But he could not heal Fan Xian, because he could not explain it.
He could not expose his strength.
So he made another choice.
He used his own true qi to rupture several major meridians inside Fan Xian, dispersing his true qi.
With that, once the true qi had dissipated entirely, there would naturally be no more danger of his meridians rupturing.
When Fan Xian woke, even if his martial arts had been crippled, he would only think the problem lay with himself. He might even count himself lucky to have survived.
Soon, Emperor Qing withdrew his hand, his cuff falling back into place.
He stood quietly beside Fan Xian a while longer. When Fan Xian's eyelids trembled, hovering between sleep and waking, he flicked his sleeve and strode away.
When Lin Wan'er received the news and rushed to the Imperial Academy of Medicine.
She stumbled into the rear hall and immediately saw Lin Ruofu, his face ashen, no longer breathing.
Then she saw Fan Xian surrounded by a group of Imperial Physicians, his fate unknown. Unable to withstand the blow, her vision went black, her body went limp, and she fainted.
"Your Highness! Your Highness!"
Someone cried out in alarm.
Another flurry of frantic activity swept through the Imperial Academy of Medicine. There was one more person to treat.
Drifting between unconsciousness and waking, Fan Xian regained some ability to think, but he could not speak at all, nor could he even move his hands.
His consciousness seemed to float in thick fog, drifting near and far, while the sounds around him came and went.
Through his haze, he saw a group of agitated old men endlessly discussing his injuries, their mouths opening and closing.
"This poison... I have never seen anything like it in all my