Chapter 251 Past

When Li San Niang said this, not only was Doctor Liang speechless, but even Li's father felt that Li San Niang's words were somewhat unreasonable.

"Third Sister, you mustn't be rude."

Old Doctor Liang said, "Doctor Li, there's no need to scold Third Sister. It's just that I don't know how to say these words properly, which is why I haven't been able to say them."

Standing behind Doctor Liang, Shao Yang widened his eyes slightly as he looked at his master, who had seemed a bit off since yesterday. He wondered what was going on and what business it was of suddenly visiting the Li family.

After hearing this, Li's father and the others had a better understanding of the situation.

After all, the old doctor Liang, who came to visit in the evening, kept circling back and forth about Li San Niang's and Li's father's lineage.

If they still don't understand that this is related to the Poison King, then Li's father and the others are truly pretending to be stupid.

Then, with a touch of melancholy, Dr. Liang told a story in the main hall of the Li family home.

It turns out that Dr. Liang's grandmaster was a famous physician in the Imperial Medical Bureau during the reign of Emperor Gaozong (Li Zhi). He had three disciples in his lifetime. The eldest disciple was Dr. Liang's master. The second disciple had an unfortunate fate and died in a palace secret when he was young. The youngest disciple, however, was a man of courage.

The youngest disciple was a homeless beggar on the street. After being taken in by his master, he was immediately handed over to the second disciple to take care of.

Therefore, the junior disciple and the second disciple, who were more than ten years apart in age, had a very close relationship.

After the death of his second disciple, the junior disciple secretly investigated who had framed him. He then devised a scheme to poison five or six officials who had been involved in wrongly accusing the second disciple.

It is highly poisonous, not so much that it kills instantly upon contact with blood, but rather that it causes prolonged illness and suffering, leaving the patient unable to be cured until they die in agony.

When the second disciple's body was returned, although he was dressed in clean clothes, there was not a single piece of good skin left on his body inside.

The young disciple committed such a calamity, which was exposed after these people were poisoned. Naturally, the Imperial Guards wanted to arrest him, and the young disciple fled Chang'an City overnight without leaving a message for his master and senior brother.

After his second disciple died and his youngest disciple poisoned someone and defected, the grandmaster only lasted a few years before passing away due to depression and loss of will to live.

The master (eldest disciple) of Physician Liang resigned from his official post and left the palace. Then, in the later years of Emperor Gaozong's reign, Physician Liang started from the bottom and worked his way up to become the head of the Imperial Medical Bureau.

However, even amidst all this, the old doctor Liang did not forget to investigate his own junior uncle who had betrayed the sect and fled.

To everyone's surprise, after decades, they still haven't received a single piece of news.

However, now, after looking at the detoxification prescription that Li's father gave to Fang Chengxian, some clues have been discovered.

Yes, Dr. Liang suspects that the Poison King is his own junior uncle.

Therefore, Doctor Liang asked Fang Chengxian to act as a go-between, and sent an invitation with generous gifts and his closed-door disciple to visit the Li family. In fact, he wanted to find out whether the Li family's lineage was indeed that of his own junior uncle.

After hearing Dr. Liang's story, the Li family looked at each other, unsure of what to do.

Hearing that this was related to the poison techniques she was currently learning, Li San Niang didn't know what to do.

Is it to acknowledge the matter and then return the Poisonous Doctor's Book to the Poisonous King?

Or are they just pretending to be blind, refusing to admit it, and insisting they don't know anything?

Li Erxiong and Li Sanniang exchanged a glance, feeling that this matter involved the grudges and disputes of the previous generation, and was not something they, as juniors, should or could interfere with. So they both kept silent.

Mr. Li sat at the head of the table, his brows furrowed. He truly hadn't expected that nearly twenty years had passed, and that his habit of prescribing medicine in such a small way would lead someone to find him by chance, seizing upon this tiny clue.

Li's father felt that since he had inherited the legacy of the Poison King, although he did not agree with using poison to harm people, he had indeed been taught by the Poison King. It was Li's father who buried his body and erected a tombstone for him, and he would visit the grave every year on the anniversary of his death.

You should know that medicine and toxicology are not separate; it just depends on whether you are perceptive enough and whether you are willing to delve into the subject.

The Poison King didn't teach Li's father any poison techniques, but he did teach him a lot about medicine. In the end, he wrote down the poison techniques that he was so proud of and gave them to Li's father.

The book on poisons is still in Li San Niang's hands.

Faced with Dr. Liang's probing gaze, Li's father felt he should tell him, but he was also afraid that it would cause trouble for his family.

It can only be said that the chance encounter that saved the Poison King back then already foreshadowed the fact that someone would come knocking on my door today.

Everything has a cause and an effect.

Father Li said to Third Sister Li, "Third Sister, go and get that booklet."

Li San Niang understood. Her father wanted to tell her the truth. After all, although Poison Yama was a ruthless person, the fact that Doctor Liang hadn't given up searching for decades meant they deserved an explanation.

While Li San Niang went back to her room to retrieve the book on poison techniques, Li's father spoke in a low voice, word by word, about his family's relationship with the Poison King and how he had become the Poison King's successor.

"...That's how it was. I listened to my master and buried him directly in the mountains. Later, I carried the stone tablet up and erected it."

My master never told me about his past, nor did he ever tell me his name. Besides teaching me medicine, all he left me was that book on poisons.

Li San Niang handed over the booklet, but Doctor Liang did not take it.

Li San Niang turned to look at her father, who nodded. Li San Niang then placed the booklet on the small table next to Doctor Liang.

In the main hall late at night, the only sound was the crackling of oil lamps. Old Doctor Liang didn't look at the booklets or the Li family members; he just stared down at the ground, lost in thought.

Li's father and the others didn't know what to say. The dead cannot be brought back to life, so how could they comfort him?

Not to mention, this happened more than 20 years ago. How can we talk about the past grudges and affections?

Just as Li San Niang was about to speak, the old physician Liang said, "After my master passed away, he always felt that his eldest brother had done a bad job, which made his junior uncle risk his life to poison his second uncle in order to avenge him. In the end, he was forced to flee to Chang'an and no one knows whether he was dead or alive when he was being hunted down."

My master did not ignore the fact that my second uncle was wrongfully killed, but he did not intend to take revenge in such a drastic way.

In his final days, he kept saying how intelligent his junior uncle was, how he could remember everything he saw, and how he could understand everything he was taught. He said that if he had followed the right path, he might have become a medical master like his grandmaster.

My master doesn't think my junior uncle's use of poison is bad; medicine and poison have always been intertwined, it's just a matter of how they are used.

The old doctor Liang raised his head and looked at Li's father, saying, "Since Junior Uncle has chosen Doctor Li as his successor, then we are naturally fellow disciples of the same lineage."

When my grandmaster was alive, he first passed on the golden needle technique to my master. My junior uncle mastered it so well that he was able to prescribe the medicine with exquisite skill. My master always wanted to teach my junior uncle the golden needle technique, but because of what happened to my second uncle, he never had the chance in his lifetime.

Doctor Liang pushed aside the poison manual that Li San Niang had just put down on the table before continuing, "This poison technique was not taught by our grandmaster; it must have been figured out by our junior uncle himself."

Since Junior Uncle passed it on to you, it is naturally yours.

After saying this, Doctor Liang looked at Li San Niang and said, "However, before my master passed away, he always thought that he had not taught my junior uncle the Golden Needle Technique. If Li San Niangzi wants to learn, I can teach her."