Chapter 526
Chapter 526
*Puk!*
Ancestor Yu Mu applied a bit of force, piercing the blood vessel inside Yu Jun's brain. Yu Jun's complexion changed slightly, but he remained perfectly still. Shen Lang was stunned watching this. But it wasn't over yet. Yu Mu had to practice channeling his internal energy through the silver needle. He could clear the blocked vessel, but he needed to find the precise amount of force that wouldn't damage it. Soon, he began channeling stronger and stronger currents of internal energy through his fingers, testing the limits of what a human blood vessel could endure.
In an instant, Eunuch Yu Jun's face grew paler and paler, until he was on the verge of fainting. Shen Lang was deeply moved and trembled inwardly. To ensure there would be no mistakes when treating the King in a few moments, Yu Jun was risking his own life. The loyalty of these three eunuchs to the King was absolute.
Shen Lang said to him.
“That’s enough, Ancestor. If you continue, you’ll damage Eunuch Yu Jun’s blood vessels. And don’t remove the needle just yet; wait a little longer!”
Only then did Ancestor Yu Mu stop his practice. Eunuch Yu Jun, trembling all over, forced himself to stay upright, looking as if he might collapse at any moment.
“I think I have a grasp of it now.”
Ancestor Yu Mu said.
***
Next, under Shen Lang's guidance, Ancestor Yu Mu prepared to perform the acupuncture on the King for real. Shen Lang noticed that Yu Mu was extremely nervous, so much so that he was having trouble breathing evenly. Shen Lang had met four of the six Grandmasters of the State of Yue. Every one of them was a person of flesh and blood. If you stripped away the honorific of 'Grandmaster,' they were all just like ordinary people. Ancestor Yu Mu, standing before him, was no different. There was no trace of the condescending air one might expect from someone of his esteemed rank.
Taking one last deep breath, Ancestor Yu Mu seemed to enter another realm in an instant. A state of mind as calm as still water. It was like a well reflecting the moon. As if the water in the well, once rippling, had settled into absolute tranquility. He then took a new silver needle and decisively pierced the precise spot on the back of the King's head, easily penetrating the skull. The needle bent, swimming forward. In his X-ray vision mode, Shen Lang could see that his movements were flawlessly precise, without a hint of error.
Just a few seconds later, the silver needle reached the blocked vessel and pierced it with ease. With that, the second step was complete. The third step was to use internal energy to vibrate and dislodge the blood clot, clearing the blockage. It was like trying to do embroidery with a giant robot. A task that required wielding a force of ten thousand pounds with the delicate control of a feather.
*Puk.*
As the internal energy was applied, the clot blocking the blood vessel in King Ning Yuanxian's brain instantly dispersed. Blood began to flow freely through the now-unobstructed vessel. The ischemic shadow was instantly supplied with blood.
‘Success!’
Shen Lang let out a long sigh of relief and sank into a chair.
“How is he?”
Consort Zhong asked, her voice trembling. Shen Lang replied.
“It was a success. His Majesty will be fine.”
At his words, the strength left Consort Zhong's legs, and she collapsed to the floor.
***
After a while, King Ning Yuanxian's eyes began to move, followed by a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth. However, his body was still paralyzed, so under Shen Lang's direction, Consort Zhong and Eunuch Yu Jun began to massage him to help restore his nerve function. After another while, the King let out a long breath, and his gaze fell upon Shen Lang. To be honest, in the moment the cerebral infarction struck, the King had fallen into despair, feeling as though he were meeting the grim reaper. The person who had come to his mind then was Shen Lang. If there was anyone in this world who could save him, it was Shen Lang. And just as he had hoped, Shen Lang had saved him.
‘Thank goodness for Shen Lang. Thank goodness fate brought us together.’
Otherwise, today would have truly been the end for Ning Yuanxian. Just now, for the past hour, it felt as though he had taken a stroll around the gates of hell. From this day forward, the bond between Shen Lang and Ning Yuanxian would become inseparably close.
Consort Zhong grabbed Shen Lang's hand, laughing through her tears.
“Thank you, thank you. You are such a good boy. I’m so sorry for misunderstanding you before, for saying I wanted you beaten to death! That was my fault. From now on, I will show you my gratitude. If you ever need anything, you can come to me. You’re truly a good boy, a good boy!”
Unable to express the depth of her gratitude in words, Consort Zhong rambled on incoherently. But it was clear from this that she was not a person who hid her intentions, but one with a straightforward nature. Ning Yuanxian gestured, and Ancestor Yu Mu and Eunuch Yu Jun withdrew. Consort Zhong asked in surprise.
“Do I have to leave too?”
The King nodded, and Consort Zhong reluctantly left the room. In an instant, only Ning Yuanxian and Shen Lang remained in the room.
***
Shen Lang had truly treated King Ning Yuanxian in time, clearing the blocked vessel just an hour after the onset. This was even faster than surgery in modern medicine. As a result, Ning Yuanxian's body had suffered almost no damage. Of course, Ning Yuanxian was still weak and his body remained paralyzed. Even moving his mouth quickly was a struggle.
“You rascal, I owe you my life. I’m so indebted to you now I can hardly repay you.”
Ning Yuanxian spoke, his body frail.
“Since Ning Yan slept with me, all of this is what I ought to do.”
Hearing those words, Ning Yuanxian's hand trembled.
‘Even if you saved my life, I can't suppress the urge to hit you.’
“Who poisoned me?”
The answer was incredibly important to him. If Shen Lang were to say now that someone had tried to harm him, a great storm would erupt in the State of Yue. Since the King had fallen ill in Consort Zhong's bed, she would be the first to be suspected. Consequently, the Third Prince and the Zhong Clan would also fall under suspicion. Thus, a single slanderous word from Shen Lang now would have immense destructive power. However, Shen Lang shook his head.
“No one did. The cause is Your Majesty’s own body.”
The King breathed a sigh of relief. He truly preferred that his body had failed him, rather than being harmed by another. If someone had done this to him, the heart behind such a vicious method would be too evil to contemplate.
“But… but isn’t my body in excellent condition?”
Ning Yuanxian's body was indeed in good condition. A man in his fifties, he looked no older than forty, appearing to be in the prime of his middle age. Shen Lang started to speak, then hesitated. Seeing this, Ning Yuanxian asked in a trembling voice.
“What is it?”
“Your Majesty, have you recently noticed your hands trembling? Do they tremble involuntarily, even when you’re resting them? But when you go to pick something up, the trembling stops?”
Ning Yuanxian nodded. He had noticed this symptom since last year, often fiddling with objects when idle to confirm that there was nothing wrong with his hands.
“And have you felt a certain stiffness in your limbs?”
“Very occasionally.”
“And how has your sleep been recently?”
“Not very well.”
Shen Lang's heart grew heavy.
“What is it? If there’s bad news, just tell me. I can take it.”
“If my diagnosis is correct, Your Majesty has contracted a very rare disease, a motor disorder. We call it Parkinson's Syndrome.”
Ning Yuanxian's face changed. He clenched his fists and closed his eyes.
‘How could this be? My body was clearly in good health.’
“Can it be cured?”
“It can be managed, but there is no cure.”
Ning Yuanxian lay back and asked.
“Then… then how many more years do I have?”
“Your Majesty need not worry about that. With my devoted care, it will be no problem for you to live another ten to twenty years. However, this disease will progress daily. The tremors in your limbs will become more pronounced. In time, walking will become difficult, and you will be confined to a wheeled chair.”
Ning Yuanxian looked up, his face etched with anguish. After a long moment, he spoke.
“Then how many years do I have before I can no longer walk?”
“Approximately six or seven years.”
Tears welled in Ning Yuanxian's eyes and streamed down his face. He was a man of delicate sensibilities and had always believed he would remain healthy and strong. He thought he would be hale until at least eighty or ninety, that living to a hundred would be no issue. But now, he had been struck by this thunderbolt from a clear sky. After a long while, Ning Yuanxian opened his eyes.
“My boy, a king cannot show weakness. If he does, his subjects will lose their reverence, and his enemies will bare their fangs. But my time is short, so short! I must settle the matter of succession before I become completely frail! Once I am bedridden and unable to walk, I will no longer command fear from Ning Qi and Ning Yi. Then, civil war will break out in Yue, and the state may even be split in two. I cannot bear such an outcome. The great work of our Ning ancestors would be finished.”
Shen Lang fell silent, only speaking after a long pause.
“Your Majesty, the Ends of the Earth Sea Pavilion controls many mysterious and unfathomable ancient civilizations. Perhaps they have a way to completely cure you.”
“No! Absolutely not! I will not seek them out. Even if I am truly confined to my bed, I will not go to them. If Empress Jiang Li had won, those powers would have vanished like smoke long ago.”
Ning Yuanxian made no attempt to hide his loathing for the Ends of the Earth Sea Pavilion.
“Shen Lang, tell me. Between Ning Qi and Ning Yi, who is more suitable to inherit my throne?”
“His Highness Ning Zheng.”
Ning Yuanxian said with a sigh of resignation.
“I asked you who is more suitable between Ning Qi and Ning Yi.”
Shen Lang was silent for a moment before speaking.
“Your Majesty, the Zhu Clan is too powerful, and they have close ties with the Great Yan Dynasty. The new policies being implemented in the Great Yan Dynasty are already nearing their conclusion. If the Great Yan Dynasty completes its centralization of power, will the vassal states surrounding it be able to maintain their independence? Will the Great Yan Dynasty not swallow us whole? When that day comes, the Zhu Clan will side with the Great Yan Dynasty and become the vanguard for devouring our State of Yue.”
The King was well aware of this, but when he was healthy, he believed he could work to prevent it. He thought he still had plenty of time and that with enough effort, he could solve the problem. After all, once Zhu Hongzhu passed away, the Zhu Clan would lose its banner. But now, the King's time was short.
“I believed Your Majesty recognized this, which is why you allowed the Third Prince, Ning Qi, to expand his power. If the Third Prince’s faction grows strong enough within Yue, it would prevent a situation where the Zhu Clan acts as a vanguard to consume the state. I thought you were preparing another possibility for the future of Yue.”
Ning Yuanxian nodded, acknowledging Shen Lang's words.
“Until now, Prime Minister Zhu has been recuperating at home for a long time to ease Your Majesty's wariness, showing no signs of the airs of a powerful minister. But recently, Prime Minister Zhu has begun to bare his fangs, subtly intimidating Your Majesty.”
Thanks to Shen Lang, King Ning Yuanxian had won a great victory in the recent crisis, and his prestige had reached its peak. Because of this, Prime Minister Zhu Hongzhu had stepped forward several times to quell incidents like the scholars wailing before the Ancestral Temple and the Crown Prince's faction attacking Zhang Chong. On the surface, everything he did seemed to be for the King and in line with His Majesty's wishes. But his actions were a display of his power to the world, and they were intended to show that power to the King as well.