Chapter 5

Chapter Five: The Quarrel

Lin Lin simply repeated the accusations she had heard earlier.

She had quarreled with Yao Ying.

She hated Yao Ying.

These were all things witnessed and testified to by her fellow apprentices, with no issues whatsoever.

Secretary Chen indeed had no suspicions, only demanding, "Then why did you sneak out of the Prince's Mansion on your own? Being caught outside by others—if that isn't a guilty conscience, what is?"

Ah, so she had been caught and brought back from outside? Lin Lin thought to herself, this...

She recalled the conversation between Qiao Man and Huang Qin, who had mentioned that this Lin Lin seemed to look down on them because of her status...

Which meant that Lin Lin's family had standing and influence.

"I want to go home," she said, propping herself up, her expression agitated. "I'll have my family help me become a Physician Disciple..."

Secretary Chen furrowed his brow slightly and sneered coldly, "You've lost your mind. How would your family ever help you with such a thing?"

Though he said this, he didn't press further about why she had run out, only saying coldly:

"I'm warning you—you'd best confess everything. Otherwise, when the Lin Family finds out, they'll beat you to death all the same."

It seemed she had passed this hurdle. Lin Lin wept, nodding and shaking her head at once: "Sir, I truly have nothing to hide. It really wasn't me who killed her." The more she spoke, the more agitated she became, rolling and crawling off the bed, and amid the startled cries of the female apprentices, she feigned a faint.

Secretary Chen was furious, but he didn't order anyone to drag her out, beat her awake, and interrogate her. He shook his sleeves and stormed off in anger.

The three female apprentices worked together to lift her back onto the bed, examined her wounds, cleaned and wiped them, and applied medicine.

Though it hurt terribly, she was safe now, and Lin Lin breathed a sigh of relief. Letting go of the energy she'd been using to hold this body together, she fell into a deep sleep.

When she woke again the next day, she was alone in the room.

Lin Lin examined her wounds—after a full day and night, they had already healed considerably.

This body's recovery speed was even faster than when she had first woken up.

In just a few more days, her wounds would be completely healed.

This was too bizarre.

Was this an indestructible body?

Was it something this Lin Lin inherently possessed? Or was it a golden cheat granted by transmigration and rebirth?

Footsteps sounded outside the door. Lin Lin lay back down, but she didn't pretend to sleep this time. She watched as the door opened gently, and this time only one person walked in.

Zhang Yalan crept in on tiptoes, and the moment she looked up, she saw Lin Lin on the bed watching her, which startled her.

"You're awake?" Zhang Yalan said softly, stepping forward with concern. "How do you feel? Still..."

She had meant to ask if it still hurt, but then thought better of it—what a pointless question. She had witnessed Lin Lin being beaten with her own eyes, had seen blood spray from the wooden staff onto her own clothes.

How could it not hurt?

Lin Lin said nothing, only watching her.

Zhang Yalan lowered her head to avoid her gaze. "Let me pour you some water to drink."

With that, she went to pour water, brought it over, and bent down by the bedside to feed her.

Lin Lin was indeed thirsty, and drank a few sips from the cup...

"Qiao Man has been cooking medicinal porridge for you; it'll be brought over shortly," Zhang Yalan said, setting the cup on the headboard. "Let me help you change your clothes..."

When she had woken up yesterday, she'd found that straw had been placed beneath her, with wood ash underneath.

This was so that she, who couldn't move about easily, could relieve herself in bed...

Just as Zhang Yalan was about to get into bed, Lin Lin raised her hand and knocked the water cup to the floor.

"Don't bother with me!" she shouted.

The cup shattered, startling Zhang Yalan, and Qiao Man and Huang Qin, who had just reached the door carrying the ginseng soup, were also taken aback.

Lin Lin turned to look at them as well, propping herself up and shouting hoarsely, "I don't need any of you! You're the ones who brought me to this state! Don't come crying crocodile tears and playing the hypocrite!"

This body's healing ability could not be discovered by anyone. She didn't know how to explain it, but she absolutely could not be treated as an anomaly.

...

...

"What's she making a fuss about?"

Secretary Chen stood at the entrance to the courtyard where the Princess Dowager resided, looking at the three apprentices Zhang Yalan, Qiao Man, and Huang Qin with an irritated expression.

Because the Heir Apparent of the Prince of Qi had returned, and Yao Ying's cause of death had changed from drowning to poisoning, the Princess Dowager had handed the case over to the Qizhou Prefectural Office. But that didn't mean she had stopped paying attention, so Secretary Chen was constantly running back and forth to report.

He had just returned from the prefectural office, hadn't even caught his breath before coming to see the Princess Dowager, and now he was stopped by the apprentices.

"She doesn't want us to look after her."

"She said it was us who harmed her."

Huang Qin and Qiao Man spoke up in a rush, looking uneasy and wronged.

Secretary Chen sneered: "She must hate me too. Weren't all those things she was accused of done by her own hands? And she has the nerve to blame others?"

He waved his hand.

"Don't bother with her. She brought this on herself!"

Qiao Man and Huang Qin fell silent, while Zhang Yalan, who had been quiet all along, bent her knee in a salute.

"She's always been stubborn, and now she's injured and in pain," she said, looking at Secretary Chen. "It's only natural she doesn't want to see us. Sir, please arrange for the mansion's maidservants to look after her."

Secretary Chen scoffed: "Who does she think she is? Does she really think she's a proper young lady of the Lin Family? This is the Prince's Mansion! Even if a legitimate daughter of the Lin Family came here, she'd still be nothing!"

Qiao Man and Huang Qin quickly pulled at Zhang Yalan: "Let's go, let's go. Don't worry about it."

Zhang Yalan shook them off: "Sir, this has nothing to do with whose daughter she is. She is now an apprentice of the Imperial Medical Academy, sent to the Prince of Qi's Mansion by imperial decree. If she dies here, you, as a Secretary of the Imperial Clan Court, will be held responsible."

Secretary Chen flew into a rage: "Are you threatening me? A mere apprentice dares to use the imperial edict to pressure me? What does the imperial edict have to do with you apprentices! You entered the Imperial Medical Academy, but you're not Imperial Physicians! You're barely above palace slaves!"

Qiao Man and Huang Qin's faces turned pale with fear, and they urgently pulled Zhang Yalan down to kneel.

"Sir, we were wrong."

But Zhang Yalan gritted her teeth, her eyes red, and said nothing, just staring at Secretary Chen.

"You've gone too far!" Secretary Chen bellowed. "I'll have someone escort you back to the capital right now—"

Before he could finish, a voice came from behind.

"What's the matter? Lord Chen?"

Secretary Chen quickly turned around and saw that it was Caixia, the Princess Dowager's maidservant.

Caixia's gaze swept over them.

"The Princess Dowager asks what you're arguing about."

...

...

Secretary Chen went to see the Princess Dowager, and although he felt embarrassed, he did not conceal the reason for the dispute.

After all, this was the Prince of Qi's Mansion—how could anything that happened here be hidden from the Princess Dowager.

After hearing Secretary Chen's account, the Princess Dowager, dressed in robes embroidered with gold-thread floral patterns and chanting Buddhist scriptures with her eyes closed, let out a cold snort.

"Quite the temper," she said. "She must harbor resentment toward me as well."

The maid Caixia laughed beside her, saying, "Princess Dowager, if anyone is to be resented, it should be me first—I testified that her hairpin was found in the deceased's hand."

Secretary Chen's face flushed with shame. "Princess Dowager, please calm your anger. I will discipline her."

The Princess Dowager opened her eyes and looked at Secretary Chen. "Let's not discipline her. Whatever we do, she'll resent us anyway. Better to send her straight back to the capital and let the Imperial Medical Academy handle her training."

The journey from Xuzhou to the capital takes half a month. Even a healthy person would be utterly exhausted from the bumpy ride—how could someone gravely injured survive it? She would surely die on the road.

The Princess Dowager was calling for her life.

Zhang Yalan's face turned pale, and she was about to speak, but this time Qiao Man and Huang Qin were quick-eyed and quick-handed, firmly holding her back.

Just as Secretary Chen was about to respond, Zhao Chengzhi's voice sounded from outside.

"Grandmother, A Bai has found where the poison that afflicted the apprentice came from."

Everyone turned to look, seeing the Heir Apparent Zhao Chengzhi stride in, followed by the Commandery Prince of the Northern Garrison, Xiao E.