Jiang Kai
"Your Highness Yuan Ming, I am honored to meet you."
The military doctor bowed slightly, his eyes respectful, his voice hoarse and weak, like the rings of an old tree bearing the weight of time. Could he really be an old man who had lived for most of his life? Yuan Ming didn't believe it.
Yuan Ming's expression remained unchanged. Instead, he turned his gaze to Zhong Yingqi and said, "General Zhong, could it be that this doctor was the one who developed this medicine?"
Zhong Yingqi explained, "Yes, let me introduce you. This doctor's surname is Jiang, Jiang Kai. Doctor Jiang is quite familiar with the medical skills of the barbarian tribes outside the border, so a year ago I hired Doctor Jiang to serve as a military doctor in the barracks. The barbarians live in a different environment from our Qi Kingdom, and many of the barbarian diseases are not common in Qi Kingdom. If we encounter barbarian diseases, it is difficult for local doctors in Qi Kingdom to treat them, so I have to trouble Doctor Jiang. As for your highness's identity, Doctor Jiang has already guessed it, so I will not say any more."
Yuan Ming looked at Jiang Kai, holding his chin with his right hand and said, "Doctor Jiang has a deep understanding of barbarian medicine. I believe he often travels to the border areas and the journey is difficult. Thank you for your hard work, Doctor Jiang. I hadn't noticed Doctor Jiang's presence before. Doctor Jiang is quite skilled."
"Your Highness, thank you for your kind words. Although I am only a doctor, I must have some skills if I want to get out of the barbarians alive. I just saw Your Highness talking with General Zhong, and I didn't dare to disturb them, so I didn't pay my respects to Your Highness in time. I hope Your Highness will forgive me." Jiang Kai had an arrogant demeanor and spoke slowly. He not only answered Yuan Ming's doubts, but also turned the tables on Yuan Ming, implying that Yuan Ming was narrow-minded and was angry because he didn't pay his respects to him in time.
Yuan Ming was very upset when he heard this and was about to explode when Zhong Yingqi came out to smooth things over. Yuan Ming had no choice but to suppress his anger and stood aside with a stern look on his face, his eyes looking like a knife that wanted to cut people.
Zhong Yingqi still didn't know how to get along with Yuan Ming, so he changed the subject and said, "Please don't worry about the details. Let's talk about the current situation in the barracks. According to Doctor Jiang, are the lives of these soldiers who have fallen ill in danger?"
Jiang Kai said calmly, "After drinking the medicine, the patient is fine for now. However, he will feel weak and pale in the next few days, and he will have liver pains. He will be fine if he can get through it. If he can't, he will have to wait for the King of Hell to take his life. Also, please tell the healthy soldiers not to stay in an unventilated room with the patient for too long. Otherwise, even if he takes the pills, I can't guarantee that he won't be infected."
Zhong Yingqi nodded: "I will pass on the order and ask them to pay more attention. The next priority is to find the source of the disease."
Jiang Kai: "Diseases enter through the mouth. Water and food are the only two pathways."
"Food is not a problem. As for the water source... the stream beside the military camp flows down from the mountain and has many tributaries. It is indeed difficult to find. I wonder if His Highness Yuan Ming has any good ideas?"
Zhong Yingqi changed the subject and threw the question to Yuan Ming.
Yuan Ming half-jokingly asked, "Why are you asking me? Are you expecting me to do hard labor for you?"
Before Zhong Yingqi could speak, Jiang Kai retorted, "General Zhong was kind enough to take Your Highness in, so why is Your Highness so aggressive? Besides, Your Highness was just asking for advice, yet Your Highness bared his teeth like a lion, a disgrace to the royal family."
"Who do you think you are?" Yuan Ming sneered. "It was Zhong Yingqi who agreed to take me in. What business is it of yours? Why should you interfere? You keep calling me Your Highness and using the family's prestige to pressure me. Do you really think I, Yuan Ming, care about this empty reputation?"
Jiang Kai clenched his fists, veins bulging on his old, withered hands. As Yuan Ming looked at him provocatively, several silver needles slipped out of his sleeves. Jiang Kai skillfully exerted force with his fingers, and the silver needles instantly flew towards Yuan Ming.
Seeing this, Yuan Ming, with a barely perceptible smile on his face, swung his saber with his backhand. The hard blade knocked away the silver needles and slashed straight at Jiang Kai's head. Zhong Yingqi, who had been watching intently from the side, saw Yuan Ming's powerful swing of the saber and a flash of surprise in his eyes. He wanted to stop him, but it was too late.
However, the expected scene of blood and flesh flying everywhere did not appear. The blade stopped just below Jiang Kai's earlobe, close to his skin, without a glimmer of blood.
Yuan Ming smiled brightly, but the words he said were very harsh: "Put away your shameful thoughts and stop showing off in front of me. Otherwise, I will kill you."
The last sentence was spoken lightly, but contained murderous intent.
Jiang Kai's lips turned pale. He wanted to speak but couldn't. After holding it in for a long time, he seemed to regain the ability to open his mouth and said, "Madman."
Yuan Ming put away his sword and said nonchalantly, "I'm already insane, and Doctor Jiang has treated me before. So, next time you speak to me, you'd better think before you speak to me. Otherwise, if I go crazy, where will Doctor Jiang go to reason with me?"
"You..." Jiang Kai was so angry that his teeth were itching, but he had no way to deal with Yuan Ming.
"That's enough."
Zhong Yingqi quietly interrupted the two men's argument. Jiang Kai immediately looked at Zhong Yingqi with a look of reluctance, but still said respectfully, "General, I want to go and see how the soldiers are doing. I'll take my leave first."
After saying that, Jiang Kai left without looking back, but Yuan Ming suddenly called out to him, "Doctor Jiang, wait a minute."
Jiang Kai looked at Yuan Ming angrily: "What else do you want?"
Yuan Ming put on an expression that looked like she really needed a beating and pointed to the area below her earlobe. "I didn't know how to use my strength properly. Doctor Jiang, you should bandage this area properly after you go back. Although I'm old, I still feel uncomfortable when my face is disfigured. Don't be careless. Also, old people should walk slowly. Be careful not to break your bones. Now, you can go. Don't be an eyesore in front of me."
"You're sick." Jiang Kai cursed and left.
"Whose son is this Doctor Jiang? Why is he so impatient?" Yuan Ming looked at Zhong Yingqi jokingly, a triumphant smile on his face. "Don't tell me, General, you don't know that Doctor Jiang has a habit of pretending to be old?"
Zhong Yingqi looked at Yuan Ming quietly, thinking for a moment before figuring out Yuan Ming's intentions. Yuan Ming's precise control of force barely scratched through Jiang Kai's fake skin, but the absence of blood only confirmed her suspicions.
No, not a guess, but a certainty, Zhong Yingqi internally retorted: She wasn't testing, she was revealing. No matter how confident she was in her knife skills, a blow with that much force would definitely leave a cut on Jiang Kai's face. If she misjudged, how would she end up?
The current Yuan Ming was very different from the one he remembered, but Zhong Yingqi felt that the soul that had shared the joys and sorrows of Yucheng with the people still lived in Yuan Ming's body. She would not allow her anger to vent and act recklessly against a doctor who was saving lives. To do so would be a blasphemy to Her Majesty, the Princess, standing at the gate of Yucheng.
Zhong Yingqi had always held a principle in his heart: to betray one's original self was to destroy the past, and one would suffer the pain of self-destruction. Therefore, he was willing to believe that Yuan Ming was extremely confident in his own judgment, and the result was indeed the same. So he praised, "Your Highness has sharp eyes, and he immediately saw through the Jiang family's century-old disguise technique. Thinking back to when he joined the military camp, I sometimes subconsciously thought he was an octogenarian."
"General, why don't you tell me about this Doctor Jiang? He reprimanded me for you, and as the doctor you hired, he was the first to attack me. It's not fair to say you're completely unrelated to Doctor Jiang's reckless actions. Although the general is willing to provide me with protection, I must ask you for an explanation on this matter."
Zhong Yingqi didn't seem angry, but smiled and said, "Your Highness, do you want me to reveal Doctor Jiang's background?"
Yuan Ming said readily, "That's right. It's reasonable to return this apology."
As the sky darkened, Zhong Yingqi lit the candles in the tent. Yuan Ming sat before him, legs crossed, tapping the air with her toes, exuding a nonchalant confidence. Her eyes fixed on Zhong Yingqi, the flickering candlelight and the subtle shadows dancing in her eyes, a stark contrast to the silence around her.
The same candlelight, while illuminating Yuan Ming's face like a poem and a painting, softened Zhong Yingqi's surprised and envious gaze, like moonlight caressing the surface of the lake.
It was a beautiful picture, but Yuan Ming suddenly covered his heart, as if he was stabbed by an invisible sharp blade, and the pain surged like a tide.
"Your Highness, what's wrong with you?"
Yuan Ming stretched out his hand to block in front of Zhong Yingqi and said soothingly, "It's okay, General. Please come and talk about Jiang Kai."
Zhong Yingqi glanced at Yuan Ming worriedly, then closed his eyes and sat down. Then he looked at the candlestick on the table and talked about Jiang Kai's life experience.
Throughout the ages, families often rise to prominence and then decline. Jiang Kai's Jiang family was a renowned medical family during the previous dynasty, their entire Imperial Hospital practically symbolizing the Jiang family. Physicians for the emperor, such a prestigious position. However, a case of a concubine poisoning her child during the previous dynasty embroiled the Jiang family. Perhaps their long-held control of the Imperial Hospital drew attention, hindering the path of other officials. Or perhaps the previous emperor simply feared the Jiang family. In short, the case uprooted the Jiang family, shattering their former glory.
Many members of the Jiang family died or were injured, but there were always a few survivors in large families. Jiang Kai's branch was one of them, but they lived a very miserable life. After all, in those years, many heroes were fighting for supremacy and wars were raging. In order to avoid the war, the remaining members of the Jiang family lived in seclusion in the mountains and forests, living a life of coarse tea and cloth.
Zhong Yingqi also met Jiang Kai by chance during a trip to Yucheng in his youth. By then, Jiang Kai had inherited the Jiang family's medical skills from his elders and was determined to lead the Jiang family back into the world. After Zhong Yingqi arrived in Northern Xinjiang, he contacted Jiang Kai, leading to the current situation.
Yuan Ming listened silently and asked, "General, do you know why Jiang Kai has such a strong opinion of me?"
Jiang Kai's attitude was not right when he heard her first words. Yuan Ming didn't know how she had offended him. Could it be that there was some forgotten past between her and Jiang Kai?
Zhong Yingqi shook his head and spread his hands, his face full of "I don't know", with a little helplessness and resentment in his expression.
Having said that, Zhong Yingqi had asked Yuan Ming similar questions several times. Yuan Ming couldn't remember how she answered them, so she felt a little embarrassed looking at Zhong Yingqi now.
Yuan Ming pretended to be busy, patted the blood stains on his body, and checked his nails. Suddenly, an idea flashed in his mind and he said to Zhong Yingqi calmly, "Oh, right, I brought back two people who might be able to help you."
Yuan Ming's fingertips brushed the tabletop, and the candlestick landed steadily in her palm. Before turning around, she glanced at the square box of pills on the table and, with her candlelight-filled eyes, gestured for Zhong Yingqi to take the box.
Zhong Yingqi took the box from above as if possessed by a ghost and slowly followed Yuan Ming. On the way out of the military camp, Zhong Yingqi kept watching Yuan Ming's back. The weak candlelight was only enough to illuminate the two of them. The surrounding darkness made Zhong Yingqi's thoughts fly back to the night of Yucheng three years ago.
He had followed Her Royal Highness the Princess in the same way at that time, like a wounded little animal, narrowly escaping from the barbarians, and was picked up by Her Royal Highness the Princess and brought back to the city in a very embarrassed manner.
How arrogant he was when he left Yucheng to find the barbarians, and how shameful he was when he escaped in disgrace. That blurry night road made the young man's thoughts grow, and it was imprinted in Zhong Yingqi's heart for a long time, along with that beautiful figure, which he could never forget.
"arrive."
"Um!"
When Zhong Yingqi came to his senses, he had already bumped into Yuan Ming. Yuan Ming hurriedly stabilized the candle and sighed, "General, are you taking revenge on me?"
Zhong Yingqi rubbed his nose, and his tone was rarely calm: "Your Highness, say it again into my nose."
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