CMWKSD -Chapter 268 Bringing Up the One Topic No One Wants Mentioned

Everyone looked at one another in silence.

Just as Jiu Yue was about to speak, Ji Yiqing noticed Madam Shen swaying, as if she might collapse at any moment.

He gently tugged at Jiu Yue’s sleeve where no one else could see.

Jiu Yue looked at him in confusion.

Ji Yiqing then turned toward Ji Youqin inside the room and said, “Youqin, take Madam Shen down to wash her face first. If the Young General wakes up and sees her like this, he’ll only worry.”

Only then did General Shen realize something.

One look at Shen Zongyan’s condition was enough to tell that he had suffered terribly.

If Madam Shen were to hear everything now, she probably wouldn’t be able to take it.

Madam Shen was about to refuse, but General Shen nodded repeatedly. “Yes, yes, that makes sense. Madam, go wash your face quickly.”

Madam Shen wanted to stay, but after glancing at everyone present, she knew that some matters were beyond her involvement.

All she could do was look worriedly at Shen Zongyan, then nod.

Step by step, turning back every few paces, she was led away by Ji Youqin.

After Madam Shen left, General Shen said to Jiu Yue, “My wife is timid. I was afraid she might disturb the Princess. Please excuse us.”

Though his heart was in agony, General Shen still forced himself to remain composed.

As the head of the family, anyone else could fall apart—but not him.

Jiu Yue squeezed Ji Yiqing’s hand in return.

Thanks to Ji Yiqing’s subtle guidance, Jiu Yue was no longer the blunt, inexperienced person she had been when she first arrived here.

Seeing the white hair at General Shen’s temples, Jiu Yue spoke slowly. “He… has been tortured. He’s suffered a great deal—endured many hardships.”

The hand General Shen hid inside his sleeve clenched tightly, and his eyes instantly reddened.

If anyone else had said that Shen Zongyan had suffered, General Shen might have thought it an exaggeration.

But even Jiu Yue said he had endured great suffering.

General Shen didn’t dare imagine what Little Six had been through.

The Crown Prince glanced at the aged General Shen and hurriedly changed the subject.
“Jiu Yue, what do you mean by saying this is a ‘test’?”

Jiu Yue felt that the Crown Prince truly had a talent for bringing up exactly the wrong topic.

She had deliberately summarized things vaguely, not wanting to explain too clearly.

Yet the Crown Prince insisted on getting to the bottom of it.

She looked at him helplessly.

But when she turned her head, she met General Shen’s burning gaze fixed on her.

Looking into those eyes, a similar pair surfaced in Jiu Yue’s memory.

The general who had once taken her in.

Whenever he looked at the national flag or emblem, or even watched war films, his eyes would hold that same look.

Jiu Yue didn’t know how to describe it.

How could someone’s faith not lie in gods or Buddhas, but in a country?

How could someone’s love for a nation be so deep and intense that it moved the heart?

Jiu Yue saw it again now—in General Shen’s eyes.

Because he had realized that what happened to Shen Zongyan was not mere venting of anger.

Because he knew that Shen Zongyan’s suffering this time was tied to the nation.

General Shen cast aside everything else.

He remembered only that his child had suffered for the country.

And suffering for the country could not be in vain.

Jiu Yue had always claimed she didn’t understand human nature.

Yet at this moment, it took on a tangible form.

She had underestimated this aged old general.

And even more so, she had underestimated General Shen as a military father.

No longer hesitating, Jiu Yue slowly said, “As everyone knows, Prince Hui is crippled in both legs. It’s an old injury from childhood.”

“No one knows exactly how he was hurt.”

“But after so many years, his legs must have long since atrophied and deformed—so thin they’re barely human. Recovery is basically impossible.”

“I think Prince Hui himself is very clear about this.”

Jiu Yue turned, her gaze fixed on Shen Zongyan lying on the bed.

“So, Prince Hui deliberately brought in someone who had no possibility of being saved.”

General Shen choked out, “No possibility of being saved…”

Jiu Yue looked at him.

In this era, there were no modern instruments.

Saving Shen Zongyan was no easy task.

She couldn’t even determine his vital signs.

She knew medicine, but she wasn’t a deity.

She couldn’t save whoever she wanted.

“I can only try.”

As she spoke, Jiu Yue still cruelly told General Shen everything Shen Zongyan had endured.

“Four silver needles were driven into his scalp. Based on my judgment, they will cause severe mental disorder.”

“He has been poisoned with at least ten different toxins. These toxins support one another, forming a strange balance inside his body.”

“If I remove only one or two, or even nine of them, the remaining one will immediately take his life.”

“What’s more, he’s been implanted with a gu.”

“No one can be certain what he’ll become if he wakes up. General Shen—knowing this, do you still want me to save him?”

Listening to Jiu Yue’s every word, everyone finally understood why she said Shen Zongyan’s suffering was a “test.”

If Jiu Yue could even bring Shen Zongyan back to life, Prince Hui would certainly believe she could cure him as well.

No wonder Prince Hui hadn’t made a move all this time.

They had thought too simply.

They had assumed that whether Jiu Yue was famous or not, Prince Hui might directly abduct her.

But they never considered that, given Prince Hui’s temperament,

He had to act with his own hands and personally see the result before he would truly believe something this outrageous.

General Shen turned to look at Shen Zongyan on the bed, his breathing so faint it was almost imperceptible.

Who would want to die if they could live?

General Shen stepped back, putting distance between himself and Jiu Yue.

Then he lifted his robe and solemnly knelt to the ground.

Ji Yiqing and the others hurriedly stepped aside.

Even if this kneel wasn’t meant for them, they couldn’t bear it.

With a heavy thud, Jiu Yue stood directly in front of General Shen and accepted the bow head-on.

She, Jiu Yue, was worthy of this bow—even a three-kneels-nine-kowtows salute, she could accept.

“Please, Princess, give it a try. No matter the outcome, it is my son’s fate.”

With that, General Shen knocked his head hard against the ground.

He then stood and looked toward the steward behind him.

The steward immediately handed over the wooden box he had been holding.

General Shen raised it with both hands. “A small token, unworthy of mention. I ask the Princess to accept it.”

In such a solemn, heavy atmosphere, The three men present couldn’t help but chuckle.

General Shen truly had Jiu Yue completely figured out.

Jiu Yue accepted the box without the slightest burden on her conscience.

She turned and walked away arrogantly.

As she walked, she quietly opened the wooden box.

Wow—silver notes everywhere!

Truly worthy of the General’s household—able to produce so many banknotes at any moment.

But it wasn’t really General Shen’s fault.

Ever since he found out that Jiu Yue liked silver notes, the Shen household always kept a box of them ready.

After all, they were a military family—who knew when someone might be injured or die?

Having money on hand was safer.

Jiu Yue was hard to understand.

Whether someone had money or not didn’t seem to be the basis on which she decided to save them.

After all, back in Pingta County, she had stitched up that little soldier without taking a single coin.

Perhaps she was simply someone who would fleece the rich and powerful to the bone—

And fleece the poor and powerless in other ways. Like Shao Qing.