Bone Painting Coroner

Translator: Choufleur, Editor: Aruthea

“Don’t worry. This prince knows what to do. You must be fatigued from your travels, so you should go and take a rest. Just leave everything else to this prince.”

She was certainly tired indeed! She nodded. “Alright. I’ll head over to the Bamboo Creek Garden [1] when you enter the palace tomorrow. There are still 11 sets of remains that have yet to be identified and drawn. I had originally thought that we would be able to return within a month, not several months later.”

“The case may be urgent but it isn’t that urgent. Go only after you’ve rested properly.”

“I understand.” Ji Yunshu nodded and was about to leave when her footsteps suddenly came to a stop. Her nose twitched slightly. Blood? She turned back to Jing Rong and asked worriedly, “Are you injured?”

“No.” He denied.

As if! “Let me take a look.” Ji Yunshu stepped forward to check if he was injured. When she touched his arm, her fingers came away wet with bright red blood. Filled with horror, she asked, “Why didn’t you say anything when the wound was so serious?”

Jing Rong had long had this bad habit of putting up a strong front. He retracted his arm slightly. “It’s a mere scratch. There’s no need to make such a big fuss about it. It’ll be fine once I put some medicine on it.”

“You always do this.”

“I’m really fine.”

Ji Yunshu glared at him, intending to go outside and get Lang Po to summon a physician, but he stopped her, shaking his head. “Don’t let them know.”

Ji Yunshu sighed lightly, understanding his intentions. Thus, she dragged him to the back courtyard and brought out her medicine chest in order to bandage it up for him herself.

Jing Rong still wanted to protest but Ji Yunshu had already pushed up his sleeve. His white inner robes were already dyed with a large red patch and the fabric had been slit open. The wound was vaguely visible through the blood that covered it.

“Don’t move!” Ji Yunshu commanded.

He meekly complied, letting her manhandle him as she wished.

Ji Yunshu took a pair of scissors and cut away the fabric around the wound. Next, she dampened a handkerchief and dabbed at the wound lightly to clean it. The wound wasn’t deep and likely was a minor slip when he had been grappling with Ji Li. However, because it wasn’t treated immediately and Jing Rong still had to make a big show of going in and out of the palace, the wound had split open further. “How could you not even mention it when your injuries are already in this state?”

“I was afraid that you would worry.”

“All the more you should have said something!” What kind of logic is this?!

As Ji Yunshu treated his wound, she explained, "Sword wounds are some of the easiest wounds to become infected. If they are left untreated for a long time, bacteria will get onto the wound and cause it to fester. Once that happens, blood cannot properly flow through and the entire arm would have to be amputated in order to prevent the infection from spreading to the rest of the body. At worst, it could even threaten your life!" [3]

"Bacteria?" Jing Rong was mystified. "What is bacteria?"

"That's not the point. It's more important to know that you should not simply leave wounds untreated. If mild, it would result in an infection; at worst, the result would be a lost limb."

"How could it be as serious as that? This prince doesn't believe it."

You don't believe me? Ji Yunshu stilled her hands and lifted her head to look him in the eye. Next, she pressed a finger hard onto his wound.

"Ah!"

You don't believe me, do you?

Jing Rong grit his teeth in pain. "Ji Yunshu, that hurts!"

"Don't move."

"Ow!"

"You're not allowed to move even if it hurts."

"This is deliberate harm towards this Prince, harming your very own husband!"

She gave him a look, then let up the pressure and carefully bandaged the wound. Her brows wrinkled and her eyes turned red as she looked at the injury and spoke gently, "In the future, no matter how big or small the injury is, you're not allowed to hide it from me."

Jing Rong felt as if the pain in his arm had totally disappeared as he looked upon the woman treating his wound. Faced with her worry and anxiety, he no longer had any desire to put up a brave front.

"Alright." That single word of agreement trumped any other he could say.

......

Meanwhile, at Yuhua Pavillion...

Back in the capital, the minute Mo Ruo stepped into Yuhua Pavillion, he was surrounded by patients seeking treatment.

"Divine Doctor Mo, please take a look at my condition. I've been feeling poorly."

"Divine Doctor Mo, you're finally back! I've been waiting for you to treat my son."

"I was here first, treat me first!"

"I came here first!"

......

Mo Ruo was besieged and trapped by them. There are four conditions under which Mo Ruo would not provide treatment: no treatment for those with impure intentions, no treatment for those with minor ailments and no real illness, no treatment for those trying to deceive relatives, and lastly, no treatment for anyone if he wasn't in a good mood!

All these people fulfilled at least one of his four conditions; thus, he would treat none of them. However, the crowd refused to let him pass and continued to swarm around him insistently.

Tang Si spectated for a long while from the periphery, as if she were watching a show. Then, she caught one of the apprentices and asked, "Where is your break room?"

The apprentice looked her up and down. "Miss, are you here... for a consultation?"

"Are you blind? I got off the carriage together with Mo Ruo."

"Ah... oh. My apologies, Miss. I didn't see. I wonder... you are Shifu’s...?" [2]

"I'm his future wife."

Ack! The little apprentice put a hand to his chest in shock and almost spat out blood. He was completely at a loss. “You... you are Shifu’s wife? Why haven’t I heard anything about this?”

Tang Si smiled smugly. “He hasn’t had the chance to say anything yet. Your Master will naturally tell you once he’s free. Right. Can you hurry up and tell me if there is a place to rest? Where’s your Shifu’s room?”

The little apprentice extended a finger woodenly and pointed towards the ceiling as he stuttered out, “The... pavilion.”

“Thanks.” Tang Si immediately scampered upstairs, making herself right at home.

The apprentice remained dazed on the spot for a few seconds, glancing at the besieged Mo Ruo, then back at his future Shimu who had already gone upstairs. He called out frantically, “Shifu said that nobody is allowed to casually go up into the pavilion!” Thus, he quickly rushed up after her.

There, he saw Tang Si happily poking and prodding at everything, flitting here and there. “What’s this?” She held up a bundle of medicinal herbs.

The apprentice hurriedly replied, “Please don’t touch that. It’s some premium herbs that Shifu acquired the year before. We can’t bear the consequences if it’s damaged.”

“What about this?” She picked up another bunch of herbs.

“Please don’t touch that either. It’s top quality medicine that’s been drying for a year, made specially for treating headaches.”

“This?”

“Not this either. Shifu has very little of this herb stocked.”

Tang Si bounced around in delight. This was the first time she had seen so many types of herbs and medicines displayed in such an elegant pavilion.

However, the apprentice could not take it any more. He stood in front of her, barring her way with a pitiful look on his face. “Shimu, I beg you. Please calm down for a moment. If you continue doing this and damage any of the medicinal ingredients, Shifu will surely kill me.”

That single address of ‘Shimu’ sparked a bloom of delight within her. She immediately drew out a silver ingot and shoved it at the little apprentice. “Here’s a reward, just for calling me ‘shimu’.”

The apprentice was struck dumb by that silver ingot. That is worth three month’s pay! “Thank you Shimu! Shimu, you’re so generous!”

What a quick change in attitude!

Tang Si patted his shoulder. “In future, you can hang out with Shimu. Shimu will definitely treat you well.”

“Yes, yes, yes. Shimu is the best!”

Downstairs, Mo Ruo remained oblivious as to how his own little apprentice just sold him out. What a waste of the many years he had spent bringing him up!

[1] reminder: this is where the bodies for the Lin Capital case were brought.

[2] TLN shifu = teacher-master, in a master-apprentice relationship. We haven't been using many transliterations so far and I'm choosing to use this transliteration because it's 1. pretty common, and 2. master's wife is just too unwieldy.

[3] Ahahaha it's been a long time since Author-san has reminded us that JYS transmigrated. Also, keep in mind this fantasy biology IS NOT REAL. Bacterial infections can possibly cause a full-body blood infection aka sepsis BUT it's not because the blood cannot properly flow nor are sword wounds the easiest to be infected (I suspect Author-san to somehow have conflated sepsis and tetanus).