After Becoming a Succubus, I Was Offered to My Mortal Enemy - Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Yin Chiyun returned to the Imperial Academy of Medicine, feeling incredibly frustrated.

Sikong Xue was being far too unreasonable—asking her to prescribe medicine for that foreign woman while simultaneously forbidding her from seeing her. Even a divine physician could not concoct medicine under such conditions. Did she have to travel all the way to the foreign tribes to seek guidance, or perhaps find another Succubus? But everyone’s constitution is different, and the same applied to Succubi; how was she supposed to create the medicine Sikong Xue wanted?

Seeing Yin Chiyun sighing the moment she returned, a medical apprentice hurriedly poured tea for her and said, “Lord Yin, the County Princess visited the Academy today and even checked the records of the medicine you used.”

Yin Chiyun’s hand holding the teacup paused. “Why did she check those? Why didn’t you people stop her?”

The nobles in the palace were cared for by specific attendants and did not require Yin Chiyun’s service. However, Sikong Xue suffered from insomnia and a distracted mind every day, requiring her personal prescriptions. Fearing that someone with ill intentions might notice, most of the medicinal ingredients Yin Chiyun procured for the Prime Minister’s Manor were bought from outside, leaving no records at the Academy. Although rumors circulated that Sikong Xue had some sort of “heart ailment,” without concrete evidence, no one could make an issue of it.

However, while prescribing the medicine to suppress the heat of passion for that foreign woman in Sikong Xue’s manor over the past few days, a few of the ingredients were too precious and could not easily be bought outside. Thus, Yin Chiyun had no choice but to use the Academy’s stock. She had originally planned to borrow them temporarily and have someone buy replacements to secretly restock them in a few days.

Now that Yuchi Jin had come to investigate, she didn’t know if trouble would arise.

The young boy said with a wronged expression, “Lord Yin knows the County Princess’s temper. She came to check the records under the guise of an inventory count; how could we dare to stop her?”

Yin Chiyun waved her hand helplessly. If Yuchi Jin was determined to find trouble for her, ordinary people naturally wouldn’t dare block her.

Before the Ning family met with disaster, Yuchi Jin had put on a gentle and refined facade to get close to Ning Yuan, truly looking like a dignified young lady of a great house. Once the Ning family lost power, Yuchi Jin showed her true colors, spending all day with the daughters of other influential families at Lanyue Pavilion, indulging in carnal pleasures without any regard for royal dignity.

As a physician, misappropriating a bit of medicine wasn’t a major offense. Those few ingredients were uncommon and wouldn’t be used for ordinary illnesses anyway. Moreover, she hadn’t dared to use all of them and had left some behind. Even if someone had a sudden emergency, it shouldn’t lead to a major crisis. If Yuchi Jin wanted to make an issue of it, at worst, Yin Chiyun would take a few strokes of the rod and have her salary suspended for a few months. Or, at the absolute worst, being stripped of her official rank would at least grant her freedom. Since she was being punished for Sikong Xue’s sake, she expected Sikong Xue would make it worth her while.

Before the punishment even arrived, Yin Chiyun had already started calculating how to fleece Sikong Xue. However, she still didn’t actually want to be beaten. Since those ingredients couldn’t be bought in the Imperial City, she arranged for several people to buy them outside the city walls. As long as she could restock them before the higher-ups investigated, everything would be fine.

Yin Chiyun spent half the day in anxiety at the Academy, only to hear the person she sent out whisper, “Lord Yin, this is bad. The ingredients you wanted have all been bought up by the County Princess. If we want to buy them now, we have to travel a hundred miles away.”

Yuchi Jin was out to block Sikong Xue; she snatched the medicine openly and without evasion.

Yin Chiyun paced anxiously in front of the medicine cabinets. Usually, the scent of the Academy’s medicine was soothing to her, but now she wished she could set the whole place on fire.

“Yuchi Jin came prepared. I’m afraid we won’t even find them a hundred miles away.”

“My Lord, what should we do?”

Yin Chiyun took a deep breath and said, “Forget it. Rather than waiting for the superiors to find out and punish me, I should take the initiative to go and confess my guilt.” It wasn’t as if she had touched life-saving medication; it shouldn’t be too critical.

Her subordinates, fearing for her, asked, “Should we notify the Lord Prime Minister?”

Yin Chiyun thought about it. Sikong Xue had been restless lately because of that foreign woman and was already exhausted dealing with the drought outside the border. Yuchi Jin attacking her now was meant to drain Sikong Xue’s energy. Informing Sikong Xue at this time would only add to the chaos.

Yin Chiyun said, “No need. I can handle a small matter like this.”

Just as she was about to go confess, she saw Yuchi Jin swaggering in. As Yuchi Jin advanced, Yin Chiyun retreated. When she had nowhere left to retreat, Yin Chiyun bowed and said, “This official greets the County Princess. May I ask what brings your Highness to the Imperial Academy of Medicine?”

Yuchi Jin smiled kindly and said, “Lord Yin, you and I are childhood acquaintances; why bother with such hollow formalities?”

Yuchi Jin’s voice was extremely pleasant. To someone who didn’t know her, she seemed easy to get along with. If not for her need to maintain decorum, Yin Chiyun would have rolled her eyes. Everyone knew Yuchi Jin was the one who cared most about these empty formalities.

They had attended the same academy as children, but “childhood acquaintances” was a stretch. Yin Chiyun had always felt Yuchi Jin was incredibly fake. Even though hanging out with the Sikong sisters often led to getting scolded, Yin Chiyun felt far more at ease with them.

Yin Chiyun said, “County Princess, this official has business to attend to. If there are no other commands, I shall take my leave.”

Yuchi Jin smiled. “I came specifically to find Lord Yin because I have a favor to ask.”

Yin Chiyun looked at her, knowing she meant no good, but due to her status, she could only say, “May I ask what the County Princess commands?”

Yuchi Jin said, “Lord Yin, my mother has been feeling unwell lately, and we have sought many physicians without a cure. Currently, the most respected physicians in the Academy must serve His Majesty, so I must trouble Lord Yin to come to the Princess’s Manor to treat my mother.”

Yin Chiyun frowned. She hadn’t heard of the Princess Royal having any chronic illness. If she did, it would be better if she died sooner, saving them from stirring up trouble in the court. In this Imperial City, what rare medicines and supplements weren’t sent to the Princess’s Manor first? It was just that Physician Li, who used to serve the Princess Royal, had retired and returned to his hometown, and Yuchi Jin wanted to use this as an excuse.

Seeing Yuchi Jin smiling at her, Yin Chiyun forced a smile back. “My medical skills are shallow; how would I dare serve the Princess Royal’s jade body? If I fail to serve her well, would that not be a great crime?”

Though she was smiling, her eyes were saying: You’re asking me to treat the Princess Royal? Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill her?

How could Yuchi Jin miss the implication? She smiled and said, “Everyone knows that among the younger generation of physicians, Lord Yin is the most skilled. I imagine that besides your skill, Lord Yin must also possess high medical ethics, just like the Chief Physician.”

Yin Chiyun said, “Princess, do not flatter me.” I am not someone with high medical ethics. People say doctors have benevolent hearts, but Yin Chiyun had seen too much power struggle; towards someone as ruthless as the Princess Royal, her benevolence had long since vanished.

Yuchi Jin said, “How is it flattery? Precisely because I know Lord Yin has high ethics, when I learned you privately moved medicine from the Academy, I knew without guessing that it was to save a life. Although this method of saving lives is against the rules, I will certainly not speak of it to anyone. Please rest assured, Lord Yin.”

Yin Chiyun was silent for a moment before finally picking up her medical chest and saying, “Since the Princess Royal is unwell, we naturally cannot delay.” When one must bow, one must bow.

Yuchi Jin added, “My mother is seriously ill and needs day and night care. Please bring a change of clothes, Lord Yin.”

Yin Chiyun: …

So Yuchi Jin went to all this trouble just to separate her from Sikong Xue. Fortunately, she had already prepared a sufficient amount of soul-soothing medicine for Sikong Xue, otherwise she would truly be worried.

However, she felt she had forgotten to mention something important.

Only after Yin Chiyun was brought to the Princess’s Manor and placed under house arrest did she realize that Yuchi Jin thought the missing medicine at the Academy was for Sikong Xue. But those ingredients were meant to clear the “evil fire” within a Succubus—Sikong Xue had no use for them.

The medicine she had prepared for the foreign woman was not as potent as the secret medicines of the foreign tribes. Although she used plenty of ingredients, it could only serve as a temporary substitute. Furthermore, because several of the ingredients were extremely scarce, the amount she had prepared could only help that foreign woman for a short while. If the medicine ran out and Yuchi Jin still wouldn’t let her leave, what then?

After several days of not seeing Yin Chiyun, Sikong Xue inquired at the Imperial Academy and learned she had been taken to the Princess’s Manor to serve.

Song Yan said, “Now the Princess Royal claims illness and refuses to let Lord Yin out. I wonder if something will happen.”

Sikong Xue said, “They wouldn’t dare openly harm Chiyun’s life, but to go to such lengths, there must be another conspiracy.”

Song Yan said, “Rest assured, Master. The Second Young Lady has already sent a trusted doctor from the army to serve at the manor. There will be no mishaps.”

Yuchi Jin holding Yin Chiyun was nothing more than an attempt to ensure Sikong Xue had no trusted physicians nearby. Minor matters aren’t worth troubling the Chief Physician for; if Yin Chiyun were out of the way, it would be the perfect time to administer poison or stage an assassination. Unfortunately, she forgot one thing: Sikong Zhi was fighting abroad—how could she not have trusted doctors by her side?

Sikong Xue nodded and was about to dismiss Song Yan when she thought of something. Seeing Sikong Xue hesitating, Song Yan quickly said, “Master, that girl has been very quiet in the manor these past few days and hasn’t caused any trouble. According to Chun He, she did have a bout of heat, but she took her medicine in time to suppress it.”

Hearing Song Yan say this, Sikong Xue’s heart inexplicably felt at ease. These days, her mind had been in turmoil, and she had been avoiding the foreign woman. Even though this was her own house, she felt like a thief.

When people told her the woman was admiring flowers in the back garden, Sikong Xue didn’t dare go to the back yard to practice her sword. When people said the woman was painting in the front yard, Sikong Xue, about to head to court, would think for a moment and leave the manor through the back gate instead. When Chun He said the girl wanted to see her, Sikong Xue felt even more troubled.

Sikong Xue knew that a foreign woman living under someone else’s roof would want to please her to secure her safety. Sikong Xue wouldn’t blame her for having “ambitions,” but she looked exactly like A-Yuan, and Sikong Xue truly didn’t dare face her.

But even without seeing her, as soon as she closed her eyes at night, that face would appear. She dreamed of the woman enticing her in every possible way; at first, Sikong Xue resisted, but then she couldn’t help but be moved. In the dream, she touched that face; though she knew she wasn’t A-Yuan, Sikong Xue still failed to withstand her temptation.

Song Yan saw Sikong Xue in a daze and asked tentatively, “Master, are there any other commands?”

Sikong Xue snapped out of it and asked coldly, “The person I asked A-Zhi to find—has he been found?”

She remembered what Yin Chiyun said: she had to find a companion for that foreign woman. The status couldn’t be too low, or he wouldn’t be able to protect her. Nor could his power be too great, or he wouldn’t be willing to marry a foreign woman. After thinking it over, she could only let Sikong Zhi select a trusted subordinate officer.

Song Yan was startled and said, “This subordinate will go and urge the Second Young Lady immediately.”

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