The Eunuch's Declaration of Loyalty

Chapter 39

Except when Liu Qingtang was ill and the head of the Imperial Medical Academy came to treat her, Yang Sushu would come to check her pulse every two months. This time, as usual, when she came to check Liu Qingtang's pulse, Yang Sushu's eyes were unusually dark, and her listless appearance was quite different from her usual gentle and refined demeanor, which made Liu Qingtang very curious.

After taking her pulse and prescribing some medicine to clear heat, Liu Qingtang couldn't wait to ask, "Sushu, have you encountered any troubles lately? You don't seem to be feeling well."

Having probably been asked this by many people, Yang Sushu replied with a gentle smile without thinking, "I just recently found a few rare medical books and have been engrossed in reading them, forgetting to rest. It's nothing serious."

If someone unfamiliar with her saw her composed and serious demeanor, they might have believed her without a second thought. But Liu Qingtang had grown up with her, so how could she not know that this was just an excuse? She simply smiled and watched her remain silent.

Yang Sushu knew her friend's usual personality, so she dropped her gentle smile and sat down, touching her forehead and sighing.

"Speaking of which, this matter is also related to you."

"Oh? Is that so~" Liu Qingtang asked with great interest, waiting for her explanation. Her appetite had been whetted. You see, her friend had somehow transformed from a quiet, tearful girl into a gentle, refined, and polite young gentleman. In terms of personality alone, he was far superior, even more so than she, the Empress Dowager.

Liu Qingtang couldn't even remember the last time she'd seen her friend show such vulnerability. Thinking back, it seemed her friend always wore a warm, welcoming smile. This rare display of distress was truly unusual, and how could she not be curious?

"This matter started when you asked me to treat Consort Lian after Consort Lian and Prince Chun left the palace."

"Hmm, a few days ago when I went back to the Liu family, on the Lantern Festival, you said you were going to see Consort Lian. What happened?" Liu Qingtang recalled this incident and couldn't help but wonder if Consort Lian had given her friend a hard time.

"The Empress Dowager is indeed seriously ill, and she probably doesn't have long to live. She probably knows it herself." Most doctors are kind-hearted, and Yang Sushu, at least, was influenced by her surroundings from a young age. In Liu Qingtang's eyes, she was a much kinder person than she was. At this moment, she couldn't help but show a look of pity and sighed, "I consulted the medical books treasured in my family and asked other senior doctors in the Imperial Hospital who had treated this condition. I prescribed medicine for the Empress Dowager, but it can only temporarily suppress her illness. She will definitely die within three months."

"As a doctor, being unable to save one's own patient and only able to watch her die is truly disheartening. This is one of my worries. Another is what happened in Prince Chun's palace." Yang Sushu became visibly more troubled when she mentioned Prince Chun, her brows furrowing tightly.

Liu Qingtang was quite surprised to hear this. Prince Chun, Xiao Huaiyu, was just a faint shadow in her heart. She even had a deeper impression of the Dowager Consort than of him. Because Xiao Huaiyu was mentally challenged and could not speak properly, when she saw him, he was usually staring blankly at something for a long, long time without moving.

Take the grand banquet where she could only see Xiao Huaiyu, for example. She would always unconsciously ignore him. How could someone who had no presence be the root of Su Shu's troubles?

"On the day of the Lantern Festival, after I finished treating Consort Lian and returned home, I didn't plan to go out again. What I said at the beginning about discovering several rare medical books was not a lie, it was true. I had been studying them for the past few days, but Uncle Liao said that the Lantern Festival was all about looking at lanterns, so he kicked me out of the mansion to look at the lanterns."

Liu Qingtang poured her some tea, smiling on the outside but shaking her head inwardly. Su Shu, who seemed gentle to everyone, was actually the most difficult to get close to. Besides, she usually spent her time either at the Imperial Hospital or at home, even preferring to stay home reading medical books during holidays. She hadn't met many outstanding men. Was she destined to live a lonely life, wearing the skin of a man, until the end?

Even her cold and stern father couldn't stand it and spoke to Su Shu several times, not to mention Uncle Liao, the steward of the Yang family who treated Su Shu like his own granddaughter. His intention in urging her to go out to see the lanterns on the Lantern Festival was extremely clear: he wanted to see if she could meet a suitable husband at the festival, or at least have some fun like a proper young lady.

However, Liu Qingtang guessed that her friend had only gone to the pharmacy to look at the newly arrived medicinal herbs and was about to go back. As for the lantern festival and such, no one had forced Su Shu to go since she entered the palace, so she guessed that Su Shu would not have gone willingly on her own.

As expected, Yang Sushu's next sentence was: "I looked at the newly arrived medicinal herbs in several pharmacies nearby, and when I was about to go back, I met His Highness Prince Chun."

On the Lantern Festival, Yang Sushu browsed the pharmacy for a while. Feeling confident that she could fool Liao Bo, she prepared to return to her residence. However, she saw the Prince Chun, whom she had met at the Prince Chun's residence that morning, sitting by the wall on the street. Several children were laughing and throwing pebbles at him. When he didn't react, they gathered together and laughed, as if they were playing a fun game.

She naturally stepped forward to stop the children and then wanted to take Prince Chun back. However, because he had bruises on his face from being hit and his clothes were dirty and messy, it wouldn't look right to take him back like that, so she took him to a nearby pharmacy, one of the several pharmacies owned by the Yang family.

Fortunately, he seemed to remember that she had gone to see the Empress Dowager Lian that morning, and obediently followed her.

She sent a servant to Prince Chun's residence to deliver a letter, and then personally treated the scratches on his face and forehead. She also bought him a new set of clothes to change into. She originally wanted the servant to change him, but he wouldn't let anyone he didn't know get close, clinging to his dirty clothes and refusing to take them off. After a long stalemate, Yang Sushu finally had no choice but to change him herself. As for the awkwardness during the process, she won't go into details.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she finished tidying up Prince Chun and immediately prepared to send him back to his residence. However, he stood like a wooden post in the pharmacy lobby, refusing to move an inch, staring blankly at the medicine cabinets on the two walls, making "ah ah" sounds. Yang Sushu didn't know what was wrong with her, but seeing his nonchalant appearance, she suddenly had a flash of insight and understood what he meant, asking, "To get medicine to treat Consort Lian's illness?"

Then he quieted down, staring blankly at her with eyes much darker than most people's.

Yang Sushu was stunned. Like everyone else, she thought Prince Chun was a fool who was always in a daze and didn't understand anything. He didn't even know that his mother was sick and wouldn't live much longer, let alone comfort her.

But now she realized that he also had feelings, he was just too naive to express them. He knew his mother was sick, but he didn't know much about it, probably only thinking that medicine would make him better, so he ran away. He probably had never seen the outside world before, didn't know where to go, and could only sit by the wall in a daze.

At that moment, Yang Sushu was somewhat moved. She rolled up her sleeves and carefully prepared the medicine for Consort Lian from behind the counter. After she handed over the medicine packet, he held it tightly in his arms, unwilling to let go.

After sending him back to the Prince Chun's residence, she thought the matter was over. Little did she know, this was just the beginning. Because her Yang residence was close to the Prince Chun's residence, Yang Sushu would see the Prince Chun standing at the gate every time she returned home. As soon as he saw her, he would silently follow her. If she ignored him and went straight into the residence, he would wait outside, staring blankly at the gate of her Yang residence for a long time. But whenever she took him to the pharmacy to get medicine, he would hold the medicine bag and quietly and obediently let her take him back.

Every single day is the same.

Yang Sushu sighed again, omitting some details and simply saying, "He somehow left the mansion without any servants and was bullied by a group of children, so I sent him back. But later, he seemed to think that I could save Consort Lian, and every time he saw me, he wanted me to take him to get medicine."

Liu Qingtang raised an eyebrow. A dying imperial concubine and a mentally unstable prince—they had no relatives in Yujing, no power, and no wealth. The palace servants assigned by the Imperial Household Department certainly wouldn't be very dedicated. However, to be so careless as to let a foolish prince run away and be bullied by some children was truly embarrassing. If people found out, the imperial family would lose all face.

Since she had already helped that mother and son several times, she might as well go all the way, even if they didn't appreciate it; to be honest, she was just doing it for peace of mind. Liu Qingtang was planning when to send Qin Shu to the Prince Chun's residence to teach those disrespectful servants a lesson.

Having been Empress Dowager for so long, she subconsciously paid attention to the imperial family's reputation. After Liu Qingtang reread her friend's words, she keenly sensed a different meaning. Su Shu's tone… even if the Prince Chun was foolish, he was still a man. It seemed he'd been spending a lot of time with Su Shu lately?

Thinking about it this way, although Su Shu is now the only one left in the Yang family, and no one will force her to become a man to revitalize the family, Su Shu herself has become accustomed to this and is unwilling to change back to her female identity. She also has no hope of finding a man who can accept her as she is. So, being with Xiao Huaiyu for company isn't bad. At least he's simple-minded and won't care about Su Shu's identity, nor will he make any demands on her. He certainly won't cause Su Shu any trouble by having multiple wives and concubines like many men these days, and he won't restrict her freedom. Su Shu also prefers a quiet life; perhaps the two of them together would be quite good?

The more she thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. Liu Qingtang, who had been worrying about her friend's marriage for several years, smiled gently and suggested, "Sushu, what do you think of Prince Chun, Xiao Huaiyu?"

Yang Sushu was taken aback but immediately understood what she meant. She said with a wry smile, "Why did you suddenly think of this? I've already said I don't want to think about these things anymore, Qingtang, you don't need to worry about me."

“Actually, Sushu, if you think about it carefully, your situation is actually quite good for you to be with Prince Chun. But if you think he’s an idiot, then forget it,” Liu Qingtang said deliberately.

Even though Yang Sushu knew her friend was using reverse psychology, she still had to explain, "Although he has some mental issues, he has a pure heart, which I think is much better than most men. So what's there to dislike about him? It's just that I really don't have any romantic feelings for him. Besides, he's three years younger than me."

"So what if she's three years younger! A woman three years older is like a golden brick, Su Shu!" Liu Qingtang slammed down her teacup and said irritably.

Yang Sushu suddenly laughed when she saw her like this, "Could it be that Qin Shu is also three years younger than you?"

"...Only two years younger." Liu Qingtang said reluctantly.

"Why didn't I see Qin Shu today?" Yang Sushu asked again.

Mentioning this, Liu Qingtang's face showed even more displeasure. "I want to replace the current head eunuch of Cining Palace and promote Qin Shu to deputy head eunuch. Now he's busy learning those things from Eunuch Ning, and I haven't seen him for two days." Realizing that her tone was inappropriate, Liu Qingtang coughed and put on a serious expression. "Of course, I don't miss him, it's just that he hasn't come to pay his respects for two days. What kind of behavior is that?"

"If you miss him, just tell him properly. Otherwise, how will he know? Actually, Qin Shu likes you so much, you don't need to pretend like this."

Upon hearing this, Liu Qingtang deflated, slumped her shoulders, and whispered, "I understand."

Yang Sushu breathed a sigh of relief as she finally managed to change the subject. Afraid that her friend would bring up that matter again, she quickly stood up and said, "It's getting late, I'll head back now." Then, as if something was chasing her, she hurriedly left.

After Liu Qingtang finished agonizing over how to say those words to Qin Shu, she looked up again, but Yang Sushu was nowhere to be seen.

Although she felt much more relaxed after confiding in her friend, the rambling things her friend said afterward still made Yang Sushu feel somewhat awkward when she saw Prince Chun waiting at the door. However, she couldn't tell from her face. Meeting his lifeless dark eyes, she smiled as usual and said, "Let's go, Your Highness, I'll take you to get the medicine."

Author's Note: This story is participating in Jinjiang's "Encouraging Innovation" campaign. If you can, please support it! There's a chapter at the very top of the chapter list that says "Encouraging Innovation." Click on it, then find my story under "Voting" - "Ancient Romance" and click to support it. Thank you so much!

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[As always, thank you to all the girls for your support and love~ You are my angels~ (Aria)]

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