Eight-year-old Princess: Phoenix Reborn Chapter 41

   Chapter 41 The Rushed Qin Meng

"Ah..." Yun Shang shouted in surprise. Once her astonishment subsided, she asked with a frown, "What are you doing, uncle?"

Prince Jing was walking towards the door, "Taking you to see Doctor Xue Yan."

Qin Yi and Qin Meng looked surprised when they saw the Prince carry Yun Shang out of her room. Eyes-widened and open-mouthed, they watched in mute silence as the Prince walked past them. It took a few seconds for Qin Yi could regain her composure. She ran to Yun Shang and asked nervously, "What happened to Princess Yun Shang, My Lord?"

Prince Jing stopped and frowned, "I'm taking her to see Doctor Xue Yan." As soon as he finished speaking, he continued walking.

"Oh, my, Your Imperial Highness..." Qin Yi's voice could be heard from a distance. Yun Shang licked her lips and sighed, "Uncle, please put me down. I can walk."

Prince Jing stopped, and complied with her request.

"So Doctor Xue Yan is living in your mansion, right?" Yun Shang said the first thing that came to her mind, to escape the embarrassing moment.

Prince Jing walked ahead without answering.

Yun Shang ran to catch up with. She continued speaking, "It's amazing how someone must survive in a freezing world."

There was still no reply from Prince Jing. Not in the mood to speak again, Yun Shang also walked in silence behind Prince Jing.

They walked across a garden, and entered a courtyard. Prince Jing headed towards a rockwork, and entered through a narrow opening. Yun Shang was surprised, but she followed the Prince without any hesitation.

As soon as she entered, Yun Shang felt a cold draft. She gasped as the cold air stung her face. Shivering from the cold, she continued to follow Prince Jing. The further they walked the colder the cave became.

Prince Jing turned around to check on Yun Shang. He frowned, but said nothing. Then he walked faster.

They must have walked for at least fifteen minutes before Prince Jing stopped. Yun Shang felt out of breath. She was so frozen that she could not feel her hands and feet. Gathering her faculties after a brief pause, she raised her head and saw a figure sitting before a frigid wall from which waves of cold air radiated. He was a peculiar looking man; everything of his, from the hair to the clothes, was as white as snow. Even his skin was so white it looked almost transparent.

In an instant, Yun Shang realized who he was. "Doctor Xue Yan?" A sense of admiration rose in her heart. It was beyond her expectation that there was such a man under heaven; a man living with, and as white as ice and snow.

That man studied Yun Shang, too. After a long while, he turned towards Prince Jing, "Who is she? Why bring her here?"

"For a cure." Prince Jing walked to Doctor Xue Yan, and said after glancing at Yun Shang.

Doctor Xue Yan looked at Yun Shang again, and measured her for a short while. He said, "Though this girl has intentionally taken some medicine to disturb her pulse, she is quite strong and healthy. I see no illness in her except for a cold."

Doctor Xue Yan paused after those words. There was a strange expression on his face. He looked straight at Prince Jing and inquired incredulously, "Do you want me treat her cold?"

Prince Jing was silent. Doctor Xue Yan shouted in a pitiful voice, "Oh, no. Though I am just a doctor, I'm capable enough to be crowned as a master among my peers. Agreed, I cannot bring the dead back to life, but I can cure complex diseases. And here you are asking me to treat a simple cold?"

Prince Jing stayed silent. But Yun Shang felt a little awkward, so she said with a smile, "I'm sorry to bother you, Master. I'm just curious about you. That is why I asked my uncle to bring me here to see you. You don't have to worry about my illness. I know something about the art of healing. I can prescribe some medicine for myself."

Xue Yan looked at Yun Shang, and then at Prince Jing. He sighed, "All right. Even a good doctor cannot treat himself. As I owe you three promises of help, I'll do it. After today, you will only have one left." Xue Yan stood up, fetched a writing brush and ink, and wrote something on the bamboo slip*. He gave it to Prince Jing and said, "This is the prescription."

(*TN: bamboo slip was the main media and writing medium for documents in China before the widespread introduction of paper during the first two centuries AD. Although silk was occasionally used, it was prohibitively expensive.)

After Prince Jing took the prescription, Xue Yan said, "I suppose more medicine will be needed, if you let that girl stay in the icy cave any longer."

Prince Jing nodded and turned towards Yun Shang, "Let's go."

Yun Shang thanked Doctor Xue Yan repeatedly. Then a sudden tinkering of little bells in the icy cave caught her attention. Yun Shang was surprised. She turned towards the sound and saw fine strings hanging on the four sides of the cave. Many bells hung from these string. She had no idea of the significance of the bells, or the implications arising from their tinkering. She, however, could clearly sense a coldness in Prince Jing's voice when he spoke. "There's someone in the courtyard."

Yun Shang followed Prince Jing out of the cave. He stopped all of a sudden and looked straight into the darkness. Yun Shang glanced in the same direction and saw a pink figure disappear behind a tree. That person walked away while surveying the garden and its surroundings.

"It seems you have a spy in your midst." Prince Jing squinted as he continued to stare at the retreating figure. There was a distinct coldness in his voice.

Yun Shang grinned, "She is in service of the Empress. I always wanted to get rid of her. But it's reckless to do it right now as I've been back in the court only for a short while and everything is strange here. It's better to live with a spy in my chamber and give her a chance to keep an eye on me. In that case, her master doesn't need to worry about me, and I have enough time to seek an opportunity."

Prince Jing turned his head, and studied Yun Shang. Her intelligence had left him speechless. He walked out from behind the rockwork after the figure had disappeared completely. Then he took Yun Shang back to her room.

"Your Imperial Highness, are you all right?" Qin Yi greeted Yun Shang as soon as she saw that the Princess had returned.

Yun Shang shook her head, and sat down. "I'm OK. Where is Qin Meng?"

Qin Yi seemed surprised. She looked out the window. "Is she not in the yard? She told me she was going to relieve herself. I haven't seen her since. But it's strange. She's been gone for a while. Did she get lost?"

Yun Shang's mouth curled into a grin, "Relieve herself? Did she walk to the far end of the world in search of an appropriate place to do so? All right. Since I brought only you and Qin Meng to the mansion of Prince Jing, you'd better keep an eye on her for me. Though clever people don't do stupid things in a strange environment, we should be careful as well. As both, the Empress and Hua Jing are mired in their troubles, and she is with me right now, there might be a possibility that she would be desperate enough to do something stupid. You have to keep her under your watch."

Qin Yi nodded, "Yes, I will."

After chatting for a while longer, Yun Shang decided she should rest. Just as she rose from her chair, she heard a knock. Qin Yi opened the door. Prince Jing's butler stood at the doorway with a bowl in his hands. The contents were hot as Yun Shang could see white smoke rising from the bowl.

"Your Imperial Highness, my Lord ordered me to bring you this medicine. It's been freshly brewed. However, since its quite a walk from the kitchen, the medicine is just about the right temperature. Please take it before it gets cold." The butler flashed the Princess a brilliant smile as he carried the bowl forward. Qin Yi took the bowl and served it to Yun Shang after stirring it.

Yun Shang took the bowl, asked no questions, and drank it without any hesitation.

The butler took back the bowl and left. Then Yun Shang had Qin Yi help her get dressed for bed.

Yun Shang had barely awoken the next morning when she heard a voice shouting from outside, "Your Imperial Highness, are you awake? I have something to report."

Yun Shang asked with a frown, "What is it?"

"Your Imperial Highness, one of your maids entered a forbidden area in the mansion of Prince Jing. She is under arrest now. The Lord said Your Imperial Highness needs to make a decision about her punishment. What do you say, Your Imperial Highness?"

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