Chapter 65: Xie Yunjin is not simple. Zu Jun is offline, if there is that Blood Withering…

She had just finished writing the letter and hadn’t even let Pei Lan send it out yet when someone came to say that Zu Jun was seriously ill and about to pass away.

The person who was able to pound the bed and send wine to stir up trouble yesterday, how could he say he’s not going to make it today and then really not make it?

Wen Zhaoyin was pondering the truth of this matter, but after thinking about it from all angles, it seemed that there was no use in deceiving her with illness, so the possibility of it being true was higher.

She originally wanted to send Pei Lan first, but suddenly had an ominous premonition in her heart, so she quickly walked over herself.

Unexpectedly, when she arrived at Zu Jun’s courtyard and entered the room, she was hit with the smell of blood.

“Clan Leader! Zu Jun has been coughing up blood nonstop. The physicians in the mansion are all helpless. Please ask the imperial physician from the palace to take a look!”

Wang Gui suddenly fell to the ground, his old hands still stained with some blood threads. It seemed that when Zu Jun first coughed up blood and couldn’t find a handkerchief, he helped cover it for a moment.

Now handkerchiefs were completely useless. A spittoon was directly placed beside Zu Jun’s bed, and he would just cough the blood directly into it.

“How did Father become so seriously ill? He was perfectly fine when I saw him yesterday!” Wen Zhaoyin looked at Zu Jun, whose face was as pale as gold paper, and felt extremely anxious in her heart.

The physician had already kneeled on the ground. “It’s this old woman’s incompetence. Zu Jun seemed to have been suddenly stimulated and couldn’t stop coughing, which aggravated his old illness from before.”

“These illnesses were previously well controlled, but they were already like dried firewood, just waiting for a trigger to directly burn in a chain reaction, threatening his life in a short period of time.”

After hearing this, Wen Zhaoyin quickly instructed Pei Lan to take her command token to the palace to request the imperial physician. She even allowed her to ride on her own fast horse to go and return quickly.

She walked inside and looked at Xie Yunjin who was already guarding by the bedside, not quite understanding why her father would suddenly fall ill.

“Zu Jun, Zu Jun, you mustn’t have any mishaps! If anything were to happen to you, how could Jiner live?” Xie Yunjin was crying woefully by the bed, looking very distressed.

After crying, he actually saw Wen Zhaoyin walk up to him. He wiped his tears and raised his head, saying pitifully, “It’s all my fault for resting early and not taking good care of Zu Jun…”

Before he could finish, she directly interrupted him, “Silence.”

Right now, Wen Zhaoyin was in no mood to talk. Although Zu Jun had a strong desire to control her, he truly loved her. As a daughter, with her father lying ill, her emotions were naturally in turmoil.

This young man from the Xie family was really inconsiderate. At this point, he was still trying to put on an act of being virtuous in front of her. If he had any brains at all, he wouldn’t say such nonsense.

“Father…” She walked over, half-kneeling, and looked at the extremely pained Zu Jun. In an instant, her eyes felt a little hot.

Zu Jun stopped coughing, groggily opened his eyes, and seeing that his daughter had come, he quickly stretched out his trembling hand and said, “Yesterday… cough cough… the wine… don’t blame your father… cough cough cough cough…”

He couldn’t even say a complete sentence in one breath, only spitting out a few words at a time, interspersed with heart-wrenching coughs. It was truly miserable.

Wen Zhaoyin thought that since her father was ill, it wasn’t good for her to settle the score about the wine yesterday, so she didn’t say anything.

Instead, it was Xie Yunjin on the side who inappropriately interjected, “Wuwuwu, Zu Jun, you should rest. Speaking just makes you cough more severely!”

His words reminded Zu Jun, who was resting with his eyes half-closed. He used his other hand to pull Xie Yunjin, then said to Wen Zhaoyin, “That wine… cough cough cough… Jiner didn’t know. It was all… cough cough… your father’s doing… Don’t hold it against him…”

Yesterday, Xie Yunjin’s purpose was so clear, and he even tried to lead her to that side courtyard. How could he not know?

Wen Zhaoyin didn’t believe her father’s attempt to absolve him, but considering that he was already seriously ill, she only lightly grunted in response, ambiguously saying she wouldn’t hold it against him.

As for how to handle it after the fact, she didn’t directly say.

“Promise… promise your father…”

It seemed that Zu Jun knew his daughter’s temperament. He repeated it again, wanting Wen Zhaoyin to promise to marry Xie Yunjin. However, he broke into a violent coughing fit and couldn’t utter another word.

Xie Yunjin concealed the fleeting regret on his face and again attentively patted his back to help him catch his breath, wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, and took care of him very properly.

Wen Zhaoyin stayed by the bedside for a while longer. Seeing that Zu Jun still couldn’t say a single word, she stood up and called his personal attendant Wang Gui out to question him.

“For Father to become like this, the physician said he was suddenly stimulated. I think he definitely wouldn’t be stimulated for no reason. You should know the cause.”

“Tell me the whole story without concealing anything. You’ve followed Father for so many years, you understand what kind of person I am and know even more what kind of work I do in the court.”

What kind of work did she do in the court?

The Chief Supervisor of the Censorate. Everyone in the Wen Mansion, from top to bottom, knew about this official position and knew even more that their clan leader handled matters of confiscating property and interrogation. Who among them didn’t have fear in their hearts?

Wang Gui’s shoulders visibly began to tremble, and the more he tried to control it, the more severely he shook.

He really seemed to not dare conceal anything and said tremblingly, “Master, when the master heard that you didn’t spend the night with Young Master Xie yesterday but slept together with Young Master Meng, he was a bit disappointed.”

“He knew you would be angry about the wine the next day, so he arranged for a servant to send the wine and had been worrying ever since. If it had succeeded, it would have given him some consolation. But hearing this morning that it didn’t work out, compounded by the two factors, he fell ill.”

Actually, this matter was originally brought up by Xie Yunjin, who found him and gave him silver to casually mention the method of drugging to Zu Jun and then suggest that Zu Jun pull some strings.

If this matter had succeeded, Xie Yunjin’s reputation wouldn’t have been damaged in the slightest. There would even be someone else unwittingly taking the blame for him. It was quite a good scheme.

It was just that this matter didn’t succeed and instead caused Zu Jun, who was deceived by both sides, to fall ill.

Wang Gui sorted out the relationships and felt that if the clan leader knew the original truth of the matter, he definitely wouldn’t have a good end. So he chose to selectively conceal some things and attributed all the responsibility to Zu Jun.

Wen Zhaoyin observed his expression and found that he seemed to be concealing something but also seemed not to be. For a moment, she couldn’t even distinguish it clearly.

So she asked again, “Is that really so? Are you sure you’re not deceiving me?”

This was also a kind of psychological tactic, repeatedly asking and confirming. If the person being questioned had a guilty conscience, asking a few more times would naturally reveal flaws.

However, before Wen Zhaoyin could ask more questions, Pei Lan had already arrived with the imperial physician she requested from the palace.

After all, they were people from the palace, and they came to treat her father’s illness. She naturally had to accompany them all the way and personally led them into the room.

When the imperial physician arrived, he had already heard about the severity of the situation. He was very professional and didn’t say anything. He just walked to the bedside and began taking Zu Jun’s pulse. After finishing, he quickly applied acupuncture to temporarily curb Zu Jun’s urge to cough.

“How is it?” Wen Zhaoyin didn’t even dare to breathe loudly beside them because her father’s illness was really a bit too severe this time.

The imperial physician shook his head and said, “It’s too late. The Old Madam is already gone. I have now sealed his meridians with needles to allow him to temporarily speak. Madam Wen, if you have anything you want to say, hurry and tell the Old Madam.”

Her words were equivalent to a final verdict. Wen Zhaoyin staggered back a step, nearly unable to stand.

She muttered to herself, “How is this possible? Father was fine the night before, how could he…”

“Pei Lan! Pei Lan! Go invite a few more imperial physicians. There may still be hope to save Father!”

The imperial physician didn’t mind the distrust in her words and just shook his head, saying, “Madam Wen, you should hurry and say what you need to say to the Old Madam!”

Zu Jun also heard the imperial physician’s words. Seeing his daughter still wanting to call other physicians, he quickly waved his trembling hand to summon her. “Zhaoyin, Zhaoyin…”

Wen Zhaoyin swiftly grasped his hand, half-kneeling to support it, not letting him exert so much effort to lift it, saving as much of his strength as possible.

Who would have thought that after Zu Jun pulled her over, he would first turn his head to the imperial physician and apologize, “Don’t take offense. This old man’s daughter is just too filial, that’s why she said she wanted to invite others in her urgency. Actually, she trusts your medical skills the most. It was just because she was so anxious that…”

He thought that the imperial physician was, after all, from the palace, and he couldn’t let his daughter offend the person with just a few words.

Now he could clearly feel that he really wasn’t going to make it this time, and only hoped to use his last bit of strength to do something for his daughter.

“Zhaoyin, don’t blame your father, and don’t hold it against Jiner either. Remember to take good care of Wen Shu and help promote the Xie family on your father’s behalf.”

“Now what I’m most worried about is the Xie family. That is, after all, my original family. I don’t want it to decline a dozen or so years from now…”

Wen Zhaoyin tightly grasped her father’s hand, agreeing to each of his words one by one, only telling him not to waste his energy and that he would get better after a nap. Then she watched as he closed his eyes.

From the time the news of his illness arrived to Zu Jun’s passing, it was less than two hours in total. For a person, from life to death, it’s actually just a matter of moments.

Pei Lan brought over a chair for her dazed master to sit on, then sent the imperial physician away and called Wang Gui from outside to tidy up for Zu Jun. Finally, she politely raised her hand to invite Xie Yunjin to leave.

Wang Gui followed the arrangement and entered. He happened to run into Xie Yunjin who was leaving. The two only glanced at each other before going their separate ways.

After that, he picked up a handkerchief and patiently cleaned up for Zu Jun. Before long, he seemed to mutter unintentionally.

“If we had that Blood Withering Prosperity, perhaps the master could have…” He didn’t finish, but those who heard could understand the meaning.

Wen Zhaoyin’s fingers resting on her knees trembled slightly, and her face darkened frighteningly.

She was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, “You’ve served Father for decades. This time, Father’s passing was sudden. It’s understandable that you misspoke in your momentary grief.”

“But these words must not leave this room. Uncle Wang, you can understand, right?”

She used this form of address that she hadn’t used in a long time. Being called this made Wang Gui’s heart tremble. He naturally nodded repeatedly while also speeding up his actions.

Wen Zhaoyin didn’t say anything else and just quietly watched as Wang Gui tidied up for her father.

She didn’t shed any tears, and even her eyes weren’t red.

Apart from her face being a bit gloomy, there were no signs of any abnormality, as if nothing had happened at all.

Sometimes when a person’s heart aches to the extreme, they don’t actually express their emotions that intensely. Often it takes a long time before it gradually manifests.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t sad, but that she hadn’t accepted this reality in her heart yet. Her subconscious simply couldn’t believe that the person she saw day and night was gone.