Chapter 376 Lee Sang-hyun Returns
"Next is the inner palace garden, not far from that nobleman's palace."
Led by palace servants, Li Lianhua and his entourage entered the inner palace, each claiming to be a renowned physician from various regions. Only poor Fang Duobing, whose reputation as the son of a high-ranking official was too great to disguise himself and enter the palace, could only wait outside to provide support.
"May I ask, sir, which distinguished guest is ill?"
Li Lianhua, as the renowned physician Li, naturally became the leader and spoke with the eunuch who was guiding the way.
The father-in-law smiled cautiously, "You'll all know when you arrive."
The group exchanged glances, curious about this mysterious VIP.
Soon, the group arrived at the palace gate, only to find the gate tightly closed, with all the palace servants and other summoned physicians waiting outside.
"Get out of here, I don't want to see anyone!"
A woman's voice came from inside the hall, and the eunuch leading the way quickly explained: "The noble lady is suffering from a strange illness. She has red rashes all over her body, is irritable and depressed, and refuses to see a doctor."
"How can we conduct a medical consultation if we don't meet in person?"
A commotion broke out in the crowd, and Li Lianhua looked up at the palace plaque, then turned to exchange a knowing glance with the others.
"Why don't we give it a try?"
Li Lianhua stepped forward.
"We common folk all learned the way of Confucian medicine, just like the maple leaves of Fragrant Hills that turn red in autumn, and we are most particular about etiquette."
As soon as Li Lianhua finished speaking, a woman's voice came from inside the hall: "Come in."
Upon hearing this, the eunuch standing nearby was overjoyed and hurriedly opened the palace door, letting everyone in.
As expected, Princess Zhaoling appeared behind the screen.
"It really is you guys! What brings you here?"
Princess Zhaoling asked with great delight.
"Princess, it's been a long time. We've come to treat your illness."
“I don’t believe it,” Princess Zhaoling smiled slyly. “I know, there are strange things in the palace too, aren’t there?”
Having experienced the Jade Pavilion Spring, Zhao Ling was no longer the same Zhao Ling. Having witnessed the spatial rift that caused her to disappear, Zhao Ling, who believed she had a responsibility to save the world, was unable to leave even though she was feigning illness. However, she quickly made up her mind to help Li Lianhua and the others.
Thus, without much explanation from them, Zhao Ling, who had a personality very much like a female version of Fang Duobing, convinced herself and provided great assistance to their actions in the palace.
"Huh?"
Following the location of the spatial rift, the group quickly found an open space deep within the palace, led by Li Lianzi.
"What's wrong?"
“I feel…” Li Lianzi turned her head and looked at everyone with surprise and uncertainty, “The crack seems to be underground.”
"underground?"
Everyone was somewhat surprised; of course, they didn't doubt Li Lianzi's intuition. But this was the first time they had encountered a fissure located underground.
Li Lianhua stomped her foot on the spot, "Is there another space down there?"
"Let's look for it."
The group scattered and began searching for the entrance.
Lan Yan slowly walked forward, stopping at the edge of a huge well not far away, and asked curiously, "Why is there a well here?"
Li Lianhua rushed over upon hearing the commotion. Lan Yan hadn't answered his question last night. But now it seemed he wasn't going to hide it anymore?
Standing at the edge of the well and looking down, the bottom was nowhere in sight.
"The Qimen Strategy records a kind of Blood Domain Mine Mechanism..."
“The Iron Mountain Collapses.” Li Lianye, who had approached, continued, “The weight of the pendulum, which weighs over a thousand pounds, is hoisted high. Suddenly, the mechanism reverses, and the pendulum falls rapidly from above, crashing out of the well pit.”
"According to the information collected a few days ago, the story of Emperor Guangqing building the Xuanta Pagoda and giving birth to a prince a hundred years ago has been circulating. However, there are no records in the palace, and the original site of the pagoda has not been found, so everyone just regards it as a legend."
Li Lianzi completed the final step.
“So, this well is very likely the tower from back then.” Li Xiangxian stood by the well, his eyes searching for any possible entrance.
"If this really is a tower, then the cracks detected must be inside the tower."
Having confirmed the existence of underground space, everyone began searching for the entrance around the well.
Soon, traces of a mechanism were discovered on the nearby artificial hill.
When the night was deep and quiet, Li Lianhua pulled the lever, and a stone door appeared on the ground.
"Let's go and see how to close this crack that's hidden so deep."
The five of them leaped lightly into the tower.
Li Lianzi led the way, carrying a tinderbox, and soon arrived at the location she had sensed.
"arrive."
As soon as the words were spoken, ripples appeared in the space in front of the five people, and a familiar spatial rift appeared.
Everyone held their breath and waited, but Li Lianzi remained silent for a moment.
"What's wrong?"
Hearing Li Lianhua's question, Li Lianzi turned around with a complicated expression, "Two conditions: the Karmic Fire Mother Gu, and... my brother's return."
Li Xiangxian picked up the Luomo Cauldron from the coffin beside him and tossed it lightly. "I was right. It's time to go back."
As he spoke, he walked to the crack and patted Li Lianzi on the shoulder. "Silly boy, it's not like you've disappeared. I'm waiting for you and your senior brother to come back at home."
"Understood." Li Lianzi nodded, stepped aside, and gave her seat to Li Lianhua and Li Lianye.
“I also made money; I gained two more good younger brothers from this trip.”
"Big brother..."
Lee Sang-hyeon patted each of them on the shoulder with one hand, his smile warm: "No matter what you call lotus, lotus leaf, lotus root, or lotus seedpod, you will always be my younger brothers, Lee Sang-hyeon. Promise me you will live well from now on, and remember that your older brother will always support you and care about you."
"good."
"They're gone—"
Both Li Lianhua and the other woman choked up as they watched Li Xiangxian walk into the crevice and disappear from their sight, their eyes uncontrollably reddening.
They will always remember that their brother was named Lee Sang-hyeon.
"Let's go too."
After giving the two some time to process their thoughts, Lan Yan slowly began to speak.
“Alright,” Li Lianhua nodded, glancing at the murals on the wall. “Since this tower has been gone for a hundred years, let’s not let it reappear.”
He had no intention of seizing power, so matters involving royal privacy and the secrets of the Southern Yin should simply fade into history.
The other three had no objections. They destroyed the contents of the tower and then left the palace.
Fang Duobing had been waiting in a corner of the palace gate. Seeing them appear, he rushed over excitedly: "You're finally out? How did you manage to overcome it? Was this crack difficult to close?"
"It's solved."
Before Fang Duobing could even get excited, he took a closer look and saw that five people had gone in and four had come out. His lips instantly fell into a smile. "Second Uncle..."
"He went back."
Li Lianhua patted him on the shoulder: "Silly boy, don't be sad. Everyone has to part ways eventually. Who knows, we might meet again in the future."
"Yes, with so many cracks appearing, we might just meet again someday."
Fang Duobing quickly regained his optimism and even started imagining their reunion. It was as if this could dispel the reluctance and sorrow of parting.
Li Lianzi walked beside Lan Yan, while the two of them lagged behind slowly.
After a long while, he finally spoke, "Senior brother, I feel it. There are hardly any overlapping parts in the world anymore."
"Then let's just get along well with ourselves..."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
