Chapter 350: Stealing the Child (2)

Ever since the day she learned the cause of the prince's death, the Mistress had become even more silent than before. She still often took out that piece of warm jade to look at, but while her eyes used to be filled with sorrow and longing, now, the cold light in them was more frigid than last year's snow. Every time she looked at it, Fuling felt a sense of dread.

Seven or eight days passed in this manner, and there had been no news from Ruyi. Fuling was getting anxious; could something have gone wrong with Shen Yao?

It was time for the medicine to be changed again. Qingfeng sat stiffly on the wooden chair, her hands habitually gripping the armrests. Yue Sheng unwrapped the cotton cloth from her face. Instead of immediately applying the new medicine as he had before, he stared at her cheeks. Qingfeng felt a bit nervous and asked in a low voice, "Is there a problem? It hasn't hurt during the last few changes." At the beginning, when the medicine was applied, it had indeed been as he described—like ten thousand ants gnawing away, both painful and itchy. But for the past few days, not only did it not hurt, it felt cool and quite comfortable.

Yue Sheng stared at her cheeks for a good while longer before nodding with satisfaction. He replied, "Because it is already healed."

"Healed? Didn't you say it would take three months?" Qingfeng couldn't believe it. She couldn't help but reach out to touch her right cheek. The places her fingers touched were delicate and smooth, without the slightest bumpiness of remaining scars; the texture was unbelievably good.

Watching Qingfeng widen her eyes, her hand constantly stroking her face in disbelief, greatly satisfied Yue Sheng's vanity. Yue Sheng replied with a touch of arrogance, "With my medical skills, one month is enough to treat a face. At the time, I just found Yan Hongtian unpleasant and wanted to grind down your pride. Now... forget it, I don't have time to waste with you people."

Yue Sheng's voice remained arrogant, but his tone was clearly relaxed and pleasant. After many days of getting along, Qingfeng knew he just had a peculiar personality and was actually quite an interesting person. She couldn't help but laugh, "Is it really not because you wanted to save time to slip away?"

Glaring at Qingfeng, Yue Sheng said angrily, "Nonsense! If I wanted to leave, how could a tiny imperial palace possibly stop me?!"

Qingfeng smiled without a word, her hand still curiously stroking her overly smooth cheek. Yue Sheng handed her a small bronze mirror and hummed, "Take a look for yourself."

Qingfeng took the bronze mirror, feeling a bit nervous. Although she hadn't wanted to treat her face just for the sake of the skin, she had suffered for a month, so she still had some expectations. Qingfeng slowly raised the mirror and stared at the person inside. It was a long time before she asked, "Why... is my face..."

Having just felt the smoothness and delicacy of her face, she had already guessed that the scars should have been removed. But she hadn't expected that not only would the scars be completely invisible, but she would even be a few degrees more beautiful than before she was disfigured. After her child passed away, she had been heartbroken. Even if Fuling and the others didn't say it, she knew she must have looked haggard. However, the person in the mirror now had skin like congealed fat, cheeks blooming like flowers, eyebrows that were dark without being drawn, lips that were red without being painted, eyes like polished lacquer, and a face like a bright moon. Qingfeng couldn't help but feel a bit dazed. Is this... really her? Does such terrifying medical skill truly exist in this world?

Qingfeng stared at the mirror, too shocked to speak a complete sentence. Yue Sheng was accustomed to such reactions and laughed, "I told you long ago that I could not only heal your face but also make you three parts more beautiful. There is no wound that I, the Ghost Doctor, cannot treat." As he spoke, Yue Sheng took a letter from his sleeve, placed it on the table, and said, "This is the prescription. Have your two sisters take it as well. Although it cannot completely remove the scars on their faces, it can keep your complexions from aging for twenty years."

That brat Ao Tian was very concerned about the little girls of the Qing family. First, he begged for medicine for her, then he asked for a way to treat her face. If he didn't help treat the other girls' faces this time, he wondered if Ao Tian would come to annoy him again. The scars on the other two Qing girls' faces weren't heavy; if they could persist in taking the medicine, the scars would fade, and they could barely be considered beauties. This way, it would save Ao Tian from bothering him in the future.

Qingfeng naturally didn't know what Yue Sheng was thinking. She glanced at the prescription, which most women would dream of, and her expression remained indifferent. A hint of gloom lingered between her brows. After pondering for a moment, Qingfeng spoke, "I have one more thing I would like to ask of you, Senior."

This was the first time she had respectfully called him "Senior." Originally intending to leave, Yue Sheng suddenly felt a bit of curiosity and replied, "Let's hear it."

"I would like to ask you for a dose of medicine." Since he could heal her face and identify poisons that most people couldn't see, a dose of medicine should be a trivial matter for him.

Qingfeng pursed her lips. Yue Sheng didn't speak, waiting for her to continue.

After a long while, just as Yue Sheng's patience was about to run out, Qingfeng finally said, "I... do not want to have children anymore."

Her voice was too low, but fortunately, Yue Sheng was highly skilled in martial arts; not only did he hear her words clearly, but he also heard the suppressed trembling in her voice. Yue Sheng raised an eyebrow slightly, stared at Qingfeng, and asked, "You want a dose of contraceptive medicine?"

This time, Qingfeng didn't hesitate for long and replied firmly, "Yes."

His gaze swept over Qingfeng's hand, which was gripping the armrest involuntarily. Yue Sheng curled his lips, "That won't do. I don't do things that harm the harmony of heaven. However..." Yue Sheng took a small white porcelain bottle from his sleeve and handed it to Qingfeng, saying, "I can give you some pills. If you take them after the fact, you will not conceive."

Qingfeng stared at the small white porcelain bottle, looking both disappointed and as if she had let out a sigh of relief. She reached out, took the bottle, and gripped it tightly in her palm.

"Thank you, Senior."

Qingfeng suddenly stood up and bowed deeply to him. Yue Sheng felt a bit unnatural and waved his hand, "Alright, you can skip these empty formalities. I'm leaving."

Yue Sheng opened the door and was about to leave when he caught a glimpse of the woman still holding the small porcelain bottle in a daze. Having spent quite some time with her, Yue Sheng had to admit that she was the most special woman he had seen in all these years. She knew no martial arts, yet her endurance and perseverance were extraordinarily astonishing. Sighing, just before stepping out the door, Yue Sheng left behind a sentence, "Taking a step back brings a vast sky." How much she could comprehend would depend on herself.

Yue Sheng's martial arts might truly be excellent; his voice was still in her ears, but he was already out of the room, and even in the courtyard, his shadow was long gone. Only Qingfeng remained in the room. The door was wide open, and the bright spring sunshine spilled into the room. A flash of daze crossed Qingfeng's eyes, but the next moment, they turned cold again.

Step back? She had stepped back more than one step. The result was not a vast sky, but an abyss, and at the bottom of that abyss lay the bones of her son.

Every day during the time the Mistress changed her medicine, Fuling waited in the courtyard. Today, only a stick of incense had passed when she saw Yue Sheng come out of the room. With a light tap of his feet, he left the Qingfeng Palace in a few leaps, his shadow vanishing. Worried that something had happened to Qingfeng, Fuling hurried into the room.

Seeing Qingfeng sitting safely in the flower hall, Fuling let out a sigh of relief. When she saw the face that was no longer wrapped in cotton cloth, Fuling froze in place, "Mistress..."

Fuling had always known that Qingfeng was beautiful. Even when her face was damaged, there was infinite charm in the movement of her eyes. Over these days, she had imagined what the Mistress would look like after her face recovered, but no amount of imagination seemed too pale compared to seeing that beautiful face with her own eyes.

Curved dark eyebrows, a high-bridged nose, skin glowing like congealed white jade, and crimson lips that looked like a bright red plum petal hidden in the snow. After the prince passed away, the Mistress had always worn plain white mourning clothes. At this moment, she didn't look plain at all; with snow-white skin, ink-black hair, deep eyes, and vermilion lips, she wore that white dress with a stunning, bright beauty. The faint, almost non-existent smile at the corner of her mouth was even more dazzling than the sunlight outside the window.

Fuling stared at her, stunned. Qingfeng laughed, "What? Do you not recognize me?"

"No..." Coming back to her senses, Fuling felt a bit embarrassed, "The Mistress is truly a peerless person in this world." She just sat there quietly, as if all the elegance in the world had gathered on her, every bit of it perfectly appropriate.

"Is that so?" Qingfeng knew Fuling was praising her sincerely, but a touch of sorrow arose in her heart. Are people in this world truly all like this? Can a mere face be exchanged for the word "peerless"? And what about Yan Hongtian? What would he say if he saw this face? The emotion rising in Qingfeng's heart was not anticipation, but overwhelming irritation. She turned the bronze mirror on the low table face down, pushed it a bit further away, and then said to Fuling, who was still a bit dazed, "Go and find Ruyi."

"Yes." Fuling slowly backed out of the room, feeling puzzled. The Mistress had recovered her former appearance, yet she didn't seem happy.

Fuling was out for nearly half an hour before she led Ruyi in. After bowing, Ruyi raised her head slightly and looked at Qingfeng with curiosity. When her eyes fell on that face, Ruyi widened her eyes, too shocked to speak clearly, stammering, "Your Highness! You... you... you are so beautiful!" The scars on the Mistress's face were truly removed completely. On that flawless white jade face, there was nothing that wasn't beautiful. Ruyi had never seen a woman more beautiful than the Mistress.

Qingfeng remained expressionless, not looking at the admiration in Ruyi's eyes. She turned to Fuling beside her and said softly, "Fuling, I am in a good mood today. Go to the Imperial Kitchen and tell them to prepare a few more dishes for dinner."

"Yes." Fuling felt a bit dejected. She always felt that the Mistress was deliberately sending her away, but she had no way to stop it.

"Did you find Shen Yao?"

After Fuling left, Qingfeng's voice turned cold. Ruyi bit her lip and replied, "No. The Imperial Household Department said that Shen Yao fell ill just a few days after leaving the Qingfeng Palace. Recently, the palace didn't need any wet nurses, and since she was quite ill, Chief Steward Wu allowed her to leave the palace to recover. I went to her home in the west of the city, but I couldn't find anyone."

"Investigate when she entered the palace, how she entered, who she associated with inside and outside the palace, and who else is in her family. No matter what, you must find her. I want to see a person if she's alive, or a corpse if she's dead."

The last few words were almost spat out from between her teeth. Ruyi's heart pounded. After a month of not seeing her, the cold, sharp aura on the Mistress seemed even stronger. Ruyi didn't dare to hesitate and quickly replied, "Yes." Quietly raising her head, seeing Qingfeng's expression soften slightly, Ruyi said cautiously, "There is one more thing..."

"Why are you hesitating? Speak."

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 351 =====