Chapter 22: Counterattack, using needles on the acupoints
Seeing Gu Beiyueâs grave expression, General Mu was startled. His sonâs life was the most important thing to him. Gu Beiyue was the Head Imperial Physician who looked after the emperorâs own health, so of course his words were trustworthy. Mu Liuyue just wouldnât believe Han Yunxi. She was ready to send her off to the justice courts immediately and began to make a scene.
âIf I say no, then itâs no!â
General Mu suddenly spoke up. âLiuyue, step aside!â
âFather!â Mu Liuyue was reluctant.
âStep aside!â General Mu was getting angry.
Mu Liuyue finally took a single step aside while keeping her vise grip on Gu Beiyueâs hand. Abruptly, the doctor shook her off, astonishing all the onlookers while he quickly slipped back into the room. His quick departure was followed by an even faster return, with an ashen face and solemn expression. In his hands were two needles, dyed pitch-black for all to see.
Poison! Hypertoxic poison!
General Mu was stunned enough to leap out of his chair. âHeâs really poisoned?â
Mu Liuyue was in disbelief as well, shaking her head as if dumbstruck. But very quickly, she recovered with a face full of suspicion. âHan Yunxi, itâs your poison, right? Otherwise, how would you know how to treat it?â
Han Yunxi was seriously sick of looking at this stupid woman, she got up. âIf you waste any more time, I wonât know either!â Theyâd delayed for so long and she didnât even have the antidote on hand. Things were really troublesome now.
âHan Yunxi, Iâll trust you this once. Hurry up and follow me!â General Muâs worry about his son was enough to make his heart burn. He led the way himself.
Han Yunxi expelled a restless breath and accidentally caught a glimpse of Imperial Physician Guâs imposing brow. She couldnât help but have a good impression of this fellow. While everyone else was distracted, she took the chance to take out some medicines and supplementary materials from her detox system. Though the crowd had no idea where sheâd gotten these things from, everyone was too busy to ask.\nâImperial Physician Gu and General Mu can stay. Everyone else should leave and not disturb me,â Han Yunxi said as she undid Mu Qingwuâs white robes.
The crowd sensibly stepped back, but an irate Mu Liuyue not only stayed put, but moved to block Han Yunxiâs sight while covering her own eyes. Even she didnât dare look at her brotherâs bare form, yet this Han Yunxi was actually this shameless!
âHan Yunxi, you better wake him up. Or else I wonât forgive you,â Mu Liuyue warned her icily.
Han Yunxi could bear it no longer. As soon as she was about to lose her temper, General Mu beat her to it with a shout. âDamned girl, stop interfering and get out!â
Startled, Mu Liuyue felt tears streaming down her face. Father was yelling at her like this? Heâd never gotten mad at her before, but now he was so ferocious. The furious girl shook aside her hands and dashed out the room. Han Yunxi felt her breath relax as she refocused on finding the acupoints again. She sterilized her dagger over a flame before carefully making an incision. Most of the things stored in her detox system were herbal plants, acupuncture needles, cotton swabs, and so on. She didnât have any surgical tools. Her movements with the knife were simple and crude, but with a personâs life at stake sheâd had to make the best of it. The longer they delayed, the more dangerous things would get. Injected poison like this was more troublesome than usual toxins. The deeper a poison was in the body, the harder to get it out.
As soon as she cut into the skin of the stomach, fresh blood flowed out, shocking General Mu who trembled with fear. He couldnât help but cry out. âHan Yunxi, you!â\nUnfortunately, Han Yunxi was too absorbed in her work to pay him any attention. With his sonâs life in her hands, General Mu didnât dare to do anything no matter how irascible he felt. He could only ask Gu Beiyue in a low voice, âIs it fine that sheâs sliced open his stomach?â
Actually, Gu Beiyue wasnât sure either, but seeing Han Yunxi concentrating with such an intent expression reminded him of her mother, Lady Tianxin[1]. They had an excellent likeness when practicing their art.
He was older than Han Yunxi by four years. When he was four years old, his father took him to a consultation of doctors where he was lucky to see Lady Tianxin. In truth, heâd saw Han Yunxi then as well, though she was still in her motherâs womb. Remembering this, a warm smile crept onto Gu Beiyueâs lips. âShhâŠdonât disturb her.â
Very quickly, Han Yunxi withdrew a blackened needle from the depths of the bloody cut. Seeing this, General Mu was in disbelief. Gu Beiyueâs pupils gazed on in approval. Following this, a second blackened needle was retrieved. The movement of her hand split open the whip injury on her arm, which started to bleed again. But Han Yunxi was completely oblivious as she focused on her patient. Gu Beiyue promptly decided to go over with some medicine and cotton. He bent over to apply the cotton to her cut, but Han Yunxi gave him a look.
âDonât hinderâŠâ
âI promise I wonât get in your way. Trust me,â Gu Beiyue interrupted her softly.
Han Yunxi wanted to refuse until she saw Gu Beiyueâs warm eyes. Her heart trembled in surprise. She didnât expect that there were still people left on this world with such a clean and penetrating gaze, even purer than an infantâs. She couldnât help but wonder exactly what kind of man he was.\nDrat, Han Yunxi discovered that sheâd gotten distracted again. Her eyes abruptly turned cold. âStop this, youâve already hindered my progress!â
But Gu Beiyue didnât stop. Instead, his other hand moved Han Yunxiâs head until she was looking at Mu Qingwu. âJust keep going. I said I wonât get in your way, so I wonât.â
Han Yunxi wasnât in a mood to argue, but privately decided to push him aside as soon as he became a nuisance. As it turned out, something unexpected happened. Though her arm was in constant motion, Gu Beiyue followed each movement as he gently cleaned her wound and applied medicine. His actions were not only nimble but extremely meticulous and gentle. The most crucial detail was that he really didnât get in her way.
Though her expression was blank, Han Yunxi admired him from the bottom of her heart. Looks like he wasnât just fishing for fame or compliments. These skills of his were far from ordinary. She entrusted her arm to Gu Beiyue and concentrated her attention back onto the task at hand, not even realizing when he finished binding up her cut. After retrieving the poison needles, Han Yunxi didnât immediately sew up the knife wound. Instead, she stuck more needles into various acupoints to force the toxins out. Gu Beiyue sucked in a breath as soon as he saw her skills in acupuncture, mesmerized by the sight.
Leaving aside the beauty of her technique, he didnât even fully see the acupoints sheâd chosen for her needles or know their names. Soon enough, the area around the wound was filled with needles. A layman wouldnât be able to tell anything beyond the dense mass of needles, but experts in the field understood that these needles carried a vast branch of knowledge. As needles were added to the skin, more and more black blood oozed out, enough to stain three clothsâ worth. It didnât seem like the poisoned blood showed any signs of stopping, but Han Yunxi removed her needles and started filling in the injury with medicinal ingredients.\nâEsteemed wangfei, isnât there still poison left in the blood?â Gu Beiyue asked abruptly. In truth, he hadnât seen enough of Han Yunxiâs acupuncture skills yet.
As before, Han Yunxi ignored any and all questions as she continued to work. Without the appropriate tools, she could only use the might of Chinese medicine to help. Fortunately, her incision wasnât very deep, so she filled the wound with layer after layer of various drugs to diminish inflammation, suppress poison, stop blood flow, and bind the muscle, finally adding a layer of white gauze to fix everything in place.
After stabilizing the wound, Han Yunxi finally let out a breath, wiping off a thin layer of sweat from her brow. Only then did she answer Gu Beiyueâs question. âIf he keeps bleeding like this, heâll die from blood loss instead of poison. This is the most basic general knowledge, donât you understand?â
Gu Beiyueâs face turned red before he broke into a soft smile, but he didnât make any move to defend himself. Since childhood, heâd been praised as a genius, but now a woman had washed her hands of him. Han Yunxi was even younger than he was. Which part of her was useless trash? She should be the real genius here. Yet General Mu was unhappy. Coldly he asked, âIf you do this, what do we do about the poison in his body?â
âFortunately, we made it in time. It didnât reach his internal organs, so I used some drugs to hold it back. He canât bleed anymore, nor can anyone move him for the next few days. Itâll be troublesome if his injuryâs disturbed.â As she spoke, Han Yunxi wrote out a prescription and handed over to Gu Beiyue. âCan you get these ingredients for me?â
The list of ingredients wasnât as rare as the one sheâd given to the Duke of Qin. She remembered that the ancient books had mentioned these plants as common medicinal plants. Sure enough, Gu Beiyue gave a glance before replying, âYes. I can buy them from the herbal medicine shop. The White Cassia Hall[2] should have some. Esteemed wangfei, please wait while I order someone to get them.â\nHan Yunxi didnât exactly write a prescription for expelling poisons, but dissolving them. Mu Qingwue couldnât bleed anymore, so he could only take medicine to break down the poison in his body. Though this method was slower, it was the only one left for him. Han Yunxi wasnât going to wait here for that, though. If she didnât return home, itâd be hard to explain things to Grand Concubine Yi.
âIâm not going to wait. Take two to three servings of these ingredients and boil them together once, then have him take it twice a day on an empty stomach for ten times,â she instructed carefully. In a flash, the Head Imperial Physician Gu Beiyue had turned into a fledgling servant of a medicine house. His lips quirked into a smile without his realization.
Meanwhile, General Mu wasnât satisfied with this at all. âHan Yunxi, what did you say? Youâre not waiting?â
His loud voice nearly blasted her ears clean off. She turned to face him, keeping her temper in check. âGeneral Mu, the poisonâs basically been dispelled. Whatâs left in his body shouldnât affect him too much. I can guarantee that after the young generalâs fever ends, heâll wake up. At the earliest, itâll be tomorrow morning; at the latest, tomorrow evening.â
âIâm not concerned with so many details. In any case, youâre still under suspicion before Qingwu wakes up, so donât even think about leaving!â General Muâs tone was both potent and savage.
Han Yunxi sucked in a cold breath. âGeneral Mu, Grand Concubine Yi has been waiting to ask after me when I return. If you want to have me stay, then Iâll need to trouble you to send someone to the Duke of Qinâs estate with a letter, along with a clear explanation of todayâs events. I think sheâll be clear on whether I came to save someone or murder them today!â\nAlthough Han Yunxi disliked Grand Concubine Yi, she didnât mind taking advantage of her status at critical moments like these. Sheâd already saved Mu Qingwu and was certain heâd wake up soon. If General Mu went to the Duke of Qinâs estate, heâd have trouble explaining himself to Grand Concubine Yi when Mu Qingwu did wake.
Though she was an unfavored wife, even Grand Concubine Yi had said she was now the representative for the Duke of Qin. She couldnât lose face for them. Han Yunxi was certain that if news really did reach the grand imperial concubine, things wouldnât go easy for General Mu.
Though the general was a bit uncivilized, he still had a head on his shoulders. He was very clear that Grand Concubine Yi was an even more unreasonable woman than the empress dowager. Right now, he didnât even have enough evidence to build a strong case. After some hesitation, General Mu finally relented.
âForget it, Iâll believe you this time.â
Han Yunxi exhaled her troubled breath before opening the door herself and stepping outside. Who knew that the first thing sheâd see was Mu Liuyueâs hateful glare?
âBig brother woke up?â she asked suspiciously.
Han Yunxi didnât even want to look at such a tedious and unreasonable woman, much less use her energy to explain. She completely ignored Mu Liuyue and walked past her.
âHan Yunxi, you stop right there!â Mu Liuyue flew into a rage.