The Splendid Brocade of the Painting Physician – Chapter 107

Chapter 107: The Pain of the Prince of Shixing

At the dead of night, the Prince of Shixing’s Residence was in chaos. Chen Shuling, who had been kicked in the groin by Fenghuang, howled for two hours before finally calming down.

“Where is the imperial physician? Why hasn’t he arrived yet?”

“Your Highness, at this hour, the imperial physicians have all returned to their homes to rest!”

“I don’t care. Go get Yao Boshen, or I will kill your entire family!”

The terrified palace attendant rushed out, knocking on the door of Imperial Physician Yao Boshen’s residence in the middle of the night. After much effort, the steward came to open the door. The palace attendant, with tears streaming down his face, recounted the details of the situation. The steward then went to report the matter to Yao Boshen.

“How could this happen again? Last time it was Eighth Young Master Xiao, this time it’s the Prince of Shixing, and both incidents are related to that young lady?”

“Who can say? Last time, that Xiao Yun wanted to force himself on the young lady and even brought a group of young masters to scheme against her. The young lady, in self-defense, turned the tables on them. But this time is different. This time, the Prince of Shixing forcibly brought the young lady into his residence. And it’s said that he not only wanted to take her for himself but also intended to force himself on the Northern Barbarian boy by her side.

Who knew that although the Northern Barbarian boy is beautiful, he is a skilled fighter and very fierce. He immediately gave the Prince of Shixing a kick, directly crushing His Highness’s… to smithereens!

I heard that the Prince is still howling in pain!”

The steward’s words sent shivers down their spines. After finishing his account, he shuddered and asked, “Master, what should we do? You said you couldn’t treat Xiao Yun, and that’s fine. But if you say you can’t treat the Prince of Shixing, this Prince has a violent temper and might kill someone!”

“But if I don’t go, won’t this Prince of Shixing still take his anger out on me?”

Yao Boshen was caught in a dilemma, as was the palace attendant who had come to request his services.

The palace attendant was about to kneel and kowtow to him!

His entire family’s lives depended on him!

“Alright, I’ll go and have a look! Does His Majesty know about this?”

“Forget it, let’s go and see first!”

Whether he could treat him or not, he would say he could. It was a desperate situation, and they had to try something!

After much deliberation, Yao Boshen put on his official attire, took his medicine chest, and headed out with his servant.

By the time they arrived at the Prince of Shixing’s Residence in the ox-drawn cart, it was already a quarter past the hour of the dragon. The sky was beginning to show the first signs of dawn.

As soon as Yao Boshen stepped into the residence, he heard a furious voice shouting, “You wretched slave! How do you serve people? You hurt me, and you don’t even know it? Drag her out and behead her!”

Immediately afterward, a maid was dragged out by the residence guards. The maid looked miserable, her face pale with fear, tears streaming down her cheeks. Seeing Yao Boshen, she pleaded, “Imperial Physician Yao, save me, please save me!”

Yao Boshen felt pity for her and glanced at the two guards. He was about to say something when one of the guards said,

“I advise Imperial Physician Yao not to interfere. His Highness is in a fit of rage and needs to vent his anger on someone. If it’s not her, it will be us, or even you, Imperial Physician…”

Yao Boshen closed his mouth and remained silent. The maid’s face was ashen, and she no longer even had the strength to cry.

Soon, a bloody head was brought into the residence.

All the servants and maids in the residence were silent, kneeling on the ground.

“What a sin!”

Yao Boshen sighed and was quickly led by the palace attendant to the Prince of Shixing’s sleeping quarters. There, he saw a guard presenting the maid’s head to the Prince.

“Take it away, take it away, this unlucky thing. Don’t let it pollute my sight!”

“Your Highness, this maid’s body…”

“Feed it to the dogs!”

“Yes!”

The guard retreated with the maid’s head. Yao Boshen was also trembling with fear, but facing the Prince’s gaze, he tried his best to remain calm and put on a warm smile.

“Your Highness, let me examine you.”

Chen Shuling grunted and gestured for the servants and maids to leave, allowing Yao Boshen to approach for examination.

Yao Boshen was horrified by what he saw.

Compared to Xiao Yun, who was mangled and bloody, Chen Shuling’s condition was beyond description.

It was a certainty that he would be impotent in the future. Even if a deity came, it would be difficult to save him!

Although recently there was a divine physician lady in Jiankang City,

wasn’t it because of this divine physician lady that the Prince of Shixing ended up like this?

“How is it? Can my injury be treated?”

Yao Boshen couldn’t help but tremble. He quickly regained his composure and stammered, “Uh, Your Highness, as long as you abstain from sexual activity for half a year and rest well, you should be able to fully recover! I will prescribe you some medicine to stop the bleeding and reduce swelling.”

“What do you mean by ‘should’? I want certainty! Why do I have to abstain for half a year? I can’t abstain for half a year!”

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“Aren’t you the Imperial Physician? Isn’t your family renowned for generations of physicians? Imperial Physician Yao, are you just a fraud?”

Yao Boshen listened submissively, not daring to utter a word of rebuttal.

At this moment, a palace attendant’s shrill voice announced from outside, “His Majesty has arrived—”

Chen Shuling was startled and thought to himself, “Why is Father here? Did he learn about my injury from the assassin’s attack and came to see me?”

Thinking this, he wanted to get up immediately to greet his father. However, as soon as he moved, he felt excruciating pain in his lower body and fell back heavily.

Chen Xu, without waiting for the palace attendant’s guidance, strode directly into Chen Shuling’s sleeping quarters.

Chen Shuling was overjoyed. He turned sideways, trying to bow and greet his father, calling out, “Father!”

However, he saw that Chen Xu’s face was very grim.

“Father, what… is the matter?”

Chen Xu called for a palace attendant and had him dump a box full of letters on the floor beside Chen Shuling’s bed.

“What have you been doing lately? Last time, someone accused you of bullying the common people. I thought it was just a moment of youthful indiscretion and gave you a light punishment, hoping you would repent. Afterward, no censors came to impeach you, so I gave you the opportunity to be promoted to Governor of Yangzhou, hoping you would achieve some merits to cover up your past mistakes.

But you have become even more outrageous. Not only do you bully the common people and abduct women, but you also rob graves and commit all sorts of evil deeds!”

“Father, I’ve been wronged!”

Chen Xu pointed to the scattered letters on the floor.

“These are all letters of accusation against you submitted to the accusation box by the people of Jiankang City, even officials below the fifth rank. Among them, there are those whose wives and daughters died at your hands, whose sons were unjustly imprisoned by you, and even those who accuse you of plotting to usurp the position of Crown Prince…”

“No, Father, don’t listen to their nonsense. I would never dare to covet my elder brother’s position as Crown Prince. As for the accusations of abducting women and robbing graves, those are all fabricated. Someone is deliberately framing me!”

“Who would frame you?”

Chen Xu asked sternly, “And what about yesterday’s incident… Now the whole city of Jiankang is saying that you forcibly took that divine physician lady to your residence. What did you do to them, and why did you end up like this?”

“Father, it was that wretched slave, that wretched slave who harmed me. I have already sent people to capture that wretched slave. Once I bring him back, I will definitely give you the truth!”

“No need. I have already sent people to investigate the truth of this matter! I have also dismissed your Military Cavalry Attendant, Tan Qi. This person was originally your close confidant, but he instigated you to disregard the law, disrupt governance, harm the people, and act recklessly.

I intend to have him executed after the autumn harvest as a lesson for your reckless behavior this time. If there is a next time…”

“I won’t dare anymore, Father. I will never dare again. From now on, I will heed Father’s teachings and be a good official who loves the people like his own children. I will definitely do it!”

Chen Shuling’s plea seemed quite sincere, but this was not the first time Chen Xu had reprimanded his son. Almost every time, it was the same. He would confess with great sincerity, determined to change his ways, but before long, he would relapse…

Chen Xu was very disappointed. He felt a certain guilt towards his second son, who was not given the position of Crown Prince. His eldest son, Chen Shubao, was weak and not the most suitable candidate for the future throne. However, establishing the heir based on legitimacy and seniority was an ancestral tradition, and he had never thought of breaking this tradition and replacing the Crown Prince. Therefore, he had been too partial and indulgent towards his second son, Chen Shuling, but he never expected it would lead to this…

Looking at Chen Shuling, who was bowing his head submissively and listening attentively, Chen Xu gestured for Yao Boshen to leave the sleeping quarters with him.

“Tell me the truth, can the Prince of Shixing’s injury be treated?”

Chen Xu asked directly, his expression stern and intimidating, making it difficult to meet his gaze.

Before the Emperor, one could not deceive him. Yao Boshen had no choice but to answer truthfully:

“Your Majesty, please forgive my limited abilities. I’m afraid it will be very difficult for me to cure His Highness’s injury…”

Seeing the Emperor’s expression darken with anger, he added, “However, I have heard that the Xiao family’s young lady, Xiao Jinyu, possesses exceptional medical skills. If all else fails, Your Majesty, could you perhaps summon her for treatment?”