The Splendid Brocade of the Painting Physician – Chapter 54

Chapter 54: This Injury Cannot Be Healed

“Her mother, Xiao Luan, I have heard the elders in the clan mention her. It is said that when Emperor Wenxuan was alive, he highly valued the eldest legitimate daughter of the Xiao family who came from the Southern regions, especially her medical skills, which deeply impressed the Emperor. After Emperor Wenxuan established the Great Qi Dynasty, although he purged corrupt officials, recruited talented individuals, and made our Great Qi prosperous and the people peaceful, his temperament later became very strange. He often became angry and uncontrollable, and many imperial consorts and even ministers were killed for no reason. As a result, all the aristocratic families were terrified of this heroic emperor and dared not approach him.”

Mentioning this heroic emperor, Gao Changgong frowned slightly, and his heart also became somewhat puzzled and apprehensive: There seemed to be such a “disease” hidden in the bloodline of the Gao family. Emperor Wenxuan was also a wise ruler when he made achievements. He threw a cup, and the Westerners were terrified; he wore armor, and the Northern Barbarians were alarmed. Even the Turkic Khagan praised him for having the demeanor of a sage ruler. However, in the later period of his reign, he became exceptionally cruel and tyrannical, indulging in debauchery and taking pleasure in killing. Even he himself eventually died from excessive drinking and womanizing.

And now, the current emperor, Gao Zhan, is even more debauched and cruel, unable to listen to a single word of advice. Big Brother Gao Xiaoyu, because he advised Empress Hu that she should not play “握槊” （a board game similar to backgammon） with He Shikai, who was a subject, was framed by him and eventually drank poison and jumped into the river to his death.

While he was pondering, he heard Lu Yu continue:

“However, there was only one person who could approach Emperor Wenxuan and leave unscathed. It is even said that as long as this female physician was present, Emperor Wenxuan would no longer be irritable and would be very calm, as if he had become the wise ruler he once was. Therefore, Emperor Wenxuan valued this female physician very much. Later, he granted her an official position as a female official, equivalent to a Third Rank Grand Master of Splendid Happiness, and wanted this female physician to be his exclusive imperial physician.”

“Third Rank Grand Master of Splendid Happiness?”

The Grand Master of Splendid Happiness was a close advisor to the emperor, with no fixed duties, only acting according to the emperor’s orders. And Emperor Wenxuan, Gao Yang, was a lecherous man who even wanted to seize his brother’s wife…

Gao Changgong seemed to have thought of something and remained silent.

“You see, Prince, I told you that you have been in the military camp for many years, so you must not be as familiar with many of the secrets of the palace as I am.”

“Haven’t you been in the military camp with me?” Gao Changgong asked in return.

Lu Yu then said, “Although I have been in the military camp, I have had extraordinary hearing since I was a child. I can hear and remember anything, whether it’s the idle chatter of my brothers and sisters in the clan or my uncles and aunts.”

Gao Changgong smiled and said nothing. It wasn’t that he couldn’t find out about these things, but he was already tired of the “banquets” in the palace and subconsciously resisted accepting these things related to the secrets of the Gao imperial family.

After pondering for a moment, he looked up and said solemnly, “Forget it, since we have come to Jiankang, let’s pay a visit to the new emperor of the Southern Dynasty!”

After saying that, he seemed to remember something and said, “Also, send a few skilled people to keep an eye on this place and see how Young Master Xiao Xian ends up.”

“Prince, you actually want to see how that young lady is doing, don’t you? Are you afraid that the matriarch of the Xiao family will send someone to assassinate her?” He then teased, “By the way, how did it feel to be forcibly kissed by her?”

Gao Changgong looked at him and said seriously, “I almost… lost my life!”

The young guard was dumbfounded, his face full of disbelief.

How could he almost lose his life? Although being kissed by a beauty can be somewhat soul-stirring, it shouldn’t really make one lose their soul, right?

Gao Changgong naturally couldn’t understand Lu Yu’s train of thought, but he couldn’t help but recall that moment: She had a silver needle hidden in her hand. At that moment, she thought he was someone sent by Princess Yunyin and indeed had the intention to kill. However, at the moment she kissed him, she suddenly thought of something and ultimately changed her mind, stabbing the silver needle into herself.

Such a guarded yet soft-hearted person!

…

“How is it? Can my son’s injury be healed?”

In the grand mansion of the Xiao family, Princess Yunyin and a group of servants filled the entire room, their anxious waiting filling the princess’s face with unease and resentment.

Xiao Jian, upon hearing the news, immediately rushed back from Tai City and brought several imperial physicians from the palace to treat his son.

The one who had just spoken was Yao Boshen, known as the “Spring Hand of the Apricot Forest.” His father, Yao Sengyuan, was a famous imperial physician during the Southern Liang Dynasty and had cured Emperor Wu of Liang, Xiao Yan, and Emperor Yuan of Liang, Xiao Yi, of difficult illnesses. His medical skills were widely admired and praised, known as “bringing the dead back to life.” The family tradition had been passed down to this point, making it exceptional.

Before Yao Boshen could speak, the other imperial physicians also came out of the room, all hanging their heads in silence.

“Is it truly incurable?” Discouragement gradually appeared on Xiao Jian’s face.

Yao Boshen then consoled him, “Actually, your son’s injury is not life-threatening. However, it is in a vital area. Even if the external injury can heal, I’m afraid…”

“Just tell me directly, what can be done to save him?” Xiao Jian was becoming impatient.

He heard him say, “His life can be saved, but as for his manhood, I’m afraid I cannot heal it!”

Xiao Jian’s face turned pale, and he looked at the other imperial physicians, only to see them all shaking their heads and sighing.

Xiao Ninth Miss was so frightened that her face turned white, and she hid to the side, not daring to speak.

“It’s all because of that wretched maid!” In the midst of extreme suppression and silence, Princess Yunyin suddenly shouted, her voice as unstoppable as a flash flood. “I want to kill her… I must kill her…”

Seeing this, Yao Boshen could only shake his head and, along with the other imperial physicians, excused himself and left this depressing and murderous room.

“Thank you all!”

Xiao Jian hurriedly escorted these imperial physicians, whom he had personally invited, out of the Xiao mansion gate and apologized repeatedly on behalf of Princess Yunyin.

✿✿✿

“You are too kind, Minister Xiao. I have written a prescription here. Even if it cannot completely cure your son, it can at least help him recover his health. Perhaps in the future, you might be able to find an even more skilled divine physician to treat him. It’s not impossible.”

Yao Boshen handed a prescription to Xiao Jian.

Xiao Jian nodded, but his heart was already filled with sorrow: Where could he find an even more skilled divine physician? Even Yao Boshen, with his “bringing the dead back to life” skills, couldn’t cure him, so where else could he find a divine physician?

The Xiao family now only had this one relatively healthy offspring!

But now, even this only one was no longer healthy!

The more Xiao Jian thought about it, the more sorrowful he became. Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind, and he remembered his former daughter, Xiao Luan.

“If only A’luan were still here. If she were still here, would there be a way…”

Thinking like this, he suddenly remembered the young girl who had called him grandfather in front of everyone on the street that day, the young lady who looked exactly like A’luan—

His granddaughter!

With this thought, Xiao Jian strode back into the Xiao mansion and returned to Xiao Yun’s Yi Xiang Courtyard.

“What exactly happened? How could this have happened?”

Unable to believe it and filled with grief and anger, Xiao Jian, who usually valued calmness and Confucian elegance, couldn’t help but reveal a ferocious expression. He pointed at Princess Yunyin and the servants in the room and questioned them.

Xiao Ninth Miss trembled in fear. Xiao Jian, with his sharp eyes, immediately noticed something was wrong with her. He pointed at her and said sternly,

“Ninth Miss, you tell me!”

Xiao Ninth Miss shook her head and said, “I, I don’t know anything, I don’t know anything!”

“You don’t have to use your daughter as a scapegoat, I’ll tell you!” Princess Yunyin suddenly stood up and said, “The root of all this is your good granddaughter. An illegitimate daughter who was originally supposed to be hidden from the world, once she returned to Jiankang, she caused a huge stir. Haven’t you heard? Now the whole city is talking about how heartless our Xiao family is, abandoning our daughter and granddaughter.

So she came for revenge. She couldn’t take revenge on us, so she took revenge on your son, wanting our Xiao family to have no descendants. Do you understand now?”

Xiao Jian’s face turned pale. He remained silent for a while, then his eyes filled with sorrow, his face ashen:

So, was she the cause of all this? Then, wouldn’t it be even more impossible to ask her to come back and treat Eighth Young Master?

He suddenly remembered some rumors he had heard in Tai City:

“I heard that the matriarch of the Xiao family sent over a dozen assassins to chase and kill that granddaughter who returned from the Northern regions. The Xiao family is a prominent family, why can’t they even afford to raise a granddaughter? They have to put her to death!”

Thinking of this, Xiao Jian shook his head repeatedly.

“No, you always twist the truth. What you say is not necessarily true. Ninth Miss, you tell me!”

Xiao Jian once again turned his cold gaze towards Xiao Ninth Miss.

Xiao Ninth Miss shivered and still dared not speak.

“Speak!”

As this word came out, Xiao Jian’s gaze was already fierce.

Tears streamed down Xiao Ninth Miss’s face, and she finally spoke tremblingly.

“It was Brother… Brother said that Xiao Jinyu was beautiful and charming, and he couldn’t let others take advantage of her. So he invited young masters from the Lu, Kong, and Zhu families to a banquet at Apricot Blossom and Misty Rain Tower to lure Xiao Jinyu into a trap. But then I don’t know what happened. Brother came back like this.”

Xiao Jian’s gaze fell once again on the trembling maid standing to the side.

The maid immediately knelt on the ground and cried, “Young Master… Young Master was… was raped by those young masters from the Lu, Kong, and Zhu families!”