"Divine Doctor, is there something amiss? Please speak frankly," Xiao Chang'an asked gently. His beautiful peach blossom eyes were filled with compassion, as if there was nothing he could not bear.
Previously, Qin San Niang had only thought this person was handsome, but Xiao Chang'an was still unconscious at the time. Now that she saw him moving, she felt even more that he was so handsome he seemed otherworldly. Every gesture he made exuded the favor of the Creator.
Oh, if her own child could grow up to be this handsome, this old mother would be overjoyed.
To be fair, both sons are good-looking. Especially now that the family is better off, with plenty to eat and drink, their complexions are rosy and radiant, making them stand out in a crowd. But their good looks are only slightly more handsome than ordinary people; they don't quite reach the ethereal beauty of Xiao Chang'an.
Old Doctor Cao withdrew his hand and said, "Young master, judging from your pulse, you clearly have insufficient qi and blood, which is caused by excessive blood loss after the injury. I will prescribe a medicine for you later, and it shouldn't be a problem for you to recover gradually. However..."
This "but" also piqued Qin San Niang's curiosity. She had already felt Xiao Chang'an's pulse last night, and as Old Doctor Cao had said, there was no danger to his life.
"Please speak, old doctor."
"Very well, if I may be so bold as to ask, do you usually eat at home?"
Xiao Chang'an's eyes flickered. Food? Could he have been poisoned? This wasn't a secret among wealthy and powerful families. However, his confidants had followed him for many years, and he was always very careful about the food they consumed. If something went wrong here, it would likely cause internal strife, which was no small matter!
Yuan Lang's expression instantly darkened. He was in charge of everything the young master did, from his daily food and clothing to his lodgings! If something like this happened, he would be held responsible and could not escape the blame even if he died a thousand deaths!
No, we must find this traitor and grind him to dust!
In comparison, Xiao Chang'an was relatively calm and replied, "Most of my daily meals are from home. Does the old doctor suspect that I may have been poisoned?"
Even though his mind was racing, Xiao Chang'an's tone remained calm.
"Young master has indeed been poisoned. This poison is colorless and odorless, and is called 'Falling Back.' It is a slow-acting poison. Long-term use can gradually cause a person to lose their mind, eventually fall into a coma, and die."
Recently, the renowned physician Cao has been reading medical books and has come across some very interesting cases, among which "falling poison" is one.
As fate would have it, he had previously visited a wealthy landowner to treat a seven-year-old child whose symptoms were quite strange. The usually lively child had suddenly lost consciousness and fallen into a coma, yet his breathing and pulse remained normal. Many doctors had examined the child, but none could diagnose the problem! It was only by chance that he, who was currently researching toxicology, was able to glimpse the secret.
As for the reason, it was naturally the infighting among the wives and concubines of that family. The concubine actually poisoned the legitimate son! The concubine was six months pregnant and knew that the baby in her womb was most likely a boy. She was paving the way for her son!
The old doctor, Cao, took a different approach and cleverly detoxified the child. Although the poison was rare, its toxicology was not complicated, and the antidote was not particularly difficult to find.
Having learned from this experience, he no longer hesitated when he felt this pulse again, but the sordid affairs of this large family made him sigh deeply. If Xiao Chang'an hadn't been Madam Qin's guest, he might not have spoken so frankly.
Ignoring the pain in his body, Yuan Lang struggled to sit up. "Old doctor, how long has the young master been poisoned? Is there an antidote? Please, you must cure the young master. I will do anything to repay your great kindness."
As he spoke, he actually tried to get up, kneel down, and kowtow.
Upon seeing this, Gu Qingshan quickly helped him up and said,
"Why are you in such a hurry? Since Doctor Cao knows the illness, he will definitely do his best. If your injury gets worse, you'll only trouble him to treat you again."
Upon hearing this, Yuan Lang stopped what he was doing, afraid of burdening the doctor, but still stared intently at him.
Xiao Chang'an, however, took it all in stride and said calmly, "Old doctor, there's no need to make things difficult. This poison must have been around for quite some time, right? But why haven't I had any reaction?"
"That's right, this poison has been in your body for over a decade. The reason there's no reaction is because it hasn't reached an effective dose. To put it another way, you ingested poison when you were young, and since then, perhaps for some reason, you haven't ingested it again. The toxins in your body haven't reached the level required to cause an attack, which is why it hasn't taken effect."
But if he poisons you again, you'll be poisoned! However, you probably also experience dizziness occasionally, right?
“What the old doctor said is true, young master does occasionally experience slight dizziness, especially after exertion!” Yuan Lang interjected.
At this point, neither of them dared to underestimate this country doctor anymore. They even had imperial physicians in their household, so this was nothing compared to him!
Old Doctor Cao agreed, "That's right! These are the symptoms of falling back."
Seeing Xiao Chang'an's handsome appearance, he felt a sense of tenderness towards him. After all, such a good-looking young man was also the son of his parents. As a doctor, how could he bear to see the parents outlive their son?
"Old Man Cao should be able to cure this poison, right?" Qin San Niang asked. She sighed inwardly, marveling at Old Man Cao's ever-improving medical skills. Forgive her, a mere amateur, for not being able to diagnose the poisoning of Xiao Chang'an at all!
Old Doctor Cao nodded with a faint smile, "That's right, I can cure it. This young master is fortunate. I just gathered the antidote herbs a few days ago, and you can use them now. In this way, the poison in your body will be cleared in about half a month, and the dizziness will not recur."
"Then I'll trouble you, old doctor, to detoxify me!" Xiao Chang'an said solemnly, his mind filled with the dream of the koi fish he had a few days ago. It was indeed an auspicious omen!
Afterwards, Old Man Cao took Yuan Lang's pulse again, and he also showed symptoms of weak blood and qi, but since he was physically strong, he could recover after taking some medicine.
Because he had to take care of two patients and help with detoxification, Dr. Cao decided to stay in Shiligou for a few days so that he could prepare medicine for Xiao Chang'an.
Gu Qingshan volunteered to go to the Cao family to fetch the medicinal herbs and informed his family of this. Hearing that their father was treating patients at the landlord's house, Cao Wenshan and the others weren't worried. Zhenniang quickly packed a change of clothes and a medicine box for her father-in-law…
Thus began the days when Xiao Chang'an and his servant recuperated in Shiligou.
To outsiders, the families kept it a secret, and the villagers had no idea that they were hiding outsiders. The helpers stayed at the workshop and rarely came to the master's house.
The master and servant were living a very carefree life.
This all started with the meals at Qin San Niang's house.
Initially, Xiao Chang'an and Yuan Lang were prepared to endure hardship. After all, their location was a remote, impoverished mountain valley that couldn't even be found on a map. What good food could they possibly have there? They were lucky if they could even get enough to eat! The chicken soup they had eaten before was probably the best they could get for this family!
They couldn't just eat and drink for free. Although they were traveling light, the silver notes in their breast pockets were wet, but they could still be used after drying.
Xiao Chang'an waved his hand and took out a two-hundred-tael silver note as food expenses.
Qin San Niang was overjoyed; she had finally met this rich and foolish man!
We must not offend them; if we serve them well, we'll likely reap the rewards!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com