Chapter 239: Assassination

Months later, Heifu once again found himself outside the Commandery Governor's residence. He discovered that the atmosphere here was just like the rest of Jiangling City — heavy and vigilant.

The once unfortified Jiangling city wards were now under martial law, just like Ying County. The Qin soldiers who had just finished repelling Chu's early-summer offensive had transformed into city defenders, patrolling the streets with halberds and spears in hand. The bustling evening market had been canceled, the curfew had already lasted a full night, every household's doors and windows were tightly shut, and the streets seemed somewhat desolate...

At the entrance of the Commandery Governor's residence, a Centurion led over a hundred men guarding the gate, with personnel stationed all along the walls, crossbows in hand. Anyone suspicious who approached without permission could be shot dead on the spot!

Looking at the crossbows in those skilled archers' hands, Heifu seemed to see yesterday's scene again: when assassins suddenly appeared in a wealthy household by the roadside and fired crossbows from a window at the canopied carriage shared by the Governor and the Commandant, the personal guards could not block in time — the Governor and the Commandant collapsed together!

But immediately after, Li You rose to his feet at once. He had not yet removed his armor, so even a direct hit from a crossbow bolt would not have harmed him. He had instinctively thrown the Governor down with him.

But although he had helped Ye Teng avoid a vital hit, he could not keep him completely unscathed. The young Commandant had never encountered such a situation before. His expression was somewhat dazed, his eyes fixed on the Governor still lying in the carriage, at a complete loss.

"Help me up!"

Only when Ye Teng cursed at him in a lowered voice did Li You snap out of it and immediately lift the Governor up.

Ye Teng looked completely unharmed. He shook off Li You's hand, straightened his headdress and sash, cast a contemptuous glance at the assassin who had been shot to pieces by the guards' counterfire and fallen from the window after the assassination attempt, and calmly began directing operations.

He first had everyone shout, "The assassin has been executed! The Governor and Commandant are safe and sound!" to calm the people's fear. Then he ordered the area swiftly sealed off to arrest the assassin's accomplices, and afterward had the driver continue forward.

"My lord, shall we race back to the Governor's residence?" the driver, who knew the truth, asked in terror.

"No. Follow the planned route, and proceed slowly."

Ye Teng closed his eyes, as if the assassination he had just experienced was nothing more than a light breeze brushing his face. Only the guards nearby could see that although Li You pretended nothing was wrong, his hand was quietly bracing the Governor's spine...

Under Li You's personal shield-bearing protection, Ye Teng insisted on completing the set route. Although his lips were somewhat pale and his hands trembled slightly, the people watching from afar knew nothing of this and were all celebrating that their lord was unharmed.

Only upon arriving at the Governor's residence, where the public could not see, did Li You urgently call Heifu up into the carriage to bandage the Governor!

As it turned out, that arrow had deeply pierced Ye Teng's left leg. Heifu was greatly alarmed. After hastily treating the bleeding, he discovered that the arrowhead seemed to have been specially treated — the wound had a strange odor, and the area where the arrowhead had entered was somewhat blackened!

The physicians who arrived upon hearing the news wore grave expressions and believed the arrowhead was poisoned! They began discussing countermeasures in low voices.

At that moment, the Governor's wife and daughter also hurried over. The Governor's wife was not his first wife; she seemed to be a local woman he had remarried. Seeing this terrible sight, she was instantly frightened out of her wits.

The Governor's daughter, Zijin, however, did not burst into uncontrollable weeping like an ordinary woman. Holding back tears, she asked the Commandant and the Commandery Aide to attend to governance and not delay here, leaving only Chief Clerk Lu Dang to assist.

Then, the young girl dressed in plain white robes came before Heifu and bowed deeply to him, saying: "My father's injury cannot be delayed. The physicians of the Governor's residence are skilled in general medicine, or in gynecology and dietetics — none are adept at treating metal-inflicted wounds. I have heard that Sir Chen, a disciple of the Grand Physician Prefect Xia, is currently in Jiangling! He happens to be a colleague of the Left Troop Clerk, and I beg the Left Troop Clerk to bring him here at once!"

The young girl had hit the mark with a single sentence. Heifu calmed down as well. After agreeing, he immediately went to find Chen Wujiu, a physician specializing in treating metal wounds...

Because the Chu army's offensive had been anticlimactic, the several dozen emergency medical personnel originally planned to be sent to the Chanling battlefield for a trial had not been dispatched and were still stationed within Jiangling City.

When Heifu, following Tang Jue, pushed open the door of the house that Chen Wujiu had strictly forbidden anyone from entering, he was stunned.

The entire room reeked of foul smoke. Chen Wujiu sat before a low table, burning the leaves of some kind of plant over a lit candle flame. As the dried leaf rolls ignited and wisps of green smoke rose, Chen Wujiu greedily inhaled a deep breath, revealing an expression of extreme enjoyment.

There was no mistake — Heifu, who had helped bust a drug den during an internship in his past life, recognized this as cannabis without a doubt!

Seeing this, Heifu flew into a rage. He immediately grabbed Chen Wujiu by the collar and slapped him twice, left and right!

"I told you to experiment with anesthetics to benefit the world, and you use them to harm yourself!"

"Heifu?"

Having taken two heavy slaps from Heifu, a trace of clarity finally returned to Chen Wujiu's dazed eyes. Not bothering to settle accounts with Heifu, he clutched his stinging cheek and exclaimed with joy: "You've come at the perfect time! Come look — see what I have found!"

From Chen Wujiu's excited account, Heifu learned that during the month or so he had been away on the April county inspection tour, Chen Wujiu, besides continuing to train emergency medical personnel, had never given up searching the wilds for the wild cannabis that could cause unconsciousness and hallucinations.

And as it turned out, he had actually found some wild cannabis plants by the shores of Cloud Dream Marsh!

After two months of experimentation, Chen Wujiu had already abandoned the method of having his junior disciples directly eat the cannabis flowers and leaves. He had found inspiration from the common practice of moxibustion and fire-cupping, drying the cannabis leaves and burning them over fire, then inhaling the green smoke.

The green smoke from the cannabis leaves grown in fields for extracting stalk fibers to weave cloth produced no sensation at all. But the cannabis found at Cloud Dream Marsh — with short, squat stalks yet relatively large leaves — made Chen Wujiu's heart race, giving him a feeling of euphoria and excitement!

Overjoyed, he believed he had found the miraculous cannabis Heifu had described — the kind that "causes deep sleep upon consumption." He immediately had that entire patch of short-stalk cannabis harvested and began studying it day and night.

"Consuming the flowers and leaves of this cannabis alone has no effect. Only after dozens of repeated trials did I discover that mixing henbane, which can reduce the pain of moxibustion burns, with the cannabis flowers and consuming them together truly induces deep sleep for several hours! And upon waking, there are no major ill effects!"

As he spoke, Chen Wujiu pointed to his unfortunate disciple sleeping soundly on a mat. This junior apprentice had presumably become his test subject once again — who knew whether Xia Wuju had used his disciples the same way back then.

Of course, Chen Wujiu himself seemed to have become addicted to inhaling cannabis leaf smoke. Whenever he felt tired, a puff would perk him up considerably, allowing him to continue delving into this great discovery in the medical arts...

Heifu observed that Chen Wujiu's eye sockets were deeply sunken and he looked noticeably thinner. Whether he had lost weight from intense study or from smoking cannabis was hard to tell.

"You're going to destroy yourself!" Heifu sternly reprimanded him. As a friend, he demanded that Chen Wujiu swear never to smoke it again.

"This substance may have medicinal uses, but smoking it means certain death!" he threatened.

Old Chen was badly frightened. After reluctantly swearing the oath, Heifu immediately cut to the chase and told Chen Wujiu about the Governor being wounded in an assassination attempt and that the arrowhead might be poisoned.

Cannabis toxicity was not high, so after washing his face with cold water, Chen Wujiu became fully alert. As he listened to Heifu recount what had happened, his expression grew increasingly grave.

"I will go at once!"

With that, Chen Wujiu kicked his junior disciple a few times. Finding that the drug's effects had not yet worn off and the disciple could not be roused, he personally slung on his medicine pouch, which contained his various silver needles, moxibustion supplies, and tools like knives and scrapers. But just as he was about to leave, he turned back and brought two packets of something!

"What is this?" Heifu asked.

"This is the new medicine I have developed!" Chen Wujiu said mysteriously:

"Although it is chewed rather than following the secret formula of Physician Bian Que's poisoned wine, it achieves the same marvelous effect! I have already given it a new name — I call it Sleep Saint Powder!"

That day, when Chen Wujiu arrived and examined Governor Teng's arrow-struck leg, he discovered that it was not some deadly poison, but rather fecal matter...

"Fecal matter?" The Governor's daughter Zijin's eyes were red; she must have been crying in secret, yet before others she still appeared perfectly composed and capable. She had made arrangements and instructed the maids and servants not to panic. For a girl not yet fifteen to manage this much was astonishing.

Heifu explained in a low voice: "It is liquid excrement. The assassin likely had no ready poison at hand, so he soaked the arrowhead in this substance. This is often seen in siege and defensive warfare — soldiers struck by such arrows often have their wounds fester, making treatment difficult..."

During the earlier defense of Yidao City, Heifu and the others had also used this method. Many Ba people died from wound infections after being struck by arrows, paying the price for their rash rebellion against Qin. Who would have thought the assassin would also employ this trick.

Since it was not one of the various deadly poisons that only appear in martial arts novels, the situation was far more manageable. However, the infected flesh and blood around the wound still needed to be scraped away with a scalding-hot knife!

"Father is already advanced in years, not like he once was. Such excruciating pain — I fear he may not endure it."

Looking at Governor Teng, who was already somewhat delirious, Zijin rarely revealed a girlish demeanor, clutching her wide silk sleeves tightly. Her birth mother had died early, so the young girl's mind had matured precociously. If her father were also to pass away before her coming-of-age ceremony, the blow would undoubtedly be devastating.

At that moment, Chen Wujiu seized the opportunity and immediately prostrated himself, presenting the "Sleep Saint Powder" he had developed!

Heifu had no time to stop him and could only curse inwardly. Had Physician Chen smoked too much cannabis, or was he so eager to claim merit? To be so rash — this substance had only been tested on himself and that junior disciple. Although no harm had come, if Ye Teng consumed it and never woke up, accomplishing through a physician's hand what the assassin had failed to do — would that not be absurd?

Unexpectedly, Chen Wujiu spoke with great eloquence, claiming this medicine was a lost formula of Bian Que, rediscovered by him thanks to Heifu's hints. He repeatedly assured them that he had tested the medicine on himself and that one would wake after several hours with no side effects.

Zijin cast a surprised glance at Heifu, a thoughtful look in her eyes. Now, with her stepmother too frightened and unsettled to make decisions, the choice fell to her alone. After hesitating repeatedly, she bowed to Chen Wujiu and said:

"Though I know little of the physician's art, I have heard of the Six Untreatables — one who does not trust the healer shall not be treated. Today, among all the physicians gathered here, only Physician Chen could operate on this sore and spare my father further agony. How could I dare not trust? Please, Physician, apply your remedy with all your skill!"

The young woman's resolute voice bolstered Chen Wujiu's courage. In the end, the "Sleeping Saint Powder" that Chen Wujiu had concocted proved its worth. Ye Teng underwent Chen Wujiu's flesh-scraping surgery in a deep slumber. After the wound was cleaned and properly bandaged, both Chen Wujiu and Heifu were quite hopeful that Ye Teng would swiftly awaken.

Who could have foreseen that the Sleeping Saint Powder's effects seemed to have deviated? Ye Teng's single sleep lasted the entire night!

This frightened the two men badly. Chen Wujiu's earlier confidence vanished, and he muttered that it was likely due to differences in individual constitutions.

Fortunately, early this morning, Heifu finally received word that the Commandery Governor had awakened, and he hurried to the Commandery Governor's residence...

The residence was under heavy guard. Heifu had to present his bronze seal and yellow cord, along with the Commandery Governor's summons slip, just to gain entry. He found the interior of the residence also guarded at every fifth and tenth step. The servants and maids of former days all unconsciously lightened their footsteps, not daring to speak loudly...

Yet when Heifu reached the study where he had first met Commandery Governor Ye, he heard a furious shout from within — Commandery Governor Teng's voice.

"Preposterous!"

(End of Chapter)