Chapter 104: Thinking of Someone
"Yes, excessive brooding."
Besides insomnia and anxiety, Chen Changsheng listed several more symptoms that matched her condition perfectly, and finally seemed to mention something about irregularity.
"Enough!"
Mo Yu's face flushed slightly as she said, "I admit everything you said is correct. Just tell me directly, how to treat it."
Chen Changsheng found it a bit strange and asked, "Even if the imperial physicians couldn't cure you immediately, they could at least provide temporary relief. Haven't you seen them?"
Mo Yu said nothing.
Chen Changsheng shook his head and said, "Hiding an illness for fear of treatment is never a good thing."
"What do you know?" Mo Yu looked at him, unable to hold back.
As the most trusted female official of Her Holiness the Saint, countless people in the Great Zhou Dynasty watched her every move. Some illnesses she could treat, some she could not. When she first suspected this illness might be related to her heart meridian, she immediately abandoned the idea of summoning an imperial physician.
Excessive brooding? What did she have to brood over?
The entire continent knew her entire family had been executed. Was that her greatest sorrow?
Did she still harbor resentment toward Her Holiness the Saint?
Thus, she could not seek treatment.
She could not let anyone know that she was so burdened by brooding that she could not sleep.
Not until today, when Chen Changsheng exposed it with a single remark.
She stared into Chen Changsheng's eyes, weighing whether killing him or trusting him posed the greater risk.
"Can you keep it a secret?" she asked.
She and Chen Changsheng were enemies, but for some reason, she trusted his promise. Chen Changsheng's thinking was far simpler. Since she had come to seek medicine and treatment, their relationship was no longer one of enmity but of doctor and patient.
As a healer, he naturally had to keep the patient's confidentiality. He nodded.
"How to treat it? Should I take your pulse?"
Remembering he was a disciple of Daoist Ji, she gained some confidence in his medical skills. She raised her hand before him and said, "It's best if you don't need to decoct medicine."
Chen Changsheng understood why she said it was best not to decoct medicine—because leftover dregs would make it hard to keep secrets. Thinking about how this seemingly glamorous woman actually lived so cautiously, as if treading on thin ice every day, he found his aversion to her lessening for some reason.
He gently placed his fingers on her wrist. After a short while, he made his diagnosis and said, "You don't need to take medicine either, but it will be slower."
Mo Yu relaxed a bit, waiting for him to continue.
"Relax your mind, take more walks, cook coix seed porridge with thick slices of pseudo-ginseng, and then..."
Chen Changsheng looked at her brow and eyes, where the remnants of makeup had been wiped clean but still held a trace of irritation. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "Some ailments will naturally resolve after marriage."
Mo Yu was momentarily stunned, then understood. Her cheeks suddenly flushed crimson, but a fierce anger surged between her brows.
She shot him two fierce glares, said nothing, and her figure blurred before vanishing.
Chen Changsheng walked to the window, watching the woman's figure disappear into the depths of the autumn forest, and shook his head.
Walking on the thick fallen leaves of the woodland, listening to the rustling sounds, Mo Yu felt her heart in turmoil. The chilly autumn wind brushed her face through the trees, yet her cheeks remained burning hot. When Chen Changsheng mentioned her irregularity earlier, she had already been deeply embarrassed and annoyed. When he finally revealed that she was still a virgin, she was overwhelmed with shame and fury.
If Chen Changsheng had been a venerable old imperial physician, it would have been fine, but no matter how she looked at him, he was just an inexperienced youth.
Leaves crunched beneath her steps, autumn wind stirred her sleeves. She passed through the autumn forest of the National Academy and arrived before the palace wall. Gradually calming down, she turned to look back at the faintly visible small building behind the trees, recalling what she had done earlier, and found it utterly unbelievable.
She had actually flirted with a young man, said so many shameless things to seduce him? Though she now knew the secret—that the young man was not her enemy, and she felt relaxed around him—still... what she had done today was far too outrageous, wasn't it?
Her cheeks, which had just cooled, instantly burned again. Her beautiful eyes blazed with shame and anger. If anyone learned what she had done to Chen Changsheng today in the National Academy, the entire capital city would probably go mad.
Suddenly, she grew quiet. She stood in the forest before the palace wall for a long time, lost in thought. Falling leaves piled up on her skirt, making her figure appear somewhat thin and terribly lonely.
...
...
As autumn deepened, winter was naturally not far off, and the Grand Examination drew nearer.
The National Academy once again welcomed a long period of tranquility. Chen Changsheng cherished this peace, devoting all his time to cultivation and reading. Xuan Yuan Po was the same. Although Tang Thirty-Six missed the bustling world beyond the academy walls, with such companions, he had no choice but to force himself to be diligent.
In the library, Chen Changsheng meditated every night, drawing starlight to cleanse his marrow. Though his body still showed no change and his cultivation made no progress, he was not discouraged. He performed every step—from meditation to absorption—meticulously, without any error.
Xuan Yuan Po's right arm injury gradually healed, and the speed was increasing. If he could fully recover before the Winter Solstice, and under Chen Changsheng's guidance begin cultivating the sect techniques in the library, he might just make it in time for the Grand Examination.
Tang Thirty-Six cultivated without pause, his true essence quantity and purity constantly improving. His state of Meditation Upper Realm grew increasingly stable, and he had long since arrived at the threshold of the Penetrating Realm. But like his peers on the Azure Cloud Ranking, he would never risk taking that step until he was fully prepared.
From Meditation Upper Realm to Penetrating Realm—this steepest and most perilous life-or-death barrier—even the most talented cultivators would spend a very long time preparing. Even Qiu Shan Jun back then had taken an entire year, and that was with the Li Mountain Sword Sect providing him with countless elixirs to strengthen his foundation.
As things stood now, Tang Thirty-Six was certainly the first in the National Academy to face this life-or-death trial. As the academy's first student, Chen Changsheng naturally would not watch him struggle alone. In fact, Chen Changsheng had already made many preparations.
First were elixirs. Over these days, he and Tang Thirty-Six had sneaked into the Hundred Herb Garden three times under cover of night, taking many rare herbs and spiritual fruits. When the time came, he would refine them according to the methods his teacher Daoist Ji had taught him. He was confident he could produce elixirs no inferior to those of the Li Mountain Sword Sect or the Heavenly Dao Academy. Second were the techniques. Though his marrow cleansing had not succeeded, he had begun reading texts related to Meditation and Inner Observation, hoping to help Tang Thirty-Six pass the trial smoothly.
The process of stealing herbs from the Hundred Herb Garden was tense and went against some of his principles. But before the greater principle that life and death outweighed everything, he did not think too much. However, whenever he looked at the oil lamp on the stone table, he naturally thought of that middle-aged woman.
Then he thought of Luo Luo.
If not for Luo Luo opening that door in the academy wall, if not for Luo Luo having lived in the Hundred Herb Garden for a long time, if not for the Golden Chief Historian Luo Luo had left in the National Academy secretly keeping watch for them while they stole the herbs—none of this would have happened.
One night, while reading an ancient cultivator's notes on entering the Penetrating Realm from Meditation, he remembered he had forgotten something very important.
Again, it was Luo Luo.
In an instant, the back of his robe was soaked through with cold sweat.