I Snatched the Male Lead’s "Cool Novel" Script - Chapter 53

“Go in.” Lin Luo pushed the door open for Yan Yu.

“Thank you.” Yan Yu stepped inside. Just as Lin Luo was about to close the door, Yan Yu raised a hand to stop her. “You come in too.”

“What am I going in for?”

“To help.” Yan Yu left the door open and urged, “Hurry. Don’t waste time.”

Lin Luo gave a light sneer. Her fist clenched, then loosened helplessly. In the end, she still followed Yan Yu into the room.

This was also her first time entering Yang Jing’s room. The hard heels of her boots stepped onto the soft carpet, giving her a floating feeling as if her feet could not touch solid ground.

The rosewood bed directly faced the door. On both sides were windows opened wide. The sunlight in the room was as heavy as the scent of medicinal herbs. Through two layers of tightly drawn curtains, one could vaguely see the shadow lying on the bed. One hand stretched outside the quilt, its wrist bones protruding, so thin that only a layer of skin wrapped the tendons and bones.

“Open the bed curtains,” Yan Yu said, moving a chair over and sitting beside the bed. “Taking her pulse alone isn’t enough.”

“But the empress said…” The maidservant hesitated.

“I’m the one asking you to do it. If anyone’s head gets cut off, it’ll be mine.” The maidservant still did not dare step forward. Yan Yu thought about it and decided not to make things difficult for her. She turned and gave Lin Luo a look. “Surely Colonel Lin isn’t this timid too.”

Lin Luo had the advantage in height and quickly dealt with the bed curtains. But after tying them up and standing behind Yan Yu, she lowered her voice and said, “Are you sure you want to be this arrogant from the start?”

“According to you, I’m doomed to die today. So if I don’t order you around now, won’t I never have another chance?”

Lin Luo was speechless again.

With the bed curtains opened, the face of Eldest Princess Yang Jing, rarely known to the public, was revealed. Her features had inherited her mother’s delicacy very well, except the lines of her face and nose bridge were softer, making her appear less aggressive. Because her lips were too pale, she looked excessively weak.

Yan Yu stood and placed another pillow beneath Yang Jing’s head, raising her body higher. She stared intently, observing her complexion and physical condition in detail.

“Did she eat this morning?” Yan Yu raised her fingers and pressed on Yang Jing’s abdomen.

“She only drank half a bowl of porridge, then threw up afterward,” the maidservant answered with her head lowered.

Yan Yu nodded and raised her hand to undo Yang Jing’s collar. Before her fingers could touch the buttons, Lin Luo suddenly stood and slapped her hand away.

“What are you doing?”

Yan Yu rubbed the back of her hand, which had been slapped red. “Treating her illness, of course.”

“Does treating an illness require touching her like that? Do you know who is lying here—”

“The eldest princess of the Jin Kingdom,” Yan Yu finished for her, her tone no more polite than Lin Luo’s. “But with me, everyone is the same. As long as someone is a patient, I will treat them seriously. If you can’t help, then at least please don’t obstruct me.”

Lin Luo never thought there would come a day when someone would look down on her for being unable to help.

“Do you want her to live, or do you want her to die?”

This sentence reminded Lin Luo that no matter what, the most important thing right now was to cure Yang Jing first.

Although Lin Hegui protected her own people, she would not truly lie. If even she, the person with the highest achievement in Healing Arts in the Jin Kingdom, recognized Yan Yu to such an extent, perhaps the person before her really was the only existence who could save Yang Jing now.

“Open her clothes. I need to do acupuncture.”

Lin Luo silently did as told. Yan Yu followed with the needles in hand.

The acupuncture points she inserted the needles into had been jointly studied by her and Lin Hegui. Because Yang Jing’s illness had already entered the late stage, the affected areas were spread throughout her entire body. Simply taking medicine internally and externally would not have much effect. Even if the dosage was made heavier, her body would not absorb it. So they had jumped out of their previous fixed way of thinking and changed methods.

Hearing from the maidservant that Yang Jing was already so ill she could not even keep porridge down, Yan Yu knew this matter could no longer be delayed. She had to begin immediately.

Fortunately, during this month in Langdie Valley, she had not neglected her acupuncture practice. Her technique had grown increasingly skilled. The first needle was boldly inserted into an acupuncture point around the heart, then little by little extended toward the limbs.

Perhaps before placing the needle, Yan Yu had hesitated. But once she began, every needle landed cleanly and decisively.

Once she started, there was no turning back.

Half an hour passed. Dense needles spread from the upper limbs to the lower limbs. Lin Luo and the maidservant beside her did not say a single word, because Yan Yu’s seriousness made people unconsciously choose to quiet down and avoid disturbing her.

But this waiting was not without value. Very soon, Yang Jing’s tightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed, and her bluish-black complexion visibly began to improve.

It was as if someone had pried open the invisible hand choking her neck. Even the sound of her breathing gained strength.

“Cough, cough…” Yang Jing on the sickbed opened her eyes. First, she coughed softly a few times. Only afterward did she belatedly discover that at some point, someone who should not have appeared had appeared in her room.

“Who are you?”

Yan Yu did not panic. Instead, she raised her free left hand and handed it to her, saying gently, “Don’t be afraid. It’ll be done soon.”

Yang Jing had slept muddle-headedly and had not even seen her face clearly, but she actually reached out and held Yan Yu’s hand, giving a dazed “Mm.”

She did not know the woman before her. She simply felt that Yan Yu carried a quality that made people unable to help trusting and relying on her.

“But what are you doing? Why are my clothes…”

“Acupuncture.” Yan Yu decisively inserted the final needle. Her raised eyes were clear, and she looked free of distracting thoughts, as if the flesh before her was fundamentally no different from meat sold at the market.

“You’re a Healing Master?” Yang Jing’s voice was thin and weak, but her speech was very smooth. She covered her mouth in surprise and joy. “I-I’m not stuttering anymore!”

She remembered that at the beginning of the year, her illness had already become severe enough to affect her speech and swallowing. From then on, she had not spoken a complete sentence smoothly. But now—

“Don’t get too excited.” Yan Yu pressed down on her shoulder. “This is only because the acupuncture temporarily opened your meridians and stimulated muscle activity. Once the needles are removed, you will still return to your previous state.”

Lin Hegui had also once used this method to help Yang Jing recuperate. Although there would be improvement, it was ultimately a way of treating the symptoms rather than the root. Moreover, if acupuncture was done too many times, it would instead become a burden on the patient.

“Then what you mean is…” The hope that had ignited in Yang Jing’s eyes went out, and her whole person looked dispirited.

That was right. Why was she still getting so startled over nothing? Hadn’t she long since planned to accept reality?

Even at a time like this, still holding onto luck was itself a kind of sin.

“What I mean is, medicine is still needed.” Yan Yu took out from her sleeve the porcelain bottle she had kept warm the whole journey.

When she was reading the original book, she had always been thinking that logically speaking, Yang Jing’s original medicine and acupuncture prescriptions were not wrong. Even if they could not cure her completely, they should at least slow the condition somewhat. So why had her symptoms worsened day by day?

It was not until Yaochi Mountain, when she saw Lin Hegui use a combined two-pronged treatment method on Yin Beiqing, that Yan Yu realized where the problem lay.

The most fundamental issue with Yang Jing’s illness was that her body could not absorb effectively. So even the best medicine could not take effect. But if acupuncture was used first to open all the meridians in her body, then this period of time could be used to let her absorb the medicine. Perhaps there would still be a sliver of hope.

Only, there was another problem. Because of the long delay, her illness had already worsened severely. Using the previous prescription would not have much effect.

That was why Yan Yu had boldly added one ingredient to Lin Hegui’s original prescription: Amber-Guilin.

Previously, because no one had successfully made it, no one could fully understand all its effects. But after risking everything last time to pull Lin Zhuxun back from death, Yan Yu had realized that Amber-Guilin’s effect was not merely strengthening the body.

—It could bring the dead back to life.

Only, before the matter reached a conclusion, she did not have one hundred percent certainty. Every patient’s constitution was different. She could not guarantee that this medicine, which had saved Lin Zhuxun’s life, could also save Yang Jing.

But she had to make every attempt.

She poured a transparent pill from the porcelain bottle and handed it to Yang Jing. “Do you want to try?”

Yang Jing bit her lip tightly. Her trembling hand revealed the nervousness and struggle in her heart, but in the end, she still nodded firmly. “Yes.”

She wanted to live. There were still so many things she had not done.

“Princess.” A gloved hand held a cup of water and passed it over. Lin Luo spoke to her softly, as if silently approving of her decision as well. “Be careful, it’s hot.”

“Mm.”

Yang Jing held the cup and tilted her head back, swallowing the pill in one gulp. After the bitter taste disappeared from the root of her tongue, she tightly shut her eyes and waited with an expression as if she were ready to die.

Only, the intense side effects she had imagined did not come. She did not feel the slightest pain. Instead, a warm current continuously surged out from her chest, flowing through her entire body in a short period of time.

“Xiaoju.” Her face filled with surprise as she called for her personal maidservant. “Come help me. I want to get out of bed.”

The maidservant from earlier hurriedly stepped forward, pushed the quilt aside into a corner where it would not get in the way, then carefully helped Yang Jing up.

“Princess, can you stand?”

Yang Jing held her breath and placed her feet on the ground. The soles of her feet felt the soft texture of the carpet, and she immediately trembled as she reached back and grabbed Xiaoju’s hand.

Her feet had lost sensation several years ago. This was the first time in so long that she had felt the real feeling of her feet stepping on the ground!

Watching from the side, Yan Yu could finally breathe a sigh of relief. “It seems to be taking effect. However, Princess, you have been bedridden for too long, and your muscles have atrophied to varying degrees. These all need time and gradual training. But as long as you can persist with rehabilitation, recovering to the level of a normal person should not be a big problem.”

“I can stand. I can stand.” Yang Jing repeated this sentence twice, gathered her courage, and continued taking steps.

One step, two steps… Suddenly, she let go of Xiaoju’s hand and continued walking the third and fourth steps. Although her steps were unsteady, they were genuinely movements completed with her own strength.

“Quick! Go find Mother! Tell her I can stand!” Yang Jing said excitedly.

“Clap, clap, clap.” Loud applause came from the side. “No need to look. I’m here.”

Yang Pei, who had been standing in the shadows watching for who knew how long, walked out with a smile on her face.

“Mother!” The moment Yang Jing saw her, tears poured from her eyes. She opened her arms toward the woman, seeking an embrace. The latter nodded and quickly walked up to hug her tightly. “Mama is here.”

Lin Luo stood quietly at the side. Because she was close enough, she rarely saw a trace of ordinary motherly gentleness on Yang Pei’s face, which was usually locked in a tight frown.

But her first reaction was to turn and look at Yan Yu.

As much as Yang Pei doted on her two daughters, that was how cruel she was toward others.

Aside from facing her own blood relatives, Lin Luo had never seen even the slightest softness in her, much less… forgiveness.

After sorting out her emotions, Yang Pei comforted her eldest daughter and let Xiaoju lead her away.

Once the door closed, leaving only the people who were easy to speak to in the room, she turned to face Yan Yu. “I didn’t expect you to actually have some ability.”

Yan Yu methodically put away her things. “Then is Your Majesty willing to believe me now?”

“I believe you. Why wouldn’t I?” She smiled faintly, but before her next sentence came out, the expression on her face instantly vanished. Her gaze turned gloomy as she snapped her fingers. “The goddess has spirit, revives the dead and brings them back to life. Unfortunately…”

“My Jin Kingdom does not need a goddess.”

The shadow where she had stood earlier began to make a sound. Two burly soldiers opened the door of a hidden room and pushed out a huge iron cage.

Yan Yu recognized the cage’s origin at a glance. This was the cage the Jin Kingdom specially used to imprison evil spirits. Because it was made of special materials, no matter how great one’s strength was, one could not break free.

The cage gradually emerged into the light, and the evil beast inside revealed its full appearance. It was precisely the leopard from the street earlier, the one Yin Beiqing had set on fire.

Yang Pei gave a look, and someone immediately approached to remove the collar around its neck. Without the collar’s suppression, the A-rank evil spirit’s miasma instantly surged out in full, so dense that it nearly covered people’s vision.

Yan Yu covered her nose and took a step back, looking at Yang Pei with an ugly expression. “Are you really going to be this ruthless?”

“How is this ruthless?” Yang Pei pinched her chin and forcefully lifted it. “This is called considering the country.”

“Even children wouldn’t believe words like that,” Yan Yu said coldly.

“Of course someone will believe it.” Yang Pei raised her voice and glared fiercely with widened eyes. “I am the highest faith of this country! I am god! My words are the truth! I’d like to see who dares defy me!”

She stretched out her hand and shoved Yan Yu hard. “So it is enough to listen to me. There is no need for any goddess.”

Yan Yu staggered from the push. Immediately after, the faint sound of a lock clicking behind her made the muscles throughout her body stiffen and tighten.

The low breathing of a beast drew closer and closer, as if it were right beside her ear. In the next second, it would open its mouth and swallow her head.

The leopard lowered its body. The full muscles in its legs revealed killing intent ready to erupt. A bow had already been drawn tight behind her.

“SRE FE RI!” In that instant, Yan Yu did not think about anything else. Her first reaction was to build a barrier.

The evil spirit, whose first attack had failed, twisted its head and charged forward again with murderous ferocity.

“Roar—”

With one heavy pounce, several cracks instantly appeared in the transparent barrier. Yan Yu’s supporting hand also began to feel gradually powerless and sore.

Panpan and Lujia could no longer sit still. They jumped out together.

“Stay beside me and don’t go out!” Yan Yu spoke. “Listen.”

This evil spirit was nothing more than an instrument of punishment. The true executioners had not yet acted. With one A-rank Beast Arts Master and one Special-rank Beast Arts Master present, no matter how the three of them struggled, in the end, there would only be a path to death.

But she was not going to give up, because her life had long since ceased to belong only to herself.

“Yin Beiqing!”

…

Wind swept across the palace gates. The two gates that appeared tightly sealed actually opened with just a light gust. Looking closely, the guards who had been standing straight earlier had already fallen sideways to the ground.

Something howled past, silent yet carrying threads of killing intent. The sun was chased into hiding behind the clouds.

Bang—

The windows and doors of the bedchamber shattered open. Amid waves of panicked screams, one shrill cry was especially piercing.

“Look at the sky!”

Everyone’s first reaction was to raise their heads and search the sky, but as soon as they looked up, their vision was filled with a wash of red. A huge butterfly-shaped cloud of mist blocked the sun. Its shadow descended with an unstoppable force pressing down on everyone.

The woman whose face was covered by a metal mask landed on the ground. Among the fallen guards, she approached step by step. Every step was a ruthless mockery of the so-called airtight imperial barrier.

Lin Luo immediately drew her sword and charged forward, but without even a struggle, her throat was directly seized.

Yin Beiqing’s grip showed no mercy. Her slanted silver eyes were covered in bone-piercing ice. “Didn’t I say you weren’t qualified?”

Maintaining her hold on Lin Luo, she aimed her right hand at the evil spirit still continuously smashing into the barrier and twisted hard. Immediately afterward came the crisp sound of muscles and bones snapping.

Everyone present trembled along with it, their faces ashen.

If there were a god of death in this world, there could not be any existence more lifelike than this woman.

Without looking sideways, Yin Beiqing walked to Yan Yu’s side. Calm as if everyone around them did not exist, she frowned and carefully wiped away the blood spilling from the corner of Yan Yu’s lips. Her movements were serious and meticulous, as if she were competing against something.

“Why didn’t you call me earlier?”

Author’s Note:

Today’s chapter is chubby. Yay!