Chapter 81: Prescription

【Why give her the prescription? Aren't you afraid she'll follow the vine to find Xie Taiyi?】

【I don't understand. Isn't Wan Tang protecting Xie Taiyi?】

【I keep feeling like Tangtang is plotting something big.】

Wan Tang returned to Cherishing Tang Courtyard, idly toying with a game of unfinished chess on the table.

The Barrage was full of bewildered voices, yet Wan Tang's face wore an unchanged, placid smile.

If not the prescription, then what?

Pills?

Xu Luoyan is a fool, but Wang Jingyi is not.

Xie Taiyi's medical skill was superb, already an existence those quacks in the Imperial Medical Institute could not hope to match. Moreover, this prescription did not come from Xie Taiyi's own hand—Wan Tang had found someone to copy it out on her behalf.

In the cold of winter, an unsteady hand meant certain characters gained an extra dot or lost one—an unavoidable circumstance.

What Wan Tang wanted was to deliver this flawed prescription into Wang Jingyi's hands, to let her know there was something wrong with it.

Yet she would be unable to resist the temptation it carried.

Wan Tang's elegant brows furrowed slightly. The chess piece fell, and a game of unfinished chess that had stumped her for so long suddenly came alive.

The sky had already darkened, yet the Xu residence was ablaze with lights.

Wang Jingyi hurried into the main hall, and over a dozen doctors rose in unison to bow. "Peace to the Madam."

She forced a thin smile. "You have all traveled far and worked hard."

With a wave of her hand, the steward immediately had someone carry out a redwood chest. The lid was lifted, and the gleaming silver ingots dazzled the eyes under the candlelight.

"I have invited you all here today to examine a prescription." Wang Jingyi tapped the desk lightly with her fingertips. "Anyone who can see through it will receive, beyond the fifty taels for your trouble, my recommendation to the Imperial Medical Institute."

The crowd immediately erupted in commotion.

The prescription was passed around among them.

"Marvelous!" A white-haired elder stroked his beard in admiration. "The pairing of Angelica sinensis and Ligusticum striatum is precise and proper—truly an excellent prescription for aiding conception."

Another doctor nodded. "Especially this ingredient, placenta hominis. Properly processed, it is most nourishing."

Wang Jingyi's brows drew tighter and tighter.

Just then, a thin, small man squeezed out from behind the crowd.

He was about thirty, with eyes as small as beans, and two wisps of mouse-like mustache twitching as he spoke: "Madam, this prescription... has a problem."

A glint flashed in Wang Jingyi's eyes. "Oh? Let's hear it."

The man rubbed his hands together and grinned slyly. "I wonder about that recommendation to the Imperial Medical Institute you mentioned just now..."

"My Xu Family is a first-rank ducal residence." Wang Jingyi sneered. "My daughter is moreover Noble Consort of the current court. If you truly have the skill, keeping you to serve at her side would not be out of the question."

The man scratched his ears and cheeks in delight, leaning close to whisper: "This prescription is Forbidden Medicine—take it and you will certainly conceive."

He made a swelling gesture with his hands. "Only, the fetus will be one or two months larger than usual."

Wang Jingyi's spirits lifted at once. She already had her suspicions in her heart—if it were truly so, then she understood why Wan Tang had no pregnancy at first, but later did.

And the timing matched as well.

Wang Jingyi violently clenched her handkerchief. So that was it!

"What is your name?"

"My surname is Hou. Because my medical skill is passable, everyone calls me 'Hou Yishou.'"

Wang Jingyi swept a contemptuous glance over his fawning face. "Doctor Hou, stay. The rest of you, take your reward and go."

Once everyone had withdrawn, she stared at the prescription, her lips curling in a cold smile. "Wan Tang, you certainly know how to scheme."

Only this time, her cleverness would ultimately be her own undoing!

The first clear sky after the snow; red plum blossoms reflected against the snow.

Wan Tang, draped in a fox-fur coat, lightly ran her fingertips over a proud red plum branch standing against the snow. She was about to snap it off when she suddenly heard a guard's shout from outside the garden.

"Who is sneaking about over there?"

Xiao Shunzi went quickly to investigate, and before long returned to report: "Master, it is... Qiu Ju."

Li Ping'er heard this and immediately drew her willow brows upright in fury, rushing out to point at Qiu Ju's nose and curse: "You treacherous Zhubu of a servant still have the nerve to come? Get far away! Master does not want to see you!"

Qiu Ju knelt in the snow, kowtowing ceaselessly, her forehead covered in snow and mud: "I beg Master for mercy... I beg Master to see Nubi just once..."

Wan Tang watched quietly for a moment, then said mildly: "Let her come over."

Qiu Ju stumbled to Wan Tang's feet and kowtowed three heavy, resounding bows: "Master, I (serving woman) knows her wrongs."

She cried until her whole body trembled. "The lives of my entire family, old and young, are in the Empress's hands. My little brother is only three years old. I truly had no choice!"

Li Ping'er stomped her foot in anger. "So that means you can betray Master? Master treated you so well!"

"Ping'er." Wan Tang stopped her softly, gazing calmly at Qiu Ju. "Rise. I understand."

Qiu Ju froze. Through tear-blurred eyes, she saw only her Master's expression, placid as an ancient well without a ripple.

"The lives of one's family indeed cannot be disregarded." Wan Tang snapped off a branch of plum, her tone as mild as if discussing the weather. "I do not blame you."

A light of hope burst into Qiu Ju's eyes. "Master! I (serving woman) has already settled my family! From now on I will certainly go through fire and water for Master."

"That is your affair." Wan Tang cut her off, handing the plum blossom to Xiao Shunzi. "Disloyal once, never employed again."

She turned and walked away, leaving a trail of shallow footprints in the snow.

Qiu Ju slumped into the snow, watching that retreating figure grow ever more distant, and finally understood.

Some mistakes are never forgiven.

Li Ping'er was still seething with indignation. "The Empress usually puts on the airs of a Bodhisattva—who knew she could be this vicious!"

Xiao Shunzi clicked his tongue as well. "Nubi always thought it was the Xu Family behind it—who knew it would be Shei."

Wan Tang gave a soft laugh, her fingertips suddenly pressing hard.

"Crack!" The red plum branch snapped at the sound.

"In this palace, Shei is not wearing seven or eight layers of masks?" she looked at the withered plum and whispered, "The Empress has 'taken care' of me for so long, yet hasn't given a grand gift; how can that be justified?"

The cold wind swept the plum fragrance past; she gazed at the grayish sky and silently thought: Mother, I'm sorry. In the end, the daughter… must become a villain.

Li Pin hurried into the inner chamber, fine beads of sweat still clinging to her forehead, her cheeks flushed from the rapid walk.

She forced a smile, her gaze landing on Wan Tang's swollen abdomen, and deliberately let her voice sound light: "Sister, that pointed belly of yours looks just like a Little Prince!"

Li Ping'er fanned herself with a round fan nearby, pursed her lips at the words, then saw Wan Tang lift her eyes slightly and give a subtle signal.

"All of you, leave," Wan Tang said, her voice calm.

The palace attendants filed out in succession, and the hall doors closed gently.

Li Pin only then leaned close, lowering her voice: "The matter Sister instructed has already been taken care of."

Her fingertips unconsciously twisted the handkerchief, "That person… has already entered the palace; Xu Guifei personally recommended him to the Emperor, and now he is dedicated to treating her body."

Wan Tang leaned against the soft couch, her fingertips lightly brushing her abdomen, a slight curl at the corner of her mouth: "What a good thing."

Her tone was leisurely, as if discussing the weather, "Sister finally found a trustworthy imperial physician."

Li Pin hesitated for a moment, but couldn't help asking: "Just Sister, that prescription…"

"Prescription?" Wan Tang chuckled lightly, her eyes as calm as water, "That was sourced by the noble consort's family themselves; what does it have to do with us?"

She tilted her head slightly, the jade hairpin tassel swaying, "Medical books are sold all over the street; Sister, have you ever seen anyone who bought a medical book and then dared to devise a prescription and gather herbs themselves?"

Li Pin's heart leapt, and she quickly replied: "Yes, yes, yes, Sister is right."

She silently sized up the person before her.

Wan Tang half‑leaned against a pile of brocade, wearing a light‑blue ru‑skirt, her abdomen swollen, her face serene as a painting.

Yet those eyes were bottomless, no longer reflecting the image of the lone girl once bullied by everyone.

"This time, we deal with her…" Li Pin's words were left unfinished.

"Sister." Wan Tang suddenly interrupted, her gaze slightly cold, "Are you perhaps being foolish?"

Her fingertips lightly tapped the desk, "When have we ever targeted anyone?"

Li Pin's back suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.

"Self‑inflicted sin, cannot live." Wan Tang lowered her eyes, her tone light as a sigh, "Who could possibly stop it?"

Li Pin nodded repeatedly: "Sister is right."

After leaving Xi Tang's courtyard, a cold wind blew, and Li Pin only then realized her palm was already soaked.

She turned back to glance at the vermilion gate; the sky of this deep palace seemed about to change.

After Li Pin left.

Xiao Shunzi hurried in.

In a low voice she said to Wan Tang, "Master, Li Pin might not be sincerely handling your affairs."

"Nubi heard that after you fell into trouble, Li Pin went to the Empress several times, seeking to pledge allegiance."

"People like that…"

"It doesn't matter." Wan Tang smiled, cutting off Xiao Shunzi to continue speaking.

She took the brazier handed over by Li Ping'er, smiled lightly and said, "The Lin family is wealthy; all the big and small matters in this palace inevitably involve silver."

"Moreover, don't be fooled by Li Pin's current meek demeanor; every lady raised by such a great clan is proud and haughty."

Wan Tang stood up, walked to the fire brazier, added a piece of Silver Charcoal, and laughed, "Besides, she's not entirely acting on my behalf."

"Isn't it also to vent that resentment of being sent to the Cold Palace?"

Xiao Shunzi nodded repeatedly: "Indeed, Master sees clearly."

Wan Tang smiled at Li Ping'er, saying meaningfully, "In a lifetime, having one or two sincere people around is already a blessing."

"The rest are merely driven by profit, constantly forming and breaking alliances."

Wan Tang looked at the brazier and instructed Xiao Shunzi, "Now that we're closer to Yangxin Hall, the Emperor comes more often."

"The vegetation in this courtyard is too monotonous; have the Imperial Household Department bring some flowers and plants."

"Like the azaleas and peonies, they're quite nice; planting some now means that when spring arrives we can see the fresh sprouting of life."

Xiao Shunzi, half‑understanding, immediately nodded and carried it out at once.

In less than two quarters of an hour, the courtyard was already filled with flower pots.

Even though now everything is withered branches, there are still many of the azaleas and peonies Wan Tang mentioned.

Wan Tang's mouth twitched slightly as she muttered to herself, "What food, for the Emperor, would truly tempt his appetite?"

Wan Tang said that deliberately.

She couldn't be sure whether the Barrage would echo her words, so she could only take a gamble.

【To capture a man's heart, you must capture his stomach; support Tangtang, and win him over with cuisine.】

【The love‑brain upstairs is back again, still grabbing at nothing, ready to abandon your man at any moment.】

【Speaking of that, the Emperor has tried all delicacies of land and sea, yet one thing remains unforgettable to him.】

【It is roasted sweet potatoes.】

【I was just about to say, when Chu Yunzheng, then a Prince, was destitute after the usurpation, went three days without a meal, and later he stole sweet potatoes from a farmer's house. The two hid in a ruined temple, roasting and eating them—unimaginably delicious.】

What?

Wan Tang wanted to laugh.

She, again?

Who is she?

When Chu Yunzheng stepped through the courtyard gate, a sweet fragrance mixed with the scent of firewood hit his face.

His steps halted; the deep‑winter chill condensed into tiny droplets on his dragon robe.

"What are you scheming again?" he raised an eyebrow and looked toward Langxia.

Wan Tang was squatting by the stone furnace, her slender hands holding a copper pick, and she lifted her face at the words.

The firelight made her cheeks faintly pink, and a few flakes of unmelted snow rested in her hair: "Your Majesty has returned? I have roasted some sweet potatoes."

Chu Yunzheng's eyes flickered slightly.

He removed his great cloak and walked over; amid the crackling of the coals, he caught sight of a few charred earth clods by the furnace.

In a daze, a vague shadow deep in his memory also squatted by the fire, laughing and calling him "Zeng brother."

"I… haven't had this in a long time." His voice was a little hoarse.

Wan Tang keenly sensed his mood shift, but did not point it out; she simply smiled, wrapped a sweet potato in a cloth and handed it over: "Your Majesty, would you like a taste? I specially chose a honey sweet potato, roasted until it turned syrupy."

Chu Yunzheng took it, and the scorching heat passed through the cloth to his palm.

He slowly peeled away the charred skin; the golden potato flesh steamed, and its sweet scent shot straight to his nose.

"On snowy days we should gather around the stove for night talks." Wan Tang added another bundle of firewood, and the flames surged, illuminating the tiny space between them.

She deliberately snapped off a dead branch and threw it into the fire.

The dead branch twisted and warped in the fire, yet Chu Yunzheng stared at Wan Tang's side profile traced by the firelight.

The fox fur slipped from her shoulder, revealing a strip of her snow‑white neck, specked with a few bits of charcoal ash.

— Wan Tang. He suddenly seized her wrist.

The sweet potato rolled onto the ground, and Wan Tang was pulled into his embrace.

The fragrance of dragon's saliva mingled with the coal fire scent, swirling at her nose; she felt the emperor's hand already slipping into her collar.