Chapter 159: All Thanks to Xie Jinbai for Taking Good Care of My Body

Chapter 159: Chapter 159: All Thanks to Xie Jinbai for Taking Good Care of My Body

Zhao Shijie held his awakened wife, so overcome with emotion that he lost all composure, sobbing with joy in front of everyone.

A grown man approaching thirty, he was choked with sobs, unable to form words. Tears streamed down his face without warning, PITTER-PATTER, dripping onto Chen Minrou’s cheeks.

He was once a renowned young nobleman in the Capital City, and quite handsome at that. His tear-streaked face was a piteous, moving sight.

Unfortunately, of the only two women in the room who dared to look at him, one was used to the sight of an absolute dreamboat like Xie Jinbai and had long since developed a heart of steel. She didn’t spare him a single glance.

The other had just woken up and was still groggy, staring blankly as the tears flowed down her face.

Cui Lingyao couldn’t bear to watch. She took out a handkerchief to wipe her friend’s tears and snapped at the culprit, "If you’re going to cry, turn around and do it!"

"..." Zhao Shijie’s crying hitched.

He sniffled, tightened his arms around her, and buried his face in the crook of Chen Minrou’s neck, explaining softly, "Minmin... I only said those things to provoke you. Don’t take them to heart."

Cui Lingyao snorted, unable to resist jabbing, "We’ll just have to see if Minmin believes you."

As soon as she spoke, Chen Minrou blinked and whispered, "Yaoyao, are you here to take me away?"

Cui Lingyao froze for a moment, then realized what her friend meant. She retorted irritably, "I’m here to *save* you, not to take you away. You’re still alive, so stop saying such unlucky things."

"That’s right," Zhao Shijie said, cupping her face to make her look at him. "Minmin, you’re still alive. You didn’t die."

Chen Minrou completely ignored him, her gaze fixed on Cui Lingyao. "How did you change back?"

Cui Lingyao: "..."

There were quite a few people in the room, so it wasn’t the right time to discuss such a topic. She stammered evasively, "After I fell into the water, I spent three years recuperating and never left the manor. I only came to see you now because I heard you were in trouble."

But her complexion was rosy and her voice was strong. She looked the very picture of health.

Not at all like someone who had been recuperating for three years.

Not wanting to draw any more attention to herself, Cui Lingyao quickly sat up straight and ordered the physicians behind her, "Quick, come and check on her again."

"Yes!" Doctor Ma was the first to step forward. He squatted by the bed and placed three fingers on her wrist to take her pulse.

The room fell silent.

As time ticked by, the expression on Doctor Ma’s face as he took the pulse grew more and more incredulous, as if he were witnessing the most unbelievable event.

Seeing him take the pulse for so long, Zhao Shijie furrowed his brow and couldn’t help but ask, "How is it?"

"This is... incredible. Truly incredible."

Doctor Ma clicked his tongue in wonder. He withdrew his hand and said in amazement, "Her Ladyship’s pulse originally showed signs of death, with absolutely no chance of recovery. But now, a surge of vitality is nourishing her organs. With proper care, she can be completely rejuvenated."

As he spoke, his gaze shifted to Cui Lingyao. He clasped his hands and respectfully inquired, "May I ask Your Highness, the Princess Consort, where did you obtain that elixir? To think there is such a master in this world who can refine a medicine that brings the dead back to life. If I could meet them, this old man would have no regrets in this life."

Amateurs watch for fun, but experts see the craft.

Only a true expert in the medical arts could understand that the pill Cui Lingyao had produced was potent enough to be called an elixir of resurrection.

How could Cui Lingyao possibly explain its origin? She could only wave her hand and say casually, "I just happened to come across one by chance. I don’t know who refined it. If my dearest friend’s life hadn’t been on the line, I wouldn’t have taken it out."

’The last one. And it’s already gone.’

Doctor Ma accurately grasped the meaning behind her words.

’Of course, he didn’t believe her. Who would so casually use a life-saving elixir if it were the only one they had?’

’But she was a dignified Princess Consort. Why would she deign to explain things to a mere Imperial Physician? No matter how strong his curiosity, he had no choice but to drop the matter.’

Next, the other physicians took turns checking her pulse.

Without exception, the results were the same.

They all concluded that Chen Minrou was out of danger; she just needed to make good use of the vitality within her and nurse her organs back to health to rebuild a strong body.

They conferred and came up with a prescription for her recuperation, then retreated from the room a short while later.

The room suddenly felt spacious, with only the three of them remaining.

Having just woken up, Chen Minrou felt surprisingly energetic. Realizing she truly wasn’t dead, she struggled out of Zhao Shijie’s embrace and sat up. Her face was still haggard, but her eyes were astonishingly bright.

She looked her friend up and down, her eyes turning red. "You’re really back in your own body."

Cui Lingyao hummed in agreement. She briefly explained the life-threatening incident she had experienced as Pei Shuyao, saying, "It was a strange twist of fate, I suppose. It’s all thanks to Xie Jinbai for keeping my body in good condition."

Chen Minrou didn’t know that she had died a second time. Hearing this, she glared at the man beside her.

’She’d been awake for so long, and the first time she finally deigned to look at me was to call me to account.’

Zhao Shijie’s expression darkened slightly. He swallowed the bitterness that filled him and explained earnestly, "At the time, your body wouldn’t have been able to withstand such a shock."

Ever since autumn began, she had slowly become bedridden.

Later, she was unconscious more than she was awake.

If she had learned that her closest friend had died, it would have been another devastating blow.

Zhao Shijie would never have allowed such news to reach his wife’s ears.

Cui Lingyao understood this point.

"It’s better that you didn’t know."

She gripped Chen Minrou’s hand and said thankfully, "Besides, if I hadn’t come back like this, how could I have saved you?"

The Imperial Physician had declared that Chen Minrou would not live past today.

She had snatched someone from the hands of King Yan.

It must have been the will of heaven.

Chen Minrou touched her own face, still finding it surreal. "I’m really not going to die?"

"You’re not," Cui Lingyao said. "The elixir you took can work miracles."

She reassured her again and again, explaining the uses of the Hundred Diseases Pill in detail.

Chen Minrou was both overjoyed and deeply moved. "Such a life-saving treasure... you just gave it to me like that..."

Cui Lingyao waved her hand dismissively. "It’s nothing. I couldn’t just stand by and watch you die."

Zhao Shijie, who had been listening silently to the two friends talk, slowly furrowed his brow and suddenly interjected, "This Hundred Diseases Pill, where did you get it? Do you have any more? Or rather... can more be refined?"

Cui Lingyao was taken aback and looked up at him.

"I mean no harm," Zhao Shijie said. "You can’t imagine how tempting an elixir that can bring people back from the dead is. Even with your noble status, you are not truly above everyone else."

Even Xie Jinbai himself still has the Emperor above him.

And the old Emperor has been bedridden with a lingering illness for many years.

Everyone is afraid of death.

Especially those in high positions of power.

There were many servants, physicians, and Imperial Physicians in the room today. News of the Hundred Diseases Pill’s miraculous effects will inevitably spread.

Once it reaches the Emperor’s ears...

And with your own case of returning from the dead as clear evidence...

’Who knows if the old Emperor, after struggling on the verge of death for so many years, will get ideas.’

’If he does, and you can’t produce another pill, what then?’

With Zhao Shijie’s pointed reminder, Cui Lingyao quickly understood the implications, and her expression turned faintly grim.