Physician, Not A Consort

The bright moonlight flooded the streets like mercury. From time to time, cloud shadows flitted across the sky and the moonlight became increasingly hazy as a result. The wind was very strong. The summer night could really relax one’s heart! 

Lin Haihai laid on the rooftop, wide awake. Her mind was a mess. She wanted to laugh, but her tears streamed down her face instead. The despair in his eyes, the distress on his face, and his vulnerability, him trying to feign like he didn’t care— she saw it all. But she also heard her heart shatter clearly right then too. 

“Chen Luoqing, will he hate me?” By the time she exclaimed in a bitter tone, she realized her mistake. Since she claimed she didn’t care, she shouldn’t have mentioned him. Perhaps this was the wine’s effect. Her strong persona crumbled and she could no longer remain calm. 

Chen Luoqing was speechless. The start of this relationship was already a mistake. It was insignificant whether they hated each other or not. Since they said they won’t cross paths anymore, would it make any difference whether they hated each other?

“I’m probably not even worth thinking of in the future!” She murmured in a low voice, still unable to let him go. 

“Isn’t this the result you want?” Chen Luoqing was a bit sad. She clearly couldn’t let him go, but still had to pretend like she didn’t care. It really must be hard on her! 

Lin Haihai widened her eyes. There was an extremely bright star in the sky. But that was on the surface. Just like love. The idea of love painted by a poet was always romantic and beautiful, gentle and sweet. But what about its nature?

“Do you see that star?” Lin Haihai pointed with her finger. She didn’t care for Chen Luoqing’s response as she continued faintly, “This star is Venus but also known as Changgeng. Rumor has it that the Jade Emperor’s messenger lives up there. Isn’t it very beautiful?” Chen Luoqing looked over. Indeed, that star was much more beautiful and brighter than the other ones. 

Her faint voice continued to ring, “But, do you know about this beautiful planet? Haven’t you dreamed of flying into space and touring the horizon as a child? If you are on Venus, all your beautiful wishes will be crushed. Do you know why?” Lin Haihai chuckled, her vision blurry. She was already drunk. She pushed him firmly and continued to ask, “Do you know? Do you know why?” 

Chen Luoqing sat up straight and stared at her quietly. She was unlike her usual self. 

“Because the temperature up there is strangely high. How high? The Earth’s surface temperature is 40C, but the temperature there is 460C. That means we’ll be burned to death up there! Also, there is thunder roaring and lightning flashing up there every moment. Do you understand?” Lin Haihai paused and smiled foolishly at him. “Do you see the moon? It’s really beautiful. Chang’e, Wu Gang and osmanthus trees are up there too. But in reality, the moon is just a spiritless planet without light. There’s nothing on there. Not even water! This is the nature of the planet. This is the reality concealed by the beautiful surface. Our fine dreams and wishes are all crushed!” She laughed, but it made one feel much more bitter than if she cried. 

Chen Luoqing looked at her, at a loss for words. She was talking about the moon and stars in the sky. Did she really know the actual situation up there? Has she been there before?

Lin Haihai stood up swaying back and forth. Chen Luoqing hurriedly supported her. This woman really had a low capacity for alcohol. She just drank one mouthful and transformed into a drunk kitten. However, this wine was indeed strong. He only took a sip when he felt his thoughts becoming hazy. 

Lin Haihai stared at Chen Luoqing, wearing a grieving but indifferent gaze. She felt a slight pain in her heart. She reached over and attempted to ease his tightly knitted brows, feeling sour inside all of a sudden. Her tears couldn’t help but drop down like rain as she weeped silently. 

A while later, she stopped crying and said slowly, “Love is the most sincere feeling inside one’s heart. I always thought that love is beautiful and brings people happiness. But love is ugly and helpless for me. I actually fell in love with a married man. Aren’t I cheap? Grandfather will be upset for sure if he finds out. His granddaughter has always been obedient and well-behaved. Since when did she learn to seduce someone’s husband? But, I really love him. Chen Luoqing, I really love him. However, love isn’t the most important nor is it the only thing in the world. Compared to love, there are a lot of other things worth chasing after and treasuring.” She had a far foresight. Right now, she seemed to be very awake but very muddle-headed too. Though, she was a bit more depressed than usual. 

“Don’t you love the sixth prince?” Chen Luoqing immediately realized that he had asked a dumb question when he blurted the words. 

“There’s not much space in my heart. It can only fit one person!”

“But it shouldn’t be that person.” Chen Luoqing felt sad. There were so many men in the world, but how come all women were only in love with the emperor? He didn’t even understand this unknown feeling of his. 

“No, I control my heart. I get to decide who lives there.” Lin Haihai turned and firmly declared. Just like this. She’d make room for him in her heart, and protect him forever using her own methods! Lin Haihai suddenly felt enlightened and she became optimistic again. 

Chen Luoqing looked at her, carrying tender sentiments in his eyes. His heart ached and he felt bad for this woman. “What is your plan?”

Lin Haihai smiled faintly. The moonlight in her eyes was sparkling and bright. “He is facing issues from all sides. His uncontrollable feelings towards me is his fatal weakness. If someone with an ulterior motive finds out, it’d cause apprehension and be difficult for him. The best solution is for me to disappear!” 

Chen Luoqing admired her even more. She knew a lot and considered all aspects. “Most importantly, he can’t have a fallout with the sixth prince right now. You probably are unaware that your husband is in control of a hundred thousand massive military forces, right?! If the brothers have a fallout, the sixth prince might become a victim of manipulation. If that happens, it would be a catastrophe to both the sixth prince and the emperor!”

“I’m naturally well aware. Although I’m confident in their relationship, I have to guard against that possibility. Even if there is only a one in ten thousandth chance of it happening, I need to avoid it,” Lin Haihai solemnly replied. 

Chen Luoqing recognized and valued heroes. By now, he had completely put down his guard on Lin Haihai. He lifted his brows and said teasingly, “I didn’t think that you would still be able to clearly analyze the issue despite being drunk!”

Lin Haihai kicked him, but Chen Luoqing naturally dodged it easily. Then, he circled back, wanting to grab Lin Haiha’s hand. However, he knew that with her martial arts skills, it was impossible to try to mount a sneak attack on her successfully. However, Lin Haihai didn’t dodge, allowing him to grab her hand. Then, she leaned back and fell against Chen Luoqing’s arms. The latter was shocked. Men and women needed to keep their distance from each other. He hurriedly let go. 

Lin Haihai was unable to react in time, and slipped from the rooftop. Since the gravitational force was too strong and Lin Haihai was also drunk, her fear caused her to momentarily forget that she knew martial arts. She only recalled protecting her head when falling down from a great height as per the school had taught. Therefore, she pulled back her limbs and protected her head, allowing herself to roll down. Although Chen Luoqing was worried at first, he recalled her marvelous martial arts skills and thought that she was deliberately rolling down comically to play tricks on him. He chuckled loudly at her action.

-----

Thump. On this quiet night, a woman’s cursing and a man’s laughter could suddenly be heard. This night was as scary as it could be. 

“You, the one with the surname Li! I’ll dig your eyes out if you dare to keep laughing at me!” The fierce warning came from Lin Haihai’s sausage-like mouth. The outer corner of her eyes were swollen, and the tip of her nose was scraped, with a layer of yellow liquid medicine applied. 

Li Junyue immediately shut his mouth and turned tactfully. Yang Hanlun looked at Lin Haihai, feeling bad. He scolded her for the eight hundred eleventh time, “Look at you. Look at how old you are. Why did you climb to the rooftop? Speaking of which, the rooftop’s so high. How did you even make it up there?” Yang Hanlun’s gaze shifted to Li Junyue and the latter hurriedly waved to claim his innocence. “I don’t know qinggong!” 

Seeing that the situation was going wrong, Lin Haihai rushed into the room but Yang Hanlun grabbed her. She immediately gasped and exclaimed, “Hurts, it hurts!” 

Yang Hanlun instantly let go and asked nervously, “What happened? Did you hurt your hand too? Let me take a look quickly!” 

“I probably scraped my hands when I fell down. It hurts so much!” Lin Haihai knitted her brows, revealing a painful expression.

Li Junyue pushed Ming Yue and exclaimed clearly, “Go, go and check on her for this master.” Ming Yue dashed over and helped Lin Haihai into the ward. The latter then sighed heavily as if a burden had been lifted from her heart. 

“I wonder if she suffered a bone fracture. Her expression changed even at the slightest tug. This woman. I need to take her back to the residence so that she can recuperate well!” Yang Hanlun murmured in a low voice. Li Junyue found his comment hilarious. Although Xiao'hai seemed well-behaved on the surface, she had a ton of bizarre ideas! 

“Um, you with the surname Li, do you have any effective medicine? The wedding is in a few days. She needs to accept Birou’s tea in front of the guests. There’ll definitely be trouble if she shows up like this.” Yang Hanlun awkwardly called after Li Junyue, who was attempting to escape. 

“What are you scared of? She is already in a good enough state considering that she isn’t the bride of her husband’s marriage. Close-minded women might even hang themselves in front of you!” Li Junyue rolled his eyes, feeling a bit angry inside. 

Yang Hanlun humphed angrily before flunging his sleeves and leaving. 

“He left?” Lin Haihai peeked out like a timid mouse, making sure that he was gone before she dared to lift the curtains and walk out. 

“You, ah. Why are you scared of him?” Li Junyue exclaimed moodily. “The fact he dares to marry a concubine means that he has no regard for you, his legal wife. I really don’t understand why you gave in. Could it be that you really want to share a husband with another woman?”

“Shush! I’m no longer his princess consort, okay? Right now, my ex-husband is getting married again. This is something worth being happy over! Plus, I’ll be working to plant medicine long term after he gets married. I’ll be leaving everything here for you and the imperial physicians to handle. I will help you plan out your lesson. You’ll be going to the imperial palace to teach tonight,” Lin Haihai said happily. 

“You want me to go to the man-eating imperial palace? Aren’t you scared that I’d be swallowed alive?” Li Junyue thought of the imperial concubines over there. As people say, trouble accompanied women. Quarrels naturally lead to disasters. Even if he was beaten to death, he refused to risk his life! 

Lin Haihai took out a red string bracelet and tied it around Li Junyue’s wrist. As she was tying it, she said, “This will save you. If you encounter danger, I will be able to sense it. There is weak magic power on it which could help you escape out of danger temporarily. Now you won’t be afraid, right!”

“Having a safeguard is better than not having one.” Li Junyue bitterly thought back to his experience in Africa and being part of the Medecins Sans Frontieres. “This time, when I go back to Earth, I’ll secretly buy a handgun for self defense.”

“You can even purchase arms? Li Junyue, just who are you? Are you a good or bad person?” If they were in the modern world, Lin Haihai would definitely be shocked. But after transmigrating to this space lagging behind in technology and the time period where people fought by weapons and shouted to communicate, having some advanced technology could indeed keep them safe.

“You just realized? I’m actually the head of a gang!” Li Junyue acted as if he was going to kill her to keep her mouth shut. Lin Haihai smiled foolishly and leaned her head in the gang leader’s arms. Her smile gradually faded. Was he okay?