Chapter 927

Given Hu Xiaotian's physique, it shouldn't have come to this, but his performance was like that of a delicate little girl; he wasn't just sick, he was seriously ill. Hu Xiaotian remained unconscious for a full two hours, and his illness first alarmed his father, Hu Buwei. Upon receiving the news, Hu Buwei hurried back from the Water Well Hutong alley to the Minister of Revenue's residence.

Hu family members also, because of Hu Xiaotian's illness, invited renowned physicians from the capital, while Zhan Peng was resting at the Hu residence. After learning of this, he personally went to Yiyuantang to invite Yuan Shi Qing over. However, after several physicians examined Hu Xiaotian's pulse, their diagnoses were inconsistent, and naturally they could not agree on medication, arguing incessantly.

Hu Buwei, having seen many storms, summoned Liang Da Zhuang and ordered him to go immediately to Xuantian Guan to fetch someone.

Just then, Qin Yutong of Xuantian Guan arrived on her own initiative.

Although the capital has three major medical clinics—Yiyuantang, Qingniutang, and Xuantian Guan—Xuantian Guan has always been the undisputed leader. However, its fees are prohibitively high, so ordinary people rarely can afford them; consequently, Xuantian Guan treats fewer patients than the other two clinics on a regular basis. Yet in medical skill, the other two dare not compare with Xuantian Guan.

As soon as Qin Yutong arrived, everyone stopped arguing. In fact, although they had taken Hu Xiaotian's pulse, none of them had correctly judged his pulse condition.

Qin Yutong approached Hu Buwei and respectfully said, "Sir Hu, good day!"

Hu Buwei also wore a worried expression: "Miss Qin, it's wonderful that you could come." Although he knew Qin Yutong was the favored disciple of Xuantian Guan's head, Ren Tianqing, they had not interacted much, and he wondered where she had gotten the news.

Qin Yutong said, "Let me first check on Commander Hu's condition."

Hu Buwei clasped his hands and said, "Thank you for your trouble, Miss Qin." He personally led Qin Yutong into the room. Also accompanying her was Fang Fang, whom Hu Xiaotian had once saved. Later he gave her some silver to seek treatment at Xuantian Guan; now Fang Fang not only had her eyes healed but had also been fortunate enough to be accepted as a disciple of Xuantian Guan, and she had even become Qin Yutong's assistant. Seeing her benefactor lying motionless on the bed, not knowing whether he was dead or alive, Fang Fang's face was full of concern.

Qin Yutong noticed a man attending to Hu Xiaotian by the bedside. Her keen gaze immediately recognized that the mask he wore was the one she had given Hu Xiaotian. Hu Xiaotian had actually used it as a borrowed flower to offer to Buddha—he glanced at Huo Shengnan and quickly deduced that this man was likely a woman in male attire. Qin Yutong initially even thought of Princess Anping, but Huo Shengnan's tall, slender figure surpassed that of Long Xi Yue, ruling out that possibility based on physique.

Qin Yutong did not expose the matter; she approached Hu Xiaotian's bedside, where Zhan Peng brought her a chair. Her eyes met Fang Fang's beside her, and she nodded in greeting.

Qin Yutong extended her right hand, placing her middle finger on Hu Xiaotian's pulse point. After a moment, her brows furrowed involuntarily, and she whispered, "Has he suffered any injury recently?"

Huo Shengnan's heart jolted at the words. "Could Hu Xiaotian's condition be due to my accidental injury just now?" She hesitated whether to admit it. Liang Da Zhuang beside her said, "It's unclear; the young master only returned this morning. For the past month he had been accompanying the Emperor at the Long Dragon Temple, and we don't know what happened either."

Qin Yutong said, "Please, everyone, step out for a moment." Her gaze turned to Hu Buwei, clearly asking him to withdraw as well. Hu Buwei nodded and was the first to leave.

Huo Shengnan was also preparing to follow them out, but then Qin Yutong said, "You stay!"

Huo Shengnan felt quite surprised, not knowing why Qin Yutong wanted her to stay—had she perhaps revealed some flaw? But since Qin Yutong had called her name, she could only remain in the room.

Qin Yutong asked, "Have you been the one taking care of him all along?"

Huo Shengnan nodded and replied, "Exactly!"

"When did he lose consciousness?"

"About two hours."

Qin Yutong asked, "Have you checked his body for any wounds?"

Huo Shengnan shook her head.

Qin Yutong said, "Please help me take off his clothes."

Although Huo Shengnan felt embarrassed, she had no choice but to steel herself to help. In fact, removing Hu Xiaotian's clothes was not the first time. As she took off his upper garment, Qin Yutong's gaze was first drawn to the arrow wound on his chest. Although the injury looked shocking, a closer look showed it was merely a flesh wound that would not cause serious harm.

Huo Shengnan reminded herself to stay calm and under no circumstances reveal any flaw in front of Qin Yutong. Fortunately, Qin Yutong was not paying attention to her at the moment, her focus entirely on Hu Xiaotian, and she noticed a bruise mark on his lower abdomen.

Huo Shengnan also noticed it; from the imprint it appeared to be a fist mark, located exactly on Hu Xiaotian's Dantian Qi Sea. No wonder Qin Yutong wanted to check his injuries—she was indeed meticulous.

Qin Yutong lightly touched the bruise on Hu Xiaotian's abdomen with the back of her finger and said softly, "No wonder he fainted; he must have suffered an internal injury long ago." Her clear eyes fixed on Huo Shengnan as she asked, "How exactly did he sustain this injury?"

Huo Shengnan shook her head and replied, "I don't know!"

Qin Yutong did not press further; she took a needle case from her medicine box, drew out three gold needles, and inserted them into three of Hu Xiaotian's acupoints, using the reducing needle technique to help calm his chaotic internal energy. Then she took out a pill and placed it into his mouth.

Hu Xiaotian's eyelids twitched; he suddenly sat up on the bed, drew a deep breath, and, as if waking from a dream, cried out, "Xi Yue!"

Huo Shengnan's heart stirred—"Xi Yue" was hardly not the personal name of Princess Anping?

Qin Yutong's gaze, however, remained as still as an ancient well, as if she had not heard Hu Xiaotian's cry at all.

After uttering that cry, Hu Xiaotian immediately sobered, realizing there were two people beside him, one of whom was Qin Yutong. He quickly understood the reason: he must have fainted from rage-induced heart overload, which is why his family had summoned Qin Yutong.

Qin Yutong withdrew the gold needles, returned them to the needle case, and said softly, "You have suffered an internal injury; you are unlikely to recover in the short term."

Hu Xiaotian furrowed his brows; he had thought he fainted because Long Xi Yue's departure had deeply upset him, but now it seemed otherwise. He involuntarily recalled what had happened in the Cangshuge—at bottom, the lingering danger was the punch from Bu Wu. Although he had felt nothing at the time, Bu Wu's power was extraordinary; that punch had shaken his Dantian Qi Sea, causing the internal energy he had just managed to calm to become chaotic again.

Qin Yutong had something she did not explicitly tell Hu Xiaotian: in fact, his meridians were already showing signs of qi deviation. She also could not fathom why he had become this way. In front of Huo Shengnan, she did not press further, saying calmly, "Rest well; do not recklessly mobilize your true qi for the next few days." She then set down a porcelain bottle: "This contains Xuantian Guan's specially crafted nourishing pills. Take one each day for seven consecutive days; it should help your internal injury. If anything comes up, send someone to Xuantian Guan to find me." She shouldered her medicine box and prepared to leave.

Hu Xiaotian said, "Thank you, Miss Qin!" He tried to rise to see her off, but inadvertently aggravated his leg injury, causing him to grit his teeth in pain.

Qin Yutong glanced at Hu Xiaotian's left leg, said nothing, and silently walked toward the door.

Huo Shengnan followed Qin Yutong out to see her off; upon reaching the doorway, Qin Yutong softly said, "Miss, please stay."

Huo Shengnan's eyes flickered with surprise; only then did she realize that Qin Yutong had long since seen through her disguise as a man. Fortunately, no one was outside, or else everyone would have found out.

Qin Yutong nodded at Huo Shengnan and said, "You need not be curious; this mask was originally the one I gave him."

After Qin Yutong left, Hu Buwei and the others entered one after another to check on Hu Xiaotian. Hu Xiaotian's illness came and went swiftly; upon waking, he was as healthy as ever. Everyone secretly wondered, but only Zhan Peng understood deep down that this illness was almost certainly due to Princess Anping. Hu Xiaotian had paid such a high price to secure her safety, yet he never expected the outcome to be her sudden departure.

Seeing his son unharmed, Hu Buwei also felt greatly relieved. After everyone had left, father and son sat in the room. Hu Xiaotian briefly recounted his experience at the Long Dragon Temple, omitting all the perilous details lest he worry his father, and only emphasized the names of Chu Fuyong and Xu Lingkong. Upon hearing these names, Hu Buwei's expression grew solemn as well, and he rose to pace slowly back and forth.

Hu Xiaotian asked, "Father, is Xu Lingkong truly my maternal grandfather?"

Hu Buwei replied, "I don't know anything about the Xu family either. I've been married to your mother for thirty years, and she only said that your maternal grandfather abandoned his wife and children forty years ago, leaving home without a trace since. You say your great-grandfather surnamed Xu, but I've never even heard of that."

Hu Xiaotian gazed at his father, half believing, half doubting. His father was no fool; after thirty years of marriage, he didn't even know his wife's surname? This must be suspicious. If it's true, then his mother is truly too deceitful—able to hide her surname from her husband for thirty years? Is there any woman in the world one can still trust?

Hu Buwei said, "Son, let's wait until your mother returns to clarify these matters. Having just recovered from a serious illness, you must not dwell on too many things; everything can wait until you are fully healed."

Hu Xiaotian chuckled, "Actually, it wasn't much of an illness; perhaps I found life at the Long Dragon Temple too austere, and returning home I felt a bit unaccustomed."

Hu Buwei patted his shoulder and said softly, "Get good rest."

"Father, you should go rest as well; you won't be going back to the Water Well Hutong, will you?"

Hu Buwei replied, "After staying there so long, leaving makes it hard to sleep; I feel that place alone is truly my home. Your mother will be back in a couple of days, and she will surely return there first."

Third Update delivered—seeking Monthly Ticket support! (To be continued... ^_^)