"Use mine. I have plenty of blood."
"Use mine..."
"Mine..."
When Lei Zhen returned, it was already an hour later. A young, petite woman trailed behind him. After checking Pei Yuanxian's condition again and confirming that there wasn't a problem, Shen Liang had fell asleep by his side with his hand still holding onto Pei Yuanxian's. When it was spread around the manor that Pei Yuanxian needed a blood transfusion, everyone in the manor except for Old Lin had their sleeves rolled up and eager to contribute. It was also their bickering that woke Shen Liang up.
"You all calm down. Not anyone's blood can be used."
"So noisy. Quiet down," Lei Zhen and Shen Liang's voice sounded at the same time. The eager and excited group of men all quieted down unanimously. When they turned around saw Shen Liang who had rose, they remembered that he was supposed to be resting.
"What is the matter?" Shen Liang took Pei Yuanxian's pulse again before heading towards them. His furrowed brows revealed his unpleasant mood.
Yaoguang and the others who had been treated coldly by him the day before couldn't help but shrink their necks before silently taking a few steps back. On the contrary, Lei Zhen approached Shen Liang with the petite woman in tow, "I've brought the equipment. The elders were afraid you would have trouble operating it seeing as it is your first time and sent an experienced person along as well. Her name is Yuan Ling. She's Ah Shao's younger sister."
"Greetings to the Master!" Yuan Ling stepped forward and paid her respects to him gently.
Shen Liang raised a hand, "There's no need to be so polite. Come on over and have a seat."
After, he led to way and headed over first. His face was pale from worry and lack of sleep. As he was suddenly woken up from the discord outside, his head still felt a bit dazed.
"Sure enough, the Master truly is very beautiful," seeing this, Yuan Shao drew close to Lei Zhen and said in a hushed whisper. Word of their Master's calling had already spread amongst the Nether Guards. Each and every one of them were curious and some even snuck into Tianmen Academy to take a look. It was just they didn't dare to reveal their presence to him.
"Be careful that the Master will hear you," indulgently poking her forehead, Lei Zhen led her to Shen Liang. "Master, if it's only for a blood transfusion, there should be no problem. Why don't you retire to the guest room and rest? Don't worry about matters at the manor. I already explained and talked to Uncle Fu and the rest of them. With such a heavy rain outside, I suspect no one would head over to Zhonglin Court as well," seeing that Shen Liang's complexion was bad, Lei Zhen advised with concern. Shen Liang's health was worse than an average person's. In addition, he had been suffering from migraines for the past few days. A lack of sleep and rest was undoubtedly a tremendous harm to his poor foundation.
"It's alright," waving his hand, Shen Liang placed the hand he had rubbing his temple down. "Where's the equipment?"
"It's here. It's here," Yuan Lin hurriedly opened up the backpack she had on and opened the cover. The equipment inside was already soaked through. It seemed like only the small slips of oil paper remained dry. Shen Liang reached in and took out a tube. He had seen the items' drawing and explanation in the manuscripts before, but it was still a different matter seeing it in person. Seeing it for the first time, Shen Liang was inevitably astonished by his ancestors' ingenuity. "The manuscript says we'll need blood testing paper. Do we have that?"
"Yes, it's this," Yuan Lin took out the greasy paper slips and presented to him as though she was presenting a priceless treasure.
Shen Liang lowered his gaze and looked at it: "Tianshu, call on everyone to go with Yuan Lin and have their blood tested."
"Oh. Yes," Tianshu didn't expected himself to be called on and was slow to react but recovered soon enough. He took Yuan Lin and headed back out again. Shen Liang took out two slips of paper he had drawn out and headed towards Pei Yuanxian. When he saw Pei Yuanxian's pale features again, his brows furrowed with discomfort.
Lei Zhen stepped forward in a timely manner, "Master, allow me."
"En," it was impossible for them to cut open a new wound on Pei Yuanxian's body. In order to get his blood, they would have to take the bandages off and draw blood from his preexisting wound. In addition, it must be done with extreme caution. Shen Liang wasn't sure he could be as calm as he was the night before.
"Alright," It was evident that this wasn't Lei Zhen first time doing this as his actions and maneuvers were swift and efficient. It wasn't long before he was wrapping the wound up again.
Shen Liang who was leaning against the bedrest stepped forward to take Pei Yuanxian's pulse again. Afterwards, he took out several silver needles and inserted them into Pei Yuanxian again. It took quite some time and effort before the work was complete. The Pei Yuanxian now was no different from a porcelain doll that could break with the slightest lapse of attention.
Concurrently, Yuan Ling who had tested the blood of a number of people also returned. When comparing the slips, they discovered that there wasn't a single person whose blood matched with Pei Yuanxian.
"This is troublesome. The duke's blood is a rare type. The manuscript recorded that there are very few people who has this type of blood. We might not even be able to find one out of tens of thousands."
"Then what should be do?" the group of people who had been holding their hopes began to panic once again.
Shen Liang rubbed his throbbing head that felt as though it was threatening to split, "Keep looking and testing. Lei Zhen, leave the remaining slip of paper for me and check my blood type."
No matter how rare it was, they had no choice but to continue looking. What use was there in panicking?
"En," Lei Zhen and Yuan Ling nodded their head. Tianshu thought of something before he simply sent out a summoning signal, calling for all of the Ironclad Guards in the Imperial City to gather. Unfortunately, it was bound to be in vain. Before the second round of results came out, Lei Zhen first derived Shen Liang's results, which matched with Pei Yuanxian's.
"don't look anymore. Use mine," sincerely unable to endure the tediousness and process of waiting anymore, Shen Liang ignored Lei Zhen's disapproving gaze and sent someone to call Yuan Ling over.
"Mut Master, your body..." when she was made aware of the circumstances, Yuan Ling hesitated. They had all heard that from the previous years' of toil and hardships, the Master's body and health had been slowly worn away.
"It's alright. It's not as though I'm giving him my entire body's worth of blood. Hurry now. My head is throbbing with pain and I need sleep," hearing this, Yuan Ling felt as though she was placed in a dilemma. She subconsciously looked over at Lei Zhen, who nodded. Seeing his acquiescence, she reached out and began to draw the blood from Shen Liang. She watched as the bright red liquid continuously filled up the transparent container. Tianshu and the others couldn't help but feel touched. They were always under the impression that the Wangfei did not share their Master's enthusiasm for their relationship but now, he was...
"It's done. Master, you should go rest," Yuan Ling didn't dare to draw too much blood. When the container reached two-thirds full, Yuan Ling pulled the needle out and took the blood bag to the bed not far away.
"Master?" Yuan Ling hung up the blood bag and just as she was prepared to insert the needle into Pei Yuanxian's veins, she realized that Shen Liang had followed her over.
"Continue your work. I need to rest," with his words and amidst the strange gazes of everyone present, Shen Liang kicked off his shoes and climbed over Pei Yuanxian's body toward the inner side of the bed. He lied down flat and with no regard for the shock his actions incurred, wrapped his fingers around Pei Yuanxian's and closed his eyes. Shen Liang seemed to have fallen asleep, but his brows were furrowed. Perhaps it was due to his headache.
"Alright. As expected of our Wangfei," Old Lin was the first person to clap his hands and voice his approval. He felt as though he could already see a large group of little Young Masters and Ladies running towards him.
"Forget about it. Just leave it as is," patting Yuan Ling's shoulders, Lei Zhen said in a lowered voice as he shook his head helplessly. Their Master must truly be worried.
"Oh. En." Yuan Ling had just saw a Ger take the initiative to climb into another man's bed and clasp hands with the other party. This truly frightened her but when she thought of how this was her Master, she was able to find her composure again. Yuan Ling picked up the needle once again and inserted the needle into one of Pei Yuanxian's veins. She watched as the blood flowed from the blood bag, through the tubes, and into Pei Yuanxian's body. Those present watched with great interest and astonishment. It wasn't that they had never heard of such a technique but that they didn't expect the method to actually be feasible.
Perhaps it was the sequelae of hitting his head against the beam and killing himself through such a method, but Shen Liang had been suffering from a headache every time it rained. It had been raining for over twenty days now, and Shen Liang's head has throbbed and pained him for twenty days. However, in the past, he had always been able to rest well and ease the pain so that it wasn't so tormenting. However, since he derived the news that Pei Yuanxian's condition had worsened and wasn't as nonchalant the news made it to be, he hadn't slept a wink. His head felt like it had been split in half and throbbed with pain tremendously. He was only able to fall asleep after a long while.
"Kill!" In his sleep, Shen Liang felt as though he was floating in midair. It took him some time to examine his surroundings and realize he truly was floating midair. The Imperial City lied beneath him, but it was not as prosperous as it was. Under the City Gates, donned in a silver-white armor, Pei Yuanxian raised his battle spear towards the towers with his intent clear and evident.
"Uncle... Cousin..." What stunned Shen Liang was that beside Shen Liang, not only was the God of War Huo Yelin and the man he had met twice before Xiao Muchen, also there, but his uncle and cousins were also beside Pei Yuanxian on horsebacks. Although he had only met with them once before and it was under confidential settings, everyone all resided in the Imperial City. Shen Liang would still be able to see them once in a while and it proved impossible for him to ever mistake them for someone else.
"Seize the City and capture the Imperial Concubine alive!"
"Capture the Imperial Concubine alive!"
Under Pei Yuanxian's roar, the soldier felt their blood boil in their veins as they voiced his order again in unison.
"To me!"
Above the city tower, Qin Yunshen's momentum was not to be outdone as well. Shen Qiang stood beside him but what Shen Liang found strange was her Imperial Concubine attire. It wasn't the phoenix robe befitting and reserved for the Empress. Regardless of whether it was a dream or not, since he was no longer alive, it didn't make sense that Shen Qiang didn't assume his position as Empress.
What ensued was the two armies' fierce battle. Qin Yunshen, who firmly guarded the city had an advantage but Pei Yuanxian had not only the God of War Huo Yelin by his side, but also the Wei Family, who have never lost a single battle in history. It took less than four hours for the City Gates to be breached. As Qin Yunshen watched his momentum and advantage give out, he drew out his own sword and was prepared to slit his own throat. Shen Qiang, who stood by his side trembled with fright.
Clang!
Pei Yuanxian kicked against the saddle and flew towards him. Before the sword could do any damage, Pei Yuanxian's spear knocked the weapon out from Qin Yunshen's grasp while leaving a bright red cut across his face.
"Pei Yuanxian! You traitorous thief!" Qin Yunshen glared at him as his usual poise and demeanor all disappeared without a trace. Pei Yuanxian threw the spear over to Tianshu who had followed him up the tower. He threw Qin Yunshen a cold and indifferent sneer as he retorted with disdain: "Traitorous thief? Exactly who is the traitorous thief?"
"As for you, exactly how Shen liang died will be exactly how you will die. Tie her up!"
"Yes!"
"Ah! Ah..."
"Pei Yuanxian, how dare you humiliate this emperor..."
Under his orders, the soldiers rushed up to have the two people restrained and tied up. As he watched this, Shen Liang realized with shock that he was crying. The tears streamed down his cheeks endlessly.
The scene soon changed. When Shen Liang returned to his senses, the battlefield had disappeared. What lied before him was the execution ground where Qin Yunshen and Shen Qiang were tied to the execution platform in the middle. The members of the Liu and Shen Family were all restrained at wooden stakes not far away as the Ironclad Guards had the entire execution ground surrounded.
"The emperor has arrived!"
"Blessing to the emperor!" soon after, Pei Yuanxian, who was still donned in his usual royal purple entered the stage with Huo Yelin and the Wei Family behind him. Shen Liang noticed immediately that Huo Yelin was accompanied by a young boy who appeared to be around ten years old.
"Is that... You'er?" Shen Liang was able to vaguely discern the sharp outline of the boy's jawline and cheeks which bore a striking resemblance with Shen Da's. Shen Liang covered his mouth as tears continued to flow down his cheeks. It can't be that this wasn't a dream, but rather what happened after his death? Otherwise, how could You'er be here? Then what about Uncle and cousins? Shouldn't they have already died?
"Qin Yunshen, tell me where Shen Liang's burial grounds are and this emperor will let you die more comfortably," Pei Yuanxian didn't head up the execution tower, but rather turned his heels and headed straight for the execution platform. He stood before Qin Yunshen and looked at him with indifference. The latter seemed to have suffered through some trauma and torture. His hair was disheveled as he bore a miserable and forlorn sight. When he raised his head, his bloodshot eyes were striking and evident.
"Pei!" Qin Yunshen spat out at Pei Yuanxian. Fortunately, Pei Yuanxian reacted fast and the spit never landed on his face. Qin Yunshen cried out frantically, " He is this emperor's Empress. Even dead, he still is. Don't even think about ever finding him!"
"Just you? Are you even qualified?"
Thud!
A handsome man in his thirties materialized before Qin Yunshen in the blink of an eye as his fist bore into Qin Yunshen's cheekbones fiercely. Qin Yunshen's head was knocked with a heavy force and if one listened closely, the slight click of the neck bone being shifted could even be heard. It was evident how heavy the punch was.