After ten years of accompanying me in my studies, the entire court begged me to shut up.

Chapter 109 Is it a coincidence?

Yang Shen was stunned.

He stood there dumbfounded, at a loss for what to do.

Seeing his expression, Liu Qing sneered, "What? Scared?"

Yang Shen opened his mouth, but after a long while, he managed to stammer out, "You—who did you say?"

"Money is worthless!"

Liu Qing gritted his teeth and said, "He was my senior brother, yet he killed my master and then used the name of the Medicine King Sect to swindle and deceive people! If I find him, I will personally kill this villain!"

Yang Shen's expression was priceless.

He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but couldn't utter a word.

Seeing his appearance, Liu Qing assumed he was frightened, snorted coldly, and turned to continue grinding the medicine.

"Alright, you can go now. I can't help you with this!"

It took Yang Shen a while to recover. He took a deep breath and asked cautiously, "Do you know where Qian Xuzi is now?"

Liu Qing paused in her work and said, "This man's movements are unpredictable. I only heard that he was recruiting believers in Jiangnan. I went to look for him several times, but I couldn't find him. Later, I heard that he came to Shuntian Prefecture, so I followed him here and also to see my sister. I didn't expect that as she said this, her eyes reddened and she choked up."

Yang Shen, however, became intrigued and asked, "You said he was your senior brother, so how did he become your enemy?"

Liu Qing put down the pestle, turned around to look at him, remained silent for a moment, and finally spoke.

"It's a long story."

She looked out the window, as if recalling something from long ago.

"Qian Xuzi and I were both picked up by our master. Qian Xuzi entered the sect earlier than me. When I entered the sect, he had already been following our master for more than 20 years. He had learned almost all of our master's skills."

Yang Shen sat down to the side and listened quietly.

"My Medicine King Sect is a branch of the Medicine King Sun Simiao, and our family has always taken it upon ourselves to heal the sick and save lives. My master often told me that the Medicine King's last teaching was that all of my disciples should not charge poor people for their consultations, and should spare no expense for critically ill patients. But Qian Xuzi is different. He thinks that there is no profit in treating the poor, so he only treats the rich and charges higher and higher consultation fees."

As Liu Qing spoke, her eyes revealed disgust.

"Master argued with him several times, and he would verbally agree but then go back to doing the same thing. Master tolerated him because he had been a disciple for many years, until that time—"

"I remember that night, my master and Qian Xuzi were arguing fiercely in the room."

"Qian Xuzi said that he had already climbed the social ladder to a powerful figure, and as long as he could accomplish things for that person, he would enjoy endless wealth and glory in the future. His master scolded him for betraying the Medicine King Sect's mission of helping the world and saving people, and said that if he continued like this, he would cause a great disaster sooner or later. Qian Xuzi was not convinced and argued back a few times. In the end, his master made a harsh statement, saying that he would expel him from the sect and report him to the authorities for plotting something wicked."

"At the time, I thought it was just a quarrel between master and disciple, and that they were just saying things in anger. I didn't take it to heart, but then—"

Liu Qing's voice trembled slightly, and tears welled up in her eyes.

"The next morning, I went to bring my master water to wash his face and found him lying on the bed, his face ashen and black blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. I rushed over and called to him, but he was already dead."

Yang Shen's heart tightened upon hearing this, and he asked, "Is it poisoning?"

Liu Qing nodded, gritting his teeth, and said, "In this world, besides Qian Xuzi, no one else could poison my master! It's pitiful that my master treated him like a son, passing on all his skills to him, yet he resorted to such a vicious act just to curry favor with the powerful!"

"I wanted to report it to the authorities, but Qian Xuzi had already disappeared. I searched for him everywhere after that, trying to find out where he was. Later, I heard that he had appeared in Nanchang Prefecture, so I rushed there, but he was nowhere to be found. Then, I heard that he had come to Shuntian Prefecture, so I followed him there."

"When I arrived in Shuntian Prefecture, before I could even look for him, I heard that my elder sister had been murdered. I was eager for revenge, so I put the matter of Qian Xuzi aside for the time being. And then, I met you."

Yang Shen listened quietly, feeling a pang of sadness in his heart.

Qian Xuzi once said that he was taken in by his master, but his master died and he had no relatives left in the world.

Unexpectedly, he had killed his master with his own hands!

Liu Qing raised her head and looked at him: "I've never told anyone about these things. I'm telling you today so you know that it's not that I don't want to help you, it's that I swore an oath that I would marry whoever avenges me. I will never marry until this revenge is achieved."

Yang Shen was silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke: "No need."

Liu Qing was taken aback: "What do you mean?"

Yang Shen looked at her and said seriously, "Qian Xuzi is dead."

Liu Qing jumped to her feet, her eyes wide: "What did you say?"

Yang Shen waved his hand, signaling her not to get agitated, and then briefly explained the whole story.

After hearing this, Liu Qing froze on the spot, unable to move for a long time.

Yang Shen added, "Do you remember that pill? The Hundred Herbs Pill you found contained aconite."

Liu Qing slowly sat down and murmured, "No wonder—that recipe seemed familiar. The combination of several of the ingredients was clearly a method passed down from my master, but I didn't even think of it at the time—"

Then he suddenly laughed, a laugh full of bitterness.

"My master spent his whole life healing and saving people, but in the end he saved a poisonous snake. If he knew that Qian Xuzi was so venomous, I wonder if he would regret taking him in back then—"

Seeing that she was in low spirits, Yang Shen didn't know how to comfort her, so he just sat quietly.

After a long while, Liu Qing finally raised her head and looked at him.

"So, you're the one who avenged me?"

Yang Shen hurriedly waved his hands: "No, no, no! I didn't kill him. He committed suicide by poisoning himself. I just helped with the interrogation and got a confession along the way. Strictly speaking, it wasn't me who killed him."

Liu Qing stared at him without saying a word.

Yang Shen felt uneasy under her gaze, but he forced a smile and said, "However, if you insist that it has something to do with me, then it does have some connection. If I hadn't discovered the problem with the medicine, and the Shuntian Prefecture hadn't reported it to the Imperial Guards, he wouldn't have been caught. So, in a way, I've avenged you."

Liu Qing remained silent.

Yang Shen's heart pounded, and he cautiously asked, "You said before that you would marry whoever helps you get revenge. Do you still mean it?"

"You wish!"

Liu Qing raised an eyebrow, then slightly curled the corners of his mouth, and said with a straight face, "Even if you help me get revenge, I'll help you train apprentices, so we're even!"

Yang Shen quickly said, "That won't do! I took on the apprentice because I was helping your sister avenge her. One thing at a time, you can't deny it."

Liu Qing said irritably, "Why do you, a grown man, have to be so petty?"

Yang Shen was speechless for a moment, and could only tell the truth: "Miss Liu, I really have no other choice! His Majesty is to meet with someone tomorrow, and if I don't bring a fiancée, it would be a crime of deceiving the emperor! You can't just watch me lose my head, can you?"

Liu Qing frowned: "Is it that serious?"

Yang Shen nodded repeatedly: "It's absolutely true! His Majesty originally wanted to marry his niece to me, but I told him I was already engaged. He didn't believe me and insisted on seeing you. If you don't go, my lie won't stay true!"

Liu Qing was silent for a moment, then asked, "So what do you want?"

Yang Shen hurriedly said, "You'll come with me. When you see His Majesty, tell him we're engaged. Once this storm has passed, I'll find a reason to say we're incompatible and break off the engagement. Then we can both go about our lives as usual, without holding each other back!"

Liu Qing stared at him for a long time, making Yang Shen feel uneasy.

"Are you serious? It's just a show?"

Yang Shen said, "Absolutely true! It's just a show! I won't bother you at all!"

Liu Qing thought for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Is the emperor's niece beautiful?"

Yang Shen was taken aback: "Huh? I—I've never seen this before."

Liu Qing scoffed, "You dare to refuse a marriage proposal without even meeting her? What if she's a great beauty?"

Yang Shen scratched his head: "Whether she's beautiful or not, I've never seen her before, but this has nothing to do with looks. I don't want to marry a woman I've never even met!"

Liu Qing nodded, seemingly lost in thought.

A moment later, she suddenly spoke up: "I can help you act in this scene."

Yang Shen was overjoyed: "Really?"

Liu Qing raised her hand to stop him and continued, "However, I have one condition."

Yang Shen hurriedly replied, "Tell me! I'll agree to any conditions!"

Liu Qing looked at him and said seriously, "I need to make sure what you're saying is true. Qian Xuzi is really dead, and it's not a lie you made up to deceive me."

Yang Shen slapped his thigh: "That's easy! Tomorrow you'll come into the city with me. Qian Xuzi's body should still be in the imperial prison. Go and identify it yourself. Once you see it with your own eyes, you should believe it, right?"

Liu Qing nodded: "Okay, I'll go with you tomorrow."

Yang Shen finally let out a long sigh of relief and slumped onto the stool.

Seeing his expression, Liu Qing couldn't help but ask, "The emperor's niece, are you really not tempted at all? She's a member of the imperial family."

Yang Shen waved his hand: "What royal relatives? I don't care—"

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