"I want to ask you, why am I here, and what were those illusions I saw before?"
Rong Zhi, having weathered many storms, quickly regained her composure.
However, her voice was weak, her throat feeling like it was being scraped by sand after she spoke.
"How should I know? I was just about to tell the Emperor about you when I sensed something unusual in the imperial city. When I went out, I found that courtyard you were in wailing like ghosts and wolves. Something strange must have been set up in there. Were you tricked by someone?"
He spoke with such sincerity that Rong Zhi almost believed him.
"I don't know either. I was just looking for a place to hide. Perhaps I stumbled into a haunted house."
She was somewhat weary and sighed deeply after speaking.
Cheng Yi Chen saw no signs of deceit in her eyes and felt a sense of confusion. Had he been overthinking it?
But the number of ghosts he had encountered this time was indeed too many.
"Hide from what? Are you afraid of being found?"
Rong Zhi nodded. "Exactly. Your imperial family stops at nothing to achieve its goals. I don't want to be complicit with you."
This was true, but it was already too late to realize this.
"Since you are here, stay at ease. You are a treasured guest of the imperial family, and you will not be mistreated. Some of your old acquaintances will visit in the next two days. Don't forget to entertain them properly."
Old acquaintances, likely disciples from the Medicine King Valley.
She hadn't expected that her beloved disciples would meet her in this manner.
Before Cheng Yi Chen left, Rong Zhi asked him, "Who did you say was to be executed?"
"Xia Yun Ting, the general who returned to the imperial city half a year ago. Surely you know him?"
Rong Zhi's heart pounded violently, like a tidal wave. He was to be executed? How could it be so sudden?
Had he set up those formations without leaving himself a way out?
"Are you well acquainted with him?"
"No... just a few chance encounters."
Cheng Yi Chen didn't probe further. Although Rong Zhi had awakened, the seven lamps by her bed flickered precariously, threatening to extinguish at any moment, indicating that her soul was still unstable and required rest.
That evening, Rong Zhi lay in bed, concentrating with all her might to listen for any sounds outside. However, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't hear anything clearly.
Her senses had also dulled.
It seemed this injury was not minor.
She couldn't even hear the voices of those girls.
This was the place where she had first been reborn. She didn't know whose body she had occupied, whose life she had taken, to merely survive for 13 years.
The thought made Rong Zhi restless.
It wasn't until dawn that she finally drifted off into a dazed sleep.
Just as she fell asleep, she heard a melodious and graceful flute melody, like a gentle breeze passing over a mountain, slowly approaching.
It sounded familiar. Her third disciple, Jiang Nuo, was most skilled in music.
The first time Rong Zhi met him, he was playing the flute and selling his skills on the street, with a straw mat covering his legs, his lower limbs completely festering.
It was the result of a snakebite, a chronic poison that would cause the entire body to fester and lead to death within half a month if not treated.
He was waiting to die, yet before his end, he had not given up hope, trying to earn money by playing music to buy medicine.
His resolute and stubborn gaze had immediately captivated Rong Zhi.
She had detoxified him, taught him medicine, and when she founded the Medicine King Valley, he had also greatly assisted her with his musical talents, enabling her to meet Liu Yun Xi, the master of the number one estate in the martial world, Carefree Estate.
Thereafter, whenever the Medicine King Valley encountered difficulties, they received help from Carefree Estate, all thanks to this third disciple.
Hearing the familiar flute music again at this moment felt like a lifetime ago.
The person who arrived was lean and not tall. As he entered the room, his eyes were fixed on Rong Zhi.
The atmosphere was silent, as if they were both waiting for the other to speak first.
Rong Zhi turned to look at him. The once pale and sickly face was now covered with a thick beard, making him look like a completely different person.
"Didn't you say you detested people of the court? That you would rather be ground into ashes than associate with anyone from the court?"
*Clack!*
The jade flute in the man's hand dropped to the ground, shattering into pieces.
Jiang Nuo's eyes surged with emotion. He stared intently at the person on the bed, walking towards her step by step, unconcerned even as he stepped on the fragments of his beloved flute.
When he reached the bedside, he fell to his knees with a thud.
"Master..."
This was his master. It was easy to learn someone's name, but he had only ever spoken this word to his master.
He was originally from an official family. His father had been framed, and his family had been ruined. He harbored deep hatred for the court and had once vowed that he would rather be ground into ashes than associate with anyone from the court.
His master had rebuked him at the time, saying that he should keep such words to himself and not speak them carelessly again.
For many years, no one else had heard him utter those words.
"Master, is it really you? You've returned..." Jiang Nuo, with red eyes, reached out his hand but dared not touch Rong Zhi, fearing that what he saw was a dream.
Rong Zhi felt an indescribable mix of emotions. Meeting an old acquaintance should have been a joyous occasion, yet he had come as an official of the Tian Que Kingdom to test her.
No matter how deep their master-disciple bond, it had to be suppressed at this moment.
"Nuo'er, since you have confirmed my identity, I have something to ask you."
"Please ask, Master."
"After I died back then, what happened?"
She had been reborn in the imperial city of the Tian Que Kingdom not long after her death. If, as Cheng Yi Chen said, the resurrection array required complex procedures and many girls of suitable age to serve as "vessels," then she couldn't have been reborn so quickly, unless there was a conspiracy behind it.
Jiang Nuo had not yet recovered from the shock of seeing his master again. Upon hearing her question, he began to recall carefully.
"When the imperial army of Tian Que Kingdom came to the Medicine King Valley for medical treatment, Master, you discovered it was the Seven-Day Fiery Poison. Fearing that we would be implicated, you decided to treat it yourself. Unexpectedly, Master was also poisoned. By the time my senior brother and I arrived, you were already... The Grand Tutor of Tian Que Kingdom said that your dying wish was for us to surrender to Tian Que Kingdom, so that Tian Que Kingdom could ensure the peace and stability of the Medicine King Valley."
Indeed, without their valley master, the Medicine King Valley, lacking a leader, was vulnerable to disintegration. If foreign enemies attacked at such a time, they would be utterly defenseless.
Hearing this, Rong Zhi's initial suspicions were further confirmed.
After the Medicine King Valley was established, its reputation grew, and it held a certain standing in the martial world. Various neighboring countries had sent envoys to seek alliance, but she had always refused, and those envoys had nothing to say.
If Tian Que Kingdom killed her and fabricated a false dying wish, they could achieve their goal without bloodshed.
However... her disciples were not that foolish.
"When I heard this, I felt there was a conspiracy involved. I resisted vehemently and held out for a while. Not long after, the eldest senior brother returned and became the new valley master, deciding... to have the Medicine King Valley surrender to Tian Que Kingdom."
Eldest senior brother?
Rong Zhi suddenly recalled that eldest senior brother. Before the soldiers from Tian Que Kingdom had arrived, her eldest senior brother had already been expelled from the sect.
"Chu Yu Heng, how did he become the new valley master?"
"He colluded with the Tian Que imperial family. He knew all the mechanisms within the Medicine King Valley..."
This meant that this eldest senior brother had betrayed her once again.
Rong Zhi clenched her fist. She had expelled Chu Yu Heng from the sect for experimenting with living people back then. She hadn't expected that she hadn't cut off the roots, and now the weeds had grown back.
This made everything clear. Tian Que Kingdom's visit to the Medicine King Valley from the beginning was a conspiracy. They wanted to seize the Medicine King Valley for themselves, but she had stubbornly refused. Perhaps her death was also orchestrated by them.
Now, her reborn self was about to be used by them again. Fat chance.
"Nuo'er, are you a member of the Medicine King Valley now, or are you a subject of Tian Que Kingdom?"
"Master!" Jiang Nuo frowned, not understanding why his master would ask such a question.
"My life was saved by Master. I belong to Master in life and death. Back then, I also suspected that Master's death was suspicious, so I feigned allegiance to investigate the truth. If Master is angry that I didn't keep my word, I can prove my loyalty right now!"
He became agitated, his face turning red. Although he was almost thirty years old now, he looked exactly the same as when Rong Zhi had first met him.
This sense of déjà vu made Rong Zhi's heart ache.
Things had changed.
"Since that is the case, help me with something..."
She beckoned Jiang Nuo over and whispered something in his ear. Jiang Nuo nodded repeatedly, his expression shifting from surprise to confusion, and finally to shock, tinged with a hint of killing intent.
"Master, rest assured. Your disciple will definitely accomplish it."
Rong Zhi asked, "How many disciples of the Medicine King Valley are in the imperial family?"
Jiang Nuo replied, "Fourth junior brother, fifth junior brother, and sixth junior brother are all in the Imperial Hospital. They have also taken in many disciples. Now, most of the imperial physicians in the Imperial Hospital are descendants of the Medicine King Valley."
It was originally a happy thing to have medical knowledge passed down, but with such deceitful methods, Rong Zhi couldn't be happy at all.
"Master, they will all come to visit you one after another in the next two days to verify your identity. You must take good care of yourself. After so many years, your disciple cannot guarantee whether those junior brothers still have the same original intentions."
"I know."
Rong Zhi watched Jiang Nuo leave. She vaguely remembered that the last time she saw him, he was still a boy with childish innocence. Now he had become a mature man, and every step he took seemed heavy.
She silently thought, Nuo'er, I hope you are still the cherished third disciple I once knew.
If all went according to plan, she would stir up a storm in the imperial city and show Jin Jing Hong clearly that the Master of Medicine King Valley was not a pushover to be manipulated.
During the day, she rested for a while and felt her strength recovering, and her throat was not as painful as before.
She discovered seven lamps in the room, each shining exceptionally bright.
It seemed Cheng Yi Chen had gone to great lengths to keep her alive.
After Jiang Nuo returned, he adamantly asserted that Rong Zhi was the Master of Medicine King Valley, his conviction leaving no room for doubt. Jin Jing Hong was initially suspicious, but seeing that Jiang Nuo clearly recounted the details of their past interactions, his doubts lessened somewhat.
As planned, the remaining disciples were to visit Rong Zhi one by one. However, Jiang Nuo said it was unnecessary and suggested they all go together, as 13 years had passed, and everyone's memory might have some discrepancies.
Jin Jing Hong found this reasonable and agreed.
"Your Majesty, this is a method for prolonging life and extending longevity that I have recently devised and specially offer to Your Majesty."
After his report, Jiang Nuo took out a prescription from his怀. The eunuch took it and glanced at it, finding no issues.
"The Imperial Hospital has served me with utmost dedication, and I shall naturally treat you well. Reward!"
"Thank Your Majesty."
Jiang Nuo lowered his head, a cold smile appearing in his eyes.