Dong Dao never expected to see Qi Shan at the medical center.
He asked, "Is Junqiao feeling unwell?"
Although Dong Dao had taken Qi Miao as his disciple, he hadn't had much contact with Qi Shan in recent years. Firstly, Qi Shan was busy, and secondly, he himself was busy. There were so many patients in the world; he simply couldn't possibly see them all. Medical practitioners also needed to make house calls for their cultivation. It was already difficult enough for him to find time to mentor his disciples; how could he possibly have the energy to maintain relationships with the students' parents? Qi Shan, as a scholar of the literary heart, rarely fell ill throughout the year.
He was a rare guest for the medical department.
Qi Shan said, "It's not because of Jun Qiao."
Dong Dao immediately perked up, suppressing the urge to reach out and take Qi Shan's pulse: "Is Prime Minister Qi unwell?"
This is an extremely rare and precious case!
Qi Shan shook her head again: "No, it's this."
As he spoke, he lowered his head and pulled out Su Shang and the kitten Su Shang had brought from his sleeve. The smile on Dong Dao's lips froze halfway down. He looked at Su Shang, who also stared at him with its watery eyes. The man and the cat looked at each other, bewildered. The other kitten, unaware of what was happening, reached out its paw to touch the tassel on Qi Shan's wrist. Dong Dao suddenly understood Qi Shan's meaning and felt embarrassed and annoyed.
He said, "Is Prime Minister Qi here to make fun of this old man?"
Qi Shan hurriedly explained to Dong Dao, "No, no, I came here today with the sincere intention of seeking medical treatment. Please take a look at Su Shang."
Dong Dao was about to storm off.
So what if Qi Shan is the Grand Secretary?
He came here to amuse himself, not wanting to save face.
But upon hearing Qi Shan's sincerity and plea for him to stay, Dong Dao stopped in his tracks and glanced sideways at Su Shang and the kitten.
Although he and Qi Shan had less contact in recent years, he was aware of Qi Shan's notorious past. It was quite unusual for such a person to soften his stance and explain things to him for a cat. For that reason alone, Dong Dao wouldn't mind playing the role of a veterinarian and treating the cat.
Dong Dao took a step back.
His young face held a hint of inquisitive curiosity.
He asked, "Which one is sick? Or are both sick?"
Dong Dao glanced at the sun outside the medical office and suddenly realized a blind spot—wasn't the previous dynasty holding a court assembly at this time? Shouldn't Prime Minister Qi, as the Grand Secretary, be here? Prime Minister Qi couldn't possibly skip the emperor's court assembly just to treat a cat, could he?
He began to have doubts.
Qi Shan raised Su Shang's forepaw.
He said, "It's Su Shang. The kitchen staff said it hasn't had much of an appetite these past few days, eating about 70-80% less than usual, and it vomits frequently. It's also been sleeping more and being more awake than awake."
He raised his hand to separate the kitten that wanted to get close to Su Shang, making it easier for Dong Dao to examine Su Shang. The kitten wasn't shy at all; it grabbed his fingers with its two front paws and tilted its head, trying to put them in its mouth. The kitten's strength was very light, causing only a slight pain, and Qi Shan didn't stop it. His entire attention was on Su Shang: "Does Elder Dong have any way to prolong its life?"
While listening, Dong Dao examined Su Shang's body.
They examined the fur, paws, nose, ears, teeth, and even the little chrysanthemum.
He said, "This cat is quite old."
Qi Shan nodded: "Eleven years old, almost twelve."
Upon hearing this, Dong Dao immediately knew where the problem lay.
It's rare to hear of a cat living this long.
Su Shang is an old cat through and through.
It's clear from every angle that this old cat is well taken care of. You know, older cats don't have the energy to groom themselves, so over time their fur darkens, gets tangled, and accumulates dirt, making them look unkempt.
Su Shang was pampered and spoiled, and although his hair was no longer as shiny and smooth as it was in his youth, it was still clean and thick.
This also proves—
Su Shang is truly a beloved figure in Qi Shan's heart.
Qi Shan asked worriedly, "Could it be a parasitic disease?"
If it is a parasitic disease, some deworming medicine will also be needed.
"Don't worry, I'll check it over inside and out and I'll know." Dong Dao examined Su Shang's exterior but found nothing wrong. He then gathered his qi at his fingertips and circulated it along Su Shang's meridians. Qi Shan sat to one side and gently comforted Su Shang.
After a long while, Dong Dao withdrew his hand.
The theory of insect infestation was rejected.
Ninety-nine out of a hundred ordinary domestic cats or stray cats suffer from parasitic diseases, either due to fleas in their fur or internal worms. These parasites can also be found in the human gut. Whether in humans or cats, severe cases typically manifest as a swollen abdomen resembling that of a pregnant woman, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, initially accompanied by profuse diarrhea, followed by constipation.
The symptoms of Su Shang are very similar to those of insect diseases.
However, after checking, Dong Dao found no worms growing inside the animal; it was just normal internal organ aging.
Qi Shan's doubts deepened, and her worries intensified.
"Everything is fine, and it's not a parasitic disease, so why does Su Shang vomit every now and then and refuse to eat?" He would rather Dong Dao tell him what's wrong with Su Shang than hear that Su Shang is perfectly normal. Without finding the root cause, there's no way to treat the illness.
Dong Dao looked at Su Shang for a long time: "Let's change the recipe."
Qi Shan: "...Is Elder Dong serious?"
Dong Dao nodded, and seeing that Qi Shan refused, he suggested, "Perhaps I shall accompany Prime Minister Qi to your residence to see what is going on?"
Qi Shan was delighted with this: "That's wonderful."
Dong Dao: "..."
It's one thing for him, the Imperial Physician, to treat a cat, but he even has to make house calls to treat it. But what can you do when Qi Shan is the Grand Secretary?
The development of the medical department and its doctors still depends on others.
Normally, medical resources are exclusively for the royal family. Physicians from the Imperial Medical Bureau cannot freely treat patients; requesting their services requires following procedures and at least obtaining permission from the ladies-in-waiting of the three palace departments. However, physicians need to accumulate experience through house calls to hone their skills, and since Shen Tang is currently the only member of the royal family, some of the Imperial Medical Bureau's rules seem outdated. With a wave of his hand, Shen Tang changed many of the bureau's rules.
Dong Dao only needs to report his arrival to be allowed to leave.
If he is not on duty today, he doesn't even need to report it.
Qi Mansion was very close, so Dong Dao asked the kitchen staff to take out the ingredients prepared for Su Shang and prepare a cat food according to its usual diet.
The person in charge nodded in agreement, but the kitchen staff kept dawdling.
Dong Dao is a shrewd old man.
One look at this and you know something's fishy.
Qi Shan's face instantly darkened.
He winked at the person in charge beside him: "Investigate!"
This matter is very, very easy to investigate.
In short, the kitchen staff embezzled cat food, keeping fresh ingredients for themselves and giving leftover food (which hadn't gone bad yet) to Sushang and the other cats. The other cats were less hardy and had no problem switching their food for a short time, but Sushang, being an older cat, couldn't stand it after a few meals.
Qi Shan's eyes instantly turned cold.
"Is this how you mistreat Su Shang?"
Dong Dao, speaking up from the side, said fairly: "In my opinion, this matter should not have lasted very long. I guess it's because Prime Minister Qi and Jun Qiao weren't in the mansion to keep an eye on things, so the kitchen staff became lax."
The cook, the kitchen helper, and the servants kneeling on the ground nodded repeatedly.
They didn't mistreat the cats at first.
It happens only occasionally, and not very frequently.
Every day, watching so much high-quality food being made into cat food for the cats, while their entire family's daily consumption doesn't even equal a single cat's meal, how could they possibly feel at peace? They knew these cats were the owner's precious pets, and they dared not use inferior ingredients to feed them, lest they cause serious illness and ultimately cost them their lives. They simply replaced the original ingredients with slightly less desirable, less fresh ones. Humans could eat them without problems, so why couldn't the cats? They only dared to do this when the owner wasn't home.
This time, the head of the family returned early due to unforeseen circumstances, and the kitchen didn't have time to restock. If Qi Shan had returned at the expected time, they would have already switched to normal ingredients. Hearing these people's words, Dong Dao's eyes lit up: "But isn't this Zang Hui?"
It all boils down to corruption and bribery.
Su Shang is the owner's cat, and it's the owner's business what good things they want to feed the cat. The kitchen purchasing department acted on its own initiative, using inferior products and pocketing the difference. What is this if not corruption? In the end, they used the cat as an excuse.
Qi Xiang raised Su Shang as his daughter.
Why do other people's daughters get to eat the good food but are given the bad food instead?
Dong Dao couldn't quite understand what these people were thinking.
Qi Shan lowered his eyes, picked up Su Shang and stood up, saying emotionlessly, "Manager, investigate the accounts thoroughly, and take them to the government office. Deal with them as appropriate."
These people did not sell themselves to the Qi family.
Even as the Grand Secretary, Qi Shan couldn't arbitrarily kill them. He could simply calculate the amount of money they had embezzled and send them to jail.
The manager, ashamed, begged for forgiveness.
With the head of the household and the queen away, he was in charge of managing the household, and yet such a huge blunder had occurred. Strictly speaking, he would have to go to the authorities. Qi Shan didn't dwell on it; he was only filled with relief and worry: "Master, if we take him to the authorities..."
Before long, by the next afternoon, the entire capital would know that the Qi family's cat food had been embezzled by the kitchen staff, leading to a formality with the authorities.
This is so embarrassing.
Qi Shan said, "Just do what I'm told to do."
The person in charge dared not offer any further advice.
The people in the kitchen looked ashen-faced.
They knew what would happen if they went to the authorities, and one by one they knelt on the ground begging for mercy from Qi Shan, but he remained unmoved. Seeing that begging was useless, the cook shouted in grief and indignation as he was dragged out, "It was just a cat! It was just a cat!"
A cat eats better than a human.
Isn't this absurd?
Seven or eight years ago, a famine struck his hometown. People starved to the point of eating grass roots, tree bark, and mud. At one point, cannibalism even occurred. Now, they barely manage to have enough to eat, managing to eat meat a few times a year through hard work. His wife and children have never tasted such good food in their lives; they are merely given the daily cat food of the animals Qishan adopted. How ironic and absurd is this scene?
Now, because the cats have been fed substandard cat food a few times, they're going to arrest them and take them to the authorities. How are their families supposed to live? That substandard cat food is a delicacy that many people can't afford to eat all year round. And they didn't even poison them…
They were just fed a little less well!
Several people were dragged out of the house and into the courtyard.
Seeing that there was no way to turn things around, fear, anxiety, and despair mixed together and eventually turned into hysteria.
"Corrupt official, corrupt official—no, corrupt official—"
Dong Dao never expected to see something like this.
Upon hearing that Qi Shan had been scolded, he looked over with concern.
"Prime Minister, this—"
Qi Shan remained calm and unaffected. He removed his right hand from Su Shang's ears and said indifferently, "Such a family scandal has made Elder Dong laugh. Although Su Shang is physically fine, he is old. Is there any way to prolong his life?"
Dong Dao was almost driven mad by Qi Shan.
Qi Xiang is serious.
He shook his head sincerely: "I have no way to do that."
Dong Dao was still completely baffled by his own rejuvenation; he only knew that the energy of heaven and earth had nourished his body, giving his aged body a new lease on life, but he didn't know the specific principles behind it. He couldn't very well let this cat learn cultivation to prolong Su Shang's life, could he?
I've never heard of animals being able to do that.
Wouldn't that turn them into the monsters and demons in storybooks?
Upon hearing this, Qi Shan was naturally disappointed.
Since he was already there, he asked Dong Dao to give the cats in his household a check-up. Considering the "generous reward," Dong Dao didn't refuse. They did find that several cats had intestinal parasites, but none were serious; some deworming medication would suffice.
Just as the steward had feared, news of the embezzlement of the cat-keeping funds at Qishan's residence quickly spread throughout the capital, even reaching Shen Tang, who was staying in the palace. When the common people inquired around, quite a few actually supported the cook and his companions, hoping the authorities would give them a lenient sentence.
How can you compare a cat to a human?
These people had suffered so much in the past, and seeing their families living worse off than the cats made them feel sorry for them, so they resorted to dishonest means, cutting back on the cats' food. If they truly had malicious intentions, these cats would have been poisoned long ago. They did do wrong, but they weren't inherently bad.
Others hold different views.
This person lives nearby and I heard he's an official.
"The main point is that people are suffering, while cats are being cheated on their food?"
"Isn't it these few unruly servants who are corrupt?"
When did we become so kind to those who harbor filth and corruption? Today we tolerate the filthy servants in the homes of high-ranking officials, but tomorrow will we forgive officials for corruption? The officials will turn around and play the victim, saying that their wives and elderly mothers don't have as much food, clothing, or other necessities as others, so they had crooked thoughts and wanted to be filial to their parents, which is why they embezzled and accepted bribes.
"How can these two things be compared?"
"Ha, how are these two things different? Is it that the scoundrel didn't steal food? If looking down on a cat allows him to withhold its food, why can't he withhold people's food if he looks down on them? Stealing food is stealing food. Using his own family and a cat as an excuse, no wonder he's a scoundrel."
In today's world, a corpse would have been cold long ago.
The people in the city were arguing about it.
The imperial court also got a piece of the story.
The very next day, an imperial censor impeached Qi Shan, saying that he was lax in managing his household, unable even to control his servants, and that a wicked servant had appeared in his home. Such foresight is truly worrying. How can one sweep the world if one cannot even sweep one's own house? Prime Minister Qi should be punished for this.
The court officials looked at this gentleman with admiration.
Goodness, a familiar face.
Isn't that the young man who embezzled funds during the last meeting?
Then, all eyes turned to Gu Chi.
The Imperial Censor's staff is full of talented people.
Gu Chi: "..."
"Your subject has a memorial to the throne, which alleges that the officials of the Imperial Censorate are extravagant and wasteful..."
He lives in a bustling, prosperous area, where he can easily find gossip. Even if Qi Shan is in the right, the controversy surrounding his excessive spending on cats has caused public outcry, and Qi Xiang should take responsibility for this and tone it down a bit, instead of making a huge fuss that everyone knows about.
Qi Shan was completely immune to this level of harassment. The Censorate was a pack of mad dogs that would bite anyone they saw, and he hated dogs the most.
"Did I spend your money to raise the cat?"
No, not at all.
"The first-class maids in your household enjoy better food, clothing, and daily necessities than the daughters of ordinary wealthy families. Does that mean I can also say that you are extravagant?"
"My ancestors accumulated wealth over several generations..."
Qi Shan sneered: "I am but a nobody. My family's wealth is more than enough to raise Su Shang like a lady from a wealthy family. You don't need to worry about it."
Officials: "..."
Su Shang is actually Qi Xiang's cat?!
|ω`)
How did you know that Yuanliang would go to Shaobai for Sushang's sake?
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