Chapter 44: Ye Xun Presents a Poem to Shangguan Yunqing and Successfully Wins Her Heart

Inside the carriage.

Hearing that Ye Xun was going to compose a poem for her, Shangguan Yunqing's nervous and flustered heart instantly settled down considerably.

"Alright..."

"Yunqing... Yunqing thanks His Highness..."

Shangguan Yunqing's pretty face blushed shyly, her lips parting slightly.

Originally, she was not an introverted, inarticulate, or delicately soft-spoken woman.

Yet today, for some reason,

Facing Ye Xun made her extremely nervous and tongue-tied.

Immediately afterward.

Ye Xun looked at Shangguan Yunqing, his eyes flickering and his brows slightly raised.

Seeing him staring at her,

Shangguan Yunqing folded her delicate hands over her knees, feigning calmness.

"I have it." The corners of Ye Xun's mouth curled up slightly.

Hearing this, Shangguan Yunqing looked up at him, her eyes filled with astonishment.

This...

So fast?

It ended before it even began?

Amidst her astonished gaze,

Ye Xun slowly began to recite, "Her robes are like clouds, her face like a flower, swaying in the spring breeze, glistening with dew. If not seen at the peak of Mount Qunyu, we shall meet beneath the moon at the Jade Terrace."

To ease the awkward atmosphere,

and to win back his charming prospective bride,

Ye Xun casually recited the poem "Qing Ping Tiao" by the Poet Immortal Li Bai.

The moment the poem fell,

Shangguan Yunqing was so shocked that her mouth stayed open. Her clever, dark eyes were crystal clear, resembling two pools of autumn water.

The poem's praise for a woman had reached its ultimate peak.

How Shangguan Yunqing wished that Ye Xun's poem was written about her, yet she felt she was completely unworthy of it.

She felt that no woman in this world could ever be worthy of such a poem.

The imagery was ingenious, flowing as naturally as water without the slightest trace of artificiality, making one feel as if bathed in a spring breeze.

Clouds, flowers, dew, Mount Qunyu, the Jade Terrace, moonlight...

Not a single word explicitly mentions a person, yet every word praises a woman's peerless beauty.

Shangguan Yunqing had always prided herself on her unrivaled literary talent.

Yet this was the second time she felt ashamed of her own poetic skills.

If the four peerless masterpieces Ye Xun had casually composed outside the Qujiang Pavilion back then were merely plagiarized,

how could one explain today's poem?

Based solely on this single poem, Shangguan Yunqing believed that those four poems by Ye Xun were definitely not plagiarized.

She even suspected that Ye Xun's previous dissolute behavior had been entirely deliberate pretense.

Otherwise, while she could believe that a prodigal son had returned and achieved sudden enlightenment, this literary talent was simply too monstrous.

Seeing that Shangguan Yunqing was still lost in the charm of "Qing Ping Tiao",

Ye Xun smiled faintly, "Yunqing, do you think this poem is enough to serve as the interest on what I owe you?"

His smile, warm as a spring breeze, sent ripples through Shangguan Yunqing's heart, making her pulse race like a frightened deer.

Shangguan Yunqing twiddled her fingers, looking somewhat nervous.

"Your Highness... Your Highness jests."

"There is no woman in this world who can... who can withstand the praise of this poem."

"How could this humble maiden ever be worthy of it..."

Although she tried her utmost to steady her emotions,

she remained unbearably nervous.

Since when had she ever behaved with such panic in front of Ye Xun?

"Hehe..." Ye Xun gave a faint, breezy smile and said, "Yunqing, you need not belittle yourself. You are originally the premier talented woman of Great Xia, unmatched in both talent and beauty. This poem suits you perfectly."

Listening to Ye Xun's words,

Shangguan Yunqing felt a surge of secret joy. She was immensely happy to receive such high praise from him.

"Thank Your Highness for the praise. What is the title of this poem?"

Shangguan Yunqing mustered her courage, looked up at Ye Xun, and forced herself to calm down.

Ye Xun replied lightly, "It is called 'Qing Ping Tiao'."

"'Qing Ping Tiao'?" Shangguan Yunqing raised her willow-like brows slightly and nodded, "Such a restrained title."

By now, the poem was deeply engraved in her mind.

Since Ye Xun had composed such an peerless poem for her, it seemed she owed him yet another favor.

Meanwhile,

the carriage had already stopped halfway up the Undying Mountain.

Wei Feng's voice came from outside, "Your Highness, we have arrived. Any further must be done on foot."

"Alright," Ye Xun acknowledged, then ducked out of the carriage.

Shangguan Yunqing also followed, leaping down from the carriage.

At this moment,

the three of them were fully immersed in the scenery of the Undying Mountain.

Wisps of mist swirling, lush vegetation, green trees shading the paths, birds singing and flowers fragrant...

It was truly a scene from a pristine paradise.

Wangcai darted back and forth through the woods, immensely joyful, fully releasing its wild nature.

On the other side of the path,

several other carriages were parked as well.

It seemed others had already arrived ahead of them.

Subsequently,

led by Wei Feng, the three of them headed toward the Medical Saint's thatched cottage.

The Medical Saint was named Wu Shouzhi, a citizen of the Xia Kingdom. No one knew which province or county he originally hailed from; they only knew he maintained a thatched cottage deep within the Undying Mountain.

Unlike other hermits who were stubborn and inflexible, he acted entirely according to his inclinations and was willing to spread his medical arts far and wide to bring blessings to all under heaven.

However, although he taught unreservedly during his lectures, physicians capable of mastering even thirty to forty percent of his medical skills were exceedingly rare.

Moreover, Wu Shouzhi treated patients entirely based on his mood.

He would cure beggars on the roadside without accepting a single coin, yet he would refuse the mountains of gold offered by royals and aristocrats, leaving them to die without a second glance.

Therefore, people circulated a saying:

The Medical Saint Wu Shouzhi acts from the heart, not for gold.

Naturally, there were always blind fools who attempted to force the Medical Saint into action.

Three years ago, in the Great Chu Kingdom, for instance,

Wu Shouzhi was lecturing within the borders of Chu.

Just as a certain Chu prince fell terminally ill, the prince's son ordered men to forcibly abduct Wu Shouzhi.

Yet before the guards could even escort Wu Shouzhi to the prince's estate, all three hundred-odd members of the prince's household were found dead, poisoned.

The guards escorting Wu Shouzhi were slaughtered without a single survivor halfway there, and among the crime scene traces was the flying flower token of the Drizzle Tower.

This was why people rumored that Wu Shouzhi's younger brother was the master of the Drizzle Tower, while another rumor claimed Wu Shouzhi had once bestowed a great favor upon the tower master. Opinions varied, and the truth was unverifiable.

However, the most shocking part at the time was that the King of Chu turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to the entire incident, even striking that prince's name from the imperial genealogy.

Ever since then, an unspoken pact was formed among the various nations: no one was ever to coerce the Medical Saint into practicing medicine.

From that day onward, no one ever dared to forcefully compel the Medical Saint Wu Shouzhi to descend the mountain, not even emperors.

Ye Xun, the other two, and the dog walked deeper into the mountain for about another half-hour.

Finally, they reached the Medical Saint's thatched cottage.

Along the way, they had crossed paths with the Fourth Prince, Ye Chen, and the Eighth Prince, Ye Shan, who were descending the mountain.

Ye Chen had even greeted them warmly.

Yet Ye Xun and Wei Feng both knew that their most formidable enemy was precisely this seemingly harmless Fourth Prince, Ye Chen.

Even so, neither Ye Chen nor Ye Shan had managed to invite the Medical Saint down; they hadn't even caught a glimpse of him.

In front of the thatched cottage,

the Seventh Prince, Ye Jin, and the Fifth Prince, Ye Ren, had not yet left, standing quietly before the cottage and waiting.

The five princes who had come to the Undying Mountain, together with the Sixth Prince Ye Tao remaining in the imperial capital, constituted virtually all the candidates contending for the succession.

As for the Second Prince, Prince Zhao Ye战 (Ye Zhan), he was a notorious war maniac stationed long-term on the northern frontier to resist the nomadic grassland tribes known as the Tiannu.

The Sixth Prince, Ye Shuang, had no interest in officialdom or the battlefield, desiring only to roam the world and enjoy the mountains and rivers. At that moment, he was sightseeing in the Great Yu Kingdom.