บท 127: Treating Guo Jia

The next day Guo Jia entered Yun's office again and he laid down on the desk like before while Yun took out some acupuncture needles which he filled with Light Qi before placing them all around the backside of Guo Jia's body.

Guo Jia wasn't puking a stream of blood like the day before but he still spits some bad blood out of his mouth towards the bucket Yun prepared beforehand. Yun was happy to see that the treatment was working by moving his hand over Guo Jia's back after the treatment.

"So how long will you need to treat?" asks Guo Jia curious about it since he still spits bad blood today.

"We still have a long way to go but you are on the right way. Just avoid alcohol until we are done with the treatment," says Yun explaining to Guo Jia that his liver had to cope with his drinking habit to keep his body warm the whole time.

Yun not only had to cure Guo Jia's leukemia but also restore his liver which explained all the blood yesterday to Guo Jia.

"I will try to avoid it," says Guo Jia happy about it since he only drank alcohol to keep his body warm in the past.

If Yun finished his treatment it meant that he wouldn't need to touch wine ever again except if he wanted to celebrate something or drink with his colleagues. But never again as a necessity to keep himself alive.

Guo Jia left after his four hours of treatment while Yun purified the needles before putting them in their leather satchel when he begins to think, 'I could pass as a miracle doctor instead of a merchant while traveling to Zhending.'

Yun then puts the needle satchel back on a shelf behind him between two books before burning another pot with Guo Jia's bad blood in it. Afterward, Yun began to plan the trip again when he hears a scream coming from outside.

He rushes out of his office and went towards where the scream came from finding Zheng crying over a Tiger. Yun was holding his chest in relief because nothing bad happened when he looks at the Tiger.

It was Snowflake who was laying there without moving any longer when Yun pets the old tiger one last time while Zheng was trying to make Snowflake move.

"Dad, please, can't you do something?" asks Zheng sad with tears running down his cheeks.

"I can't do anything, Zheng. Snowflake was an old tiger that already passed his time. He isn't like Thunder and Shadow who were gifts of the Heavens," says Yun to his son while petting his head trying to calm his son down.

Snowflake wasn't the first tiger to die but it hurt more to lose him than the others since he was the first tiger he took in. Yun stayed for a while with Zheng cheering him up before he fell asleep.

Yun carried Zheng to his room and laid him on his bed before returning to find Snowflake's corpse. He places the tiger over his shoulder and leaves the room.

He knew that he couldn't just bury Snowflake since anyone would just bury him out and open him up for his organs which are seen as a miracle drug by doctors.

He placed the dead body on a table and began to skin the tiger before opening him up and taking the organs out before he says, "I'm sorry, old friend, but you like the others will become the foundation for the future of my children."

Yun had fed his children already a tiger's liver which was rich in nutrients and Qi. They thought it was normal liver like from a pig or cow and ate it like it was nothing.

Yun finished and he gave the cook the organs that could be eaten and threw away the parts that couldn't. He washed his hands before touching Snowflake's skin which he wanted to keep for himself before making a necklace out of Snowflake's teeth and claws for Zheng who loved the tiger more than anything.

Zhen Luo was learning from Madam Su and Qing how to look after a child since she became the mother of two without bearing them. She went to see Yun when she found out that Zheng was already asleep when the sun was still out when she finds the reason for it decorating parts of the inside of Yun's armor.

"Is that the Tiger that Zheng presented to me when I arrived?" asks Zhen Luo concerned since she always saw Zheng riding on that Tiger with Yang most of the time.

"Yes, his name was Snowflake," says Yun as he was carefully placing the fur in his armor without damaging it.

Yun wanted to keep Snowflake close to himself and adorning the inside of his armor would make it happen when he continues, "He was the first of the Tiger that we raised. I found him alone in the wilderness looking for food. It seemed the mother had abandoned him because of his white fur making it more difficult for him to survive."

Yun was done and he placed his armor back on the armor rack before turning to Zhen Luo and saying, "Zheng is just like his mother wanted him to be. I hope he stays as pure as he is today when he is an adult."

Yun then walks towards Zhen Luo and looks her in the eyes making Zhen Luo feel intimidated by him. She looked to the ground trying to avoid his eyes when she suddenly feels his hands on her shoulders.

"I need to apologize for my two oldest. They couldn't wrap their heads around the idea that we will be married in the future and antagonists you by treating you coldly," says Yun in a tone that made Zhen Luo feel reassured when she hears, "Hell, even I haven't proceeded it completely yet. But anyway I talked to them and they should be more amicable toward you in the near future."

Zhen Luo was surprised by Yun at the moment. The person she was always seeing was a cold man that was sitting most of the time behind his desk and would sometimes come from behind it to see the development of his children.

It was just like she imagined the Legendary General Zhao to be the whole time but right now she was seeing a more humane side of the person known as Zhao Yun.

Yun smiled at her before letting go of her before he says, "I appreciate that you are trying to learn how to rear a child for Yang's sake. But it won't change my mind about you just becoming a stand-in so I won't be bothered by others trying to throw their daughters at me."

Zhen Luo nods understanding that she won't receive any love from him but that the ambient will be a lot warmer now thanks to Yun being warmer to her.

"Also, never lower your head to anyone in this household except for my mother. She is the only person you need to lower your head before. You will be my wife even if it is only as a stand-in but still my wife. The people will talk behind your back if you continue to do so thinking that you are weak which will make them believe that the Zhao household has weakened as well," says Yun telling Zhen Luo that she didn't need to bow to him to show her respect.

"I will try to do so," says Zhen Luo happy to see that Yun at least showed some interest in how she would be seen in the future if she continued to bow to everyone she meets in the mansion with high standing.

"Good," says Yun as he still had some fur left with which he created a hat for Zheng that would keep him warm in the winter.

The fur used for the hat was the fur that decorated Snowflake's head. It would make Zheng feel the warmth of Snowflake forever making him believe that Snowflake would always protect him in the future.

"Can you do me a favor and give this to Zheng once he wakes up? I still need to plan the trip to Zhending and Lunu," says Yun giving Zhen Luo a small task that would help her gain more rapport with Zheng as well as some other people that are out for her at the moment.

Zhen Luo left the office with the fur hat made by Yun for Zheng when Yun asks, "How is she faring so far?"

A shadow soon drops from the ceiling and knees before Yun and says, "So far she is faring well. She is under your mother's protection making it difficult for someone to even try to antagonize her. The only people able to do so would only people sharing your blood and those that did you straightened up yesterday."

It was a man with black eyes that reported to Yun wearing black ropes while hiding his face and hair under it as well with only his strong eyes visible to Yun.

"I thought your sister would report to me since she is normally the person leading the intern matters while you are in charge of everything outside, Rong," says Yun looking at Rong who is in fact Taiyin's older brother.

He was one of the original five hundred men that joined Yun back when he was still clenching out the Yellow Turban Rebellion. He was also the one that told Taiyin to try out to become one of Yun's soldiers back then.

Now Rong is responsible for gathering information outside his sister's reach with his Network of a thousand men that are everywhere in the Empire sending him reports weekly which he categorizes and presents to Yun the next day.

"Your mother is not only planning your wedding as you already know. Taiyin and Zhen Luo are being dragged around by your mother and your little sister making them wear wedding robes as well as testing which make-up suits them best for the upcoming wedding," says Rong informing Yun about him doing his little sister's job at the moment until she is free to work again.

"Good to see that you are working that hard since she won't be back until she has given birth to a child since my mother would find a way to kill me otherwise," says Yun when Rong hands Yun some documents with everything going on in the world.

Yun opened it and the first thing he read only made him say in an annoying tone, "Shit."