In the palace of Wu, Yang Xingyuan personally wrote a letter of state. Though called a state letter, it was actually a family letter addressed to Yang Ying.
In the letter, he assured her that he was doing well, that Ning Yuanzhou was well, that Chief Du was well, and that everyone in Liudao Hall was well. Word by word, Yang Xingyuan expressed his guilt and anxiety concerning Yang Ying.
At the very end of this family letter, he appended these words: "Jicheng borders An Kingdom; its climate is pleasant, and its produce is abundant. I hereby enfeoff my younger sister A-ying with this city as an augmented fief."
Then he signed his name and pressed the imperial seal of Wu heavily over it.
This family letter was handed to Ning Yuanzhou, who would use Liudao Hall's courier network to dispatch it at a gallop to An Kingdom.
This letter was meant both to report her safety to A-ying and to serve as a life-saving shield for her. Granting Jicheng as an augmented fief to Yang Ying was different from ceding territory; it signaled a clear stance that Yang Ying's safety was of paramount importance to Yang Xingyuan and to Wu Kingdom.
As Ning Yuanzhou took the letter and started to walk out, he ran right into Yu Shisan, who had come to report some news.
"I heard Sun Lang say since early this morning that you had gone into the palace to see Your Majesty. Perfect, let's talk about it together so we don't delay things." Without saying much more, Yu Shisan grabbed Ning Yuanzhou and turned back to find Emperor Wu.
"What? Prince Danyang has actually escaped?" Amidst his shock, Emperor Wu wore an expression of deep remorse.
"The Marquis of Yongping used his private garrison to intercept the convoy escorting Prince Danyang, and he has already taken Prince Danyang north," Yu Shisan said.
"North?" A flicker of unease suddenly arose in Ning Yuanzhou's heart.
Calculating by the days, by the time the fleeing soldiers made it all the way back to Wu Capital to report the news, Prince Danyang was probably already—
Deeply disturbed by Prince Danyang's escape, Emperor Wu was racked with regret over his own indecisiveness, fearing that he had left a grave hidden danger for Wu. Overcome with sudden agitation, he abruptly fell ill.
Imperial physicians gathered by Emperor Wu's bed, each employing their methods as decoctions and acupuncture were administered simultaneously.
Ning Yuanzhou and Yu Shisan kept watch nearby, only finding a quiet moment to exchange a few words.
Seeing that Ning Yuanzhou had something on his mind, Yu Shisan anticipated it and cut in to answer first, "Don't worry, I've already given the orders. Liudao Hall is investigating with all our might, and any intelligence compiled by Senluo Palace will be reported to you at once."
Ning Yuanzhou nodded and asked, "By the way, doesn't Yuan Lu usually handle the deliveries? If not Yuan Lu, it's Qian Zhao. Didn't you say you hated these palace rules the most?"
Yu Shisan was momentarily stunned by the question, but he sighed and told the whole truth.
"You've been busy lately, and they wouldn't let me tell you. Yuan Lu hasn't been very well lately, and Qian Zhao is taking care of him."
Ning Yuanzhou's expression turned grave, tinged with a melancholy that was hard to put into words.
"Don't worry. Since Qian Zhao said not to tell you, it means he'll be fine for the moment."
Yu Shisan spoke with great restraint, but both of them understood what those words meant: the congenital heart condition Yuan Lu had carried since birth was, after all, a hidden danger.
"Cough, cough—" Stimulated by the silver needles, Emperor Wu abruptly coughed up a mouthful of dark, stagnant blood.
"Your Majesty!"
Ning Yuanzhou and Yu Shisan hurried forward to look, seeing that Emperor Wu had regained consciousness and was gasping for breath incessantly.
"Lord Ning, summon Qian Zhao into the palace. My health has always been tended to by him."
Ning Yuanzhou and Yu Shisan exchanged glances and could only answer, "Yes."
When Ning Yuanzhou returned to his residence, every single imperial physician from the Imperial Hospital—whether on duty or off—had been packed up and sent to his estate.
"Lord Ning, we have been ordered by Your Majesty to come and tend to Lord Qian's patient, so that Lord Qian may enter the palace to feel Your Majesty's pulse."
When Sun Lang and Qian Zhao came out and saw this long line of imperial physicians carrying medicine chests, they were stunned.
The three of them raised their hands in salute together, and Ning Yuanzhou said, "Then I must trouble all you imperial physicians."
He figured Emperor Wu must have overheard his conversation with Yu Shisan to have done this.
Qian Zhao entered the palace, and Yu Shisan rushed off without stopping to handle affairs at Liudao Hall, while Ning Yuanzhou went straight to Yuan Lu's bedside.
Things had been so busy lately that he hadn't seen Yuan Lu in a long time; he never expected that their next meeting would find the boy gravely ill.
The imperial physicians filled the entire outer parlor, taking turns in an orderly queue to enter the room and feel Yuan Lu's pulse.
Full of hope, Ning Yuanzhou watched every single imperial physician: they would feel the pulse, fall into deep thought, emit a sigh, and gently shake their heads.
Ning Yuanzhou understood. One by one, he stood up to thank them.
"Thank you for your trouble, Imperial Physician Hu."
"Thank you, Imperial Physician Zhang."
"Thank you..."
"You've worked hard..."
The last one was the newly appointed Imperial Physician Huang, rumored to have previously been an itinerant physician who had no standing upon newly arriving at the Imperial Hospital, which was why he was assigned to the very end.
Ning Yuanzhou looked at this last shred of hope...
Imperial Physician Huang took the pulse for roughly a quarter of an hour. Suddenly changing his posture, he propped one foot up on the edge of the bed, his face grim, and uttered not a word. Ning Yuanzhou stood quietly to the side, not daring to interrupt.
"Sigh..." Imperial Physician Huang released his grip and let out a long sigh.
"Imperial Physician Huang, what do you mean by this..." Ning Yuanzhou looked anxiously at the physician.
"This condition is rare, and difficult to treat..."
"What?" Ning Yuanzhou grabbed Imperial Physician Huang by the shoulders, then hastily let go, seeming to realize he had lost his composure.
"Do you mean his condition can be cured, is that it?"
"Yes, and no."
Ning Yuanzhou smiled. He hadn't smiled from the bottom of his heart in a very long time; this was the best news he had received in days.
...
On the third day, outside the gates of Ning Yuanzhou's estate, Yuan Lu was wrapped thickly in quilts and carefully carried into a carriage by Yu Shisan and Qian Zhao.
As he got into the carriage, Yu Shisan held Yuan Lu in his arms alone, muttering to himself:
"Little Yuan Lu, you're in for a treat. Your Thirteenth Brother here has only ever held pretty young maidens like this."
Hearing this from the side, Ning Yuanzhou merely smiled. He handed the bundle in his hand to Sun Lang, who was packing the luggage.
"Here is some traveling money, along with the candied fruits and pastries Yuan Lu likes. I've packed a little of everything—keep an eye on him and make sure he eats sparingly," Ning Yuanzhou instructed, looking very much like an elderly father sending his young son off on a long journey.
"Don't worry, Boss. I can take good care of him. Wait for us to come back!"
Qian Zhao also passed a fully packed medicine chest from one of his subordinates up into the carriage, where Imperial Physician Huang, already inside, received it.
"These are the sugar pills Yuan Lu has been taking. I brewed a fresh batch through the night, and I've put the prescription inside as well. I'll have to trouble Imperial Physician Huang from here on," Qian Zhao said, raising his hands in a polite salute.
"No trouble at all. It is simply a physician's duty."
According to Imperial Physician Huang, Yuan Lu's heart vessels were damaged and required environments of extreme cold and extreme heat to stimulate the circulation of blood throughout his body. Once the blockages were broken through, he might survive this trial in his twentieth year and look forward to reaching thirty.
In his early years of travel, Imperial Physician Huang had seen a fragment of an ancient medical text, and when passing by a valley of hot springs, he had once witnessed someone using this method to seek a cure. However, lacking a medicine of extreme cold to protect the body, the patient had ultimately been unable to withstand the scorching heat of the hot springs.
This time, however, Emperor Wu had packed up every single piece of ice toad frost from the Imperial Hospital and given it all to him, so he had ample confidence to take Yuan Lu south to Tangquan Valley and try it out.
He had never claimed it was foolproof, and everyone knew it, yet they still smiled as they waved the carriage off into the distance, because this was Yuan Lu's hope of survival.