Chapter 493: Chapter 475: Self-Rescue
Fengyu woke up groggily, already in the carriage. She knew very well that the water Chen Mo had given her contained drugs to make her unconscious, but she had no choice but to drink. Three days without water, faced with starving to death or passing out, she decisively chose to survive. From a very young age, she understood one thing: only the living have hope; once dead, everything is gone.
This time, she was still tied up tightly. Chen Mo was extremely vigilant towards her and would not underestimate her just because she was a delicate young lady. The Jinyi Guards were indeed cautious; flowery words were useless. Back then, she managed to deceive the brothel madam with sweet talk because she was young, frail, and no one feared a child. Now, everyone knew she was the owner of the Su Family’s Trading House—physically weak, but shrewd and resourceful. Chen Mo wouldn’t believe her.
Chen Mo was someone without weaknesses. Back when she was framed in the palace, she had people investigate everyone in the palace, including Chen Mo.
He was fatherless, motherless, without a wife or children. Fengyu didn’t even know how Yuwen Jing managed to win Chen Mo over. The Commander of the Jinyi Guards was the emperor’s blade-bearing guard. Yet, Chen Mo had already pledged loyalty to Yuwen Jing during Emperor Jianming’s reign, demonstrating that Yuwen Jing had subdued him.
To kill a thousand enemies but lose eight hundred of your own—Liuzhou was fast approaching, and she could only try her luck!
The group soon arrived in Liuzhou. From there, it would be a mere five days’ journey away from the Capital City. Fengyu knew her chances to escape were dwindling.
The Jinyi Guards reached Liuzhou in the afternoon. Chen Mo originally intended to pass through Liuzhou without stopping, but Fengyu fell ill with a persistent fever. Chen Mo knew Fengyu’s body was weak and prone to frequent illnesses. He had even heard Yuwen Jing mock how Fengyu had been a "sickly child" in her youth, always bedridden—barely alive thanks to the Feng Family’s immense wealth buying rare medicines to keep her alive. Ordinary people would have succumbed to death countless times over.
Since childhood, her Master Miao Yun of Xiangguo Temple had predicted she wouldn’t live past eighteen. If she were to die during the journey, he couldn’t bear the consequences. Left with no choice, Chen Mo took Fengyu to seek medical treatment.
Fengyu was burning with fever and delirious by the time they arrived at the clinic. This was already within the government’s jurisdiction. The Jinyi Guards showed their tokens and drove out all the patients from the clinic.
The doctor in the clinic grumbled quietly, but Chen Mo swept his cold gaze over him. The Jinyi Guards unsheathed their blades, the cold gleam flashing swiftly, leaving the doctor drenched in a cold sweat.
The entire clinic was now under the control of the Jinyi Guards.
Chen Mo ordered sternly, "Cure her. If you fail, your head will take her place!"
Fengyu had been frail since childhood, her exact ailments unclear. If the weather turned cold, she’d develop a fever; if it got hot, she’d suffer from heatstroke. Frequently falling ill, each sickness struck her like a storm, putting her life on the line. Indeed, the Feng Family had spared no expense on rare medicinal herbs to sustain her life. Su Ming had once traveled extensively to find medicine for Fengyu, even venturing to Sannan to beg the High Priest for a life-preserving pill.
The clinic’s doctors were of limited skill. They prescribed fever-reducing medication, and their attendant brewed the medicine, pouring it down Fengyu’s throat. The doctor claimed her fever would subside within an hour after taking the medication. However, Fengyu’s fever worsened instead—her face turned pale, she began coughing blood, and she appeared so weak that she seemed moments from meeting King Yan. Deliriously, she muttered confused cries of "Sister," "Zhixu," "Ruyi," "Grandmother," among others.
Chen Mo hadn’t expected her condition to deteriorate so drastically. He almost drew his sword to kill the doctor, who frantically knelt and begged for mercy. "This young lady has a chronic and severe illness, with weak vitality and blood deficiency—an untreatable condition that avoids overexertion. Now... now her life can only be sustained with Eight Treasures Soup to gradually reduce the fever. But the ingredients for Eight Treasures Soup, like deer antler and ginseng, are extraordinarily rare. Recently, representatives from Twelve Provinces came and bought out all the pharmacies, especially of ginseng and deer antler. Nearly everything has been monopolized—we don’t even have any here now."
"If she had deer antler and ginseng, would she be saved?" Chen Mo asked coldly.
The doctor glanced hesitantly at Fengyu. Chen Mo’s face darkened, his curved blade moving slightly. The doctor kowtowed. "Yes, yes... It must be ginseng that is at least a hundred years old."
"Fine, I understand!" Chen Mo responded in a low voice. "First, keep her alive. If anything happens to her, everyone here will be buried alongside her."
"Yes, yes..." The doctor dared not act recklessly.
Chen Mo strode out. The doctor strained his ears to listen to the sound—Chen Mo had gone to seek people. The doctor rushed to Fengyu’s bedside and whispered urgently, "Miss! Miss... Wake up quickly!"
Moments earlier, still coughing up blood and unconscious, Fengyu slowly opened her eyes. Her vital energy surged up again, and a trace of fresh blood seeped from her throat.
"Miss, how could you take that medicine? It’ll be the death of you!" The doctor was drenched in sweat. "Now, with the lack of crucial herbal ingredients, curing your poisoning is exceedingly difficult—you’ll suffer greatly!"
Fengyu chuckled faintly but couldn’t help coughing again. "I was merely gambling on fate. Unexpectedly, you truly are in Liuzhou. Uncle Zhou, do me a favor—reach out to the Trading Houses along the route to the Capital City. They’ll certainly stop to seek medical treatment for me since I’m gravely ill."
"You could leave right here, you know." Doctor Xiao Zhou lowered his voice. "They’ll likely spend two to three days looking for medicine materials..."
"This is the Jinyi Guard—we’re talking minutes, not days, to gather what they need," Fengyu gritted her teeth and said. "As long as they take their token and forcibly requisition medicine from the noble families of Liuzhou, they’ll quickly gather what they need. With me in this condition, even if I wanted to run, I wouldn’t make it far."
Doctor Xiao Zhou was Zhou’s younger brother and not affiliated with the Su Family’s Trading House. The Zhou Family had generations of experience in medicine. Fengyu had met Doctor Xiao Zhou when she stayed in Ningzhou, where Zhou treated her ailments. Later, Xiao Zhou became estranged from his family due to a marriage dispute and left the Zhou Family in anger, disappearing completely.
She eventually encountered Doctor Xiao Zhou in Liling, broken and disheartened. His beloved woman was from questionable origins, and after leaving Ningzhou, they moved to Liuzhou, running a small clinic. The two defied social conventions to be together, believing they could be with each other forever. But fate intervened—his wife eventually crossed paths with an old patron, who coincidentally also ran a clinic in Liuzhou. After Xiao Zhou settled in Liuzhou, this rival snatched away much of his business, growing resentful and scheming with Xiao Zhou’s wife to ruin him. Xiao Zhou’s reputation was destroyed, and his leg was even broken. Left to beg along the streets, he drifted to Liling, where he met Fengyu.
Fengyu was fiercely loyal to her people—despite her youth and gender, she was vengeful and vindictive. She brought people with her to Liuzhou to confront the injustice for Doctor Xiao Zhou. Though the matter made waves, she kept her identity hidden. The malicious individuals and Xiao Zhou’s wife were eventually imprisoned by the local authorities. Xiao Zhou recovered from his leg injury. Fengyu had intended to persuade him to return to the Capital City and reunite with family.
However, having severed ties over his wife with his family, Xiao Zhou couldn’t stomach returning home in shame now that his wife had proven beyond doubt to be promiscuous and deceitful. He chose to settle in Liuzhou, wanting to guard his clinic.
Recently, when Fengyu was gathering herbs, she had sent people to Liuzhou. Xiao Zhou’s clinic was the largest clinic in Liuzhou, and he had a stellar reputation locally as a "divine doctor."
Inside Fengyu’s sachet were two types of pills—one for sustaining life, boosting blood and vitality, and another toxic pill. The toxic pill was made by Doctor Zhou—it could take lives or even mimic symptoms of severe illness. Bound tightly throughout the journey and unable to escape, Fengyu decided to risk everything.
The largest clinic in Liuzhou, after all, was Xiao Zhou’s. If she appeared critically ill, Chen Mo would undoubtedly bring her to seek treatment. Looking deathly sick, he would have no choice but to consult the best doctor.
If she wanted to save herself, she had to find someone to deliver her message.
"Let me think of a solution," Doctor Xiao Zhou murmured, deep in thought. "I’ll prepare the antidote first—it’s dangerous to let this poison linger, miss. I’ve taken all the toxic pills from your sachet. If on another day I were out for a visit and not in the city, we may not be so lucky next time."