THE FLOWER PALACE'S SECRET

Chapter 16: Call Me Xiaolan!

The female physician brought Shen Yanzhia and Lin Zian to a secluded place at the end of the capital's street. That road was the same path that Shen Yanzhia had gone through when she was ambushed by assassins some time ago. After entering the forest area where the ambush, Shen Yanzhia only realized that this forest was overgrown with many leafless wisteria trees. Its black branches molt like sharp claws.

The rocky road in the forest then began to climb. The accompanying wisteria trees look head-high once the road is more and more fixed to higher ground. Shen Yanzhia could barely walk anymore, but she was lucky enough that Lin Zian helped to break it. After walking far enough, the three arrived at a grassy and rocky plain that was quite fertile in the autumn. In the middle of the square there is a simple house that is quite large. Shen Yanzhia could guess that this was the house of the female physician.

“How can you take him to a far away place like this?” shen Yanzhia asked after the three of them arrived in front of the wooden fence that had started to be eaten by termites and the weather.

“Hey, I also have money. I can still pay people to transport it.”

“You're a strong but strong woman walking this far, aren't you tired?” Lin Zian made a sound. Shen Yanzhia threw a glance at him, looking at him with a frown.

“Your question is that, not to insinuate me is not it?” Shen Yanzhia sneered. Somehow he felt Lin Zian's question was directed at him. The man was too frontal to always say something that upset him half to death.

“Do you feel like that?”

“Already, you guys want to come in or not?” The doctor interrupted.

The couple then realized their purpose in coming here. The female physician walked in. The wooden door of the old house slowly opened. The female physician then guided Shen Yanzhia and Lin Zian towards a large room containing medicinal equipment and a box cabinet containing various kinds of herbs commonly used as medicine. Not far from the closet, there is an old wooden bed that is sturdy and quite large. Someone was lying on his back with his eyes closed on the wooden bed. That someone was the half-living and half-dead man that Lin Zian had been looking for all along.

“Tabib woman, why is she still sleeping? Is his body not stiff?”

“Call me Xiaolan. My name is Ru Xiaolan.”

“Xiaolan? Hm. A good name, but too long. How about I call you Lanlan?”

Ru Xiaolan weighed slightly.

“Yanzhia, you can't change people's names carelessly,” Lin Zian said.

“It's okay. I like that name. You can call me Lanlan.”

Lin Zian took out a paper containing a sketch of the face then brought it closer to the side of the face of the lying person. Same result. The person in the sketch was indeed the one who was lying down. Shen Yanzhia's eyesight was indeed so good that it could remember a person's face even if it only met or saw him once.

“See, it's true what I said! This guy is the same!” shen Yanzhia exclaimed slightly sneering.

“Alright, you're right.”.

“You must reward me.

“Wang-’’

Shen Yanzhia covered Lin Zian's mouth with her palm. Shen Yanzhia whispered something:

“Don't call me wangfei. Our identities can't be discovered yet!”

Lin Zian nodded. Ru Xiaolan then examined the dying man's wrist, ascertaining whether his pulse was still there or not. Then, his hand touched the man's forehead, making sure his body temperature was through his skin coming into direct contact with the skin of his hand. Warm. That meant that this man had already returned to his normal state.

“How is it?” asked Lin Zian.

“The poison in his body is still a little more. Maybe in about two or three more days he'll wake up.”

“Poisons? What poison?” This time, it was Shen Yanzhia who asked.

“What is your relationship with this man?”

“Do you believe if I say that he is someone we need to catch a big fish?”

“Of course not, Princess May. You're not one to interfere with court affairs. But, I can change my unfaithfulness because your husband is involved. So, I'll trust you this time.”

“You know our identity?” shen Yanzhia asked in disbelief. Ru Xiaolan nodded.

“Indeed who does not know the face of Xiao Jing Mei beloved of Her Majesty The Queen Mother? I saw you a few times while wandering the market. If it is Prince Qin, I have only seen him once upon returning to the capital. Please accept my respectful greetings, Princess Mei and Prince Qin.”

Ru Xiaolan bowed her body. His relaxed tone made Lin Zian and Shen Yanzhia feel at ease. The woman, although a healer whose attitude and words were not gentle, still had respect for the royal family.

“Don't be polite. I came here as your friend. You can call me Shen Yanzhia or Zhia.

“What the fuck? Wangfei, you didn't let me call your name like that!” lin Zian Protest.

“When did I forbid you to call me that? I never said it. You always call me Yanzhia or wangfei.”

They both almost stormy.

“Why?” asked Shen Yanzhia.

“I still have to respect you.”

“Ah is not necessary, we just want to make friends without formality and peerage.”

“True. You can also call me Lin Zian or Zian.”

“Sorry once again, I can't.”

“Begin only. You can call Lin Zian Young Master. You can call me Miss. How?” the Shen Yanzhia.

“So it seems better. Isn't that right, Miss Ru?” asked Lin Zian.

“I Xiaolan. Call me Xiaolan, Young Master.”

After the debate about the nickname ended, Ru Xiaolan then began to explain the state of the dying man's body earlier. The man was exposed to the Blue Grass poison, a deadly poison that attacks the heart and lungs directly. This type of poison is widely used to punish death row inmates who commit offences and get entangled in severe cases, and only people in the Justice Bureau are granted the right to use it. It was under the direct supervision of the Emperor. The person who drinks this poison will die within an hour.

Ru Xiaolan also explained that there was another type of poison inside the dying man's body, which helped him to inhibit the circulation and attack the Blue Grass poison so that the man was just dying and not dead yet. If Ru Xiaolan did not check on him, that person would probably die within two days after the poison had entered his body. Blue grass has no antidote, because the purpose of making it is to punish death.

“Can't you analyze the antidote?” asked Lin Zian later.

“I'm not sure. All this time I just put in an herbal tonic to make sure the organs in his body are functioning properly. The poison might be able to spread soon without us knowing.”

“How long can he last with that herbal tonic?”

“About two weeks.”

Two weeks? Shen Yanzhia thought of a way to get rid of the Blue Grass poison in the body of the dying man. His heart hesitated, would the man really come back to life? If Ru Xiaolan could not find the antidote, the man could really die. If the man died, Lin Zian would again lose the military funding case hint.

Being in the same confusion, Lin Zian also began to despair. He was not sure whether this person would actually live or not. This was a golden opportunity for him to uncover the true events of the loss of most of the military funds that the court granted. If that person was aware, Lin Zian could ask him and get what he wanted, regardless of any means. Lin Zian could ask nicely. But if that person had been conscious and unwilling to speak, Lin Zian would not have been able to be merciful.

“I'm not sure he can really come back to life. But I don't care either. I'll dissect his stomach if the man really dies. Miss, do you want to see it too?”

Ru Xiaolan seemed like she was indeed a mad healer. He was even crazier than Shen Yanzhia.

“My job is only to help the sick. If that person dies, I don't care. Rather than just being left to die, I better use her body for my new drug trial.”

“How many dead people have you operated on?”

“New two bodies. It's also the body of the mountain bandit who stinks and dirty.”

“You what is their body?” asked Lin Zian.

“I dissected it to see how deep the wound or poison caused them to die. I sewed it back up after trying to drip some of my new medicine. Take it easy, I didn't take anything from the body.”

“You autopsied those bodies? You're not scared?” asked Shen Yanzhia.

Ru Xiaolan nodded and shook her head.

“My adoptive brother is a soldier. He often comes home injured. I always treat it by looking and sewing the wound. So, I've gotten used to the blood of the dead which is not much different from the blood of the living.”

Ru Xiaolan was indeed the strangest female physician in this entire imperial city. Is he a god healer? Only god healers would usually dare to perform such wild medicine and testing. Most healers in the capital only relied on hereditary ledgers to concoct medicine, and obeyed the orders of his teacher whose methods were the same as those of previous generations.

But Ru Xialoan, she was a woman but already very brave and appeared different. If Shen Yanzhia could get to know him better, perhaps she would be able to help him someday..

“Lanlan, you try to keep that man alive. I will try to help you make the antidote,” Shen Yanzhia said confidently. Ru Xiaolan nodded.

“You can make medicine?” asked Lin Zian.

“I can try it.

Shen Yanzhia would conduct any experiment that could bring the dying man back to life. The Blue Grass poison was unlikely to have no antidote, as every poison was created complete with the antidote. Although Shen Yanzhia was not confident, she had to do whatever she could to save him.

Before going down the mountain, Shen Yanzhia asked for some herbs that she might need someday. He stared briefly at the entire courtyard of the house, then whispered something to Lin Zian. The man seemed to understand because he then nodded his head.

Ru Xiaolan looked at the couple in surprise from the gate. Just this time he found a strange couple.

***