Chapter 9: Thorn in the Eye
Shen Jin scooped Lu Qingqing up from the ground in his arms. Seeing the woman covered in blood, barely clinging to life, he roared furiously, “Aren’t you stubborn? Lu Qingqing, I’m asking you something!” Yet the person in his embrace could not respond to his questioning at all.
Just then, the imperial physician stumbled in, and upon seeing the dire state of the woman Shen Jin was holding, he froze in alarm. “What are you standing around for? Hurry up and take a look!” Shen Jin barked. The imperial physician glanced at Lu Qingqing, his heart trembling at the sight—she had lost too much blood, her body growing ever colder.
Seeing the physician’s helplessness, Shen Jin grew desperate. “You quacks, claiming the chief physician’s title at the Imperial Hospital—if she dies today, you… you’ll all accompany her to the grave!” His words sent the group of imperial physicians outside to their knees in terror. The new God of War of Northern Qi was infamous for his temper; rumor had it that when he first rose to power, he had executed a slew of military opponents.
The physician’s hands shook uncontrollably, but after checking her pulse, he could only sense weakness, no clear symptoms. He looked to Shen Jin, wanting to remove the blood-soaked dress. “General, perhaps you should do it yourself.”
Shen Jin approached, his movements hesitant but determined, and as he removed the dress, he saw patches of blood on Lu Qingqing’s legs.
He was stunned.
Shen Jin shook the dress gently, and blood-engorged leeches tumbled out, creating a scene of horror. Even the imperial physician was startled. “Leeches! How could so many be hidden in her clothing?”
Shen Jin eyed the writhing creatures, his expression unchanged. “Can you save her?”
“Yes, since it’s leeches, it’s manageable,” the physician replied, grateful they had come early. Any longer and blood loss would have brought fatal hypothermia.
Lu Qingqing shivered all over, waking from the cold, dazed and as if glimpsing something. She had always feared insects since childhood, and now it was so many.
Shen Jin strode out of the side hall, turning to his attendant. “Find out who used such a vicious method.”
“Yes, sir.”
Shen Jin remained by the side hall all night, waiting until dawn’s first pale light appeared. Lu Qingqing endured pain the entire night, hovering at death’s edge, but by morning her condition finally stabilized.
In sleep, the woman kept her brows tightly furrowed, never relaxing.
She murmured softly, “Manman... Manman…”
The man sitting by the bed’s side darkened his gaze, displeased, and spoke coldly, “On the brink of death, and still thinking of someone else.”
Shen Jin loathed it deeply. He knew well that Manman was Lu Qingqing and Xie Zhiyun’s daughter. The thought that the woman he once loved and cherished so dearly had borne another man’s child filled him with burning rage—rage that turned to hatred and a longing to kill Xie Zhiyun with his own hands.
When Lu Qingqing woke again, she found herself in the rear courtyard of the Shen residence, her complexion much improved.
She recalled the events of the previous night, vaguely remembering Shen Jin’s conversation with the physician—someone had tampered with her dress, hiding leeches inside.
“Susu,” Lu Qingqing called, heading toward the attendant in the courtyard, Shen Jin’s personal guard who had followed him since childhood.
“Miss Lu, I’m sorry. The master said you mustn’t leave this place,” Susu said apologetically.
Lu Qingqing shook her head, reassuring him. “Who tampered with my dress last night?”
She had no known enemies within the palace, no one who wished her dead; the only person who could view her as a thorn in their side at this moment was that one individual.