The dense rain connected the sky and the earth. The raindrops pelted the tiles, making a rustling sound.
At the mansion of员外 Chen, an oil - green umbrella was held above the "Master's" head, escorting him to the door of the Mingde Hall. Inside the hall,员外 Chen, Taoist Yuanqi and others had been waiting for a long time.
His arrival made the others stand up one after another, bowing in greeting, "We pay our respects to the 'Master'."
The "Master" sat down on the main seat and got straight to the point. "Was everything smooth with the funeral tonight?"
员外 Chen quickly replied, "Everything went smoothly. We personally watched the coffin being buried and the Taoist priest drawing the runes. We didn't leave until we were sure there were no mistakes. I left a few people there to guard. There will definitely be no problems."
The "Master" still frowned. Then he turned to Taoist Yuanqi. "It's raining so heavily. Will it affect the runes you drew?"
Taoist Yuanqi replied unhurriedly, "There was an interval of one or two hours between the burial and the start of the rain. It was long enough for the runes to take effect. After the formation was completed, I also divined on - site. The hexagram was completely yin, which means the formation has been successfully set up. That person's soul has completely dissipated and will no longer pose any threat to the 'Master'."
Only then did the "Master" relax his furrowed brow and smile.
"It's my honor to have capable subordinates like you. When I successfully ascend to that position in the future, I will surely reward you handsomely."
He raised his hand to signal the person outside the door. A person then walked into the room and distributed something in his hand to员外 Chen, Taoist Yuanqi and others.
They were actually banknotes worth 500 taels of gold.
Holding the banknotes, everyone showed delighted smiles on their faces. Even Taoist Yuanqi, who usually had a stern face, looked happy.
"The Taoist priest is truly capable." The "Master" said, showing a kind smile to Taoist Yuanqi. "I will rely on the Taoist priest in many aspects in the future. I wonder if the Taoist priest would like to follow me all the time?"
Taoist Yuanqi stood up and bowed deeply to him. "I am willing to accompany the 'Master' and help the 'Master' achieve the great path."
"Hahaha." The "Master" laughed heartily and changed the topic, chatting with the others about other things.
The rain hit the window panes, wetting the wood and leaving meandering traces on the wall. The people in the room, chatting animatedly, had no idea that in the night, two figures were struggling to walk through the alleys of Dongli Town in the rain.
With a "bang", the door was pushed open forcefully and hit the wall behind. A gust of wind with rain came in.
Ye Wanmian shivered and then turned around to help Qi Wen. "Be careful!"
"Come this way. Put him on the bed. Slowly..."
After entering the room, the two carefully placed the person on Qi Wen's back on the bed.
Back at the Huichun Hall, the familiar smell of herbs came from all directions. The feeling of arriving safely made Ye Wanmian and Qi Wen heave a sigh of relief. They slumped to the ground, feeling extremely tired.
"We've finally returned safely." Qi Wen wiped the water off his face. "I'm so exhausted."
Recalling what had just happened, he still felt it was a bit like a dream.
Unexpectedly, there was a secret passage hidden in a manor in the mountains. They followed the passage all the way and finally returned to Dongli Town!
The exit of the secret passage was the cellar of a residential house in Yan'er Alley. After coming out of the cellar, the two didn't dare to delay. They quickly restored the entrance of the cellar to its original state and then left the house.
Thanks to the fact that the Prince Mu had taken most of the town's troops away and it was raining, there were almost no pedestrians on the road. So Ye Wanmian and Qi Wen were able to bring the Crown Prince's body back to the medical clinic smoothly without being noticed by anyone.
Ye Wanmian regained her strength and quickly stood up from the ground. "We've been in the rain all night. Quickly change your wet clothes. Be careful not to catch a cold."
She looked at the Crown Prince on the bed, who was lying there with his eyes closed like a dead man. She said, "Go and rummage through Master's room. Find a dry set of clothes for him to change into. Master's build is about the same as his. I think it should fit. I'll go and boil some ginger soup and cold medicine to get rid of the cold."
Qi Wen nodded, and the two went their separate ways.
Back in her own room, Ye Wanmian's legs went weak and she almost fell to the ground. Dahuang rushed over quickly, nuzzling her hand with its nose and making a whining sound. Its beady eyes were full of worry.
Ye Wanmian smiled and rubbed its head. "Don't worry, Dahuang. I'm fine. I'm just a bit tired."
But recalling what she had done tonight, instead of standing up from the ground, she leaned against the yellow dog and stared blankly for a while.
Unexpectedly, they had managed to save the person.
I'm afraid员外 Chen and that stinky Taoist priest would never have expected that in the blink of an eye, their painstaking plan, which they thought was absolutely foolproof, would fail like this.
She could imagine how much of a stir it would cause when those people found out that the Crown Prince's body was missing, and how big a storm would rise in Dongli Town.
Ye Wanmian actually didn't know why she had to save the person, nor why she had to carry him back to the medical clinic. But since she had done it, she wouldn't regret it.
Gritting her teeth, she propped herself up from the ground, wiped the rain off her body, changed into a clean set of clothes, and then went to the kitchen to boil ginger soup and cold - dispelling medicine.
When she carried the ginger soup and cold - dispelling medicine to the room, Qi Wen had already changed the Crown Prince's clothes and was wiping his hair with a handkerchief.
"Come on. Drink the ginger soup and cold - dispelling medicine first, or you might get sick. There are only the two of us in the medical clinic now. If we both fall ill, there will be no one to take care of the shop."
Qi Wen nodded, took it and drank it in one gulp.
After the ginger soup and cold - dispelling medicine went down, their bodies became warm. After taking care of themselves, the two then began to take care of the person lying quietly on the bed.
They clumsily fed the ginger soup and cold medicine into the Crown Prince's mouth. Qi Wen looked at the handsome but rather pale - faced man and said,
"Madam Jiang, why has he been in a coma? We made such a commotion on the way back from the cemetery, but he didn't show any reaction at all."
Ye Wanmian thought for a moment and said, "It should be true that the Crown Prince was attacked. I heard that after he was assassinated, he fell off a cliff. Maybe he hurt his head during the fall."
"The medical books also record that if a person has a head injury and there is a blood clot, it will lead to a coma. For patients like this, they can only be fed liquid food to sustain life. If they can't wake up for a long time, they will also die in their sleep."
"I see." Qi Wen suddenly understood.
They had worked all night to save the person. Naturally, they didn't want him to die.
However, he had been hidden for a long time, and his body was not as strong as an ordinary person's.
Two hours later, Qi Wen forcefully woke Ye Wanmian from her dream. "Madam Jiang, something's wrong. That person has a high fever!"