Chu Ruoyan drew a sharp breath: "Even you have no solution now?"
"What solution can there be? I, an old man, am a physician, not a deity. I can treat illnesses, but can I heal a person's heart?" After saying this, Qin Yiru, fuming, paced back and forth in the room. "Tell me, is there something wrong with the minds of everyone in the Yun family? His father guarded a wooden puppet for over a decade, and he's even worse—just after finding his biological sister, he seeks death. If he doesn't want to live, why not find a river to jump into? He insists on dying right before my eyes, and I can't just ignore it..."
Chu Ruoyan's heart stirred: "That's right! His father! Old Divine Physician, you must be able to find his father. Perhaps he can wake him!"
"You mean the Regent?" Qin Yiru snorted with laughter. "Don't joke. That boy Lang hates his father more than anyone in this world! If his mother were still alive... no, I should say if his mother were still conscious, there might be a chance. But now? Not a chance!"
Chu Ruoyan's heart sank. Looking at the handsome man on the bed, she suddenly made a decision.
"Hey, girl Chu, where are you going?"
Chu Ruoyan didn't look back: "To find my father!"
If there was still one person in this world who knew the truth, it must be him!
Previously, she hadn't dared to ask due to various concerns, but now, she had no choice.
When she reached the study, she learned her father had not yet returned.
So she went in to wait.
This place had hardly changed at all, except the shelves against the wall were increasingly piled with things...
Chu Ruoyan noticed one compartment was slightly emptier. Approaching for a closer look, she found it actually contained her childhood toys!
"This is the clay dog I made myself! And the first nine-linked ring I solved when I was six..." She raised her hand to touch them one by one, her voice slightly choked. "I never imagined Father kept them all."
She had been frail since childhood, and her father always found ways to cheer her up.
Despite being such a busy man, after court he would come to accompany her making kites, kneading dough figurines...
Her gaze fell on a small dough figurine they had made together. As she reached out to touch it—boom!—
The entire bookshelf suddenly shuddered!
Then, as if triggering some mechanism, the whole bookshelf slowly shifted aside, revealing a hanging painting...
The man in the painting was exceptionally handsome and elegant, holding a frost-and-snow sword, standing proudly beneath a plum tree. It was unmistakably—
"Yun Lang?!"
Chu Ruoyan cried out in shock, then immediately realized something was wrong.
Yun Lang had white hair and favored red robes, but the man in the painting had ink-black hair and wore white clothes.
Moreover, though both had peach-blossom eyes, the gaze of the man in the painting was clearly colder, sharper, like tempered blades—a single glance could chill one's heart and soul!
Just then, a startled shout came from behind: "Yan'er? Who let you come here?"
Chu Huaishan hurried in. Seeing the painting on the wall, his heart turned cold, and he rushed to twist the mechanism.
Chu Ruoyan pressed down on his hand: "Father, who is he?"
Chu Huaishan forced composure: "Who is who? You mean this painting? Your father doesn't know either; I just had someone buy it randomly..."
"Father!" she interrupted sharply, pointing at the painting with a trembling voice. "This person looks exactly like Young Master Lang, the Master of the All-Knowing Pavilion. You've seen him too, how could you not know?"
Chu Huaishan's brow furrowed. He walked to the door and dismissed all the servants.
After closing the door, he spoke slowly: "Yan'er, your father kept this from you for your own good. Forget everything you saw tonight, and never mention it to anyone..."
Seeing her father still unwilling to tell the truth at this point, Chu Ruoyan asked directly: "Father, is he the Regent of the previous dynasty?"
Chu Huaishan's pupils dilated sharply, and he immediately covered her mouth: "What nonsense are you talking? How can you mention the previous dynasty?"
This flustered expression already confirmed her suspicion.
Chu Ruoyan's eyes filled with sorrowful clarity: "So it is... He is Yun Lang's father. Father, you knew all along, didn't you?"
A deathly silence fell in the study.
Chu Huaishan's lips moved a couple of times before he finally sighed: "You girl, why must you dig to the root of the matter? Yes, the person in this painting is indeed the Regent, and the Chu family is deeply indebted to his grace!"
This matched Yun Lang's words!
Chu Ruoyan held her breath as she heard him continue: "Back when the Chu family moved to the capital, we encountered bandits on the way. If not for running into His Highness the Prince on his journey, our entire family would have perished under the butcher's blade... Later, when I first saw Yun Lang, I knew he was the Prince's descendant. But so what? The Emperor and the previous dynasty had long reached a tacit understanding to no longer hunt down the Yun descendants. Since that's the case, what difference does knowing or not knowing make?"
Chu Ruoyan took a deep breath: "Then, Father, do you know that the child of your benefactor is currently in the Duke of Chu's residence, and he is dying!"
"What?!"
In the Bodhi Courtyard.
Chu Ruoyan brought Chu Huaishan over. As soon as he saw the man lying on the sickbed, Chu Huaishan clenched his fists: "Who injured him like this? Is the All-Knowing Pavilion just for show?"
Chu Ruoyan glanced at Qin Yiru, who explained the situation and spread his hands: "Simply put, that's it. Young Lang was set up by that ungrateful sister and cousin of his, and now he doesn't want to live anymore..."
Chu Huaishan laughed in anger: "Preposterous nonsense! What kind of thing is that Roumin to be worthy of being the Prince's daughter?"
Qin Yiru raised his white eyebrows. Chu Ruoyan's heart was greatly shaken, and she urgently pressed: "Father! What do you mean..."
Chu Huaishan realized he had misspoken, but saving a life was urgent now. He walked to the bedside and said solemnly: "Second Young Master Yun, this old man can guarantee to you that Princess Roumin is definitely not your third sister. You must not grieve for her and become despondent!"
After speaking, he stared intently at the bed.
But one breath, two breaths... until the time it took for an incense stick to burn passed, and there was still no reaction.
Chu Huaishan frowned: "Why is this?"
Qin Yiru crossed his arms: "He doesn't believe it... But I, an old man, don't believe it either. I personally examined that blind girl. The butterfly-shaped birthmark on the back of her neck isn't fake, and the scar on the little finger of her right hand is also an old injury. Both match what young Lang said. If she isn't Yun Miao, then who is?"
Then, as if remembering something, he pointed at Chu Ruoyan and said, "It couldn't be your daughter, could it?"
At these words, both father and daughter were simultaneously shaken. Chu Ruoyan clenched her fingers, forcing herself to endure: "Father, is there any other way to prove it? If Yun Lang doesn't believe it, his life cannot be saved!"
Chu Huaishan clenched both hands into fists, his gaze complex as he looked at her for a long time before finally uttering three words in a deep voice: "The Dowager Noble Consort."
He closed his eyes: "I'm afraid only the two of us know about what happened back then."
Chu Ruoyan nodded: "The day after tomorrow is the Bathing the Buddha Festival. The Dowager Noble Consort will go to the Guardian Nation Temple for the Dharma assembly. Father..."
Before she could finish, Chu Huaishan said: "Don't worry. The Minister of Rites has taken leave. For this Bathing the Buddha Festival, your father was already going in his place."
Then, after the Dharma assembly, they could confront the Dowager Noble Consort face-to-face.
Chu Ruoyan couldn't discern what emotion she felt in her heart. Watching her father walk to the doorway—
"Father!"
She called out. Chu Huaishan stopped but didn't turn around.
Chu Ruoyan knelt down: "Your daughter still says the same: no matter what happens, in this life, I will always be your daughter!"
Chu Huaishan's back trembled. He waved his hand and strode away.
