“You’ve already consulted the doctor, so what else is there to ask!” Xi Linxuan said.
Wei Linxia had grown accustomed to his tone and said, “So the prince agrees with the doctor’s view. Let’s start today. While the prince was ill, you memorized the prescription. Do you remember?”
“No,” Xi Linxuan denied.
“Since you remember the acupoint diagram, please follow the prescription for needling,” Wei Linxia instructed, and Xi Linxuan nodded.
Wei Linxia continued using silver needles. Xi Linxuan commented, “Shouldn’t we use jade needles today?”
“Not yet. Once you’re proficient, I’ll let you use them,” Wei Linxia replied. Silver needles were cheaper, while jade needles were made from meteorites and difficult to replace if damaged.
A frog jumped nearby, startling Wei Linxia and causing her to fall. After a moment, she exhaled, relieved, “Phew—it was just a frog.” She knelt again, carefully locating the hawthorn, and found it.
Happily picking it up and placing it in the basket, Wei Linxia’s hand accidentally touched another hand also holding hawthorn. She froze—such a large hand didn’t seem like a maidservant’s, and the sleeve was clearly a man’s garment. The ring on those fingers seemed to be…
Chapter 16
She looked up to see Xi Zhaoting bent over, facing her. At this moment, Wei Linxia was kneeling on the ground with dirt on her hands. After a brief moment of eye contact, she quickly stood up and saluted: “I didn’t know it was Your Highness. This servant has been very rude.”
“It’s nothing,” Xi Zhaoting said, bending down to pick up the small bamboo basket and handing it to her. “Take it.”
“Thank you, Your Highness,” she replied, not daring to raise her head.
Xi Zhaoting walked past her, then turned back and took two hawthorns from the basket. “Give me two,” he said.
As they passed, he held the two hawthorns, twirling them like worry stones. At the mansion gate, he mounted his horse, holding the reins with one hand and rubbing the hawthorn on his robe before putting it in his mouth. After one bite, he felt his facial muscles twitch slightly.
“Ugh, how can it be so sour?” he exclaimed, throwing one away.
The eunuch following closely behind softly laughed and replied, “Your Highness, hawthorns are naturally sour.”
