MCSCPM -Chapter 253 Found

“Qingyue, why didn’t you expose her directly just now?”

“If we guessed wrong, that would be disturbing the villagers,” Yin Qingyue replied. She had her concerns.

Ding Ying hurriedly asked, “Then what do we do now?”

“No rush. We’ll wait until night and sneak in.”

Yes—there was really no other way. Yin Qingyue was no less worried than Ding Ying. Just as Ding Ying feared something might happen to Leng Feng, Yin Qingyue was equally afraid that something might happen to Prince Jing.

The two of them returned first to the pavilion and told the guards what had happened. As soon as the guards heard this, they wanted to go find Miss Shaoyao.

“Don’t go,” Yin Qingyue stopped them. “If you go now, won’t that be alerting the enemy? Wait until night. Then we’ll go take a look. If it’s not him, we’ll leave immediately. If it is—then even if we have to risk our lives, we must bring Prince Jing back.”

She meant every word of “even if we have to risk our lives.”

On the other side—

Shaoyao returned to her house, her earlier caution turning into worry. She walked quickly to the bed.

A man lay there. Though his face was pale, his features were strikingly defined, radiating an irresistible charm.

Shaoyao sat down anxiously by the bed and reached out to feel his forehead. The fever had subsided, and her heart finally relaxed.

She sat there, gazing at him in a daze. Such a handsome man, dressed so magnificently—it was obvious he was no ordinary person.

“Who exactly are you?” she murmured softly, her heart already captured by this man.

Suddenly, she thought of the stunning beauty from earlier. That woman’s looks were the most beautiful Shaoyao had ever seen in her life. She truly matched the man on the bed. Could that woman be his wife? Otherwise, why would she come asking in such a hurry?

At this thought, Shaoyao felt afraid—afraid of losing this man.

She admitted it. Her heart could no longer be restrained. After eighteen years of silence, the moment she saw him, her eyes lit up.

When she brought him back, he had been gravely injured and already unconscious, his mind unclear. Shaoyao had cared for him day and night, pulling him back from the brink of death. After taking such care of him, she truly did not want him to leave her.

Of course, Shaoyao also knew that he would eventually wake up. And if that woman really was his wife, then he would likely leave with her. Still, before he woke, she just wanted to quietly look at him.

Every time she kept vigil like this, she would sit beside him until night fell. As the sky gradually darkened, she left the room to decoct his medicine.

At this time, Yin Qingyue and the others had already returned as well. In order not to alarm anyone or cause misunderstandings, they needed to first see clearly what was inside—whether there was a person, and whether that person was Prince Jing.

They saw Shaoyao decocting medicine in the pharmacy. Ding Ying said, “Qingyue, look—it’s already so late and she’s still preparing medicine. She doesn’t look sick herself, so there must be an injured person inside. Most likely it’s Prince Jing, or maybe Leng Feng.”

Yin Qingyue nodded. “You’re probably right. Let’s first see who’s inside before we act.”

The group retreated to the backyard and went behind the inner room. The window was closed, so a guard made a small hole in the paper-covered window.

Peering through the tiny hole, they saw the person on the bed.

It was Prince Jing. It really was Prince Jing!

At last, they had found him. The worry that had weighed on her heart for so long finally eased a little.

“It’s Prince Jing indeed. We can go in now,” Yin Qingyue said.

Ding Ying also leaned over to look through the hole. “It really is Prince Jing. Qingyue, he’s all right.”

“It seems that this girl called Shaoyao saved him,” Yin Qingyue said, then hurried toward the front of the house.

Having found Chu Jingcheng, the joy on Yin Qingyue’s face could no longer be concealed.

At this moment, Shaoyao had already carried the medicine into the room. She went to the bedside and used a spoon to feed the medicine into Chu Jingcheng’s mouth, but he wouldn’t swallow it—the medicine wouldn’t go down. She tried again and again, but it was still the same.

“You can’t not take the medicine. Drink it quickly!” Shaoyao said anxiously. How could he recover from such injuries without medicine?

But in Chu Jingcheng’s current condition, he simply couldn’t swallow it. She held the bowl helplessly, anxious and unsure what to do. After thinking it over, she finally came up with a solution—

Feed him the medicine mouth-to-mouth.

But how could a young woman do such a thing? She hesitated. On one hand, it felt improper; on the other, if he didn’t take the medicine, how could his body recover?

After struggling for a long while, she told herself: she was a doctor, and saving people was her duty. Even feeding medicine this way was part of saving a life. So she took a sip of the medicine, held it in her mouth, reminding herself that she was saving him.

She bent down, about to press her lips to Chu Jingcheng’s and pass the medicine into his mouth—

Just as she was about to do so, the door was suddenly pushed open from outside, interrupting her.

“What are you doing?!” Ding Ying was the first to rush in, loudly questioning her, and she pulled Yin Qingyue in behind her. “You’re a young woman—how can you just kiss someone like that? What’s more, he’s a married man!”

Married man? Since when did Ding Ying use such wording?

The scene froze at the exact moment Shaoyao was about to kiss Chu Jingcheng. When Yin Qingyue saw this, her expression darkened instantly. Her man—unless she herself no longer wanted him—no one else was allowed to touch.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Yin Qingyue demanded, glancing at Chu Jingcheng on the bed. A surge of discomfort rose in her heart, written plainly across her face.

Shaoyao jumped to her feet in panic. Seeing that it was the two young women from earlier, she was both frightened and guilty. Trembling, she said, “It’s not what you think, I—”

“Move aside.” Yin Qingyue stepped forward and pushed her away, then sat down by the bed to look at the still-unconscious Chu Jingcheng. If she had come in even a step later, Chu Jingcheng’s lips would have been taken by her.

Shaoyao shook her head repeatedly and explained anxiously, “Miss, it’s not what you think. He’s too weak and can’t swallow the medicine, so I had no choice. Please don’t misunderstand!”

“Even if someone has to feed him medicine, it should be me,” Yin Qingyue said. At this moment, she was not only angry at Shaoyao, but also inexplicably angry at Chu Jingcheng.

“I’m sorry.”

“And why did you hide his situation from us? What exactly were you trying to do?” Yin Qingyue asked.

“I wasn’t trying to do anything,” Shaoyao cried. “I was just worried about his safety. I didn’t know who you were, so I didn’t say anything. I was even more afraid that you might be people chasing him. If that were the case, wouldn’t I be harming him?”

Hearing this explanation, Yin Qingyue didn’t want to argue anymore. What she cared about most now was Chu Jingcheng’s injuries.

His face was pale. Although the bleeding had stopped, his condition was still dangerous. Without timely treatment, there was no guarantee something wouldn’t happen.

The wound on his arm had improved somewhat after a few days of rest, but the most serious injury was still the sword wound on his chest.

She removed the bandages, took some of the crushed herbs and smelled them, then said, “These herbs are completely useless. They’ll only worsen his condition. No wonder he still hasn’t woken up.”

“How can they be useless? I’ve used them to save people before,” Shaoyao said.

“Your prescription isn’t wrong, but you didn’t treat the right problem. This white ash grass can stop bleeding and help wounds heal, yes—but his injury is internal. Treating only the outside is useless,” Yin Qingyue said, lifting the bowl of medicine and sniffing it lightly. “Even if he drinks this, it won’t help.”

Shaoyao’s heart trembled violently. Compared to this woman, the gap was far too great—not just in beauty, but also in medical skill.

“You… who exactly are you?” Shaoyao asked.

Yin Qingyue didn’t answer. Instead, she called out to the guards outside, “Guards.”

All the guards came in at once. When they saw Prince Jing on the bed, they all dropped to one knee.

“Take him away immediately. We can’t stay here long.”

“Yes.”

The guards carefully lifted Chu Jingcheng and were about to carry him out when Shaoyao suddenly blocked their way.

“Who are you people exactly? I can’t let you just take him away like this. I was the one who saved him!”

The guards ignored her, pushing her aside and carrying Chu Jingcheng away.

Yin Qingyue walked up to her and said, “Miss, I’m very grateful that you saved him. But he can’t stay here, and keeping him here will only bring trouble to you. That’s why we must take him away.”

“But—”

“There is no ‘but.’ If you truly want to save him, then please step aside. Your medical skills are good, but still not enough. Miss, please stop here.”

With that, Yin Qingyue left.

Ding Ying followed behind. Before leaving, she asked Shaoyao in a gentler tone, “Miss, when you found him, did you see anyone else?”

Shaoyao was already completely confused. She shook her head without speaking.

“Thank you, miss.”

Ding Ying hurried away as well.

Left alone, Shaoyao stood there in a daze. The man had been taken away—she didn’t even know who he was. And who exactly was that woman?

Chu Jingcheng was taken to an inn in the county, and the entire inn was booked.

Yin Qingyue didn’t dare delay his treatment. She immediately had someone fetch the medicine according to the prescription she wrote.

She pulled open Chu Jingcheng’s clothes. Because of the earlier movement, the wound on his chest had started bleeding again. She quickly crushed the herbs she had prepared, carefully applied them to the wound, and then wrapped it up with bandages.

Chu Jingcheng frowned slightly. The pain made him let out a soft sound, but he was still too weak to wake up.

“Chu Jingcheng, with me here, I will absolutely not let anything happen to you,” Yin Qingyue said.

She studied the man carefully. His face was pale, yet it couldn’t hide his handsome features. With a face like this, it was indeed captivating—no wonder that Shaoyao had been so infatuated with him.

At this moment, Ding Ying knocked on the door and came in, holding a bowl of freshly decocted medicine.

“Qingyue, the medicine is ready. Should we give it to Prince Jing now?”

Yin Qingyue took the bowl and said, “Ding Ying, you go out first. I’ll feed him the medicine.”

Ding Ying wasn’t stupid—of course she knew what Yin Qingyue was about to do. Since Shaoyao couldn’t feed him mouth-to-mouth, it would naturally be Yin Qingyue’s turn.

“All right. If you need anything, just call me.”

“Okay. Thank you, Ding Ying.”

As Ding Ying was about to leave, Yin Qingyue said to her, “Ding Ying, I believe Leng Feng will be fine. We’ll definitely find him. Tomorrow, I’ll have the guards continue searching.”

“I know. He’ll be fine. He promised me—he told me to wait for him to come back,” Ding Ying said with a bitter smile, tears pooling in her eyes.

“Since he promised you, he will definitely come back.”

Ding Ying bit her lip and said nothing more. Then she stepped out and closed the door behind her.