Reunion and Finding a Bride for the New Year
Northlyn and Eastlyn have signed a peace accord, Southlyn is slowly rebuilding, all major affairs of state are firmly in Prince Nolan's hands, and Eastlyn is united and thriving—a scene of prosperity everywhere.
With Northlyn withdrawing its troops and Southlyn no longer a problem, Eastlyn now has surplus strength. Westlyn, of course, no longer needs to shoulder Eastlyn’s burdens. As soon as Northlyn and Eastlyn signed the peace treaty, Westlyn immediately pulled back its forces and focused its main strength on guarding against the Princess Royal of Lyndaria.
Lyndaria’s Princess Royal has been restless lately, seemingly ready to make another move. Titus, the Crown Prince of Lyndaria, fears she’ll go mad, so he secretly contacts Prince Nolan and asks him to keep a close eye on the Princess Royal. Upon receiving word, Prince Nolan immediately assigns more men to track her movements, promising to send troops to support Titus at the first sign of trouble.
With Eastlyn’s withdrawal, every kingdom and city breathes a sigh of relief. Though they all wish to swallow each other whole, now is not the time. Everyone tacitly halts their campaigns and takes the chance to rest, recover, and rebuild their strength.
With all kingdoms and cities at peace, the Nine Provinces Realm enjoys a rare calm. Prince Nolan is pleased with the situation and has no plans to send out troops for now. With the New Year approaching, he issues an edict allowing soldiers to return home in rotations so they can reunite with their families.
Simon Sun, Divine Doctor Guile, and Dr. Redwater have been stationed in Southlyn for nearly a year. As the year draws to a close, they’re starting to think about heading home—but…
"Southlyn is desperately short of doctors. If we leave, what will happen to all these patients?" Simon Sun looked troubled; only now did he truly understand what Master meant by ‘one person’s skills are never enough.’
A single person’s power is limited. No matter how skilled he was, he couldn’t possibly save every patient in the world.
"The Medical Academy students will be arriving soon. Once they take over, you don’t need to worry." Dr. Redwater patted Simon Sun’s shoulder, signaling him not to fret.
Simon Sun is good in every way except one—his sense of responsibility is just too strong. If he keeps this up, one day he’ll work himself to death.
"You alone can only save so many. If you truly care about the patients, go talk to your master—ask her to open a school here to teach medicine." Divine Doctor Guile was practical; his suggestion was spot-on.
Simon Sun’s eyes lit up and he nodded repeatedly. "Divine Doctor Guile is right. I’ll go talk to Master about it—if we build more schools, there’ll be more and more doctors in the future."
"Exactly. With more doctors, patients won’t have to worry anymore." After a year in Southlyn, Divine Doctor Guile and Dr. Redwater had seen so much. The two of them had spent decades roaming the land, healing people without asking for reward, yet the number of patients they’d treated in all those years didn’t compare to what they’d managed in just this one year.
Only after working on the front lines did they realize just how hard life was for ordinary folks—too few doctors, too many patients dying before help could reach them.
If only more doctors could be trained, so that common people could get the care they need—they’d be happy to do their part, however small.
With their minds made up, the three spent the next few days handing off their work and making sure each patient was taken care of, so no one would be left unattended when they left.
"Serena’s son was born on New Year’s Eve. If we hurry, we can make it back before his birthday." Divine Doctor Guile did a quick calculation in his head and shared his plan with Dr. Redwater and Simon Sun.
They hadn’t been there for Serena’s childbirth, nor had they shown up at all this past year. Now that they’d decided to return to Eastlyn and spend New Year with Serena, they naturally wanted to arrive before Little Dumpling’s birthday.
"Little Junior Brother is already a year old, and I still haven’t met him. Master says his cradle name is Little Dumpling—just thinking about it, he sounds so soft and cute. I really want to hold him." Just imagining Little Dumpling made Simon Sun want to sprout wings and fly straight home.
Divine Doctor Guile and Dr. Redwater couldn’t help but laugh. "If you like kids so much, hurry up and find someone to marry—have one of your own."
"N-no, I—I don’t want to!" Simon Sun’s ears turned bright red from their teasing, making Divine Doctor Guile and Dr. Redwater burst out laughing. Divine Doctor Guile was a bit more restrained, but Dr. Redwater, completely shameless, teased, "Look at you, Simon—still a virgin! That won’t do. Yin and yang need to be balanced. I’ll talk to your master when we get back and have her help you pick a wife for the New Year."
"No, no, I… I don’t want to get married. I’m still young. I want to see more of the world. Master says the world is huge—a man shouldn’t be confined to a tiny courtyard." Simon Sun’s face was burning with embarrassment, wishing he could run away, but he was stuck in the carriage with Dr. Redwater and Ling Mo, with nowhere to go and no help from Ling Mo outside.
"Alright, enough teasing Simon. Any more and his face will catch fire." Divine Doctor Guile put a stop to Dr. Redwater’s antics. Dr. Redwater shot him a dissatisfied look, his phoenix eyes sparkling with mischief…
Ahem… Divine Doctor Guile’s own ears reddened, and he quickly changed the subject: "We weren’t there when Little Dumpling was born, so since we’ll make it for his birthday, we have to make up for it with gifts. Be sure to get them ready."
Dr. Redwater glanced at Divine Doctor Guile with a half-smile, making Guile feel prickly all over. He didn’t stammer, but acted as if nothing was wrong, discussing birthday gifts for Little Dumpling with Simon Sun.
Simon Sun was lost in his own thoughts and didn’t notice the two elders’ subtle exchange. Divine Doctor Guile, helpless, gave a bitter smile and joined the discussion…
Thanks to arrangements by Divine Doctor Guile and Ling Mo, Simon Sun’s party arrived at a town near the Capital on Lunar New Year’s Eve Eve. They’d be able to enter the city the next day.
The closer Simon Sun got to Eastlyn, the more he noticed how much things had changed. Last year, the people of Eastlyn rejoiced at defeating Southlyn and growing stronger; this year, they’re happy simply to be reunited with family and free from war. The New Year’s atmosphere is much richer than last year, and many soldiers returning from distant campaigns have been allowed home…
"Life gets better every year. We finally have something to hope for." Ordinary people just want enough to eat and wear. Last year they worried about grain and harvest; this year they have nothing to fear. With the new emperor on the throne and a general amnesty, taxes are down, and most importantly, even commoners now have their own fields.
"We may be far from home, but life just keeps getting better. We have our own fields and land now. After taxes, we still keep seventy percent. This year, our family can finally eat white rice." A resettled peasant from Southlyn sighed with emotion.
They used to rent fields from landlords, working themselves to the bone all year, and after paying taxes and rent, only kept thirty percent. If harvests were bad and rents went up, they’d be lucky to keep ten percent. Forget rice—even grain seed was scarce.
"Compared to now, those days were hardly worth living. This year, I can even slice off some meat for my grandson." The Southlyn peasants who relocated to Eastlyn were content, surprised to find themselves well-fed and clothed, not shunned or bullied as they’d feared. They’d never dared dream of such a life before.
"Those officials were right—we were always one family. Southlyn and Eastlyn are just names; if you trace back three generations, we’re still the same branch." Eastlyn and Southlyn people now live side by side, and under the local officials’ persistent guidance, they let go of prejudice and treat each other as equals.
Before the New Year, administrative reports from all over came in. No matter how busy he was, Prince Nolan always paid special attention to the towns where Eastlyn and Southlyn people lived together.
Seeing things improve everywhere, Prince Nolan grew confident in the policy. After the New Year, he decided to spread it nationwide—no more Eastlyn or Southlyn, or even Westlyn or Northlyn. From now on, the Nine Provinces Realm would be one empire!