Can't a princess ascend the throne?

Chapter 102 The Rejuvenating Pill Resurrected

He remembered that Princess Ying wasn't a vengeful person—no, no, she seemed to be. Those ministers she had previously ousted must have a lot to say about this. Poor Xie Mingchen pondered and pondered, not knowing how to get out of this predicament, so he had no choice but to steel himself and, led by Ying Jiuque, head towards the resting place.

Yang Hui, of course, wouldn't let the two of them leave on their own. He was now standing beside them, enthusiastically explaining the contents of their mine. Of course, everything he said was nonsense, nothing important. He just implied that if any of the foremen in their mine fell ill in the future, Xie Mingchen could come and help with the medical examination.

"Of course," Xie Mingchen readily agreed. He was currently under someone else's control, so he had to help with this small favor if he could. However, he had a troublesome matter that Yang Hui needed to decide.

"I'm a doctor, and it's no good if I don't have any usable herbs on hand. Even the most skilled cook can't cook without rice; no matter how good my medical skills are, I can't cure most diseases without the help of herbs. Today it was just a coincidence that I was able to find anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving medicine around. If someone gets sick in the future and can't find the corresponding herbs, even if I were a reincarnated miracle doctor, I wouldn't be able to help. So I was thinking, could someone find some herbs for me in their spare time? I can prepare them myself. It's always better to be prepared."

Yang Hui barely understood Xie Mingchen's meaning. His request wasn't unreasonable; after all, doctors everywhere use medicine. However, their place was different. After thinking it over, he gritted his teeth.

"Dr. Xue, it's not that I don't want to agree, it's just that our place is special. But don't worry, I'll go and discuss it with the brothers in the surrounding mines. After all, our lives are the most important thing."

Xie Mingchen nodded.

As long as these people value their own lives, that's fine.

Yang Hui told the other two supervisors to take Xie Mingchen and Ying Jiuque to rest, while he himself hurriedly went to discuss the matter with his brothers at the mine.

Jiu Que followed Xie Mingchen to the cave where they were resting. It was a fairly high-class place, but it was still damp like in a cave. With someone watching, Jiu Que couldn't say much. Their eyes met briefly, and after scanning each other, they found that neither of them had any obvious injuries, indicating that the other was doing alright. However, living in such a place was bound to be tiring, and their complexions weren't very good.

However, as long as she could live, that was all that mattered. Before seeing the other party, Jiu Que had already considered countless possibilities. At this moment, she was anxious to ask Chunyu Shuang about her whereabouts, but those two were keeping a close eye on her. To put it bluntly, although the two of them were being treated well now, they were still prisoners after all. They were only being treated well because they were useful to these overseers. If they really encountered a matter of principle, those people would not show them any mercy.

So the two of them just sat on the stone bench to rest. Finally, Xie Mingchen noticed a piece of discarded hide in the corner. It was probably some wild animal that the overseers had caught in the mountains, but it hadn't been properly prepared and was now carelessly tossed aside like a rag. Xie Mingchen picked it up and beckoned the three people present to come over.

"Since I have nothing to do right now, how about I teach you this suturing technique? You might need it someday."

Upon hearing this, the two men's expressions changed drastically. They waved their hands repeatedly and even ran out of the cave. However, they did not go far away; they simply stood at the cave entrance, watching the two men from afar.

Leave this suturing technique to that woman. To stitch people's flesh together—is that something a human being could do? It's absolutely horrifying. Are all doctors like this? No wonder they've been afraid of doctors and medicine since childhood.

Thus, Xie Mingchen was able to instruct Jiu Que. From a distance, the two of them were simply using a needle and thread to sew up the tattered rabbit skin, without exchanging any words, probably due to their gender.

So the two foremen stood at the door, excitedly discussing what had happened that day. This was quite a spectacle in the otherwise boring mine, enough to keep them talking for two days. "I think Niu Er is practically dying from the pain. Just watching him makes my flesh ache. That's living human flesh, being sewn back together—I can't even imagine how much pain that must have caused. Speaking of which, Niu Er is incredibly lucky to have survived such an injury. Maybe his leg will even heal. Did his ancestors' graves emit auspicious smoke?"

"What do you mean by ancestral graves emitting auspicious smoke? I think he's just incredibly unlucky. Everyone else was standing there perfectly fine, so why did his leg get broken? I bet it was some lazy laborer who didn't like him who did it."

"No way! I looked up when that rock fell, and there was no one on it. It was just a rock that accidentally fell off. And it injured several laborers along the way..."

"You saw it? I thought someone was deliberately retaliating! Hey, that's just my guess, but Niu Er is really lucky..."

The two overseers were speaking loudly, and against this background noise, Jiu Que spoke softly.

Is Chunyu with you?

"She works at the mine next door, but I've seen her before. She helped the chief engineer at that mine sort out the accounts, and now she's one of the top figures. It's just that we're all being closely watched, and if it weren't for my position as a doctor, it would be impossible for me to travel back and forth between the mines."

"It's good that you're alright, it's good that you're alright, but have you seen Wei Yuan?"

Xie Mingchen shook his head seriously. Strangely enough, he had never actually seen Wei Yuan. He figured the others had been taken to the mine separately, and each of them was probably in a different place. To this day, he hadn't heard any news about Wei Yuan.

Jiu Que took a breath. At this moment, he could only think positively; after all, Wei Yuan was the only one among the four who possessed martial arts skills, and a decent one at that. In a place like this, a man with both martial arts skills and strength should be fine; at worst, he could do manual labor.

With a sigh, Jiu Que quickly exchanged information and discovered that this was a huge cinnabar mine with an astonishing daily output. Moreover, most of the miners here were unfortunate people who had been captured. They either had no family, or their families didn't care, or they were simply strangers passing by.

There are so many squares, and people from all over the country come here, including a few scholars who have come to study!
Jiu Que frowned.

These scholars who travel for study already hold official titles, yet they're not afraid of anything, which shows how lawless they are. Furthermore, Doctor Xie Mingchen's status gives him access to information from higher levels; all the cinnabar produced is being transported to a Taoist temple called Qingfeng Temple in the far north for alchemy!
Upon hearing this news, Jiu Que subconsciously thought of a name.

Rejuvenation pill!
The two exchanged a glance, their minds racing back to what had happened recently: Xin Tanhua's scumbag father had taken the Rejuvenation Pill, the Worry-Free Cave had a large quantity of Rejuvenation Pills, and the Third Prince had died because of the Rejuvenation Pills...

I always feel like there's an invisible hand controlling everything from behind the scenes.

(End of this chapter)