Futile Devices Scans

Over the course of three days, they visited every medical clinic marked on the map and collected a stack of nearly identical prescriptions. It appeared that the physicians in town maintained a remarkably uniform standard of medical skill.

That evening, Zhang Da Shan sent word by pigeon. The general message was that Chu Shao Yang had failed to intercept the princess. She had already crossed the river, and her present whereabouts were unknown. Chu Shao Yang had taken his men to Pingyang City, while Fu Xi Yan’s group was ordered to continue searching around Peijie Town.

Zhou Geng Geng frowned. “We’ve already searched everywhere. What else are we supposed to do?”

Fu Xi Yan said with the serene composure of an old sage, “There are still clinics that weren’t included on the list. If the princess truly ran away, she would naturally want to avoid attention. She would be more likely to visit a small clinic.”

Both Zhong Xin and Geng Geng found this reasonable.

Seeing that he had successfully fooled them, Fu Xi Yan was extremely satisfied. “Then that’s what we’ll report. It’ll demonstrate that we were genuinely using our brains while working.”

Small clinics were both easy and difficult to find. Although none were clearly marked on the map, one might encounter one or two simply by walking down a street and suddenly looking back. Their search was merely far less efficient than it had been over the previous few days.

Fu Xi Yan was in no hurry. He ate, drank, strolled, and browsed along the way, and actually discovered several overlooked gems of the medical profession.

After hearing the words “cupping therapy for weight loss” for the umpteenth time, Fu Xi Yan’s refusal was no longer as firm as it had initially been. He secretly decided that if the next clinic made the same recommendation, he would give them a chance.

However, he regretted that decision the instant he saw the next clinic.

Deep vegetation covered the old homeland…

Its mottled… door.

Ancient roots coiled across the ground…

The song Fireworks Cool Easily echoed through his mind, while his heart grew just as cold.

Fu Xi Yan’s feet seemed firmly nailed to the entrance. “You two go inside. I’ll stay out here and get some air.”

Zhong Xin and Geng Geng exchanged glances. One entered while the other remained outside to guard him. Barely a moment later, Zhou Geng Geng came running back out, with a physician following close behind.

The physician was extremely enthusiastic. “Didn’t you say your lower back was sore? I’ll give you a quick massage and it’ll be fine!”

Zhou Geng Geng was about to refuse when he heard Fu Xi Yan exclaim in astonishment, “Young Miracle Physician?”

The physician froze and looked around, apparently searching for this “young miracle physician.” When he saw Fu Xi Yan step closer and inspect him from head to toe, he could not help staring in bewilderment.

Fu Xi Yan said, “Six years ago. Count Yongfeng’s Estate.”

The physician’s expression abruptly changed. He turned and fled back inside. Zhou Geng Geng had no idea what was happening, but upon seeing the man run, he instinctively chased after him and seized him.

Fu Xi Yan: “…” Judging by the physician’s guilty, terrified expression—and comparing it with the innkeeper’s extravagant praise—could Fu Xi Yan’s casual remark have struck the truth? Had they really hired a counterfeit young miracle physician back then?

Zhou Zhong Xin shut the clinic doors, while Zhou Geng Geng forced the physician onto a stool.

The physician panicked like a pig awaiting slaughter and wailed, “Help! Robbers!”

A moment later, a head appeared above the neighboring wall.

Fu Xi Yan raised his “official token” and waved it. “Government business!”

The head slowly sank out of sight.

Fu Xi Yan looked at the physician’s deathly pale face and said with a sinister smile, “Talk. Your name.”

The physician stammered, “Yan…”

Fu Xi Yan directly pulled off his belt.

The physician, Zhong Xin, and Geng Geng: “?”

Fu Xi Yan asked, “Do you know what running naked means?”

The physician, Zhong Xin, and Geng Geng suffered a collective earthquake in their pupils.

Seeing the wicked smile on Fu Xi Yan’s plump face, the physician swallowed fearfully and resigned himself to his fate. “Guo Ping.”

Fu Xi Yan sat on the chair Zhou Zhong Xin handed him, crossed one leg, and asked, “What is your relationship with Yan Xie?”

At this point, Guo Ping knew he would not be allowed to leave without revealing something. He sighed. “I was the young miracle physician’s medicine boy. After accepting the consultation back then, the young miracle physician instructed me to go to the count’s estate first, saying that he would follow shortly afterward. But when the appointed time came, he still hadn’t appeared. I was afraid the count’s household would take its anger out on me, so I impersonated him.”

Fu Xi Yan asked, “When is Yan Xie’s birthday?”

Guo Ping froze.

Fu Xi Yan sneered. “As his medicine boy, don’t tell me you didn’t even know your master’s birthday.”

Guo Ping hurriedly replied, “It’s on the first day of the first lunar—”

“It would be perfectly normal for a medicine boy not to know his master’s birthday. But inventing one because you don’t know is extremely abnormal.” Fu Xi Yan rose coldly, turned his back, and waved a hand. “Take off his trousers and drag him into the busiest street!”

Seeing Zhou Geng Geng approach while rolling up his sleeves, Guo Ping’s face instantly flushed crimson. He screamed, “No! No, don’t! I was wrong! I’ll confess—I’ll confess!”

Hmph. Little brat. Did he really think Fu Xi Yan could not deal with him?

With his hands clasped behind his back, Fu Xi Yan tapped the ball of his foot against the ground and waited. Yet after waiting and waiting, he heard only increasingly shrill screams behind him. He turned around furiously. “Didn’t you say you’d confess… What are you doing?”

Guo Ping’s face was bright red as he clutched the waistband of his trousers. His eyes, which had appeared entirely ordinary when they first met, now glistened with tears and looked unexpectedly pitiful. Zhong Xin held him down while Geng Geng tugged at his waistband, making the two of them look exactly like lust-crazed bullies.

Yet the bullies remained entirely unaware of it. They answered honestly, “Didn’t you say to strip him and drag him outside?”

Fu Xi Yan: “…”

The only thing separating him from television protagonists who could command their servants to perform complicated tasks with a single glance was an executive director.

“Give him an opportunity to reform!”

This time, Guo Ping behaved himself. He huddled on the stool, clutching his waistband and no longer daring to play tricks. With his brows and eyes drooping, he said, “I’m from Weiguo Village. I came to town with relatives to make a living and became an apprentice at a clinic. That clinic was thoroughly unscrupulous. Not only did we learn no medical skills, but after several years, we somehow ended up owing them money instead. The young miracle physician paid off my debt for me. So when he asked me to go to Haojing under his identity and conduct the consultation, I agreed.”

Zhou Geng Geng asked, “You agreed merely because he redeemed you?”

Guo Ping licked his lips and smiled awkwardly. “He promised that as long as I didn’t expose the deception, he would help me establish a clinic afterward.”

Fu Xi Yan said, “You knew nothing about medicine. How did you conduct the examination?”

Fu Xi Yan retained a vague impression of what had happened. The Fu family had invited a renowned physician not because of his obesity, but because his true origin could not gather true qi. Although Guo Ping had failed to cure him, his performance had been no worse than that of the imperial physicians, which was why no one had suspected him.

Guo Ping said, “I simply memorized everything according to the young miracle physician’s instructions.”

Fu Xi Yan froze. “How did he know?” Apart from the Fu family, only the imperial physicians knew the details of his condition. Yan Xie had been far away in Peijie Town. How could he have known in advance?

That was clearly not something Guo Ping could answer.

Fu Xi Yan asked again, “Did Yan Xie say anything else?”

Guo Ping shook his head. “By the time I returned, he was already gone.”

Had the search for the princess not brought him to Peijie Town, Fu Xi Yan might have remained deceived even now, never realizing that the “Li Kui” he had met was actually Li Gui—the genuine article had been replaced by an impostor. Inwardly, he quietly dragged Yan Xie into the same “Dangerous Individuals” group chat occupied by Chu Guang, Chu Shao Yang, and the Third Prince.

Seeing Fu Xi Yan remain silent with a dark expression, Guo Ping grew uneasy. He gritted his teeth and decided to risk everything. “Actually, I’ve been studying the young master’s pulse record all these years.”

The gazes of Zhong Xin and Geng Geng immediately became dangerous again. He did not even possess half a bucket of medical knowledge—what exactly had he been studying?

Fu Xi Yan also suspected that the man had treated him like a laboratory animal.

Guo Ping hurriedly explained, “I wasn’t studying it recklessly. After opening this clinic, I hired a physician to see patients. Over all these years, I learned seventy or eighty percent of his skills. It’s only because that physician returned home two years ago and I’m not well known that the clinic has become so deserted. Besides, I know people from Willowwood Manor.”

Fu Xi Yan could not resist interrupting him. “Get to the point.”

Guo Ping cautiously observed his expression. “I mean, if the young master still hasn’t been cured after all these years, perhaps I could be of some assistance.”

“Watch how you speak!” Zhou Geng Geng assumed Fu Xi Yan had sought the young miracle physician for weight loss and immediately flew into a rage. Couldn’t he use his eyes to see whether the treatment had worked? The result was this obvious, yet he still said “if”?

Fu Xi Yan: “…”

Perhaps the Geng Geng in Zhou Geng Geng’s name was not the geng geng from “loyal and devoted,” but the geng geng from “brooding resentment”—the kind that gave other people heart attacks!

…

Fu Xi Yan left the clinic with Zhong Xin and Geng Geng, and the three walked through a secluded alley.

The rhythmic patter of their footsteps sounded somewhat lonely, but it was an excellent place for a private conversation.

Zhou Geng Geng could not resist asking, “Does the young master believe him?”

Fu Xi Yan patted the property deed tucked inside his robes. “Whether I believe him or not, I have the deed to his clinic. He won’t be able to run away anytime soon, so we can continue observing him. Compared with that, I’m more curious about Yan Xie’s motive. If he didn’t want to make the house call, he could simply have refused. Why find someone to impersonate him? And how did he learn of my condition?”

Zhou Geng Geng said, “Could he have been afraid of offending the count’s estate and used Guo Ping as a cicada shell to escape?”

It seemed somewhat forced.

After this incident, Fu Xi Yan was no longer in the mood to visit clinics. He returned to the inn, ordered lunch, and prepared to have a proper rest.

The inn had hired a storyteller to attract customers and increase its tea revenue, so the main hall was quite lively.

Fu Xi Yan ate while listening with interest.

When the storyteller reached the part where “the swordsman lightly tapped his finger, and the mysterious woman’s veil fell in response, revealing a face beautiful enough to shame flowers and hide the moon—she was none other than the childhood sweetheart he had searched for all these years,” the listeners could not resist letting out wolfish howls.

Fu Xi Yan laughed as well. It was not that the story was especially wonderful; the atmosphere was simply infectious.

Amid the uproar, someone suddenly shouted, “Pigeon!” The dagger inside Fu Xi Yan’s robes seemed to tremble faintly. He instinctively looked up and happened to see a pigeon circling above the main hall before flying out through the entrance. The flapping of its wings was not quiet, but the hall had been so noisy that only a few people near the door noticed it.

Zhou Zhong Xin looked vigilantly toward the entrance and happened to see the attendant standing there, hesitantly glancing in their direction.

Zhou Zhong Xin beckoned, and the attendant immediately hurried over. “My lord.”

“What is it?”

The attendant hesitated before lowering his voice. “I think I just saw that pigeon drop a piece of dung while it was flying…”

Fu Xi Yan and the others immediately lowered their heads and inspected themselves.

The attendant timidly pointed at the table. “It landed on the table.”

…

Four pairs of eyes instantly entered “spot the difference” mode, searching and searching among the plates…

Before long, the cross-eyed attendant left first, carrying money that might have been either a reward or compensation for injury.

After the time needed to drink a cup of tea, Zhou Geng Geng could no longer endure it. He rubbed his itching eyes. “Why don’t we have the entire table cleared away?”

Fu Xi Yan remembered the movement from Wind Chime. “Wait.”

They had found it?

Zhong Xin and Geng Geng looked at him excitedly.

Fu Xi Yan said profoundly, “Pack everything up.”

Zhong Xin and Geng Geng: “…”

They returned to the humble little clinic.

Seeing the three of them return, Guo Ping felt as though the execution blade above his neck was about to fall. He could not help regretting his earlier indecision and failure to flee immediately, but he still had to welcome them with a smile.

Fu Xi Yan placed the packed dishes before him.

Guo Ping froze and asked, flattered and bewildered, “What is this?”

Fu Xi Yan said, “Test it for poison.”

Guo Ping’s entire body trembled. He had heard that eunuchs in the imperial palace tasted food for their noble masters, but he was not a eunuch… Boo-hoo-hoo. As expected of a nobleman from Haojing—he truly knew how to mistreat people! It was bad enough to make him die, but did they have to poison him as though gambling with his life?

Overcome by sorrow, he wept until he nearly fainted.

Fu Xi Yan and the other two fell silent.

Zhou Geng Geng whispered, “Should we give him something?”

Zhou Zhong Xin took out one tael of silver and placed it before Guo Ping.

Guo Ping’s crying stopped abruptly.

Zhou Zhong Xin said, “There will be another reward once you determine the result.”

Guo Ping looked at the silver, then at them, and finally realized that he had misunderstood. Without another word, he rubbed his tearful eyes, hiccupped, grabbed the money, and carried the packed food into the dispensary with immense relief.

Zhou Geng Geng asked, “Can he actually do it?”

That single question caused worry to appear between all three men’s brows.

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