What happens next is fairly standard, really.
Eunuch Shi collapsed, gasping and sweating. Wan Wan was very scared and circled around his master before worriedly looking toward the animal he admires and respects the most, Da Gong.
Da Gong, unflustered, merely raises a wing and points at Tang Muxin. "Human," he clucks commandingly, "Go."
Tang Muxin, who was already about to step in and help: '…'
Even though she didn't understand chicken, she was suddenly overcome with the complex feeling that all children and teenagers feel when they're about to clean their room, but their parents tell them to clean their room right before they start. It's a bit like, 'Ah, I was going to do it, but now that you tell me to do it, I won't do it.'
Fortunately, she was a super doctor, and that part of her in this lifetime has slowly grown to become a larger part of her identity than the super-spy slash assassin part of her, and she immediately went to help Eunuch Shi despite the grumbling in her heart.
However, before she stepped in there to show off her skills, there must be a corresponding cannon fodder to act as her foil*.
*Make her look better in comparison.
The arrogant man in doctor garb that had been leading the guards obviously was the most suitable for the part and played his role well. He pushed Tang Muxin aside, sneered, knelt down, did some testing before declaring Eunuch Shi to be past saving and as good as dead.
The guards were both panicked and unhappy with this arrogant young imperial doctor. After all, the doctor was a talent, and they themselves were dispensable people. Eunuch Shi was old and ill, it wouldn't be strange to die when on an outing, but the blame would still fall on their heads. Not to mention Eunuch Shi was very generous to them, and none of the guards held ill will towards him, so they weren't satisfied with the rather half-assed looking checkup and diagnosis of the imperial doctor.
The imperial doctor obviously did not appreciate their attitude and left in a huff after some words. Jia Hyson stared at him lazily. It seems this doctor must have a backer or some sort to be so confident. After all, it's impossible for him to be so confident otherwise, and the guards would have not have been so restrained.
Even if he was some sort of amazing miracle doctor, the empress put so much effort in taking care of Eunuch Shi, and her wrath would probably not be so easily appeased just by venting on a few guards when the one in charge of the medicine was right there. This means the doctor was a) stupid beyond measure, b) had the emperor as a backer, c) had someone lower than the emperor as a backer, and would most likely be thrown away by them afterwards.
Of course, this was the best time for Tang Muxin to step into the spotlight and show off her super doctor skills that had mainly only been playing low-key in the background by slowly healing Yan Huizhong.
The guards were a bit resistant at first but seeing the golden dragon so easily obey Tang Muxin when she asked him to fetch her medical bag full of surgery tools she had hired a craftsman to make, they were already half convinced and quickly helped her carefully move Eunuch Shi out of the stables which was a rather unclean environment for a medical operation.
…Though it was a bit weird that the dragon just jumped onto the giant rooster and rode the bird to get the medical bag instead of walking though. Watching the large plump rooster run, his magnificent black tail feathers swaying side to side as the eye-catching bright golden scales of the dragon sparkled, they somehow felt that their single dog eyes were blinded a little ah.
"What are you guys doing?" Pan Shuchun snaps at the gawking guards, "Didn't you hear Miss Muxin? Someone go get two basins of hot water, someone get some clean cloth and a cup of water! And the rest of you make sure the lady isn't distracted!"
"Yes, miss!" They instinctively salute, the sharp, intimidating voice was far too similar to the empress'. Flustered and a bit guilty they rush to follow the orders.
Jia Hyson trots past the rushing guards, carrying the medicine bag by his neck like a particularly bulky necklace.
Because Da Gong is still a rooster, albeit a cleaner than usual one, he's still an animal that sheds and has dander which makes it inappropriate to enter the room Eunuch Shi and Tang Muxin were in. Jia Hyson was a being that literally pooped clean jade that can help the environment and also produced various health benefits so there was literally no such thing as contamination in his particular case.
'What's the situation doctor Mu Mu?' He calls out telepathically as he sits by her side and unceremoniously shakes off the bag.
Tang Muxin furrows her brow as she carefully diagnoses him while he was in the recovery position. She doesn't even bother to speak telepathically and just talks allowed. "There's something wrong with his lungs which isn't good. I would have to cut him open to further confirm the situation but worse case is something like advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease which may evolve into pulmonary emphysema* and I would be forced to try to remove some of the dead tissue and reduce the size of his lungs. There's also a chance he has a tumour in the respiratory system but at least once I find it the difficulty wouldn't be as complicated in comparison."
*where the walls of the air sacs (alveoli) in the lungs are destroyed, resulting in larger air sacs that sometimes burst. Less oxygen will enter the lungs and the healthy parts of the lung will get smaller which causes a destructive cycle. This author isn't skilled in medical knowledge, ah but this is generally what I understood from the articles I researched.
Jia Hyson flicks his tail anxiously. After all, if a tumour was one of the better options then this was really not a great situation. 'What about I try help?' He suggests, 'You get into the mindset of getting ready to extract a tumour. I'll use my karmic insight. If his aura goes dark it means reasonably, that if you go in, expecting to extract a tumour and there isn't one then his chances of life are lowered because you would have to think on the spot what else could be wrong and waste time right?'
After some experiments, Jia Hyson found that [Karmic Insight] was both a reliable and unreliable skill. With it one could essentially crudely but predict the future through the process of elimination.
For example, if Da Gong wanted to eat from bowl A and his aura turned a bit bleak it means he would have something unfortunate happen as a consequence. However, the prediction is crude because it isn't always specific.
If Da Gong wanted to eat from a bowl in general, and not a specific bowl, his aura would turn a little bleak even if bowl B and bowl C were fine to consume because the intention Da Gong had was not targeted toward any particular bowl so there was a chance of bad luck (picking bowl A) happening anyway. If Jia Hyson told him to stop doing whatever he was planning to do Da Gong would miss out on being able to eat bowls B and C and go hungry.
That was why it was better to be specific when trying to predict things with this skill and why Jia Hyson realized it wasn't good to blindly rely on its effects either. It was a good skill but it was complicated and compared to other fortune telling skills it was really quite mediocre in comparison. After all the brainpower needed just to get a decent interpretation of the auras was really too high.
Still, Jia Hyson liked the puzzle and it was indeed useful enough. As long as you have the flexibility and creativity it's quite useful ah.
Tang Muxin also had a decent grasp of his powers of 'foresight' and quickly understood what he wanted. Closing her eyes she imagines what she would do to remove the potential tumour and slowly reaches for her medical bag.
'Stop.' Jia Hyson's golden eyes were glowing brightly as they narrowed on Eunuch Shi's body. 'It's no good his luck looks a lot worse.' It wasn't very good before but it had practically gone pitch black when Tang Muxin seriously thought about him having a tumour in his body. It was essentially a game over if they go down this path of thinking.
Tang Muxin's brows furrow and nods. Without an x-ray locating a tumour can be quite hard and would waste a lot of valuable time, it was both a relief and a disappointment that Jin Bao could help cross it out of her diagnosis.
After a second of thought, her mind wandered to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. That sort of surgery was not impossible but given the circumstances, it would be incredibly difficult and required all of her abilities to do successfully. She would probably need to use the rare ice spider silk threads, and she'll need Jin Bao to act as a nurse and use his saliva which she knows has healing and possibly antibacterial properties, and maybe she might need his claws to easily cut through-
'Eh? What are you thinking of?' Jia Hyson was surprised as he stared at the pale Eunuch Shi, 'his aura suddenly looks much better?'
Tang Muxin: '…'
She coughs a little awkwardly. "Prepare yourself Jin Bao. This is going to be a difficult surgery for you. Don't worry I'll make it up to you later okay?"
About to be used for medicinal ingredients and exploited as a surgical tool Jia Hyson: ???
…
The surgery took between one and a half to two hours but to Jia Hyson it felt more like between one and a half years and eternity. By the time Tang Muxin closed Eunuch Shi's chest up and wiped the sweat pouring from her brows, Jia Hyson was laying flat on the floor half dead, his little legs splayed out like '大'*.
*character for big (pinyin: da).
His saliva was all used up, his claws were all full of old man flesh, his beautiful shiny scales were dirtied by blood and his eyes fucking hurt from overusing his [Karmic Insight].
Jia Hyson: 'Ah for the first time I really feel like my body has been dirtied and abused.'
Bebe, recalling vividly the gory second world they went to: '…'
Taking pity on her soul bonded companion, Tang Muxin passes him a cup of now cold tea that was placed in the corner of the room. Jia Hyson lifts his neck up and opens his mouth, a spoiled silent askance to have her practically bottle feed him.
Tang Muxin was a little speechless. Usually, only Da Gong would experience the full laziness of Jin Bao, and even then Jin Bao was still capable of feeding himself. "…You're a grown man. Aren't you a bit ashamed?"
'But I'm also a dragon baby,' Jia Hyson whines, 'This is technically child labour you know? The perverted kind where you made me lick an old guy's stitched up chest after surgery.'
Bebe: 'Heh you probably would have done it without asking anyway.'
Jia Hyson: 'Peh, I've never done it when the surgery wound was still fresh okay?'
Bebe: '....You what?'
Jia Hyson: 'Come on~ ╮(╯∀╰)╭with the type of men I've been with it would be weird if I never did post-op recovery sex in the hospital room ah~'
Bebe: '…At least think about the medical staff there who have to deal with that. Bah, I hope your man bled to death after overexerting themselves.'
Jia Hyson: 'Peh, and get me charged for accidental manslaughter? No way, I was very strict and only did things when they were more or less given the clear by the doctors ah. At most I used my mouth or something ah. Don't worry I made sure to swallow as much as I could ah. No mess, no fuss.'
Bebe: '.....Oh, how responsible of you.' (¬_¬)
In the end, Tang Muxin did feel bad and not only fed him water but even insisted on running a herbal bubble bath for him and Da Gong. Well. It was mainly for him alone but Da Gong would be damned if he let that happen after being separated for a few hours from his worm already.
In fact, Da Gong had freaked out seeing his worm be carried out of the makeshift surgery room covered in blood and grime. He had ended up pecking Tang Muxin fiercely in stress. Fortunately, Tang Muxin wore a thick outer robe today and Da Gong didn't really aim to draw blood.
However, she did end up with some very severe bruises on her left leg. Tang Muxin winced as she gingerly touches the sore area. It was strange, not only was the bruising especially painful it also had an irritating burning sensation to it like some bastard rubbed chilli oil there as well.
The power of the cock really can't be underestimated ah.
…
Eunuch Shi woke up a few hours later.
Tang Muxin was in the bathroom with Jin Bao and Da Gong at the time. She was showering while the pair spent time soaking in the bath.
Initially, Tang Muxin was a bit wary about bathing with Jin Bao who was a grown human man inside a dragon but after so long together she felt he was more an annoying younger brother than anything and was fine going naked in his presence. Most importantly…. Da Gong would never let his little worm look at her.
She glanced at the pair and saw Da Gong immediately raise his wings to block Jin Bao from seeing in her direction, vigilantly glaring at her fiercely. It was like he expected her to rush out of the shower wet and naked and jiggle her breasts seductively at them like a sick pervert. What was worse was her bruised leg throbs in pain subconsciously reminding her of how strong the damn vinegar drinking bird was.
Tang Muxin: '….' As the beautiful but strong and capable protagonist of this story I feel so fucking wronged.
During this time Pan Shuchun and Ye Cheng had helped arranged the remaining guards to help out around the Fairy Garden Inn and their new store Dragon's Hoard in exchange to keep this whole thing a secret and to give Eunuch Shi the best treatment possible.
The guards were fairly happy with the arrangements. After all, these people saved Eunuch Shi and got his beloved puppy back. Meaning these people also saved their own hides which would have most definitely gotten shipped to shreds if they came back empty-handed. What's some manual labour in comparison?
Only six guards were left behind to watch Eunuch Shi while they helped around. To be honest, Tang Muxin had said it may take even a day for the man to wake up as the knockout drugs she does him with were quite strong and he wasn't physically fit or healthy to begin with. Surprisingly though he woke up very quickly.
Eunuch Shi groans and slowly comes to consciousness, eyes feeling tired and heavy, and his mouth felt very dry and fuzzy like it was injected with warm cotton.
Immediately a warm calloused hand gently cradles the back of his head, raising it up slightly, and the cool smooth rim of a cup pressed against his mouth. "I see your awake ah, that's pretty fast. Here take a sip, I'm sure you must be thirsty. But really you're quite something, sir, I don't fully understand it but you seem to be recovering really well. I guess it's to be expected given little Jin Bao's help hahaha."
Eunuch Shi wasn't fully aware of his surroundings nor understood all of the other person's words, however, he felt the other person's voice was very much like his hands. Warm and comforting. Opening his mouth he gratefully and obediently takes small sips of water before he forces himself to try open his eyes.
Through his somewhat blurry gaze he saw the young, cheerful man from before. His tanned skin was healthy and his cat-like eyes curled up in laughter as his mouth continued to move. Even though he seemed very excitable and childish, his body was strong and stable, and his actions were caring and gentle.
Eunuch Shi felt like an arrow had hit his heart.
Ah, now that he looked closely, this commoner was quite dashing ah? (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)
…
Yan Huizhong suddenly frowned.
"Is something wrong Eighth Prince?" His close subordinate A asked, "I think the proposed plan is quite good albeit risky but if there's anything you feel isn't-"
"The plan is fine," Yan Huizhong waves off, "it's not that I just thought I felt something… never mind. We will implement the first step tomorrow and stay up all night to make sure nothing goes wrong. We have to make sure they're no mistakes or it's our heads on the line do you understand?"
"Of course my prince!" Subordinate A bows respectfully before leaving with the rest of the subordinates.
However, instead of feeling the usual satisfaction with the loyalty of the few people he's managed to keep by his side, Yan Huizhong still couldn't help but feel that there was something deeply amiss.
Aiyah, he really wants everything to finish faster so he can go back to hold Ye Cheng in his arms again.
…
Even though Eunuch Shi wasn't as devious and intelligent as the empress, he wasn't a simple man either. He took care of the empress when she was a little girl and had seen the maliciousness of the inner courtyards. Even though he's been getting on in years, almost fourty-seven years old now, he was treated very well in the later half of his life thanks to the empress and his mind wasn't muddled and his eyes were clear.
He quickly realized that personal doctor assigned to him must have been bribed by someone, or else the doctor would not have left so quickly or so arrogantly. After all he was the man who was on such good terms with the empress many would've speculated on their relationship had he not been an eunuch. Any imperial doctor would rather wish to rip their lungs out in order to try save. The fact this doctor only did a basic diagnosis, proclaimed him a dead man and left was really inconceivable.
The doctor given to him is a good talent, in fact he bordered on genius which shows in his young age and status of joining the imperial doctors. However the youth was prideful, ambitious and had only recently joined the imperial doctor ranks, meaning that he only had a relatively shallow network in the palace.
It was all too easy for the doctor to be killed off. Either this doctor was blinded by the title of genius others had stamped on his forehead and believed the empress and emperor would really forgive his failure or he had secretly gained a big backer. Personally Eunuch Shi felt like the answer was most likely a combination of both options.
Whoever the backer is, was problematic and hostile. Who didn't know Eunuch Shi was the empress's person? A target at him is a target at her. He may not be as scary as the rumours say but he'll be damned if he's underestimated like this ah.
After Ye Cheng left to collect some clothes for him, Eunuch Shi weakly gestured to the nearest guard and whispered to him. All the guards were loyal and cultivated well. At the very least they knew enough to dare not betray the empress and himself unlike the foolish doctor.
The guard immediately nodded and walked out of the room casually, any excitement he had was completely suppressed and he wandered out of the Fairy Garden Inn like a young well to do man who had just came out to sightsee. Even though it's not the fastest way to send a message, time right now was less important than the worth of keeping a low profile.
In order to catch the snake one shouldn't beat the grass hastily*, for now it's better to pretend to be dead and see what vermin will crawl out once the news is passed out.
*because you would spook the snake
Eunuch Shi sighs, unfortunately, this means he would be burdening his benefactors temporarily. It's quite shameful to already ask for more help after now owing a life debt to them. Not only that this may cause the kind commoners to become targeted by whoever is responsible.
Even if they have a real dragon to protect them it's still not an excuse to push his problems onto them.
This guilt grew even bigger when, after explaining to Ye Cheng, Pan Shuchun, and Tang Muxin the ins and outs, the group so easily accepted it. Eunuch Shi was so moved he almost cried. It turns out there were such good people in the world! No wonder the cute little golden dragon blessed them with it's presence!
This feeling of gratitude and guilt grew seeing how caring the trio was toward him despite their clearly busy schedules. In order to the best he could to repay them at this moment Eunuch Shi sent half of the guards away to avoid suspicion and kept the rest as plain clothes* guards who would serve as workers to help around.
*undercover, wearing normal clothing
The empress must have also gotten the news and wished to show some gratitude as well, since the legal and tax side of Ye Cheng and Tang Muxin's business was running almost suspiciously smoothly. Given it was a bit of a knowledge gap for both of them they thought it would be the most troublesome aspect. Pan Shuchun who struggled to figure out the unspoken rules of running a business in ancient China by herself couldn't even begin to describe her jealousy.
Ahhhhhhh, who the fuck likes doing accounting? Who likes taxes and figuring out the best people to talk to and the rates you should charge and be charged? Not only was everyone in the nearby government office so nice to them now the fucking asshole official in charge of giving out basic information actually hand wrote a list of tips and tricks! It should be known she had to pay one silver just to get that damn guy to even talk to her and even then it was like pulling teeth!
Fuck even though they were friends this is really infuriating okay???
If Jia Hyson and Bebe knew what Pan Shuchun was thinking they could only pat her on the back. Technically Pan Shuchun was also a protagonist, unfortunately… aiyah they were really too different levels ah.
Pan Shuchun who suddenly felt like she had been dealt a heavy blow out of nowhere: ;-;
So in short, Eunuch Shi felt very indebted and grateful to the group for taking him, a man supposed to be dead, in.
Right up until the supposedly dead Eighth Prince Yan Huizhong and powerful General Duan Mengyao came back.
Eunuch Shi: …
Eunuch Shi: ???
.
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Authors Note: Heyo, sorry for the late update~ Yeah life in real life has been a bit difficult but I just wanted to say thank you, everyone, for your awesome support after that last chapter! Thank you, reviewers, commenters and the amazing people who actually donated to me!!
Even though I don't earn as much as others on this site (and probs never will since I don't lock chapters lololol) I'm so happy to see I've got so much more awesome readers hehe. Like I hear other rich authors complain about how they barely get reviews and comments and I just puff up with pride because you guys are just so awesome~ I can't brag about my wallet but at least I can brag about you all ,,UwU,,
Please continue the brilliant support through reviews and adverts and I dunno, a bunch of different ways that don't have to necessarily involve money (but, like, I wouldn't say more to money okay *wink wink, hint hint* ;3). I'll probs stop doing these ANs now cuz its kinda annoying unless I have like a super emergency like the family health issue thing becomes a grieving for a loved one issue or I suddenly lose my hand.
Love you all muah~
OH! I ALMOST FORGOT! THIS IS IMPORTANT!
Webnovel has now done this thing. Where you can't swear in the comments and reviews. It's ridiculous and it's their way of trying to stop trolls and abusers but it also sucks cuz I don't think they've really advertised this. If you have a swear in your comment, you might see it but nobody else would. I will also see it in my notifications but when I click on it to see the whole comment or which chapter its from it won't come up cuz it don't exist.
I'm pretty sure this is for reviews too cuz I've seen one or two new ones that I couldn't find later on and the number of reviews didn't change on my story page. So just keep in mind to avoid swearing or at least censor most of the bad word in future ah.
I'm annoyed at this too cuz my new extras in the comments before were also disappearing cuz I put swears and I was sooo confused why nobody liked my chapter comment lol. ORZ.