Chapter 30 Divine Healer
One sentence shattered all of Lingyi's hopes. She clutched his sleeve, her voice trembling, "You planned this all along, never intending for him to stay by my side, did you?"
Qin Lie said indifferently, "If he were a girl, it would be fine for you to raise him. But he's a boy, how can I let your child have the chance to compete with Hui Niang's child in the future?"
Lingyi pleaded tearfully, "Where are you sending him? I can stay with him, eat coarse food and work in the fields, I'll take him far away, to live a peaceful life in the countryside, and I will never bother your children! I only beg you, give him back to me!"
Qin Lie remained unmoved, saying only, "Take good care of yourself. After these few days, I will take you back to the princess's residence."
He said this so casually, yet he had just taken the child from her and was already thinking of taking her back as his own.
She was filled with hatred and raised her hand to slap him. Qin Lie was caught off guard and the slap landed squarely on his face.
Lingyi, disregarding her fear, demanded sharply, "Since you think I'm unworthy to raise your child, why did you make me pregnant?! I know you hate the Liu family to the bone because of Huiniang, but between the two of us, you're the only one who has ever wronged her. What have I done wrong from beginning to end?!"
The two maids in the room knelt on the ground, not daring to raise their heads, for fear of being implicated by this princess.
"Shut up!" Qin Lie's face darkened. "You have no right to mention Hui Niang!"
The more guilt he felt towards Huiniang, the more resentment he felt towards Lingyi. He sneered, "That child was just something I did while drunk. Liu Lingyi, if you had obediently drunk the abortion pill back then, instead of using all your charms in bed to make me keep him, would we be suffering the pain of separation from our child today?"
Lingyi trembled with anger, “Qin Lie, even though as a princess my marriage is never my own choice, if I could do it all over again, I would rather smash my head against a palace pillar than marry you!”
She finally spoke her true feelings. Qin Lie smiled, his words like sharp swords, specifically targeting her weakest point. "Why bother hitting a pillar? As long as you have an affair like the Fifteenth Princess, you won't have to get married. What? Princess, are you regretting it? How many times have you and Xie Yu confessed your feelings to each other under the moon and flowers, but you were always just one step away from marriage. Otherwise, why would you have watched him become your brother-in-law and had to give yourself to me?"
At this point, his gaze suddenly turned cold, and he pulled the person in front of him. "The same tricks you used on me, have you ever used on him? Was he also infatuated with you, letting you do whatever you wanted with him? What promises did he make to you last time that made you abandon everything here just to throw yourself into his arms? Was it like you and your sisters, Ehuang and Nüying, sharing one husband?"
"Why need Ehuang and Nüying? I would be willing to be a concubine!" In her utter despair, Lingyi found boundless courage.
She looked at him with disdain. "Why would I need to use any tricks on him? A single encounter between a golden breeze and jade dew surpasses countless encounters in the mortal world. The general and your wife were once deeply in love, so you should know the feeling. How were you two like that? How was my brother Xie Yu like that too! I was too greedy. All the things you like, I learned for him. When you like someone, you naturally want them to be happy and joyful, and you're willing to do anything for them. Unfortunately, he's a gentleman who adheres to propriety, and you ended up getting the better end of the deal! Do you know that every moment I'm around you makes me sick? Every time we're in bed, I can only barely endure it by imagining you as him!"
"You deserve to die!" Qin Lie was furious, his eyes bloodshot, and he almost chopped her to death with a single blow.
She tilted her head back, looking at him fearlessly with bright eyes.
He slowly lowered his hand, saying, "Liu Lingyi, you want to die? I'll make sure you don't get your way!"
"Liu Yunfei fled the capital with the Seventh Prince, leaving the Thirteenth Princess to be at the mercy of others; Geng Qing was having a passionate affair with the Crown Princess, leaving the Fourteenth Princess alone every night; and then there's your brother Xie Yu, who was the one who decided on the list of princesses to marry. Guess who was so eager to marry the Sixteenth Princess, and who sent you to my side? Unfortunately, despite all his scheming, he never expected the Crown Prince to die at Mangshan. Not only did he end up with nothing, but he also became enemies with the Cui family."
His gentle smile was laced with deadly poison. "Liu Lingyi, you deserve to fall into my hands."
He maliciously reached out and touched her lower abdomen, whispering in her ear, "Guess how many of my children this will bear in the future?"
Fear swept over her. In the sweltering room, Lingyi felt as if she were naked and immersed in ice water. Suppressing the urge to chatter, she provoked him again: "The paulownia tree and the chair, their fruit is lush and green. Gentlemen, all are like Lingyi."
"Qin Lie, don't call me by my name again."
"My name was given to me by Brother Xie Yu, you are not worthy of it!"
He could no longer maintain his fake smile; his expression changed completely, his gaze fixed on her, his breathing heavy, and veins bulging on his forehead.
Lingyi felt a surge of satisfaction, closed her eyes, and stretched out her neck to await death.
After waiting for a while, he still didn't do it. He threw her back onto the bed, turned around, and slammed the door shut as he left.
Lingyi lay on the bed, half-crying and half-laughing. She cried because her future was cut off and all her relatives were gone, and laughed because she was too arrogant and overestimated herself. Now everything was truly her own fault. If she had known this would happen, she would have drunk that bowl of medicine in the first place, and she wouldn't have to suffer this excruciating pain now.
Remembering Qin Lie's threatening words, she thought that if she had to suffer like this a few more times, she might as well end it all now.
Under her pillow was the dagger he had given her. He had taken it back after she escaped from the princess's residence, and she found it again by her pillow when she gave birth. Hearing that it was given to her by Qin Xiaohu, she put it under her pillow after that.
She gripped the knife handle for a long time; the courage she had just felt to die had long since vanished, and now she cowardly wanted to live.
.
Qin Hong was so busy in Hengzhou that he barely had time to rest.
When the Seventh Prince and his entourage were leaving, they poisoned the wells in the city.
The Jizhou army was still on guard and was not affected, but the people in the city were in dire straits. After drinking the well water, they suffered from abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea. Adult men could survive for seven or eight days, but the elderly and children, who were weaker, could only last four or five days before dying.
Not to mention that many people in the city have already drunk the well water, even if they haven't, if they don't get an antidote, they can't stay in this prefecture for long. What's the use of taking it?
Qin Hong was so anxious that he kept scratching his head.
Fortunately, within a few days, his men brought back the culprit, a thin man with a sallow complexion and droopy eyelids.
He had been loitering around the wells for the past few days, and at different wells at that. The patrolling soldiers found him suspicious and followed him to several wells before finally arresting him.
Qin Hong held a broadsword to his neck, his voice menacing, "Speak! What poison did you use? And where is the antidote?!"
The man was not so frightened that he confessed; instead, he said that he had been checking each well in order to develop an antidote.
Qin Hong naturally didn't believe in such a thing as someone offering a pillow when you're sleepy, but unexpectedly, this person revealed most of the hidden ailments of the people present.
Qin Hong saw that he was young and could not explain his background, so he still had doubts. However, he could not care about that at the moment and could only try his luck.
With things in chaos outside, he decided to have him stay with him at the Guo family ancestral home, and had the soldiers prepare all the necessary medicines for him, giving him ten days to prepare the antidote.
Having just arrived in the city, Qin Hong was overwhelmed with countless matters to attend to, and he quickly put this matter out of his mind. However, upon returning to his residence, that feeling...
The smell of medicine wafting over reminded him that a barefoot doctor, whether real or fake, lived next door.
For several days in a row, Qin Hong found that this doctor was even busier than himself. He could still sleep for two or three hours a day, but this doctor almost never stopped testing medicines, trying one dose after another and pouring out bowl after bowl.
Although the smells of the medicine were similar, Qin Hong had a keen sense of smell and could still detect the differences.
"Don't you sleep all day?" he asked, leaning against the wall. Unless someone was a spy, he wouldn't kill innocent people indiscriminately if he couldn't match the information. The fact that the man was working so hard only made him more suspicious.
The doctor explained, "General, I sometimes take a nap while I'm preparing the medicine. It's just that I enjoy studying medicine, and when I encounter difficult problems, my competitive spirit arises, which is why I work so hard."
Qin Hong laughed: "You're quite honest, kid. You didn't even say any of those platitudes about a doctor's benevolence saving the people. I like that!"
The doctor's expression froze, looking completely dumbfounded. Qin Hong was delighted to see this—it felt like his third brother was looking at him.
He walked over and patted the man's shoulder with his large hand, a rough and tough way of showing affection. The man, however, unconsciously took a step back and looked at him with wariness in his eyes.
Qin Hong didn't notice; he only had one thought at the time—why is this kid so thin?
Her bones seem much thinner than others, tsk tsk, it's probably from overwork!
Qin Hong immediately assigned him two people, one to brew the medicine and the other to do odd jobs, so that he could concentrate on developing the antidote.
Although the doctor was young, his medical skills were quite remarkable. While the military doctors were still at a loss, he developed an antidote in just eight days.
It can not only detoxify the human body, but also detoxify the water.
The problem was easily solved, and Qin Hong felt that this person was simply a savior sent down by God to help him.
He had always admired capable people the most, and immediately wanted to become sworn brothers with this doctor.
Only after saying that did he belatedly ask, "By the way, what's your last name and your first name again?"
The doctor replied, "My surname is Zhang, and my name is Zhang Dasheng."
Although he answered with his name, he said that he was of lowly status and refused to become sworn brothers with Qin Hong.
Qin Hong repeatedly explained that he didn't care about these things, but Zhang Dasheng remained oblivious. After making a fool of himself, Qin Hong gave Zhang Dasheng some silver and let him leave.
I saw Zhang Dasheng again about ten days later.
Before the Seventh Prince left, he burned the city's granaries to the ground. Qin Hong then ordered other counties to send some grain over.
Although the food crisis was temporarily resolved, the departure of the Seventh Prince led many high-ranking officials and wealthy merchants in the prefecture to flee as well, including many doctors.
The weather was freezing cold, and many people had just been poisoned, causing widespread illness among the populace.
At this moment, let alone a shortage of doctors, even if there were enough doctors, the people had already bought expensive grain and wouldn't be able to afford medical treatment with their spare money.
Suddenly, a person appeared who not only provided free medical treatment but sometimes even offered medicinal herbs.
Moreover, this person, while not exactly a cure-all, could certainly be described as having miraculous healing abilities.
Listening to his subordinate's report, Qin Hong vaguely sensed the influence of the White Lotus Sect.
When he arrived at the doctor's clinic, he swept through the crowd and saw Zhang Dasheng, who had never given him any face, sitting there, his eyelids drooping, treating someone else.
Qin Hong secretly observed Zhang Dasheng for an afternoon. Zhang Dasheng had seen more than thirty patients. He was indeed skilled and could see patients and prescribe medicine in one go. However, he was not very bright. Some people could afford the medicine, but they would just play the victim in front of him and he would give them the medicine for free without any suspicion.
Not only that, he was also utterly unlikable. Despite his supposedly benevolent medical practice, he maintained a perpetually expressionless face. For the past two hours, he had barely shown any emotion and spoke very little. He answered only the patients' questions, without uttering a single other word. Even when others expressed gratitude, he remained unresponsive with a blank face, simply urging them to leave quickly and not waste time.
This is the complete opposite of the White Lotus Sect, which is known for its eloquent speech and its tendency to exaggerate even the smallest details.
Zhang Dasheng was busy until dark, and Qin Hong also waited until dark.
When Zhang Dasheng met Qin Hong, he not only didn't befriend him, but he also tried to avoid him.
Unfortunately, Qin Hong, being born into the Qin family, was disliked by his father, yet many people still flocked to him.
He may seem carefree, but he's actually quite rebellious. The more people approach him, the more annoyed he becomes. If others ignore him, he'll fawn over them. And this is a highly skilled doctor who is also honest and simple to the point of being a bit dull.
Hengzhou has now been largely taken over, and Qin Hong is no longer as busy. When he has nothing to do, he likes to watch Zhang Dasheng act foolishly.
Actually, he was just incredibly bored. Normally, he'd be too lazy to stop talking as long as his eyes were open, but now that his third brother wasn't around, and Sun Yuebin had gone out of the city to pursue them, he was left with only a bunch of subordinates with nothing to say to him. He'd finally found such a quiet, unassuming guy who wouldn't get impatient with him at all, not even flinching. Qin Hong felt like he'd struck gold.
While Zhang Dasheng was treating patients, he would chatter on and on. When Zhang Dasheng was dispensing medicine, he would talk enthusiastically with the patients. Sometimes, when he encountered those who were deliberately trying to gain sympathy, he would smile at them, revealing a set of sinister white teeth, which would scare them so much that they would throw down their money for the medicine and run away in panic.
As the year drew to a close and the government office closed, Qin Hong practically lived with Zhang Dasheng every day.
When people are sick, they don't care about holidays. After a busy day on New Year's Eve, Zhang Dasheng couldn't help but ask, "General, don't you need to go back to Jizhou for the New Year?"
Qin Hong said, "This is, after all, the Guo family's old lair. With Third Brother not coming back, we need a member of the Qin family to keep things in order. I guess I'll just have to put in the effort!"
Zhang Dasheng couldn't discern a trace of hardship in his relaxed demeanor, completely unaware that the other man had taken his indifference as a sign of "enjoying it." He thought for a moment and said, "In that case, I have prepared a small feast at home to bid farewell to the old year. If the general doesn't mind, why don't you come with me?"
Qin Hong himself was a rough man, but he liked it when others spoke in such a refined manner, so of course he didn't refuse and went to Zhang Dasheng's place with him.
Zhang Dasheng lived in a simple but clean house with three tiled rooms. His mother was surprised to see him, but she calmed down after Zhang Dasheng introduced him. Because of the arrival of such an important person, she hurriedly went to the kitchen to cook a few more dishes.
Once the food and wine were prepared, Qin Hong glanced at the table and said, "So you're from Jiangnan."
Actually, there's no need to look at the table. Zhang Dasheng's mother has a fair complexion, which is rare among northerners. Although she's getting on in years, you can still see that she has a pretty face. I don't know how she gave birth to Zhang Dasheng, who has such a dark and yellowish face.
Zhang Dasheng explained, "I look like my father, and my mother is in poor health and doesn't go out often, so she is a bit fair-skinned. I am exposed to the wind and sun all day long, so I look a bit darker."
Qin Hong didn't pay much attention to such matters. A real man doesn't need to be judged by his appearance; the key is to have ability.
Zhang Dasheng's mother's cooking was delicious, but although Zhang Dasheng was quite a heavy drinker, he didn't know how to toast. He would just clink glasses with him and then down the wine in one gulp. Qin Hong, not wanting to be outdone in such matters, would also drink one cup after another.
As a result, I didn't eat much food, but I drank until I was half full.
In his drunken haze, Zhang Dasheng became more talkative, though he was still not good with words, he tried his best to engage in conversation.
"I've heard that the General Who Conquers the North married a princess. Have you seen her? Is she truly as beautiful as the rumors say?"
Qin Hong laughed upon hearing this. Even the most taciturn man is still a man, and when drunk, he's no different from a seasoned soldier; the conversation inevitably turns to women. Although he disliked the princess, her betrothal to his third brother was common knowledge, and he couldn't use it as gossip. However, Zhang Dasheng's question was cautious and purely curious, devoid of any of the lewdness or malice often associated with men, so Qin Hong didn't get angry. He simply said, "She spends all her time at the princess's residence; I don't see her much."
Zhang Dasheng said longingly, "To be able to marry a princess from the imperial family, General Zhengbei is truly enviable."
Qin Hong felt aggrieved for his third brother when he thought of that General Zhang, but family scandals should not be aired in public, so he mumbled, "If you ask me, it would be a blessing for the princess to marry my third brother."
"Oh? The General Who Conquers the North treats the princess extremely well?"
Qin Hong took a big bite of the Dongpo pork: "That's naturally very good."
Qin Hong was unaware of the princess's pregnancy and childbirth. In his mind, the princess had seduced Zhang Qianzong and attempted to escape, committing such a grave mistake that anyone else would have been drowned in a pig cage. Yet, she was only imprisoned in the princess's mansion, still living a life of luxury with a large retinue of servants. How could that not be considered very good?
Zhang Dasheng exchanged a glance with his mother, a smile spreading across his face: "General, let me offer you another toast."
Since their first meeting, he had always had a blank expression, but today was the first time he smiled, his eyes crinkling and revealing a row of pearly teeth.
Qin Hong's wine glass swayed slightly, and he murmured, "Brother Zhang, your teeth are so white, and your smile is so beautiful..."
Zhang Dasheng's smile vanished, and he said blankly, "General, you're drunk."
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