Chapter 41

The third prince sprang to his feet with a "thud," his expression furious and ferocious, but before he could utter a single word, he fell forward with another "thud."

Enraged, he momentarily forgot about his injured right leg and focused all his weight on it. As a result, an accident occurred: his head was about to hit a sharp stone, and people around him reached out to grab him, even alarming the eldest prince.

The Third Prince, with his martial arts skills, managed to brace himself with his arm in the heat of the moment and tumble to the side.

The men rushing towards him couldn't dodge in time and stomped on his left leg several times, causing the Crown Prince to trip and almost fall.

The Third Prince, battered and bruised, was unable to utter a sound. He trembled all over, leaned back, closed his eyes, and his veins bulged like dragons. It seemed as if countless gods and Buddhas appeared before him, and his powerless hand did not know which foot to cover.

"Third Prince!" The eldest prince, who had been helped to his feet, ordered his men to quickly carry the third prince back to his original position.

“The condition has worsened; amputation is still possible now.” Xue Jin’an wiped the blood from his saber and said, “Don’t avoid seeking medical help.”

The Fourth Prince, who had been listening to the whole thing from the sidelines with the Eighth Prince, finally couldn't hold back any longer. "Is this something to be ashamed of? If it weren't for your fear of being treated, you would have already cut your Third Brother in half!"

Xue Jin'an corrected: "It's amputation, not beheading."

The fourth prince gestured incredulously, his voice cracking, "You call removing everything below the waist amputation? What kind of limbs? The lower limbs? Even if the Heavenly King himself came, you'd still call that a waist cut! A choke!"

Xue Jin'an pondered for a moment, then realized that what he said made sense, and humbly accepted the advice. "The dictionary has been updated."

"Third Brother, your illness requires amputation. Don't worry, my hand is very steady, I won't make a mistake." Xue Jin'an meticulously explained the updated treatment plan with the new name of the surgery, and expressionlessly picked up his saber to go forward.

The fifth prince was also brought over at that moment.

His face was deathly pale, his lips were purple, and even his breathing was weak and feeble. He had been letting the eunuchs carry him with his eyes closed, but when he heard Xue Jin'an's words, he struggled to lift his eyelids and even smiled, "Let me see who the seventh brother of the King of Hell is going to take away this time."

He knew that coming here would definitely lead to some excitement.

The Fifth Prince's plea was for help. Xue Jin'an kicked him unconscious while timing the medicine feeding, and it turned out that his timing was very precise. Almost the second after the medicine went down his throat, the Fifth Prince opened his eyes again, startling the eunuch who was feeding him the medicine.

Eunuch Fu Chunshan was arranged by Consort Rong to replace Xiao Dongzi. However, the Fifth Prince kept his doors and windows tightly closed in Minghua Palace every day, and even his meals were placed at the door. He had no one to serve him. Today was the first time Fu Chunshan had been by the Fifth Prince's side, and he was still figuring out his master's temperament.

However, based on his observations that day, the Fifth Prince was not someone to be trifled with. To sum him up, he was "bold, sharp-tongued, petty, sarcastic, and always stirring up trouble." If he treated the princes this way, it was hard to imagine how wicked he would be towards the servants below him.

It's truly baffling that Xiao Dongzi would betray the Imperial Concubine for such a Fifth Prince. Fu Chunshan thought to himself.

Upon seeing the Fifth Prince awaken, Fu Chunshan was prepared for him to go mad as before, slap him, punish him with a court rod, and perhaps even order him to be killed. He was prepared for that.

Unexpectedly, the Fifth Prince simply asked him to come forward and help him sit up. When he saw that the Seventh Prince was not there, he asked in a weak voice about the whereabouts of the others.

After learning that the Seventh Prince had gone to the place where the incident occurred, he actually had Fu Chunshan carry him there.

Fu Chunshan was surprised that he cared about the other princes. He thought to himself that he was too narrow-minded and that his mind was dirty, so he saw everything as dirty. The fifth prince was usually a bit willful as a young man—well, he was a bit too willful, but it was all a means to attract the empress's attention. In reality, he was not a bad person and was also considerate.

Thinking of this, Fu Chunshan's expression softened subtly, and he advised, "Your Highness, I know you are worried about the safety of the other princes, but you are currently weak and need to rest in bed..."

Before he could finish speaking, the Fifth Prince interrupted him with a glare, "What rude thing are you thinking about?"

"Stop dawdling." If you don't get to see the show I'm looking forward to, I'll kill you!

The Fifth Prince didn't say what he was going to say, but it was all written on his face, so Fu Chunshan couldn't help but know.

Even though Fu Chunshan was Consort Rong's person, she was still just a servant and had no say in her master's affairs. She could only hold the Fifth Prince's pulse for a while to make sure that his heartbeat was slowly becoming stronger and that there would be no problem before she silently carried the restless prince to the scene of the incident.

The scene was even more horrific than he had imagined. Despite the fact that the imperial physician had not arrived even after so long, Fu Chunshan felt inexplicably uneasy. He asked the eunuchs about the condition of the injured Third Prince, but they remained silent and simply pointed out the Third Prince's location to them.

Then, as soon as I entered, I heard that the Seventh Prince wanted to cut the Third Prince in half at the waist.

Even though Fu Chunshan knew that he couldn't pry into too many secrets while working in the palace, he couldn't help but glance at the Seventh Prince at this moment.

Speaking of which, the Fifth Prince seems to have a rather good relationship with the Seventh Prince. There was never any talk of problems with the Seventh Prince before, but since meeting the Fifth Prince, his reputation has gradually turned demonized. For example, the people in the imperial kitchen turn pale at the mention of the Seventh Prince...

Fu Chunshan immediately averted his gaze, standing upright with his eyes downcast, afraid that if he continued staring, he would be unable to help but mourn for the Seventh Prince.

Xue Jin'an, carrying a saber, was blocked by a wall of four people. In fact, he was not very concerned about the Third Prince's condition, but since he had agreed to the invitation to treat him, Xue Jin'an would do his best to carry it out until the trip was canceled.

Looking at the formation of the human wall in front of him, he mentally matched it with the 4-1 zone defense tactic in basketball. Xue Jin'an had never played basketball, but he still knew a little about it. After all, basketball games were almost a must-have plot in any novel with a school theme.

Xue Jin'an glanced at their empty space above them, weighed the saber in his hand, and quickly calculated how much force would be needed to throw the saber so that it would hit the basket (the Third Prince's waist) squarely.

The eldest prince, who had given the order, felt a headache coming on. Xue Jin'an's ruthlessness even made him forget to care about the fifth prince's weak appearance.

The eldest prince had no idea what to do with Xiao Qi, who was wielding a butcher's knife and determined to kill Xiao San. Shouldn't Xiao Qi be at odds with Xiao Si? What's going on between her and Xiao San? There's no record of any deep-seated hatred between them.

However, it's not surprising that mistresses offend people...

Unable to grasp the crux of the problem, the eldest prince could only offer dry advice, "Seventh Prince, put down the knife first, we can talk things out."

The Fifth Prince, never one to shy away from a good spectacle, added fuel to the fire, saying, "Eldest brother, Seventh Brother wouldn't hurt Third Brother. He just wanted to treat Third Brother's illness. What did he do wrong?" He simply wanted to stab every single one of the princes in the back.

"The doctor hasn't arrived yet, something serious must have happened outside. I see that Third Brother's injuries are quite serious, we can't delay any longer. If he loses too much blood... then he really won't be able to be saved." The Fifth Prince was good at persuasion and immediately grasped the key point.

The eldest prince hesitated for a moment when he saw the miserable third prince in front of him.

"Brother, death from blood loss is death, and death from being cut in half is death!" the Fourth Prince couldn't help but shout.

The Fifth Prince remained calm and composed. "Either way, we're going to die, so why not take a gamble? Maybe Seventh Brother will actually be able to cure him?"

That's damnably true, and the eldest prince fell into an eerie silence.

The Third Prince, whose consciousness was hazy, limbs were weak, and he was unable to speak, said: "..." Being cut in half at the waist is a cruel punishment, Big Brother, please wake up!

Fortunately, a familiar voice broke the deadlock with the words "The imperial physician has arrived."

Good! When he wakes up, we must reward this person properly! The Third Prince, who had been struggling to stay afloat, finally relaxed and fainted contentedly.

"It's boring." The Fifth Prince glanced at the Eighth Prince, who had ended the game with a single sentence, then closed his eyes listlessly, letting himself lose consciousness and faint on Fu Chunshan's body.

Fortunately, two imperial physicians arrived, and they each took one and divided it up.

"Seventh Prince, the imperial physician has arrived. Third Prince and Fifth Prince are both saved. You don't need to go here anymore. Go back to treating the horses." The First Prince quickly dismissed him, then added, "By the way, Seventh Prince, treating illnesses is not child's play. It's best to avoid using extreme measures on people."

It means, you quack doctor, you should go and harm animals instead.

Xue Jin'an felt that his words were wrong, so he explained to him: "Beheading is a normal treatment method. It cuts off the necrotic part and preserves the intact part... More than 80% of the wounded and sick in the border area survive because of this method."

"...You should get your amputation back. Being cut in half at the waist sounds really unlucky." The First Prince felt a bit of a backache just listening to him. He looked Xue Jin'an up and down, then put on his signature fake smile and said, "What you said isn't wrong, but who taught you that?"

After asking Doctor Chang if he could reveal his name, Xue Jin'an told him.

Afterwards, the enigmatic name of "Dr. Chang," a "miracle doctor," became widely known among the princes, and with Xue Jin'an's repeated actions, it grew increasingly famous.

After waking up, the Third Prince learned of this person's existence. He first searched through the Imperial Hospital, then through all the medical clinics and pharmacies in the capital, but still couldn't find anyone who matched the description.

He could only give up in resentment, but he held onto it for a lifetime.

Dr. Chang, who was in the Northwest Camp discussing Long Aotian with General Helian, suddenly felt an itch in his nose and sneezed three times in a row, almost knocking his small body off his chair.

General Helian poked the charcoal brazier with fire tongs to make the coal burn more completely, and the temperature in the tent rose a little higher. Then he said, "You are too weak and have caught a cold. Starting tomorrow, you will come with me to the training ground for training."

Dr. Chang, who had no idea he had caught a cold, was speechless.

Dr. Chang tried to salvage the situation, saying, "I'm just a doctor. Your training intensity is really too high. Besides, Long Aotian just asked for my name. As the saying goes, 'If you want to speak, you will sneeze,' so maybe he was just saying my name."

"Have you ever thought about what a ghost might want if it keeps calling your name?" Helian Cheng glanced at him, his tone gloomy. "Perhaps it wants to take you away, or perhaps..."

"..." Doctor Chang felt a chill run down his spine and decided to overturn his previous guess. He said with an upright face, "This is not a ghost. How could there be ghosts in the world? You have lived for so many decades, have you ever seen one? You must be suffering from hysteria. You want a good disciple who can inherit the Northwest Army too much. I just heard you talk about it too much and couldn't help but make the connection. This explains why no one else can see, hear, or feel Long Aotian except for us."

Dr. Chang was just speaking casually at first, but the more he talked, the more he felt that this possibility was greater than the possibility that Long Aotian was a ghost.

"Between our illness and seeing ghosts, you ultimately chose the former." Helian Cheng sighed softly, reaching out to ask for the military doctor's appointment document. "Those in the Northwest Army who are delirious, suspected of having hysteria, hallucinations, or out-of-body experiences, should be temporarily suspended from their duties until they recover and are reinstated." If they don't recover, the officers with rank still have a place to go, but the soldiers can only go home.

In fact, the above symptoms are common among soldiers, especially those who have experienced large-scale and fierce battles. They may remain in a state of combat for a long time, and may even feel that their dead comrades are still there. They may also talk to themselves unconsciously. This is the modern post-war psychological syndrome.

Some soldiers were able to recover, while others were not, and some never regained their senses for the rest of their lives.

Dr. Chang immediately changed his tune, "I think Long Aotian is truly a ghost with potential. Despite his miserable life and mental instability, he has never harmed anyone after death!"

“Such a talented and virtuous ghost, we should accept him and not let his existence remain unknown to others… Perhaps we can start with those around us, slowly revealing his existence and introducing them to him?” Doctor Chang wiped the corners of his eyes, which reddened whenever he mentioned Long Aotian’s life, and looked hopefully at Helian Cheng.

Helian Cheng hesitated for a moment, “I know Long Aotian’s temperament, but humans and ghosts are different, and the power of ghosts and gods is unpredictable. If I introduce him rashly, I’m afraid it will cause panic in the army.”

"Then let's not tell them they're ghosts. Anyway, when Long Aotian appeared and interacted with us, we didn't sense anything unusual," Doctor Chang said. "However, we really shouldn't act rashly. Long Aotian seems a bit shy around strangers, and if we act too hastily, we might scare the ghost away."

After pondering for a moment, he suddenly clapped his hands and said, "How about... we start with your apprentice? It would be good if the human and the ghost could get to know each other and learn from each other."

Helian Cheng nodded. "This method is feasible."

The two had a good plan. Helian Cheng even went against his usual practice by not letting his disciple go down to train with the soldiers. Instead, he kept him by his side, waiting for Long Aotian to reappear so that he could introduce the man and the ghost to each other without making a sound.

However, on the second day and the third day... Long Aotian was absent.

What caused the usually reliable mobile phone assistant to be absent? It was because he was chasing Consort Zhen.

The story begins with the horse farm incident.

After exchanging the "miracle doctor's" real name with the eldest prince, Xue Jin'an went to continue examining the horses by feeling their pulses... no, he went to kill the virus.

There were simply too many horses at Consort De's horse farm. Disinfecting each one individually would be too time-consuming. Moreover, there were many wild horses in the farm that were extremely difficult to control. They might injure the eunuchs or break out of the stables at any time. In such a situation, to prevent further accidents, the only option was to ruthlessly slaughter the unruly horse.

Horses were a strategic resource in ancient times. The fact that the emperor could grant Consort De such a piece of land to raise horses, allowing her to raise more horses than the Imperial Horse Administration, and even to take horses away from the Imperial Horse Administration—yes, take them away—was merely a facade to appease the Third Prince, as the First Prince claimed that the horses were only kept here for a few days because the fodder was good.

In short, Consort De raised horses not only because she loved horses, but also because she was good at raising them; these horses were not just kept for fun.

Losing even one of these fine horses would be a loss, and the eunuchs at the horse farm knew this, so when given a choice, they would try their best to save the horses' lives.

So the head eunuch of the horse farm risked his life to offer his opinion: "Seventh Prince, could you write a prescription? I don't expect it to cure them completely, but at least it can alleviate their symptoms so they can stay until you come for treatment."

Xue Jin'an also felt that doing it one by one was too slow, and the repeated virus scanning process was too troublesome. He could break his own step count by walking around once, but a mobile phone is not a computer. A mobile phone only has one data interface and can only connect to one device.

Looking at the pop-up antivirus page, Xue Jin'an suddenly thought of a way: he could use the virus to defeat the virus!

Viruses are very easy to spread!

Xue Jin'an had his men put all the ropes tethering the horses in one place, however they were placed, as long as the network between them was connected, it didn't matter which horse they were connected to. Then he randomly found a horse and transmitted the little virus he had just written to it.

The moment to witness a miracle has arrived!

As everyone watched, the Seventh Prince whispered something to the foal he had chosen, as if they had reached some kind of consensus. After the foal was punched and coughed up black blood, it struggled to get up from the ground and then, with lightning speed, crashed into the nearest large horse.

The horse spat out a mouthful of black blood, shook its mane, and kicked two horses on the left and right with its front hooves... and so it passed from one to two, from two to four, from four to eight... soon all the horses in the entire riding arena had been knocked around.

Except for a very few horses that were killed due to size differences, most of the horses recovered, and the whole process took only half an hour. The eunuchs were overjoyed and wept with joy, treating the Seventh Prince as a divine healer among beasts, wishing they could worship him.

After Xue Jin'an healed the horse, he headed back to the Third Prince's ICU ward. Don't misunderstand, he wasn't there to check on the other's injuries; he was simply returning the saber, which was still in his possession.

However, he was stopped before he could get close, and soon the other princes were also driven out, including the sick fifth prince.

The Fourth Prince was indeed timid towards Xue Jin'an and his group, but he always dealt a heavy blow to those he could offend. He rolled up his sleeves, pointed at the imperial physicians' noses, and cursed, "I called you to come and see the patient, but you kept making excuses and never showed up. If you had come even a little later, my third brother would have been cut in half! Now look what you've done, I asked you to look at my third brother's leg, and what did you find on him—an epidemic?! You bunch of quacks!"

It turned out that the Third Prince had developed a high fever at some point. Although the imperial physician did not know the principle of bacterial infection, he knew that if the wound was not treated, it would lead to death. He quickly focused on treating the large wound on his leg, which was indeed very serious. He was very distressed as he treated the wound.

After examining the Fifth Prince, another imperial physician came to check the Third Prince's other injuries. When he pulled open the prince's clothes and saw the dense red rashes on his skin, the physician was horrified.

Most of the diseases that cause rashes are contagious, and some have a high mortality rate. If they spread, it would be a major disaster!

The two imperial physicians couldn't wait for a follow-up examination, and disregarding any distinction of rank, they kicked everyone out without saying a word.

"Your Highness, the epidemic is no small matter. It is better to make a wrong diagnosis than to tolerate it." The imperial physician bowed his head humbly, but his posture was firm, determined to clear the room.

The fourth prince jumped up and down, cursing the quack doctor.

While the others remained calm, the Eighth Prince pondered for a moment before speaking. However, he did not inquire about the Third Prince's condition but instead asked why they had taken so long to arrive.

In fact, even the slow-witted Fourth Prince had already sensed something was wrong outside when the First Prince's eunuch came to report. However, since the Third Prince's leg was still in place, no one dared to ask any further questions.

"This..." The two imperial physicians exchanged a glance, their expressions hesitant and speechless for a long time.

The Eighth Prince's expression turned cold, and he raised his voice, sternly rebuking, "When Third Brother was first brought out, he was conscious. His current state is entirely your fault! Yet you dare to withhold information? Could it be—"

The Eighth Prince sized up the two of them, drawing out his words. The Fourth Prince, unusually cooperative, chimed in, "You scoundrels! You actually tried to harm Third Brother!"

"Your Majesty, we would never dare!" The two imperial physicians hurriedly waved their hands, but they still did not speak. They only said, "Your Highness, we only know the general outline of this matter. We only know that it involves a wide range of people. Chief Physician Hu personally instructed us not to talk about it outside. Even if you dismiss us from our positions as imperial physicians, we would not dare to say anything."

For Hu Yuanzheng, the head of the Imperial Medical Academy, to personally silence him, it must have been an order from the Emperor.

Sure enough, the two said, "If Your Highnesses wish to know the details, why not seek His Majesty or Her Majesty..."

"No need." Xue Jin'an heard the sound of light footwork cutting through the air, but when he looked up, he didn't see anyone.

He opened the live streaming app and refreshed it, and sure enough, he saw several spies from the Imperial Guard appear in the horse farm.

Immediately afterwards, the sound of armor clashing in the distance could be heard, and the dust on the ground trembled slightly. The Fifth Prince and the First Prince turned their heads one after the other and continued Xue Jin'an's unfinished words, "The Imperial Guards are here."

"No..." The endless flat horse field allowed one to see further and wider. The Fourth Prince did not hear those sounds, but he followed the First Prince's gaze and turned his head to look. He saw the Imperial Guards in armor, and a person in red among them.

He swallowed hard, his dry throat tightening, and his finger trembled slightly as he pointed at the person. "And, there's also the clothing service area!"

The clothing office has two sets of clothes: a black suit for nighttime infiltration and murder, and a red suit for daytime arrests. This is the origin of the Blood-Clad Guards.

"Your Highnesses, please follow us."

The Imperial Guards and the Blood-Clad Guards were dispatched simultaneously, sealing off the entire horse farm, and then taking all the princes to a side hall of the Qian Yuan Palace and locking them up.

The next evening, the tightly closed palace doors were opened, and they were taken to the main hall of Qian Yuan Palace, where the Empress Dowager and all the concubines had already arrived.

Xue Jin'an's mind raced, and a dialog box suddenly popped up in her field of vision: [The murder mystery game has been updated. Do you want to start it?]