Don't Raise A Black Lotus Flower; Use The Emperor As A Substitute [Transmigration novel] - Chapter 2

Lin Ruoxuan blinked, feeling as though he had not fully understood what he just heard.

Interrupted? A new whip? With barbs?

Wait a minute. Although Ji Ruxue was not favored, he was still a prince. The original novel did not describe Ji Ruxue’s childhood in detail, only stating that he suffered countless humiliations in the Cold Palace. But surely, it had not reached this level. Even if this is a fictional setting, you cannot just make things up like this, author. A perverted eunuch whipping a prince with a barbed whip. You had your fun writing it, but what am I supposed to do? Should I go ahead and order my own coffin?

In that instant, countless thoughts flashed through Lin Ruoxuan’s mind, eventually coalescing into one single sentiment: Author, I hope your grandfather is having a terrible day.

“Chief Eunuch, do you wish to continue disciplining His Highness?” Zhang Youde asked cautiously.

Lin Ruoxuan gritted his teeth and braced himself. “Take me to see him.”

“As you command, Chief Eunuch.”

Zhang Youde respectfully led Lin Ruoxuan to the door of the adjacent room. As soon as he pushed it open, a thick, nauseating scent of blood rushed toward them.

In the center of the room, a young man was bound by his wrists and suspended from the rafters. His thin frame was covered only by a white undergarment, which was soaked with fine, blood-stained whip marks. His entire body was drenched in water.

Seemingly hearing the sound of the door opening, he slowly lifted his long, blood-moistened eyelashes and looked toward Lin Ruoxuan with a blank expression.

Lin Ruoxuan could not help but shudder.

The boy’s complexion was as pale as snow, and his long hair was disheveled. He looked incredibly ragged and fragile, yet those bottomless, pitch-black eyes, which resembled two black crystals soaked in ice water, were cold and piercing.

Lin Ruoxuan stared at him, stunned, for a long time, unable to look away. Three names echoed in his mind:

Ji. Ru. Xue.

He was the ultimate villain of this book, the future “Black Lotus” Emperor, Ji Ruxue.

In the near future, the hands of this fragile boy would be stained with the blood of countless people. He would step on piles of corpses to reach the throne and then personally peel the skin off the male lead to turn him into a human stick.

But, how could this be?

Lin Ruoxuan stared at the miserable young villain, truly at a loss for words. He knew Ji Ruxue had a tragic childhood, but he did not know it was this tragic. This was the Emperor’s own son; how could he be abused by a eunuch like this?

The two stared at each other for a long time before Lin Ruoxuan finally snapped out of his trance. His professional reflex as a surgeon kicked in. Looking at that pale face and those cracked lips, the boy was suffering from blood loss, dehydration, and extreme pain. If this continued, he would go into shock.

He could not think too much about it. “Take him down, quickly!” he exclaimed.

Zhang Youde was stunned. “Take him down? But you said earlier that he needed to hang for two full hours.”

Only then did Lin Ruoxuan remember his persona as a perverted eunuch. He could only feign indifference, flicking his sleeve coldly. “If something happens to His Highness in this state, how am I supposed to answer to the Emperor?”

Zhang Youde realized his mistake and quickly apologized. “You are right, Chief Eunuch. I will take His Highness down immediately.”

However, the old eunuch was short and stout and could not reach the rope even on his tiptoes. Impatient, Lin Ruoxuan stepped forward and began to untie the knots himself.

The ox-tendon rope was thin and tough. Perhaps because the boy had been tied for too long, the rope had dug deep into his wrists. Lin Ruoxuan stood on his tiptoes, struggling hard, his fingers aching, but he still could not get it undone.

He took a breath, looked at the boy’s lacerated wrists and his own blood-stained fingertips, and said with a twinge of guilt, “I will get it off soon. Please bear with it, Your Highness.”

Ji Ruxue kept his eyes tightly closed and did not answer. He was deathly pale and clearly at his limit. The moment the rope finally loosened, the boy slumped forward limply.

“Careful!” Lin Ruoxuan caught him with quick reflexes.

“Let go,” Ji Ruxue murmured, struggling weakly. He had no strength left.

Not knowing how to communicate with this injured young villain, Lin Ruoxuan simply picked him up and carried him toward the inner chamber.

The body in his arms was rigid and as light as a fallen leaf, not at all like a fourteen-year-old boy. His left calf hung in mid-air at an unnatural angle. Seeing that dangling leg, Lin Ruoxuan suddenly remembered something, and his scalp went numb.

Right, in the original book, did Ji Ruxue not end up being a cripple?

Was he crippled by the original “Lin Ruoxuan”?

No way, no way.

Suppressing his anxiety, Lin Ruoxuan carefully placed Ji Ruxue on the bed. The boy immediately shifted inward, silently moving away from Lin Ruoxuan’s reach.

Lin Ruoxuan mustered a kind smile and asked gently, “Your Highness, what happened to your leg?”

Ji Ruxue did not speak, only looking at him with a strange gaze.

Zhang Youde rubbed his hands together and smiled obsequiously. “Chief Eunuch, have you forgotten? When you were disciplining His Highness yesterday, your hand was a bit heavy.”

Although he was mentally prepared, Lin Ruoxuan still felt a sense of utter despair.

“Hehe, your strict discipline is for His Highness’s own good,” Zhang Youde fawned.

Lin Ruoxuan waved his hand numbly. “Alright, that is enough. Stop talking.”

There was no helping it now. Fortunately, although he was a cardiothoracic surgeon, he had rotated through various surgical departments and was quite skilled at setting bones. Ji Ruxue’s leg had only been broken for a day; if he set it now, he might not end up a cripple.

Lin Ruoxuan steadied himself and braced to take responsibility for this mess. “Your Highness, I was too harsh before. I apologize.”

Ji Ruxue lowered his eyelashes and did not answer.

Lin Ruoxuan thought for a moment and asked, “Do you have any ointment?”

Zhang Youde was startled for a moment before he understood. A lecherous smile appeared on his old face, and he produced a small porcelain bottle from his robes. “Chief Eunuch, this is the high-quality ointment I bought at Qianjinxuan as you instructed previously, hehe.”

“Hmm, give it to me.” Lin Ruoxuan felt the eunuch’s expression was odd but did not think much of it and took the bottle.

He twisted the cap off. Inside was a milky-white paste. Instead of the pungent smell of medicinal herbs, it had a weird, musky scent.

Although he was a practitioner of Western medicine, Lin Ruoxuan had taken courses in Traditional Chinese Medicine. He intuitively felt something was wrong and brought the bottle to his nose to smell it carefully.

Wait, this smell is familiar. Is it Epimedium?

Epimedium is known to stimulate libido, invigorate yang, and nourish the kidneys.

Lin Ruoxuan felt like his head was spinning. “What kind of medicine is this?”

Seeing his reaction, Zhang Youde dropped to his knees with a thud, panicked. “Chief Eunuch, have mercy! This is indeed the Yinyang Hehuan ointment you ordered. I wanted to save money, so I did not buy it at Qianjinxuan; I bought it at Wanchun Tower instead.”

Lin Ruoxuan’s hand shook violently, and the bottle dropped onto the quilt.

Yinyang Hehuan ointment—the name alone explained exactly what it was. Why would the perverted eunuch “Lin Ruoxuan” have his servants buy this stuff?

Historically, many eunuchs were known to prey on young boys, and many were abused to death or left disabled, and “Lin Ruoxuan” was a fake eunuch to boot. But to use this on a prince, even one in the Cold Palace? Was “Lin Ruoxuan” insane? Did he think no one would find out?

Besides, this was not just any prince; this was the ultimate villain. He was the kind of person who would peel his own uncle’s face off.

“Your Highness, please let me explain,” Lin Ruoxuan braced himself, trying to salvage the situation. Since nothing had happened yet, there was still a chance to fix it.

Ji Ruxue stared at the white jade bottle, his pupils contracting slightly. He said quietly, “You had better not do it.”

Such a chilly tone—I am going to end up in the cold too, he thought.

Lin Ruoxuan made a split-second decision. He threw the bottle hard onto the ground and chuckled dryly. “Your Highness, it is not like that at all. This is not the ointment I wanted; this old servant misunderstood my instructions.”

Zhang Youde: “??”

To prove his innocence, Lin Ruoxuan put on a stern face. “What are you staring at? When did I ever tell you to buy such garbage? Quickly, bring me splints, bandages, strong alcohol, and wound powder! I will treat His Highness’s injuries myself! If anything goes wrong, you will be the one to answer for it!”

“Yes, I will prepare it immediately!” Zhang Youde, terrified, agreed repeatedly and scrambled out of the room.

Ji Ruxue frowned, looking somewhat guarded. “What is your game?”

“Please rest assured, Your Highness. I will not do anything else; I just want to set your bones and treat your wounds,” Lin Ruoxuan said softly.

Not long after, Zhang Youde returned with a copper tray filled with a hodgepodge of items: splints, bandages, medicinal paste, and a large bottle of alcohol.

Lin Ruoxuan nodded. “Alright, you may leave.”

Dismissing Zhang Youde, Lin Ruoxuan put on the kindest expression he could muster. “Your Highness, I was too heavy-handed before. It was all my fault. Let me treat your wounds now, all right?”

Ji Ruxue scrutinized him but did not answer.

Lin Ruoxuan waited for a long time, but when Ji Ruxue remained silent, he finally reached out tentatively to undo the boy’s undergarment.

He was not the pervert “Lin Ruoxuan”—he had no interest in children. He just needed to undress him to clean the whip wounds and set the fracture.

The moment Lin Ruoxuan touched his collar, his hand was pinned down by the boy’s cold grip.

Ji Ruxue slowly lifted his eyelashes, his pitch-black eyes freezing cold. “You will regret this.”

“Your Highness, I truly do not mean anything by this. It is just that your injuries need to be treated immediately.”

Lin Ruoxuan explained softly while gently brushing the boy’s hand away. Ji Ruxue closed his eyes and stopped resisting.

Seeing that the child seemed to accept his explanation, Lin Ruoxuan breathed a sigh of relief and quickly stripped him. When all the clothes were removed, Lin Ruoxuan stared at the boy’s bare body, stunned.

That thin, frail, pale frame was covered in dense, interlacing whip marks—some new, some old—as well as burn blisters from incense sticks and other unidentifiable old scars. It was clear he had been suffering long-term abuse.

He is just a child. “Lin Ruoxuan,” you absolute pervert, you deserve to rot in prison.

Forget it, getting angry will not help. He would set the bone first and deal with the rest later.

“Your Highness, I am going to set the bone now. It might hurt a little; please bear with it.”

Ji Ruxue kept his eyes closed, neither agreeing nor refusing.

Lin Ruoxuan carefully felt the two broken ends of the tibia. It was a simple fracture without extra bone fragments, which made it relatively straightforward to reset and fix.

He tried his best to be gentle, but Ji Ruxue was clearly in immense pain. When the bones finally clicked into place, the boy had lost all color in his face, and his forehead was covered in a thick layer of cold sweat. Yet, he tightly pursed his lips and did not make a sound.

Lin Ruoxuan’s heart softened. “Your Highness is truly brave. I am going to apply the splint now; please do not move.”

He picked up two wooden splints to secure the leg, then reached for the silver shears to cut a strip of gauze.

“Ugh, so painful,” Ji Ruxue suddenly closed his eyes tightly and began to tremble violently, as if enduring overwhelming agony.

Lin Ruoxuan asked, confused, “Your Highness, what is wrong?”

“My shoulder hurts. Can you take a look?” Ji Ruxue asked, his voice trembling.

His shoulder? His shoulder seemed fine. Had he dislocated it while hanging earlier?

Not understanding, Lin Ruoxuan leaned forward slightly, reaching out to feel the shoulder joint. It was not dislocated.

“Eunuch dog,” Ji Ruxue whispered in his ear.

Before Lin Ruoxuan could react, the world spun.

Ji Ruxue suddenly flipped his body, using every ounce of his remaining strength to pin Lin Ruoxuan to the bed. He snatched the silver scissors from the tray and, like a dying wolf, stabbed viciously toward the man’s neck.

In that instant, the fog of fragility vanished from the boy’s black eyes. They were cold as snow and overflowing with killing intent. That look was so cold that, to him, the Lin Ruoxuan before him was not a human, but an animal, a corpse, a lump of rot.

He wants to kill me.

In a flash, without a second to think, Lin Ruoxuan reacted on pure instinct: he grabbed the boy’s broken leg and squeezed hard.

“Crack!”

“Ah!” Ji Ruxue shrieked in pain, convulsed a few times, and went limp.

“Hah, hah,” Lin Ruoxuan collapsed on the bed, his mind blank, his heart pounding.

He caught his breath and then fearfully touched his neck. It was covered in blood; he was wounded, but not severely. If his reaction had been just a second slower, he did not dare to think about it.

After a long while, Lin Ruoxuan propped himself up on trembling arms. He saw Ji Ruxue lying to one side, his gaunt face drained of color, his eyes shut tight. He had fainted, still gripping the silver scissors in his hand.

The child had truly wanted to kill him.

So, all the explanation he had done, and Ji Ruxue’s apparent lack of resistance, were all an act. He had only been waiting for a chance, hoping to kill him.

Lin Ruoxuan touched the bloody wound on his neck and could not help but smile bitterly. He had almost died on his first day of the mission, and at the hands of a fourteen-year-old kid, no less.

If Lin Ruoxuan’s impression of the “Black Lotus villain Ji Ruxue” had previously been limited to paper, he now felt it vividly. If he is this dangerous at fourteen, who could mess with him later? But he could not do what the system suggested—”nip the danger in the bud.” He could not bring himself to do that.

Why did I have to be so unlucky to land this terrible mission?

After wallowing in misery for a while, Lin Ruoxuan bandaged his own neck. He then looked cautiously at the unconscious Ji Ruxue. During the struggle, the splints had fallen off, and the bone was likely displaced again.

Forget it, reset the bone, then figure it out later.

After observing for a moment, he decided Ji Ruxue would not wake up anytime soon. He gathered his courage, felt for the fracture, reset it, secured the splint, and wrapped it in layers of bandages.

Throughout the process, Ji Ruxue never woke, though he frowned, sweat beading on his forehead; he was clearly in agony even while unconscious.

“See? It was already set, and now you have to suffer all over again.”

Lin Ruoxuan sighed as if in resignation, but in his heart, he felt a bit of schadenfreude. This brat had almost killed him, after all—not deliberately breaking his leg again was already quite generous.