You're Doing This for What?

The medicine he'd taken before really had been bitter as hell.

So Qin Muye didn't waste any time. He went straight to the south of the city by carriage. Qin Yanying was an instructor in the Left Imperial Guard Division.

Qin Yanying hadn't actually held an official post in the Capital City. But she was so worried about her nephew that she feared something might happen to him, so she followed him around every day. Whenever she ran into someone who might pose a threat to Qin Muye, she'd charge over and beat them to a pulp, causing all sorts of trouble.

The emperor couldn't stand watching it anymore, so he found her a job as an Imperial Guard instructor, lest all that bull strength go to waste.

When Qin Yanying heard that Bai Yuji's master had arrived, she was overjoyed. She ditched her post on the spot and climbed into the carriage home.

As soon as she got out of the carriage, she came face-to-face with Chen Sui.

The moment Chen Sui saw Qin Yanying, his eyes darted away. He hurriedly pulled Qin Muye aside and lowered his voice. "Muye, His Majesty wants you to take it easy. Just accept some gifts at the birthday banquet and let it go. Even if the gifts aren't generous, don't retaliate..."

"Thump!"

A fist as big as a sandbag slammed into Chen Sui's back.

Qin Yanying glared furiously. "You and your big mouth, Chen Sui! What have you been tattling to the emperor about now? Isn't Muye's life hard enough already?"

Chen Sui grimaced in pain. "His life is hard? If we don't stop him, he'll be the richest man in the Capital City in no time. And you say his life is hard?"

Qin Yanying froze. "What richest man in the Capital City?"

Seeing from her expression that she didn't know what had happened today, Chen Sui briefly explained.

Qin Yanying's eyes lit up as she listened. "So our Qin Family will get to live in luxury from now on? That's my nephew for you! Beautifully done. That ruthless-hero style of yours—you take after your aunt!"

"What ruthless hero?"

Chen Sui's head started to ache. "With that kind of swagger, how many people are you going to offend?"

Qin Yanying scoffed. "Before we offend them, they're already at odds with the Qin Family. After we offend them, they're still at odds with the Qin Family. By that logic, wasn't this money practically free?"

Chen Sui: "..."

Something about that felt off.

But it also made a lot of sense!

He rubbed his forehead and continued, "Muye! Anyway, don't retaliate if someone gives you too little. Let's just solve the case honestly. His Majesty will also send the Crown Prince and the Imperial Princess with generous gifts to celebrate your birthday, so let the others off."

Qin Muye was a little surprised. "The Crown Prince and the Imperial Princess are coming too? I'm getting quite the grand celebration!"

Chen Sui replied as if it were obvious, "His Majesty and your father were as close as brothers, and this is your eighteenth birthday. Of course it'll be grand!"

Qin Muye grinned but said nothing.

It wasn't exactly a fabrication to say the sovereign and his subject had been as close as brothers. Li Hong and Qin Kaijiang really had been on very good terms. When Li Hong was still a prince, he'd once been ambushed. Qin Kaijiang cut down half the assassins and was left gravely wounded himself.

Li Hong hadn't abandoned him and fled. Instead, he carried him into the mountains to hide. It was said that by the time they escaped back to the Capital City, Li Hong had run his shoes right off. Their bond had certainly been deep.

But ever since that huge argument in court, the two of them had never met again.

As far as Qin Muye knew from history, no matter how magnanimous an emperor might be, he couldn't possibly feel no misgivings about a military governor like Qin Kaijiang, who practically ruled the Southwest as his own domain.

Still, sending the Crown Prince and the Imperial Princess to celebrate his birthday was a real show of respect. They were probably also signaling the Southwest's importance in the wake of the assassination attempt.

Judging by how delighted Qin Yanying looked, she was clearly pleased with the grand gesture.

The three of them entered the gate one after another.

As soon as they reached the courtyard where Bai Yuji was staying, they heard someone scolding her.

"You wretch! You've truly disappointed me!"

"With your talent for medicine, you could become a renowned physician one day."

"And yet... are worldly riches really so tempting to you?"

The speaker was an old woman, her face full of grief and indignation.

Bai Yuji sat beside her with her head bowed, looking thoroughly guilty and ashamed.

Fortunately, the old woman noticed the Qin Family members returning and didn't continue scolding her.

"Qin Lang..."

Bai Yuji looked delighted and started to rise, but the old woman shot her a glare, making her sit back down.

Qin Yanying stepped forward with a smile and clasped her hands in greeting. "You must be Yuji's master. It's only natural for young people to fall for each other. You needn't be so hard on her..."

The old woman still looked displeased, but she politely returned Qin Yanying's salute.

When she turned to Qin Muye, her manner grew much friendlier. "You're the Heir to the Marquis of Southern Suppression?"

"This junior is Qin Muye. Greetings, senior."

Qin Muye bowed respectfully, as if meeting his future mother-in-law.

The middle-aged woman hurried forward to help him up. "You mustn't, you mustn't! The heir's filial devotion is truly moving. It's only because Yuji has set her heart on you that I'm willing to accept this. If it were anyone else, I would never have agreed."

Chen Sui stood to the side. Seeing them act this way, his few remaining doubts faded a little more.

He stepped forward and asked politely, "Senior, I heard you once pursued the culprit. Could you tell us what they looked like?"

The old woman thought for a moment, her expression growing grave. "The culprit's methods were strange. Their true essence was abundant and even, so they must have cultivated orthodox Daoist arts, yet they used nothing but unorthodox techniques. Their weapons were a pair of wolf blades, and their moves seemed to come from the northern Di Tribe. Yet, for some reason, they were also skilled in shadow-assassination escape arts..."

She described the culprit at great length, making them sound like a mysterious and extraordinary figure.

Chen Sui was completely bewildered. He couldn't figure out the culprit's origins at all. In the end, he could only say solemnly, "For such an extraordinary figure to be employed by the mastermind... It seems we can only keep investigating the sentry posts."

"That's your business!"

Qin Yanying had already grown impatient. "Senior, Yuji said you're skilled in medicine. Muye's had a hard life..."

The old woman gestured for him to sit. "Heir, let me take your pulse!"

"Thank you, senior!"

Qin Muye privately thought that old woman was quite the actress. She'd even managed to fool Chen Sui.

He sat down, held out his hand, and let the old woman take his pulse.

To be honest, he really did need medical help.

Attribute points were simply too hard to come by. They could only speed up his cultivation.

If he relied on them as his sole means of cultivation, his progress would be far too slow.

His body was like a sieve full of holes. He needed to plug them up as soon as possible.

After taking his pulse for a while, the old woman said gravely, "The heir has severely depleted his blood marrow. At this point, he can only be kept going by potent medicines that invigorate the blood. Without blood marrow to generate blood energy, no matter how much he supplements, it will all drain away. But if he can't gather enough blood energy, there's no way to nourish his blood marrow back to health."

Qin Yanying nodded repeatedly. "Senior really is impressive. The imperial physicians spent a day and a night reaching that conclusion, but you figured it out just by taking his pulse! So what can we do? Can it be treated?"

The old woman thought for a moment, then nodded uncertainly. "Yuji told me about it. The medicine the heir takes now is very potent, and he relies on stance training to hold in the blood energy. It's a sound approach, but the heir's body is nearly broken. The stronger the medicine, the faster it drains away.

"Since he's been taking it for so long without improving, we have to consider changing our approach.

"In my opinion, he should try gentler medicines that nourish the blood. I'll also teach Yuji a secret art. With her personally tending to the heir, it may well help. Yuji, come with me!"

With that,

she pulled Bai Yuji into the room.

"Thump!"

The door shut.

The old woman laid down a soundproofing spell, then dropped to her knees with a thud before Bai Yuji. "Princess! You must see justice done for me!"

Bai Yuji was startled too. The original plan hadn't included a "secret art instruction" at all.

She quickly helped the old woman up. "Great Elder, what are you doing? Please, get up!"

The old woman's face brimmed with sorrow and hatred. "I once told you, Princess, that my son was slain by an unknown female general from the Gan Kingdom..."

Bai Yuji's heart skipped a beat. "You mean..."

"I saw her face, but I didn't know her name. Today, I finally found out. She's Qin Yanying!"

"..."

"I beg you, Princess. You must poison her to death!"

"..."

In the courtyard,

Qin Yanying felt uncomfortable under her nephew's gaze. "Muye, why do you keep staring at my head?"

Qin Muye stared at the death-cause field, where it kept switching between "dismembered by five horses" and "died from a gu poison," and was completely bewildered.

Each time it switched, it gave him 1.39 free attribute points.

What the...