Chapter 160 The Sky Has Not Fallen Yet
There were no lights in the courtyard of Taiping Medical Clinic, only the rising moonlight.

The sweat on Chen Ji's head evaporated into white mist in the cold air. The strong servants brought by Concubine Jing had solemn expressions, as if they would pounce and kill him at any time.

They looked at Chen Ji coldly, and Chen Ji also looked at them coldly. She Dengke and Liu Quxing squatted at the kitchen door, not knowing what to do. Liang Gou'er went out to drink and disappeared.

Liang Mao'er didn't care about the others. He brought a bowl of rice from the kitchen and handed it to Chen Ji, saying honestly, "You haven't eaten yet, hurry up and have a bite."

Chen Ji looked at the white rice and bacon slices in the bowl and asked, "Is this left for me?"

Liang Maoer smiled and put a pair of bamboo chopsticks on the bowl: "Master said at noon that you would come back, so he kept it for you."

Chen Ji breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank you, Brother Maoer."

He held the bowl and slowly ate the rice in it while leaning against the window outside the main door, secretly listening to the sounds inside the house.

In the room, one could faintly hear Concubine Jing's suppressed sobbing and Prince Jing's talking and coughing.

Gradually, the voices of Prince Jing and Concubine Jing became quieter and quieter, and they seemed to have fallen asleep again.

After a long time, Chen Ji heard Concubine Jing sobbing softly through the white paper window: "Doctor Yao, tell me the truth, what is the condition of the prince?"

Old Man Yao said casually: "Madam Jingfei, the prince only needs to rest for a few days and he will recover. Don't worry too much."

The sobbing sounds in the room gradually died down. Chen Ji turned his head and looked through the white paper window at the shadow of the room illuminated by the kerosene lamp.

Concubine Jing seemed to hand something to Old Man Yao, and then asked, "Doctor Yao, tell me the truth, how is the prince?"

Old Man Yao hesitated for a moment and said, "The prince is already in poor health. He didn't recover from the cold before, and now he has exhausted his energy and spirit for the prince and the princess. Judging from his pulse, he will die in a month at the earliest and three months at the slowest. We should start preparing for his funeral."

Chen Ji's pupils shrank slightly, and he subconsciously looked at other people in the yard. Only after he made sure that no one heard the conversation in the house did he feel relieved.

Prince Jing... is leaving?

Could it be that the other party insisted on going on a secret tour because he actually knew that he had not much time left, so he wanted to accompany his children to take a look while he could still move.

Under normal circumstances, the Crown Prince would naturally succeed to the throne after Prince Jing's death. But now that the Liu family is about to rebel, how can the Crown Prince handle such a thing?

Concubine Jing was in doubt: "One month... doesn't that mean I can't even make it through the New Year?"

Old Man Yao said softly: "If we can invite the 'Shengyu Pill' made by the Medicine Officer of the Taoist Temple of Laojun Mountain, perhaps we can delay it for another three years."

Chen Ji was puzzled. What kind of elixir was so precious that his master had to use the word "please"?

Concubine Jing was puzzled and asked, "I only knew that Shengyu Dan was the guardian of the Dao Court, but I didn't know it was so magical."

Old man Yao explained, "That was the life's work of Yaoguan Menjing. There are only two of them in the world now. One was presented to the current emperor by the Huangshan Taoist Court, and the other is in the hands of the Laojunshan Taoist Court, enshrined on the Jade Emperor Peak to absorb the essence of the sun and the moon. One Shengyu Pill can extend one's life span for three years, not a day more or less. Even if one is seriously ill, one can live like a normal person for three years."

Concubine Jing was about to go out: "I will go get medicine for the prince."

Old man Yao added behind her, "The ability of Shengyu Pill to prolong life is just a secondary effect. Its real function is to help officials overcome tribulations. If Laojun Mountain Taoist leader Cen Yunzi wants to overcome tribulations and break through the divine realm, he must use this substance."

Concubine Jing was in a dilemma: "Can Daoting give me such an important thing?"

"That depends on what price Madam is willing to pay," Old Man Yao then said calmly, "However, birth, aging, sickness and death are the normal course of human nature. What is to come will come, and what is to go will go. There is no need to force yourself to change your fate."

Concubine Jing was silent for a long time, then she lifted her skirt and walked out: "Since the prince is determined to stay in the clinic, I will not say anything more. I'll trouble Doctor Yao to take good care of him. As for the matter of Sheng Yudan... I'll think of a way."

After saying that, Concubine Jing came out with red eyes, opening the door curtain, and the emerald green pendant on her earlobe shook.

She gave Chen Ji a cold look, then walked out with Chunrong's support.

Chen Ji discovered that the jade hairpin that the other party had worn in his hair was missing. He lifted the door curtain and walked into the house with his rice bowl in hand, and saw the master holding a kerosene lamp and putting the hairpin into the cabinet.

He glanced at Prince Jing and asked Old Man Yao from behind, "Master, even you can't save the prince?"

Old Man Yao sneered: "I'm not a god."

Chen Ji felt a sense of regret.

Old Man Yao closed the cabinet and turned to look at him: "Are you sad?"

Chen Ji shook his head: "No. I'm not familiar with Prince Jing, but I think he's a good guy. It's a pity that he died young at the age of 45."

"It's so sad. I thought we knew each other well."

Chen Ji turned his head suddenly, but saw that in the dim room, Prince Jing suddenly opened his eyes, sat up, and pulled out the silver needles on his chest one by one.

Chen Ji: "..."

It was acted.

Prince Jing smiled at him and looked at the half-eaten meal in the ceramic bowl in his hand: "Give it to me, I'm starving."

Chen Ji handed over the bowl and chopsticks silently. Prince Jing did not mind that these were the bowls and chopsticks he had used. He finished the food in a few mouthfuls and ate it with gusto.

"The bacon is a bit salty," Prince Jing handed the empty bowl to Chen Ji. Chen Ji looked down and saw that there was not a grain of rice left in the bowl.

He wondered, "You vomited blood earlier, how come you look fine now?" Prince Jing smiled and said, "We don't know each other well, why should I tell you?"

Chen Ji: "..."

Prince Jing stood up, put his clothes together, and patted him on the shoulder with a smile: "Fortunately, you caught me when I fell off the horse, otherwise I would have been badly hurt. Tell me the truth, young man, when you were carrying me back to the clinic, were you worried that after I died, no one would pay you the annual dividend of 2,500 taels of silver?"

Chen Ji answered honestly: "I am very worried, otherwise I wouldn't run so fast."

Prince Jing smiled softly: "You are honest."

After saying this, he turned around and pulled open the bed in the room, revealing a deep tunnel under the bed. In the tunnel there was a two-foot-wide staircase, and it was unknown where it led to.

Chen Ji looked at Old Man Yao, then at Prince Jing.

It turns out that there has always been a tunnel in this clinic leading to the outside world. The reason why Prince Jing pretended to be dead and insisted on staying in Taiping Clinic for treatment was that he wanted to use the tunnel in the clinic to escape before the Liu family's rebellion.

And the master knew all this a long time ago.

Chen Ji was puzzled: "Where are you going, sir? Are you coming back? If you leave like this, what will happen to the prince and the princess?"

Prince Jing was amused: "I'm just going out to meet someone and will be back soon. What? Do you think I'm going to escape and wander around the world? Although this world is big, there is no place for me to hide."

Chen Ji suddenly realized that Prince Jing was going out to conspire with others to deal with the Liu family.

But who else in Luo City is worthy of a vassal king's painstaking efforts to escape?

Secret Service?
Or was it the big shot he had a secret meeting with in Yichuan County?
Chen Ji asked again: "My Lord, why don't you hide this huge secret from me?"

Prince Jing said meaningfully: "Because you will know sooner or later."

Chen Ji fell into deep thought.

At this time, Prince Jing took the oil residue lamp from Old Man Yao, picked up his clothes and walked down the stairs step by step. Before he entered the tunnel, he looked back at Chen Ji and said with a smile: "Young man, guard the door and don't let anyone break in. Also, I want to have a bowl of corn porridge, a plate of fermented bean curd, and two steamed buns for breakfast tomorrow. The fermented bean curd must be from 'Heji'. Please buy it for me tomorrow morning."

Chen Ji raised his eyebrows: "Are you sure now is the time to talk about this?"

Prince Jing walked into the tunnel cheerfully, and his voice came from the tunnel: "The sky hasn't fallen yet, we have to eat our fill, right?"

The house fell silent again.

Chen Ji looked at Old Man Yao, only to see him calmly take out a stick of fire and light an oil-residue lamp.

Old man Yao raised his eyelids and said indifferently, "Why are you staring at me?"

Chen Ji asked: "Master, why did you come to Luocheng three years ago?"

Old man Yao said casually, "Are you controlling me? It's not your turn to be the boss of Taiping Clinic yet, so stop asking nonsense. I'll tell you things you should know, but don't ask about things you shouldn't know."

Chen Ji took a deep breath and asked, "Are you a sick tiger?"

The small main room was quiet until the oil wick crackled softly, then Old Man Yao slowly said, "If I were a sick tiger, the first thing I would do would be to expose you, the thief of Jingchao."

Chen Ji glanced at the ground nervously and said, "Don't talk nonsense. Nowadays, people who know my identity are dead or gone. I am no longer a spy of Jing Dynasty!"

Old man Yao sneered: "Do you really think it's so easy to leave the Jing Dynasty Military Intelligence Department? One day, someone who knows your identity will return to the land of Ning Dynasty. How will you deal with it then? Will you start a killing spree again?"

Chen Ji remained silent.

Old man Yao said slowly, "You were too rash this time. You shouldn't have offended those bald guys for the sake of the princess. If they were really easy to bully, Buddhist Tongbao wouldn't have become a hard currency across the country. When they put their hands together in front of you, it doesn't mean they want to be polite to you, but to use force on you."

Chen Ji asked: "...Is it like this in all Buddhist sects?"

Old man Yao smiled and said, "Of course not. The monks of Jingchao Kujue Temple are real monks. They keep the full precepts and practice asceticism constantly."

However, at this moment, Liu Quxing's voice came from outside the door: "Madam Yunfei, Master just gave acupuncture to the prince, and he just fell asleep now."

Yun Fei's cold voice came into the room: "Get out of here."

Chen Ji and Old Man Yao looked at each other and said, "Master, what should we do?"

Old man Yao curled his lips and said, "The prince told you to watch the door, but he didn't tell me."

Chen Ji was dumbfounded: "Is this how you understand it?"

"if not?"

Without time to think, Chen Ji turned around, lifted the door curtain and went out.

Outside the door, Concubine Yun was dressed in a brown gorgeous dress with gold thread embroidered on the edge of her robe. She had a golden bun on her head with flower ornaments on both sides, looking dignified and majestic.

She looked at Chen Ji expressionlessly: "Are you going to stop me?"

(End of this chapter)