Chapter 93: Move into Prince Duan's Residence?

Tan Qingjiu narrowed her eyes. She had thought that after she had exposed Shen Yingjue’s masquerade as Shen Xiao in the dead of night, he would have shown her his true face the next time they met.

She had not expected him to still be wearing that same shameless, frivolous guise, identical to Shen Xiao’s.

But she did not dwell on it. Lowering her gaze, she said, "There is no need. Although Prince Duan did get in my way, he also served as my shield. We are even."

"Come now, don’t call it even."

Tan Qingjiu’s eyes grew cool. "So, what exactly brings Prince Duan here?"

"If you do not intend to speak honestly, then forgive me for not keeping you company."

When she finished, she made as if to leave. Before she had gone far, Shen Yingjue caught hold of her sleeve.

"I do, in fact, have something I need to ask of Divine Physician Tan. I would like you to cooperate with me in staging a play."

"A play?" Tan Qingjiu narrowed her eyes. "What sort of play?"

The corner of Shen Yingjue’s mouth curved faintly. "A play in which I am gravely ill and unconscious."

Tan Qingjiu turned sharply to look at him. Gravely ill, and unconscious?

Shen Yingjue lifted his eyes to meet hers. "Does Divine Physician Tan still remember what you said the first time you came to the manor to treat me?"

She had said quite a lot. How could she possibly remember which line he meant?

Yet Shen Yingjue seemed to have already anticipated her reaction. A faint smile touched his lips. "You said I had at most... one month left to live."

Tan Qingjiu nodded. She had indeed said that.

"But I said that only if Prince Duan refused treatment."

"Exactly. If Divine Physician Tan had not given me the antidote, how far should the poison have progressed by now?"

Tan Qingjiu calculated the days. "It should be around the point where it has entered the heart meridians. At this stage, you ought to be on the verge of fainting."

"At first, it would only be occasional spells of unconsciousness. Then the intervals would grow longer and longer. If no effective antidote were found by then, once you started fainting, even if a cure were eventually discovered, the poison would already have damaged your foundations."

"Even if you were fortunate enough to keep your life, your organs would be harmed. If it were mild, you would be left with lingering illness and would have to take medicine for the rest of your days. If it were severe, it would shorten your lifespan, and you would die within a few years."

By then, Tan Qingjiu had already come back to herself. "Prince Duan wants to pretend that no cure has been found?"

"Exactly." Shen Yingjue pressed his lips together in a faint smile. "I will pretend I have not found a way to detoxify it, and gradually fall into unconsciousness, while all medicine proves useless."

As he spoke, he tapped lightly on the table with his fingers. "First, it will deceive the person who poisoned me and lure him into showing his true colors. I simply want to see what kind of reaction he will have when he realizes I have truly been poisoned to this extent."

Looking at Shen Yingjue’s detached expression and listening to his words, Tan Qingjiu frowned slightly.

From what he had said, he should already know who had poisoned him.

And the reason he wanted to probe that person’s reaction was because that person was someone close to him? Or because he still had some lingering hope left in his heart?

Tan Qingjiu let out a quiet, inward sigh. For some reason, she found Shen Yingjue rather pitiable.

Born in the cold palace, raised in the cold palace, his mother indifferent and unconcerned toward him; later he had witnessed her death with his own eyes. Then he fell ill and was treated as a madman and an aberration. Even so, his own father still feared him, forcing him to establish his own residence while still young, almost as though he had been driven out of the palace.

Perhaps it was precisely for that reason that even after being struck by such a vicious poison, he still harbored the hope that the one who had done this would feel pity upon seeing him unconscious.

"Second, if I were to faint, then I could openly invite Divine Physician Tan to reside in Prince Duan’s Manor and treat me at my side."

"..." Tan Qingjiu lifted her eyelids, pushing back the sympathy that had just risen in her heart.

"Divine Physician Tan need not refuse. You have known me for some time now; you should understand that whatever I set my sights on, I will see through to the end."

"So I must have Divine Physician Tan move into Prince Duan’s Manor to treat me."

"And third, only if Divine Physician Tan comes to Prince Duan’s Manor to serve as my cover can I use the excuse of being unconscious to leave the manor and attend to my own affairs."

Tan Qingjiu’s expression trembled slightly, and she raised her eyes to look at Shen Yingjue.

He was completely unguarded, laying out his entire plan so plainly. Did he not fear that she would...

As she was thinking, she heard Shen Yingjue lower his voice and give a soft laugh. "Of course, if Divine Physician Tan helps me in this way, I will also help Divine Physician Tan with one matter."

Tan Qingjiu grew even more surprised. "Help me with one matter?"

"What could I possibly have that would require Prince Duan’s help?"

"Naturally, there is something."

The corner of Shen Yingjue’s mouth lifted. "If Divine Physician Tan is willing to come to Prince Duan’s Manor to treat me and finish this play with me, I can find a way to bring Shen Zijiao to Prince Duan’s Manor."

Shen Zijiao?

Bring Shen Zijiao to Prince Duan’s Manor?

Tan Qingjiu lifted her head abruptly. Did Shen Yingjue know what he was saying?

He knew?

As she was still thinking, Shen Yingjue continued, "I already know what happened at Prince Ding’s Manor before. I suspect that Shen Zijiao really is Divine Physician Tan’s flesh and blood, only to have been taken away by Tan Yunge."

Tan Qingjiu narrowed her eyes slightly. This sounded utterly unbelievable, and yet Shen Yingjue believed it?

His expression remained calm. "In truth, I have been thinking for some time. Divine Physician Tan is already the master of the Pavilion of Miraculous Hands, and that is no empty title. If all you wanted was revenge, if all you wanted was for Tan Yunge to die, it does not seem to be that difficult."

"Since that is so, why go to such lengths to return to the capital? Everyone knows that the Tan family and Tan Yunge’s power base are in the capital. If you returned here, you would only be putting yourself in danger."

"I suspect you must have had a reason that made returning necessary. Revenge is only one part of it. More importantly, it must be for Shen Zijiao, mustn’t it?"

"Because Shen Zijiao is your child, you want to see with your own eyes what he looks like now. You want to take him back, and make him willingly return to your side."

Shen Yingjue curved his lips. "But now that Tan Yunge knows you have returned to the capital, she will be doubly cautious and certainly will not let you get near Shen Zijiao so easily."

"If you cannot get close to Shen Zijiao, then everything else is nothing but illusion."

"But I can let you get close to him, and even let you spend day and night with him. That would be an excellent opportunity."