Chapter 48#

Pei Dan returned to the hunting party, and everyone questioned him in surprise about where he had spent the night. He gave a vivid account of his incompetence—first knocked senseless by a goshawk, then half scared to death by a tiger, even losing his horse. He surely wouldn’t catch any game these past two days and would have to humbly take last place. When word of this reached the Emperor’s ears, he laughed heartily and ordered Imperial Physician Sun to go treat his wounds.#

The wound on the back of Pei Dan’s head had long since healed, but it had started bleeding again, which drew sighs and laments from Imperial Physician Sun. “My acupuncture skills are no match for Dr. Zhong’s. After you return, Your Excellency, you should have him perform the treatment again.”

“It’s nothing,” Pei Dan said dismissively.

Five years ago, during the chaotic battle at Shaoci Yuan, someone struck his mount, and he was thrown from his saddle. He then took a blunt blow to the back of the head. At the time, because the late Emperor was gravely ill, all imperial physicians were confined within the palace, and Chang’an City was in complete turmoil—all the medical clinics had shuttered their doors. That Dr. Zhong was the miracle doctor Wu Bo had desperately grabbed by the roadside when all other options had been exhausted. Dr. Zhong had said the bone at the back of Pei Dan’s skull was cracked, and whether he could make a full recovery depended on the will of Heaven.

He had been unconscious for over half a month, but he did eventually wake. His consciousness, memory, and talent—none were lost. He was as sharp and perceptive as though he had never been injured at all.

Whenever Sun Bin saw that scar, he would not only marvel at Dr. Zhong’s extraordinary medical skills, but also at Pei Dan’s blessed fortune.

While the other nobles sweated and galloped through the mountains, Pei Dan was perfectly comfortable, lying on his stomach on the bed with a book in his hands, letting Wu Bo pound his legs and knead his shoulders. After Sun Bin wrote out a prescription and Wu Bo went to brew the medicine, Pei Dan finally lifted his eyes to look at him.

Sun Bin sighed. “Most importantly, you must not catch a chill.”

Pei Dan gave a lazy “Mm-hm.”

But Sun Bin still didn’t leave. He hesitated for a long time, until Pei Dan himself grew uncomfortable, before he finally spoke slowly: “Your Excellency—the medicinal supplies and prescriptions you sent to Laozhou previously… were they intercepted?”

Pei Dan paused and set down his book.

“It is this official’s dullness to ask such an unnecessary question,” Sun Bin said quietly. “A month ago, I was ordered by imperial decree to take the pulse of Master Li. I noticed that he appeared never to have used the prescription I prescribed, and quite possibly never even saw the medicine from the Imperial Pharmacy.”

Pei Dan had already anticipated this. When Feng Bing had first arrived in Chang’an, he had gone to find him and been rebuffed. At that time, it had already struck him as strange. Later he reasoned that even a New Year’s greeting letter couldn’t reach him—so the medicines and prescriptions had probably all been lost along the way.

But if that were truly the case, why had his correspondence with the Laozhou side continued as usual? He had asked the Guangdong military commissioner and the Laozhou prefect to look after Feng Bing, and both had always agreed readily—until the current Emperor ascended the throne and replaced them.

If Li Fengtao had intercepted all those things, he surely wouldn’t have waited until today, nor would he have allowed Feng Bing to live peacefully under so much protection.

A guess stirred faintly in Pei Dan’s heart, but he dared not believe it. Before his eyes, everything seemed to gray over, sinking into darkness. He recalled Qingsi Palace lit with thousands of oil lamps; over a hundred monks from Famen Temple kneeling in the outer hall chanting sutras, their murmured voices curling around the beams. Deeper within, past layers of purple-roped curtains, on the imperial couch, a man withered by night—a pair of eyes like stagnant water beneath a crown of drifting white hair.

His heavy sighs were hollow and powerless. He had once said to Pei Dan, word by word, struggling: “Young Master Pei, this Emperor’s heart is burdened with guilt. Regret comes too late.”

Sun Bin was still waiting for Pei Dan’s response.

In truth, there was nothing to respond to. There was no need to drag Imperial Physician Sun into the muddy waters as well. So Pei Dan simply waved his hand. “Four thousand five hundred li—the road is treacherous. It’s not unusual if things fail to arrive.”

Wu Zhiheng came in carrying the bowl of medicine just as Sun Bin took his leave.

Lifting the bed curtain, he found Pei Dan dozing with his head pillowed on his book. At the scent of medicine, Pei Dan wrinkled his nose. Wu Zhiheng said leisurely, “While you were away yesterday, the Emperor went hunting in the mountains and encountered a tiger. Eunuch Yuan valiantly came to the rescue, and the Emperor was so moved that he promoted him to the Director of Xuanhui on the spot. Correspondingly, Eunuch Meng was reassigned to the Lieutenant Commandant of the Divine Strategy Army.”

Pei Dan laughed for no apparent reason. “There really are a lot of tigers in these mountains.”

Wu Zhiheng tensed immediately. “You actually encountered one?” He had thought his master was boasting to outsiders.

Pei Dan smiled faintly.

Wu Zhiheng, seeing his dark-circled eyes, disheveled temples, and inscrutable smile, truly suspected that a new injury had damaged his brain. He ventured carefully, “I daresay what you encountered wasn’t just a tiger, was it?”

But Pei Dan said, “The Emperor promoting Yuan Jiulin is the feint. Promoting Meng Chao’en is the real move.” He opened his eyes lazily, his cold gaze fixed on Wu Bo. “He’s wanted to replace the Lieutenant Commandant of the Divine Strategy Army for a long time.”

Wu Bo couldn’t help but worry. “Then with Meng Chao’en in command of the Divine Strategy Army…”

“Eunuch Meng,” Pei Dan murmured slowly, then let out a derisive snort. “He’s timid, has no real opinions of his own, and is merely loyal to the Emperor. I fear the Emperor will make further moves in the near future.”

With that, he flipped the thick quilt over his head, signaling his refusal to discuss it further. But then, from within the blanket, something wriggled bizarrely. Pei Dan let out a muffled cry from inside. A wild hare leaped out, stepping on his head as it jumped free. Wu Zhiheng’s eyes and hands were quick—he caught it, and said helplessly, “Shall I find a cage for it?”

“A little beast—what does it need a cage for?” Pei Dan rubbed his head and roared, “Throw it out!”