She is the Side Character! — Watch Her Change her fate!

Jiang Xun finally came back. Cui Ying was the happiest of all; for this she even vacated some space for Ah Chen and him, went out early, saying she could manage on her own and didn’t need Ah Chen to accompany her. By now she was very familiar with Capital City.

Before going out, she even whispered to Jiang Xun, ”You’ve been away so long, Xiao Chen really missed you. The Jianghu is dangerous, she was worried something might happen to you. Luckily you’ve returned. If there’s nothing urgent, just stay in Capital City, the Jianghu is too dangerous.”

Jiang Xun was shocked yet pleasantly surprised. Really?

Whether it was true or not, it certainly wouldn’t do to go ask the person herself, but Jiang Xun was genuinely delighted. Speaking of which, during this period Miss Qin had indeed written to him from time to time; concern was definitely there.

Next, Jiang Xun carefully described to Ah Chen what he had encountered after returning to Medicine King Valley, his expression clearly darkening.

”Before I saw that scene, I also thought Ye Shuangzhou was only testing drugs on those people. It was only when I actually saw it that I realized how naive I’d been.”

It turned out that in the hidden part of Medicine King Valley, there were actually many people imprisoned whose limbs were incomplete. It was said that they had originally all been fully intact.

There were also some whose limbs were completely mismatched; it turned out Ye Shuangzhou had been curious what would happen if the limbs of different people were exchanged.

After such torment, those who survived could only be said to have been lucky, blessed with a strong fate.

Many more hadn’t survived and were casually buried beneath a valley. Beneath that valley lay many bones.

Nor was that all. According to those people, Ye Shuangzhou was utterly deranged; he had even grafted animal limbs onto human bodies. Of course, none of those people lived long.

Among those who survived, many were mentally unsound and completely unable to care for themselves. They were actually hard to place. Jiang Xun cleaned out all of Medicine King Valley and found that its wealth was still quite considerable, so he took out a portion to purchase a residence for them to live in. There were some inside whose minds were still clear and could help with care, and he also bought a few people who had nowhere else to go to look after them.

These people would send him letters regularly, and he would also arrange for people to keep watch over that place, so that those poor souls wouldn’t suffer further abuse.

After hearing all this, Ah Chen wasn’t particularly surprised.

In the first timeline, Ye Shuangzhou had been driven out of Medicine King Valley early on by Luo Feng and hadn’t had the chance to carry out those methods, but such a person had actually been reborn...

”In future, just send Ye Shuangzhou there for retirement,” Ah Chen said.

Jiang Xun paused, then nodded. ”Once things are settled on your side, I’ll poison him a bit and send him over.”

Jiang Xun was an orphan and had seen his share of human malice. After drifting in the Jianghu for so long, what kind of scene hadn’t he witnessed? But something like this was a first.

”That will take some time,” Ah Chen said.

She planned to have Ye Shuangzhou complete his task early and then send him into that residence, otherwise the people inside might not be able to wait that long.

”I’ve already treated them and prescribed medicine to condition their bodies. Living another decade or so shouldn’t be a problem,” Jiang Xun hurried to say, as if knowing what Ah Chen was thinking.

Ah Chen nodded. Ten-odd years would be enough.

Because she was unwilling, the Commissioner had pushed the system to its limit: three years per life. But the system was clearly targeting her now, making it a multiple birth every time. Even with three years per life, the final number was enormous.

”So Doctor Jiang has returned.” Pei Ling, who had been busy to the point of seeing stars, finally managed to get some free time and brought his Crown Princess Consort over to Ah Chen’s place to hide from work for a bit, only to see Jiang Xun as soon as he entered.

When he saw Jiang Xun’s face, he couldn’t help sighing again at how good-looking he was. If this man weren’t by Miss Qin’s side, he would definitely think of ways to recruit him. The other’s Medical Skills were superb; it would be perfect to have him as an Imperial Physician.

Jiang Xun was used to such looks and remained quite indifferent.

”Your Highness and Crown Princess Consort aren’t busy today?” Ah Chen asked.

The two exchanged a smile and sat down. The Crown Princess Consort said, ”It’s only a brief moment of leisure, and it was my idea. His health only just recovered; he can’t overwork like this. Even with Miss Qin helping to regulate his body, if he really falls ill, who’s the one who suffers?”

Ever since Pei Ling had brought the Crown Princess Consort to Ah Chen’s clinic, the two had formed a connection. Occasionally, even if Pei Ling didn’t come, she would find opportunities to drop by and sit for a while; their relationship was quite good.

According to the Crown Princess Consort, she and Pei Ling could be considered childhood sweethearts.

They’d first met at a banquet. Something happened then: Pei Ling had nearly been pushed into a pond, but the Crown Princess Consort reacted quickly and shoved him to the side. The weather had been bitterly cold at the time. If he’d fallen in, with Pei Ling being young and frail, he might well have lost his life.

”There’s no end to the work. A bit of proper rest does no harm,” Ah Chen said. ”Your Highness, stretch out your wrist and let me take a look.”

Pei Ling was a bit helpless, while the Crown Princess Consort was rather anxious; she hurriedly took his hand and placed it in front of Ah Chen.

Pei Ling really had been overworking lately; he needed to balance work and rest.

After being repeatedly warned by Ah Chen like this, Pei Ling also got serious and didn’t dare be careless. He’d finally regained his health; he had no intention of going back to that frail, dying look he’d had before. Especially when he saw the worried look in the Crown Princess Consort’s eyes, he said to her, ”Then you can keep an eye on me from now on.”

Only then was the Crown Princess Consort satisfied.

Ah Chen noticed Jiang Xun’s gaze; when she looked over, she saw him staring at Pei Ling and his wife with an envious expression.

Seeing Ah Chen looking at him, he lightly coughed once.

This scene was also taken in by Pei Ling and his wife. Pei Ling smiled and said, ”When are Miss Qin and Doctor Jiang going to have their happy event? You’ll have to save me a cup of wedding wine when the time comes.”

Jiang Xun was extremely nervous. Ah Chen was just about to speak when a servant reminded her there was a guest, and the guest was the Third-place Scholar’s mother.

Ah Chen had a vague premonition. ”Invite her in.”

Pei Ling and his wife had no intention of leaving right away; they just stepped aside for the moment.

Jiang Xun, however, had no intention of avoiding them. The Third-place Scholar’s mother?

As soon as he heard, he knew something wasn’t right; his instincts told him he must not hide. He wanted to see exactly what this Third-place Scholar’s mother was planning to do!

”Is Madam Cui not here?” Ji’s mother saw only Ah Chen and an unnaturally handsome man, and couldn’t help but frown. She was here to propose a marriage, after all; she definitely had to find Cui Ying.

Ah Chen said, ”My mother has gone out. Mrs. Ji, what brings you here today? If you’re looking for my mother, you may have to come another day. But if there’s something you need, you can tell me; I can make the decision as well.”

Ji’s mother didn’t answer. Instead, she fixed her gaze on Jiang Xun, then looked around, and said discontentedly, ”Who is this? He shouldn’t be your relative, right? Even if he is, a man and a woman alone together in one courtyard—don’t you think that’s improper? If people hear of this, do you still want your reputation?”

The more she looked at Jiang Xun, the more displeased she felt.

This pretty boy was so good-looking, staying together with Qin Chen; there was no way Cui Ying had been the one to keep him. Was Qin Chen keeping him?

If that was really the case, she would never agree to this marriage.

”That has nothing to do with Mrs. Ji. If there’s nothing important, then please go back, Mrs. Ji.”

Ah Chen’s cold attitude made Ji’s mother very unhappy.

She no longer cared about decorum and raised her voice: ”I originally came today to propose a marriage on behalf of my son. I didn’t expect you, Miss Qin, to casually stay alone with a man; this is something our Ji Family cannot tolerate. As a daughter-in-law of the Ji Family, the first thing is to guard your virtue. If you don’t change, even if my son is satisfied, I still won’t agree to let you marry in. Also, I heard your mother divorced your father because he took a concubine. If you want to marry in, you’ll have to make this clear. My son is the Third-place Scholar; he’ll be a great official in future. There definitely won’t be only you by his side. You can’t interfere in whether he takes concubines or not. Being like your mother is absolutely unacceptable!”

Hiding behind the rockery, Pei Ling and the Crown Princess Consort looked at each other. Noticing the strange look in the Crown Princess Consort’s eyes, Pei Ling said quietly, ”The imperial exams test talent, not family background and character.”

But if he couldn’t even keep his household in line, there were many matters that simply couldn’t be entrusted to someone like that.

”Steward, throw this unreasonable shrew out!” Ah Chen suddenly ordered. The steward, who had long been waiting outside the courtyard, immediately came in with his men; regardless of Ji’s mother’s struggles, they grabbed her and tossed her out of the residence.

The steward stood at the gate and said coldly, ”Even if you are the mother of the Third-place Scholar, you still can’t throw a tantrum at will in someone else’s home.”

His voice was quite loud. Though this residence wasn’t in a busy market area, there were still people passing by during the day. When passersby heard this, they stopped in a hurry and didn’t want to leave, eager to listen to what was going on.

”The Third-place Scholar’s household sure does throw its official weight around. Our young lady never agreed to anything with you, yet you came here to flaunt your airs as a future mother-in-law.”

With just those few words, it was destined that no noble lady in the Capital City would ever consider Ji Qing again.

”There’s court in two days. I expect someone will impeach Ji Qing over today’s incident,” Pei Ling said to Ah Chen as he was leaving.

He was a popular Third-place Scholar, with many eyes on him. He carried himself in lofty fashion, which had long annoyed people. He’d previously rejected quite a few noble ladies; with what had happened today, anyone who’d had an eye on him would now give up without hesitation.

Ah Chen understood what Pei Ling was implying—Ji Qing’s official career this lifetime was likely ruined.

In the first cycle, when it came to social dealings, the Commissioner helped. Because she was formidable, even if Ji’s mother acted up, she knew her daughter-in-law’s words were right and had to back down for the sake of her son’s future.

In the second cycle, Ji Qing was in poor health, and Ji’s mother devoted herself entirely to caring for him, leaving her no time to stir up trouble.

In the third cycle, Ji Qing was treated in time when he fell ill; with no one to keep Ji’s mother in check and no need to care for her son, of course she now had time to Piao around, didn’t she?