Chapter Ninety-Eight: A Carefully Laid Scheme

The Lin family breathed a collective sigh of relief when they heard Chu Yun’s words.

Then, one after another, they bowed to him, again imploring him to do everything in his power to cure Lin Yang. With eager faces, they watched Chu Yun, waiting for him to begin.

Chu Yun smiled and nodded. He took out the silver needles and asked Yang Liuer to help him cleanse away the toxins and assist with the acupuncture.

This set of needles had been specially forged for him by the finest craftsmen in the royal capital’s Eastern Palace, when he had treated Young Master Qi. They were of excellent quality, making his work much easier.

Half an hour later, Chu Yun finished the treatment. Lin Yang’s tightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed, and his eyes slowly opened as he woke.

“That’s wonderful, truly wonderful! The earl has awakened!”

“A divine physician indeed! So many doctors were helpless, yet Earl Chu Yun used his needles for only a short while and already the earl is much better. He truly lives up to the name of a descendant of immortals.”

“Thank you, thank you, Earl Chu Yun!”

Seeing Lin Yang wake and no longer look so tormented, the Lin family was beside itself with excitement. They could not help praising Chu Yun’s medical skill and thanking him again and again.

Chu Yun remained calm. He asked the Lin family to bring brush, ink, and bamboo slips, then began writing a prescription.

When Lin Yang awoke and saw Chu Yun, he grew so excited that he opened his mouth as if to say something. But seeing Chu Yun busy writing the prescription, he did not dare interrupt him and held back for the moment.

Only after Chu Yun had finished the prescription and told the Lin family to go fetch the medicine did Lin Yang hurriedly say, “Earl Chu Yun, at last I have waited for you to come to South Huai Town...”

It turned out that although Pingba Manor was not far from South Huai Town, only a little over thirty miles away, the first rain had fallen in Pingba Manor while South Huai Town remained dry. Only after Pingba Manor had endured two days of rain did South Huai Town finally begin to get rain as well.

Once the rains came, the air grew damp, and Lin Yang’s old hidden illness flared up again.

In order not to let the Witch Doctor Cult learn of this, he never openly summoned a physician. Instead, he secretly invited local doctors from South Huai Town to examine him.

In the end, after three days and several doctors, every one of them said Lin Yang’s concealed illness had sunk too deeply into his bones. There was no cure.

After hearing this, Chu Yun could not help asking, “Why did you not come to Pingba Manor to find me sooner?”

Lin Yang answered, “Earl Chu Yun, actually, on the very day my hidden illness recurred, which was the third day after you settled in Pingba Manor, I sent men there to invite you.”

“As for why I never did invite you in the end, and why you knew nothing of it, that was because I received a flying letter from the royal capital, written by the King of Qi himself.”

“I felt that I could not actively seek you out and meet you. So I had my men, together with Baron Cheng Qiong, persuade you to pass through South Huai Town. I never expected that you were already planning to come here, so my men simply returned and quietly waited for your arrival.”

“In order not to arouse the suspicion of the Witch Doctor Cult, I went to great lengths to see you and discuss matters with you. I even had people spread word in South Huai Town that if you passed by Pingba Manor, you had taught the people there how to make fluffy fermented flatcakes, fried dough sticks, tofu, and other delicacies. Everyone was delighted and very much looked forward to your arrival.”

“Who would have thought that after hearing you had set out from Pingba Manor seven days ago, you would only arrive in South Huai Town today? No one knows what trouble you met along the way. Yet to avoid drawing the Witch Doctor Cult’s attention, I could not go looking for you in a grand manner.”

“I had even begun to think that you might have been killed by the Witch Doctor Cult. To my surprise, you came to South Huai Town today. Not only did I finally wait for you, I was also saved by you. Truly, I thank heaven for this.”

After Lin Yang finished speaking, Chu Yun paused slightly, then asked in some surprise, “What was the flying letter the King of Qi sent you?”

At this, Lin Yang waved his hand, drove the servants out of the room, and told his son to close the door.

Seeing this, Chu Yun grew even more curious.

Lin Yang then rose at once, took a strip of white linen from beneath the fur quilt, and handed it to Chu Yun. “Earl, once you read it, you will understand.”

Chu Yun took the linen. On it were written a few words: If there is any upheaval in the royal capital, join forces with Earl Chu Yun and help this king leave himself a retreat in the south.

After reading it, Chu Yun quickly pieced everything together.

The injury on Lord Luo Feng was a sword wound. As the King of Qi’s personal guard, he must have been wounded while protecting the king.

So someone had attempted to assassinate the King of Qi.

And the one behind that attempt might well have been the Witch Doctor Cult.

When the Witch Doctor Cult failed to assassinate the King of Qi, Young Master Qi then came down with a strange illness. He summoned renowned physicians from all quarters, but none could do anything.

Then, by a chance encounter, Chu Yun met Luo Feng at the Ten-Mile Fragrance Inn and recognized the sword wound on him.

At the time, Luo Feng did not know Chu Yun’s abilities and had taken him for an enemy spy.

Later, after witnessing Chu Yun’s medical skill, he recommended him to the King of Qi to treat Young Master Qi.

Yet after Chu Yun saved Young Master Qi, the young master was poisoned to death by the Witch Doctor Cult.

This showed that the strange illness of Young Master Qi was very likely caused by the Witch Doctor Cult.

And so, after Young Master Qi’s death, the King of Qi had grown fearful, worried that the Witch Doctor Cult would come after him next. That was why he immediately had Chu Yun escorted away.

When the King of Qi learned that Chu Yun had returned to Chu Family Town, he contacted the town chief there and had him arrange for the grain merchant to plan Chu Yun’s route.

That was why the grain merchant refused to take Chu Yun’s money in the first place, and why Chu Yun had to force fifty copper coins into his hands before he would accept them.

Thinking this through, Chu Yun could not help admiring the King of Qi. He had even guessed that Chu Yun would lead his people from Chu Family Town to his own fief and would need to purchase a great deal of grain.

Then, with the people of Chu Family Town, Chu Yun had been delayed by rain in Pingba Manor.

When Lin Yang’s old illness flared up again, he sent men to Pingba Manor to find Baron Cheng Qiong and urge Chu Yun to pass through South Huai Town.

It was also because of this that Baron Cheng Qiong had realized the King of Qi was in danger, that the heavens might soon change, and that Lin Yang intended to join forces with Chu Yun to leave a southern escape route for the King of Qi in South Huai Town.

That was why, when Chu Yun departed, he gave him a large quantity of grain and, most importantly, military supplies that could not legally be sold to civilians, including waterproof tents.

“The King of Qi, Baron Cheng Qiong, and Earl Lin Yang—none of them are ordinary men,” Chu Yun thought, and sighed inwardly.

Especially when he recalled how Cheng Qiong had smiled and said that he was giving him grain simply to make friends and to owe him a favor, Chu Yun felt even more speechless.

He had never seen such a shameless man in his life.

At the same time, Chu Yun also understood why Lin Yang had a troop of seasoned tiger guards at his side.

Because although Lin Yang appeared to be merely a viscount, in truth he was far from simple.

He must have been the great general the King of Qi had placed in South Huai Town to guard the southern gate of the Great Qi Empire.

After all, South Huai Town was already very close to the southern border of the Great Qi Empire, less than a hundred miles away.

At first, the King of Qi had wanted to keep Chu Yun in the royal capital. Chu Yun had refused. Since he wanted a noble title, the king had granted him the rank of viscount and given him Chu Family Town as his fief, so that he could cooperate with Lin Yang in South Huai Town and jointly guard the south. Later, however, Chu Yun chose the rank of earl instead and took the western fief.