As Zu An was fretting over the medicinal decoction, the physician suddenly said, “Ask them to hurry up! Why isn’t the medicine prepared yet?”

Immediately, a young assistant took off towards a small lodge, which was emitting a strong medicinal smell. It was clearly the place within the hospital where the medicine was being prepared.

A thought came to Zu An, and he followed quietly.

There were many people inside the medicine preparation room, and each one of them was focused on the medicine furnace in front of them. There were many imperial concubines in the imperial palace, and each one of them had their own special tasks.

Of course, the most important one right now was the one with Shi Kun’s medicine. Several medical assistants stood around watching, whispering amongst one another.

Zu An was speechless. How am I supposed to do anything with so many eyes looking on?

“Hurry up! Isn’t it done yet?” A voice demanded urgently.

“It’s done, it’s done.” The assistant who was watching the furnace scooped out the medicine inside into a bowl.

Zu An secretly used his fire element to make the fire in the furnace burn more fiercely.

Startled, the assistant looked at the furnace in shock. “Huh? Why did the fire suddenly become bigger?”

After all, the intensity of the fire was extremely important in the preparation of medicine. A single mistake could lead to a drastic difference in medicinal effects, and might even completely ruin the precious ingredients.

In the ensuing chaos, Zu An flicked his finger lightly, sending a small drop of liquid into the bowl of medicine.

The assistant holding the bowl of medicine was distracted, so no one noticed this drop of liquid.

Not losing sight of his own responsibilities, the assistant quickly carried the medicine back to the operating room.

Positioning himself nearby, Zu An watched everything closely. Quickly, cries of alarm filled the room.

“Huh? Why is blood suddenly gushing out?”

“Bring me the hemostatic now!”

“We can’t stop the bleeding! Young master Shi is about to stop breathing!”

“Bring me a Life Return Pill, let’s see if it can help him to hang on.”

“It won’t work, he’s bleeding too much.”

…

An unnerving silence fell across the room. It was several heartbeats before someone spoke.

“I’ve heard that young master Shi was a romantic young master, but I didn’t expect him to still have such thoughts even in such a state… Trouble truly follows those who invite it.”

“Indeed. Doctors cannot save those who wish to die. It is not that our skills were insufficient. Rather, the young master is too… sigh.”

“It is natural for something to go wrong, given this degree of injury. None of us are really to blame for this.”

…

Zu An almost burst out laughing when he heard the discussion. These physicians looked honest, but they were quite good at deflecting blame.

Of course, Zu An had no idea that these physicians had already mastered the art of looking after their own hide after their long years of service in the imperial palace. Saving others was already a secondary concern to them—remaining free of blame was the most important thing. There were so many important individuals in the palace. If any of them took their anger out on these physicians, they would have long since been executed.

Zu An had been slightly worried about the fallout from this situation, but these physicians had unexpectedly resolved the issue for him on their own. As such, he returned to the eastern palace.

The liquid that he’d added into the bowl hadn’t been poisonous. If he added poison, it would have been too easy for the physicians to notice that something was wrong.

It was ‘Bull’s Cream’. He had held onto it ever since Brightmoon City, but never expected that it would come in handy here.

This drug wasn’t toxic. Instead, it was one of the world’s most famous aphrodisiacs. It wouldn’t have done much if Shi Kun had ingested it normally, since he could have found some women to satisfy his desires.

However, his organ had been chopped off, and had just been miraculously reconnected by the physician, so it was still extremely fragile.

It shot straight up under the effects of ‘Bull’s Cream’. How could that fragile thing resist such a violent movement? It snapped right off!

What followed was an inevitable stream of blood. These doctors fed him a Life Return Pill, which was a powerful medicine in its own right. Coupled with the ‘Bull’s Cream’ already circulating through him, he was beyond saving.

Each year, no matter how much the castration process within the palace was perfected, many eunuchs still died from blood loss. That was why the physicians were not too perturbed by the result.

Zu An’s expression was cold. This Shi Kun had targeted him continuously back in Brightmoon City. He would have let things slide if he had just behaved himself after returning to the capital. Under the Shi clan’s protection, there was little that Zu An could have done to him. However, he just had to court death.

...

He returned to the eastern palace. As he was about to go in, a woman walked out.

They were about to run into each other, so Zu An quickly took a few steps back. He had already recognized the crown princess. He wasn’t an idiot. Publicly making contact with a crown princess was a huge offense.

The capital was full of watching eyes, and he didn’t want there to be any trouble.

The crown princess backpedaled as well. She seemed unsteady and about to fall, but Zu An looked down respectfully, not planning to help her at all.

The maid behind the crown princess reached out a hand to steady her, then glared at Zu An. “You’re rather bold! You almost rammed into the crown princess!”

Is that what you call ramming? You guys clearly don’t know what ramming really means.

Zu An cut short his random thoughts and looked at the maid. He remembered her as the same maid he’d met beside the pond. Her name was Rong Mo…? He didn’t expect her to be a powerful cultivator as well.

The crown princess frowned. “Where did you go? I was looking everywhere for you.”

Zu An replied. “I went to the hospital to check on Shi Kun’s injuries. That act can be considered an expression of the eastern palace’s consideration.”

Even though he hadn’t touched her, he could still smell her scent from this distance. He had to admit that this crown princess was a great beauty. Unfortunately, she was just a tad too fierce and arrogant. You’re not even the empress. Who the heck are you putting on that insufferable act for?

The crown princess sneered back at him. You? Concern for Shi Kun?

She had already determined the details of what had happened from the eunuchs and guards, and also learned about the grudge between the two of them that had developed in Brightmoon City.

Even though she knew these things, she still had to make a show of being courteous. “Good. We should have sent someone. Servants, have some gifts sent to young master Shi.”

Zu An had a strange look on his face. “There’s no need.”

“Did you already bring him some gifts?” The crown princess was shocked. A hint of viciousness appeared in her eyes. She had to admit that his actions marked him as a rather intelligent fellow. However, it wasn’t always a good thing for servants to be too smart.

“That is not the case.” Zu An paused for a moment, and then said, “When I arrived at the hospital, I heard the people inside say that the young master’s wound suddenly opened up again, and there was no way for them to stop the bleeding. He has already passed on.”

“Passed on?” The crown princess trembled, her complexion turning pale again. After all, she had been the one who pushed in that blade!

Even though there was no chance of the Shi clan condemning her, the Shi clan was still a great clan. Trouble would surely follow hot on the heels of such an incident.

She took a deep breath. “Summon everyone who was involved in the matter just now. Let’s make sure we are all clear on what just happened.”

She was rather decisive. Everyone had to be singing from the same hymn sheet if she was going to absolve herself and the crown prince of any responsibility.

The crown princess thought about shifting all of the blame onto Zu An, but she considered that he might retaliate by revealing that she was the one who slammed the door open to cause Shi Kun’s injury, and gave up on the idea.

One after another, the crown princess summoned everyone connected to the affair. This continued for many hours. Zu An even had to admit that this crown princess was much more intelligent than her stupid husband. In her version, the people in the eastern palace were much less culpable for what happened, and the enmity of the Shi clan was redirected to the physicians instead.

Unfortunately, she had no idea that those physicians were also wily old foxes, and had already come up with a plan to shift the blame.

Who knew how things would develop later on?

Just as Zu An was about to leave the palace after his shift, a lesser eunuch stopped him. “The empress invites you for an audience.”

Zu An was taken aback. He did not know why the empress would summon him. They didn’t know each other at all! The only connection between them was that he had met her uncle before, Guard General Liu Yao.