What does this have to do with me? Why drag me into this!
Doctor Li snorted.
“What kind of medicine did that Lady Cheng give?” he asked curiously, his interest piqued.
Madam Tong hurriedly waved her hand, while the concubine carefully brought over a porcelain jar.
Earlier today, when they were summoned into the room, aside from Tong Neihan on the door plank, there was only a jar of medicine. As for Lady Cheng, she was already behind the curtain.
She spoke a few words through the veil and then fell completely silent.
Despite their endless gratitude, the maid quickly ushered them out, saying that Lady Cheng was utterly exhausted.
“Miss instructed that each morning, a pill should be dug out, mixed with warm wine, and fed. After that, they can have a meal,” she said.
“Will he even be able to eat after this?” Doctor Li exclaimed, wide-eyed.
“When he can’t eat, use warm water instead,” one of the Tong family sons added.
Doctor Li nodded, opened the porcelain jar, and found a thick black paste inside. It smelled slightly fishy. He dipped his finger into it, picked up a little, and put it in his mouth.
“Eucommia?” he murmured, pondering for a moment before reaching out to scoop some more.
Madam Tong, reluctant, took the jar first.
“Sir, these medicines likely have a set dosage,” she said.
And they’re very expensive…
Doctor Li smirked, licked the small amount left on his fingers, and took his leave. As he stepped out, he turned back to glance at Tong Neihan, who lay unconscious on the bed.
Though he appeared seriously ill now, he would wake in three days.
Could it be…
“Could this really be an elixir of immortality?” he muttered to himself.
Just as the Tong family’s concubine had said, although Doctor Li had made two recent mistakes in declaring deaths, his ability to determine when someone’s life was not in danger had not yet failed. Thus, as he left the Tong household, the confirmation that Tong Neihan’s life was no longer at risk was solidified.
Chaos once again erupted at the Zhou family’s gates.
However, this time, getting through the door wasn’t as easy as before.
“Our family is not just any household that anyone can come to as they please,” Madam Zhou said, neither coughing nor wheezing as she leaned on the armrest. “Go and tell them: Jiao Jiao is tired. If they want a consultation, they’ll have to come another day.”
The maid relayed the message, and the people outside the gate dispersed immediately, leaving Madam Zhou stunned.
“They all left?” she sat up and asked.
The maid nodded.
“All of them? They didn’t say anything?” Madam Zhou asked in disbelief.
No one pleaded with her? Said a few nice words or something? She told them to go away, and they just accepted it? No begging, no requests for a consultation, nothing?
“That Lady Cheng has strict rules, and no one dares to disobey.”
“She said she wouldn’t treat anyone unless it was life-threatening, so of course, others won’t bother bringing anyone in if they know she won’t take the case…”
“Let’s go, let’s just wait and try to see Lady Cheng directly when the time comes.”
“Look at the Tong family. They brought their patient in without a single unnecessary word, and she treated him immediately. Back then, the Zhou family even tried to stop them.”
And just like that, the people outside the gate dispersed.
After hearing the maid’s description, Madam Zhou’s face turned livid with anger.
“She’s still part of our family,” she finally said. “If they don’t respect me, they shouldn’t even dream of seeing her!”
The news spread rapidly, from the households of the powerful and influential to the common folk in the streets.
After all, every family has servants, and those servants inevitably have relatives or acquaintances. However, the version of the story circulating among the commoners was far cruder, more chaotic, and even more ridiculous.
“…They say when someone was carried in, that lady only asked one question: ‘Do you have ten thousand guan?’ If they had it, she’d take it; if not, they had to carry the person away.”
“Ten thousand guan? That expensive?”
“Expensive? Do you think it’s cheap to bribe the King of Hell?”
“Bribe the King of Hell?”
“Haven’t you heard? That lady is a disciple of Master Li, capable of communicating between the living and the dead. Why else would she only treat those at death’s door? She can go and bargain with the King of Hell to spare lives.”
“…Oh, yes! I heard that too! They say she only sees patients at night, away from prying eyes, and demands wine, meat, and dishes. People in the courtyard saw it—there was a strange, sinister wind blowing that night. It must have been the King of Hell arriving…”
“So, this lady just dines and drinks with the King of Hell and gets it all settled?”
In the teahouse, a few scholars at a nearby table couldn’t bear to listen any longer.
“Absolutely ridiculous,” they muttered, shaking their heads and slamming their teacups heavily onto the table.
The sound made the lively group beside them pause for a moment. They glanced over, saw that it was just a few scholars, and paid them no mind. Still, they lowered their voices slightly and continued their chatter, laughing and whispering.
“Who would’ve thought that even noble families in the capital would dare to boast about having spirit mediums in their homes,” one scholar remarked, shaking his head.
“They didn’t claim it was a spirit medium—just a doctor,” another said with a chuckle.
“A doctor? What kind of doctor treats patients like that? It’s nothing but theatrics!” someone else added.
However, a young man quietly watching the tea master grind tea leaves suddenly spoke up.
“Wencai, one must admit ignorance where appropriate; it isn’t right to dismiss something as mere theatrics,” he said calmly. “In fact, I’ve witnessed a similarly miraculous treatment myself once.”
This immediately drew the attention of everyone at the table.
“Yuanchao, you’ve seen something like this?” they asked.
Han Yuanchao accepted the tea the tea master handed him and smiled faintly.
“Speaking of which, my aunt was once on the brink of death,” he said, his tone carrying a hint of reminiscence. In fact, she wasn’t just on the brink—she had already been given her initial burial preparations. In the eyes of the world, that’s even more serious than someone like Tong Neihan, who was merely close to death. She was practically already dead.
“Yet someone managed to bring her back,” he added.
The group, expecting some extraordinary and dramatic tale, immediately let out a chorus of disappointed jeers.
“Tell us properly,” they urged. “How was she treated?”
Han Yuanchao laughed heartily.
“By the time I arrived, my aunt was already cured, so I didn’t see how it was done,” he said with a grin.
The group groaned in disappointment once more.
“Who was it that treated Tong Neihan?” Han Yuanchao suddenly asked.
No one knew, so they all turned to the tea master.
“It was someone from the Zhou family,” the tea master eagerly shared the news he had just heard.
A Zhou? Then it wasn’t the same person.
“Not the same person?” Someone overheard his muttering and asked.
“It’s nothing,” Han Yuanchao replied with a smile, sipping his tea.
The one who saved his aunt was someone with the surname Cheng, wasn’t it?
As they were speaking, a few scholars walked in from outside.
“There you are! Hurry, hurry, we’ve got great news,” they called out. “Master Jiang-zhou has opened a school and is giving lessons!”
At these words, the seated scholars immediately rose to their feet.
“It’s at Qieting Temple. They’ve donated a few rooms specifically for Master Jiang-zhou to teach.”
“Then let’s go, let’s go—spaces are limited. Everyone, hurry!”
With this lively commotion, the scholars in the teahouse all rushed out, leaving the place half empty in an instant.
“These scholars, always boasting about their behavior and manners, yet look at them now—this flustered appearance is truly embarrassing for a sage,” someone at the nearby table, who had just been looked down upon by the scholars, immediately seized the opportunity to retort.
“You may not know,” the tea master said with a smile, “when Master Jiang-zhou gives lessons, there’s no student who isn’t flustered. Even in this flurry, it’s uncertain whether they’ll be lucky enough to enter the hall.”
“Exactly, exactly. Master Jiang-zhou is like a celestial being descended from the heavens. Not just anyone can receive his teachings.”
“Then that Zhou family’s lady must also be a celestial being descended from the heavens, otherwise, how could she have received guidance from Master Li?”
“Of course! Who could just casually have ties with King of Hell?”
Compared to the refined and talented Master Jiang-zhou, the miraculous and life-saving methods of this divine doctor, who could revive the dead, captured the interest of the common folk much more.
Seeing the topic shift back to the Zhou family’s lady, the tea master smiled knowingly and continued preparing tea, adding more water.
