Spring arrives and the land smiles

Luo Qing's medicine was very effective. For three or four days in a row, Qing Yan was in a daze and finally got through her painful period.

Waking up feeling carefree and energetic is a feeling that seems to have been long forgotten. Qingyan didn't care about the summer heat and ran to the yard early in the morning to stretch her arms and legs, move her neck and twist her waist.

However, this is probably what they mean by "enemies meeting on a narrow road".

As Qingyan was stretching her muscles, Lan Zhen had already wrapped a soft sword around her waist from behind. The metal blade sent a distinct chill through the thin fabric, making Qingyan instinctively feel aggressive.

Unsurprisingly, the two ended up fighting.

"Xiao Yan'er, you're too slow with your palm strike."

"Xiao Yan'er, lift your legs higher."

"Little Yan'er, keep your back and waist steady."

"Little Yan'er, make sure your feet are firmly planted on the ground."

Lan Zhen was having a great time fighting, and Qing Yan, under his guidance, actually managed to last for more than fifty moves.

"I'm not playing anymore." After being trained like this so early in the morning, Qingyan finally lost her patience.

"You played well, why stop?" Lan Zhen asked, still wanting more.

"I'm tired." It was obvious that Lan Zhen hadn't been teasing or joking, but was just helping her relax. Qing Yan gave him a friendly look in return.

"Your health is compromised; it was my carelessness." Seeing Qingyan's tired expression, Lan Zhen couldn't help but feel apologetic.

Lan Zhen felt guilty, but Qing Yan thought she was being dramatic: "It's alright, I'll just rest for a bit."

Qingyan was about to return to her room when she saw Lan Zhen standing there, and her heart softened: "I wonder if Your Highness Prince Zhao would be interested in having breakfast together?"

Qingyan's obvious gesture of goodwill and truce delighted Lan Zhen, who quickly nodded in agreement.

"Little Yan'er, it's not just breakfast. If there's anything else you need, I'll be there whenever you call. I'd be more than happy to oblige."

Lan Zhen's charming and flirtatious nature, as he sheathed his soft sword and opened his folding fan, overflowed from every pore of his body. Qing Yan suddenly felt regretful. Why did she always feel sorry for him and end up with a sense of helplessness, like she was lifting a stone to drop on her own foot?

The two had just finished their breakfast when a messenger arrived from outside the door with an urgent message that traveled 600 li (approximately 300 kilometers).

Qingyan glanced at Lan Zhen: "Your Highness, please wait a moment, I'll be right back."

Lan Zhen smiled wryly; given his status, he should have avoided the situation at that moment.

“Little Yan’er, if you call me Lan Zhen, I will wait for you until the end of time.”

Unrepentant, Qingyan glanced at him sideways and ignored him.

A messenger from Yushan was outside the door, indicating that Yunxuan had quickly arranged things properly in Yushan.

Qingyan opened the envelope and, as she had expected, everything in Yushan was going smoothly, and the new weapons were being manufactured faster than anticipated. She estimated that the Ning family army would be fully armed in about ten days.

Qingyan finally felt relieved.

"Princess." Luo Qing came to take Qing Yan's pulse as usual, but saw her holding a letter at the door.

"Young Master Luo." Qingyan handed the letter to Zhui'er behind her and led Luo Qing into the room.

"Your Highness Prince Zhao has also come to visit the princess; how thoughtful of you!" Luo Qing greeted Lan Zhen.

“Xiao Yan’er asked me to have breakfast with her.” Lan Zhen looked at Luo Qing smugly.

Luo Qing gave him a look that said "you're an idiot" and glared at him as a warning, telling him to stop now.

Lan Zhen disagreed, seemingly determined not to back down until she hit a brick wall.

Luo Qing sighed softly, almost inaudibly.

Taking a pulse only took a moment, and Luo Qing quickly came to a conclusion.

“The princess is in excellent health. If she does not object, I would like to remove the poison from her ahead of schedule.”

"If it could be done earlier, that would be even better. Everything is up to Young Master Luo to arrange." Qingyan was overjoyed.

"Please cooperate, Your Highness, and refrain from drinking alcohol today. I will make preparations and inform you both as soon as possible." Luo Qing turned to Lan Zhen, who nodded in agreement.

"I'll go prepare too." Lan Zhen followed Luo Qing out.

"Why remove the poison in advance? Are you sure you can do it?" Lan Zhen asked, pulling Luo Qing aside.

"The sooner you get rid of the poison, the sooner you can break camp. The prince consort is still waiting in Yushan. Even if you try to take advantage of the situation, they might not give you the chance. You should stop now." Luo Qing was too lazy to pay attention to him.

"Mind your own business." Lan Zhen rolled her eyes at him.

"Childish." Luo Qing turned and left.

Before long, Luo Qing moved a lot of things into Qingyan's room, and the sight of the bottles and jars made her feel terrified.

Finally, a large wooden tub was brought in, steaming from it, and the strong smell of medicine immediately filled the entire room. Qingyan craned her neck to look at the medicine in the tub; it was crystal clear. Was she going to soak it in it again?

Qingyan glanced at the medicine barrel, then looked at Luo Qing, who gave her a knowing look.

Okay, now's not the time to be sentimental.

But this medicine is too...

"Young Master Luo, if we sprinkle some flower petals into the tub, will it affect the medicinal properties?"

"Petals?" Luo Qing was slightly taken aback.

"Uh, we can cover it up a little." Qingyan blushed slightly.

For a doctor, patients have no gender distinction. Qingyan understands this very well, but when it happens to her, she still can't let it go. Just like in her previous life, most gynecologists were women. It's inevitable that there will be some resentment between men and women.

Qingyan pointed it out, and Luo Qing understood: "It's just a petal, it's nothing."

Having received permission, Qingyan immediately instructed Zhuier to carry it out.

Luo Qing poured a lot more of various colored powders into the medicine bucket, but the water in the bucket remained crystal clear. Qing Yan curiously reached out to scoop up a handful of water, but Luo Qing stopped her.

"No, one ingredient is still missing. If the medicine is administered now, it will have a backlash."

"Such a thing is possible?" Qingyan was so frightened that she quickly stopped.

Luo Qing poured the last ingredient into the bucket, and the liquid instantly turned blue, then gradually faded until it was clear again.

"Princess, please step into the tub." Luo Qing retreated behind the screen.

Zhui'er scattered the flower petals into the bucket, and then helped Qingyan undress.

The water was quite hot, and since it was summer, the temperature caused Qingyan's forehead to break out in a light sweat.

Luo Qing dismissed everyone and beckoned Lan Zhen to come in.

When Lan Zhen came in, Qing Yan subconsciously shrank back half a step into the bucket.

Lan Zhen smiled as he saw Qing Yan's bare shoulders turn pink from the high temperature of the water, and a hint of heat unconsciously appeared in his eyes.

"Take off your clothes and put them in the tub," Luo Qing instructed Lan Zhen.

"what?"

"what?"

Lan Zhen and Qing Yan both exclaimed in surprise at the same time.

"Take off your clothes and put them in the tub," Luo Qing repeated slowly.

The two exchanged a glance, and Qingyan awkwardly turned her face away.

Lan Zhen chuckled softly and loosened her belt.

Although the medicine tub was large, it became a bit crowded with another person coming in. Qingyan tried her best to stay close to the tub wall to avoid touching Lan Zhen, but there was really no way to avoid it. She was concerned about the upper part and neglected the lower part.

This cautious little look was quite adorable. Just as Lan Zhen was about to tease her a bit, Luo Qing spoke up:

"Use your inner energy to protect her heart meridian. I'm going to start the acupuncture." Luo Qing said this to Lan Zhen.

With business at hand, Lan Zhen composed himself, gathered his energy, and gently placed his palm on Qing Yan's back.

Qingyan immediately felt refreshed and full of energy.

However, after Luo Qing used the needle, Qing Yan's consciousness began to dissipate uncontrollably.

Luo Qing had applied silver needles to multiple acupoints on her head, body, and arms. The pain quickly spread throughout her body, and Qing Yan's consciousness gradually returned to clarity amidst the pain, making the pain increasingly distinct.

Qingyan gritted her teeth, cold sweat pouring down her forehead, and finally couldn't bear it any longer and cried out before fainting.

Luo Qing quickly withdrew the silver needles.

"Why is this happening?" Lan Zhen held Qing Yan in his arms. At this moment, Qing Yan's originally light pink face had turned pale, and her lips were bitten so hard that a row of teeth marks were visible.

Luo Qing pressed on Qing Yan's pulse point, her tightly furrowed brows relaxing: "Most of the toxins have been cleared. Protect her heart meridian, and I will administer another acupuncture to completely remove them once she wakes up."

A short while later, Qingyan slowly woke up and opened her eyes to see Lan Zhen's magnified transvestite face, which made her heart skip a beat.

"Can the princess still withstand it?" Luo Qing asked.

The intense pain she had just experienced left Qingyan feeling shaken. She stepped out of Lan Zhen's embrace, steadied herself, and nodded to Luo Qing.

Lan Zhen used her true energy to protect Qing Yan's heart meridian. Qing Yan took a deep breath and waited for the excruciating pain to spread throughout her body.

Luo Qing administered the acupuncture again, but the expected pain did not occur. Qing Yan only felt Lan Zhen's true energy flowing into her body, and her burning body began to cool down. Her consciousness also gradually became blurred as her body cooled down.

Half a moment later, Luo Qing withdrew all the silver needles. Qing Yan was now ice cold all over, and the hot medicine could not keep her body temperature. She subconsciously looked for more heat sources and hugged Lan Zhen with both her hands and feet.

"Hey, you..." Such close physical contact caused Lan Zhen's body temperature to rise suddenly, so Qing Yan hugged her even tighter.

As her body temperature began to rise, Qingyan's craving for heat intensified. She groped and rubbed against Lan Zhen's body repeatedly. Finally, Lan Zhen couldn't take it anymore and yelled at Luo Qing:

How much longer?

"Isn't this exactly what you wanted?" Luo Qing glanced at him sideways, frowned, and began to administer acupuncture to Qing Yan again.

"I never take advantage of others in their time of need."

Lan Zhen composed herself, wrapping one arm around Qing Yan's waist, holding her firmly against her chest, while placing the other hand on her back, using her inner energy to protect her heart meridian. At this moment, she absolutely could not entertain any distracting thoughts, otherwise both of them would suffer a qi deviation.

About a quarter of an hour later, Luo Qing removed the silver needles, and Qing Yan finally collapsed from exhaustion and fell into a deep sleep.

Lan Zhen breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"The toxins have been cleared." Luo Qing withdrew her hand from Qing Yan's pulse point and nodded to Lan Zhen.

Lan Zhen understood, took Qing Yan out of the tub, wrapped her in a bath towel, and placed her on the bed.

"Why would the Soul Cleansing and Marrow Washing cause such a situation?" Lan Zhen asked while tidying himself up. In his memory, the Soul Cleansing and Marrow Washing seemed to have nothing to do with anything other than excruciating pain.

Luo Qing shook her head.

Lan Zhen panicked: "What? You don't know either? What should we do then?"

"We can only stay by her side and see how things go." This was a situation Luo Qing had never encountered before, and he had no confidence in his ability to handle it.

Now that things had come to this, Lan Zhen knew there was no use in rushing things, so she could only follow Luo Qing's arrangements.

"You should go and rest first."

Lan Zhen's true energy was damaged, so it naturally needed time to recover.

"It's alright." Lan Zhen sat by Qing Yan's bedside, seemingly having no intention of leaving.

Luo Qing sighed, knowing that further persuasion would be useless at this point, so she took out a brown pill from her medicine box and handed it to him: "Take this."

Lan Zhen was obedient and swallowed the pill, then circulated her qi for a while.

Qingyan remained unconscious, lifeless and unaware of anything. Luo Qing examined her pulse and administered acupuncture several times, but there was no response.

Just when Luo Qing was at her wit's end, Qing Yan let out a soft moan and slightly opened her eyes.

The two quickly approached Qingyan.

"I...want...water," Qingyan managed to squeeze out.

A glass of water was immediately handed to Qingyan's lips.

Qingyan drank it all in one gulp.

"Why is it so hot?" Lan Zhen took the water cup from Qing Yan's hand and touched her hand. The temperature was unusual, so she quickly touched her forehead and found that the temperature was indeed frighteningly high.

Luo Qing checked Qing Yan's pulse, and the pulse did not indicate that the toxins had not been cleared, but her body temperature was frighteningly high.