FID – Chapter 653

Chapter 653: Do You Want to Kill Me to Silence Me?

Since he knew, there was no way he would be completely unguarded.

If Prince Ting from Beicang was so easily schemed against, he wouldn’t be Prince Ting today.

If he was never actually dead and had set up his defenses in advance, then while the entire populations of Nanling and Beicang were searching for him, he had never shown himself.

Where would he have gone?

— Xinghua Village, in Xiangshan, Yunzhou?

The moment this thought surfaced in his mind, he had the urge to destroy everything in sight.

Looking out at the shimmering river beyond the boat cabin, the reflection of distant fishing lights flickering on the waves, Feng Qingbai’s eyes turned cold, freezing over like frost.

The next morning, after breakfast, Liu Yusheng began performing acupuncture treatment for Duan Ting.

After dismissing everyone else, she closed the small clinic’s doors and windows tightly, ensuring no air could seep in. To brighten the room, she even lit a few small lanterns.

After preparing the gold needles and other tools, she approached the man lying on the small couch inside the clinic and leaned down to remove his robe.

Her hand was suddenly grabbed by the man.

“Miss Liu, a man and a woman alone in a room, and you’re trying to take off my clothes? If word gets out, I won’t be affected, but I’m afraid your reputation might suffer.”

Liu Yusheng calmly pulled her hand free and calmly replied, “I’m a doctor, and you’re a patient. In my eyes, you’re no different from a piece of pork at the market. Who would gossip about me and a slab of pork?”

Duan Ting closed his eyes. “I’ll do it myself. My legs don’t work, but I’m not so crippled that I can’t undress myself.”

Liu Yusheng straightened up, gestured for him to proceed, and stood by the couch watching him undress.

Even with Duan Ting’s thick skin, he still felt like cursing.

Gritting his teeth, he quickly removed his outer robe in a few swift motions and lay stiffly on the couch, unmoving.

He might as well accept his fate.

Liu Yusheng inserted the gold needles into the major acupoints across the man’s body. Watching the slight trembling of the needle tips, her face remained expressionless, though her brows gradually furrowed.

“I feel like I look no different from a porcupine in the wild right now,” Duan Ting joked bitterly, trying to find humor in his predicament.

“Pretty much,” Liu Yusheng replied. 

After a brief pause, she retrieved the gold needles and once again reached out—to remove the only remaining piece of clothing on his body, a simple white inner robe.

This time, Duan Ting completely lost his composure. He tightly gripped her wrist, his eyes darkening with cold warning. “Miss Liu, enough is enough! If your medical skills are lacking, then don’t bother treating me!”

Liu Yusheng lifted her gaze, meeting his eyes calmly. “You came to me not just because I’m your last hope—but also because I’m a woman. Isn’t that right?”

Duan Ting’s entire body tensed. His eyes widened in disbelief, and the darkness in his gaze shattered with an almost imperceptible tremor. “You…”

“Do you plan to kill me to silence me?” The young woman remained composed, as if his reaction meant nothing to her. She simply pulled her hand back. “You’re the patient, and I respect your wishes. If you truly don’t want to be treated, then so be it. I have no interest in inviting trouble for myself.”

Duan Ting gave the young woman another deep look before speaking softly, “When did you figure it out?”

“Yesterday, when I took your pulse.”

“So, have I exposed myself?”

“Probably because you didn’t know that female doctors, in some ways, are more delicate and perceptive than male doctors.”

Letting out a long sigh, Duan Ting relaxed his tense body and stared at the wooden beam above him. “Go ahead and treat me. Since things have come this far, whether I get treated or not, you already know the truth. There’s no point in fighting it.”

“I can pretend I don’t know.”

“But you already do.”

The young woman looked at him with some hesitation. “Are you going to kill me to silence me?”

“…No!”

With nothing but his thin inner robe left on, Duan Ting’s pale face flushed red. He turned his head to the side. “Hurry up! It’s cold without clothes on!”

“It’s only early autumn. Even if you’re not wearing a robe during the day, you won’t catch a chill.”

Leaving him speechless, Liu Yusheng continued her examination without pause. Finally, she gently turned him over.

Her gaze traveled down his smooth back, eventually settling on a particular spot along his spine. She reached out and pressed down on it.

“How does it feel? Does it hurt?”

Duan Ting pressed his lips together and shook his head. “I don’t feel anything at all.”

“You’re missing a section of your spine.”

Duan Ting’s hands clenched tightly around the bedsheet beneath him. He turned to the young woman in disbelief.

“Perhaps because your lower body is completely numb, you never noticed the missing part. Moreover, from the outside, there are no visible scars,” Liu Yusheng said, pressing once again on the area where the vertebra was missing. “The person who removed your bone possesses extremely advanced medical skills.”

His lips trembled, his gaze wavered, and under the lantern’s dim light, his already pale face seemed even more ghastly. “Is this the reason why I can’t walk?”

Liu Yusheng nodded.

Duan Ting remained silent for a long time. He let Liu Yusheng help him put his clothes back on. Just as she extinguished the lanterns and prepared to open the door, he finally spoke in a low voice. “Miss Liu, if I’m missing a section of bone… can it be treated?”

Liu Yusheng hesitated for a moment before replying, “It’s difficult, but we can try.”

What she truly meant was that the challenge lay in the current medical limitations.

A missing vertebrae required bone grafting and fusion to heal properly.

“I will remember this kindness, Miss Liu.”

“I’m a doctor. This is simply my duty. No need to keep it in mind.”

Flashing him a brief smile, Liu Yusheng stepped out of the clinic.

For the next period of time, Liu Yusheng would be quite busy.

This was ancient times—performing surgery under such primitive conditions was already a challenge.

If not for the spiritual spring she had at her disposal, no matter how skilled she was, she wouldn’t have dared to take on this patient.

The Liu family didn’t ask too many questions about her diagnosis.

They knew nothing about medicine, so asking would be pointless.

Life in the Liu household didn’t change just because they had taken in a patient. Those who needed to work kept working, and those who collected money continued to do so.

After spending a few days at the Liu family courtyard, Duan Ting gradually adapted to the pace of life there.

Every day, when mealtime arrived, he would show up at the dining table as punctually as Elder Jiu, eating heartily while maintaining his usual elegance.

After meals, he would either have a maid push his wheelchair to follow Grandpa Liu around, stroll near the medicinal fields by the Qing River, or sit beneath the ancient pagoda tree at the village entrance, listening to the old men exchange gossip—completely at ease.

Xinghua Village was indeed a place that nurtured people well. After just a few days of eating at the Liu courtyard, he could already feel a distinct change in his body.

It wasn’t an obvious transformation, but for someone who had been ill for a long time, even the slightest improvement was noticeable.

That afternoon, he went with Liu Zhiqiu to Xinghua Ridge, picking a basket of grapes from the back of the ridge. On the way back to the estate, he casually popped them into his mouth as he walked.

Just as he rolled through the door, before he could even spit out the grape skin, a gust of forceful wind came sweeping toward him.

His wheelchair swiftly retreated, and after coming to a steady stop, he lifted his gaze—only to see a figure in deep purple standing inside the doorway, his expression cold and solemn.

“Your Highness, it’s been a while. What a coincidence,” Duan Ting said with a smile.

Feng Qingbai curled his lips slightly. “It is quite the coincidence. Oh, by the way, upon hearing that Prince Ting was here, I’ve already sent word to Beicang. Wouldn’t want them going to great lengths and wasting resources trying to find you.”