Jin Wang Dotes on His Concubine Ch 153 Pt. 3
Translated by gingercat
Edited by gingercat
As Ru Meng and Ru Hua rummaged through boxes and cabinets looking for the object, Doctor Liu was still in the mood to joke around as he chatted with Sun Mang. “Shizi might not know, but the most sinister thing in this world is the human heart. People would place objects owned by victims of smallpox next to children. The children would inevitably be infected with smallpox. Once the child dies, the family will only think that the child was unlucky… Sometimes, the truth would be uncovered. Other times, it will not. Of all the trades and professions in the world, it’s probably us doctors and physicians who best understand how sinister the human heart can be.”
Sun Mang was not in the mood to chat with him at the moment. He kept his face straight and didn’t speak.
“This bedroom is where Madam spends most of her time, so unless this old man is mistaken, the object should be in this room. Look for something she often has close contact with. If you really can’t find it, that’s okay. Just move to a different room.”
Not finding it was not an option. Sun Mang was willing to dig three feet underground to find the object. Once he learns who the culprit behind this is, he will shred that person to pieces.
“By the way, this object does have a timing constraint. It can’t be an old item because it needs to be replaced every now and then. Since Madam’s symptoms appeared in these last few months, the item should have been brought in around this time.”
Doctor Liu was frank and said everything that should be said, making the range of possible objects much smaller. Even if they were to check every object that fit his criteria, it wouldn’t be very difficult. Qiao-shi wasn’t someone that random people could easily approach. It was even less likely for her to receive an object from any random person. Even if someone does give her a gift, she may not actually use it.
And all her clothing and bedding were specially cleaned and stored, especially her inner clothes. Every piece that gets sent to the wash is accounted for. They were all responsible for it. After all, a woman’s reputation was more important than anything else. If she were to lose a piece of her inner clothes, it could result in a shameful scandal.
“Lad, if you still can’t find it, you should just move to a different room.”
Doctor Liu seemed to be injected with chicken blood as he repeatedly stabbed Sun Mang where it hurts. Eventually, Sun Mang’s face turned black. If this person hadn’t saved his father and helped him with Qiao-shi’s illness, Sun Mang would have long thrown him out.
He was unaware that Doctor Liu wasn’t like this in the past. He used to be a stoic old man. But ever since he and Fucheng spent more time together, he gradually became like this.
But the problem was even after everything that was said, nothing suspicious was found. Just as Sun Mang was about to order them to continue searching, Ru Meng’s eyes fell on a sachet hanging by the bedside. She pointed at it hesitantly, “Could this be it?”
Everyone’s eyes looked over.
“This was given to Madam by the Sixth Young Miss. Madam likes the scent of mint, so she would hold it when she has nothing else to do. Whenever she feels stressed, she would hold it to her nose and inhale the fragrance of the sachet. Back when Madam was still in her boudoir*, the Sixth Young Miss would make sachets with this scent for her. Now that she came to visit the capital, she said that she had specially dried some mint leaves to make sachets for Madam. She would make a new one every five to six days because the mint smell eventually fades after a while. Out of all the objects in the room, this is what this servant finds to be the most suspicious.”
The sachet was removed from the bedside and wrapped in a handkerchief.
Doctor Liu took a clean handkerchief and tied it around his face to cover up his nose. He took out a pair of special gloves, put them on, and opened the sachet.
Ru Meng added, “Whenever a new sachet is sent over, we check it. There are only mint leaves in it. Nothing else.”
Doctor Liu’s examination confirmed this. It was indeed a bag of ordinary mint leaves.
So was it the object?
After all, tuberculosis couldn’t be seen or touched. No one dared to be certain, but at least they now had something to go on.
As for Qiao-shi’s disease, it wasn’t incurable. If it had been discovered too late, then Doctor Liu wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it. But since it hadn’t been that long, Doctor Liu was 70 to 80% sure that he could cure Qiao-shi.
The amount of gratitude Sun Mang and Qiao-shi felt goes without saying. When Qiao-shi found out that she didn’t have to die, her joy was indescribable.
It was getting late, so Doctor Liu bid goodbye.
Sun Mang personally sent him out, and said something inexplicably, “Thank him for helping me. I will remember his favour.”
The person he was talking about was naturally referring to Jin Wang. To put it bluntly, Doctor Liu put in all the work to gain a favour for Jin Wang. Whether or not this favour will be used one day is a different question, but it’s always good to have one just in case.
Qiao Xiuli kept thinking about this matter for the rest of the day, and she hurried over to Lanruo Pavilion the next morning.
It seemed that the return of the Shizi made Lanruo Pavilion exude a sense of vitality.
Qiao Xiuli felt uneasy as she was welcomed inside. In the past, she had to announce her arrival before going inside. Later, Madam Qiao fell ill and everyone ran away, so she could enter at will without needing anyone to specially welcome her in. But today, everything was back to before. She is considered an outsider again.
Qiao Xiuli sneered in her heart. As she walked in, she expected to see Qiao-shi in despair, yet who would’ve thought that what greeted her instead was a bright smile on her face?
Shocked, she automatically asked, “Sister Yan, why are you so happy?”
“Sister Li, you are here. The doctor that your brother-in-law invited yesterday is a genius doctor! He examined me and found that I don’t actually have tuberculosis. It’s just that my mood hasn’t been very stable and then I caught a cold. Don’t you think this is something worth being happy about? Those past few days have been terrible! Now that I know it’s because the previous doctor misdiagnosed, I can finally relax.”
As Qiao-shi spoke, she observed Qiao Xiuli’s expression.
Qiao Xiuli was indeed stunned, but she immediately came to her senses and smiled reluctantly. “Congratulations, Sister Yan. What great news! I can finally breathe a sigh of relief.”
“Thinking about yesterday, and now looking at today, everything feels like a dream. By the way, do you still remember what I said yesterday?”
Qiao Xiuli blurted, “What?”
Qiao-shi smiled and said, “If you don’t remember it, that’s okay. It was me who wasn’t thinking straight that led to having that kind of thought. Your brother-in-law scolded me severely yesterday, asking who did I take him as. He even said that I am the only one in his life and that he will never look for anyone else. Even if there are those shameless women, it’s useless since he won’t take any of them seriously.”
Seeing the smile on Qiao-shi’s face, Qiao Xiuli vomited a pool of blood in her heart.
Wasn’t she showing off a little too much? What she hated most about Qiao-shi was that she never hesitated to express her happiness, as if she wanted to emphasize other people’s misfortune.
Why must all the good things in this world be occupied by one person?
She had a beautiful appearance and good family background. Ever since she was a child, she was pampered by everyone. Once she grew up, there was a man with a distinguished background and a handsome appearance waiting for her. After marriage, she gave birth to both a boy and a girl, and the husband and wife were in harmony.
Qiao Xiuli felt her heart aching with jealousy, making her feel utterly miserable. But there was a strange light in her eyes. She continued to wear a smile on her face as she chatted with Madam Qiao.
She had slowly built up her patience over these past ten years, so one setback was nothing to her. Qiao Xiuli firmly believes that one day she will be able to rob Qiao-shi of everything she loves.
