Chapter 38: Quack

Sui Yan trotted all the way to the front yard. He saw Duan Mingchong sitting in the front hall from a distance. A smile appeared on his face unconsciously, and he ran even faster.

But before he ran into the front hall, his peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of Doctor Meng Yu who was sitting next to Duan Mingchong. He kept smiling and without even pausing, he quickly turned around and tried his best to run back.

Duan Mingchong saw his smooth movements from a distance and was almost amused by him.

He took a few quick steps, grabbed Sui Yan back, and said with a smile, "Why are you running?"

Sui Yan turned around and said hesitantly, "Greetings, Your Highness."

"Come here." Duan Mingchong dragged him back to the front hall. "You turned and ran away when you saw Doctor Yu. Are you still a child?"

Doctor Meng Yu stood up and saluted with a smile: "Hello, young marquis."

Sui Yan glared at him.

Duan Mingchong pulled him to sit down, and with a familiar gesture, he placed the back of his hand on Sui Yan's forehead and probed, saying, "You don't have a fever anymore, are you still feeling uncomfortable?"

Sui Yan suddenly felt guilty. Although he had a fever yesterday, he was not unconscious. Half of his attitude was fake. Seeing Duan Mingchong so worried, he felt guilty himself.

"I feel much better after taking the medicine. Thank you for your concern, Your Highness." Sui Yan gathered his sleeves awkwardly.

Duan Mingchong breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's good. Yesterday, the doctor outside didn't seem to have very good medical skills. Today, Doctor Meng Yu came to check your pulse, so I came along."

When Sui Yan heard this, he quickly put his hands behind his waist, shook his head, and said, "No, no need, I'll be fine after taking the medicine, no need to bother Doctor Meng Yu."

Doctor Meng Yu smiled and said, "Thank you for your consideration, young master. It's just a pulse check. It's not a big deal."

Sui Yan grinned at him, "Haha, that's really...thank you so much."

He couldn't help it and kicked Doctor Meng Yu under the table.

Duan Mingchong frowned: "What's wrong?"

Sui Yan immediately thought to himself, "Oh no! I kicked the wrong person."

He stretched out his hand and placed it on the table, smiling at Duan Mingchong obediently: "Nothing, just taking my pulse."

Duan Mingchong didn't think much about it and gave Doctor Meng Yu a look.

Doctor Meng Yu nodded slightly and placed his hand on Sui Yan's wrist.

Sui Yan was restless all day long. When Doctor Meng Yu was taking his pulse, his other hand unconsciously pulled the small sachet on his waist and pinched it. His eyes were distracted and he looked absent-minded.

Duan Mingchong had been staring at him, and seeing the amulet hanging around his waist, his eyes became even gentler.

After a while, Doctor Meng Yu withdrew his hand with a look of sadness.

Sui Yan was startled, wondering what had been revealed? Was it the stigma, or the addictive scent of the drug?

Duan Mingchong had been very worried since he heard that the medicinal fragrance had the effect of detoxification. Seeing the look on Doctor Meng Yu's face, he had a bad feeling in his heart. He asked tentatively, "Does the young marquis have any serious illness?"

Doctor Meng Yu apologized and said thoughtfully, "Looking at the young marquis' pulse, it seems that he is a little over-worried. Depression leads to qi stagnation. Fortunately, it is not a serious illness. If you take good care of yourself in the future, you can keep your life without worries."

Duan Mingchong breathed a sigh of relief.

Sui Yan pulled down his sleeves, curled his lips, and thought to himself, "A quack."

Doctor Meng Yu gave a bunch of irrelevant instructions and even wrote a few prescriptions, but Sui Yan didn't even listen and just said "hmm" twice perfunctorily.

Duan Mingchong patted him on the shoulder and said, "Listen carefully."

Sui Yan had no choice but to listen to the end reluctantly.

After Doctor Meng Yu left, Duan Mingchong gave him a displeased look, and Sui Yan immediately put on a well-behaved look and looked at him ingratiatingly.

"You." Duan Mingchong said helplessly, "Now that the fifth brother is seriously ill and has not yet woken up, the doctors in the palace are all busy. What if something happens to you? Doctor Meng Yu is a master in the palace. Many people want to invite him to diagnose and treat them but have no chance. It is really not easy for me to invite him to come. Why do you look so disgusted?"

Sui Yan thought to himself, "He's a master doctor, but he couldn't even tell if I was poisoned. What a quack."

But this cannot be said in front of Duan Mingchong, Sui Yan said: "Well, for your Highness's sake, I won't glare at him next time he comes over."

Duan Mingchong was amused by him.

Sui Yan had new tea served and stared at Duan Mingchong's slender fingers. He suddenly remembered that he was about to kidnap the girl to his house to spend the night a few days ago, but the plan was ruined by that damn Duan Xichen.

Sui Yan gritted his teeth in hatred and almost broke off the corner of the rosewood table.

Duan Mingchong asked in confusion: "What's wrong?"

Sui Yan suppressed his anger, put down the cup in his hand, and asked, "How is the Fifth Prince now? I heard that the Emperor has posted notices in various cities to find a miracle doctor to heal him. Is his injury really that serious?"

It's just a stab, it shouldn't be that serious.

Duan Mingchong felt that there was nothing he couldn't tell Sui Yan, so he told him about Duan Xichen's condition one by one, and said worriedly: "Father and Queen Ning are very worried all day long, but no one in the entire Imperial Hospital can help. We can only find some knowledgeable wandering doctors outside to try."

Duan Xichen was the son of the emperor's most favored concubine. Even though he was a playboy who only knew how to indulge in wine and women, he was still pampered to the sky.

Sui Yan asked: "Is it poisoning?"

Duan Mingchong nodded: "Nine out of ten."

Sui Yan thought about it and suddenly said, "I want to go to the palace to take a look at him."

Duan Mingchong paused with the cup in his hand and looked at him in surprise.

Sui Yan started talking nonsense again: "The prince is seriously ill. According to the rules, I have to go and see him and say hello. Otherwise, people will say that I, the Sui An Marquis, am uneducated."

Duan Mingchong smiled and said, "You are still sick, and you still want to see others? Don't worry, others won't dare to say anything. You should take care of yourself first."

"But but!" Sui Yan grabbed Duan Mingchong's hand, shook it gently, blinked at him, and said, "I was having a great conversation with the Fifth Prince a few days ago, but it hasn't been long since he was poisoned so badly. I'm really worried about this. Your Highness, please help me. I'll take a look and come back soon, and I promise not to cause any trouble."

Duan Mingchong looked at him strangely: "But I remember that on the Lantern Festival, he frightened you so much that your legs were so weak that you couldn't walk."

Why are you rushing to see him this time?

When things go wrong, there must be something wrong.

Sui Yan continued to talk nonsense: "People change. I was afraid of him before because he wanted to flirt with me, but now it's different. He just lies there and can't move. Even if I want to do something, I can only flirt with him."

As he spoke, he stood up quickly without waiting for Duan Mingchong to refuse, and said, "I'll have someone prepare some nourishing things and bring them over. It will be ready soon. Your Highness, wait for me!"

Duan Mingchong stood up: "Then..."

Sui Yan: "Ah - bring some ginseng, I'll kill him."

Duan Mingchong: "..."

Sui Yan pulled Haitang, who looked confused, aside and ran away.

After leaving the front hall, Haitang whispered, "Master, it seems that we don't have ginseng in our house. Doctor Jun said last time that you can't touch ginseng soup, so we haven't asked anyone to buy it for a month."

Sui Yan glanced at him, waved his hand casually, and said, "Then you can go to the warehouse and take a look around. Just prepare some cabbage and radishes."

Haitang: “…”

Sui Yan glared at him: "Go quickly, the most important thing when giving a gift is the thought. Do you understand this principle?!"

Haitang hurriedly said yes, thinking that if she didn't have a grudge against someone, why would she send cabbage and radishes to someone when he was seriously ill? What kind of thought was this? Was she hoping that the other person would die immediately?

After Sui Yan talked nonsense with Hai Tang for a while, he tiptoed back to the side yard.

Jun Jingxing was preparing calming incense in his room when the door was suddenly pushed open. His hands shook and he nearly spilled the powder he had just ground.

Sui Yan rushed in like a gust of wind: "Who is that? Who is that?!"

Who: “…”

The man glared at him unhappily and put down the medicine in his hand: "What's the matter?"

Sui Yan got straight to the point: "You didn't kill Duan Xichen, is it because you poisoned him?"

Jun Jingxing's eyes moved, but he did not deny it: "Yeah."

Sui Yan's eyes lit up, and he said, "What's your back-up plan? It's not just poisoning him, making him as hard as a rock and unable to move, right?"

Jun Jingxing pursed his lips unnaturally: "Why are you asking this? This has nothing to do with you."

Sui Yan was so angry that he could not make a promise. He said, "Tell me quickly, I didn't interfere with your affairs before because I knew you knew your limits. But now you have made such a big mistake. If the prince was not easy to deceive, I would have been unable to protect you."

Jun Jingxing took a deep breath and looked at him helplessly: "There is no benefit in intervening in this matter, you should just flirt with your prince honestly."

This "your prince" made Sui Yan's face flushed. He coughed, patted the table, and said with a stiff face: "I'm going to the palace to see Duan Xichen now. You really don't need my help?"

Jun Jingxing's hands trembled, and he raised his eyebrows and asked, "What can I do for you?"

Sui Yan thought for a moment and said, "For example, I could take this opportunity to do something."

Jun Jingxing didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "I thought you were such a smart person, why can't you use your brain now? Duan Xichen is so favored by the emperor, and he must be guarded by countless people when he is seriously ill. If you do something at this time, aren't you courting death?"

Sui Yan looked at him like a fool and said, "That's why I came to you to ask if you have something that can kill people without leaving any trace."

Jun Jingxing: “…”

Jun Jingxing scolded: "No, go play somewhere else!"

Sui Yan said: "See you, Jun Yue!"

Jun Jingxing said, "I said no, so don't bother with me! I need to prepare the calming incense as soon as possible, or you will suffer tonight."

Sui Yan said in disbelief: "I'm helping you, how can you push others away like this?"

Jun Jingxing sighed and rubbed his brows, still looking indifferent.

Sui Yan became impatient after making a fuss for a while, and with a wave of his hand, he overturned the medicinal powder that Jun Jingxing had ground with great difficulty, snorted, and walked away arrogantly.

Jun Jingxing: “…”

Jun Jingxing simply didn't have the energy to get angry, and continued to grind the medicine powder without complaint.

In fact, he knew in his heart that if he relied on Sui Yan, things might go more smoothly. He wouldn't have to go back and forth for so many days, and he wouldn't have to worry all day long.

But Jun Jingxing just didn't want to.

He didn't want Sui Yan to be implicated by him for no reason and get his hands dirty.

However, Sui Yan, who was keen on taking advantage of others' misfortunes, did not understand Jun Jingxing's painstaking efforts at all, and walked out of the side courtyard in a rage.

Haitang had already found some deer antlers in the warehouse and packed them in a wooden box. When she saw Sui Yan coming out, she hurried over to him and showed him the box.

Sui Yan took a look at the noble deer antler, curled his lips, and snorted, "He got it for free."

Having said that, he put the box in his arms and returned to the front hall.

Duan Mingchong waited for a long time, and when he saw him coming over with the box, he smiled helplessly and said, "You really plan to go."

Sui Yan, wearing a cloak, urged Duan Mingchong to go out: "Go, of course you have to go."

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to kick someone when he's down, how can I miss it?

Duan Mingchong felt even more helpless, but seeing Sui Yan was so interested, he couldn't resist and reluctantly went into the palace with him.

Half an hour later, the carriage stopped at Duan Xichen's palace. Sui Yan gathered his sleeves and got out of the carriage calmly.

Duan Mingchong saw that he was so lively in the carriage just now, but immediately became calm and cold after getting out of the carriage. He couldn't help but chuckled softly.

Sui Yan turned around: "Your Highness?"

Duan Mingchong said, "You go in first. I'll go ask Doctor Yu about the condition."

Every day when Duan Mingchong came, the first thing he would do was to ask the doctors about Duan Xichen's condition. Without fail, those doctors would openly or secretly praise the prince for being friendly and respectful to his younger brother in front of the emperor every day.

Sui Yan said "Oh", handed the box in his arms to the palace maid, and was led to Duan Xichen's bedroom.

After Sui Yan left, Duan Mingchong's face darkened slightly, and he found Doctor Meng Yu in the outer hall.

Before he could ask, Doctor Meng Yu whispered, "Your Highness, the young marquis seems to be in a bad condition."

Duan Mingchong's pupils suddenly shrank.

The author has something to say:

...Some people may think that Siu Yanyan is a poor bastard, and the prince does nothing and doesn’t help him, so they think our prince is very saintly.

Emmmm, but from the perspective of the prince, he had no idea what Sui Yan had been through, nor did he know that anyone had harmed him, so he did not take any measures.

He continued to live his own life, disdaining to scheme against others and never taking the initiative to harm others.

If he knew someone was going to harm him or Sui Yan, and did nothing, then he should be called the Virgin Mary.

↑, this is my own understanding.