Chapter 158 Visiting the Divine Physician

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the imperial physician slowly turned his head. Faced with so many expectant gazes, he felt a momentary wave of awkwardness.

"Why aren't you speaking? What on earth is the current condition of Consort Rong?!"

"Reporting to Your Majesty... Her Ladyship has inhaled too much smoke. Her condition is somewhat less than optimistic..."

This sentence was arguably the most terrifying one of all.

Jun Yeli froze in place, utterly dazed and at a loss. "What do you mean by less than optimistic? Could it be that she's beyond saving? What use do I have for you? Drag him out and execute him!"

This casual decree nearly frightened the physician's official cap right off his head. He hurriedly threw himself to the ground, kowtowing with a tearful plea for mercy, "Please spare my life, Your Majesty! This old subject possesses limited medical skills and is truly helpless in this matter. However, I have heard that there is a miraculous physician upon Mount Lingyun who should be able to save Her Ladyship!"

Fortunately, he spoke quickly; otherwise, he would have been hauled away just like that. Upon hearing that a miraculous physician could save her, Jun Yeli's interest was piqued. "Wait!"

After dismissing the others, Jun Yeli looked at the physician. "Describe the exact situation to me!"

Guided by the physician, Jun Yeli had no choice but to personally dispatch men to Mount Lingyun to seek help from the reclusive expert. However, several men were sent, and regardless of the fact that the gifts they brought were worth thousands in gold, they were consistently turned away from the door.

One of them even returned bearing injuries.

Looking at the arm wrapped in gauze, Jun Yeli finally lost control of his emotions, slammed his hand heavily onto the table, and roared, "That so-called miraculous physician is utterly devoid of manners! We have lowered our pride and offered heavy fortunes to beg for his help, so why does he lack even a shred of compassion?!"

Shouldn't a so-called miraculous physician dedicate himself to healing the world and rescuing people from the depths of misery? Yet this old man on Mount Lingyun was inexplicably eccentric!

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Jun Yeli struggled to restrain his agitated emotions. The guard hastily knelt once more. "Reporting to Your Majesty, that miraculous physician stated that he retired from the world many years ago and is unwilling to descend the mountain to save lives again. He told us to give up..."

"That is sheer absurdity! Lives are at stake right now, and since he has the ability, why should he refuse to save her!" Jun Yeli could care less about such reasoning; the more he thought about it, the more enraged he felt.

Suddenly, his gaze tightened, and he made a momentous decision. "Since you all cannot invite him, I shall go and invite him personally, just to see if he will grant me this face!"

Even though the matter concerning the foreign envoys still demanded his attention, Huarong's life was far more important at present.

Upon hearing these words, the guard was slightly surprised, yet he dared not utter a word.

After the guard departed, a subordinate hiding in the shadows suddenly dropped down. Looking at the tense expression of the Emperor, he was somewhat astonished. "Your Majesty, are you truly going to personally beg that miraculous physician? Do not forget your noble status!"

"And what of it? Am I supposed to stand by and watch Consort Rong die?"

Jun Yeli cast a cold glance at him, not bothering to reprimand him for appearing without summons.

However, these words sounded rather tangled and troubling. "Your Majesty, the envoys are pressing us hard at present. Since they demand Huarong's death, why not seize this very opportunity to appease them and thereby preserve peace between the two nations?"

"Hmph! She is my woman, and she is entirely innocent. Why should she bear such a crime? I have not sunk so low as to use a woman as a sacrifice for national peace!"

Jun Yeli believed his resounding words were flawless, yet to an outsider, they sounded utterly ridiculous—this was clearly nothing more than an excuse to justify his own partiality.

"Your Majesty, have you not noticed that ever since that woman entered your life, you have changed? In the past, you would never have allowed personal entanglements and romance to cause improper distractions..."

He still vividly remembered that the Emperor, as the sovereign of a nation, had once proclaimed that in order to fulfill grand national ambitions, one must not become bogged down by trivial matters of romance and personal affection. Yet now, he was deeply mired in it, unable to extricate himself, and had even forgotten his own past words and deeds.

Was this still the Emperor he had once known?

Faced with these remarks, Jun Yeli was temporarily struck dumb, completely at a loss for how to retort. He simply appeared exasperated and snapped, "Begone! Without my permission, who authorized you to come out? Withdraw at once!"

With that, unwilling to listen to any more irrelevant nonsense, Jun Yeli flicked his sleeve and strode away.

A gust of wind swept past, causing the doors to rattle violently. Because he was walking in such excessive haste, even Noble Consort Wen, who had been eavesdropping at the doorway for a long time, remained unnoticed.

Watching the man's receding figure, Noble Consort Wen stood frozen in place like a fool, her heart churning with turbulent and complex emotions. "The Emperor... has truly changed. He has genuinely fallen for that woman!"

She had originally thought that Jun Yeli was merely indulging in beauty and unable to tear himself away, but who could have known that this time he had given his true heart? All her self-deception now appeared utterly laughable.

Clenching her teeth, Noble Consort Wen struggled to suppress her overwhelming agitation. "Huarong, you vixen! You truly are a femme fatale who brings ruin to the country and its people, driving the Emperor to such desperate and resolute lengths. For the sake of the realm and His Majesty, I will never let you live!"

Seemingly having made up her mind, Noble Consort Wen also turned and left.

Time ticked away drop by drop. Entrusting the affairs of the imperial palace to a trusted aide, Jun Yeli indeed mounted a horse and rapidly galloped toward Mount Lingyun. After two hours of grueling travel, the sky had already turned pitch black.

The terrain of Mount Lingyun was complicated, and the path up the mountain was rugged and uneven, studded with jagged rocks that made his feet ache with every step.

"It seems this miraculous physician truly wishes to cut himself off from secular mortal ways, which is why he chooses to dwell in such an intricate and labyrinthine place, purely to avoid disturbance from outsiders."

Speaking of which, this could also be considered a trial of sorts.

Jun Yeli took a deep breath, ignoring the exhaustion of the journey, and pushed straight up Mount Lingyun in one go.

The surroundings were dense with woods, save for a small, secluded thatched cottage in the distance, from which wisps of cooking smoke were still drifting.

"Splendid! That must be the place!" Joy lit up Jun Yeli's face, and he hurriedly quickened his pace, walking straight toward it.

He knocked on the door, but no one answered for a long time.

Jun Yeli's brows furrowed slightly. "Why is there no one?"

Clearly, the lights inside were burning, smoke was rising from the chimney, and there was even a thick aroma of medicinal herbs—it should have been time for decocting medicine. Yet the absence of anyone seemed rather abnormal!

Fraught with a sense of growing panic, Jun Yeli cast aside all etiquette, pulled open the door without hesitation, and rushed inside.

However, what met his eyes was a scene of utter chaos within the room. The medicinal stove was blazing furiously, and the decoction was on the verge of boiling completely dry.

This was by no means an oversight that should have occurred naturally. Jun Yeli vaguely sensed a thread of unease. "No, something is wrong!"