55 Counterfeit drugs
She still couldn't forget Lu Ping.
In Du Zhijin's memory, his junior apprentice Zhao Zhonggan was mostly noisy and boisterous, like a crackling furnace in winter, radiating an unbridled heat. If you were a firecracker like him, you could explode together and celebrate the New Year early. But if you were a snowman, sorry, you'd melt away after just a moment next to him.
She and Ying Jianhua correspond perfectly to the two, one exploding, the other melting. Interestingly, today, Du Zhijin saw a third kind of Zhao Zhonggan.
The extinguished stove was damp and oppressive; the embers after the fire were both cold and hot.
"...I told you, mind your own business! If it weren't for Mother still here, do you think I would have wanted to come back?"
An argument was about to erupt. Marquis Jianchang's face was flushed red, whether from drunkenness or anger, it was hard to tell: "Our bodies and hair are given to us by our parents. I gave birth to you and raised you. Have you wasted all those years of your education? How dare you talk back to your elders!"
Compared to the furious Marquis of Jianchang, Zhao Zhonggan appeared much calmer, but his words were no less scathing: "Like begets like, what are you if I'm a dog? Just an old dog?"
"You!!" These words were the final bucket of water that extinguished his reason. Without another word to his men, Marquis Jianchang snatched the sword from a guard beside him. The sharp blade gleamed in the candlelight, and to the astonishment of the crowd, he thrust it at Zhao Zhonggan.
Ying Jianhua frowned, while Du Zhijin made a move before the Marquis of Jianchang drew his sword, his figure flashing past, but Zhao Zhonggan himself remained motionless.
He looked coldly at his enraged father, his expression laced with mockery.
"You unfilial son! I'm going to teach you a lesson today!"
The candle wick, already in grave danger from the impact of the sword's wind, stopped beating abruptly the next instant when Lady Hou cried out in a hoarse voice, "Stop!"
Tan Yun, who was attending to her, cried out in surprise, dropping the cup in her hand: "Madam!"
Lady Hou suddenly vomited blood and fainted!
"Mother!" Zhao Zhonggan quickly helped the unconscious Lady Hou to her feet. Du Zhijin, quick-witted and agile, seized the opportunity to knock away the sword of the Marquis of Jianchang with a single stroke, causing him to stagger backward.
Tan Yun hurriedly took out the pills, but before she could even get close, Zhao Zhonggan shouted, "Get out of the way! Don't let me see that thing!"
"But...but Madam..." she cried out, holding the pills, at a loss. Ying Jianhua patted her shoulder, gesturing for her to move aside.
He looked at Zhao Zhonggan, whose eyes were bloodshot, and tried his best to remain calm: "I am a doctor."
Zhao Zhonggan was stunned, then nodded, reluctantly agreeing to let him approach.
Tan Yue had already gone to fetch a doctor, and until the doctor arrived, only Ying Jianhua could provide emergency treatment. He quickly took her pulse, his expression gradually becoming serious: "Her constitution is weak, her qi and blood are disordered, and her emotions have triggered this... She has chest pain, shortness of breath, and her tendons are knotted... No, she must be treated with acupuncture immediately."
With each word he uttered, Zhao Zhonggan's face paled further. His lips trembled, and he could barely speak: "Fine, anything is fine as long as it saves Mother!"
Ying Jianhua looked at Du Zhijin, who understood immediately and took the needle pouch out of his mind.
Her mind only contained two swords and a pair of needles that she had given to Ying Jianhua.
Take out the silver needle, press two fingers on the acupoint, and Ying Jianhua should take a deep breath before inserting the needle.
The moment the silver needle pierced the flesh, the surroundings suddenly fell silent, with only the ever-increasing heartbeat audible, as if trying to shatter eardrums.
Thump, thump, thump.
His palms were damp, whether from Zhao Zhonggan's tears or his cold sweat, sticky and slippery, making it almost impossible to hold a needle.
Could he do it? He asked himself inwardly. This was no ordinary stunt; if he failed, he would have a life taken in front of Du Zhijin.
Besides, he has never sought treatment for palpitations before; isn't that too reckless?
The more he questioned, the more he wavered, and under the pressure, he backed down.
Just then, a hand covered the back of his hand, forcing him back to reality by dispelling his fear.
Thump, thump, thump.
Another strong heartbeat came through, silently proclaiming that she was there.
Feeling the warmth of the back of your hand, you should see the painting as if waking from a dream.
Without further hesitation, he executed the move in one swift motion, his eyes gradually hardening.
The last injection was finished, and the doctor arrived late. He stood up to make room, but his legs buckled the moment he stood, and he had to be helped up again.
Du Zhijin: "Amo, are you alright?"
He shook his head, his eyes shining with an unprecedented brightness, eager to share with her: "This is my first, my very first time treating a patient with palpitations, I, I..."
When he gets nervous, he tries to grab something. Before, he would grab a needle, but this time there was no needle to grab, so he grabbed her hand instead.
Du Zhijin was speechless as the man held her hand tightly.
Oh dear, even Dr. Ying has moments of stuttering?
“I know you did a good job.” She squeezed his hand back; her palm wasn’t soft, but it inexplicably made her feel safe.
His heart gradually calmed down in the silent comfort, and his fingers unconsciously curled, pressing closer to hers.
He felt her pulse and heard her heartbeat.
Thump, thump.
————
After a period of chaos and turmoil, Lady Hou was placed on a couch in a nearby wing room and treated by the imperial physician.
The current empress is Zhao Zhonggan's aunt, so summoning a royal physician is not difficult. The physician, surnamed Lin, was quite surprised after the initial pulse diagnosis: "Who performed this acupuncture technique?"
Zhao Zhonggan asked nervously, "Is there something wrong?"
Doctor Lin shook his head, his expression complex: "No, the acupuncture protected the heart meridian, which was a wise move. Madam Hou is out of danger and will wake up after a rest." After speaking, he picked up a pen and wrote a prescription, which he handed to Tan Yun, who was standing to the side.
Zhao Zhonggan gave Tan Yun a look, and Tan Yun understood. She went to the outer room to ask Ying Jianhua to review the prescription. Ying Jianhua examined it carefully and nodded: "It's a calming prescription; it can be used."
Tan Yun thanked him and hurriedly ran to prepare the medicine. Du Zhijin watched her back thoughtfully.
"What's wrong?" Ying Jianhua asked.
She confessed, "I stayed in the Lady Hou's room for a while during the day. The Lady Hou has been in poor health. Tan Yun tried to feed her medicine twice, but Xiao Zhao stopped her both times."
He said it was fake medicine.
"Fake medicine?" Ying Jianhua was taken aback, carefully recalling the pulse he had just felt. "Madam Hou's body is weak, it seems she is naturally frail and had a difficult childbirth... Hmm, it also seems to be due to overwork? But there are no signs of poisoning."
The situation was urgent, and he was busy giving acupuncture to save the person, so he didn't have time to think.
Du Zhijin didn't know much about Madam Hou's illness either, and Zhao Zhonggan rarely mentioned it to her.
At this moment, Ying Jianhua desperately wished that the things in her mind could speak, even just a single word. But unfortunately, that thing only made a sound when "shipping" (or "shipping"), otherwise it was as if it were dead.
Recently, I haven't even started shipping couples anymore, and I don't know what's wrong with me.
"You two are unaware of what has happened, but my aunt has been taking 'miracle drugs' all along."
As the two were deep in thought, a woman's voice sounded behind them. Du Zhijin turned around and found that it was someone he didn't recognize.
Ying Jianhua had some idea of the visitor's identity: "Miss Wu."
Hmm? Ah Mo knows him?
The woman in white gracefully bowed and said, "Wu Ti greets you."
After hearing her introduce herself, Du Zhijin seemed to remember her: "You're Xiao Zhao's cousin?"
Wu Ti was slightly surprised, and smiled, "That's right. My cousin actually mentioned me to my senior sister?"
Du Zhijin scratched her head. Why did Xiao Zhao's cousin also call her "senior sister"? Did becoming his senior sister mean becoming the senior sister of the entire Zhao family? But Wu Ti's surname wasn't Zhao.
She told Ying Jianhua about her doubts, and Ying Jianhua didn't know how to answer for a moment, so she simply changed the subject: "Miss Wu just said that the Lady Hou was taking 'elixir of immortality'?"
It's no wonder he had his suspicions; he himself had sold "miracle drugs," which resulted in the deaths of Prince Chengduan and his son.
Does Rurikyo also have quack doctors?
Wu Ti nodded and explained, "My aunt has been frail and sickly since childhood. After giving birth to my godfather, her health deteriorated even further, and she often suffered from palpitations and fainting spells. Fortunately, there was a miraculous medicine, and my aunt's health improved a lot after taking it. She only has a slight cough and is not very resistant to the wind."
That's the same diagnosis as Ying Jianhua's. But "Since the medicine is effective, why does Xiao Zhao denigrate it as fake medicine?" Du Zhijin asked.
Wu Ti smiled bitterly: "As you can see, my cousin and uncle are at odds, and this medicine was obtained by my uncle."
There's such an inside story.
The two exchanged a glance, and Ying Jianhua said, "Miss Wu, would you mind showing me the elixir?"
Whether it's ethereal or not, you'll only know after you see it.
Upon hearing this, Wu Ti looked troubled and hesitated, "I'm afraid not. The elixir is precious; my uncle can only obtain one pill a month. If Young Master Mo is curious, he can go to Tan Yun."
Du Zhijin: "Indeed, Tan Yun has it."
However, Tan Yun was busy preparing medicine and probably didn't have time to pay attention to them. Wu Ti was about to say something more when he heard a noise inside and hurriedly went to greet them: "Cousin, has Aunt woken up?"
Zhao Zhonggan looked exhausted, nodded slightly, and didn't even want to speak. Wu Ti, clutching his handkerchief, said worriedly, "If Aunt wakes up and sees Cousin like this, she'll definitely worry again."
"There's no need to talk to her about this." He interrupted her, his gaze passing over her to Du Zhijin, and strode over to her.
"Senior sister, are you alright?"
Behind him, Wu Ti quietly clenched his handkerchief.
Du Zhijin thought for a moment before remembering why he asked that: "You're not injured. With your father's skills, I could beat him with a hair on my head."
Banzhu, who had been listening nearby: ......
Perhaps we shouldn't convey these words to the Marquis...
Hearing her words, Zhao Zhong chuckled dryly, his worries dissipating: "Hahaha. That's true, I can't even beat you, let alone him."
It should be seen that the painting is choked.
They don't hide it at all...
Seeing that Wu Ti was no longer behind him, he lowered his voice and asked, "Can you get the medicine for the Lady of the Marquis?"
Mentioning his mother, Zhao Zhonggan's eyes sharpened, and his tone became slightly agitated: "You also think there's something wrong with the medicine? I told you long ago! If that damn magic medicine really worked, Mother's health wouldn't have deteriorated so much!"
Du Zhijin cautioned, "Not necessarily, we're just speculating."
“Doubt is fine! Finally, I’m not the only one who’s gone mad!” He sighed with a bitter smile. “For so many years, I’ve been the only one who insisted that the elixir was useless. Everyone else thought I was crazy. I had no choice but to leave the capital to look for the medicine.”
"So your trip wasn't for training at all?" Du Zhijin asked, taking a different approach. "No wonder your skills aren't as good as a constable's."
Ying Jianhua glanced at her indifferently, feeling depressed.
She still couldn't forget Lu Ping.
[Author's Note]
Aged vinegar, the longer it's aged, the more vinegary it becomes.
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