Wahhh!! It’s officially Peach Blossom Grove’s 1 year anniversary!!! 🎂🎊🎉It’s crazy how quickly time flies. I honestly thought I’d be close to finishing translating this novel by this time, but I only translated 50 chapters so far. At this rate, does that mean it’ll take me another 2 years to finish? lol hopefully it’ll be faster than that. Anyways, here’s chapter 91
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Editor: Otwentyfirst
Startled, Hua Zhu Yu was at a loss for words. She didn't know how they learned of Ji Feng Li's illness. But they were all sick themselves. If they were to remain out here in the strong night breeze, their illness could take a turn for the worse, possibly ending their lives. They knew the danger yet still came to plead for him.
But could she really tell them he was ill from something more than just the sickness?
"Please get up, don't kneel here." Hua Zhu Yu couldn't think of anything else to say and could only step forward to help them up.
"Yuan Bao Daren, if you don't agree to save Lord Chancellor, we will kneel here the whole night."
These people were all sick, so why were they so stubborn?
Just for the sake of saving Ji Feng Li, would they forsake their own lives? Could it be, in the hearts of the people of Xuan Zhou, Ji Feng Li held that much importance? Despite being a powerful official with an eye for the throne, the people still chose to support him. Of course, Hua Zhu Yu was also aware that they didn’t really care who was Emperor. In their eyes, a good Emperor was someone who acted on behalf of the common people and that was all they wished for.
"I beg you sir, please save Lord Chancellor!" a patient pleaded in between coughs.
"You will save Lord Chancellor right, Yuan Bao Daren?!"
When Hua Zhu Yu's gaze swept across the crowd, she saw their thin and pallid faces. When she met their sad, imploring eyes, her heart softened.
Her mind was in chaos.
Must she really save him?
Amid their pleadings, Hua Zhu Yu went back into the kitchen. Carrying a bowl of medicine, she came out and presented it to them. "This is the medicine I intend to deliver to Lord Chancellor. If you all continue to kneel here, how am I to deliver this medicine? You should all return and rest. I have my own ways to save Lord Chancellor."
Her words were effective. Everyone stood and drew back to get out of her way when they saw her bring out the bowl of medicine.
As she walked out, her blue robes quivered along with the night breeze, reflective of her present state of mind.
Recalling the events that transpired in the bridal chamber that night, she remembered how the fine jade cup of marital wine slipped from her hands, shattering into pieces on the floor. She remembered the heart-piercing, bitter pain thereafter when her body became paralyzed and collapsed upon it. His words echoed in her ears: "Why bother asking? Even the jade cup does not question why you broke it." Her mind then flashed to the scene at Liang Zhou where she fought and cleared a bloody path in attempt to rescue her father. He sat on that high platform, watching her struggle below. That wintry night also came to mind, followed by Jin Se's miserable cries.
Everything was suddenly obscured by those sad, imploring gazes.
Save him! Don't save him!
Save him! Don't save him!
Brushing up against her cheeks, the night breeze brought a sense of chill.
Suddenly, she halted her steps, realizing that she had somehow ended up at Ji Feng Li's door. His courtyard was exceedingly quiet. The people following behind her had also stopped in their tracks. Without a peep, they stood there, gazing at her with anticipation in their eyes.
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Turning around, she gave them a reassuring smile, beautiful and bright.
"You all should go back, I will surely save him!" Her voice was slightly cold, yet calmly resolute, carried into the room. Without another glance their way, she entered the room.
Inside, the atmosphere was suffocating.
Lan Bing sat beside the bed with his hands covering his face. Though she couldn't see his face, she noticed his fingers were slightly trembling. With a mournful expression, Imperial Physician Zhang stood on the side, patting his shoulders.
Hua Zhu Yu approached the bed and placed the bowl of medicine on the table. "Lan Daren, Imperial Physician Zhang, you both should take a step outside."
Startled, both of them lifted their heads, staring at her in a daze.
"Yuan Bao, what do you intend to do?" A thread of hope surfaced in Lan Bing's sad eyes that was hard to conceal.
"Save Lord Chancellor, of course. You both should leave. Only return when I say so. Otherwise, I can't guarantee he'll survive the night! What? You don't trust me?" Hua Zhu Yu coldly asked as she furrowed her brows.
Lan Bing and Imperial Physician Zhang stared at Hua Zhu Yu in disbelief. At this hopeless moment, they did not expect this little eunuch to come, asserting that he will save the Chancellor.
"I trust you!" they said as they nodded their heads and headed to leave, lightly shutting the door behind them.
The room was left in silence. Hua Zhu Yu slowly sat down beside the bed and took a look at Ji Feng Li. He laid there lifelessly with his eyes closed. His complexion was exceedingly pale, almost transparent, bringing emphasis to his striking pair of dark brows.
She stood and went over to the table for a teacup. With a small dagger, she slit her arm. Fresh, red blood spilled down her snow-white wrist, pooling in the cup, drop by drop.
When the outbreak occurred that year in Western Liang, there was medicine to combat and control the spread of the illness but there were many who were so gravely ill that the medicine was not effective, resulting in their passing. When the outbreak finally came to an end, the treating physician came up with a method of using the blood of those that were cured as medicine. This method was something that the physician had secretly told her.
Hua Zhu Yu never thought that she would one day use this method. She took out a brocade handkerchief and used it to bandage her arm before slowly taking the cup over to the bed.
She stared in the cup at the pool of red that was her very own blood. Never did she expect one day to use her blood to save her enemy!
She helped Ji Feng Li lean back against the bedding and fed him her blood with a spoon. But he was unconscious so any blood she fed him, spilled from the corners of his mouth.
Hua Zhu Yu was distraught. This was her blood and she didn’t want to have collected it for naught.
After staring at the blood for a moment, she came to a resolution. Gritting her teeth, she poured every last drop of blood from the cup into her mouth. Then slowly, she lowered her lips to Ji Feng Li's.