past, although I prescribed medicine according to the situation he described, it may not be the right remedy. Now that I have the honor to meet you, let me take another look.”

Jingzhe was surprised: “The medicine he sent in the past was all prescribed by you?”

He always had some respect for doctors.

Jingzhe’s father knew some ordinary medical skills. Although he was not very good, it was enough to deal with minor illnesses and disasters. When he was watching from the side, he secretly learned a little. Although he didn’t seek a deep understanding, it was useful.

After entering the palace, it was also with this little skill that he was able to live safely in the North Wing.

Zong Yuanxin’s few words gained Jingzhe’s trust.

However, when it came to taking his pulse, Jingzhe was a little hesitant.

His body was not ordinary. Although a doctor might not be able to diagnose it, if he noticed something strange…

Zong Yuanxin said with a smile: “Just in time, I can also tell you about the poison on Lord Rong.”

As soon as Jingzhe heard this, he immediately cast aside his hesitation.

He had asked several times before, but Rong Jiu was always unwilling to tell him clearly, only saying that he would not die.

This person was alive and kicking, wasn’t that not dying?

Was this what he wanted to know? What he wanted to know was how Rong Jiu’s body was? What was going on with his occasional illness? Was his temperament occasionally affected by the poison, making him a bit extreme and violent?

These were the things Jingzhe cared about.

But Rong Jiu never said.

Jingzhe asked Zong Yuanxin to sit down, then looked up at him. His eyes had a moist mist, which could easily make people like him.

Zong Yuanxin thought, this was somewhat understandable, why Emperor Jingyuan would easily feel that such a person was as fragile as glazed glass.

What a beautiful and rare thing.

Zong Yuanxin had not been looked at so purely for a long time.

He took out the pulse pillow and, while taking Jingzhe’s pulse, said with a smile: “Young master, you trust me so much. What if what I said just now was just to trick you into letting me see a doctor?”

Jingzhe thought for a moment: “Seeing a doctor is good for me in itself. If you tricked me into seeing a doctor, isn’t that also for my own good?”

Zong Yuanxin smiled and shook his head: “If I really lied to you, wouldn’t my conscience be uneasy.”

Then he stopped talking and seriously diagnosed Jingzhe. After looking at both hands, he looked at Jingzhe’s tongue coating, and then fell into deep thought, taking out a pen and ink.

He didn’t know if doctors were naturally born with messy handwriting. When the flamboyant characters were rendered on the white paper, Jingzhe glanced at them and almost didn’t recognize any of them.

He had to squint his eyes and carefully identify them for a while before he recognized them all.

Jingzhe couldn’t understand the prescription, but based on the dosage prescribed by Zong Yuanxin, he could probably judge that his illness was a bit serious.

Zong Yuanxin: “Young master’s body is not in any serious trouble except for being weak. It’s just that for some reason, there is too much coldness. If it is not removed, it will be a bit bitter in the future.”

The medicine he prescribed before was based on the cold medicine that Emperor Jingyuan had sent him, so he prescribed the right medicine.

However, although this prescription was effective, it was not a pulse that he had personally diagnosed, so it could not be accurate to the amount.

After finishing the prescription, he put the paper aside and waited for the ink to dry before looking at the long-awaited Jingzhe.

“…Where should I start? Ha, Lord Rong’s illness should be traced back to his childhood.” Zong Yuanxin did not break his promise. “I don’t know exactly what happened, but I saw him when he was sixteen.”

At that time, he judged at a glance that this young man had a very strange poison in his body, which made him extremely excited.

He loved all kinds of difficult and complicated cases in his life. As long as there was something that interested him, he couldn’t wait to knock the person out and take them back for proper treatment.

His behavior was unrestrained, and he never cared whether the patient wanted to live or not.

Just like what he wanted to do to the young man at that time.

Jingzhe’s tone was difficult: “…You actually thought of knocking Rong Jiu out and dragging him back?”

Zong Yuanxin stroked his beard and laughed loudly.

“If I could have knocked him out and dragged him back then, the poison on him now wouldn’t be so troublesome.” He shook his head. “Ordinary people who are poisoned with this poison will not live past twenty-five.”

Jingzhe’s fingers stiffened slightly.

Rong Jiu didn’t like his birthday, so Jingzhe had never asked him his age in detail.

But twenty-five…

“Then, now… when is he…”

“About last year, he suddenly called me and asked me to treat him.” As soon as Zong Yuanxin said this, he couldn’t help but slap his thigh. “How long have I waited? For a full ten years, of course I agreed to him.”

He didn’t want to keep him in suspense, let alone put on airs.

What airs to put on? That was the emperor.

If he put on airs in front of him, wouldn’t he lose the rare opportunity to treat his illness?

Zong Yuanxin was not such a face-saving person.

In order to see a doctor, he would be shameless.

“You say, he is also strange.” Zong Yuanxin shook his head. “When he was young, if he had agreed, he would have been free from illness and disaster now. But he suffered for another ten years, endured until now, but suddenly changed his mind and wanted to live… haha, rare.”

…Don’t be so sentimental.

Jingzhe unconsciously twisted his fingers.

Even if Rong Jiu suddenly changed his mind and wanted to live a few more years, it had nothing to do with him…

—“I finally found a doctor who can help me remove the poison.”

Rong Jiu said.

—“But when he was young, he just wouldn’t let me treat him. I waited for more than ten years…”

Zong Yuanxin laughed.

…Liar.

This damn liar who never knew if there was any truth in his mouth, always used those specious words to fool him.

Every sentence was true, and every sentence was not true.

Jingzhe: “…If, he doesn’t seek your help, then he will… what will happen…”

Zong Yuanxin: “Then it depends on how long he can endure. Is the poison ruthless enough, or are his bones harder? I also want to know…” Before he could finish his words, there was a sudden sound.

Clang—

The door, which was originally half-closed, was suddenly pushed open with force.

Rong Jiu stood outside the door.

Darkness enveloped him from behind, and the overwhelming aura that came from the shadows was suffocating. His cold gaze looked at Zong Yuanxin, who was still chattering just now.

“Noisy.”

Zong Yuanxin immediately stood up and lowered his head without speaking.

He knew when to speak and when not to speak.

Emperor Jingyuan was obviously very unhappy that he had told Jingzhe those things.

“Get out.”

Zong Yuanxin picked up his medicine box and scurried away.

He didn’t even leave through the main door. He climbed out of the open window behind him.

His Majesty the Emperor was blocking the main door. If he went out through the door, wouldn’t that be seeking his own death?

Who knows, Emperor Jingyuan might give him a slash with his bare hands.

Who knows where that weapon came from? This person lived like an assassination weapon. I don’t know how he trained his strong martial arts.

Rong Jiu stood outside the door, and Jingzhe was inside the door.

Just now, behind Rong Jiu’s back, Jingzhe could ask the doctor all sorts of questions about his body. But now, looking at him again, he couldn’t even say a word.

The two were only separated by a door, but it was as if they were separated by a river of light and darkness, looking at each other in silence.

After a long time, Jingzhe finally said: “…You come in first.”

He knew that without his permission, Rong Jiu might not come in, but he would not leave either, as if he were eternally guarding outside.

The man was so calm that it was as if the hole just now was stabbed for nothing. There was no sign of it when he walked.

The two sat down in the room, and then they were quiet again.

After a while, Rong Jiu’s slow words were heard, “Don’t listen to anything Zong Yuanxin said just now.”

Don’t listen, but not don’t believe.

Jingzhe pursed his lips tightly: “Was he lying?”

“…The truth.”

“And then?”

Rong Jiu looked at him, his eyes calm, and the slightly raised eyebrows were the only question.

“You have nothing to say?”

Rong Jiu: “No.”

Jingzhe supported his forehead. This was indeed very much in Rong Jiu’s style.

Maybe those guesses just now were just him thinking too much. Maybe, it was just that Rong Jiu suddenly wanted to live again… right, people’s hearts are changeable, who knows what they will become… what they will look like.

He heard Rong Jiu sigh again.

He was always sighing, today, tonight.

“There is no other reason, it’s just that I want to live.” Rong Jiu said calmly, “Someone has given me the desire to live again. This person happens to be you. That’s all.”

…That’s all.

As gentle as a cruel love word.

Wrapped in a thousand pounds of weight, enough to crush a person to pieces.