My Gentle and Pure Sect Leader Husband - Chapter 4

After the beautiful but sickly Ah Yu personally agreed to marry into the family, Doctor Yan very consciously and naturally took on the responsibility of caring for her future husband and providing for the family.

The journey from the capital to Jiangnan normally took a day and night at full gallop, but under Doctor Yan’s careful protection and gentle care of her future husband, they deliberately dawdled on the official road for three days and two nights.

Yu Luocha lay in the most comfortable carriage, leaning against the softest cloud brocade silk cushions, wearing the finest silk garments worth a thousand gold pieces, and covered with a pure white fox fur blanket of the most delicate quality.

Yu Luocha was no stranger to such grandeur and luxury, but whenever he thought about how he obtained these through selling himself with his looks, he felt extremely uncomfortable.

He had no formal master, and had worked his way to his current position step by step. Half of his martial arts came from incomplete manuals found in Western Region ruins, while the other half was self-taught through battle experience. However, this also meant he had no precedent to follow, and was completely lost on how to break through to the Grandmaster realm. He could only take risks, using gold needles to seal his acupoints before retraining his internal energy from scratch, hoping to find the flaws in his cultivation method.

His throat itched, and Yu Luocha coughed dryly a couple of times, which triggered more pain throughout his chest and internal organs.

His injury wasn’t an ordinary internal injury. The assassin’s strike had hit precisely at his qi sea, preventing him from practicing his internal energy cultivation method. Day by day, his internal injuries would only grow worse.

No matter how skilled Yan Hongyin was as a doctor, she was still just an ordinary doctor who didn’t understand the true cause of his injury, let alone be able to cure him.

“Coughing again?”

A jade-white hand lifted the carriage curtain, and Yan Hongyin bent down to enter, holding out a bowl of medicine to Yu Luocha. “Are you still coughing up blood?”

Yu Luocha took the medicine bowl but hesitated to drink it.

Seeing this, Yan Hongyin’s eyes flickered with guilt. “Good medicine tastes bitter. The reason the medicine tastes bad is that the medicinal properties are being maximized. Drink up quickly!”

Yu Luocha looked down at the bowl. The medicine was pitch black, and he had never seen such an ink-like concoction that reflected nothing. Not only did it look strange, but medicine made by Yan Hongyin wasn’t just bitter and sour – it also had an indescribably weird, lethal combination of cloying sweetness and fishy bitterness.

Afterward, no matter what he ate, that weird and persistent medicinal taste lingered in his mouth.

Along this journey, Yu Luocha had visibly lost weight from being tormented by these medicine concoctions.

Seeing this, Yan Hongyin’s eyes flickered as she pulled out a spoon from beside the carriage lower table. “Should I feed you—”

Yu Luocha immediately held his breath and, with a numb expression, downed the medicine in one gulp.

Yan Hongyin disappointedly put down the spoon.

Ah Yu really disliked taking medicine.

She had already added the maximum amount of honey and white sugar possible without affecting the medicinal properties when brewing the medicine. Adding any more would harm its effectiveness—Once they reached Jiangnan, she would need to reconsider the prescription. The past two days, Ah Yu had shown interest in candied hawthorns, probably enjoying their sweet and sour taste.

Yu Luocha kept his mouth tightly shut, his face pale.

A few days ago, he could still use hawthorn to suppress the urge to vomit after drinking the medicine, but Yan Hongyin’s medicinal concoctions were becoming increasingly unbearable with each passing day…

Looking at how he appeared even weaker than before taking the medicine, Yan Hongyin suddenly remembered her past glorious achievement of making her master and senior martial brother faint with one bowl of medicine. Feeling somewhat guilty, she said, “Your qi and blood aren’t flowing well, let me press your acupoints.”

Yu Luocha was still immersed in the powerful impact of that bowl of medicine, and upon hearing this, he only gave Yan Hongyin a vacant stare.

Yan Hongyin slightly rolled up her sleeves, lifted the white fox fur covering Yu Luocha and set it aside, then forcefully pulled the now powerless beauty over to lie face down on her lap.

Yu Luocha’s eyes widened instantly.

Although they had shared the same carriage these past few days, Yan Hongyin hadn’t had much physical contact with him, instead maintaining proper distance and following etiquette. This sudden closeness nearly made Yu Luocha reflexively strike back with his fist.

As his qi and blood surged, Yu Luocha suddenly discovered that his body felt even more weak and limp after drinking the medicine. He immediately exclaimed, “What did you just make me drink?!”

“Medicine,” Yan Hongyin hesitated for a moment but still decided not to remove Yu Luocha’s clothes, instead pressing the acupoints on the beauty’s back through the fabric. “Oh, the Phoenix Grass has rather potent effects. You’ll fall into a brief sleep, and by the time you wake up, we’ll be in Jiangnan.”

The feminine fragrance mixed with a subtle medicinal bitterness wafted into Yu Luocha’s nose. His hands stiffened at his sides, unsure of where to place them.

But soon, Yu Luocha had no time to worry about such things—

As Yan Hongyin pressed with her unique technique, Yu Luocha’s long-depleted dantian suddenly produced a trace of internal energy, which began circulating along the acupoints following her movements.

Yu Luocha’s eyes suddenly became intense.

He closed his eyes and carefully memorized the sequence and location of acupoints that Yan Hongyin’s finger joints passed over, falling into deep sleep as that trace of internal energy continued to circulate.

Yan Hongyin finally managed to massage the beauty on her lap to sleep, and hearing his steady breathing, she stopped her movements.

She reached out to brush aside the curled ends of the beauty’s hair, revealing a thin neck and slightly pale cheeks.

Her fingers glided across the beauty’s cheeks, stopping at the reddened corners of his eyes. Yan Hongyin suppressed the flutter in her heart, thinking no wonder the people at the brothel couldn’t forget him. With skin so fine and fair, features so deep and defined, and eyes like beautiful colored glass, he looked even more precious and delicate than the Persian cats treasured by the palace concubines. He was truly exceptionally beautiful.

Yan Hongyin wasn’t particularly skilled at social interaction, even her close associates like Lu Gang and her Father Emperor often couldn’t stand her, frequently showing helpless and hesitant expressions.

At such times, Yan Hongyin never quite understood what she had said wrong.

Yan Hongyin had always thought the problem lay with herself, but now—

She and Ah Yu got along very well, this must be what they call compatibility, right?

Even though Ah Yu was sickly, without power or influence, and his physical condition and Western Region bloodline meant he couldn’t participate in the imperial examinations to gain official positions, making him worlds apart from her status.

But Yan Hongyin was perfectly satisfied with this complete separation from her previous status.

Her husband only needed to be beautiful enough, harmless enough, trouble-free enough, and far removed from both martial arts circles and court politics.

He was simply the most suitable husband possible.

Thinking of this, Yan Hongyin’s expression grew even gentler.

Suddenly, the sound of bird wings fluttering came through, and Yan Hongyin’s eyes became sharp and cold in an instant.

An unremarkable sparrow landed precisely on the carriage window, lowering its head to peck at its chest feathers.

Yan Hongyin reached out her hand, and the sparrow, as if detecting some scent, voluntarily hopped onto her white fingers and stood still.

Yan Hongyin held the sparrow’s wing open, retrieved a nearly weightless small bamboo tube, then released the sparrow out the window.

The tiny characters on the note were only two lines long.

[Western Demon Sect Leader has infiltrated the Central Plains, whereabouts unknown]

The beauty on her lap seemed disturbed by the sunlight coming through the window and shifted uneasily.

Yan Hongyin poured a cup of tea and dropped the note into it, swirling it until the note completely dissolved in the tea. She then carefully poured the dirty tea out the window, adjusted the carriage curtains, and covered Ah Yu’s eyes with her hand.

Footsteps came from outside the carriage.

“Doctor Yan, the medicine pot and equipment have all been cleaned and loaded onto the carriage. Shall we depart now?” The coachman, who was hired along with the carriage, asked.

“Yes, let’s go, but keep it steady on the road.”

“Will do!”

As the carriage continued on the smooth official road, Yan Hongyin’s brows furrowed slightly.

The martial arts world of the Central Plains had been unstable these past two years. Yan Hongyin had received news when the Western Demon Sect was established, but since the small Western Region countries’ tributes to the Central Plains had been faultless in recent years, the court hadn’t paid much attention, only sending people to keep watch on the situation.

Not only were the Western Demon Sect Leader’s name, age, and appearance unknown, but the spies sent to infiltrate the demon sect for a year couldn’t even determine if they were male or female. They only reported that whenever this demon appeared, they were shrouded in white mist, with an androgynous voice and extremely bizarre martial arts.

The Western Demon Sect had always remained peacefully contained in the Western Regions. Now that this demon had hidden their tracks and infiltrated the Central Plains, what were their intentions?

Someone who could suppress an entire sect of unorthodox practitioners must not be a simple character. Just considering their methods, they were certainly not benevolent, probably another martial arts madman who acted willfully and took lives carelessly. They needed to quickly investigate their appearance, name, and whereabouts.

Yan Hongyin’s fingertips lightly stroked the silky smooth hair of the beauty on her lap, her expression cold.

If they could end this demon’s life in the Central Plains and redirect the trouble to incite conflict between the Western Demon Sect and the Central Plains martial arts world, the court might get to watch a good show of tigers fighting.

Hmm, not a bad idea.

****

When Yu Luocha woke up, the fragrance from before he fainted still lingered in his nose. He was momentarily dazed as if returning from another world, but his eyes quickly became clear.

He was no longer lying on Yan Hongyin, which made him breathe a sigh of relief.

Yan Hongyin was reading a medical book with lowered eyes, and noticing Yu Luocha’s changed breathing, she looked up in surprise.

She knew exactly what medicine she had brewed – with those effects, even a first-class martial artist with internal energy would need at least four or five hours to wake up. How had Ah Yu awakened in less than three hours?

“Are you feeling unwell somewhere?” Yan Hongyin asked with concern.

Ah Yu had no internal energy to help absorb the medicine’s effects; waking up halfway through probably meant he really couldn’t sleep comfortably.

Indeed, the carriage’s bumping wasn’t conducive to recovering from illness.

Fortunately, they would arrive soon.

Yu Luocha, still lying down, glanced up at Yan Hongyin, then supported himself to sit up and look at her at eye level.

“I’m fine, just feeling stiff from sleeping too long,” In fact, after Yu Luocha fell unconscious, his internal energy had been circulating. Yan Hongyin’s medicine combined with her unique acupoint technique had made Yu Luocha feel unprecedentedly relaxed and comfortable since this all began. “Thank you, Doctor Yan.”

Seeing him still address her so formally, Yan Hongyin’s eyes flickered. She put down her book and asked, “We’ll arrive in Jiangnan soon. I haven’t asked yet – what kind of wedding ceremony does Ah Yu want?”

Yu Luocha’s temple, hidden by his hair, twitched.

He remained silent for a long while before difficultly speaking, “Could we… not have a wedding?”

Yan Hongyin frowned. “Without a wedding, the neighbors will see you as just a kept man, how could that work? You’re too beautiful; without a proper status, you’d likely attract unwanted attention even in Jiangnan. The capital has many nobles who still follow some rules, but those lawless martial artists in Jiangnan are used to doing whatever they want. If you get kidnapped then, without proper status, I wouldn’t even have grounds to report it to the authorities.”

Having to rely on reporting to the authorities if kidnapped…

Yu Luocha was momentarily speechless.

How could those useless government constables and yamen runners handle martial artists? Only the Four Great Constables of the Liu Shanmen and the Jinyiwei had any real capability.

But Yan Hongyin was just an ordinary woman without power or influence; she couldn’t have any connection to the Liu Shanmen or Jinyiwei.

Never mind… what she said made sense; he indeed couldn’t be too conspicuous.

Being a woman’s kept man, even in the liberal-minded Jiangnan, would definitely become gossip fodder, inevitably leading to many troubles.

The atmosphere grew slightly tense. Yan Hongyin looked at Yu Luocha with complete disapproval, while Yu Luocha really couldn’t get over this mental hurdle. His mind raced quickly until he finally found a suitable approach, first asking Yan Hongyin, “Does Doctor Yan want a traditional wedding with phoenix crown and red bridal robe, and hosting a banquet for friends and family?”

Yan Hongyin’s Yan Hong Hall was just a safe base she had established before; where would she find friends and relatives? Moreover, thinking of how exhausting several imperial princesses’ weddings had been, she frowned.

“It is rather complicated… but since you’re marrying me, we can’t be too casual with the ceremonies.”

Ah Yu was so understanding; she couldn’t treat him poorly. She had already deceived him about her identity, so she might as well complete the marriage and leave Yan Hong Hall to him when she departed later, giving him some property to rely on.

However, certain words stung Yu Luocha’s ears again.

This wedding absolutely couldn’t be grand; it was just a fake marriage farce. The more people who knew about it, the more trouble it would be for him to erase the traces in the future.

He concealed the emotions in his eyes and put on a gentle smile, saying softly, “I don’t have any relatives either, so this wedding is just between us two. Why make such a big fuss? Let’s keep it simple, and focus on living well together in the future.”

These words pleased Yan Hongyin, though she still felt she was shortchanging such a good Ah Yu too much.

Yu Luocha noticed Yan Hongyin’s hesitation in her expression and immediately pressed his advantage, speaking with apparent shyness. “All those things for others to see aren’t important. In the future, the household will depend on Do….Hongyin.”

Yan Hongyin was thoroughly pleased by this beauty’s smile and the gentle way he said “Hongyin,”, she hesitated for a moment, then reached out to take the beauty’s hand that hung at his side, smiling. “Then we’ll do as Ah Yu says.”

Yu Luocha, his hand being held, laughed coldly inside.

–Sure enough, this woman falls for exactly this kind of act.

Yan Hongyin, holding the beauty’s jade-like hand, sighed inwardly.

–A beautiful person is worth more than a thousand gold pieces, the ancients truly didn’t lie to me.