Joy of Life: Starting by clinging to the eldest princess's coattails!

Chapter 44 The Pulseless Desperate Situation

After meditating for a whole day, Wu Feng slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a long breath.

The internal energy has now stabilized.

The feeling of extreme exhaustion from overworking myself had largely dissipated, and at least my face was no longer so pale.

He stretched his stiff shoulders, walked to the window, and pushed open the wooden window.

The setting sun hung obliquely on the horizon, dyeing the river surface a golden red.

The passenger ship was docked at the pier of a small town, and the boatmen were busy unloading supplies from the shore.

Wu Feng rubbed his stomach; he was indeed a little hungry.

Having grown accustomed to the food served in the palace, the food on the ship was rather mediocre. Since we were already docked, we decided to go ashore and buy some different dishes.

He pushed open the door and walked out of the room.

The dock was very simple, and the stone-paved shore was covered with moss.

The town has only one main street along the riverbank, with shops on both sides.

Wu Feng walked slowly along the street and finally stopped in front of a sesame seed cake stall.

The stall owner was a woman in her fifties. She deftly rolled out the dough and baked the flatbreads. The charcoal fire in the oven was burning brightly, and the flatbreads were baked to a golden brown and crispy color, with a fragrance that wafted into the nose.

"Young man, how many would you like?" the woman asked, looking up.

"Give me five." Wu Feng took out some copper coins.

"Okay!"

The woman wrapped the sesame seed cake in paper and handed it to Wu Feng. He took it, and the warm touch traveled through the paper to his palm.

He bought a bag of braised beef from a nearby stall before turning around and walking back.

By the time we got back to the ship, it was already getting dark.

The lanterns on the passenger ship were lit one after another, spreading out in clusters of dim yellow light in the twilight.

Wu Feng walked along the narrow corridor toward his room. Just as he turned the corner, he saw the woman from the night standing at his door.

She seemed hesitant, raised her hand as if to knock, then lowered it and paced back and forth a couple of steps.

"What's up?"

Wu Feng spoke up from behind her.

"ah!"

Xie Cai was startled and turned around abruptly. When she saw that it was Wu Feng, she patted her chest and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Young master, you scared me to death~" She gave Wu Feng a reproachful look, her voice soft and drawn out.

Wu Feng's face remained expressionless as he simply looked at her.

Xie Cai looked around and, seeing that no one was in the hallway, moved closer and lowered her voice, saying, "Um... could we talk in your room?"

"No," Wu Feng refused outright. "If there's nothing else, you can leave now. I need to rest."

"Oh dear, why are you so clueless?" Xie Cai lightly stamped her foot, her body trembling slightly. "It's a good thing, your sister wouldn't trick you. The lady in room number 3 wants you to go to her room tonight..."

After saying that, she winked at Wu Feng, her eyes full of "you know what I mean" meaning.

Wu Feng's face instantly darkened.

What do they take him for?

Seeing Wu Feng's strange expression, Xie Cai's heart skipped a beat.

When she saw the young man looking so weak and sickly that morning, she thought he was in the same profession as her.

But now it seems...

"Young master, you...you can't be...?" she asked tentatively.

"No." Wu Feng interrupted her with a dark face, reaching out to push aside her and open the door. "Please move aside."

"Bang."

The door closed behind him.

Xie Cai stood frozen in the corridor, looking somewhat embarrassed.

She's been in this industry for so many years, and this is the first time she's misjudged someone.

But then I thought about it again, and realized that since they weren't in the same industry, my words were indeed abrupt.

She said softly to the door, "Um... excuse me. By the way, my name is Xie Cai, and I live in room 7 next to yours. Feel free to contact me if you need anything."

There was no response from inside the room.

Xie Cai sheepishly returned to her room.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

In the room, Wu Feng placed the sesame seed cakes and braised beef on the table and sat down on the edge of the bed, somewhat dejected.

What kind of situation is this?

On my first day out, I was mistaken for...

He shook his head, cleared his mind, picked up the still-warm sesame seed cake, and took a bite.

The crust is crispy, and the inside is filled with scallions and sesame seeds, making it very fragrant.

He tore off another piece of braised beef, which was savory and flavorful, and went perfectly with the sesame flatbread.

After eating, Wu Feng sat cross-legged on the bed again, closed his eyes, and began to circulate his Qi.

True Qi flowed slowly through the meridians, nourishing the newly broken-through realm.

The sky outside the window had completely darkened. The passenger ship rocked gently as it left the dock again and continued south towards Suzhou.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Meanwhile, in the Imperial Palace, Chang Le Palace.

A dark figure slipped into the palace walls like a ghost, silently avoiding the patrolling imperial guards.

The figure, dressed in a black robe and with his face covered by a black cloth, was the temple messenger who had previously led Wu Zhu away from Taiping Villa.

While the Empress Dowager was having her dinner, he knocked out the two maids guarding outside the hall and slipped into the side hall.

Hong Sixiang noticed something was wrong almost instantly.

"Who goes there!"

He moved with lightning speed, blocking the entrance to the Empress Dowager's bedroom in the blink of an eye, his true energy surging and his eyes flashing with cold light.

"Eunuch Hong, step back and guard the door. Don't let anyone near."

The Empress Dowager's voice came from inside the hall, calm yet carrying a hint of barely perceptible excitement.

Hong Sixiang hesitated for a moment, then saw the Empress Dowager give him a wink before he withdrew to guard the gate.

"Who is this, messenger?" The Empress Dowager looked the newcomer up and down, noticing the tear in the corner of his robe.

The temple messenger faced the Empress Dowager, his voice cold, flat, and utterly emotionless:

"I'm tracking down the child Ye Qingmei gave birth to. He shouldn't exist. But this child is in Wu Zhu's hands, and he's hiding in Kyoto. Help me find him."

Upon hearing the name Ye Qingmei again, hatred instantly welled up in the Empress Dowager's cloudy eyes.

Suddenly, a thought struck her, and she looked toward the main hall, where the emperor was still lying unconscious.

"Envoy," the Empress Dowager spoke slowly, her tone troubled, "this matter... I'm afraid we can't help you. His Majesty is currently unconscious, and we have limited manpower at our disposal. Only if His Majesty awakens can we mobilize more people to search."

"What's wrong with him?" the temple messenger asked.

A glimmer of hope flashed in the Empress Dowager's eyes. These were the words she had been waiting for.

"I don't know either." She sighed, a worried look on her face. "His Majesty's injuries suddenly worsened after returning to the palace, and he has not yet woken up. I wonder... could we ask the envoy to help take a look? If His Majesty can wake up soon, we can do our best to assist the envoy in finding the child that Ye Qingmei gave birth to."

The temple messenger remained silent for a moment.

"There are too many people over there. Let the people inside get out."

"I will arrange it immediately," the Empress Dowager replied promptly.

She sent Hong Sixiang to the main hall and dismissed the imperial physicians and palace servants who were attending to her.

A moment later, the Empress Dowager led the temple messengers into the depths of the main hall.

Emperor Qing lay on his dragon bed, his face as pale as paper, with fine beads of cold sweat on his forehead. Even in his unconscious state, his brows were tightly furrowed, as if he were enduring immense pain.

The temple messenger walked to the bedside, reached out, and gently touched Emperor Qing's wrist.

It was only touched briefly before being withdrawn.

"Is the cultivation technique he's practicing the one given to him by Ye Qingmei?" the envoy asked.

"The envoy is right!" The Empress Dowager nodded quickly. "He is practicing the very same cultivation technique given to him by Ye Qingmei!"

The temple messenger's calm voice echoed in the silent temple:

"He cultivates domineering true qi. He has now entered the realm of no meridians. I can only keep him alive. As for when he will wake up, that depends on his willpower."

The Empress Dowager was taken aback at first, then her eyes lit up with joy!

If they're not dead... then there's still hope!