SF 10

“What kind of family is this Mu clan?” Ling Xun asked.

This place was not far from the Yuan residence and sat in the upper district of the city. Anyone living here was unlikely to be a nobody. And yet, he truly had never heard of any prominent family in the capital with the surname Mu.

Yuan Xi leaned toward the window for a look, then snapped impatiently, “I went straight to the Ninth Lord’s place when I first arrived in the capital. When would I have had time to look into trivial things like this? They probably just moved in. I’ll ask the household staff once we’re back.”

Ling Xun gave a soft hum. As soon as they returned to the Yuan residence, he brushed aside all other concerns and dragged over the gatekeeper to question him about the Mu family.

The gatekeeper had been on edge ever since the Second Young Master left. He looked like a rabbit waiting for the butcher’s knife. Seeing Ling Xun approach with a question, he eagerly leapt forward as if presenting a treasure. But one glance at his young master’s face, and he immediately turned into a gourd with its mouth sawn shut.

Yuan Xi’s expression darkened as he grabbed Ling Xun by the collar, saying with clear disdain, “You stink and you’re filthy. Go wash yourself.”

Ling Xun was thoroughly displeased. He turned and flashed a wicked grin at Yuan Xi, his tone full of innuendo. “Oh? You want me cleaned up? What for, Second Young Master Yuan?”

Yuan Xi let out a chilly laugh and squeezed the words through clenched teeth. “Naturally, so this bewitching little beauty can warm my bed.”

Ling Xun put on a pitiful, tearful look and was just about to act out something more, but Yuan Xi waved a sleeve and had several sturdy maidservants coax and drag him away.

“Mind Feng Gongzi’s leg injury,” Yuan Xi reminded them, then sent his personal guard to the Ministry of Rites to summon the Chief of Imperial Physicians for a later consultation.

Ling Xun was pampered with a hot bath by the maids. He flirted throughout, his eyes half-lidded, dripping with seduction, making the girls blush uncontrollably. But he never actually crossed the line. His teasing remained limited to words and glances. He did not shamelessly take advantage.

Yuan Xi had him stay in his own bedchamber. By the time Ling Xun had finished bathing and changing, Chief Wang of the Imperial Physicians had already arrived from the Ministry of Rites.

At that moment, Ling Xun finally remembered his leg injury. After all, if he could avoid becoming a cripple, he should. He stopped playing games and behaved. Just out of the bath, he had casually thrown on one of Yuan Xi’s robes and now reclined against the bed. His long black hair was unbound, draped over his shoulders like silk.

Chief Imperial Physician Wang did not know who the patient was. He had only been told that an honored guest at the Yuan residence had injured their leg. When led to the inner chamber, he was greeted by a waft of fragrant scent. One glance at the bed revealed a pair of smiling peach-blossom eyes and snowy skin with lips curved in crimson. Thinking it was Yuan Xi’s favored concubine, he hurriedly averted his gaze and focused solely on examining the injury.

Yet Ling Xun was wearing trousers, and no maid came forward to lift the bed curtains or roll up the hem for him. Chief Wang stood stiffly at the bedside, sweating nervously, completely unsure of how to proceed.

Seeing the old man’s eyes fixed doggedly on the floor, Ling Xun craned his neck and looked down too, puzzled as to what was so fascinating. After a moment, he figured that perhaps the minds of medical scholars were simply wired differently. The man was probably deep in thought, so he left him alone.

To make the examination easier, Ling Xun decided to remove his trousers. They were all men, after all, so there was no need for modesty. But just as he reached for his waistband, Chief Wang startled like a rat caught by the tail. He whirled around with his back turned and apologized repeatedly.

What the hell was that about?

Ling Xun was baffled. He looked over to Yuan Xi.

Yuan Xi took one glance at Ling Xun’s state and suddenly burst out laughing.

“Hey, Yuan the Second, what the hell are you laughing at?” Ling Xun snapped.

The moment Chief Wang heard Ling Xun’s voice, he froze in place like an ancient ginseng root. Even his long white beard seemed to forget how to sway.

Yuan Xi laughed so hard he nearly doubled over, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes. “Feng Wuge, this is all your fault for having such a face. Chief Imperial Physician Wang thought you were my concubine.”

Ling Xun’s face turned pale with fury, the insult striking him right in his sore spot.

The Chief Imperial Physician, having made a blunder of epic proportions, trembled as he clasped his hands and bowed toward the bed. “This old man’s eyes are failing. I was mistaken, truly mistaken. I beg the young master not to take offense.”

Though Ling Xun normally had no filter to his mouth, he still possessed a trace of respect for elders and children. It would not sit well with him to lash out at an old man, so he simply ground his teeth and pointed at Yuan Xi with a curse. “Try laughing one more time, and once my leg heals, I swear I’ll skin you alive!”

Yuan Xi answered readily, “I believe you. Of course I do. But you’ll have to wait until your leg heals first. For now, just suffer through it.”

Knowing that Feng Wuge hated most of all being mistaken for a woman, Yuan Xi refrained from twisting the knife and smoothly steered the conversation back to Ling Xun’s injury.

Throughout the rest of the examination, Ling Xun kept a face like storm clouds, as if the entire world owed him an apology.

Chief Wang, wilting under Ling Xun’s blade-like gaze, looked ready to faint from nerves. But he had years of experience treating the nobility of the capital, and some measure of composure remained. He examined Ling Xun’s knee carefully, his expression shifting slightly. “May I ask whether a skilled practitioner has seen to your leg before this?”

Ling Xun was still sulking, his answer cool. “I was punished and just got out of prison. What do you think, Chief Imperial Physician?”

The old man paid no mind to his tone. Stroking his beard, he muttered in surprise, “How very strange. Upon examination, your leg clearly shows signs of proper bone realignment. It must have been someone proficient in this art who treated you in time. Otherwise, with an injury this severe, had it gone untended until now, you might not have been able to keep the leg at all.”

That was when Ling Xun recalled the skinny, unshaven man in prison who had initially grumbled about him taking his spot, Ruan Ji, known as Ruan the Third. He had once helped set Ling Xun’s bone. Zhong Lishan had even boasted with great flourish that Ruan Ji was the miracle doctor of Qingping Mountain, the one who could mend the legs of donkeys and horses alike. At the time, Ling Xun had dismissed it as yet another of Zhong’s absurd jokes, cursed him, and told him to get lost. But after Ruan Ji pressed down a few times, the pain in his knee had indeed lessened.

Hearing the Chief Imperial Physician now, could it be that Ruan Ji was actually the real deal?

“There was someone,” Ling Xun said, “who tried setting the bone for me.”

The physician’s eyes lit up. “Would the young master be willing to introduce me to this person?”

In his mind, Ling Xun pictured a filthy stick-thin man with a goatee, then glanced at the immaculate, immortal-like elder before him. He thought to himself that it would be better not to let this old man see that one.

Yuan Xi gave a soft, pointed cough, subtly reminding the physician not to lose track of the purpose of his visit: to treat the patient.

Chief Wang was quick on the uptake. He immediately wrote out a prescription and addressed Mo Chen. “The young master’s bone was set in time, so the injury has already healed more than halfway. What remains is mostly superficial tissue damage. As long as he rests properly, he will recover. I have written two prescriptions: one for internal decoction, and another for a poultice to be applied externally. If used properly over the next few months, he will be fully restored.”

A few months?

Ling Xun frowned. “What’s the earliest I can walk normally again?”

“As they say, ‘a hundred days to heal the bone and tendon.’ Three months, at the earliest.”

Three months…

That was far too long.

This was no time to rest easy. He still had many matters to take care of and needed to return to Yizhou as soon as possible.

“Is there no way to speed up the recovery?”

“I fear my skills are limited,” the physician replied. Though the words were humble, his face showed no shame at all, clearly suggesting Ling Xun was being unreasonable.

Yuan Xi knew it was no use blaming the physician. He was just about to politely send him off and coax that troublemaker into lying low and recovering, when a servant arrived from outside with news.

Someone from the neighboring Mu residence had come, bearing a remedy said to work wonders for traumatic injuries. The gift, they claimed, was specifically prepared for Master Feng Wuge.