Chapter 19

When I went back, Liang Ji was still standing in the exact same spot, looking in my direction.

People bustled back and forth around him, but it was as if his spot was isolated by an invisible barrier.

“Why didn’t you go apply medicine?”

His injured arm had stopped bleeding, but there was a pool of blood on the ground.

“Didn’t you tell me to wait for you?”

His gaze fell on my torn clothes. “Did you and Young General Ji fight… spar again?”

I shook my head. “Just cleared the air about some things.”

He gave an “Mm.” I took him to his room, applied medicine, and bandaged it freshly. “Being a doctor and not cherishing your own body, you deserve to drink Coptis root soup for a month.”

He laughed, and watching him, I couldn’t help but curve my lips into a smile too.

“Where do you plan to go after this? Will you continue your travels?”

I didn’t have the courage to confess my feelings. I was afraid of tying him down, but I cared too much, so I could only test the waters covertly.

He didn’t answer immediately, falling silent instead.

“It’s fine if you don’t want to say.”

Staying there felt awkward, so I stood up to leave. He grabbed me and made me sit beside him. “I haven’t told you about my background yet.”

I looked at him, and meeting my gaze, he began his story.

“There was a plague in my hometown. My mother died from it, and my father became a wandering doctor, taking me everywhere to treat and save people. He also visited famous doctors far and wide, aiming to collect cures for all sorts of difficult and complicated diseases to compile a book, the *Qianjin Fang* (Invaluable Prescription). After he passed away, I inherited his dying wish.”

“So that’s how it is.”

My heart sank bit by bit. “So the *Qianjin Fang* isn’t finished yet?”

“…Not yet.”

I lowered my head, clutching my torn wedding dress. “You must have faced many difficulties all these years. It hasn’t been easy for you.”

Since he had already endured so much hardship, I couldn’t let him abandon his work halfway.

But I also had the people I wanted to protect.

We parted ways at Mount Yan. This time, I was the one who mounted my horse first and did not look back.

After returning to the capital, Huang Yue greatly praised the bandit suppression, commending me for going deep into the tiger’s den and awarding me top merit. She asked what I wanted.

Looking back at all the scenes in the capital, I made a request to Huang Yue. “This subject beseeches Your Majesty to transfer me to guard the border.”

The court was in an uproar, but Huang Yue issued the transfer order. After court, Ji Wenmu blocked my path. “Is it because of me?”

“No.”

It was because I suddenly realized a person can’t stay idle. When idle, you involuntarily overthink.

If I stayed in the capital, stayed in my estate, everywhere I looked, a certain figure would appear next to whatever I was seeing.

“I’ve been out there for so long, I’m not used to life in the capital anymore. I want to go back.”

I punched him in the shoulder. “If you have free time, come visit me at the border.”

Naturally, I couldn’t escape a lecture from Aunt Ji, complaining that I just found her annoying and resented her for trying to find me a husband.

Complaints aside, she constantly ran to my estate, preparing everything I could possibly need without leaving anything out.

The day before I was scheduled to leave the capital, I wandered around the East Lake all day. At nightfall, I ate a bowl of wontons at the stall.

When I returned to my estate, a person stood under the lantern, slender and tall.

I slowly slowed my pace, unsure if this figure was real or just another illusion.

But the figure walked forward and stopped right in front of me. Even in the night, his eyes were watery and bright, snagging my gaze and my soul.

“Amin, I think I need your help.”

My brain felt sluggish. I stared blankly and asked, “What… what help?”

“Since I was young, my luck has been good. Everyone I met treated me with kindness, and I could turn every disaster into fortune. The only times I suffered were twice, and they trouble me to this day.”

He sighed and lowered his eyes. “The first time was watching you mount your horse and leave at the city gates. The second was at Mount Yan, watching you walk away.”

“So I thought, having seen countless difficult diseases, now that this illness has fallen upon me, I am completely at my wits’ end alone. I can only seek your help.”

I suppressed my trembling. “I’m not a doctor. I don’t know how to cure illnesses.”

He chuckled softly. “You don’t need to know how to cure illnesses. You, yourself, are the invaluable prescription.”

I understood his meaning and was naturally overjoyed, but I was terrified of holding him back.

“I’m going to guard the Northern Desert. If you come with me, you won’t be able to travel.”

He raised his hand and pulled me into his embrace. “That’s even better. I haven’t been to the Northern Desert yet. Amin can show me around.”

“You won’t regret it?”

“I’ve already regretted it twice. My coming here is exactly so I won’t regret it ever again.”

(End of text)