Chapter 609

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“Hahahaha…”

Prince Wei laughed uproariously, then suddenly pointed at Xiao Ming and said, “You scoundrel, you are ruthless enough! I misjudged you before. It’s also my fault for having a moment of mercy and not killing you four years ago.”

“Imperial Uncle, there’s no medicine for regret in this world. There’s only one throne, and only one can win it in the end.” Xiao Ming’s eyes were cold.

Prince Wei’s expression gradually calmed down, all the madness in his eyes faded. He looked at Xiao Ming with a hint of an inexplicable gleam, “Worthy nephew, you are the only one among the many princes whom I truly misjudged. I’m afraid even your Imperial Father would not have imagined you achieving such success today. Heh heh, Imperial Uncle has lost, but Imperial Uncle is also very relieved. At least this world still belongs to our Xiao family.”

After saying this, Prince Wei turned and slowly walked towards the dungeon. At this moment, he seemed like an old man at dusk.

Xiao Ming frowned. This ancestral motto of the Xiao family not only influenced Xiao Wenxuan, but also Prince Wei.

“Your Highness, should we bring Prince Wei back?” Ye Qingyun said. In his opinion, Prince Wei was too rude.

“No need. He is Prince Wei after all. Let him keep his last bit of dignity,” Xiao Ming said.

Ye Qingyun nodded.

Seemingly noticing that Xiao Ming’s mood was somewhat displeased by Prince Wei, Fei Ji suddenly said, “Your Highness, Jinling City is not only prosperous but also a place of outstanding people. The Great Yu Empire’s famous physician, Huang Tingzhi, lives in Jinling City.”

“Huang Tingzhi?” Xiao Ming’s mind flashed with some fragmented memories upon hearing this. “Are you talking about Huang Tingzhi, the itinerant physician who traveled all over the Great Yu Empire?”

“Yes, Your Highness. This Huang Tingzhi traveled extensively since his youth and provided medical care throughout the world. It is said that Huang Tingzhi held nothing back in his medical skills, teaching anyone who wished to learn from him, and even taught some women.”

“Is that so?” Xiao Ming was pleasantly surprised. Ever since Physician Sun died, the development of the medical academy suffered a major blow; there was no one in the academy capable of taking charge.

He had been looking for a suitable person to lead the medical academy during this time, and Huang Tingzhi, whom Fei Ji mentioned, was undoubtedly a very suitable candidate.

“Huang Tingzhi?” Ye Qingyun scratched his head at this moment. He suddenly realized and said, “Oh no, Your Highness, I arrested Huang Tingzhi as one of Prince Wei’s men.”

“What!” Fei Ji was greatly alarmed upon hearing this. “You, you! This Huang Tingzhi is a reclusive master, never serving anyone. How could he be Prince Wei’s man?”

“I did not know who Huang Tingzhi was. When I searched Prince Wei’s mansion, I found a physician treating a patient and thought he was Prince Wei’s medical officer, so I arrested him along with the others,” Ye Qingyun said, feeling somewhat wronged.

Xiao Ming showed a helpless expression. He couldn’t blame Ye Qingyun; he himself didn’t know much about this Huang Tingzhi.

He said, “Where did you imprison Huang Tingzhi? I will go see him myself.”

“Reporting to Your Highness, I did not imprison him in a cell. Because many soldiers were wounded during the siege, I confined him alone in a courtyard and had him treat the soldiers’ wounds daily.”

Xiao Ming breathed a sigh of relief. At least Ye Qingyun hadn’t completely offended the man. He immediately had Ye Qingyun take him to see Huang Tingzhi.

Following Ye Qingyun, Xiao Ming arrived at a sealed powerful family’s residence. Fei Ji and the officials did not follow. Xiao Ming instructed Fei Ji to take the officials to the Jinling government office to establish the governing body for Jinling City.

When the two arrived, Huang Tingzhi was sitting in the courtyard reading a medical book. Seeing Xiao Ming, Huang Tingzhi merely glanced at him casually and then returned to his book. Xiao Ming had learned from Fei Ji that Huang Tingzhi had a very stubborn personality and never feared powerful figures. Because of this, he had offended many powerful families.

However, in Xiao Ming’s opinion, it was abnormal for a reclusive master not to have a temper. After all, with great skill comes the capital for self-confidence.

Huang Tingzhi had naturally never seen Xiao Ming, and seeing Xiao Ming follow Ye Qingyun, he was even less inclined to pay attention.

Ye Qingyun, seeing Huang Tingzhi’s rudeness, stepped forward to reprimand him, but Xiao Ming stopped him. Xiao Ming instructed Ye Qingyun to prepare brush, ink, paper, and inkstone for him, while he himself sat directly in front of Huang Tingzhi.

According to Fei Ji, Huang Tingzhi was already fifty-three years old, but the Huang Tingzhi before him had dark hair and a robust physique, looking even more energetic than an ordinary Qingzhou resident, showing no signs of his advanced age. Perhaps this was due to his mastery of traditional Chinese medicine’s health preservation techniques.

Xiao Ming did not announce his name when he sat down. After Ye Qingyun had prepared the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, he began to write in front of Huang Tingzhi with the brush. What he wrote was none other than “Qianjin Yaofang” (Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold), by the famous Tang Dynasty physician Sun Simiao.

Huang Tingzhi at first paid no attention to what Xiao Ming was doing, but as more and more characters appeared on the paper, he couldn’t help but glance over.

After that glance, he couldn’t stop. Wherever Xiao Ming’s brush moved, his eyes followed, even showing a look of eagerness.

After writing one chapter from “Qianjin Yaofang,” Xiao Ming stopped writing and pushed the paper towards Huang Tingzhi.

Huang Tingzhi was startled. He put down the medical book in his hand and at this point examined Xiao Ming, then glanced at the paper on the stone table.

Ignoring Xiao Ming, he picked up the complete scroll and began to read it. Once he started, he couldn’t put it down, as if he had found a treasure in the world, praising it constantly as he read.

Huang Tingzhi read with intense concentration, oblivious to his surroundings, while Xiao Ming waited quietly. For such reclusive masters, it was necessary to be humble and courteous.

Although he could simply place medical books in the medical academy, it wouldn’t work without someone proficient in medicine to study and teach them.

Soon, Huang Tingzhi put down the paper, stroked his beard, and nodded slightly. “Your Highness Prince Qi has gone to great lengths.”

Ye Qingyun and Xiao Ming were both startled. Xiao Ming said, “How do you know I am Prince Qi?”

“When I was in Chang’an, I met Your Royal Highness Prince Qi’s Imperial Concubine Zhen, and even took her pulse. In fact, it was I who detected Imperial Concubine Zhen’s pregnancy. Your Highness’s appearance resembles hers by about forty percent. Now that Jinling City has fallen to the Qi army, and this General Ye is the commanding general, who else could he be so respectful to? Precisely for this reason, I recognized you as Prince Qi at first glance,” Huang Tingzhi said.

Xiao Ming nodded slightly, thinking, ‘He truly is an old fox.’ He stood up, cupped his hands, and said, “It was truly disrespectful to detain Elder Huang here. Governor Ye did not know who Elder Huang was, and I hope Elder Huang will forgive him.”

“This Governor Ye is indeed a bit reckless. At that time, I was treating patients and saving lives. In my view, whether it’s the Qi army or the Wei army, these are all common people of the Great Yu Empire. A physician’s heart is benevolent, so how could I just stand by and watch them die?” Huang Tingzhi still felt angry when he thought about it, but Xiao Ming was, after all, a prince, so he couldn’t speak too harshly.