Yan HeQing walked towards the village exit step by step, like a living corpse; his eyes were blank, and his limbs were stiff. He wasn’t thinking about anything. Better to say, he didn’t dare to think of anything. His body felt extremely cold, and his wounds began to hurt faintly.

The place that hurt the most was his back. It was where he’d gotten hurt, when he tried to block the falling tree trunk that was close to hitting Xiao YuAn.

He must have bruised his internal organs at that time, otherwise, why would he be feeling pain all over his body? And while he was immersing himself in depresion, Yan HeQing couldn’t take another step because he felt a dull pain spread from his chest to his limbs.

He held the wall beside him with one hand, and grasped his chest with the other. The pain spread up and down his whole body, until finally, it jumped right to his throat. Yan HeQing then gurgled out a mouthful of blood.

The scarlet liquid slipped from the corners of his mouth in droplets, staining his clothes, and hitting the ground. Yan HeQing tried to calm himself and slowly wiped the corners of his mouth, when suddenly, he felt another dull pain coming from his chest. Just before he could swallow the blood, it was spat out again, followed by his eyes losing focus, and his ears were ringing, making him feel dizzy.

There were unknown passersby yelling around him, but Yan HeQing couldn’t hear anything clearly, so he just fell straight to the ground.

However, his body didn’t knock on the cold ground, instead, he fell into a warm embrace.

Just like that day at the Palace of the Northern Kingdom, where the wind was howling and he was dressed in thin clothes, kneeling in the cold courtyard for almost the whole night. When he finally couldn’t hold up anymore, he collapsed into a warm, recognizable embrace. From then on, time passed by; his brows frowned in anger and his heart felt disturbed. He knew he was suffering from a heartache, but there was no way this could be cured.

Inside a wing room of Xiao YuAn’s residence, Zhang Changsong sat on the edge of the bed, stroking his white beard and checking the pulse of the person lying on the bed with a thoughtful appearance.

On the bed, Yan HeQing was covered with a thin blanket. His lips were pale, his face was bloodless, and his eyes were closed; looking as if he had been unconscious for a long time.

Xiao YuAn stood aside, not daring to breathe.

“Well….” Zhang Changsong murmured, but then fell silent again.

Xiao YuAn couldn’t help but say: “Shifu, what are you doing?! It’s not like he’s pregnant, so what is taking you so long when checking his pulse?”

Zhang Changsong glared at him: “Watch your words…..”

Xiao YuAn shouted: “What?? Smooth pulse1?? Is he really pregnant?!”

Zhang Changsong choked and almost spat out some blood, then he fiercely raged at him: “I’m telling you to not talk so much! Who the hell told you that a smooth pulse means that someone’s pregnant? Look at you, so full of life. If I check your pulse, of course it will be a smooth pulse!”

Xiao YuAn said: “Smooth, smooth, smooth. Shifu is right about everything, and I believe in Shifu when he says that I must be pregnant.”

Zhang Changsong didn’t even bother to mind Xiao YuAn’s antics. He just touched his beard, withdrew his hand from Yan HeQing’s pulse, and after a sigh, he said: “This man’s memories are stored in his heart, where his spirit has a place to return to. His vital energy stays, but it doesn’t work right, causing him to Qi deviate.”

Xiao YuAn made an ‘eerrr’ sound, blinked his eyes, and then said: “….. So, is he still pregnant?!”

Zhang Changsong was so angry that he hit Xiao YuAn with his medical book: “Get out of here and copy this ten times!”

Xiao YuAn caught the medical book and replied: “I’ll copy, I’ll copy, I’ll copy. So, Shifu, what happened to him?”

Zhang Changsong looked at him from the side of his eye: “There’s no way he’ll die. The wounds on his body have almost healed, so his coma wasn’t caused by internal injuries. Just now, when I took his pulse, there was a faint tendency to sink, so he must have been depressed for a long time now. I couldn’t miss it. Therefore, his spleen and lungs were already suffering from some hidden illnesses, and since he also injured his lungs from a collision, that’s what caused him to vomit blood. I’ll write you a prescription, so go to my place and bring the medicine.”

‘How long has he been depressed? In the original book, Yan HeQing was understandably depressed due to Princess Yongning’s death. However, what could Yan HeQing be depressed about? Increasing his harem should make him happy, right?’

“Yes, thank you Shifu.” Xiao YuAn sent Zhang Changsong back to the medical shop, and grabbed the medicine according to the prescription Zhang Changsong had given to him. He wanted to go to the back hall and say hello to Zhang Baizhu, but who he saw wasn’t Zhang Baizhu, instead it was Lin Shenling decocting the medicine.

Lin Shenling was waving the big palm-leaf fan in her hand, opening the porcelain lid of the pot from time to time to check on the boiling medicine. She coughed because of the burning charcoal, but she was incredibly patient. When she heard the sound of footsteps, Lin Shenling turned her head only to see it was Xiao YuAn who walked in, and said: “Xiao-gongzi? Are you looking for Baizhu? He went up the mountain to collect medicinal herbs, he’s not here right now!”

Xiao YuAn was slightly startled with the way Lin Shenling addressed Zhang Baizhu, and asked: “Why are you here?”

“Oh, didn’t Mrs. Zhang from East street caught a cold yesterday? There’s no one in her family who can take care of her, so Baizhu asked me to decoct cold medicine for her!” Lin Shenling replied.

Xiao YuAn began to feel that something wasn’t right, but he couldn’t guess it, so he had to ask: “It’s almost time for dinner, are you going back home?”

“I’m not going back. I’ve already told Third Aunt that I’ll take care of Zhang-daifu, since his waist hasn’t healed yet, I’ll cook dinner for him! I’ll come back after dinner.” Lin Shenling replied.

Xiao YuAn nodded, but his heart felt hesitant.

Why does it feel like there was a sense of mutual recognition between the three members of this mysterious and harmonious family?

Xiao YuAn was still thinking over this matter when he heard Lin Shenling calling him in a low voice: “Xiao-gongzi, before when I called you husband…. I….”

Xiao YuAn repeatedly waved hand: “That’s because you misunderstood what I meant! It was a misunderstanding, a great misunderstanding!”

Lin Shenling replied with a soft tone of voice: “I was the one who was foolish.”

Xiao YuAn said: “Just…. let’s just forget about it, alright? And remember to not come back home too late.”

After they said their goodbyes, Xiao YuAn returned to his residence with the medicine. When he arrived, he saw that Third Aunt was waving a letter in her hand as she said: “YuAn, YuAn! Look, it’s a letter from LiuAn.”

Xiao YuAn took the letter and read it carefully, then Third Aunt asked: “How is Chungui’s illness?”

Xiao YuAn replied: “The letter says that Chungui’s illness needs some time to get cured, so he won’t be able to return for a while. Fengyue entrusted him under the care of that divine physician.”

Third Aunt asked again: “Then what about LiuAn and Fengyue?”

Xiao YuAn said with a playful smile: “They went on their honeymoon.”

Third Aunt was confused: “On a honeymoon? What honeymoon?”

Xiao YuAn grinned: “Nothing, it’s nothing. In short, they’re all very good. Ah, by the way, Third Aunt, did the man in the wing room wake up?”

Third Aunt shook her head: “He hasn’t woken up yet.”

Xiao YuAn’s face wasn’t smiling anymore. Instead, he looked very worried.

Third Aunt looked at the sudden change on his face, and said: “Don’t worry, come on, let’s go eat dinner. Are you hungry? The table is all set!”

When Xiao YuAn didn’t answer, and instead, looked back at the direction of the wing room, Third Aunt grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the dining room.