Chapter 291 - Chapter 291: Chapter 287: Forbidden Curse Technique_1

Chapter 291: Chapter 287: Forbidden Curse Technique_1

Yingbao fell asleep unknowingly.

In a daze, she began to dream again.

The dream was full of things that happened in her previous life, one after another, like scenes on a passing lantern.

In the dream, after being strangled to death by her own mother, she somehow saw many things.

Her biological parents followed Han Yueniang’s family to seek refuge with a certain vassal king, because Chen Tiantian had become a concubine of the king.

Not long after, the vassal king rebelled, but was soon crushed by the forces dispatched by the Imperial Court. Afterwards, Chen Tiantian and a number of other royal women were sent to Beijing to serve as the lowest-ranking palace maids.

The vassal king and his descendants were all poisoned to death, and the one who gave the order was Xiao Mo.

At this time, Xiao Mo was already a regent, supporting a young emperor in his rule. The young emperor’s mother was Xiao Yanyan, a maiden from the Xiao family.

With a shift in the dream’s scene, Yingbao saw her biological parents, along with Han Yueniang’s family, being escorted to the execution ground to be beheaded for treason.

Not only was Chen Changping’s entire family executed, but also his parents, brothers, and nephews— all were decapitated.

Treason was a serious crime, and as a result of Chen Changping’s actions, the Chen family was subjected to a nine-family execution.

Latter, the young Emperor abdicated in favor of Xiao Mo, and became a leisurely prince in his own right.

However, not long after, the abdicated young emperor died under mysterious circumstances, and the Empress Dowager also committed suicide by poison.

Then, Xiao Yanyan, the young emperor’s birth mother, was ordered to be executed for colluding with foreign enemies, and along with her, her parents, brothers, and nephews were all killed.

At once, Yingbao saw before her eyes rolling severed heads, splattering blood, flat-laid corpses— men and women, old and young, even children of just a few years old.

Seeing the bodies without heads, being soaked in blood flowing from the necks like broken dolls, she was terrified awake.

Yingbao sat up abruptly on her bed, startled into a cold sweat.

At this time it was already dawn and birds were chirping cheerfully outside her window.

Yingbao wipes her forehead, the scenes from the dream still weighing heavily on her mind.

Xiao Mo was terrifying, not only did he kill his aunt and cousin, he also murdered his uncle’s family, leaving no one behind.

Being disinclined towards such a ruthless person, she sighed, she must be tired of living.

Yingbao jumped off the bed, dressed, took out a bronze mirror, combed her hair in front of the mirror, and put on her turban.

At that time, the gong rang out from outside.

Yingbao took some water from a jug to brush her teeth and wash her face, then sprinkled some water on the dirt floor in her room.

After adjusting her appearance, she then opened the door.

After the dream last night, Yingbao suddenly didn’t feel so resentful towards Chen Tiantian.

So, the heroine can also have moments of adversity, she didn’t have much to worry about then.

She remembered Chen Tiantian in her dream washing clothes and bedding for the palace attendants in a laundry yard during the cold winter, her hair disheveled and face dirty. She died of illness within two years and was rolled up in a mat and buried in a mass grave, how desolate.

Adding it all up, she died only five years after Yingbao herself.

While she herself may have died, her two younger brothers were saved by someone and managed to survive in the county with the silver taels and the house she left them.

Every year they would visit her grave to offer incense and pay respect. Later, her elder brother got married, had a child, and brought his son to kowtow at her grave…

“Yingbao, are you going to the dining hall?” Xueqing called out to her as she exited her room.

Yingbao asked, “Yes, is Sister Xueqing coming along?” Yingbao had heard the breakfast was better than dinner, so she wanted to get in line early.

“Alright, wait for me.” Xueqing went back into her room to get her own bowl and chopsticks, and to fetch a bucket of water.

Xueqing’s room was spacious, divided into an inner and outer area, and the doors and windows were decorated with carved wooden lattice. Four people lived in this room.

Though the room was full, it was big enough for all four. The floor was paved with green stone slabs, making it very clean and bright.

Unlike Yingbao’s room, the floor was dirt and the doors and windows were dilapidated. The room was a low and narrow storeroom that was damp and dark, and filled with mouse holes.

Therefore, even though Yingbao had a room to herself, no one was envious.

The two girls entered the dining hall, there were not many people there yet.

This morning, there were mutton buns and the rich mixed vegetable soup, truly more abundant than the night before.

After eating two mutton buns and drinking a large bowl of mixed vegetable soup, Yingbao was satisfied and took her bowl to wash.

A long ditch lay in front of the dining hall where the students washed dishes and clothes, its water rather clear.

Whilst washing, she suddenly felt someone behind her.

Alert, Yingbao quickly got up to see Chen Tiantian and Wen Yurong standing not far away.

“What are you looking at!” Yingbao glared at them without courtesy.

Chen Tiantian didn’t speak. Wen Yurong hesitated for a moment before asking, “Junior sister Yingbao, I want to ask, which subject are you planning to study?”

After thinking about it, Yingbao didn’t mock her but answered honestly, “I want to study Forbidden Curse Technique.”

“Forbidden Curse Technique?” Wen Yurong found it unbelievable, “I heard that you are good at making medicine, why don’t you choose medical science?”

Yingbao unabashedly replied: “Because my Forbidden Curse Technique is even better than making medicine.”

Wen Yurong:······

Suddenly someone laughed out loud from the side.

Yingbao turned her head and frowned, “What are you laughing at?”

The laughter came from a thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy. He tried to suppress his laughter and said, “Junior sister, why don’t you recite a forbidden curse for us, so we can learn as well.”

“Are you sick? Asking me to recite a curse.” Yingbao retorted without courtesy.

The boy replied: “I am indeed sick. I have a condition called idle talk.”

“As long as you know what disease you, that’s fine.” Yingbao headed towards the school building without even glancing at him.

The boy touched his nose, not at all offended by this little girl’s sharp remark.

After putting away the bowls and chopsticks, Yingbao took her medicine box and headed to the classroom.

As a new student, she was not in the same class as Sister Xueqing.

In fact, Xueqing no longer attended classes. She and several other medical girls had gone to the Huimin Pharmacy to work, learning from the old masters while assisting them.

Huimin Pharmacy was a hospital established by the imperial court in various provinces and counties. It treated the public without charging or charging a minimal fee for medicine, hence numerous people sought treatment there every day.

The new student classroom for Yingbao was located next to the Huimin Pharmacy, where a teacher was currently taking roll call.

In the classroom sat several male and female students, all around twelve or thirteen years old.

Yingbao casually found a seat and sat down, the teacher had already started calling out her name.

“Jiang Yingbao!”

“Present!”

The teacher looked at her and asked, “Can you read?”

“Yes, I can read!”

“Which medical books have you read?”

“The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon, The Pulse Classic, Treatise on Cold Diseases, Supplement to Thousand Gold Prescriptions, Commentary on Materia Medica, and General Treatise on Febrile Diseases.” In fact, she had read way more, Yingbao’s read medical books and prescriptions could fill a large bamboo basket.

The teacher looked surprised.

He examined the little girl in front of him incredulously, and decided to quiz her on a few sections from medical classics. She gave the correct answer each time.

The teacher stroked his beard and said, “Since you are well-read in the classics, you don’t need to waste time here. Go to the pharmacy and find Mr. Ya Sen and ask him to arrange a new teacher for you.”

This class was a basic humanities class, so keeping a girl who already knew medical classics would be a waste of time. It would be more appropriate for Ya Sen to arrange a specialised subject and a corresponding tutor for her.

So, Yingbao cheerfully ran off to find a medical officer.

Hmph! She finally didn’t have to face Chen Tiantian every day.

She was going to join the Forbidden Curse department, which was not in the same location as the medical department. She didn’t believe that Chen Tiantian could follow her to study Forbidden Curse Technique with her.