With her deceased husband as her dowry, would Your Highness dare to marry her?

Emperor Yan smiled and raised his hand in a gesture of support, saying, "This is a pure Buddhist land where all beings are equal; there is no need for such a grand ceremony."

Lin Ci stood up, her gaze fixed on his face without any attempt to hide it.

The Emperor of Yan felt somewhat uncomfortable under her gaze. He put down the black chess piece between his fingers and asked softly, "What did you see on my face, my lady?"

Lin Ci pondered for a moment, then shook his head, clearly swallowing back the ominous words.

The Emperor of Yan smiled helplessly, "I got up a little early today, and my complexion isn't as good as usual."

"Your Majesty, you must not have slept all night?" Pei Jinxuan asked frankly. "Official business is important, but please don't harm your health."

Emperor Yan sighed deeply, waved his hand, and then picked up a handful of black pieces, placing them one by one on the chessboard.

"Summer brings floods, autumn brings locust plagues, the snow in the north is three feet thick, and there are frozen corpses on the roads. What's more... sigh, how can I sleep peacefully?" As he finished speaking, the last card fell, and he coughed again, covering his mouth, coughing one after another as if he wanted to cough up his internal organs.

Seeing his wretched appearance, Lin Ci frowned slightly and said softly, "If Your Majesty trusts me, may I take your pulse?"

Emperor Yan nodded, "A physician's heart is benevolent, and there are no taboos. Thank you for your trouble."

As he spoke, the Yan Emperor extended his wrist.

Lin Ci glanced around and took a futon to place under the Yan Emperor's hand as a pulse pillow.

Just as her three fingers touched the Emperor Yan's inch-thickness, her expression suddenly changed.

The pulse under the fingers was as if it were nothing, like a fish hiding in deep water, weakly swaying its tail from side to side, then falling silent after a few swaying motions, before finally swaying lightly again after a long while.

This is the Fish Soaring Pulse, where all three Yin channels are cold, and the Yang energy has already left the body like a flickering candle in the wind.

"How much longer can I live?" the Yan Emperor asked bluntly.

Lin Ci slowly withdrew her hand and glanced at Pei Jinxuan.

Pei Jinxuan already understood. He forced a smile, which didn't look good on him. "Your Majesty is the chosen one of Heaven and is blessed by Heaven."

"You..." Emperor Yan sighed softly, coughed twice, and, still catching his breath, continued, "Always so good at saying nice things. I know my fate is near and I cannot defy it, but the Crown Prince is young, and the Tiele tribe is eyeing me covetously. I cannot die yet, at least not now. Cough cough..."

Seeing that the Emperor of Yan was coughing badly, Pei Jinxuan quickly brought him tea and put it to his lips.

Lin Ci stopped him.

"You can't drink tea." With that, she pressed on the Feishu acupoint on Emperor Yan's back and rubbed it a dozen times, gradually stopping Emperor Yan's cough.

"It is best to give Your Majesty a decoction of ginger and brown sugar based on your pulse, and avoid cold water. When Your Highness has free time, it is best to use very hot aconite and dried ginger soup to steam your mouth and nose, first to clear the meridians and then to replenish the yang deficiency."

Lin Ci was still massaging the Yan Emperor's Feishu acupoint.

Pei Jinxuan saw that her fingertips were slightly white from massaging, so she must have used a lot of force. Her arm must have been sore after massaging for half a quarter of an hour, not to mention the whip marks on her arm.

Pei Jinxuan stood up and walked to Lin Ci's side, saying in a low voice, "Let me do it."

Lin Ci released his hand. Pei Jinxuan pressed his thumb on the mark Lin Ci had left.

"No, that's not right." Lin Ci gently moved his fingers up a little. "The acupoint is here."

Her fingertips were a little cool and had some thin calluses. They gently touched Pei Jinxuan's hand, making him feel a little itchy.

Pei Jinxuan remained expressionless, but the tips of her ears turned red.

He massaged the Feishu acupoint on the back of the Yan Emperor, glancing at Lin Ci from time to time, his eyes asking: Is that right?

Lin Ci nodded and then smiled.

Just then, Consort Chang pushed open the door and entered, bringing with her a faint, elegant fragrance. She saw Lin Ci's hand resting on Pei Jinxuan's hand, and they were quite close. Her gaze paused for a moment, and then she lowered her eyes and walked to Emperor Yan, bowing gracefully.

"Your Majesty, the abbot has prepared a vegetarian meal. Please enjoy it."

As soon as he finished speaking, several young monks filed in and carefully laid out several stacks of steaming vegetarian food on the table.

"Why don't we use them together?"

The Emperor of Yan was approachable and beckoned Consort Chang and Pei Jinxuan to sit down. He also remembered Lin Ci and specially reserved a seat for her.

Lin Ci took a half step back, bowed, and said, "This humble woman is uncouth and may spoil Your Majesty's enjoyment. Of these vegetarian dishes, Your Majesty may eat as little as the radish. Please allow me to take my leave."

The Emperor of Yan couldn't help but show his appreciation upon seeing his words and actions, and nodded in agreement.

Lin Ci quietly left the meditation room and went to the courtyard to admire the old plum trees. In her opinion, Pei Jinxuan and Consort Chang were imperial relatives and family with the Yan Emperor. She felt that it was illegitimate and improper for her to be among them, and she couldn't enjoy her meal properly.

After Lin Ci left, Consort Chang smiled gently and praised, "I wonder where Prince Jing'an found such a wonderful person. Her words and actions are proper, and her appearance and demeanor are exactly the same as the Jade Guanyin in the palace."

"You flatter me, Your Highness. She is the physician I invited from afar to treat my elder brother."

"Oh, how good is her medical skill?"

Emperor Yan nodded in praise, saying, "Her medical skills are superb. I was coughing quite badly when she pressed a few acupoints, and I felt much better."

Consort Chang smiled gently, extending her slender hand to carefully ladle a bowl of hot soup for Emperor Yan. "If Your Majesty wishes, how about summoning him to the palace?"

The Yan Emperor frowned, seemingly harboring some ulterior motives.

Pei Jinxuan hurriedly said, "No! I can ask her to take my brother's pulse every day, but she absolutely cannot stay in the palace."

The Yan Emperor laughed upon hearing this, "Look how anxious you are."

"Your Majesty, you've misunderstood. I just..."

"Okay, okay. Don't worry, I won't fight you for it."

As he spoke, the Emperor of Yan took the soup from Consort Chang, twisted his wrist, gently took her hand, and smiled at her.

Consort Chang lowered her head, covering her mouth with a handkerchief, revealing a hint of shyness, while glancing at Pei Jinxuan out of the corner of her eye.

Pei Jinxuan's mind was elsewhere. He kept looking out the window, but after a long time, he still couldn't find Lin Ci, and he felt uneasy.

He thought for a moment, then suddenly stood up, bowed, and said, "Please enjoy your meal, Your Majesty. I..."

"Go then." The Yan Emperor understood his intention and nodded slightly, allowing him to take his leave.

Pei Jin bowed in gratitude and entered the courtyard. From afar, he saw Lin Ci picking up old plum blossom petals, sometimes squatting, sometimes climbing, catching the petals that drifted down with her hem of her dress. The small clusters of dark green added a lively touch of color to the quiet courtyard.

Pei Jinxuan quietly walked up behind Lin Ci. Before she could speak, Lin Ci asked, "Why did you come out?"

Pei Jinxuan was slightly taken aback, coughed lightly, and said seriously, "It's vegetarian, I won't eat it. What are you doing?"

"Plum blossoms can soothe the liver, relieve depression, harmonize the stomach, and resolve phlegm. Century-old plums are even more rare. Pick them, dry them in the sun, and you can use them to make soup or tea."

"Is this all you've collected after all this time?" Pei Jinxuan said, holding the plum branch in one hand, preparing to shake all the plum blossoms off.

Lin Ci quickly advised, "They're perfectly fine, don't disturb their peace." As she spoke, she looked at Pei Jinxuan, her sharp eyes softening instantly, "All things have a spirit... that's what Master said."

Pei Jinxuan's gaze was fixed on Lin Ci's face, and it was unclear what he was thinking.

After a moment, he loosened the plum branch, took out a silk handkerchief to wipe the mud off his fingers, and said casually, "Then put away the spirit you picked up. Let's go outside for a meal. I really can't get used to the food at the temple."

"But this place is remote, where can we find food?"

"Come with me." With that, he put his hands behind his back and walked toward the back gate of the temple.

Lin Ci wrapped the plum blossoms in a silk handkerchief, stuffed them into her pocket, and followed Pei Jinxuan away.

Pei Jinxuan followed a winding path along the back gate of the temple until he arrived at a farmer's house. It was a house with blue bricks and white tiles, with a fence in front of the door. Behind the fence, several chickens were pecking at the food, chirping and making a lively scene.

Pei Jinxuan opened the fence gate and casually grabbed a chicken.

Lin Ci was stunned. He stopped in front of the fence, looking around, afraid that he would be implicated and mistaken for a chicken thief.

"Madam...what brings you here?" An old woman, over fifty years old, dressed in coarse clothes and carrying a basket of pig feed, emerged from the pigsty. She eyed Lin Ci warily, making Lin Ci even more uneasy.

"I..." Lin Ci didn't know how to explain, so she quickly looked at Pei Jinxuan.

Pei Jinxuan turned around and saw the old woman, her peach blossom eyes curving into a charming smile.

"Zhang Niang, it's me."

"Oh, you're here!" Aunt Zhang's eyes lit up when she saw Pei Jinxuan. She quickly put down the pig feed, wiped her hands on her apron, and asked, "Have you eaten yet?"

"No, I was just thinking about the golden chicken you made." Pei Jinxuan said as he walked up to Lin Ci, holding the chicken in one hand and pulling her closer by the wrist with the other. "This is my friend, her surname is Lin."

Pei Jinxuan turned his head and winked at Lin Ci as he spoke. Lin Ci instantly understood what he meant and respectfully bowed, saying, "Greetings, Zhang Niang."

"Why didn't you say you were bringing people over? I would have made it for you right away. Come, come, come inside, don't be shy." Aunt Zhang gestured and lifted the curtain to invite Pei Jinxuan and Lin Ci into the inner room.

Although it was a farmhouse, the interior furnishings were quite simple and elegant, except for a rather ugly painting on the wall titled "Little Ducks Playing in Spring." Lin Ci couldn't help but glance at the painting a few more times; the signature read: Pei Jinxuan, five years old.

"Pei Jinxuan?" Lin Ci murmured.

"I painted it." Pei Jinxuan raised an eyebrow, quite proud of the few ducks painted with lacquer grass. "This painting has the style of Wu Daozi, unconventional and unpretentious. What do you think?"

"To draw like this at five years old... that's truly remarkable. Wait, why does that duck have four legs?"

"I told you not to worry about trifles, there's no need to fret about this leg."

"..."

Lin Ci stopped investigating Pei Jinxuan's "Wu Daozi-esque" behavior and turned to sit down at the dining table. Pei Jinxuan pulled out a roasted sweet potato from somewhere, broke it in half, and handed it to her.

The sweet potato still had black charcoal dust on it, so it must have just been taken from the hearth. If it weren't for Pei Jinxuan's inherent air of nobility, Lin Ci would have thought he was just an ordinary boy from a poor family, judging by his slightly dirty hands.

Lin Ci took a bite of the sweet potato, smiled, and said, "I only learned your name after seeing this painting."

Everyone calls me Prince Jing'an, but very few people call me by my given name.

"Oh, besides calling you Prince Jing'an, what else can I call you?"

Those who are close to me call me... Ah Xuan.

Lin Ci was slightly taken aback upon hearing this. "Xuan" and "Xuan" are pronounced the same way, and even the people in them have to be the same.

She looked up at Pei Jinxuan, unable to resist searching for her deceased husband's shadow in his eyes and brows.

Pei Jinxuan looked at Lin Ci and caught a hint of pity in her clear and bright eyes. Although it was a little strange, he couldn't help but hope that Lin Ci would speak.

After waiting for a long time, Lin Ci said...