After Seventeen set off with the money and men, Fourth Master and Thirteenth Master both breathed a sigh of relief. At least they could get through the New Year.
On this day, Thirteen officially underwent "surgery" from Doctor Liang, and the operating room was located in Thirteen's residence.
The Fourth Prince deliberately avoided going to the palace, instead accompanying Lanqin and Doctor Liang to the Thirteenth Prince's residence. The Thirteenth Prince's health was his primary concern. Over the years, he had suffered greatly at the beekeeping alley, leaving him in poor health. Besides his leg ailment, his lungs were also weak, and he frequently coughed. Lanqin suspected he had tuberculosis.
When Fourth Master arrived at the Thirteenth Mansion with Lanqin and Doctor Liang, Madam Zhaojia had been waiting at the gate for a long time. As soon as their carriage arrived, she quickly led her people to greet them.
"Fourth Brother, Fourth Sister-in-law, you've come at just the right time! Thirteenth Brother!" Zhao Jia stood anxiously in front of Fourth Master and Lan Qin's carriage with a worried expression.
Fourth Master helped Lanqin down from the carriage. Doctor Liang was in the carriage behind them. He was going to perform surgery on Thirteen and would need to use some special equipment. He had asked Westerners to buy these things from Europe.
"What's wrong with Thirteen?" Fourth Master asked hurriedly.
"Fourth Brother, the Prince suddenly locked himself in his study and won't come out. No matter how I call him, he won't open the door," Zhao Jia said, her face flushed. Thirteenth Prince's behavior was like that of a child, but she couldn't do anything about it.
Upon hearing this, Lanqin said, "Is Thirteen scared? Doctor Liang brought anesthetic, so it won't hurt much."
Fourth Master nodded and looked at Lady Zhaojia questioningly.
"I don't know what's wrong with him either, but if we're talking about being afraid of pain, Your Highness doesn't seem like the type to be afraid of pain." Lady Zhaojia couldn't figure out why Thirteen had backed down at the last minute.
"Let's go take a look. Why is this thirteenth prince acting like a child?" After saying this, the Fourth Prince led Doctor Liang into the Prince Yi's residence. Lady Zhaojia and Lanqin followed behind.
"Thirteenth sister-in-law, have someone settle Doctor Liang in first and let him do the preparations. Your fourth sister-in-law and I will go and persuade Thirteenth." Fourth Master remembered this and turned to Zhao Jia behind him.
Lady Zhao nodded quickly and then personally led Doctor Liang to the main house in the front courtyard to make arrangements. Originally, the Thirteenth Prince's "surgery" was scheduled to be performed there.
Fourth Master then walked with Lanqin to Thirteen's study, which he had personally supervised the construction of, and he was very familiar with its layout.
When the servant guarding the door saw the Fourth Master arrive, he lowered his head and came over to report.
"Has the Thirteenth Prince been inside all along?" the Fourth Prince asked.
"Yes, the prince has been inside the whole time. Just now, the princess came and called for him for a long time, but the prince just wouldn't open the door," the servant said, bowing his head.
"Alright, I understand." The Fourth Master's face darkened, and he left Lanqin and the servant behind, walked to the door of the study, and slammed his hand on the door.
"Thirteen, open the door for me! Thirteen!" Fourth Master shouted as he pounded on the door.
Lanqin, Su Peisheng, and Baoqin Chunxi stood behind him, all worried that the door panel would be smashed apart by the Fourth Master, because he used a lot of force.
"Thirteen, what's wrong with you? Haven't you read the story of hiding your illness from medical treatment?" Fourth Master said angrily. "It's just a little bit of physical pain, and you're hiding inside like this? If you don't come and open the door, I'll tear the door apart with you."
Lanqin, however, felt that Thirteen might not be refusing medical treatment for this reason. She stepped forward, patted Fourth Prince on the back, and said, "Your Highness, perhaps Prince Yi has some other reason?"
"What other reason could he have? Thirteen, I didn't expect you to be so indecisive. I really underestimated you," Fourth Master said angrily.
Suddenly, a series of rapid breathing sounds came from inside the door. It turned out that Thirteen was standing inside the door, separated from Fourth Master only by a wooden door.
"Fourth Brother, I think we should leave it as it is. If we touch it again and it doesn't get better, it's better to leave it as it is," Thirteen said.
Lanqin understood, and a doubt arose in her heart about Thirteen's health: Could it be that Thirteen has other illnesses? Does he feel that he doesn't have long to live, so he has been refusing to undergo a comprehensive physical examination?
“Thirteen, once you’ve healed this leg, we brothers have a lot of important things to do. Why are you saying such discouraging things?” Fourth Master understood the meaning behind Thirteen’s words.
"Fourth Brother, I'm afraid Thirteen doesn't live much longer. Why bother operating on this injured leg? If we touch it, he'll probably be bedridden for a while and won't be able to do anything," Thirteen said.
Lanqin recalled what the Fourth Prince had said about the Thirteenth Prince having a cough that resembled tuberculosis, and said, "Prince Yi, if you have any concerns, just say them. Some illnesses are not incurable. For example, coughing and chest tightness are just symptoms of an illness. The Thirteenth Prince doesn't need to worry too much."
Hearing Lanqin's words, Thirteen, who was inside the door, shook his head and said, "I already have tuberculosis, how can it be cured? Fourth Sister-in-law is probably just trying to comfort me. Fourth Brother, you don't need to worry about it anymore. Let's work together for a while. Thirteen doesn't want to trouble Fourth Brother with my already broken body."
Upon hearing this, Fourth Master was so angry that he wished he could tear down the door in front of him, drag Thirteen out, and force Doctor Liang to treat his illness.
"Your Highness, why don't you go and discuss this with Doctor Liang? Let me speak with Prince Yi here," Lanqin said, grabbing the Fourth Prince's hand as he was about to wave it away.
When Fourth Master heard Lanqin say this, he hesitated for a moment. However, he knew that the little woman was sometimes more capable than him, since the disaster relief money was provided by her. Therefore, he had more respect and trust for Lanqin than before.
"I'll go see Doctor Liang again to see if there's anything we can prepare. You can talk to him about it. If he still doesn't come out, I'll send people to tear down the door and get him out of Ali," Fourth Master said, before leaving with Su Peisheng.
"Thirteenth Master, I only have one thing to say to you. If you don't come out yourself, then don't expect your Fourth Brother to bring people to tear down the door." Lanqin said to the Thirteenth Master inside the door.
"You two go away a bit, I have something to say to Prince Yi alone," Lanqin said to the two maids and the servant behind her.
Once they had indeed gone far enough away that they could no longer hear Lanqin's voice, Lanqin walked to the door, pressed herself against the door panel, and said to the Thirteenth Master inside, "Do you want to know what I have to say to you?"
"Sister-in-law, what do you want to say?" Thirteen was intrigued by Lanqin's strange behavior.
Meanwhile, Baoqin and Chunxi stood at a distance and saw Lanqin pressed against the door panel.
"What exactly did Your Majesty say that would bring up Prince Yi?" Chunxi couldn't help but ask.
“Our master’s abilities are beyond our expectations,” Baoqin said.
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