Chapter 92

In the guest room of Li’s Clinic under Mount Windward, Liu Wuyi was reading a medical book after dinner. Though he had given the array diagram to Nangong Du in the morning, the latter didn’t let him go and there were still some guys in black guarding outside. Before leaving, Nangong Du gave him the book as a quid pro quo, or as a reward.

Liu Wuyi was shocked the moment he saw the ancient medical book, which had been lost for years since the previous dynasty. As he was once a huge fan of medicine, to be frank, he was pleased by the unexpected acquisition of the book. Needless to say, it didn’t mean he was less worried about his son. However, he would rather let Zixiu make it clear to Nangong Du to his face, so as this prince would not come to harass him again than watch him starve to death. Moreover, Yan Ke and his disciples must be looking for Zixiu everywhere, and they wouldn’t sit by if they knew he was in trouble. Given the situation, Liu Wuyi could only try to look on the bright side.

Shaking his head slightly, he shifted his attention back to the book.

Having just read a few lines, Liu Wuyi suddenly smelled a hint of fragrance. As he knew it was the smell of hypnotic smoke, he held his breath instinctively.

‘Is someone trying to assassinate me?’

Putting down the book, Liu Wuyi leaped to the window swiftly. To his surprise, when he opened the window, he saw his senior brother, Yan Ke, standing outside!

What the hell? Liu Wuyi frowned in silence.

Seeing Liu Wuyi’s sullen look made Yan Ke even uneasier. The two of them had grown up together, so he knew well what would happen if he annoyed his junior brother. Anyway, the consequences could be serious! At the thought of this, he leaped into the room and offered to open the rest of the windows.

As soon as the smoke of the house was completely gone, he immediately apologized and explained to his junior brother before the latter could question him. “Brother Liu, my apologies! I was trying to knock out those men in black with the hypnotic smoke, but unfortunately, a strong wind came up and blew it into your room! Er…”

Looking at Liu Wuyi with an awkward smile, Yan Ke hoped that his junior brother could give him an out. However, Liu Wuyi remained silent expressionlessly, so he had to go on explaining, “You know me well. I had never used such disgraceful means against others, so I made a mistake just now. I didn’t mean it! Hope you inhaled no smoke!”

‘You know better than anyone else if it was an honest mistake!’ Liu Wuyi almost blurted out. However, after all, Yan Ke was not only his senior brother but also was known as Medicine Sage. Besides, he just wanted to get him out of here by using the hypnotic smoke. Therefore, it would be inappropriate to choke him verbally. Moreover, they were not young and their sons had grown up, so he just couldn’t lose his temper with this senior brother as he used to. At the thought of this, he shifted the topic. “Brother Yan, I’m not surprised having seen you here!”

“Er…” On hearing that, Yan Ke was a little surprised and he didn’t know what to say. After pausing for a short moment, he promised with a solemn expression, ”Brother Liu, you have my word! Lingxiao will definitely marry Zixiu!”

“Really?” Liu Wuyi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Yan Ke still thought Zixiu was a girl! Was it because his senior brother was too stubborn or because Yang Lingxiao was too unconvincing? ‘Forget it, I’d better let the kids sort this out for themselves!’ Liu Wuyi thought helplessly.

After quite a while, he continued, “So Lingxiao had got into the mountain following Nangong Du?”

‘Nangong Du?’ Hearing the name, Yan Ke felt his heart skip a beat with the look on his face growing even more solemn. Though he wasn’t so thoughtful as his junior brother, he was a person of insight. When he had just mentioned the marriage between Lingxiao and Zixiu, Liu Wuyi fell silent at once and didn’t respond to this, which upset him more. Unable to contain his doubts anymore, he decided to bring up the question that had been bottled up in his mind for months. “Brother Liu, you’re not happy with Lingxiao, are you?”

“What?! Brother Yan, what makes you think this way?”

“Brother Liu, you took Zixiu away that night without even telling us! Lingxiao has been looking for him for a few months and lost a lot of weight recently! But you gave the array diagram to Nangong Du! I can’t think of any other reason why you did this except that you had a prejudice against Lingxiao!” Yan Ke asserted. Though he was angry that Lingxiao had got Zixiu ‘pregnant’ before they got married and he had rebuked him abusively, in front of his future daughter-in-law’s father, he had to stand up for his son and fight for his chance. Unfortunately, he wasn’t aware that he had got the whole thing wrong!

Liu Wuyi grew even more helpless! Unwilling to waste his time and effort on convincing his senior brother, who seemed to be the stubbornest man in the world, that Zixiu was a boy and he hadn’t got pregnant at all, after pondering for a while, Liu Wuyi asked back, “Brother Yan, since you’ve known that I gave the array diagram to Nangong Du, you must have been here for a few days. Then why didn’t you come to me earlier and ask me for the array diagram? You didn’t have much faith in Lingxiao, right?”

Yan Ke was rendered speechless. For fear that his Brother Liu might slip away silently as he had done last time, he had been hiding outside for a few days. Liu Wuyi was much better than him in Qing Kung and the art of array, or he wouldn’t have had no trace of him for so many years. But Lingxiao had gone to Mount Winward, how come he still worried that Liu Wuyi would leave without saying good-bye? It seemed he still had doubts about whether his son could find Zixiu!

“Brother Yan, you’d better ask Lingxiao for advice! Actually, Zixiu isn’t the right person for your daughter-in-law! Don’t get me wrong! I’m not siding Nangong Du, but…” Liu Wuyi was clear that if Zixiu was left unattended for a few days, he would definitely starve to death! Now that he couldn’t find a better way to help his son, he had to assent to Nangong Du’s request to see him. As he was ashamed to tell the outsiders about his son’s imbecility, he didn’t know how to explain to Yan Ke.

“Brother Liu, what do you mean?” There seemed to be alternative meanings behind his junior brother’s words. Obviously, he was partial to the wealthy and powerful Prince Mu!

From the way Yan Ke spoke, Liu Wuyi had briefly figured out what he was on his mind, so he immediately shifted the topic again. “Brother Yan, why are you so upset about me giving Nangong Du the array diagram? Anyway, Lingxiao has already got into the Cirrus Valley following him.”