Chapter 83: An Invisible Hand

The morning of September 14, 1228 of the Ziyun Era.

"Big Brother Zhou."

This would be the third time that Zhou Donghuang was visiting the patriarch of the Yang family Yang Yunji to purge the poison from his body, and the young lady had arrived early in the morning to look for him.

At the sound of her voice, Zhou Donghuang left his room and left with the young lady for Yang Yunji's accommodation.

"Eh? Where's Third Uncle?"

The young lady was surprised at not seeing the third master of the Yang family, Yang Yunchong, as he would normally be around.

"I have sent your Third Uncle on some errands, he'll only be back in several days' time," said the patriarch of the Yang family Yang Yunji with an affable expression. He had come out of his room to welcome Zhou Donghuang.

He looked at Zhou Donghuang and bowed and raised his arm to usher Zhou Donghuang into the room. "Medicine Master Zhou, after you."

"Mm."

Zhou Donghuang nodded and led the way into the room. Yang Yunji and the young lady followed him in.

Less than half a day later, Zhou Donghuang had completed yet another round of acupuncture on Yang Yunji.

"Tomorrow, I will come over to perform the last round of acupuncture, and the poison in your body will be completely purged. At that point, you will only need to consume the medicine prepared with my formula for two days while you recover, and your body will recover completely to its prior state," Zhou Donghuang said.

"Many thanks to Medicine Master Zhou."

Yang Yunji thanked him profusely.

Half of Yang Yunji's remaining white hair had turned black, and there were almost no more wrinkles on his face, making him look just over fifty years old at most.

From the appearance of a roughly seventy-year-old man just three short days before, he now looked just over fifty. If this became widely known, it would shock many people.

...

Not long after Zhou Donghuang returned and just as he was about to start practicing, the young lady came over again with a foul expression.

"Zixi, what's wrong?"

"Big Brother Zhou, I just ran into two elders of the Yang family and overheard them discussing the matter of Uncle regaining his youth." The young lady said in a low voice, "They said it was that Medicine Master Xiao Chen who purged the poison from Uncle. But it is undeniably Big Brother Zhou who helped Uncle get rid of the poison, so how could they give Xiao Chen the credit? I explained it to them, but they did not believe it. They said that a youth like you could not possibly have the ability to purge the poison from Uncle's body.

"I asked them where they heard this news, and they said that they heard it from other elders... I got to the root of the matter and searched out the elder who spread the news, and do you know what he said? He said it was what my First Uncle himself told him!"

"How is that possible?"

"So I went to look for First Uncle... and true enough, he said that he had never said such a thing, he told everyone that it was Big Brother Zhou who helped him purge the poison."

After saying this, the young lady was still in a huff, but she still managed to console Zhou Donghuang at the same time. "Don't worry, Big Brother Zhou, First Uncle said that he will severely punish the elder who spread the lie!"

"Zixi, you came... just because of this?"

Zhou Donghuang shook his head with a smile, thinking that she was making a mountain out of a molehill. To him, this was just a small matter of no consequence.

Even if the patriarch of the Yang family Yang Yunji himself refused to acknowledge his efforts and instead attributed it to someone else, he would not have minded. Why would he care about rumors started by a Yang family elder?

This was because he had decided to treat the patriarch of the Yang family only because of the ten-year survival weed.

"Big Brother Zhou, don't you feel exasperated?" the young lady asked angrily.

"Hmm, it really is exasperating."

Zhou Donghuang nodded with a slight smile and looked at the young lady with a gaze that had become more tender than before without him realizing it.

Although he did not care about such things, the concern the young lady showed inexplicably caused waves of warmth to wash over his heart.

"Big Brother Zhou, First Uncle did not know about this, please don't be angry with him," the young lady said softly, looking timidly at Zhou Donghuang.

"Don't worry."

Zhou Donghuang nodded.

The young lady exhaled in relief at his reply and bade him farewell with a smile. "Big Brother Zhou, then I shan't bother you further... I'll come over tomorrow morning!

After the young lady left, Zhou Donghuang returned to his room and resumed practicing. He only stopped the next morning when he left his room to wait for the young lady in the courtyard.

"Big Brother Zhou."

Once she arrived, Zhou Donghuang left with her to look for the patriarch of the Yang family Yang Yunji.

Half a day later, Zhou Donghuang packed up the golden needles and told Yang Yunji, "Patriarch Yang, the poison in your body has already been completely purged."

The wrinkles on Yang Yunji's face were gone, and not a strand of white hair remained. He had recovered his original appearance, and after staring at himself in the mirror for a long while, he finally recovered his wits.

"Many thanks to Medicine Master Zhou."

Seeing that the poison had all been purged, Yang Yunji looked at Zhou Donghuang with a nod, not bowing in thanks as he had the previous day.

The young lady standing to the side frowned at this, thinking that her uncle was being rude. But Zhou Donghuang did not seem to mind, and looking at the golden needles in the brocaded box, he said to Yang Yunji, "Patriarch Yang, this set of golden needles will not be used by the Yang family anyway, so how about giving them to me?"

Although there were thirty-six golden needles, they were extremely light and not worth much. If Zhou Donghuang wanted a set, he would only have to instruct Fu to get one for him.

However, since it was right there, he was happy to save the trouble.

"Medicine Master Zhou, I would like to examine these golden needles, so I'm afraid I cannot give them to you," Yang Yunji said flatly.

Zhou Donghuang was startled by the reply, but he immediately put down the brocaded box. "In that case, never mind."

This time, the young lady could no longer stand it and said to Yang Yunji, "First Uncle, since Big Brother Zhou wants these golden needles, why don't you just give them to him?"

At the same time, the young lady was confused as to why it seemed that her first uncle seemed a totally different person that day?

"Zixi, your first uncle has his own plans."

Yang Yunji gave the young lady a glance and looked back at Zhou Donghuang. "Medicine Master Zhou, I have something to tell my niece... you, could you leave us for now?"

"Mhm."

Zhou Donghuang nodded indifferently and exited the room immediately as he prepared to leave.

However, as soon as he had exited the room and left the small courtyard, he heard the young lady's scream of rage. "Fine! I'll leave the Yang family! Even though I, Yang Zixi, may starve to death after leaving the Yang family, I will not agree to marry that playboy Shi Yu who toys with young girls!"

Hearing this, Zhou Donghuang paused, frowning slightly.

Soon, he saw the young lady rush out from the room in a huff, rivers of tears flowing down her beautiful cheeks, looking delicate and lovely even in her pitiful state.

"Big Brother Zhou."

Seeing that Zhou Donghuang had not yet left, the young lady reached up to wipe the tears from her eyes, but the tears kept flowing.

Even though Zhou Donghuang had a thousand years of memories and had seen disasters and calamities, he could not help feeling pained seeing the young lady in this state.

"What happened?"

The young lady cried as she told him, "First Uncle wants me to marry that Shi Yu, and said if I do not agree, he will expel me from the Yang family!"

Now, the young lady's voice was trembling, and it was obvious how emotional she was.

"How could he say such a thing?"

Zhou Donghuang frowned. "Could he just have been angry?"

"No."

The young lady shook her head. "I know First Uncle, and he would not say something if he did not mean it."

"Big Brother Zhou, I'll take my leave to pack my things and get ready to leave the Yang family... now, I don't wish to linger here a moment longer."

The young lady stumbled off after wishing Zhou Donghuang, crying as she went and leaving a trail of tears behind her.

Zhou Donghuang's face fell, and he entered the courtyard once more and went into Yang Yunji's room.

"Why?"

Zhou Donghuang looked at Yang Yunji and asked in a low voice, "Do you know, Zixi respects you as a father... and you, in order to force her to marry someone she hates, would even expel her from the Yang family?"

"Medicine Master Zhou, this matter is the Yang family's concern, don't worry about it," Yang Yunji replied indifferently to Zhou Donghuang question.

"Do you confirm... that what you said to her was not just to scare her?" Zhou Donghuang asked in a low voice.

"I am the patriarch of the Yang family, and my word is decisive. Why would I scare her?"

Yang Yunji smiled coldly. "Medicine Master Zhou, if you are able to advise her, please do so... if only she agrees to marry Young Master Shi, she will still be part of the Yang family and will continue to enjoy the blessings that come with it."

Zhou Donghuang's eyes gleamed coldly at Yang Yunji's words, and not bothering to argue, he left and returned directly to his guest room. After Fu had packed up, he led Fu in search of the young lady.

When they found her, she was about to leave with Aunt Mei.

"Big Brother Zhou?"

Seeing Zhou Donghuang and Fu, the young lady and Aunt Mei could not help being stunned momentarily.

There were still traces of tears on the young lady's face, and Aunt Mei's face was full of rage.

"I am also about to leave the Yang family, let's go together."

Zhou Donghuang smiled.

As they walked out of the main entrance of the Yang family mansion, Zhou Donghuang asked the young lady, "Where do you intend to go next?"

She hesitated briefly before answering, "I... intend to go to a sister and stay with her temporarily."

"I'll send you over," Zhou Donghuang said with a smile.

"Big Brother Zhou, you too do not have accommodation in the royal city at the moment... when I see my sister, I'll get her to take you in too," the young lady said as she dutifully forced out a smile.

...

The entrance of the family mansion of the grand Zheng family.

"Young Mistress Zixi, our young mistress has instructed us... if you have come seeking shelter after being expelled from the Yang family, we are not to allow you in. We are also to advise you that an arm cannot be stronger than a leg, it is best that you marry Young Master Shi," the Zheng family junior guarding the entrance told the young lady.

"Did she really say that?"

The young lady's face turned pale.

"Yes."

The Zheng family junior nodded.

...

The main entrance of the family mansion of the grand Xie family.

The young lady had been turned away again.

"Sister Zixi, our young mistress says, if you agree to marry Young Master Shi, you will both remain sisters... if not, the bond as sisters that you share will end here."

...

Zhou Donghuang followed the young lady as she encountered one setback after another.

It was as though there was an invisible hand pushing the young lady and forcing her to make the stark choice: Marry Young Master Shi of the Shi family or wander the streets.