Burning herbs

Tang Feng's lips twitched slightly. He closed his eyes, telling himself that the visitor was a guest, and besides, he couldn't ascertain Wen Yunsheng's stance, so he couldn't reveal his emotions. He opened his eyes again and simply smiled. "Sir, you've taken the pulse and examined the illness. What conclusions have you reached?" Wen Yunsheng looked at Tang Feng's blurry figure and blinked. "Grand Tutor Tang, I know your stance is different from mine, but to be honest, I feel very sorry."

"What's there to regret?" Tang Feng found it interesting, picked up the teacup beside him, took a sip, and then asked, "Regret that Li Yunye and I are no longer on the same side? Or regret that we are enemies?"

"Perhaps he laments his fate," Wen Yunsheng tilted his head, looking at Tang Feng. "I wasn't joking just now, Grand Tutor Tang, you really don't have much time left. I'm not entirely sure of the cause of your illness; it might be a mental illness, a hidden ailment, or something else. But one thing I'm very clear about is that your body probably won't last much longer."

"I know," Tang Feng said calmly, which surprised Wen Yunsheng. Wen Yunsheng had grown up in a family of physicians and was already able to diagnose illnesses by the age of ten. He considered himself to have seen many different kinds of people, big and small. Unlike Guan Jia, the strategist beside Li Yunye, he had witnessed far more of the human condition and the pain of separation and death than the life of someone living on the edge of a knife. While he had seen people who could calmly accept death, he had never seen anyone like Tang Feng. In impoverished areas, the poor often sacrifice themselves, not wanting to burden their families, or the elderly, burdened by years of illness, might lose the will to live. "Grand Tutor Tang seems to have a very open mind."

I've always been very open-minded about life and death.

"Then why do you pledge allegiance to His Highness the Ninth Prince?"

"It's mutual exploitation, not loyalty," Tang Feng said, smirking at Wen Yunsheng. "So how much longer can I live? Two years? One year? Or even less?"

"How long he lives depends on Grand Tutor Tang himself," Wen Yunsheng said, pointing to his medicine box. "I've heard that Grand Tutor Tang is highly accomplished in literature, but I wonder how much he knows about medicine. The prescriptions are right there; they won't change for you. Typhoid medicine is typhoid medicine; it won't change for thousands of years. But the patient is different; whether he takes it or not is up to him."

"I can live as long as I want?" Tang Feng frowned and chuckled. "Then I want to die peacefully in my sleep."

"Grand Tutor Tang, have you gone mad with illness?" Wen Yunsheng said seriously, his smile fading. He then stood up, handed the prescription to Tang Feng, but pulled his hand back before Tang Feng could take it. "I won't give you the prescription. I'll come and brew the medicine for you in the next ten days."

"Wouldn't they have poisoned it?"

"Hmm... if I were willing, but don't worry, Grand Tutor Tang probably won't, after all, I care a lot about your game. If possible, let's play another game sometime! Your Highness's chess is terrible."

After seeing Wen Yunsheng off, Tang Feng sat in the house pondering today's conversation. If he meant no harm to her, then why did he follow Li Yunye? Tang Feng was lost in thought when he didn't realize that Liu Yiwan had already entered the house. When Liu Yiwan placed the snacks on the table, Tang Feng was startled. "Why is he like Zhou Ziliang, walking so silently!"

Liu Yiwan wasn't much better off; she was also startled, and after steadying the teapot in her hands, she complained, "I knocked on the door, young master was just too engrossed in thought."

What do you think of that person?

"Isn't that the doctor who came to treat the young master?" Liu Yiwan didn't understand Tang Feng's meaning, and before she could ask further, Tang Feng shook his head. "It's nothing, you can go now. I was just saying."

Wen Yunsheng was more trustworthy than Tang Feng had imagined. Ever since that day, Wen Yunsheng had come to the Tang residence every day to burn paper money and herbs for Tang Feng. "Grand Tutor, you're so sickly, please don't keep coming out to watch me prepare medicine. The wind will only worsen your condition, and the Prince will scold me." Wen Yunsheng squatted on the ground, smiling as he fanned the fire with a fan, which displeased Tang Feng. Several days passed, and Tang Feng still couldn't figure out his background, let alone get any information out of him. After a few days, he was increasingly angered by Wen Yunsheng's unrestrained words. Tang Feng plopped down on a nearby stool. "So, what are you doing burning herbs, you blind man?"

"Grand Tutor Tang, you're twisting the facts. I just can't see clearly, not that I can't see. I can still burn herbs. As for you, your health isn't good, and if you catch a cold, what will happen if you lose even a day of your life?"

Tang Feng, his face flushed red from the retort, forced a smile and continued, "Have you ever considered the possibility that one day you might drive me to my death?" Wen Yunsheng, hearing the medicine was boiling, placed a cloth over the pot and poured it out. "Grand Tutor Tang, please. Drinking this will reduce your internal heat by half." Seeing Tang Feng remain silent, Wen Yunsheng wasn't in a hurry and continued, "The Prince asked a couple of days ago if you had time..."

"What? You've held a grudge over just one sentence?" Tang Feng looked at Wen Yunsheng, his heart finally settling down a bit after several days of anxiety. After all, Wen Yunsheng's behavior these past few days had been too much like an ordinary person. If he didn't know that Wen Yunsheng was working for Li Yunye, he probably would have thought he was just a typical sharp-tongued doctor. "Then I don't know," Wen Yunsheng pushed the medicine in front of him toward Tang Feng. "However, Your Highness does indeed care a great deal about Grand Tutor Tang. This isn't just something I know; everyone in the manor probably knows it."

"Really?" Tang Feng propped his head up with his hand, looking at Wen Yunsheng nonchalantly. "There are plenty of people who care about me, but they're a mixed bag. I can't respond to everyone."

"Then the Grand Tutor thinks that the Prince is a bad person."

Tang Feng picked up the medicine bowl, drank it all in one gulp, and then shook his head. "Xiling is a place of ever-changing winds and dangers. Behind its outward prosperity and tranquility, there is always a hidden fragrance, making it hard to fathom. I myself can't say whether I am good or bad, so how can I judge others?"

"Does Grand Tutor Tang consider himself good or bad?"

"Fifty or fifty. Most people who end up on this path are probably not good people," Tang Feng said, standing up. "You don't need to come tomorrow. You're a doctor, so you should know I'm beyond saving." Wen Yunsheng thought for a moment, resting his head on his hand. "That won't do, Grand Tutor Tang. The Prince asked me to cure you. If I fail to do so, the Prince will be unhappy." "You care about him that much?"

"If you don't fulfill the tasks His Highness the Ninth Prince has entrusted to you, do you think that's appropriate?" Tang Feng didn't know why he couldn't like Wen Yunsheng after his death. He disliked many people in his daily life, but this was the first time he couldn't smile. Was it because Wen Yunsheng was blind, so he felt he didn't need to smile? Or was it because Wen Yunsheng smiled at him every day, making it impossible for him to smile? Wen Yunsheng waited a long time without Tang Feng speaking, then said, "Whether you submit to the Prince or not is none of my concern. I only want to see some interesting things."

After Wen Yunsheng left, Tang Feng sat on the stone bench in a daze until Zhou Ziliang returned in the evening. "Why haven't you come back to your room yet?"

"Huh? Oh, I've been spacing out. I feel like I've been tricked these past few days." Tang Feng collapsed onto the bed after entering the room, turning his head to look at Zhou Ziliang. "What do you think of Wen Yunsheng?" Zhou Ziliang laughed upon hearing this. "I've never even met him, how can I give my opinion?" "Of course you've met him! You come to annoy me every day, how could you not have met him?" Tang Feng sat up and stared at Zhou Ziliang, saying, "Don't try to change the subject, just tell me!"

“Perhaps he’s someone who doesn’t care about the court and only cares about himself,” Zhou Ziliang pondered for a moment before slowly speaking. “I’ve investigated his family background. Don’t let his appearance fool you; he’s the eldest son of the Wen family of Changnan.” Seeing Tang Feng looking at him with a puzzled expression, he knew Tang Feng knew nothing about the affairs of the martial arts world, so he sighed and explained, “We are children of officials, so it’s understandable that people in the martial arts world don’t know much about us. The Wen family is a well-known medicine merchant in the Daze area, but they started by treating patients, developing from barefoot doctors. So, you could say they’re a family of doctors.”

"Then why did he travel all this way to Xiling to get involved in this mess?" Tang Feng truly couldn't understand. After all, this was the son of a wealthy merchant, with a large and prosperous family. Wen Yunsheng could have easily inherited the family business peacefully after coming of age. Now, he had traveled all this way to Xiling to stir up trouble, which could easily be a crime punishable by the extermination of his entire family. "Forget it, perhaps a sparrow cannot understand the ambitions of a swan." "I feel like Xiao Feng hasn't been in a good mood these past few days." "Not in a good mood? Maybe. I'm almost driven crazy by him. We've been together for five or six days, and I haven't gotten a single word out of him. I've even been rebuffed by him several times." Tang Feng saw Zhou Ziliang looking at him, trying to suppress his laughter, and said impatiently, "If you want to laugh, just laugh. Why are you holding it in?"

"I was just wondering if you're overthinking it?" Zhou Ziliang sat down next to Tang Feng, holding a military treatise in his hand, and chuckled. "Perhaps they don't care about the succession struggle, nor have they really interfered in these matters. It's just that you're overthinking things, Xiao Feng, that's why you can't get any information out of them." Tang Feng shifted slightly, lying on Zhou Ziliang's lap, and sighed, saying in a low voice, "Well... that's for the best, isn't it? I plan to go to court tomorrow. These past few days have been like a recluse; I know nothing about what's happening outside. If this continues, our sensitive and easily overthinking Ninth Prince might think I'm going to run away."

"Don't say that," Zhou Ziliang said with a smile, tapping Tang Feng's forehead with the military treatise in his hand. "He's a prince, after all. Even if you're his teacher, you can't go too far." "I've already calculated it?" Tang Feng was displeased upon hearing this, and his temper flared up. He pushed Zhou Ziliang's hand away and sat up. "I've practically paved the way for him with my life. Can't I even scold him a couple of times? If you want to be the crown prince, you should at least have half the magnanimity of his elder brother! You're all talk and no action!" During the time he had been feigning illness, Li Yunyu seemed to have vanished without a trace. It wasn't that Tang Feng insisted on him doing anything, but at least he shouldn't have remained so unmoved and undisturbed!

"Should I visit His Highness the Ninth Prince while I'm at court tomorrow?"

"Who wants to go see him..."

"Xiao Feng cares a lot about the Ninth Prince, otherwise she wouldn't be so attentive. Even if it's just for Liu Liu's sake, if she really didn't care, she wouldn't need to help him so much."

"What are you talking about? I've only come this far in order to find the murderer who killed Liu Liu." Tang Feng turned over so his back was to Zhou Ziliang, who then shifted his position to make him more comfortable. "And what happens after you find him? Do you plan to continue assisting him or retire to the mountains?"

"Zhou Ziliang, are you his brother? Why are you protecting him so much?"