Chapter 36: Are You Going Back to Sleep? Part 1

The temperature in late spring and early summer was already a bit warm, but Xunqi broke out in a cold sweat. She looked at her mother awkwardly, gave an embarrassed smile, and tried to act calm. “Why didn’t you knock?”

“It’s because you’re feeling guilty that you didn’t hear my footsteps.” Yan Zhi’an had a point. She wasn’t a ghost. Her footsteps made a sound. How could she not hear them? The only explanation was that she was too guilty. She reached out her hand again to the little thing. “What book are you reading?”

“A medical text.” Xunqi knew she couldn’t avoid it. She had to hand over the book, covering her eyes in despair.

Yan Zhi’an was suspicious, but when she saw the title clearly, her eyes widened. She was rarely speechless for so long.

It was indeed a medical text, one about postpartum care for women. She pressed her lips together, not knowing how to broach the subject. She wanted to ask, why are you reading these books?

Children grow up and have strange ideas. Yan Zhi’an’s age gap with her was vast, and she couldn’t fathom her thoughts for a moment. But why was she reading these books?

To prevent her from getting away with it, she flipped through the book again, confirming there was nothing strange hidden inside. After checking it twice, she finally confirmed that the little thing was indeed reading a book about postpartum care for women.

“Why… why are you reading this?” Yan Zhi’an nearly broke down. Even if she racked her brains, she couldn’t figure it out.

Xunqi touched her own ear, racking her brains, and said carefully, “I wanted to look at medical texts. I randomly picked two books at Shiqi’s place, and this was one of them.”

The way she lowered her head and touched her ear was a clear sign of guilt. How could Yan Zhi’an believe her nonsense? She couldn’t help but worry. “Xunqi, do you have someone you like?”

“Someone I like?” Xunqi suddenly looked up, meeting her mother’s worried gaze, and stared back foolishly. “I… I don’t. I don’t.”

Her expression didn’t seem fake. Yan Zhi’an’s suspended heart finally settled back into her stomach. She said with relief, “Don’t read these messy books. You’re going to the Patrol Battalion in two days. Prepare well. These books are useless.”

No one she likes! Yan Zhi’an suddenly felt that this was the best sentence she had heard in her entire life.

“Alright, read on. I’m leaving.” She had broken out in a cold sweat herself. She looked at the silly little thing and couldn’t help but say, “If you have someone you like, you must tell me.”

“Mother, you’re acting so strange.” Xunqi felt her mother was being very odd, as if she were happy to the point of being silly.

Yan Zhi’an forced herself to stay calm. “Nothing’s wrong. I’m leaving.”

Leaving the study, the night was getting darker. Yan Zhi’an’s steps were light. The worries of the past few months were finally resolved. Thinking about it, Xunqi was under her nose every day. She could name everyone she met. How could she have someone she liked? Her mind was still on her studies.

Yan Zhi’an ate half a bowl more at dinner. After taking a walk to digest, she found someone on her bed. The little thing was sitting cross-legged on her bed, wrapped in a quilt, sitting up straight, staring at her with bright eyes. “Mother, I’ve learned how to take a pulse. I want to try it on you.”

“How long have you been reading medical texts?” Yan Zhi’an couldn’t help but find it amusing. Sure enough, she was showing off as soon as she learned something. Still a child at heart.

Xunqi said with conviction, “Half a day.”

Yan Zhi’an: “…” Someone, come take away this scourge.

“Come here, come here, sit down.” Xunqi was a little excited, her eyes shining brightly, her whole being glowing. Yan Zhi’an had no choice. She dismissed the maidservants and sat down herself.

“Let me tell you, when the Madwoman was sick, I worked as a medicine apprentice in the pharmacy for two days. I know how to take a pulse.” Xunqi’s lips curved, her heart pounding. She carefully extended three fingers and gently placed them on her mother’s fair wrist.

She spoke with such conviction. Yan Zhi’an tried hard to suppress her laughter. Being an apprentice to a quack doctor and being proud of it, you little fool.

Xunqi held her breath and patiently tried to feel the pulse. But besides the pulse itself, she felt nothing. She didn’t believe it. She tried again, more patiently. It was still the same.

“What did you find?” Yan Zhi’an’s smile was about to break loose. “Young Mistress, Young Mistress Yan?”

Xunqi was frustrated. “No, I don’t feel anything.”

Yan Zhi’an asked with a smile, “What did you want to feel?”

Xunqi wanted to speak but hesitated, a look of uncertainty on her face. Yan Zhi’an looked at her. “The way you look, you’d think I had some incurable disease. You’re starting to learn medicine to save your mother.”

“No, I’m going to sleep.” Xunqi didn’t dare say anything more, afraid of slipping up. She turned over and lay down, leaving only a stubborn little head visible to Yan Zhi’an.

Yan Zhi’an didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She reached out and patted her little head. “Good night.”

“Good night.” Xunqi replied sullenly.

Yan Zhi’an lay down on the outside, leaving a person’s width between them.

A good night’s sleep. Yan Zhi’an’s body felt much lighter. The first thing she did at court was tell the Right Prime Minister, “Xunqi said she doesn’t have anyone she likes.”

“She said it, and you believe it?” The Right Prime Minister perked up. “Let me tell you, children at this age are the most rebellious. They have strange ideas and tinker with things adults don’t understand. You think it’s absurd, but she thinks it’s great. Don’t believe what she says.”

“I can’t think of who she’d like. Who among the people she interacts with could she like?” Yan Zhi’an couldn’t help but think. “On her days off, she’s under my nose. Usually, she’s at the Left Prime Minister’s Residence. Who could she have met without us knowing?”

The Right Prime Minister was worried. “What about that girl from another clan in your residence?”

“She’s Shiqi’s sweetheart. She wouldn’t.” Yan Zhi’an was certain. “Don’t think so badly of her. Besides, the number of times they’ve met can be counted on one hand.”

The two most powerful Prime Ministers in the court were together. Any political matter could be resolved if the two of them worked together. But when faced with a matter concerning their children, they were both at a loss.

The two walked on the Hanging Dragon Path with unhappy expressions, facing the morning sun, neither speaking.

“This isn’t something you and I are good at. Have Yuan Fusheng come to the capital. She’s taught children for years. She’s the best at this.” The Right Prime Minister began to back down. She could teach lessons and knowledge, but she couldn’t fathom a child’s inner thoughts.

Yan Zhi’an pressed her lips together, hesitating. “Wait a little longer.”

“You still want to wait? Don’t wait until something happens. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” The Right Prime Minister didn’t agree with her. What was there to wait for? Summon her here. It would only take three months for the round trip.

Yan Zhi’an didn’t want to see Yuan Fusheng. She numbly followed the Right Prime Minister. After walking a short distance, Sima Zhan came chasing after them. She glanced at him and said, “I’ll go ahead.”

She quickened her pace. Sima Zhan couldn’t catch up, so he could only set his sights on the Right Prime Minister. But the Right Prime Minister had no sons or daughters, so a marriage alliance was out of the question.

Sima Zhan’s gaze fell on the Right Prime Minister’s niece. She had no daughters, but she had a niece. The Right Prime Minister had no children, so in the future, her attention would naturally be on her niece.

“Right Prime Minister.” He eagerly went over to talk.

The Right Prime Minister quickened her pace, leaving him behind.

Sima Zhan got nothing from either side. He watched the two stride away, feeling like he had become a ghost.

Xunqi buried her head in her books for the whole morning, then slipped out over the wall again. Wuming assumed she was in the study and didn’t pay attention.

Xunqi went to the old medicine shop and said the same thing she had said to Ah Yuan. The old physician looked at her with a puzzled gaze. Xunqi knew what he meant. “It’s not me. If you don’t believe me, take my pulse.”

The old physician actually took Xunqi’s pulse. After taking it, he smiled faintly. “Little girl, why are you asking these things?”

The old physician had medical ethics. One wrong sentence could ruin a family. So, when Xunqi asked, he was very cautious.

“I’m just asking. I saw it written in a book.” Xunqi eagerly brought out the medical text and placed a golden bean on the table. “Please, enlighten me.”

So she was a medical student. The old physician stroked his beard and smiled, explaining in detail. But Xunqi only understood vaguely. However, she did understand one sentence. The old physician said, “The difference between a maiden and a married woman can be determined with medicine.”

Huh… Xunqi blinked. In an instant, she was enlightened. “What medicine?”

The old physician said, “Imperial Secret Medicine.”

That was like saying nothing. Xunqi rolled her eyes. The old physician said, “It’s a medicine from the Western Regions, extremely rare. But as you said, taking a pulse can distinguish it. There’s no need for the medicine.”

Xunqi listened for a while, but it came to nothing. She returned to the residence dejectedly.

The Imperial Secret Medicine was impossible to obtain, and no one knew if it would be harmful to the body. Xunqi decisively abandoned that idea. She should think about how to get an old physician to take her mother’s pulse.

The Left Prime Minister’s Residence had a female physician. For common ailments, she was the one who took pulses. She was the Left Prime Minister’s confidante and would never work for her.

Thinking it over, it was almost impossible to find a flaw. Her mother’s body would never be approached by anyone else. She had gone on a fruitless trip. The most feasible method was to learn to take a pulse herself. But Ah Yuan, who had studied medicine since childhood, couldn’t do it. How could she, a half-baked amateur, learn?

If it really took five or ten years to learn, what use would it be? As the Madwoman said, by the time you finish breakfast and buy fried dough sticks, the yellow flowers would be cold.

Xunqi left the residence with high spirits and returned listless. She had slipped out the back door and slipped back in the same way.

Back at the residence, she sat alone at the drill ground, staring blankly at the archery target. Wuming came looking for her. “When did you get here?”

“Just now. Don’t talk. Let me be alone for a bit.” Xunqi propped her chin on her hands, staring ahead, her mind a mess.

Every time she thought about it, her mother was pure and chaste, desireless, like a Divine Maiden in a temple, so clean, untouched by dust. How could she have been with some unknown man?

Starting with the empty grave in Lingnan, she had felt something was off. Her mother’s words were full of holes, like a wall made of holes, ready to collapse at the slightest push. It was her own stupidity that she had only discovered the secret today.

She sat blankly for half a day. Yan Zhi’an returned to the residence. Hearing she was at the drill ground, she came to see her. The archery target was empty, showing she hadn’t shot a single arrow today.