Chapter 26
By the end of Chen Shi (7-9 AM), the sun had already climbed over the eaves of the General's Mansion, and golden rays filtered through the gaps in the locust tree leaves, casting dappled patterns of light on the bluestone slabs of Shuyu Courtyard.
The stone benches under the corridor were scorching hot from the sun. As Sheng Xuan pushed the wheelchair past the screen wall, he saw Su Yan standing with his hands behind his back in front of the steps. His black medical robe was slightly shiny from the sun, and there were some freshly ground medicine powders on the cuffs—he had obviously been standing there for a long time, and the bamboo plaque he was holding was damp with sweat at the corners.
"You've got some skills, huh?" he said, his voice tinged with the heat of the sun. His gaze first swept over the sweat stains on Sheng Xuan's forehead before finally settling on Su Zhelan in her wheelchair. "Come here."
Su Zhelan had just been pushed around through the moon gate by Sheng Xuan when she heard this, and instinctively hid behind Xiao Qiyun.
Su Yan strode forward and grabbed his wrist before he could even sit down. When he took his pulse with three fingers, the pads of his fingers were calloused from the medicine pestle. The force was so steady that he couldn't break free.
A moment later he released his grip. The pulse was floating but not agitated, and Su Yan's brows relaxed slightly.
Then he lifted Su Zhelan's chin and held it up to the sunlight: the gauze over her eyes was half-soaked with sweat, and when he lifted it, the corners of her eyes were flushed, and her right eye had more bloodshot veins than a few days ago; when he untied the gauze on the back of her neck, the light pink scar looked abnormally red in the sunlight, like rouge that had been steamed by heat, and the edges were slightly swollen.
Su Yan's fingertips rubbed heavily against the edge of the scar on the back of Su Zhelan's neck. When the silver needle pierced the skin, Su Zhelan's Adam's apple bobbed violently.
The bluish-black blood droplets were extinguished by the mugwort as soon as they appeared. The stinging pain of the medicine seeping into the wound made him clench Xiao Qiyun's sleeve tightly, and the lapis lazuli left red marks on his wrist.
Su Yan suddenly sneered, slamming the pestle on the table, causing the lid of the silver needle box to spring open. "The pulse has stabilized, but this Gu poison is beating more wildly under the skin than a drum at a temple fair. Did you get something mixed with Gu poison? Also, the rehabilitation was delayed by three days, and the blood vessels in your right leg are almost congealed—are you using the 'temple fair' as an excuse for 'fooling'?"
Sheng Xuan scratched his head, about to argue that he was using the same excuse he had rehearsed, but Xiao Qiyun stopped him with a look.
“Please calm down, sir,” Xiao Qiyun suddenly stepped forward, the cuff of his moon-white robe lightly brushing against the armrest of Su Zhelan’s wheelchair. His long eyelashes cast a shadow beneath his eyes as he lowered them, his tone carrying just the right amount of self-reproach. “It’s all my fault. I rarely saw such a lively scene when I was in the Eastern Palace. That day, seeing the foreign merchants’ acrobatics and Persian fireworks, I was so engrossed in watching that I forgot the time. I didn’t take good care of Zhelan’s eyes; she deserves to be punished.” As he spoke, he even slightly bent his knees, assuming a posture as if to receive punishment.
Sheng Xuan was stunned. Only then did she realize that Xiao Qiyun was trying to take the blame, and she quickly chimed in, "Yes, yes! It's all my fault! I even dragged Su Zhelan to watch the eagle training for so long, which delayed us!"
Su Yan glanced at them sideways, slamming the pestle on the stone table with a "thud," making the medicine bottle jump: "Your Highness the Crown Prince is precious, and the Second Young Master is spoiled, so it's my fault?"
He turned to Su Zhelan and poked his forehead. "And you, knowing you can't handle the strain, why did you insist on joining in?"
Su Zhelan lowered her eyes after being scolded, took Su Yan's hand, and muttered softly, "Master, I won't do it again next time... Please punish me if you must, they..."
"They can't escape either!" Su Yan shook off his hand, but seeing his expression, the anger in his heart softened as if doused with warm water. He picked up the medicine box, and the copper lock clicked open.
Su Yan paused in taking out the gold needles, his gaze lingering on Su Zhelan's bluish-white eyes, before finally pushing the needle box onto the table: "Let's take a medicinal bath first, then we can do acupuncture."
He tossed a large bag of medicinal powder and unidentified herbs to Sheng Xuan and Xiao Qiyun, instructing them, "When you go chop wood, boil some water and soak yourselves for a full hour. Then come and call me!"
Then he turned and left, muttering something indistinctly: "They're all such a handful..."
Sheng Xuan watched his retreating figure, then whispered in Xiao Qiyun's ear, "Is he no longer angry?"
Xiao Qiyun was bending down to adjust the gauze on Su Zhelan's neck when he heard this. His fingertips paused, and a faint smile appeared in his eyes: "Sir has always been like this."
As the steam from the medicinal bath drifted over the screen, Sheng Xuan was standing under the eaves clutching a towel. Xiao Qiyun had already untied the belt around Su Zhelan's waist. Just as his fingertips touched the fabric, Su Zhelan gently pressed down on the back of his hand.
“I can do it myself.” Su Zhelan traced a circle with her fingertips on the back of his hand. “It’s hot inside, you guys wait for me outside.” She pointed behind the screen.
Shengxuan draped a towel over a pillar. "How can this be?" She poked Su Zhelan's fingertip, which was pressed against Xiao Qiyun's hand. "Mr. Su said to keep an eye on you—to prevent anyone from taking advantage of the situation."
"I can do it myself, no one can play tricks on me! Please go out." Perhaps thinking of the things they had done together these past few days, Su Zhelan's ears suddenly burned, and she insisted that the two of them leave.
Sheng Xuan and Xiao Qiyun could only obey him and move behind the screen to wait.
Suddenly, a rustling sound of fabric came from behind the screen—Su Zhelan had been undressing too hastily, and her lower back had bumped against the edge of the bathtub, letting out a soft cry.
"Clumsy!" Sheng Xuan suddenly lifted the screen, only to see Su Zhelan bending over, rubbing her back, holding onto the edge of the tub. The scar on the back of her neck glowed pink in the steam, and her right leg trembled slightly from standing for so long. He was about to go forward when he saw Su Zhelan slowly sit down, holding onto the side of the tub, water splashing up to her chest.
"The water temperature is just right." Su Zhelan's voice drifted out, mingled with the steam, her fingertips creating ripples on the water's surface. "You..."
Before she could finish speaking, Xiao Qiyun interrupted her. Xiao Qiyun had somehow appeared beside the screen, holding a bowl of medicine, the contents of which were gently swaying with his movements.
"Mr. Su asked me to add it," he said, pouring the medicine into the water. The brown liquid rippled around Su Zhelan's knees, then he placed a soft towel behind her back. He pulled Sheng Xuan outside, saying, "We'll wait outside. Call us if anything happens."
As Sheng Xuan was dragged out of the screen by Xiao Qiyun, his arm scraped against the wooden frame with a screeching sound. He abruptly shook off the other's hand, slamming into a pillar with a loud bang: "Why are you pulling me?"
The wind blew through the window, lifting Xiao Qiyun's clothes. His fingertips were still damp from when he used the soft towel to cushion the wound, but he calmly gathered his torn cuffs: "He's been out for two days, and Su Yan just said it's gotten worse. The tendon adhesions in his legs have also gotten more severe."
Sheng Xuan's anger dissipated almost instantly, like a skin pierced by a needle. Taking over the conversation, the impatience in her voice dissipated, leaving only a hint of awkward annoyance, "It's true that he had a lot of fun, but for now we still have to listen to Mr. Su and take good care of himself."
A low cough came from behind the screen, mixed with the sound of water.
Xiao Qiyun raised his hand to stop Sheng Xuan from lifting the screen, and shook his head: "Let him soak properly. This medicine can clear the meridians. Soaking for a full hour will make the acupuncture less painful later."
The wind carried the scent of medicine across the corridor. Sheng Xuan looked at the blurry shadow of Su Zhelan holding onto the edge of the tub projected onto the screen and felt that the anger that had been stirred up earlier had long been smoothed out.
He leaned against a pillar, listening to the occasional sound of water inside, silently counting the hours in his mind.
As the last piece of silver charcoal in the medicine furnace burned out, the sound of water inside the screen gradually stopped.
When Xiao Qiyun lifted the screen, steam was seeping out along the wooden frame. Su Zhelan tried to stand up, holding onto the edge of the tub, but her right leg trembled slightly as soon as she put weight on it.
"Slow down." Xiao Qiyun reached out and put his arm around Su Zhelan's waist, the cuffs of his moon-white casual clothes immediately becoming damp. Su Zhelan's fingertips gripped his sleeve, the fabric wrinkled from the soaking: "My legs are a little numb."
"I'll hug you." Sheng Xuan rushed in from under the corridor, but Xiao Qiyun pressed her shoulder down as she reached out.
"It's more stable to walk with support," Xiao Qiyun said in a low voice, half-supporting and half-carrying Su Zhelan as she moved toward the bedside, waiting until Su Zhelan's legs were firmly planted before moving.
The bed was already covered with a fleece-lined mattress. Xiao Qiyun had made sure to put a soft pillow under Su Zhelan's stomach when she lay down, and a warm cotton wadding was stuffed into the spot where her lower back had been bumped.
Su Zhelan's voice, muffled and buried in the pillow, said, "Thank you for your help."
"Don't talk nonsense." Xiao Qiyun tucked him in, his fingertips brushing against the scar on the back of his neck, where the warmth of the medicinal bath still lingered.
Sheng Xuan grabbed his cloak and rushed out the door, his boots making a rapid sound on the blue bricks. The pharmacy was only half a cup of tea's distance from the room, but he ran as fast as the wind, making the copper bells under the veranda jingle.
"Mr. Su Yan! The time has come!" When he opened the pharmacy door, Su Yan was picking out silver needles with tweezers.
Su Yan looked up and glared at him, the tweezers gleaming brightly in the candlelight: "What's the rush? The needles aren't warm yet." Though his words were harsh, he had already gathered the silver needles into the brocade box, tucked it into his waistband, and followed him, the strap of the medicine box swinging rapidly behind him.
As sunlight streamed in, Xiao Qiyun was gently wiping the water droplets from Su Zhelan's back with a soft cloth soaked in mugwort water. The cloth was specially selected fine linen, warmed by the copper stove, and as it touched her skin, the warmth of the medicinal bath seeped into her muscles.
Su Zhelan lay face down on the pillow, the scar on the back of her neck turning pink from the steam, rising and falling gently with her breath.
Xiao Qiyun moved very gently. When he wiped the reddened area on his lower back, the corner of the cloth almost brushed against his skin, as if afraid of hurting him. Water droplets slid down his spine and were about to drip onto the mattress when he caught them steadily with the cloth.
"Alright." Xiao Qiyun folded the soft cloth and placed it on the table. His fingertips brushed against the hair at the back of Su Zhelan's neck, where tiny water droplets still clung, glistening in the sunlight.
When Su Yan lifted the curtain and came in, the straps of his medicine box rustled as they dragged across the blue bricks. His tone still carried lingering anger: "Do you all really think my words are just for show?"
He slammed the brocade box onto the table, the silver needles gleaming brightly in the sunlight. "Your eyes are so blue, like the bottom of my medicine pot—is this what you call 'taking good care'?"
Sheng Xuan was squatting by the bed tucking Su Zhelan in when he heard this, he shrank back and his hand brushed against the bedpost with a soft sound: "Sir, we..."
"Shut up!" Su Yan glared at her, the silver needles in his hand already soaked in mugwort water, their tips exuding a bitter fragrance. "I told you to make sure Su Zhelan applied her eye drops on time, and what was the result? Are those glass beads from the Hu merchants really that beautiful?"
Sheng Xuan scratched his head, not daring to argue further. Xiao Qiyun stood aside and straightened Su Zhelan's disheveled clothes: "Sir, it was my fault for not checking the time properly."
"Don't try to act innocent!" Su Yan glared at Xiao Qiyun, but had already picked up a silver needle and heated it over the candle flame.
Despite his harsh words, his hand holding the silver needles was surprisingly steady. He brushed aside the soft hair on Su Zhelan's back with his fingertips, and first pressed around the acupoint with his thumb to make sure the muscles were relaxed before slowly inserting the silver needles.
Su Zhelan lay on the pillow, her hand gripping the pillowcase trembling slightly, but she didn't utter a sound—Su Yan's technique was extremely precise; the pain was only for the moment the needle pierced her skin, followed by a tingling warmth.
"And you!" Su Yan turned his silver needle toward the red mark on Su Zhelan's lower back, his tone becoming even fiercer. "Knowing your legs are not flexible, you still insisted on being strong? If this red mark on your lower back were even half a step deeper, you would have needed a blood-activating and stasis-removing ointment!" As he spoke, the silver needle hovered for a moment, then finally reduced its force by half, inserting it as lightly as if a feather had brushed against it.
Su Yan's cursing didn't stop, but his movements became increasingly gentle: after each needle was inserted, he would gently twist it with his fingertips until Su Zhelan's muscles relaxed slightly before moving on to the next acupoint.
He took out a small porcelain bottle from his medicine box and applied some light green ointment to the end of the silver needle—it was Gu Linzhao's newly made meridian-clearing ointment, specially for treating stiff meridians.
"Does it hurt?" he suddenly asked in a low voice between scoldings, his fingertips touching the sweat on the back of Su Zhelan's neck.
Su Zhelan shook her head, her voice muffled and buried in the pillow: "It doesn't hurt, Master was gentle."
Su Yan snorted, but when changing the needles, he deliberately chose a silver needle that was half an inch shorter: "It's good that you know to be gentle. If you dare to run around again next time, I'll use a long needle to unblock your meridians—I'll make you suffer for three days straight!"
Xiao Qiyun stood beside the table grinding medicine. The sound of the pestle grinding the angelica root was rhythmic and gentle, as if keeping time for Su Yan's cursing.
He glanced at Su Zhelan's hand clutching the pillowcase, where the knuckles were slowly loosening—clearly, although Su Yan's silver needles carried the name of "punishment," he actually knew better than anyone how to make him more comfortable.
As the last needle pierced through, Su Yan's cursing gradually subsided.
He took out a small copper bell and tied it to the end of the last silver needle: "Don't move. This bell will ring three times before you remove the needle." As he spoke, he turned to pack his medicine box, muttering to himself, "If you dare to disobey again, I'll have Gu Linzhao lock you up in the pharmacy copying books..."
The aroma of medicine wafted in the sunlight, and the soft ringing of the copper bell mingled with Su Yan's fading mutterings, making the consultation room warm and cozy. Su Zhelan lay on the pillow, the scar on the back of her neck smoothing out in the warmth. Suddenly, she felt that this acupuncture, accompanied by scolding, was more reassuring than any other comfort.
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