◎If Madam can find him, perhaps the Young Master still has hope.◎

In the Yunxi Hall, everyone helped Chu Junze, who was clutching his leg and crying out in pain, onto the couch. Madam Wu gently stroked her son’s pale, pain-stricken face, tears streaming down: “Son, bear with it a little longer. I’ve already sent someone to fetch the doctor! Your father is too heartless… how could he do this!”

Chu Jinhe tugged at the corner of her mouth and said coolly, “…Mother, if you ask me, my brother’s beating wasn’t unfair. He should learn his lesson. In his current state, don’t even think about supporting me to rise in the world. Just not causing trouble that worries you and Father is already a blessing.”

The affair with the second young lady had caused such a stir that it was impossible for her not to know. When she arrived at the Yunxi Hall’s entrance, she overheard her brother’s ‘nonsense.’ Seeing the chaos inside, she didn’t join in but hid in a side room until everyone dispersed. Only then did she come out.

Madam Wu knew her daughter was right. She had often scolded her son, but he never learned. Being disciplined at home was better than causing trouble outside. Wiping her eyes, she couldn’t help but pat her son lightly: “Pain like this should at least teach you something!”

Then she began to fret again: “The Li family has truly gone too far this time. Your father and grandmother are determined to break off the engagement with the second young lady…”

Chu Jinhe didn’t respond immediately. She sat at the table, resting her chin on one hand, and after a moment said, “Mother, I think breaking off the engagement with the second young lady might not be a bad thing.”

Madam Wu was startled: “How do you mean?”

Chu Jinhe’s eyes glowed with insight: “Father wants to form a marriage alliance with the Pei family, right? One Li Min is gone—there’s still Pei Yue. I don’t want to marry, so let the second young lady marry instead.”

Hearing this, Madam Wu realized the point. The master was worried about the King’s physician reporting their matchmaking for her son, but if the Pei and Chu families allied, the King’s physician would hesitate because of Minister Pei.

She smiled at her daughter and exhaled, relaxing her brow: “You really have good ideas, He’er!”

“But we need to wait a little. Once your father’s anger subsides, I’ll bring it up again.”

Half an hour later, the servants brought Doctor Zhang to the residence.

After examining Chu Junze, Doctor Zhang determined that the swelling on his lower leg was likely a hairline fracture. It would be painful for a while, but there was no serious danger; rest and care were sufficient.

Madam Wu scolded her son with words but still worried deeply. Her son had never been injured before, and today his father had personally kicked his leg to the point of fracture. Thinking of this, her eyes reddened again, and she leaned over the bed, crying.

After confirming that her third son was fine, Madam Meng escorted Doctor Zhang out of the residence.

Once outside, Doctor Zhang got into his carriage to return home. He hadn’t gone far when someone stopped the carriage. Peeking out, he saw it was his young apprentice from the apothecary.

“Master, the Duke’s residence has an emergency. You need to come quickly!”

Doctor Zhang frowned: “Young Master Yan?”

“Yes!” the apprentice replied.

Doctor Zhang re-entered the carriage and ordered it to drive to the Duke’s residence.

When he arrived, three doctors were already attending to Young Master Yan. Doctor Zhang bowed to the Duke’s wife who was standing by the bed, then approached the bed to examine the boy lying there.

The boy lay wrapped in a brocade quilt, barely conscious. His breathing was weak, his body frail and thin like an early spring willow. His face was pale with no trace of color, lips dry, and the skin under his eyes bluish—a picture of serious illness.

A maid whispered to Doctor Zhang: “Recently, he hasn’t been sleeping well. This morning he had a cough, and after dinner he had diarrhea that was as thin as mud.”

Doctor Zhang nodded, taking the boy’s pulse. The other three doctors watched him closely. When he withdrew his hand, the lead doctor signaled them, and the four circled around the desk, faces heavy with concern, exchanging worried glances and sighs.

The young master’s name was Yan Yuchen, the only child of the Duke’s wife. Though he was twelve, due to congenital weakness and a deficient prenatal constitution, he looked no older than eight or nine. He had been sickly since birth, consuming more medicine than food.

Medical texts say: “Tonics are like delicacies; the stomach and spleen are the cauldron.” This child was born over two months prematurely, with weak innate vitality. His body was like a worn-out cauldron; even the finest medicine was hard for him to absorb. Currently, the cough was minor, but the diarrhea was the real problem. From the pulse, the doctors could sense that the young master’s body was already on the edge of collapse, unable to benefit from tonics.

All four doctors were renowned experts in the capital and had been jointly treating Yan Yuchen for years. Though they had anticipated this day, their hearts were heavy. The youngest, Doctor Wang, broke the silence: “In my opinion, the Rehmannia should be stopped.”

Rehmannia nourishes kidney yin, enriches the blood, and supplements deficiency. But in his case, it could no longer help and might even burden him further.

Doctor Liu, nodded and after a moment of thought said, “Stop the aconite as well.”

“Stop the aconite?” Doctor Zhang frowned. “Completely stopping it isn’t wise. Without the aconite to warm the spleen and kidneys, the limbs might swell, and coughing and wheezing could worsen. It would be better to reduce the dosage.”

“The pulse I just felt on Young Master Yan is tangled like silkworm threads—clearly there is damage in the liver. If we don’t stop the medicine, he may not be able to tolerate it,” Doctor Liu explained, weighing his own considerations.

No one could take medicine continuously for years, let alone a child like Young Master Yan. But the problem was that stopping it entirely was also impossible. His body was as fragile as paper, leaking at every point. The doctors had done their best to patch him, but a paper figure soaked long-term in medicinal decoctions would eventually rot. He was already at the end of his strength; there was no solution, only the possibility of prolonging things as best they could.

“Let’s pause the medication for now,” Doctor Xu, who had been silent the entire time, finally spoke in a deep voice.

All eyes turned to him.

Doctor Xu, styled Renfu, was seventy-two years old, from a family of physicians, and had once served as a court physician. All the other doctors present regarded him as the senior among them. He glanced across the screen at Young Master Yan and said:

“His pulse is unstable, showing damage to all five organs. To medicate now would be like adding oil to a lamp about to go out. Not only would it be ineffective, it could accelerate the depletion of his vital energy. It would be better to try moxibustion on the Guan Yuan and Qi Sea, combined with acupuncture techniques for tonification and drainage. Let us nurture him for a few days, observe the results, and then decide on further treatment.”

The other doctors considered this and nodded in agreement.

Doctor Liu spoke up: “New moxa is too dry. I have three-year-old Duanwu moxa; I can have someone deliver it later today…”

Young Master Yan, sensitive to cold, had two charcoal braziers at the head and foot of his bed. The fire burned hot, yet Shen Lanzheng, sitting at the bedside, felt her hands and feet icy. Her gaze was vacant as she held her son’s hand in shock.

The doctors’ whispers came faintly through the screen; she could only catch fragments—“cannot tolerate,” “lamp about to go out.” In truth, she knew better than anyone what her son’s condition was. She realized that the moment she had feared for so many years might really be here.

Twelve years, over four thousand three hundred days and nights—she had given everything, countless medicines and her heart and soul, trying to keep her child alive. It seemed that now, she could no longer hold on.

Her dull eyes moved from her son’s pale cheeks to the light blue tortoise-shell patterned brocade quilt covering him. The overlapping tortoise-shell patterns made her dizzy. Tortoise and crane for longevity… if I could give my life in exchange for my son’s, I would do it without hesitation!

After half a teacup’s time of discussion, the doctors returned to the bedside, saluted her, and Doctor Xu informed her of their decision. Shen Lanzheng simply nodded, ran her fingers through her son’s slightly disheveled hair, and whispered softly: “Not taking medicine is fine. You’ve suffered all these years; now it’s time to stop.”

The room fell silent.

Shen Lanzheng lifted her head, steeling herself, nodded slightly to the others, and asked the maid to present the doctors’ fees and see them out.

Once their footsteps faded, she sat in silence for some time. When she went around the screen, she found Doctor Xu had not yet left. She asked, “Doctor Xu, do you have more to say?”

“Yes,” Xu Renfu replied, bowing slightly. “I just remembered someone. If Madam can find him, perhaps the Young Master still has hope.”

The red candle on the table suddenly popped. Shen Lanzheng’s brow twitched. “Please, Doctor Xu, speak.” The four doctors she had summoned were already among the best in the capital, and the capital’s physicians were the top in the entire Yan Kingdom. Could there really be someone more skilled?

“That man is named Wan Jilin, from Tuzhou, and he is especially skilled in acupuncture. Madam Shen, I must confess, I had already anticipated the Young Master’s condition today and have done much research. Right now, the appropriate course is acupuncture and moxibustion. This Doctor Wan, called ‘Wan the Marvelous’ in Tuzhou, is incredibly proficient, far surpassing me,” Xu Renfu said.

“Oh?” Shen Lanzheng’s eyes brightened. “If Wan the Marvelous is so capable, why hasn’t he entered the imperial palace to serve, or even come to the capital?”

Xu Renfu shook his head. “He is free-spirited and does not wish to be tied to one place. My acquaintance with him was coincidental.”

“Years ago, before he was forty, he proposed the idea of ‘simultaneous tonification and drainage,’ arguing that a single-method approach could only either tonify or drain, too rigid. He dedicated himself to studying a ‘compound method’ that could treat both root and branch. It has been twenty years since we discussed it, and with his talent, he may have already achieved results. The Young Master’s body now is exactly in need of this method to expel illness and strengthen the root.”

“Then why didn’t Doctor Xu say so earlier? I could have made preparations sooner!” Shen Lanzheng’s expression darkened.

Xu Renfu smiled wryly. “I am not close to him and do not know if he has truly succeeded. I feared giving you false hope. At this point, there is truly no better option…”

As he finished speaking, Young Master Yan, on the other side of the screen, suddenly awoke weakly and called out, “Mother.”

Shen Lanzheng drew a deep breath, straightened her back, the golden phoenix hairpin at her temple trembling slightly, revealing the composure of a duchess: “Find him. Tonight I will send someone to Tuzhou. If there is even the slightest hope, I will never give up!”