Grandfather smiled and prayed. "Heaven bless us! Heaven bless us! We truly escaped a calamity!"
Jiang Shouyi ran toward the city gate, panting heavily, still haunted by lingering fear.
He originally thought he was dead for sure, and even pulled out the copper bell intending to fight to the death. Yet miraculously, he survived?
What on earth was this copper bell? It was clearly a solid, welded dead-bell, yet it actually rang out against that woman...
Jiang Shouyi vaguely guessed it must be an immortal magical artifact, but he didn't understand such things and simply didn't dwell on it. As long as he survived, it was fine.
He looked down at Yan Nu in his arms, wondering when this little brat had once again wriggled free of the cloth strips, sucking greedily on the medicine bottle.
"Stinking brat, you're hungry, aren't you? You don't even know what medicine this is, yet you shove it right into your mouth..." Jiang Shouyi smiled, but didn't stop him.
He knew this child was extraordinary, eating medicine just like drinking milk... Wait, wait?
"Cough, cough, cough! Waaah!"
Yan Nu sucked an entire bottle of medicine into his mouth, choked so hard he coughed violently, and began to wail.
This wasn't right! Wasn't this child able to eat anything? How come it suddenly didn't work? Could this bottle of medicine be rather special?
Jiang Shouyi hurriedly snatched the bottle away and saw that it was indeed a bottle of powdered medicine he had never tried before. Could it be that this medicine was exceptionally potent, so much so that even demons couldn't stomach it?
Growing anxious, he quickly patted Yan Nu on the back, urging him to cough the medicine back up.
Yet even after vomiting it out, Yan Nu's lips turned cyan, his whole body convulsed, and his eyes glazed over as if he had been poisoned!
Jiang Shouyi cautiously tasted a tiny bit; it was indeed pungent, carrying a metallic scent. Although he didn't know what kind of medicine it was, every medicine carried some degree of toxicity—how could an infant eat things indiscriminately?
He couldn't help but feel a pang of remorse for not stopping him immediately. In truth, he simply hadn't expected that a miraculous infant who could survive being chopped in half would actually be poisoned by a bottle of medicine!
Several previous bottles of medicine had been eaten without any issue, so why did trouble strike precisely this time?
Had his freakish ability failed? No, the wounds on his head and belly were still there. If the ability failed, Yan Nu would have to die right now!
Anxiously, Jiang Shouyi carried the child to find a physician, but halfway there, he felt a wave of helpless resignation.
He thought of this child's peculiar condition—how could a mere physician possibly handle it?
Never mind curing the poison; if the physician saw that this child's intestines could be pulled right out, he would likely be frightened straight into a dead faint!
And once the government officials found out, they might very well treat Yan Nu as a monster and burn him directly at the stake.
What should I do? What should I do?
Watching Yan Nu convulse continuously and whimper in pain, Jiang Shouyi felt as anxious as if his heart were on fire.
Yet he still clung to a shred of wishful thinking; after all, Yan Nu was too miraculous, and perhaps he could still pull through.
He first went to buy some steamed buns and fed them to the child. Little Yan Nu moved his little mouth and ate them all down.
This made Jiang Shouyi breathe a sigh of relief. That's right, he's still a freak!
As long as he's a freak, it's fine!
How could a normal infant eat dry rations? Yet Yan Nu had eaten them, and over the past two days, he had survived entirely by eating the steamed buns off Chen Hu, which proved that he was still miraculous.
"So this poison... he should be able to weather it. He will weather it..." Jiang Shouyi cradled the child, huddled inside an alleyway, praying for Grandfather Heaven's blessing.
Then, every so often, he fed Yan Nu a tiny bit of steamed bun until the remaining scraps were quickly gone.
However, an hour passed, and Yan Nu's poisoning symptoms showed no signs of improvement; instead, they grew increasingly severe!
His entire body swelled up, turning cyan and purple as if the poison had spread throughout his entire system.
Jiang Shouyi had no idea what else he could do. Just then, a noble clan happened to be distributing porridge, and he hurriedly went to collect a bowl for Yan Nu to drink.
Yet this time, things went wrong again. Yan Nu could no longer swallow; the rice porridge blocked his throat entirely, terrifying Jiang Shouyi into frantically patting and digging inside his mouth until Yan Nu's breathing finally smoothed out once more.
"He can eat steamed buns, but can't swallow rice porridge? What is wrong with this? Yan Nu! Yan Nu!" Jiang Shouyi whimpered, feeling utterly helpless.
He could no longer bear the agony of watching his grandson die in his arms, and in that moment, he felt as though he himself were a calamity star.
Could it be that even such a miraculous Heaven-Sent Miracle Infant was going to be raised to death by his own hands?
Fortunately, Jiang Shouyi still had money, so he hurried off to buy the same steamed buns as before. Sure enough, the boy ate them.
He scratched his head frantically. Yan Nu's condition was far too bizarre; he simply couldn't make heads or tails of it!
Yet he also realized that Yan Nu could eat anything he had consumed before.
So when had it started that Yan Nu became unable to digest other foods?
"Could it be... Xue'er?"
Jiang Shouyi slowly sorted through his thoughts, suddenly realizing that everything had happened after Xue'er was sent away.
Steamed buns could be eaten, but rice porridge couldn't be swallowed. Nearly two hours had passed, and the accidentally ingested poison still hadn't worn off.
You two were born as a pair—were you never meant to be separated after all?
Once separated, this child's miraculous nature... would vanish? Or perhaps... stagnate?
He hadn't expected that the pair of infants he picked up would share this kind of bond.
Yet it stood to reason; they had been found as a pair, and logically neither of them was ordinary, except that the female infant looked far too normal.
"What on earth should I do..." Jiang Shouyi bit his lower lip hard. The child had already been sent away, and that noblewoman had likely already given birth.
If he went back now to beg for her, he would simply be seeking death, and besides, he couldn't raise her anyway.
"No... as long as he survives this bout of poison. Just to see her... I just need to bring the child to see her once... After that, wouldn't it be fine for Yan Nu to grow up ordinarily into an adult?"
Steeling his heart, Jiang Shouyi turned around and ran all the way back to the Zhu Mansion's back door!
Whether it was useful or not, he would treat a dead horse as a living veterinarian! Even if he came back and was killed, he had nothing to lose!
By now, evening was approaching. He knocked on the Zhu Mansion's back door, and the person who came out was a new doorkeeper—rather young, yet still bearing an arrogant expression.
He said humbly, "This old man begs for an audience with Miss Xiangyun."
"What kind of dog are you!" Seeing his humility, the doorkeeper showed utter disdain.
"There is a great joyous event inside the mansion, and Miss Xiangyun is busy!"
Jiang Shouyi simply bluffed, "Miss Xiangyun is the one who told this old man to come..."
His words were vague and he refrained from mentioning too much, lest he ruin the affairs of Xiangyun and her mistress.
If things were ruined, it didn't matter if he died, but Xue'er's good life as a noble clan's young lady would be gone.
Jiang Shouyi understood very well, knowing that he now shared a secret with those two individuals. Thus, coming back and forth like this, he didn't need to explain anything explicitly; as long as he showed up, the other party would definitely see him... even if it meant killing him.
"Hmph? Wait here! If you incur the mistress's scolding, you'll be sorry!" Arrogant though the doorkeeper was, passing messages was his core duty, and he didn't dare to truly be negligent.
Jiang Shouyi squatted outside the door to wait, watching as Yan Nu'er grew increasingly feeble, convulsing completely without consciousness, his heart burning with anxiety.
He was gambling his life entirely. The Zhu family's nobles likely wouldn't let him see the child again.
If Xue'er had 'been born', right now it was probably a wet nurse feeding her, or a large group of elders passing her around to look at her, and she might be right in the hands of some noble person.
As a lowly commoner, if he suddenly ran back and said he wanted to see Xue'er, wouldn't Xiangyun chop him down with a single sword stroke?
In fact, his guess was spot on. When Xiangyun heard the servants' report, she wanted nothing more than to rush out and slaughter him on the spot.
This old man, we already spared his life, yet he dares to come back?
Thank goodness I found out first. If this had been reported to First Madam first... and drawn her attention...
Furious though Xiangyun was, she didn't dare show it, standing silently at the side of the flower hall.
That was because right now, the hall was gathered with a group of elders from the clan, among whom an old woman held Xue'er in her arms, her fingers meticulously rubbing the infant's bones.
This was searching for immortal bones.
The old woman was the family head's legitimate wife and the Eldest Young Master's mother. With the family head currently away at court and the young master living a dissolute and unrestrained life, she was the one who ruled the roost in this household. As long as Old Madam didn't leave, who dared act presumptuously?
"Mother! How is it? Does my child possess immortal bones?" Abruptly, a man barged into the flower hall.
He wore a crane cloak made of scarlet feather-crepe-faced white fox fur. His skin was fair, his face powdered with gold, and his hair disheveled with untied sashes—it was precisely Zhu Xiazhi.
"Xiazhi, what have you been up to? You didn't even know it's a girl?" A bearded elder stroked his beard and spoke.
Zhu Xiazhi's eyes were glazed, heat radiating from his entire body as he looked as drunk as could be. "Qin'er went into labor all of a sudden, so I rushed right over... Just now I was taking medicine together with my clan younger brothers..."
Already in his thirties, he remained unbridled and untamed, acting even more carefree than in his youth.
Third Uncle couldn't help but scold him, "You're already a father of two children—can't you be a bit steadier? How do you expect to manage this household in the future?"
Zhu Xiazhi let out a pfft of laughter. "The future will take care of itself. Today isn't even over yet, why talk about the future!"
Seeing his improper speech, Third Uncle was so angry he couldn't speak!
On the contrary, Zhu Xiazhi's mother at the side rebuked, "Audacious! Xiazhi, you are far too rude!"
Seeing his mother flare up, Zhu Xiazhi quickly and obediently bowed in acknowledgment of his fault. "This son knows his mistake."
Old Madam said with a sunken face, "Aren't you going to apologize to your third uncle?"
Zhu Xiazhi curled his lips. "Your nephew is unrestrained and free-spirited by nature, so I must ask Third Uncle to forgive me."
What a free-spirited and unrestrained fellow! Third Uncle felt stifled, harboring deep concerns for the Zhu family's future.
Yet who could blame him? The family head only had two legitimate sons: the younger son Zhu Yuanzhi had gone into the mountains to cultivate the Dao, having long since 'severed mortal world ties', while the eldest son Zhu Xiazhi lacked immortal bones. This future household would undoubtedly fall to him to manage.
"Mm, take a good look at your daughter... her features are truly exceptional." Old Madam had already finished examining the bones, shaking her head slightly before handing Xue'er over to Zhu Xiazhi.
She didn't speak explicitly, but everyone knew this meant the child lacked immortal bones.
Zhu Xiazhi examined his daughter, his joy overflowing upon his face. "Ha! What does it matter if she lacks immortal bones? My little daughter's skin is like congealed lard and her flesh like clear jade; she already bears the outline of a peerless beauty at birth. Who knows, she might even become an empress in the future!"
Old Madam smiled faintly. This daughter was indeed born well; an empress was a bit far off, but forming a marriage alliance with a first-rate noble clan was well within the realm of possibility!
With that, she glanced at Zhu Xiazhi's legitimate wife, who stood respectfully to the side without speaking—serving as a mild warning—before departing with graceful composure.
"Mother, take care!" Zhu Xiazhi swayed as he saw her off.
As she reached the doorway, Old Madam suddenly turned back to remind him, "Xiazhi, now that the child has been born, you must make time to visit the yamen. The imperial court has appointed you as the Anqiu County Magistrate, so you ought to apply yourself..."
"The snow is far too heavy this year. You govern the common people of a region, you cannot let your staff officers handle everything."
Zhu Xiazhi was lowering his head, teasing his pretty little daughter, when he heard the mention of snow falling too heavily. He laughed with unconstrained verve.
He hoisted his jade-doll-like daughter high into the air. "Hard to bear the parting of Zhu Yan, where do we look amidst the falling snow? Do not be astonished that spring returns late, it still surpasses a chill not yet spent!"
"I've got it! My daughter shall be called Zhu Yanxue!"
Third Uncle sucked in a sharp breath. His own precious daughter is too good-looking, yet he has the leisure to gaze at the heavy snow outside? Everyone shouldn't be surprised that spring comes late, for it's still better than the cold not being biting enough!
Having heard this impromptu poem, Third Uncle Zhu felt his entire body go numb. Although he was accustomed to the man's unbridled nature, this time it was truly a bit excessive.
This year's heavy snow blanketed the Six Northern Prefectures! In Qingzhou prefecture alone, the number of people frozen and starved to death had already reached fifty thousand!
In Donglai Commandery, wandering refugees were playing the ghost and shaking the spirits, raising an army in rebellion under the banner of immortals. The situation in Anqiu was slightly better, but it had consequently gathered a massive influx of refugees... while outside many other city gates, frozen corpses blocked the very city gates.
As an official serving as the parent to the people of a region, he actually felt this cold wave wasn't biting enough? Saying things like 'still surpasses a chill not yet spent'?
With a darkened face, Third Uncle was just about to sternly reprimand him when Old Madam spoke first.
"If they tell you to go, then go! The Langya Prefect is getting on in years; you have cultivated your reputation for twenty years, and his lordship is the Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince. In the future... In short, you must start preparing. How can it do to never have visited the yamen even once?"
The unspoken meaning behind Old Madam's words was that once the crown prince ascended the throne, Zhu Xiazhi would be able to step into the position of Langya Prefect.
Seeing that the conversation had drifted that far away, Third Uncle could only swallow back the words of reprimand he had prepared.
This was the Zhu family's heir—he had never set foot in the yamen once, yet he could become the Langya Prefect...
Furthermore, this was a matter basically decided several years prior, unless the person ascending the throne wasn't the crown prince.
How could one possibly discuss the duties of a county magistrate with him under such circumstances?
"Mother, this son understands. Once I go check on Qin'er, I will head straight to the yamen!" Zhu Xiazhi hurriedly and respectfully replied.
He knew his mother far too well; she didn't care about his dissolute behavior, as long as he showed respectful obedience before her at critical moments, letting her know he respected her and that only her words carried weight, then nothing bad would happen.
Sure enough, Old Madam nodded in satisfaction. "Very well, let us not disturb them."
With that, she turned and left directly. How could the numerous elders remain behind? Third Uncle felt helpless and could only follow along after them.
From beginning to end, none of them had any intention of stepping into the inner chambers to check on Le Qin, who was still giving a stellar acting performance on the bed.
Le Qin was terrified of being found out, her heart filled with trepidation, but without a doubt, all this worrying was completely in vain.
Throughout the entire household, hardly anyone cared about her. On ordinary days, aside from the servants, only Zhu Xiazhi would ever visit this remote courtyard.
"Husband, have Old Madam and the others all left?"
"They're gone. But I have to make a trip to the yamen, so I can only come back later to accompany you."
Le Qin heaved a sigh of relief, knowing that the most difficult hurdle had been passed.
"It's fine, official business comes first. Xue'er naturally has the wet nurse to take care of her, and I have Xiangyun..."
Saying this, Le Qin gave a startled shiver. She had slipped up! She had actually blurted out the name that old man had chosen.
Regardless of what the child used to be called, she was now a young lady of the Zhu family, and her name would definitely have to be chosen anew.
Yet Zhu Xiazhi chuckled, "Oh? Qin'er, your ears are so sharp, you heard it? That's right... Zhu Yanxue, Xue'er, you think this name is quite nice too, don't you?"
"Since Husband chose it, it is naturally exceedingly good." Le Qin forced a smile. So there happens to be the character 'Xue' in the name as well—that truly is fate.
The two didn't linger in tender affection for long. Sensing that the medicinal effects were wearing off, Zhu Xiazhi listlessly changed his clothes and headed toward the yamen.
It wasn't until this moment that Xiangyun finally found the opportunity to speak. "That old man has come again. I'll go kill him right now!"
Le Qin had just been lying down with her mind completely at ease, but upon hearing those words, she sat right back up, overcome with immense fury.
"Why has he come again? Is he trying to take a hold over me?" Le Qin dreaded this exact scenario. She had spared the old man's life, but if this ended up leaking the truth, it would have been better to silence him from the very beginning.
She immediately wanted to get out of bed, but remembering that the wet nurse was still in the outer room, she had no choice but to lie back down.
"Bring him in!"
Xiangyun asked, "Bring him in here? Is that wise? It's better if this maid disposes of him."
Le Qin shook her head. "It's fine, merely an old man. Afterward, I'll just say I arranged for him to bring a male infant to ward off bad luck, but unfortunately he arrived too late, and so on."
"I need to know who else he has been in contact with. This old man wouldn't have returned for no reason!"
Before long, Xiangyun led Jiang Shouyi over.
While still outside the door, Jiang Shouyi had heard Xue'er's crying. And to his pleasant surprise, Yan Nu's convulsions ceased instantly, and with a soft coo, he opened his eyes once more.
Just hearing the crying is enough? What kind of logic is this? Jiang Shouyi murmured inwardly.
Yet everything had finally gone as he wished: Yan Nu's poison was cured! He was getting better!
It really was because of Xue'er! Just like that, the poison that couldn't be cured for over two hours was instantly gone.
However, since he had already come, leaving wouldn't be so simple. Xiangyun brought him into the main hall.
This was Le Qin's bedchamber. Even upon coming here, Jiang Shouyi could only kneel prostrate in the anteroom outside the warm curtains.
"Xue'er is awake again. Take her down to feed her first; you don't need to worry about things here." These were Le Qin's words to the wet nurse.
Hearing the wet nurse step out from behind the warm curtains, accompanied by Xue'er's wailing, Jiang Shouyi didn't dare to raise his head to look even once.
"I told you never to come back!" At that moment, Le Qin walked out from behind the curtains, coldly looking down at him from above.
Jiang Shouyi sighed inwardly, kowtowing. "It is this humble person's fault, but the child was poisoned, and this old man truly had no other choice."
"Poisoned?" Le Qin glanced over and saw that Yan Nu indeed had purple and swollen patches on his skin, though the symptoms were very mild and practically fading away.
"It was the medicine bottle carried by that Heavenly Tiger; my grandson accidentally ingested some." Jiang Shouyi took out the medicine bottle.
Xiangyun stepped forward to take it, gave it a light sniff, and her brow furrowed. "Five-Stone Powder?"
Le Qin was astonished. "Such a tiny child—without immortal bones, she shouldn't even touch the stuff!"
Jiang Shouyi didn't know what immortal bones were, and blindly went along with it. "This villain failed to watch him for a moment, and Yan Nu touched a bit of it... This villain knew he shouldn't come back, but really had no other way..."
Xiangyun said angrily, "Wouldn't finding a doctor do! I told you to go far away, yet you still dared to return. If you get targeted by observant people in the estate... I might as well kill you right now!"
However, Le Qin held Xiangyun back, and said with a trace of guilt, "Ah... It was my oversight, I forgot to give you some money..."
She only then remembered that the man had come to sell a child, and this old man was a disaster victim who probably already had empty pockets. She had taken his granddaughter in without giving a single coin or a single grain of food!
She had only said to spare his life and let him fly far away, but how far could he walk? That was practically no different from killing him.
Thinking of this, Le Qin also relaxed... What about trying to blackmail or extort them? That was just angry talk.
They could lend this old man ten thousand strands of courage, and he still wouldn't dare to come back and blackmail them just because he held this secret.
Thinking carefully, anyone with a normal brain knew that coming back was courting death.
Yet this old man had returned without a second thought. Just because his grandson accidentally got poisoned and he truly had no other way, he came back to beg for help—which amounted to wanting to trade his own life for his grandson's life. He indeed turned out to be a man of deep affection who was not afraid of death.
This point was very important, because it meant that even for the sake of Xue'er, Jiang Shouyi would defend to the death this secret.
"Xiangyun, give him five hundred guan."
"Listen, Jiang Shouyi, this is the last time. I don't want to see you again."
"From then on, her name is Zhu Yanxue, and she is my daughter!"
Before you continue