Chapter 96 – The Panicked Doctor Ming
Wei Yuewu tapped her fingers on the table and gave the instruction in an orderly manner.
“Yes, miss, I will send your message tomorrow morning, but Second Lady…” Nurse Mei hesitated for a moment before asking.
“Concubine Huang is kind of a mistress in the mansion, isn’t she? She should be counted in the routine pulse check, right?” Wei Yuewu asked with a smile.
“This… yes. Second Master kind of dotes on Concubine Huang, so Doctor Ming will come and check her pulse every month.” Nurse Mei thought for a moment and nodded affirmatively.
Actually, this was partly because Second Master favoured Concubine Huang, and perhaps partly because Second Master held expectations of Concubine Huang. Compared to Third Master, Second Master had far fewer sons.
Concubine Huang was different than other concubines. She was not only pretty but also young. It was possible for her to have children. Therefore she wouldn’t be left out in the pulse check.
“That’s good!” Wei Yuewu nodded. She rolled her eyes and looked at Jin Ling. “Jin Ling, find another doctor for me in the afternoon.”
“What kind of doctor are you looking for, miss?” Jin Ling asked.
“That doesn’t matter. Any doctor will do. It’s not good for the mansion to always use the same doctor.” Wei Yuewu smiled and instructed softly.
“Yes, I understand.” Jin Ling was now able to read Wei Yuewu’s mind without verbal communication, so she nodded her head in understanding. Since any type of doctor would do, a fake doctor would also be okay. Anyway, only the appearance of a doctor was needed.
Early the next morning, Nurse Mei went to speak to Nanny Hong and reported to the Madam Dowager that her young mistress had been unwell since she came back yesterday. She wondered if it was because her mistress was frightened by the Fifth Young Lady’s incident.
Her mistress had slept badly half of the night, and she was still unable to get up now and felt sick. Thus her mistress asked if Doctor Ming could come and check her pulse.
It wasn’t time for the doctor to check pulse. However, since Wei Yuewu made the request and was wrongly involved in yesterday’s disaster, the Madam Dowager immediately agreed and sent for Doctor Ming to check pulse for all mistresses and masters in the mansion. If Wei Yuewu was the only one to be diagnosed, others would become suspicious.
Once gossips were started, attention might be drawn to what had happened last night. It was better that fewer people paid attention to things that hurt the name of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang.
Therefore, the Madam Dowager decided to let Doctor Ming check pulse for all mistresses and masters.
The Madam Dowager made one more effort to conceal the abnormality in the process. She asked Nanny Hong to tell Nurse Mei to go back and wait and that Doctor Ming would go to Wei Yuewu after he diagnosed for her and the two ladies so that Wei Yuewu didn’t have to pay respect to her in the morning.
Therefore, Doctor Ming was invited to the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang. He started with the Madam Dowager, then Second Lady and Third Lady. It was almost lunchtime when he arrived at Wei Yuewu’s Lotus Courtyard. Since the previous madams were all fine, Doctor Ming didn’t take the much younger Wei Yuewu seriously.
It wasn’t long since this young lady recovered from her last illness. Her current complexion told him that this young lady couldn’t be ill. He only took a pulse for Wei Yuewu and said that Wei Yuewu was fine on the whole though she was naturally weak, and all she needed was to take good care of herself. Doctor Ming then packed up his medicine kit and was about to check the pulse of the next person.
“Doctor Ming, I heard that you treated my mother back then. I wondered what disease my mother had. Why did she die so suddenly?” Her gentle voice carried the sweetness of a young girl, but it caused Doctor Ming, who was packing the medicine kit, to panic. In his fluster, the medicine kit that had barely been tidied up fell on the ground with an astonishing thump…
The medicine kit fell to the ground and the contents scattered all over the place.
“Careless… me.” Doctor Ming calmed down at this time. He smiled awkwardly and reached out to pick the medicine kit that had fallen to the ground. However, a close look could still tell that his hand was slightly trembling.
“Doctor Ming, I heard that my mother had almost recovered, but later she died a mysterious death. Didn’t my father look into this?” Wei Yuewu was leaning against the bed and stared at Doctor Ming through the hanging gauze curtains. Her voice was cold and indifferent.
“Sixth… Sixth Young Lady, why would you say that? Lord Marquis was present when Lady Marquise died. So were the Madam Dowager and Second Lady. Many people knew it. It was not a sudden onset. Of course Lord Marquis looked into this. If you don’t believe me, you can go and ask the Madam Dowager.”
Doctor Ming had completely calmed down by now. There was even a smile on his face. Of course, he was sure that Wei Yuewu did not dare to ask the Madam Dowager. Although this Sixth Young Lady was not as incompetent as the rumors had described, it had been so long since the incident had happened. Even Lord Marquis had not discovered anything. What could she possibly find?
He swiftly picked up the medicine kit and tidied it up. He was about to leave when he heard Wei Yuewu’s next words and his hand involuntarily trembled.
“Doctor Ming, do you think my mother died because she was poisoned?”
“Sixth Young Lady, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Lady Marquise had difficulty giving birth to you. Everyone knows it. She had been weak after that because she lost much blood when she gave birth to you. Lady Marquise was originally in bad health conditions. Lord Marquis collected a lot of medicine but still failed to save her life. Why on earth would you come up with such a story, Sixth Young Lady?”
Doctor Ming’s expression became serious. He turned around and uttered those words angrily at Wei Yuewu, who was inside the gauze curtains. Even his beard curled up under his emotions. Obviously he was indeed enraged. He shook his hand forcefully and angrily picked up the medicine kit in his hand. Then, he left without even bowing to Wei Yuewu.
“Miss, how rude he is.” Shufei said angrily.
Wei Yuewu stretched out her hand and lifted the hanging gauze curtain. A trace of coldness flashed across her lowered eyes. If it wasn’t for his guilt, why would Doctor Ming who was always polite behave so abnormally and rudely?
Abnormality meant strangeness. As she expected, her mother died not only because of her weak health. She had just played a little trick and the doctor betrayed himself.
Even if Doctor Ming hadn’t been an associate in the crime, he should know something about it. If mother was really murdered, how could Doctor Ming fail to discover anything wrong with his excellent medical skills?
She had only intended to make sure if there was something fishy back then. Now it seemed like something had really gone wrong!
“Shufei, see Doctor Ming off.” Her eyes blinked under her long eyelashes. Traces of coldness rippled in her eyes.
“Yes, I understand.” Shufei had already received Wei Yuewu’s order, so she hurriedly nodded and chased after the doctor.
Doctor Ming was going to Concubine Huang’s. On normal days, he would go to the young ladies in this mansion to check their pulses. However, now, the Second Young Lady was at the family temple, the Third Young Lady was not at home, the Fourth Young Lady was outside the mansion praying before the Buddha, and the Fifth Young Lady was a concubine’s daughter and was said to be in good health.
Apart from those legitimate mistresses, the masters in the mansion basically wouldn’t ask for checking their pulse every month. Then, of course, it was Concubine Huang’s turn.
Concubine Huang was the Second Master’s favorite concubine at present. By virtue of her youth, she was absolutely the most valued amongst the concubines. Moreover, there were too few children in the second branch. The Madam Dowager also attached great importance to Concubine Huang, so she had already arranged for Concubine Huang to be checked right after Wei Yuewu.
It would be a great thing if Concubine Huang was diagnosed with baby.
The first branch had gone downhill because of having no son. There must be no mistakes at all when it came to the matter of giving birth to sons.
Therefore, after he dispelled the anger off his face, Doctor Ming went to Concubine Huang’s courtyard. He wiped the cold sweat off his head. He would never tell anyone about what had happened back then. He had lived long to know that such things must not be revealed.
Even though he was only an unimportant assistant or not even an assistant back then, he didn’t dare to divulge anything. This case was so far-reaching that no one was able to take responsibility.
“Doctor Ming, wait. You haven’t told us about Sixth Young Lady’s health!” Shufei chased after him out of breath.
“Sixth Young Lady is very well.” Doctor Ming felt a headache the moment he heard it was about Wei Yuewu. He shook his hand vigorously and accelerated his pace. Although this Sixth Young Lady was innately weak and needed to improve her physique, she was not ill. She just needed to take good care of herself.
“Doctor Ming, are you sure you’re not mistaken? Our young lady is really not well. You should go back and see her again.” Shufei ran a few steps forward and anxiously grabbed Doctor Ming’s medicine kit. She looked as if she wouldn’t let Doctor Ming go if he didn’t go back with her.
Doctor Ming’s mind had been very much disturbed by Wei Yuewu. He really didn’t want to get involved with Wei Yuewu anymore. Furthermore, in Doctor Ming’s opinion, this Sixth Young Lady was obviously fine, but she still asked the maid to hold him back. The young lady clearly wanted to pull him back and ask about that past episode.
Yet how would he dare to speak about that matter?
“Your young lady is really fine. Not sick, not sick at all.” As he was anxious to stop Shufei from pestering him, Doctor Ming couldn’t help shouting loudly. A few old maidservants passing by turned their eyes to him in shock.
“Really?” Shufei let go of him helplessly.
“Really!” Doctor Ming answered in the affirmative again. He hurriedly turned to Concubine Huang’s courtyard when he saw Shufei no longer pulling him. He left in such a hurry as if he were being chased after.
In Concubine Huang’s chamber, Doctor Ming diagnosed carefully and told her some precautions before he slowly walked out. When he saw that the maid of the Lotus Courtyard was no longer there, he secretly wiped off his sweat and hurried towards the outside of the mansion. It seemed that this Sixth Young Lady was not an easy person to deal with.
He had to be more careful.
Concubine Huang was diagnosed to be healthy but still not pregnant. She was depressed in her heart, so she went out to the garden to relax herself with her maids and old maidservants.
Suddenly, she saw a maid leading the way for a doctor-like man with a medicine kit not far away.
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