In the deep night, a carriage raced into the Marquis Dingxi’s manor. Wherever it passed, crying and shouting could be heard from inside the carriage. All the servants had been given advance notice – they kept their eyes straight ahead, as if no carriage had ever passed before them.
Having personally gone to see the injured magistrate’s son, both Marquis Dingxi and Madam Xie felt somewhat weak in the knees.
“So many doctors there couldn’t do anything – can that woman really treat him?” Madam Xie said quietly to Marquis Dingxi.
“What do you mean ‘that woman’?” Marquis Dingxi didn’t like hearing this and frowned.
Madam Xie realized her slip of tongue, covered her mouth with her handkerchief, turned her head, and coughed lightly.
“That doctor said A’Hao and Zi Qiao have the same condition. Since A’Hao recovered, there’s naturally no problem,” Marquis Dingxi said with some relief. “Don’t forget, Yueniang once saved the Old Marchioness.”
Madam Xie sat down without speaking, though doubt remained in her eyes.
The story of the little beggar who saved the Marchioness and rose to prominence had already become a tale known to everyone in the countryside. But for Madam Xie and the people in the household, they didn’t just think of it that way.
However, only the Old Marchioness and Qi Yueniang, grandmother and granddaughter-in-law, were present that day. What exactly happened, no one else knew besides them. Madam Xie had once secretly sent someone to question the doctor who later treated the Old Marchioness. As a result, before they could discover anything, the person she sent drowned on the way back, frightening Madam Xie so much that she never dared to pursue the matter again. By now, when she could finally control her own fate in the manor, the old woman was no longer there. Even if she found out, there would be no point.
While she was lost in thought, Marquis Dingxi couldn’t help but smile.
“So many doctors couldn’t cure him, but our Yueniang can cure him, hahaha,” he couldn’t help but laugh.
Madam Xie glanced at him.
“Marquis, over there they’re desperate and frantic,” she gestured toward outside the room.
Marquis Dingxi knew his laughter was inappropriate at this time and quickly stopped.
“If anything happens to Zi Qiao, Shu Min won’t survive,” Madam Xie sighed.
The magistrate’s son was named Zi Qiao, and the magistrate’s wife’s given name was Shu Min.
Madam Xie sighed, her face full of sorrow. Only those who had lost a child could understand how important a son was to a mother…
“With Yueniang here, everything will be fine,” Marquis Dingxi said with complete confidence.
Madam Xie scoffed.
“Let’s wait until he’s cured before saying that,” she said.
In the specially prepared side room, all the doctors also looked worried and urgent, gathering in small groups to talk quietly. Maids and servants came and went serving tea and water. Young Master Huang’s cries of pain came one after another from the room, his voice already hoarse.
“Does the Marquis Dingxi’s manor really have such a doctor?”
“Indeed, this is unheard of.”
“The technique of opening the abdomen to treat injuries has been lost for ages. Perhaps there really is an extraordinary person who possesses this secret skill.”
At this moment, two more people entered through the door, attracting the doctors’ attention.
Hu San hadn’t stopped looking around all the way here. Though it was nighttime, under the bright lantern light, every blade of grass and tree in this marquis’s manor amazed and fascinated him.
“Hu San,” the senior disciple had to remind him to watch his behavior all along the way.
Hu San reluctantly withdrew his gaze from the octagonal lantern hanging in the room, then saw the roomful of doctors – all doctors he had only heard of by name but never had the qualifications to meet. He was immediately filled with joy and surprise.
“Senior brother, senior brother, Doctor Zhu is here. Oh, Doctor Yuan is here too, and there’s also the miracle-handed Doctor Qian…” He couldn’t help but tug at his senior brother’s sleeve and whisper with wide eyes.
The senior disciple shook off his sleeve and respectfully but embarrassedly bowed to the doctors in the room.
“You’ve come,” Doctor Liu came out from the inner room.
Hu San and the senior disciple hurried over.
“Master, the medicine you requested,” the senior disciple presented a brocade box in his hands.
Liu Pucheng nodded and reached out to take it.
“What is this?” a doctor inquired, looking at the brocade box in Liu Pucheng’s hands.
“This is medicine I use to relieve Young Master Huang’s pain, so he won’t exhaust too much strength while waiting for this doctor to arrive for treatment,” Liu Pucheng said.
He didn’t open the medicine box, and the other doctors didn’t require it either. Every doctor had one or two of their own secret medicines and techniques.
“Master, are they really waiting for my master?” Hu San asked, his face excited.
The other doctors around were somewhat confused by these two “masters” being mentioned and looked at him curiously.
“Yes,” Liu Pucheng said, though his expression was somewhat strange.
Hu San was immediately excited, his face glowing red as he puffed out his chest to accept the surprised gazes around him.
“Oh, that’s right, Master. I came here a while ago wanting to see my master, but the people here said there was no such person,” he thought of something and moved closer to Liu Pucheng to whisper. “I went to ask Yuan Bao, but that kid was as tight-lipped as usual…”
Liu Pucheng looked at him, opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing.
The three of them went inside, and soon the cries of pain from the room diminished.
“Doctor Liu is indeed effective…”
“Why didn’t you use it earlier…”
The magistrate and his wife’s surprise and complaints could be heard.
“This medicine should not be used unless absolutely necessary. I’m giving some to the young master now so he can hold on until that doctor arrives,” Liu Pucheng said.
Saying this, he stepped back a few paces. Having stood for too long, his steps became increasingly unsteady, and the senior disciple quickly supported him.
“Master, are your legs alright?” the senior disciple asked quietly.