Chapter 68: Encountering an Ambush and Assassination

How could Chunlei possibly know any medical skills?
"Your subordinate... your subordinate doesn't know medicine," he said, biting the bullet and telling the truth.
"If you don't know medicine, how did you treat Ziqi?" The Prince was not about to let him off.
"Your Highness..." Chunlei wanted to remain loyal to the Eldest Young Master and the Eldest Young Mistress, but the Prince was the supreme master of the estate, leaving him in a agonizing dilemma.
"Speak the truth. Once you walk out of this door, no one else will ever know," the Prince promised.
"But..." Chunlei still did not want to betray Yu Yuanzheng.
"Hmm? Do you think this Prince would ever harm his own son?" The Prince's voice turned cold.
Chunlei furrowed his brow, still hesitating.
The Prince did not rush him, waiting for Chunlei to make a decision.
Actually, the Prince already had a guess in mind, but he needed a definitive answer.
"Your Highness, the true divine physician is the Eldest Young Mistress." Knowing he could not avoid it today, Chunlei finally spoke the truth.
Upon hearing this, the Prince had his inner suspicion confirmed.
"So the divine physician who has been all the rage in the capital recently is also her?" the Prince asked again.
"Yes," Chunlei nodded affirmatively.
Connecting it with recent events, the Prince suddenly understood everything.
"Your Highness, the Eldest Young Mistress has long suspected that someone is trying to harm the Eldest Young Master. According to her, Imperial Physician Gu, who was previously invited, has issues. On the third day after the Eldest Young Master's grand wedding, Imperial Physician Gu came to examine him, and the Eldest Young Mistress noticed that Imperial Physician Gu was misapplying the needles during the acupuncture. If he continued to treat the Eldest Young Master like that, the Eldest Young Master would die within half a year at most. However, because the Eldest Young Mistress was unsure of the imperial physician's level of medical expertise, she did not dare to jump to conclusions," Chunlei continued.
"What? No wonder Ziqi's wife advised this Prince to stop inviting imperial physicians."
"Yes. Just now, during the medicinal bath for the Eldest Young Master, the Eldest Young Mistress applied acupuncture to him again, and all of us saw the Eldest Young Master's fingers twitch. According to Qingfeng and the others, this has never happened once in the past few months. This shows that the Eldest Young Mistress's treatment is effective. Perhaps there is truly a chance the Eldest Young Master might wake up."
"In other words, Ziqi's wife has been treating Ziqi for a long time already? And today, your visit was merely for show?"
"Yes. Since the Eldest Young Master is showing improvement, there has to be an excuse. Therefore, the Eldest Young Mistress intentionally built up her own reputation to prompt Your Highness to send for someone."
"So that's how it is. Was the chronic cough of Elder Jin truly cured by her?"
"Yes, and because of that, she even had Elder Jin accept Second Master Yu and his son as his disciples." Since the secret was already out, Chunlei had nothing left to hide. The Eldest Young Mistress had said that when it came to the Prince, if something could not be concealed, there was no need to hide it.
"Did she say where she learned her medical skills?"
"The Eldest Young Mistress said she learned them in a dream." Chunlei actually held some doubts about this statement.
"Very well, take these silver banknotes and leave. Take good care of Ziqi's wife." The Prince handed over the banknotes.
"Yes."
The Prince had no wish to expose Yu Yuanzheng either.
About this matter, he needed to ponder carefully.
If the imperial physician was problematic, then Ziqi's falling from his horse must also be problematic.
He had always harbored suspicions anyway.
But where did the problem lie?
Zishu did not yet possess the capability to bribe the physicians of the Imperial Hospital.
Could it be his younger sister? But that was impossible; what reason would she have to do such a thing?
Both Ziqi and Zishu were his sons.
He hoped Ziqi would wake up soon; perhaps he himself knew something.
Over at Qiya Courtyard.
The Princess sat by the bedside, gazing at her son.
She reached out and stroked her son's face. When he was a little boy with chubby cheeks, she loved to pinch them. As he grew older, he complained that this gesture was unseemly, and gradually, he stopped letting her do it.
Before her son fell into a coma, how could she have possibly touched his face? Yet now he lay here, offering no resistance no matter how she touched him. How she wished her son would suddenly sit up and push her hand away.
"Imperial Mother, the Eldest Young Master will surely wake up."
Seeing the Princess gazing infatuatedly at Shangguan Ziqi, Yu Yuanzheng could clearly see her overflowing maternal love.
"Yes, he will surely wake up. Ziqi is a good child, and he will live a good life with you. Ever since you crossed our threshold, you have taken excellent care of him. Imperial Mother thanks you." The Princess was truly immensely satisfied with Yu Yuanzheng. As for Yu Zhaoyang, whose ambitions soared above the heavens, she was utterly unsuited for her son.
"Imperial Mother, look." Yu Yuanzheng suddenly pointed at the Eldest Young Master's hand.
The Princess looked closely as well.
Really!
She truly saw it—her son's hand moved.
"Zheng'er, can Ziqi hear me speaking?" The Princess was so excited that tears streamed down her face once more.
"Perhaps... possibly so," Yu Yuanzheng did not dare to say for certain.
She was not the patient herself, so she had no idea what he was feeling.
"Ziqi, Ziqi, can you hear Imperial Mother speaking? If you can hear me, move your finger once more."
Both of them stared intently at the Eldest Young Master's finger.
It really moved, curling up and down with a distinct rhythm.
The Princess watched as her tears fell even harder.
"My child, you can hear Imperial Mother speaking." Overcome with emotion, the Princess collapsed directly onto the Eldest Young Master's body and wept bitterly.
Yu Yuanzheng did not stop her.
A mother who deeply loved her son needed an outlet for her emotions at a time like this.
Yu Yuanzheng kept her eyes fixed on that finger, which had not stopped moving.
Did he hear or did he not hear?
Yu Yuanzheng picked up an empty teacup and placed it in the Eldest Young Master's hand.
Oh? He actually knew how to curl his fingers and grip the cup.
A very good sign.
Having cried her heart out, the Princess finally vented the pent-up grief of the past half-year and more.
Her heart felt much more at ease.
On the other side, Chunlei and his companions, who had left the Prince's estate, were still dressed in their original disguises when they walked out.
They had entered the estate at the middle of the Shen hour (around four in the afternoon) and stayed for over an hour, so the sky was already growing dim by this time.
They had chosen this hour to enter precisely so it would be convenient to slip out at night and return under the cover of darkness.
Chunlei sat inside the carriage while the four guards flanked it on both sides, slowly making their way toward the Shiri Hall.
They needed to change out of these disguises before quietly returning to the Prince's estate so as not to arouse any suspicion.
Shiri Hall was located in a rather remote area, some distance away from the Prince's estate.
Just as they were about to reach Shiri Hall, Zhuiyun suddenly pulled on the reins.
"Whoa..."
Sensing something was amiss, Chunlei immediately emerged from the carriage. Then he saw ten figures in black leaping down from the roofs on both sides, tightly surrounding them.
"What kind of people are you?" Zhuyue demanded.
The ten men said not a word and directly charged at the five of them with intent to kill.
Seeing the perilous situation, Chunlei and the other four drew their weapons to meet the enemy.
The moment they exchanged blows, they knew they had encountered formidable opponents—and the enemy outnumbered them ten to five.
A fierce life-and-death battle erupted right there in a narrow alley.
Upon hearing the sounds of combat, the nearby residents hurriedly bolted their doors and windows, terrified of drawing trouble upon themselves.
Some households with young children had their little ones frightened into tears, but the mothers desperately clamped their hands over their children's mouths.
Fighting as they went, Chunlei and his men tried to draw the attackers toward Shiri Hall.
They simply could not spare a moment to send out a distress signal.
Xiayu, who heard the sounds of fighting, was startled.
He had originally stayed behind at Shiri Hall to wait for them and to watch over the shop.
Lately, with many people coming to buy medicine, Old Man Lin could not handle it alone—especially when nobles sent servants to buy medicine and threw their weight around if a particular remedy happened to be sold out.
Therefore, Chunlei always arranged for one guard to keep watch here every day.
Gripping his sword, Xiayu strode out of the door toward the commotion.
When he saw his five sworn brothers being besieged by ten men in black, he prepared to rush forward and help.
Taking advantage of an opening, Dongling caught sight of him and swiftly flashed a hand signal.
Xiayu immediately stepped back several paces, fired a signal flare into the sky, and then plunged into the battle.
Back at the Prince's estate, Dark Guard One saw the signal in the sky and instantly knew something was wrong.
He immediately reported it to the Prince.
Upon hearing this, the Prince changed his clothes on the spot, donned a mask over his face, and led ten equally masked dark guards using lightness skills toward the direction where the signal had been launched.
When they arrived, they saw the men who had left the Prince's estate not long ago fighting desperately to hold their ground.
Chunlei had already collapsed to the ground, heavily wounded, while the other five shielded him tightly in the center.