Chapter 66
“This also counts as protection for Doctor Ye. At the very least, you guessed that he’s the attending physician, didn’t you?” Mo Yin said.
Jiang Quan nodded, then heard Mo Yin continue.
“And besides, Doctor Ye doesn’t know His Majesty’s identity. In his eyes, His Majesty is just an ordinary patient.”
“Health Qi-Exercise is the result of his own research. He hopes it can help more patients.”
“And according to Doctor Ye, this set of exercises can improve physical fitness. Even ordinary people can practice it.”
“I see.”
Jiang Quan finally understood, and his favorable impression of Doctor Ye shot up at once.
“Yufei and the others are following along with it too. I know that already… wait, they also said this Doctor Ye is helping them eat?”
Did that mean that aside from treating His Majesty, Doctor Ye still had enough energy left to treat others?
“Yes,” Mo Yin said. “Doctor Ye is not only treating His Majesty, he is also serving as Yufei and the others’ assisted therapy physician.”
As he spoke, he pulled up a document he had prepared in advance. “These are the changes in their physical data since he started treating Yufei and Wangshu.”
Jiang Quan quickly received the report Mo Yin sent him. He had already read many such reports over the past two years, sent regularly by the Royal Sanatorium.
At first, he had understood nothing. Gradually, he had learned to make sense of them. Then, after disappointment piled upon disappointment, he had stopped even opening them.
Because Jiang Quan had long since given up hope of the two children recovering.
His wish had already changed into this—
As long as they stayed alive, that was enough. Even if they remained forever in the form of a kitten and a puppy, even if that was their fate for life, it didn’t matter. As long as they lived, that was enough…
And yet, he had never expected Mo Yin to bring him such a surprise.
After reading through the changes in the two children’s physical condition over the past week, Jiang Quan’s hands actually began to tremble.
True, the recovery was not dramatic, but after two full years of repeated disappointment, Jiang Quan understood very well what this report meant.
The key point was: it had only been one week.
And Doctor Ye’s primary responsibility was still His Majesty. What he had done for the others was merely helping whenever he could spare the time…
Then if, someday, His Majesty was fully cured, would he also be able to properly treat Jiang Quan’s two children?
Of course, that thought was quickly suppressed. Jiang Quan told himself he could not let personal feelings cloud his judgment.
His Majesty’s recovery was still the most important matter in the world. It concerned the future of the Yaojin Empire, and the parents and children of countless ordinary families.
After more than ten years of war, no one longed for peace more than he did.
“If that’s the case, then absolutely nothing can be allowed to happen to Doctor Ye!” Jiang Quan could not help saying. “Does Medical Star have enough stationed troops? Shouldn’t we…”
He suddenly stopped, because Jiang Quan had already remembered the orders Lu Yuanqing had issued before this.
Mo Yin nodded. “His Highness the Prince has already sent people over.”
Arriving on Medical Star together with Lan Fangyu were also the First and Second Corps of the Yaojin Empire—the elite among elites, and the warriors most loyal to His Majesty.
Originally, Lu Nanzhou had left those troops for Lu Yuanqing. They were meant to be one of Lu Yuanqing’s trump cards to ensure a smooth succession after his death.
But now, Lu Yuanqing had sent them directly to Medical Star.
In his words, as long as Ye Yumeng remained safe, as long as his elder brother lived, he would have no need for those two corps at all.
As for ordinary assassination attempts, he could handle them himself.
Even Jiang Quan, after learning Lu Yuanqing’s intentions, could not help being moved.
It seemed this Doctor Ye’s medical skill really was extraordinary, for even His Highness the Prince to value him so highly!
—
After learning the situation on Medical Star, Jiang Quan logged off StarNet Community and returned to his real-life gym.
He opened the Health Qi-Exercise video and recalled the day His Majesty had sent him that link.
His Majesty had asked about his old injuries, then urged him to check in every day and follow along with the Health Qi-Exercise…
At the time, he had not understood. Deep down, he had even felt a little wronged. But now that he finally understood His Majesty’s intentions, he could not help feeling touched and ashamed.
And perhaps it was only psychological, but now that he thought back on it, his body really had felt noticeably lighter and stronger lately.
He had even thought before that His Majesty was making things difficult for him. That really had been far too inappropriate of him!
Though His Majesty usually seemed cold on the surface, in his heart he was still thinking of old retainers like them…
At that thought, Jiang Quan found himself thinking of all his old subordinates.
All of them were veterans of countless battles. Who didn’t carry some old injury or long-standing ailment? Most of them had already retired to the second line and were now living out their old age.
If practicing this Health Qi-Exercise really could reduce or even solve those lingering pains, it would greatly improve the quality of life in their later years.
And since this Doctor Ye hoped the Health Qi-Exercise could be widely promoted, and His Majesty had personally stepped in for it…
Then perhaps he should help push it too!
His Majesty was still being too conservative. Perhaps it was because he had not yet seen the specific data analysis report?
But Jiang Quan believed that, considering Doctor Ye had already saved His Majesty several times, even if this Health Qi-Exercise had no real effect at all, it was still worth promoting directly.
After all, moving a little every day had to be better than not moving at all, right?
People really had grown lax after the war ended… even the military was no exception. That was simply unacceptable!
And so, everyone currently employed in the military soon received a strange new order—
Effective immediately, they were to check in under a certain exercise follow-along video called Health Qi-Exercise every day, with a minimum of six check-ins daily. This would now count as part of their monthly evaluation.
If they failed to complete it, it would affect both their performance reviews and their bonuses.
When most people saw this notice, even if they didn’t curse out loud, they could not help muttering a few complaints in their hearts.
Even stranger, the order had come from their highest superior—Commander-in-Chief Jiang Quan himself!
Quite a few people ran over to probe Jiang Quan for the reason, but he shut them down with a single line.
“The war may be momentarily at rest, but training cannot be neglected. No one is permitted to slack off!”
Although they could not understand why this little-known Health Qi-Exercise had suddenly won such favor with their top commander, in the end the order was still carried out.
After all, what Jiang Quan said was not wrong. After the war ended, there really were quite a few military personnel who had not set foot on a training ground in a long time.
It wasn’t as though they had become complete good-for-nothings, but many of them had indeed put on weight and gotten soft. No wonder Commander Jiang found them unsightly.
And so, Ye Yumeng’s Health Qi-Exercise follow-along video received another surge of traffic.
For the moment, Ye Yumeng knew nothing about any of this. After being busy for two days, he finally found time to visit Xia Nanxue in District 2—
She was the little girl he had operated on in East Hospital during his assessment.
She and her grandmother had both transferred to the Royal Sanatorium together with Zhuo Yuquan and the others.
When Ye Yumeng arrived at her room, only a caregiver was inside with her. Madam Xia was nowhere to be seen.
The caregiver did not know Ye Yumeng, but after seeing the doctor’s uniform on him, she did not try to stop him from entering.
“How is Nanxue doing?”
“She just fell asleep.”
Ye Yumeng walked over to the bedside and saw that lying on the bed was not the little girl from his memory, but a cute little spotted deer.
Sunlight streamed in through the window, falling over her light brown fur patterned with white spots. It rose and fell softly with her breathing.
The wounds on her body had not fully healed yet, and thick white bandages were wrapped around her, making her look weak and pitiful.
Her eyes were shut, and her moist black nose twitched faintly as she breathed, her life force still fragile.
Ye Yumeng’s gaze softened by several degrees.
He used Aura Reading to examine the little deer’s body. Although she was still shrouded in black qi, showing that her injuries had not yet healed, it had already lightened a great deal.
He reached out and gently placed his hand on top of the little deer’s head.
The power of the Nourishing Art flowed out—
During this stretch of practice, he had already become able to cast several of his commonly used spells without hand seals, just like Minor Rejuvenation.
Probably sensing that pure, life-filled energy, the little deer’s long lashes trembled, and her eyes opened into a narrow slit with difficulty.
Her gaze was hazy and dim, filled with confusion.
Ye Yumeng smiled at her.
Xia Nanxue stared at him blankly. She felt as though she had seen those eyes before. There was something very familiar about them.
“I’m a doctor from the Royal Sanatorium. How are you feeling?” Ye Yumeng asked softly.
The little deer parted her mouth slightly, and a childish voice emerged. “I feel… pretty comfortable.”
Xia Nanxue didn’t know why either. The pain in her body seemed to have eased a lot, making her want to go back to sleep.
And the source of that feeling…
The little deer raised her head slightly and rubbed her fluffy forehead against Ye Yumeng’s palm. She felt as if that comfortable sensation was coming from this beautiful doctor she had never met before.
“Sister Nanxue!”
At that moment, a little boy’s voice rang out.
At the same time, the room door opened, and a blue-haired child came running in excitedly from outside. But the moment he saw what was happening in the room, he came to a stop.
Ye Yumeng turned toward the voice.
“Shanshan?”
The one standing in the doorway was none other than the kitten Shan Lan.
The little cat looked at Ye Yumeng, then at the hand resting on the little deer’s head. The smile disappeared from his face, and he puffed up his cheeks a little.
He continued running into the room, but this time he headed straight for Ye Yumeng. While running, he shifted once more into a little kitten.
“Meow—”
Crying softly, he pounced into Ye Yumeng’s arms, and Ye Yumeng caught him.
Ye Yumeng couldn’t help rubbing the kitten’s furry little head.
After some time apart, the little cat seemed to have grown sturdier, and his fur had also become denser and softer, making him even more pleasant to touch.
Being petted, Shan Lan let out a contented meow.
“Big Brother Ye, you haven’t come to see me in so long…”
During this period, in order to make it easier to communicate with Ye Yumeng, Shan Lan had worked very hard and had finally learned how to speak while in beast form.
The little cat nestled in Ye Yumeng’s arms and acted spoiled.
“I’ve been a little busy lately,” Ye Yumeng said, checking his physical condition.
His congenital weakness had already improved somewhat. It seemed the Streaming Shadow Sachet infused with Minor Rejuvenation was working very well on him.
“Is Sister Nanxue your patient too?” Shan Lan asked.
“You could say that.”
Hearing that, the little cat nodded and decided to forgive him for not visiting during this time.
Since Brother Ye was so amazing, he would surely be able to help Sister Nanxue get better quickly too!
“Shanshan, why are you here? Where’s Sheng Hao?”
“I came to play with Sister Nanxue! Sheng Hao went to earn money-money!”
The little cat rolled over onto his back, all four paws in the air, exposing his white little belly so that Ye Yumeng could rest his hand on it.
Lately, Ye Yumeng had gotten used to rubbing the bellies of all the little animals in the activity room. His hand settled on the kitten’s fluffy tummy, and he gave it a series of gentle strokes.
Standing nearby, Xia Nanxue’s caregiver looked as though she wanted to say something, but didn’t.
“Did Sheng Hao find a job?”
Ye Yumeng remembered Sheng Hao mentioning before that money was tight and that he might have to move out because he couldn’t afford the Royal Sanatorium’s fees.
As for Sheng Hao’s work, Shan Lan didn’t understand it very clearly. He said, “Sheng Hao teaches people Health Qi-Exercise!”
It was Xia Nanxue’s caregiver who added the explanation. “Mr. Sheng applied for a job as a fitness instructor. It seems Health Qi-Exercise has become popular around the hospital lately, and he’s guiding people through it.”
The sanatorium provided all kinds of entertainment and leisure activities for patients and staff alike, and the gym was naturally one of the more popular places.
Ye Yumeng remembered Sheng Hao’s solid muscles and thought it did suit him quite well. He just hadn’t expected that guiding Health Qi-Exercise would become part of his job.
“Health Qi-Exercise is really popular lately?”
“Yes! Everyone says it’s good for the body…”
“But it really is good!” the little cat cut in. “I practice it too. Sheng Hao said I’ve gotten stronger.”
As he said this, he looked at Ye Yumeng with shining eyes full of expectation.
Ye Yumeng smiled and nodded, affirming, “Yes, Shanshan’s body really has gotten firmer. It looks like you’ve been practicing very seriously.”
Although, with the little cat’s level of exercise alone, the effects certainly wouldn’t show up that quickly. What was truly helping him were the Streaming Shadow Sachets infused with Minor Rejuvenation.
That spell could strengthen his vitality and was very effective at improving his congenital weakness.
Still, as long as he kept at it over the long term, Health Qi-Exercise would also be very effective for the little cat, so there was no need to dampen his enthusiasm.
After receiving Ye Yumeng’s praise, the little cat gave a delighted cheer and threw himself into Ye Yumeng’s arms again, squinting his eyes as he rubbed against him affectionately.
This little fellow was so soft and fluffy, it was truly comfortable to hold.
After playing with him for a bit, Ye Yumeng refilled his Streaming Shadow Sachet with Minor Rejuvenation before finally saying goodbye to the little boy.
By then, the little deer had already fallen asleep.
He hung a calming sachet around the little deer’s neck, explained the precautions to her caregiver, and then prepared to leave.
“Meow~”
Shan Lan was reluctant to part with him and wanted to follow him out.
Remembering the little cat’s history of sneaking away before, Ye Yumeng had no choice but to say, “I’ll take you to find Sheng Hao.”
The little cat waved a paw at Xia Nanxue’s caregiver, then nestled contentedly in Ye Yumeng’s arms as they left, as happy as could be.
When Ye Yumeng found Sheng Hao, he really was teaching people Health Qi-Exercise.
Ye Yumeng didn’t interrupt. He simply stood to one side with the little cat in his arms and watched for a while.
Sheng Hao really did have talent. Aside from one or two moves being slightly off, he actually performed it with real form and style.
Only after class ended did Ye Yumeng hand the little cat and his clothes back to him.
“Thank you for the trouble, Doctor Ye.”
Ye Yumeng shook his head, then brought up the Health Qi-Exercise Sheng Hao had just been teaching.
Sheng Hao was obviously a little embarrassed. “I figured it out after watching the detailed video. Would it be possible for you to give me some pointers?”
“Of course.”
Ye Yumeng had him run through the Health Qi-Exercise again, then corrected him one movement at a time.
Because Sheng Hao had learned well and was quick to understand, correcting him didn’t take much effort.
“Doctor Ye, thank you.”
Ye Yumeng shook his head. “If there’s anything you don’t understand, contact me anytime. Don’t be afraid to ask. Practicing it wrong is the real problem.”
Especially now that Sheng Hao was already acting as an instructor, teaching others to practice it too.
Naturally, Sheng Hao obediently agreed.
After that, Ye Yumeng left again under the little cat’s reluctant gaze.
On the way back, even his silhouette seemed light and cheerful.
At a certain moment, Ye Yumeng suddenly stopped his hover disc, lifted his head to look up at the bright blue sky and white clouds, and for some reason thought of the old healer.
I’m going to spread Health Qi-Exercise and let more people learn it.
And your healing arts… will also be passed down…
Ye Yumeng smiled, then continued riding his hover disc back toward the Core Inpatient Division.
The construction of the spirit plant garden was also proceeding in an orderly fashion.
The site had already been chosen—right beside the Core Inpatient Division building. Because of its special status, the Core Division was much more spacious than the other divisions, and it was easy to select a sizable open area.
And since it was in the Core Division, the security was tighter, and it would also be more convenient for Ye Yumeng to come and go.
Once the site was chosen, the next step was environmental modification.
Different king plants required different soils and humidity levels, so planning was needed. Aside from the king plants, ordinary high-quality plants also had to be cultivated there.
This was because plant quality was not fixed forever. Under the right conditions, ordinary high-quality plants also had a chance to evolve into king plants.
King plants could stimulate the growth of surrounding plants, while neighboring plants of the same kind could in turn nourish the king plant and help it grow better. They complemented one another.
The longan tree from the little hill had finally also been dug up and brought over.
The land designated for building the spirit plant garden had been directly set as a restricted zone. Only a very small number of people were allowed to enter.
Of course, besides growing king plants, the garden would also need activity areas—places to rest, make medicine, perform experiments, and so on. So it still needed time to be built up.
Whenever he had a spare moment, Ye Yumeng would go take a look, and he held twelve million points’ worth of anticipation for this spirit plant garden.
He could already imagine the day when the garden would be fully completed and he could move in and live there himself!
Of course, for now, all he really did was go look at it. Most of his time was still spent running off to the greenhouse to study Red Leaf Lotus.
Now that materials were finally abundant, he could begin testing the ointment formula he had recently written down and see whether it would work!
Speaking of which, in order to repay the kind people in the medical section of the forum who had given him advice, he had continued his plan of giving out three calming sachets for free every day.
Although, with Mo Yin’s help, injured veterans had all received reminders, because only three were given away for free each day, and because the effects were still unknown and limited by region, there were only a few hundred comments each day.
The first day’s lucky winners did not live on Medical Star. Only today had they finally received their calming sachets.
One of them was named Mo Lan.
She lived on the nearest habitable planet to Medical Star, and had lost both arms in battle with the zerg race.
After being fitted with mechanical prosthetic arms, her daily life was not greatly affected, but the shadow of war still hung over her, keeping her in a constant state of tension.
Even though the war had been over for two years, she still could not sleep in peace. She was always afraid the zergs would suddenly burst out of the ground and attack her.
The slightest sound or disturbance could keep her awake the whole night, and her mental indicators were already on the verge of disorder, making normal life impossible.
When she received the package from Medical Star, Mo Lan was surprised.
After all, she had only left a comment under that post because the placement department had sent her a reminder message and she happened to meet the qualifications. A few days had passed, and she had already forgotten all about it.
When she saw the Medical Star insignia, the exhausted and sickly Mo Lan still felt a trace of anticipation.
But when she opened the package, she found inside only a sachet so crudely made it could hardly be called proper workmanship.
She immediately frowned.
Could something like this really treat her insomnia?
Mo Lan examined it carefully. There really was only this single sachet inside, and there was no brand, no explanation—only a slip of paper—
Carry it on your person. Do not let it get wet.
Mo Lan looked over the sachet again, then shook her head at the loose stitches still visible on it.
Still, it was a free item. Even if it didn’t work, she wouldn’t lose anything. She didn’t go so far as to think it was a scam.
At the very least, the floral scent was pleasant.
Still, Mo Lan opened the forum post again and checked the blogger’s account. She confirmed that he was not using a free giveaway as bait to draw traffic and then secretly sell related products.
Meanwhile, at the bottom of the post, some of the injured veterans who had already received their sachets had begun posting photos.
[Not sure if it’ll work, but thank you anyway, blogger. [image]]
The comments from netizens, however, were much less polite—
Because of Li Hongju’s promotion, the post had quickly filled with replies and become a hot topic, which naturally also attracted ordinary users wandering in.
At first, the comments had all been praising and thanking the blogger for his kindness, but after seeing the actual object, the tone quickly turned much uglier.
Some said he was trying to attract attention so he could sell products later. Some said the injured veterans’ placement department had taken advertising money. Others threw out all kinds of strange speculations.
Mo Lan frowned slightly.
Those people really were being too rude. Though they were supposedly speaking on behalf of veterans like her, this blogger had not actually done anything wrong so far.
The sachet did look pretty mediocre, but none of them had tried it yet. Maybe it really was effective?
She left a reply under the thread.
[Thank you, blogger. I’ll use it according to the instructions.]
She had originally planned to just leave the sachet sitting there unused, but now Mo Lan changed her mind. Since she had received it, she ought to at least try it first.
And besides, since the placement department had gone out of its way to send a reminder, there had to be some reason. Mo Lan still didn’t want to believe department personnel had taken advertising money.
So she picked up the sachet again, swapped the string for a sturdier cord, and hung it around her neck.
Then she prepared to continue her meditation training.
Her problem was still mainly trauma-induced stress from the war. More than anything else, she needed to overcome it herself.
Mo Lan sat down on her yoga mat and closed her eyes, entering a meditative state.
Her condition seemed pretty good today. Perhaps it was because of the scent of the sachet, but she soon lost all awareness of time passing…
When Mo Lan opened her eyes again, she saw her mother standing before her, looking at her with deep concern.
“My girl, you finally woke up.”
Mo Lan froze, then looked down and realized that at some unknown point, she had changed from a cross-legged sitting posture into lying down, and that someone had also put a blanket over her.
“Mom, I…?”
“I came back yesterday afternoon and found you collapsed here. I was really frightened,” her mother said. “Then I realized you were only asleep, so I didn’t dare wake you. I just covered you with a blanket.”
“I didn’t expect that after the whole night passed, you still hadn’t woken up…”
“My girl, you slept this soundly. Is your illness getting better?”
Mo Lan stared blankly at her mother, then at the window. Without realizing it, dawn had already broken. She looked at the time.
She had fallen asleep? From yesterday afternoon all the way until the next morning?
