Chapter 13 Birthday

Jun Jingxing originally thought that his identity as a miracle doctor was just a cover, until he discovered at dinner time that the young marquis seemed to be in poor health.

Sui Yan held a bowl of sweet soup, frowned and took a sip. He didn't look like he was drinking sweet soup, but rather like he was tasting poison.

Haitang served him food and said, "The prescription that Doctor Meng Yu left a few days ago will be delivered to you in the evening. Young Master, you must finish it."

Sui Yan's face turned green when he heard this: "How long do I have to drink?"

Haitang thought for a moment and said, "Maybe after the New Year."

Sui Yan didn't even want to drink the medicinal food now.

Jun Jingxing frowned beside him, looking at the medicinal sweet soup in Sui Yan's bowl, and couldn't help asking, "You drink medicine and put it in sweet soup to make it into medicinal food?"

Sui Yan was coaxed and urged by Hai Tang to take another sip, and didn't want to talk at all.

Haitang was very familiar with the situation and said, "Yes, if the medicine is boiled dry, the young master will not be able to drink it. It can only be boiled in sweet soup."

Jun Jingxing asked curiously, "When will the disease be cured?"

Haitang also felt that this method didn't work, but she had no choice but to laugh dryly.

After dinner, Haitang tidied up, closed the windows, and asked the servants to bring two charcoal braziers back to the room. Soon the whole room became warm, just like spring.

Yin Shenqiu had been sent to the side courtyard by the servants to rest, and they were the only two people staring at each other in the whole room.

Sui Yan curled his lips, feeling that he was quite boring. He untied his cloak and threw it aside, took out a small porcelain bottle from the cupboard, and began to undress.

Jun Jingxing: “…”

Jun Jingxing's face was filled with horror, and he angrily asked, "What are you doing?!"

Sui Yan paused in unbuttoning his shirt, then looked at Jun Jingxing in disbelief, his expression even more horrified than his.

"Aren't you a doctor?" Sui Yan asked, "You know how to prescribe medicine, right?"

Jun Jingxing didn't understand what was going on, and then he saw Sui Yan take off his clothes, grab a pillow and lie on the couch, pat the bedside table, and said, "Come here."

Jun Jingxing was so angry that his ears were ringing and his eyes were dizzy. He took a deep breath and then saw that there seemed to be several bright red scars on Sui Yan's back.

Jun Jingxing felt relieved at this point. He walked forward tentatively, and when he got closer, he found that the white back seemed to have been whipped. There were three crisscrossed scars on the back, which looked a little scary.

Sui Yan lay on the pillow and said in a muffled voice: "Be careful, I'm afraid of pain."

Jun Jingxing held his forehead.

The medicine in the small porcelain bottle was sent by Sui Xun. After opening the stopper, a strong medicinal fragrance wafted out. Jun Jingxing poured out some medicine powder expressionlessly and sprinkled it lightly on the three wounds.

As the powder fell, Sui Yan's frail body trembled violently. He bit the pillow and whimpered in pain, looking extremely pitiful.

Jun Jingxing's eyes moved slightly, as if he was somewhat moved, and then...

The sprinkle became more vigorous.

By the time he had finished applying the powder, Sui Yan was covered in cold sweat and gasping for breath, apparently in great pain.

Jun Jingxing carefully wiped the powder off the wound with a handkerchief and said calmly, "What did you do wrong to be beaten like this? This is too cruel."

Sui Yan immediately turned around and glared at him angrily when he heard this: "It's all because of you! My brother now thinks that I went to the brothel for pleasure that time. I took these three whippings because of you. Why are you gloating over this misfortune?!"

Jun Jingxing suddenly felt guilty and quickly coaxed him, "Okay, okay, it's my fault. I'll help you copy the book tomorrow."

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly realized that the two of them had only known each other for a short time, so how could they talk so familiarly? It was like they were good friends who had known each other for many years.

Is this young marquis so familiar with everyone?

Sui Yan continued to lie down, lowering his head and said sadly: "Don't bother you. Tomorrow is the Third Prince's birthday. I may not be back all day. You can live in the side yard. If you have any problems, just go to Uncle Zhao directly."

Jun Jingxing nodded in response, paused for a moment, and suddenly whispered: "Why... did you save me?"

Sui Yan lay there for a while, feeling very sleepy. He opened his eyes dazedly, uttered an "ah", and said vaguely: "Save...save you what? You saved me."

Jun Jingxing rubbed his brows, thinking that this young marquis seemed to like talking nonsense when he was asleep. Seeing that he looked listless, he couldn't ask anything, so he could only say, "Nothing, go to sleep."

Sui Yan said "Oh", lay down on the soft pillow again, and soon fell asleep.

Because of the injury on his back, he couldn't sleep lying down, so he could only curl up with a wronged look on his face, burying his head in the quilt, with tears in the corners of his eyes from the pain.

Jun Jingxing looked at him for a long while before he sighed softly.

"He's still a child." He murmured, and gently pulled up Sui Yan's unbuttoned shirt, covered him with a quilt, thought for a moment, extinguished a charcoal brazier, and then left quietly.

The next morning, just as the morning hour had arrived, Sui Yan was dragged out of the quilt by Sui Xun.

Sui Yan thought Sui Xun was here to ask him to copy a book, so he dazedly hugged the quilt and mumbled, "Copy, copy! I'll copy it right away! Let me sleep for a while, just... a little while..."

Sui Xun was almost amused by his anger and turned around to open the window beside him.

It was snowing heavily outside, and the cold wind was whistling in from outside, blowing directly onto Sui Yan's face.

Sui Yan shuddered suddenly and woke up completely.

A moment later, he was wrapped in a brocade robe with three layers inside and three layers outside, holding a small hand warmer filled with charcoal, and followed Sui Xun into the carriage.

Ever since Sui Yan fell ill, he felt that eight hours of sleep a day was not enough. As soon as he got on the car, he immediately lay down on the small table and fell asleep.

Sui Xun was so angry with him that she lost her temper. Fearing that he would catch a cold, she held him in her arms and wrapped him in a cloak to protect him from the wind.

Sui Yan slept more comfortably.

Half an hour later, the carriage slowly stopped at the Third Prince's Mansion on South Street in the capital.

It was still early at this time, and there were not many guests in the Third Prince's Mansion. The servants were waiting at the door. When they saw Sui Xun and Sui Yan getting off the carriage, they hurried over with umbrellas to greet them.

Sui Yan almost wrapped himself up into a ball, but he was still shaking unnaturally after getting off the carriage. His lips were a little blue and purple. As he walked into the prince's mansion, he asked, "Who has arrived now?"

The servant replied hurriedly, "Master Song and Master Jiang just arrived and are drinking tea in the side courtyard."

Sui Yan said "Oh": "Where is the Third Prince?"

"Your Highness was called to the palace by His Majesty early in the morning. He may be back in a while." The servant led the two of them through the corridor, and when they raised their eyes, they saw the side courtyard with the door open.

"You two gentlemen, please."

The two of them walked quickly inside. Jiang Enhe and Song Xian were drinking tea in the hall. When they saw them, they hurried over to greet them.

"I have met the old general and the young marquis."

Sui Xun waved his hands, indicating that they didn't need to be so polite.

Sui Yan jumped twice, shook off the snow on his boots, pulled a stool and ran to sit next to the charcoal brazier, ignoring them.

Sui Xun was drinking tea on the side. Song Xian and Jiang Enhe didn't dare to be too blatant and could only glare at Sui Yan secretly.

After a while, Sui Yan was completely warmed up. He raised his head and said to Jiang Enhe, "Did you go to Xiangguo Temple yesterday and see Master Gengxue?"

When this was mentioned, Jiang Enhe immediately stopped glaring at him, pulled a stool and sat over, intending to chat with Sui Yan.

Sui Yan raised a finger to stop him: "Stop talking nonsense and get to the point."

Jiang Enhe: "..."

How come this guy who can't chat wasn't beaten to death?

Jiang Enhe said speechlessly: "Do you still want to listen?"

Sui Yan had no choice but to compromise and said, "Okay, okay, you talk and I'm listening."

Jiang Enhe then began to chatter non-stop, starting from the moment a few crows flew overhead when he walked out the door. He could have talked for the time it takes to stick an incense stick on the way to Xiangguo Temple, with nonsense and saliva flying everywhere.

In the end, even Song Xian, who was listening in, couldn't stand it anymore and frowned and said, "Can you get to the point? Who wants to hear about the little girls you met on the road? Who is your teacher? I want to visit him someday to find out who taught you like this."

Jiang Enhe's face suddenly turned red, and he stammered, "I... I've already said it, don't rush me!"

Song Xian couldn't help but roll his eyes.

Although Gann said he would talk about this right away, he continued to talk about it for a quarter of an hour before talking about Xiangguo Temple.

Gannhe summed it up in one word: "I didn't meet Master Gengxue."

Song Xian almost spit out a mouthful of water. Sui Yan looked at him speechlessly and said faintly, "Are you kidding us?"

Jiang Enhe blushed a little, glared at them, and then whispered to Sui Yan: "But I accidentally saw the second prince."

Sui Yan was stunned for a moment, then he became interested.

The culprit who poisoned Duan Mingchong in the previous life was the second prince Duan Ruwang.

Jiang Enhe looked outside, pulled a stool and leaned towards Sui Yan, lowering his voice very low: "It's not surprising that the second prince appeared in Xiangguo Temple. After all, everyone in the capital wants to take this opportunity to get acquainted with Master Gengxue. But I found that the person he wanted to see was the master of Xiangguo Temple who had stayed in the palace for some time before."

Sui Yan's eyes moved and he asked, "Did you hear what they said?"

Jiang Enhe said, "How could that be possible? I got lost in Xiangguo Temple and was just wandering around. When I saw those two mysterious people, I didn't dare to approach them, so I ran away immediately."

Sui Yan said "Aiya", and said with regret: "What's the use of you?"

Jiang Enhe glared at him, thought about it unwillingly, and then said, "But before I left, I saw that the master seemed to have given the second prince something, a small square paper bag, and I don't know what was inside."

Sui Yan paused for a moment.

Stigma is a secret medicine in the palace. Even the princes and ministers cannot touch it on a normal day. If the Second Prince really intends to use Stigma to kill Duan Mingchong, then what he asked the master of Xiangguo Temple might be the powder of Stigma.

Stigma is colorless and odorless, and its toxicity is no different from that of poisons such as arsenic. Its value lies in the fact that the emperor uses it to reward people who have committed serious crimes. Once someone dies after drinking the stigma, that person will be proven to be a traitor who has brought stigma to the royal family.

Duan Mingchong grew up in the Eastern Palace, and was personally educated and brought up by the emperor. The crown prince who was personally trained by the emperor was killed by a cup of slander, and no one would let it go easily.

Therefore, after the crown prince was poisoned to death in the previous life, the emperor was so furious that he wanted Duan Zhisu to be buried with him. If it was another poison, the emperor might have spared Duan Zhisu's life.

After Sui Yan figured it out, he immediately felt that the Second Prince was a very cunning man. With just one move, he harmed two princes who had the hope of inheriting the throne, and got himself out of it smoothly.

Sui Yan took a deep breath, looked down at the crabapple flower pattern on the small hand warmer in his arms, and fell into deep thought.

Then... who could have poisoned Duan Mingchong without anyone noticing in the Third Prince's mansion?