Chapter 0278: The Result of Ten Years of Shortened Lifespan, The Strongest Support Hu Lai
Well, how could this be considered reckless?
He had clearly thought it through carefully.
Of course, one couldn’t rule out that the anxiety and irritability from withdrawal symptoms inevitably drove him to decide to throw caution to the wind.
“But heaven was on my side.” The young man grinned triumphantly, yet the pain from his broken ribs made him gasp sharply.
With the crisis resolved, the pain that had been temporarily ignored due to tense emotions eagerly resurfaced, causing the young man’s speech to become faltering.
“Sh-Shen Yuan…”
He blinked, “My back hurts so much.”
“Mm, I know.” Shen Yuan closed his eyes briefly, suppressing the moisture in them. He wanted to tightly embrace the weakened young man but feared aggravating his injuries. Gently stroking Xie Chengze’s head, he said softly, “Don’t move around. The physician will be here soon.”
Xie Chengze obediently remained still, resting his head on Shen Yuan’s shoulder as his eyelids grew increasingly heavy.
“Shen Yuan, I want to sleep.”
“Alright, sleep.” The man’s voice was strained. “Once you’re asleep, it won’t hurt anymore.”
Xie Chengze closed his eyes in relief.
Zhu Xiaobiao hurried over with the physician, who promptly examined Xie Chengze’s condition and checked his pulse, then sighed repeatedly. “Who could have been so brutal?”
Zhu Xiaobiao asked anxiously, “Physician, how is my young master?”
Hu Lai also looked at the physician with concern.
“There’s no immediate danger to his life,” the physician first reassured them, then shook his head and sighed. “However, this young master’s constitution is far too weak. He must have long suffered from lack of proper rest, mental exhaustion, and fatigue—likely from burying himself in books and trivial matters late into the night regularly?”
Zhu Xiaobiao couldn’t help but glance at Shen Yuan and Hu Lai. Hu Lai nodded and quickly added, “Our young master was indeed overly studious in the past.”
After all, the former Second Prince was someone who would attend court even with a lame leg and was even busier at night.
“Not only that, but this young master has also long been burdened by excessive worries. His liver qi fails to disperse, stagnating internally and adversely affecting the spleen, leading to impaired transformation and transportation. The essence from food and drink struggles to generate qi and blood, leaving the body without adequate nourishment.”
The physician sighed. “He should have been meticulously cared for, which would have prevented damage to his vitality. But it seems he recently fasted, causing emptiness in his spleen and stomach. His pulse is wiry, thin, and weak, intermittently fading—clear signs of severe qi and blood deficiency.”
“Now, with this addiction afflicting him, his primordial qi is greatly damaged, affecting his internal organs. The liver pulse is tight and wiry, wood qi is constrained, and the spleen and stomach suffer as well. He finds it difficult to swallow food, and even if he forces it down, he vomits shortly after, unable to transform and transport nutrients.”
“On top of that, he was struck by internal force, injuring all his internal organs. If not for this blow, perhaps he might have…”
Hu Lai grew impatient. “Can you get to the point!”
Startled by the outburst, the physician hurriedly said, “I’m afraid he’ll need to rely on medication for the rest of his life. Though his life isn’t in danger, his vitality will likely be impaired.”
He paused, shaking his head repeatedly with a sigh. “The young master is likely to lose ten years of his lifespan.”
At these words, Zhu Xiaobiao gaped, wanting to speak but unsure what to say. In the end, he could only bow his head dejectedly, tears welling in his eyes as he turned away to wipe them with his sleeve.
His Highness… why must his fate be so bitter?
Shen Yuan’s lips trembled slightly, his fists clenching so tightly that he wished he could kill Sheng Shihai all over again.
“Prepare the medicine,” his voice came out strained, his chest tight with discomfort. “His ribs are broken and he needs pain relief. Hu Lai, go find a stretcher.”
Hu Lai quickly rose to search for the stretcher.
The physician hastily wrote the prescription and cautioned Shen Yuan, whose brows were furrowed with worry, “Sir, you must not let the patient dwell on distressing thoughts anymore. Although this young master has been frail since birth, he could live to a ripe old age if he doesn’t overtax himself. His current physical decline stems primarily from long-term unresolved melancholy and tension. If he continues to be this reckless, he won’t just lose ten years of his lifespan.”
Shen Yuan’s fingers twitched.
Given Xie Chengze’s original constitution, living to sixty would already be considered longevity. Losing ten years would mean only reaching fifty.
If he remained this reckless…
Would that mean he only had slightly over twenty years left?
The thought of that bright-eyed young man confined to a sickbed in his prime, eventually becoming mere dust buried forever in darkness, made Shen Yuan’s heart ache with unbearable regret and pain.
He was utterly useless.
He had failed to detect that Sheng Shihai had a body double, hadn’t arrived at Zhuolu County in time, allowing him to be poisoned by Sheng Shihai’s poisonous incense. Worse still, he had arrogantly assumed that the clever and life-loving youth would never risk his life using the Qiankun Yin-Yang Pot to poison Sheng Shihai.
When he bribed the Yamen Runner to deliver the wine pot to the county office, he only meant to signal: I’m here, don’t be afraid.
Not to encourage him to take such risks.
Where did he find the courage—completely devoid of martial arts skills—to face Sheng Shihai alone, who could kill him effortlessly, and attempt to poison him?
If Hu Lai hadn’t learned that Xie Chengze had been drugged with the poisonous incense and deduced that the drug addiction would impair his usual rationality and judgment, prompting him to abandon waiting for Xie Jinyu and the arranged troops to storm in directly…
Shen Yuan didn’t dare imagine what would have happened if that earlier palm strike had landed on Xie Chengze’s chest. Would he now be holding a cold corpse instead?
His heart aching uncontrollably, Shen Yuan gently brushed aside the stray hairs from the youth’s pale face, cradling his noticeably thinner cheek. He wanted to utter harsh warnings but found himself speechless, instead channeling his inner energy to soothe the youth’s meridians, alleviating his physical pain and ensuring he could rest peacefully.
He… had been truly terrified moments ago.
Terrified that in this lifetime, while he might protect everyone else, he would fail to protect him.
In that moment, Shen Yuan knew he had completely, irrevocably fallen for this young man.
…
Hu Lai returned with the stretcher and carefully carried the unconscious Xie Chengze into the room. He then instructed Zhu Xiaobiao to accompany the physician to prepare the medicine, diligently guarding the medicinal pot to prevent any of Sheng Shihai’s remaining followers from poisoning it.
Meanwhile, while Shen Yuan was raging and eliminating the remaining traitors within the yamen, Hu Lai seized the opportunity to return to the place where Sheng Shihai had bound and imprisoned him earlier. Using the antidote he had purchased from the physician, he administered it to the unconscious Wuhen and Wuji.
Fortunately, Sheng Shihai had dismissed him as an ordinary person without any inner energy, not even bothering to drug him with knockout drops, merely tying him up in the woodshed.
Thus, with his silver tongue, he successfully befriended the guard, bribed him with the small gold cakes he had hidden on his person to accompany him to the latrine, and then, with lightning speed, shoved the guard headfirst into the cesspit before scrambling out of the remote courtyard.
He then fortunately encountered Shen Yuan, who had just arrived in Zhuolu County.
Suspecting that the Second Prince was being held by Sheng Shihai in the county office, he was proven right when Lord Shen secretly bribed a Yamen Runner inside to inquire about the prince’s safety and learned from him that the prince had been poisoned with poisonous incense.
Upon discovering that Shen Yuan had casually handed over the Qiankun Yin-Yang Pot, Hu Lai knew it was over.
Given the prince’s vehement hatred of poison, what if his drug addiction flared up, his mind snapped, and he actually poisoned Sheng Shihai?
So he urgently persuaded Shen Yuan to storm the county office.
Even though he knew that without the cooperation of Wuhen and Wuji, Shen Yuan—still recovering from old injuries—stood no chance of killing Sheng Shihai and might even be killed himself, to Hu Lai, Shen Yuan’s life was unimportant; the prince’s life was what truly mattered.
The Second Prince was the most generous and kind employer he had ever met.
He absolutely could not let anything happen to him!
Sure enough, his prince had indeed poisoned Sheng Shihai. Despite caring for Zhu Xiaobiao’s life and unwilling to let others risk entering the county office to administer poison, he himself recklessly disregarded his own safety and boldly poisoned Sheng Shihai.
Ah, his prince was truly absurdly foolish.