Chapter 161: Is It That Obvious?

Chapter 161: Is It That Obvious?

Jiang Shuning, accompanied by Ling Wu, carefully inquired among the tents housing the displaced commoners and indeed found a few doctors who had narrowly escaped the calamity.

These doctors already possessed some medical skills, and driven by their urgent desire to save lives, they studied with exceptional diligence.

Soon, under Jiang Shuning’s meticulous guidance, they mastered the techniques of this detoxification acupuncture method and began needling other poisoned patients.

As time passed, more and more poisoned patients showed improvement after receiving the detoxification acupuncture.

The crimson in their eyes gradually faded, revealing their original eye color; the bluish-black on their faces and skin lightened, restoring some normal color; most importantly, the chilling hostility and frenzied aggression seemed to vanish along with the expulsion of the toxins.

Though now extremely weak—having expended much vitality and sustained various injuries—they could only lie on simple beds, relying on rice porridge and herbal medicine to recuperate, this was already a huge relief for their loved ones who had been worrying day and night.

Seeing their relatives return to normal from their madness, the unaffected people of Nanshuo City wept tears of joy and knelt before Xiao Lingchuan’s tent, kowtowing in thanks.

“Fourth Prince! You are truly the great savior of Nanshuo City!”

“Your Highness, you promised us in that cellar you’d never abandon anyone, and you kept your word! The people of Nanshuo City are forever grateful!”

“Your Highness’s great kindness will never be forgotten!”

Xiao Lingchuan stood at his tent entrance, gazing at the kneeling citizens bowing to him, his deep eyes unreadable.

Jiang Shuning watched from a distance, silently observing.

In her past life, she had no idea what Xiao Lingchuan did after taking the throne.

But in this life, she had seen firsthand everything he had done for the people of Nanshuo.

Though his temperament was cold and hard to get close to, he showed the responsibility and duty befitting a prince when it came to matters of great importance.

She believed that this Xiao Lingchuan would one day become a great emperor, revered by the people.

Before she knew it, Jiang Shuning had been in Nanshuo City for almost a month.

During this time, she was busy every day, barely getting a moment’s rest.

Besides giving acupuncture to patients with lingering toxins to solidify the treatment, she also taught the temporary doctors more refined needling techniques and medicine.

Her acupuncture skills improved fast through lots of practice.

All her other skills were mastered in her past life; only medicine was something she learned after her rebirth.

If she’d known learning medicine could save so many lives, she’d have started earlier in her past life, even if it meant being just a female doctor—way better than spending her days in Prince Jing’s mansion trying to please her husband.

Besides healing the sick, Jiang Shuning also noticed that food in Nanshuo City was pitifully scarce.

The soldiers, who trained, patrolled, and worked on reconstruction daily, used up tons of energy but could only chew on hard, dry wheat cakes and drink bland vegetable porridge.

So, she gathered some idle women in the city and worked with them to come up with new recipes.

They also found ways to make the limited coarse grains more interesting—mixing cornmeal with wild greens to make veggie dumplings, and mixing wheat bran with bean flour to bake thin pancakes.

Jiang Shuning had been dressed as a man in Nanshuo, and with her excellent medical skills, she had earned the people’s affection, and they affectionately called her “Doctor Jiang.”

An elderly woman, seeing her delicate features and steady manner, took a liking to her and asked smiling, “Doctor Jiang, how old are you this year? Are you engaged?”

“I’m seventeen, not yet engaged,” Jiang Shuning replied.

“Only seventeen, and already so good at medicine—Doctor Jiang is truly a remarkable talent!” The elderly woman beamed. “My daughter is sixteen, with a great appearance and temperament! How about I set up a meeting for you two to consider marriage?”

Startled, Jiang Shuning quickly waved her hands. “Auntie, that won’t do! I…” am a woman—how could I marry another woman?

Seeing her refusal, the elderly woman grew displeased. “Could it be that Doctor Jiang, serving the court, looks down on us humble folk?”

Jiang Shuning explained, “Not at all! Auntie, I am still young and have no plans for marriage yet. Auntie, I truly appreciate your kindness!”

“What’s there to fear? Getting engaged doesn’t mean marrying right away—just meet my daughter first!” The elderly woman persisted.

Just then, Xiao Lingchuan happened to return from his patrol and passed by the kitchen. Drawn by the aroma of food, he overheard the conversation and pushed the door open.

Jiang Shuning and the women quickly rose to bow. “Greetings, Fourth Prince!”

Xiao Lingchuan’s gaze fell on Jiang Shuning, then swept over the women as he said coldly, “Doctor Jiang is this prince’s person. Her marriage is for this prince to decide! Whoever dares to play matchmaker must first ask if this prince agrees!”

His words carried a chilling edge, making the women tremble.

The elderly woman who had been pushing for her daughter was especially terrified. “This commoner was presumptuous! Please forgive me, Your Highness!”

Xiao Lingchuan snorted coldly and turned to leave.

Jiang Shuning quickly pushed open the door and chased after him, calling to his back, “Your Highness, thank you for getting me out of that!”

Xiao Lingchuan spun around abruptly, his gaze icy. “Miss Jiang truly has remarkable charm—bewitching men in the capital, and now even women in Nanshuo fall for you! I wonder if you’ve been using some love charm!”

Jiang Shuning’s cheeks flushed with anger. “Your Highness is mocking me for being flirtatious?”

“Is it not so?” Xiao Lingchuan sneered, pulling out the bamboo-green sachet he had hidden in his robe and tossing it back to her. “Please, Miss Jiang, don’t fob me off with things meant for others in the future!”

Seeing the sachet, Jiang Shuning’s face reddened even more.

She finally understood why Xiao Lingchuan had been treating her so poorly lately—he had discovered that this sachet was not embroidered for him, but for Xiao Huaijin.

The sachet still carried the lingering warmth of his body, and a complex emotion surged in Jiang Shuning’s heart.

Even knowing it wasn’t embroidered for him, he had never discarded it.

In her past life, even sachets she had given him were casually thrown away, never treasured.

The Xiao Lingchuan of this life had truly changed a lot.

That evening, back in her tent, she asked Ling Wu to fetch needle and thread.

“Miss, what are you sewing? Let this servant help you!” Ling Wu said.

“No need. I want to embroider a sachet for someone—it’s more sincere to do it myself.”

“A sachet? For whom?” Ling Wu asked curiously.

“For the Fourth Prince.”

Ling Wu’s eyes lit up, thinking: If the Fourth Prince knew that Miss was embroidering a sachet for him in such harsh conditions in Nanshuo, he would be overjoyed!

She quickly said, “This servant will go find needle and thread!”

Soon after, Xia Yan, dressed in military attire, also returned to the tent. Seeing Jiang Shuning sewing by the dim oil lamp, she couldn’t help but advise, “Shuning, this light is too dim—it’s bad for your eyes. Wait until daytime to sew!”

"During the day, I have to administer acupuncture to patients and simply can't find the time. If I work through a few nights, I'll have it done soon," Jiang Shuning replied without looking up.

"Who is this sachet for, worth losing sleep over?" Xia Yan winked. "Could it be for your sweetheart?"

"No," Jiang Shuning said, lowering her eyes. "I made someone angry, and I want to use this sachet to apologize."

"Oh, it's for the Fourth Prince, isn't it?" Xia Yan said, grinning.

"How did you know?" Jiang Shuning looked up in surprise.

"In Nanshuo City, who else walks around giving you the cold shoulder all day? If it's not him, who else could it be?"

Jiang Shuning: "..."

Ugh, is it really that obvious?