Qi Yunzhang was utterly bewildered. This was her first time treating an emperor, and she had never known that doing so required accomplishments in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Was the Imperial Medical Office like this too? Or was this requirement reserved for a commoner like her?
Whatever the case, she had another important task today and could not let something like this derail it. She answered respectfully, “I can play chess, and I am accomplished in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.”
Song Liang’s smile remained unchanged. “Excellent.”
Qi Yunzhang had no idea what was excellent about it, but she had evidently passed the test.
“Then would Your Majesty extend your hand so I may take your pulse?”
“No,” Song Liang said.
Qi Yunzhang: “?”
Cen Huan: “…”
Thinking she had misheard, Qi Yunzhang explained, “I must take your pulse to examine you.”
“I’ve recovered.”
Qi Yunzhang paused, her gaze falling on the bowl with traces of medicine still inside. She did not understand his sudden change of attitude.
“But just now, you said—”
“That was then. This is now.”
Song Liang glanced at the medicine bowl.
“Consider it the medicine taking effect. I’m better.”
Completely baffled, Qi Yunzhang turned to Xie Yun.
His expression remained indifferent as he looked down at Song Liang, yet it was enough to make Zhou An and the other attendants break into a cold sweat. Only Song Liang remained perfectly at ease, plainly refusing to cooperate and utterly brazen about it.
“Nightmare Soul Sand is highly poisonous. Its remaining toxins are extremely difficult to eliminate. Left in the body, they can cause madness, mental confusion, and even self-harm,” Xie Yun suddenly said.
Qi Yunzhang immediately agreed. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
Song Liang answered casually, “Then I’ll die. I’ve been emperor. That makes it worthwhile.”
Qi Yunzhang: “…”
Why was this young emperor impossible to reason with?
Seeing Xie Yun’s expression about to darken, Cen Huan could no longer hold back. He hurried forward to explain, “Your Majesty, actually, what I told you before—”
Song Liang refused to listen and raised his hands to cover his ears.
At that moment, Xie Yun stepped forward, caught his hand, and said coldly, “I have no concubine.”
The hall abruptly fell silent. The next instant, Song Liang broke into a smile.
“Why didn’t you say so sooner? I’ll immediately—”
His face dark, Xie Yun pinned Song Liang’s wrist to the table, turned toward Qi Yunzhang, and ordered icily, “Examine him!”
Qi Yunzhang flinched.
Song Liang, however, did not mind in the slightest that his wrist had been seized so roughly. Smiling brightly, he said, “Thank you for your trouble, Miss Qi.”
Qi Yunzhang: “…”
That change of expression was so sudden she might as well have seen a ghost.
She placed her fingers over Song Liang’s pulse and concentrated for a moment. Then she silently looked at Xie Yun’s hand, still gripping his wrist.
“…”
Xie Yun frowned slightly and gave Song Liang a heavy look.
Song Liang smiled up at him. “Don’t worry. I won’t run.”
Xie Yun released him with a grim expression and immediately stepped back. Song Liang twisted most of his upper body around to follow him with his eyes, as though afraid someone might snatch him away.
Qi Yunzhang: “…”
Zhou An and the others coughed lightly and, with remarkable coordination, turned away to admire Zhaoyang Hall’s rafters and floor. Only Cen Huan remained expressionless, apparently beyond feeling anything.
“A small amount of poison remains in Your Majesty’s body. Further treatment is needed to prevent lingering complications.”
“…”
Song Liang slowly turned back toward Qi Yunzhang, his eyes unreadable.
Her heart fluttered uneasily under his gaze, but she maintained a calm expression.
“Your Majesty?”
“Nothing.”
Song Liang rested his cheek on his hand and regarded her, his tone suggestive.
“Then what treatment would you recommend, Physician Qi?”
“Acupoint massage and baths with herbal sachets will suffice.”
“Which points, and how should they be massaged? And how long must I take these baths?”
“Ten days will be enough.”
Qi Yunzhang paused, then added, “I can demonstrate the massage now. Afterward, someone at Your Majesty’s side can perform it daily.”
“Very well.”
Song Liang motioned Zhou An forward, then closed his eyes.
“Begin, Physician Qi.”
Qi Yunzhang moved behind him and gently placed her hands on several points at the back of his head, beginning to massage them. After a while, she shifted to behind his ears, his lower jaw, and his neck. Zhou An watched without daring to blink, afraid of missing a location.
About half an hour later, Qi Yunzhang finally withdrew her hands.
Song Liang opened his eyes and looked at her.
“Finished?”
She nodded. “Finished.”
His lips curved in a faint, ambiguous smile.
“Not bad. My vision feels much clearer.”
Qi Yunzhang stiffened. “…”
Because she had, in fact, merely been pressing points intended to benefit the eyes.
The moment they left the hall, Cen Huan eagerly asked, “Well? Did you find anything?”
“No.”
Qi Yunzhang shook her head.
“No two people in the world look completely alike. To achieve such a resemblance, one would ordinarily need a human-skin mask of the sort used in the martial world. But those leave tiny traces on the face, neck, and back of the head. I examined all those areas carefully and found nothing unusual.”
“Besides, although such a mask can perfectly reproduce another person’s appearance, it cannot replicate every subtle expression. The emperor’s expressions are very natural. He doesn’t seem to be wearing one.”
Cen Huan frowned. “So we were wrong?”
“Not necessarily.”
Qi Yunzhang continued, “There is also a secret technique in the southwest called skin replacement. A person’s skin is removed, preserved through special methods, and transferred onto someone else.”
Cen Huan’s expression changed. “Something that horrifying exists?”
“Yes. In my travels as a physician, I once encountered someone who had undergone it. Apart from height and voice, his appearance had become entirely that of another person. The only sign was a long, thin scar running from his chest to below his abdomen, where the skin had been stitched together.”
“…”
Cen Huan’s gaze took on a certain awed apprehension.
“Are those the kinds of places you normally visit?”
“When one practices medicine far and wide, such encounters are inevitable.”
Qi Yunzhang returned to the subject. “My examination under the pretext of massage revealed nothing. If we could inspect his body at close range for a surgical seam, that would help.”
Cen Huan looked troubled. “That may be difficult. The young emperor just used the poisoning to replace the people around him and reclaim the Twelve Guards. Planting another spy now would certainly cause unnecessary trouble.”
“There is another way.”
Qi Yunzhang coughed lightly and looked toward Xie Yun, who had listened without speaking.
“The young emperor seems deeply enamored of your prince. If His Highness were willing to make a sacrifice—”
Before she finished, Xie Yun’s icy gaze swept toward her.
Qi Yunzhang: “…”
She lowered her head. “Merely a suggestion. Another method would be fine too.”
Xie Yun coldly looked away.
“However similar the face, some things cannot be imitated. Besides, he has not been back in the palace long. There are things he would not have had time to imitate.”
“Handwriting!”
Inspiration struck Cen Huan. He remembered that the strange secret letter the young emperor had sent to Cheng Qu was still in their prince’s study. They only needed someone to obtain a recent sample of the emperor’s writing. Comparing the two would reveal whether they came from the same person.
Inside Zhaoyang Hall, Song Liang was supporting his head and looking toward the doorway, an amused smile on his lips.
“My darling is questioning my identity. How adorable. He even sent someone to feel my head.”
【…】
【If he discovers you aren’t the young emperor and twists your head off, will you still find him adorable?】
Song Liang smiled, studying the faint marks left on the wrist Xie Yun had held.
“I’m rather looking forward to seeing what he chooses when that day comes.”
If the emperor proved not to be the emperor, Xie Yun would only need to reveal the truth to the world and kill him. Then he could take the throne legitimately, with no one left to condemn him.
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