Chapter 89: Her Father is Sick

Early that morning, the Lu family was unusually noisy.

Lu Songli was still asleep when she was woken up by Mo Bing. After waking up, she looked out the window and saw that it was still pitch black. It was only  the fifth watch of the night?

After living here for so long, Lu Songli had finally learned to tell the time of day by the sky.

“What’s going on? Tell me,” Lu Songli sat up, took the clothes she handed her, and put them on. She was certain that something urgent had happened, otherwise Mo Bing wouldn’t have woken her up at this hour.

“Master is sick.”

“My father is sick? Did you call a doctor?” Lu Songli got out of bed even faster upon hearing this.

“Madam has already sent someone to the palace with a notice to invite the imperial physician.”

Yes, her father could call for the imperial physician. “Call them in, I need to change clothes, hurry up!”

“Yes—”

During this time, Lu Songli asked about her father’s symptoms and initially judged that it was a case of internal deficiency of Yang Qi and subsequent external cold, but she needed to see him in person to make a definitive diagnosis.

About a quarter of an hour later, Lu Songli had finished washing up, dressed neatly, and set off for the main courtyard.

As she walked, Lu Songli secretly cursed herself for being careless.

Her father must have been under a lot of psychological pressure lately. Too much had happened recently. Although she had been involved in planning, she had been the main force behind many things. In the face of the Xie and Zhao families’ plan to destroy their Lu family, although she and her father had strategized countermeasures, he was the pillar of the family and the main executor. Facing an unknown outcome, he must have been under immense pressure.

Furthermore, as the saying goes, “Being close to the emperor is like being close to a tiger”. Her father had been attending court and accompanying the emperor too often recently. It could be said that her father had been on edge, his mind constantly focused and tense.

He was already forty years old and no longer young.

Now that Xie Zhan had personally said that they would cease hostilities, indicating that the struggle between their Lu family and the Xie and Zhao families had come to an end, the tension in his heart had eased, and the feeling of fatigue had crept in. His body naturally protested. Coupled with his weakened defenses, and then contracting a cold, the illness naturally came on fiercely.

When Lu Songli arrived at the main courtyard, she happened to meet Lu Mingzhi, who was rushing over. The siblings didn’t say much and went straight in.

The imperial physician hadn’t arrived yet, but Zhou Daifu, a local doctor, was already at the Lu family, having already diagnosed her father and prescribed medicine.

Her father was lying on the bed, covered with a thick quilt, his face flushed, his lips dry, and a damp cloth covering his forehead.

She went over and took his pulse, and it was similar to her previous diagnosis.

Lu Songli covered her father with the quilt and pulled her mother out of the bedroom, letting her father rest.

“Was Father a little uncomfortable a few days ago?” Lu Songli asked.  He had a deficiency of Yang Qi and then caught a cold. His pulse was weak and he was drowsy, which showed that his Yang Qi was already weak.

Madam Jiang replied, “Yes. It was just a slight cold at first. Your father drank some ginger soup and didn’t think much of it. But in the middle of the night, your father’s condition suddenly worsened. Most importantly, your father’s voice was hoarse and he couldn’t speak anymore.”

Her father had lost his voice suddenly. This was due to severe cold invading the lungs and kidneys, causing obstruction above and blockage of kidney Qi below. “It’s okay, Mother, don’t worry. Father has been seen by a doctor and taken medicine, he will definitely get better.”

Upon hearing this, Madam Jiang nodded repeatedly, “That’s good, that’s good.” When she discovered this, she was terrified. Her husband thought there was something seriously wrong with his throat and he wouldn’t be able to speak anymore, his face turned pale with fear.

Lu Songli took her father’s pulse, looked at the prescription Zhou Daifu had written, and made a judgment. It was basically on point. Her father’s illness was a deficiency of Yang Qi, with external cold, both the exterior and interior were cold. He should be treated with both tonifying Yang Qi and relieving the exterior.

She thought for a moment and added two herbs: Atractylodes and Angelica.

Her father kept groaning and couldn’t sleep peacefully. When they asked, he told them with difficulty that his whole body ached. Lu Songli knew that this was due to dampness obstructing the meridians, causing pain in the limbs. Adding Atractylodes and Angelica would dispel dampness, open up the meridians, and relieve pain.

She wanted her father to suffer less.

“Daughter, is this alright?” Madam Jiang was a little scared seeing her change the prescription.

Perhaps because her daughter had always been sickly, she had also liked to read medical books in the past, but only intermittently. They knew that their daughter had started reading medical books again recently and was learning medicine on her own. Her husband even helped her get hold of some rare medical books. Although their daughter was very intelligent, it shouldn’t be that easy to master medicine, right?

“Let Zhou Daifu take a look at the prescription with these two herbs added.”

“Okay.” Madam Jiang readily agreed.

When Zhou Daifu heard her reasons for adding these two herbs, he also thought it was feasible. At the same time, he was amazed. Noble ladies were indeed intelligent. Compared to the apprentices he had taught, they learned medicine much faster.

How could he know that Lu Songli had a cheat code?

In the eyes of medical practitioners like Zhou Daifu, the daughter of a fifth-rank official could already be considered a noble lady.

Zhou Daifu thought that this second Miss Lu was truly intelligent and had a great talent for medicine. It was a pity that such a person would never be able to become his disciple.

Zhou Daifu had just left when the imperial physician arrived.

The imperial physician took Lu Desheng’s pulse, looked at the revised prescription, and nodded repeatedly, saying that the prescription was well-written and told them to follow it.

So, Lu Mingzhi personally escorted the imperial physician out of the mansion. Before he left, Madam Jiang’s trusted maid handed him a purse, which she had also given to Zhou Daifu earlier, but it was not as large.

Chen, the head steward, personally went to get the medicine according to the prescription. After getting the medicine, the kitchen immediately started to decoct it.

“I knew I shouldn’t have stopped you from scolding your elder brother.” Madam Jiang felt very guilty.

Zhou Daifu said that her husband was suffering from depression and stagnation of Qi, and then he was careless and caught a cold, which caused the illness. Madam Jiang felt that if she had let her husband vent his frustrations before, he might not have gotten sick.

Lu Songli listened silently. She knew her mother was worried about her father. She understood her mother’s thoughts. Her husband was like this, and the eldest son became a scapegoat, it was nothing.

Actually, even if her eldest brother came back, it would only be a comfort. What if her father saw her elder brother’s dull side when dealing with things and felt even more distressed? As the saying goes, a family is a family, as long as they contribute money or effort, just be open-minded about everything. Besides, her elder brother was helping out at his father-in-law’s place, which was also an effort to stabilize the situation.

When the medicine was decocted, Madam Jiang first helped Lu Desheng sit up against the headboard and fed him a bowl of thick dry vegetable and meat porridge.

This bowl of porridge was made by Lu Songli herself in the kitchen. Actually, she wanted to make green vegetable and lean meat porridge, but in this winter, there was hardly any green on the tables, unlike in the future where there were greenhouses and green leafy vegetables were available year-round, even out-of-season vegetables. She could only settle for the next best thing and take some dried vegetables that had been dried in the sun in autumn, soak them in hot water, then chop them up and put them in the boiling rice porridge, then add some lean meat that had been marinated in wine. No fat at all, fat was too greasy, her father had a bland mouth and no appetite, he probably wouldn’t be able to eat it.

Madam Jiang thought the porridge smelled delicious. Lu Desheng could indeed eat it, but he only ate a little over half a bowl, then shook his head, indicating that he didn’t want to eat anymore.

Madam Jiang didn’t force him, put down the bowl, and brought him the medicine that had cooled down.

Lu Songli stood by and watched her father reach out his hands with difficulty to take the medicine bowl. Her mother wanted to feed him, but he wouldn’t let her.

“What are you fussing about? I’ll feed you,” Madam Jiang couldn’t understand. He was already feeling so uncomfortable, yet he still insisted on holding the bowl himself.

Lu Desheng was determined, feeling anxious in his heart. Madam, there’s no need for you to be so considerate in this matter.

Lu Songli, watching from the side, understood clearly. Her father just wanted to down the medicine in one go.

Indeed, if her mother were to feed her father the medicine spoon by spoon, it would be quite an unpleasant experience.

Her father was really clever.

Sure enough, her father held the bowl with both hands, brought it to his mouth, and drank it all down in one go.

Madam Jiang finally caught on, feeling a mix of amusement and exasperation. Understanding that he was sick and couldn’t speak, she decided not to argue with him.