Several adults and children were already sitting in front of Doctor Fang's door. Since Hu Wan had already made arrangements with the shopkeeper and the old doctor, they went straight into the clinic.
Doctor Fang carefully felt Xu Lanting's pulse, examined his eyes and tongue, and asked about his daily life and the medications he had taken. After a moment's contemplation, he said, "When righteousness is within, evil cannot prevail..."
He said a lot, saying that Xu Lanting had suffered damage in his mother's womb, that the adults didn't take good care of him after he was born, and that he lacked nutrition, which resulted in him being weak and sickly, with insufficient Qi and blood...
His explanation was largely the same as Dr. Wei's, though the medicine he prescribed was slightly different, twenty doses in total. He also said that if the child showed improvement and the family's financial situation allowed, he could come back in three months and he would change a few of the medicines.
Just as he finished writing the prescription, a middle-aged man in a brown satin gown rushed in.
The man looked extremely anxious and whispered, "Old Doctor Fang, my uncle hasn't slept for three days and three nights..." He was so anxious that he said this in front of others. He quickly stopped talking and stared at Xu Lanyin and the others unkindly, meaning that they could leave now.
The patient had already been examined, and the man looked difficult to deal with, so they all walked out. Zhao Wu was much more stable now. Although he was extremely angry about the man's rudeness, he would not act rashly in Ningzhou Prefecture, where he was unfamiliar with the place.
After they left, the man continued, "My uncle hasn't slept for three days and three nights this time. He even fell this morning and didn't even go to the government office today. Old Imperial Physician Fang, please help distribute the medicine."
Doctor Fang shook his head, sighed, and whispered, "This medicine is poisonous. Taking too much is not good for people. Lord Min is so young..."
Xu Lanyin and others went to the lobby. Zhao Wu took the prescription and went to pick up the medicine, asking them to wait here.
Hu Wan whispered to Xu Lanyin, "The man just now was Butler Hao from the Min Mansion. My father-in-law said that Lord Min has extremely poor sleep, especially when he's busy with official duties or handling a major case. It's normal for him to be unable to sleep for days and nights. He used to drink various tranquilizing soups, but when the tranquilizing soups didn't work, he tried acupuncture. When acupuncture didn't work either, he looked for folk remedies everywhere... When those methods failed, someone suggested drinking a very small amount of knockout drug. This kind of fierce drug can really make him fall asleep, but you can't drink too much of it. Drinking too much can damage your brain and even kill you..."
Xu Lanyin asked, "Is that Lord Min the Deputy Envoy of the Ministry of Justice and Anca?"
Hu Wan nodded and said, "It's him. The Min government has been searching everywhere for folk remedies to help people fall asleep, and has even consulted many quack doctors. Now many people know that Lord Min has trouble sleeping, but they just didn't know it was so serious."
Xu Lanyin understood. It turned out Min Hu suffered from severe insomnia and had taken "chronic poison" to fall asleep. The book said he died of a hidden illness. Could he have taken too many knockout drugs?
Whether it was out of selfish motives to use Minhu to steal the credit for shutting down Yi Ju Restaurant, or out of admiration for the good official, Xu Lanyin wanted to help Minhu.
According to Hu Wan, insomnia in Fujian is more likely caused by psychological stress. And hypnosis can help people fall asleep if they suffer from insomnia caused by psychological stress.
Before, she had never thought that a small peasant girl like herself would have any intersection with the high-ranking Fujian people... and this opportunity just happened to come to her door.
Moreover, Zhao Wu also praised Min Hu a lot, saying that he was both virtuous and academically excellent, and had a very good reputation as an official. He was also highly praised in the book. If the hypnosis failed, he would not blame or punish himself.
Xu Lanyin whispered, "I have a method that can make people fall asleep. I wonder if this method will work for Lord Min."
Hu Wan thought of how Xu Lanyin had calmed down her frantic little sister before, and even told her some truths in a half-awake state. He said, "You can't just ask what Master Min is thinking..."
Xu Lanyin smiled and said, "Of course I didn't dare to ask any random questions. I just wanted him to fall asleep, or even sleep lightly."
Xu Lanzhou had heard her sister mention that the method was called hypnosis before, and said, "Sister, can you do it? Lord Min is a high-ranking official. If your method doesn't work, it will cause trouble."
Hu Wan also wanted to establish a relationship with Min Hu. Min Hu was not only the Deputy Envoy of the Criminal Investigation Department of Hebei Province, but his father was also the Minister of Justice. He reiterated, "Can you do it? You're helping Lord Min. This is no joke."
Xu Lanyin said, "It should work. Aren't they looking for folk remedies everywhere? They might as well try mine. It's better than taking knockout drugs."
Hu Wan took Xu Lanyin back to the clinic, where Doctor Fang was dividing the medicine with a small scale.
This medicine wasn't available in any pharmacy or drugstore; it was secretly concocted by someone. The Min family had some, but they were concerned about the dosage – too little would be ineffective, too much could be harmful – so they asked the old imperial physician Fang to help them divide it. Back when he was still at the Imperial Hospital, he'd frequently visited the Min Prefecture and was very familiar with the symptoms of the Min people.
Hu Wan cupped his fists and smiled, "This Miss Xu said she has a way to make people fall asleep without taking any medicine."
Housekeeper Hao and Doctor Fang both stared at Xu Lanyin in surprise. The girl, about sixteen or seventeen, had twin buns and wore a pea-green, half-worn cotton blouse and a matching long skirt. Her features were delicate, but her skin was slightly rough. While she looked good, she looked like the daughter of a modest family or a country girl.
Can a young lady like this cure insomnia that even the imperial physician can’t cure?
They both expressed serious doubts.
Xu Lanyin smiled and said, "No matter how brave I am, I wouldn't dare to go to Lord Min without a reason. I can't say that this method will definitely work for Lord Min's illness, but it can certainly help some people with insomnia fall asleep." She added, "It doesn't require medication or acupuncture, so there are no side effects."
Butler Hao said, "Is it a witch pretending to be a ghost and performing a ritual? She has done it before, but it didn't work on my master, and he didn't like it either."
Xu Lanyin shook her head and said, "I'm not a fortune teller, I don't know how to perform rituals."
No medicine, no acupuncture, no rituals, could it be that he just wants to sleep with her?
Butler Hao's face darkened with anger. He glared and shouted in a low voice, "If this girl wants to use any shady means to get close to my master in order to become his concubine, forget it."
Xu Lanyin was so angry that her nose was crooked. Fortunately, Zhao Wu was not there, otherwise she would have kicked him. She said with a sullen face, "I disdain to do the kind of thing you mentioned, and I will never do it. Now that such unpleasant words have been said, there is no need for me to embarrass myself further."
Hu Wan hurriedly said, "Uncle, you misunderstood. Miss Xu's treatment is just talking, and the two of them will keep a certain distance."
Doctor Fang also said, "They say there are always people who are better than you. There may be some treatments that we don't know about or haven't seen before. It wouldn't be a bad idea to let her try."
What he couldn't say was that no matter how bad it was, it was better than taking a knockout drug, right?
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