Qin Liuxi rose from the carriage, casually wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth, and asked languidly, "What's going on outside?"
"Master, there's an old lady who's suddenly fallen critically ill, and everyone is in a panic."
Qin Liuxi gave an indifferent "Oh," and was about to order the continuation of the trip up the mountain, but then he remembered Qi Huang's words about the thousand taels they still had.
Qin Liuxi was somewhat glum and stepped down from the carriage. Chen Pi, upon seeing this, immediately followed behind her.
Civilians were gathered around, pointing and discussing, and the family was desperately shouting for a doctor while rushing the carriage to come so they could return to the city for medical help.
As Qin Liuxi approached, the bystanders gave her a glance and naturally made way.
Such a handsome young man, but as inaccessible as the icy peaks of a snow mountain.
Qin Liuxi glanced at the old woman on the ground and was about to speak when someone announced that a doctor had arrived. She looked over and saw a thin old man with a white beard, and she simply stood there with her arms folded.
She did not have the habit of snatching patients.
"Ah, this is a stroke," said the elder, examining the old woman's sallow complexion, twitching limbs, and crooked mouth. Without even taking her pulse, he made his diagnosis.
Qin Liuxi's mouth twitched, thinking where did this quack, spouting nonsense, come from!
"Doctor, doctor, please save my mother! I will reward you handsomely." The middle-aged man in a brocade robe who was supporting the old woman looked at him as if he had seen a savior.
The doctor stroked his white beard, pretending to be compassionate and said, "Rest assured, a doctor's heart is like a parent's. Now that I am here, there is no reason not to save her."
He squatted down, placed two fingers on the old woman's wrist, his expression changing slightly. Could it be that he couldn't feel her pulse?
The doctor became a bit flustered, focused again, and tried to feel for the pulse once more. Indeed, not a single of the Six Meridians was detectable. Was she dead?
"This..." He clenched his teeth, took a silver needle from the cloth bag he carried, and tried to let blood from the old woman's fingertips, but she did not awaken. The son began to grow impatient at the sight, his gaze towards the doctor turning increasingly hostile and skeptical.
"Old Lady, your limbs are ice-cold; did you catch a cold last night?" asked the doctor.
The man turned to look at the servants, and an old nurse quickly said, "Last night, the Old Lady went to bed early in anticipation of visiting the Daoist Temple to offer incense today. She didn't get up in the night, nor did she have any discomfort."
"This can't be," the doctor said. "Well, I will write a prescription and borrow the facilities of a nearby farmhouse to brew it..."
"If it's indeed a stroke, why are you treating it as a cold?" Qin Liuxi could no longer stand idly by, stepping forward to address the elder: "Old man, your diagnosis is uncertain, yet you recklessly prescribe. Do you intend to commit murder?"
The doctor's face fell: "Where did this insolent brat come from? You're defaming me!"
"I may defame you, but it's still better than you, a quack doctor, dispensing random prescriptions. If she were to take your concoction, the Old Lady would soon be taking a journey to the Western Heaven!"
Do you know how to speak properly?
The middle-aged man, still retaining some rationality and recognizing Qin Liuxi's confident assertions, suppressed his displeasure and noticed her face for the first time, asking softly, "Young Master, could it be that you are also knowledgeable in medicine?"
"I know a bit, you have money?"
A vein popped on the middle-aged man's forehead as he patiently replied: "My name is Qian, from Li City Four-direction Street, not as wealthy as a nation, but nevertheless possessed of immense wealth. As long as you can save my mother, a generous reward is assured! But one's life is at stake, and if you don't have the expertise, don't take on this responsibility, for I know all too well that matricide is an unforgivable sin!"
Landlord Qian's gaze was sharp, hiding a warning.
Hey, look at my temper!
Qin Liuxi raised an eyebrow and said, "Landlord Qian speaks well, with money involved, I might just be that capable person you need!"