The capital was still under martial law, with most people under the Regent Prince’s command.
Even if one or two people spotted traces of Lian Shenwei, they would consciously keep their mouths shut.
By the time Feng Ke and the others brought Lian Shenwei back from the cliff, the moon had already sunk westward, and he was almost completely unconscious.
Tian Nan helped support Lian Shenwei onto the bed. “I’ve never seen Master drink like this before.”
The master rarely drank at the manor. Occasionally when in good spirits he would pour himself a cup of wine he’d brewed in the pavilion, drinking very slowly.
Feng Ke sat beside him taking his pulse, frowning: “He used to be able to drink much more, but after so many years of not drinking like this, his body can’t handle it—that’s why he got this drunk.”
Lian Shenwei’s breathing was heavy. After falling into a drunken sleep he was very quiet. Having been blown by the wind at the cliff’s edge for half the night, his complexion showed no pallor but rather flushed with color, his breath hot.
Feng Ke: “He’s developed a fever after all.”
Earlier this year, before using internal energy and bloodletting, aside from being careful about the balance of toxins in his blood, Lian Shenwei was no different from anyone else. His physical condition, though not as good as ten years ago, was still within normal range.
That time when Luan Qingan was imprisoned in the imperial prison for a day, after receiving some torture and being caught in the rain, he developed one quite dangerous high fever.
But Lian Shenwei’s current body simply couldn’t withstand this kind of torment. Feng Ke took out silver needles and set them aside. Having had a premonition, he instructed: “Go prepare things for cooling him down.”
Ye Mingqin had wanted to ask even before Lian Shenwei’s southern tour: “Elder brother has lost so much weight and his health has deteriorated—what exactly is going on?”
Ming Zhu brought wine for cooling and soaked cotton cloth in it, placing it to the side.
Tian Nan glanced at the master’s sworn sister, saying somewhat awkwardly: “Lord Ye… Lord Ye, Master will need to remove his outer garments shortly. Perhaps you should step outside first.”
Feng Ke glanced at him and said while inserting needles into Lian Shenwei: “She’s not an outsider. Stay here.”
“Don’t you want to know why your sworn brother’s health has deteriorated?”
Ye Mingqin nodded.
“Fine. Before answering that question, let me ask you a few things,” Feng Ke looked at her. “Emperor Jingcheng is dead, and court ministers are all preparing for the new emperor’s ascension. You hold positions in both the Ministry of Revenue and Ministry of Rites. At such a busy time, what are you doing at the Regent Prince’s manor?”
Ye Mingqin hesitated: “I…”
“Can’t say? I’ll say it for you.”
Feng Ke was not polite at all, his tone slightly mocking: “Today, from sealing the capital to His Majesty’s passing, it was all arranged single-handedly by our Regent Prince here, including the First Prince’s rebellion—all his words alone.”
“Most neutrals in court lean toward protecting imperial legitimacy. Lord Ye is the Regent Prince’s sworn sister, yet you’ve been impartial and just, never showing the slightest favoritism, which is why you’re quite praised among the neutrals.”
“Your faction has always been committed to reducing the Regent Prince’s power in the capital. Among those who recently submitted memorials requesting the withdrawal of his command over the Black Armored Guards, dare you say your name wasn’t on it?”
“With His Majesty’s passing, you’re here now simply to ask whether his death has anything to do with him. And you’re afraid that with the new emperor being young, after his ascension he won’t be able to control the Regent Prince, allowing his power to grow ever greater.”
Ye Mingqin was silent for a moment, essentially acknowledging this: “Master Feng, I am the Regent Prince’s sworn sister, but I’m also a minister of the Great Sheng Dynasty.”
Feng Ke: “Yes, you’re a minister of the Great Sheng Dynasty, while Lian Shenwei covets power, harbors wolfish ambitions, and harms the nation’s fortunes—naturally you must be extremely vigilant and careful.”
“Let me ask you again: if one day he falls from his high position, laden with crimes, would you personally send him to the imperial prison?”
Ye Mingqin: “If the crimes are real, yes.”
“I’m alone in this world; elder brother is like family to me,” she said seriously. “If that day truly comes, I’ll give up all my official positions and go to the imperial prison to accompany him, to repay his kindness and take punishment for him. This doesn’t contradict impeaching him. Public is public, private is private—Mingqin won’t confuse the two.”
The coldness in Feng Ke’s eyes dissipated slightly, and he scoffed: “Too naive. I hope you can truly manage it.”
Ye Mingqin cupped her hands toward him. “Can Master Feng tell me the reason now?”
“I didn’t tell you to leave. See for yourself.”
Feng Ke removed the silver needles and took the cloth soaked in wine. He first wiped Lian Shenwei’s palms, then opened his clothing.
He pulled off the layers of thick padding wrapped around the inner garment and threw them on the floor.
The clothing immediately became much more loose and empty.
Ye Mingqin’s heart inexplicably tightened.
Ming Zhu and Tian Nan’s expressions were very normal—clearly this wasn’t the first time they’d seen this.
As the collar opened, a handkerchief Lian Shenwei kept close also fell out. Feng Ke casually picked it up intending to set it aside, but suddenly frowned. “Hm?”
A trace of extremely faint bloody smell.
Having studied medicine for over twenty years, his nose was sharp. Even though the room now smelled of alcohol, Feng Ke still precisely caught the scent of blood.
Feng Ke thought it was from the last bloodletting a few days ago—perhaps the wound on Lian Shenwei’s arm hadn’t healed yet. With him now running a fever, if the wound became infected too, that would be even worse.
During the last bloodletting, when no place could be found on the left arm, a shallow cut had been made on the right arm instead.
For the moment he couldn’t worry about anything else. He quickly set down the handkerchief and carefully rolled up both of Lian Shenwei’s sleeves. Ye Mingqin’s gaze averted for an instant, then paused and looked over.
With that one glance, her composure shattered. She couldn’t even think of anything else and stepped forward abruptly, losing her voice: “These wounds?!”
On the exposed section of the young man’s arm, clean gauze was wrapped tightly in the middle. The other uncovered areas, including the other arm, were covered in scars.
New ones, old ones, large and small, deep and shallow—shocking to behold.
Like the traces on criminals after torture in prisons, but upon closer inspection, all were knife wounds from cutting.
Feng Ke unwrapped the gauze and found there was indeed some blood on it.
How had it split open when it had already scabbed over?
His gaze moved downward and he discovered abrasion and ligature marks on Lian Shenwei’s right wrist.
What had this guy tied to his hand before?
He vaguely guessed it might be related to Emperor Jingcheng.
He simply applied some medicine to the wound and wrapped clean gauze around both the arm and wrist. Feng Ke wrung out the wine-soaked cloth and wiped Lian Shenwei’s other arm.
Seeing this, Tian Nan said: “Master Feng, let me do it.”
He had experience. Usually in this situation, the master would have an intermittent fever until the second evening before it showed signs of breaking.
Feng Ke made room for him. “You and Ming Zhu keep track of the time. Call me to needle him every hour.”
Ming Zhu: “Understood.”
“Lord Ye, please come out.”
Before leaving, Feng Ke closed the window. He stood at the door, and when Ye Mingqin stood beside him, he finally spoke: “Did you see?”
Ye Mingqin’s eyes were a bit red, but her voice remained very calm.
“I beg you to tell me, Master, what exactly has happened to my sworn brother?”
He clearly looked only somewhat thinner than before, but she never imagined that this somewhat acceptable thinness was actually the result of her sworn brother doing his best to disguise it with padding…
Before she left the Regent Prince’s manor, her sworn brother had been fine.
And the wounds on his arms—she’d solved many cases and knew those marks couldn’t have been left in just a day or two.
Feng Ke pondered for a moment.
In most situations, he was willing to go along with Lian Shenwei’s wishes. If this guy were awake today, he absolutely wouldn’t let Ye Mingqin know about his condition.
Feng Ke truly felt it wasn’t worth it for Lian Shenwei.
Having done so much, exhausting himself mentally, having considered everyone else’s future path, yet those he cared for all remained completely unaware, intentionally or unintentionally guarding against him, never sparing him their greatest malice.
Even his own sworn sister was like this.
The headache was that many of these matters truly couldn’t be spoken of—pulling one thread would move the whole body. If he accidentally revealed what his childhood friend had hidden for so many years, that would be quite a disaster.
He let Ye Mingqin see today for two reasons: first, he didn’t want those few people Lian Shenwei truly cared about to all think of him as an ambitious, power-hungry minister; second, it was his own selfish desire.
Avenging Fudu Manor was like a huge stone pressing on Lian Shenwei. Painful, but with hatred there, he didn’t worry that Lian Shenwei lacked the will to survive.
Now that stone had suddenly disappeared…
So he wanted more people to care about Lian Shenwei.
To let him feel more cared for while recuperating, to make him want to stay in this world.
Right now he needed to find a reasonable excuse.
Feng Ke considered his fabrication carefully: “Your sworn brother has melancholic illness.”
Ye Mingqin: “What is melancholic illness?”
“It’s a heart disease. He’s had it for ten years, but it’s only become more severe in the past year,” Feng Ke said. “People with severe melancholic illness lose their appetite, rapidly lose weight, harm themselves when emotionally suppressed, become world-weary and despondent. The wounds on his arms were carved by himself.”
Ye Mingqin’s expression grew increasingly serious.
“If you’re not careful, the person might be gone. When I found him at the cliff today, I was so worried he’d jump from there.”
“How… how could sworn brother have this illness? I never noticed while at the manor.”
Ye Mingqin furrowed her brow tightly. “Is there a method of treatment?”
Feng Ke spoke with implicit meaning: “He needs people to accompany him, care for him, make him happy. Combined with medicinal treatment—aside from this, there’s no other way.”
After a while, Ye Mingqin responded quietly: “I understand. Thank you, Master Feng.”
Feng Ke nodded: “Good that you understand. It’s getting late, you should go.”
Outside the Regent Prince’s manor, several subordinates who’d come with her hurried forward. “Boss, how is it?”
Ye Mingqin didn’t speak, walking forward quietly.
Her impression of her sworn brother had changed again and again, but she felt as if she were only just meeting him for the first time today.
The matter of Luan Qingan’s collusion with the enemy had been at a dead end for a long time, but aside from that case, in many court cases related to her sworn brother, he couldn’t be completely cleared.
He had indeed killed many people who had merit to the court and no blemishes on their record.
Her mind was a chaotic mess, but ultimately it settled on the scene of seeing Lian Shenwei drunk at the cliff’s edge, the wounds on his arms, and what Master Feng had told her.
How could someone with such a weak will to live have such great ambitions? Moreover, her sworn brother’s state today was clearly very wrong… disappearing after leaving the palace, then getting drunk at the cliff’s edge.
Ye Mingqin stopped in her tracks and sighed.
“Boss, what’s wrong?”
Ye Mingqin pushed down the thoughts in her mind one by one.
She glanced at the slightly bluish eastern sky and asked: “What time is it?”
“Near the end of the yin hour.”
“You all go back first. Prepare to enter the palace tomorrow.”
“The autumn nights are cold. Where is my lord going?”
Ye Mingqin: “Liu’s shop on Yonggui Lane—they’re bringing out their first steamer of savory thousand-layer pastries right about now. Sworn brother loves them, so I’m going to queue up.”
**
wannaberecluse On SRTT Chapter 50.1