Chapter 9: Physical Risks

As they walked and talked, they reached the second gate. Qin Heng stopped and smiled, “Lord Lu, please stay.”

Lu Desheng, acquiescing, had Butler Chen see him out of the gate. His position made it inappropriate for him to have too close of interactions with any household. Being seen together would not be beneficial for either of their families.

Before Lu Desheng left, Qin Heng reminded him, “There are many rumors circulating in Chang’an City, which are not beneficial for your daughter. Regardless of what decision is made, Lord Lu and Lady Lu should act promptly.”

Lu Desheng, unable to disclose their own plans, could only nod vaguely, acknowledging the other party’s good intentions.

On the other side, just as Lu Desheng stood up to see the guests off, Madam Jiang called out to Lu Songli, “Ali, come out, they have left.”

After Lu Songli came out, Madam Jiang held her cold little hand and observed her complexion. Although it was still not rosy and lacked color, it was much better than last night. “Why are your hands still so cold? Here, drink this warm water. I heard from Butler Chen that you were fishing in the pond just now?”

Lu Songli took the cup with both hands, feeling the warmth and comfort of the cup. “The Xiaofeng courtyard is undergoing a major cleaning and is very noisy. I had nothing else to do, so I went fishing for fun.”

“Well, if you’re going to play, just remember to wear more clothes outside. Also, remember to take the medicine that Doctor Zhou prescribed on time,” Madam Jiang advised. She was aware of the major cleaning in the Xiao Feng courtyard and knew that her daughter had organized the items sent by the Xie family into one place, but she pretended to take the major cleaning as a cover for it.

“Mother, I understand,” Lu Songli replied, her gaze slightly lowered.

It seems that her body’s chill is quite serious. Since ancient times, men have been associated with yang and women with yin, and most women’s constitutions are prone to cold conditions. Her hands and feet are icy, and she feels cold even under the blankets. Initially, she thought it was due to her cold constitution combined with the immersion in water, especially since it’s October, which is late autumn and the lake water at night is very cold.

Even after taking several doses of medicine, the coldness in her body remains severe, showing no improvement.

She took her own pulse and realized the coldness in her body is very heavy, with a mixture of internal heat that is the Virtual Fire and quite stubborn, making it difficult to treat with ordinary cold-expelling medicine. She also had the chance to review the prescription from Doctor Zhou last night, which included both heart disease treatment and cold-expelling medicine, confirming her suspicion that the cold-expelling medicine was in significant proportion.

Lu Songli keenly noticed that her parents had not informed her of the severity of her cold constitution. She had always thought that the medicine was solely for treating heart disease.

After sifting through the original owner’s memories, Lu Songli understood why this body had such severe coldness. When the original owner was young, she had saved Xie Zhan by staying in icy water for too long, leading to severe coldness entering her body. This coldness was so severe that it could affect fertility. Lu Songli thought this was the main reason for the engagement between the Lu and Xie families. It was all due to the life-saving grace, which was too great to repay. However, only a handful of people knew about this reason, and even she herself was unaware.

She could understand her parents’ difficulties. This news would be too heavy for a daughter. In this era, having many children is considered a blessing, and the original owner had almost lost her ability to bear children. Given her inherently weak character, learning that she might be infertile in the future would likely lead to deep self-esteem issues. Such is the plight of parents’ hearts.

This illness is not difficult to treat. Before she came here, her great-grandfather was an old Chinese medicine practitioner. Old generations value tradition, and as he grew older, he was determined to pass on his skills. Everyone in the family was taught by him; those with talent were pushed to learn Chinese medicine. Due to family planning policies, only three siblings were left in her generation. According to her great-grandfather, she had some talent, so she was also guided to study Chinese medicine. During school, the three siblings worked as his little helpers, involved in growing and preparing medicinal herbs, and were often taught diagnosis and pulse-taking by him.

This way of life continued until she chose a marketing major in college. Once it was clear that she would not change her mind and switch to a Chinese medicine major, her great-grandfather allowed her more freedom. She no longer had to work as his assistant during the summer and winter vacations, which made her two older brothers envious.

However, she only enjoyed that freedom for one summer. Starting from the second summer of her college years, she returned to her hometown to help her great-grandfather again.

For several years, Lu Songli could hardly believe that her stubborn great-grandfather would let her go so easily. It wasn’t until she heard from her elder brother that her great-grandfather had commented on her that she realized why. Her great-grandfather said she was clever but too impetuous; she could only learn superficial skills and could not delve deeply into medicine. However, due to her cleverness and sharp mind, she could survive on her own without starving.

After delivering that comment, her elder brother went into seclusion.

Lu Songli was not upset by this assessment. She knew her own nature; she enjoyed comfort, wealth, and fame. Delving into medicine is a rather lonely path, which didn’t suit her.

She liked sales. She enjoyed the sense of accomplishment from accumulating wealth through sales, a process that turned her knowledge, vision, and intelligence into tangible results, which she found very interesting.

Of course, practicing medicine could also lead to financial freedom. Her great-grandfather, a genuine and skilled Chinese medicine practitioner, had many patients every day, and even scalpers selling appointments, earning quite a bit. However, the process was too slow for her impatient nature; she couldn’t wait.

After graduating from college, she worked in the pharmaceutical industry, dealing with both traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine. She took advantage of this to use her own small savings to trade in some Chinese medicinal herbs, making a decent profit. She stayed away from the more complex and risky areas of Western medicine and medical equipment. She also brought her two older brothers into the business, as they were the poorest in the family and needed support. She did not deny that her success in her career was partly due to her great-grandfather and the family’s resources, but if such resources were available, why not make use of them? Her achievements validated her great-grandfather’s assessment of her.

Back to the main topic, her illness is not difficult to treat, whether it’s the cold constitution or the heart condition.

In this era, dealing with diseases can be quite challenging, and often there aren’t very effective methods. However, things are different in the future, where medical advancements are the result of thousands of years of civilization, and effective treatments for various diseases have already been established.

Doctor Zhou’s skills are among the best in Chang’an City, but Lu Songli feels that the prescriptions he provided are still lacking. This is a case of “dimensionality reduction,” as her great-grandfather would say. She only has a superficial understanding of Chinese medicine, yet she can even modify the prescriptions he provided—she didn’t know what to say.

“What are you thinking about? So engrossed?”

“Nothing.”

Madam Jiang suddenly remembered something and said, “Oh, by the way, your eldest sister sent a message around noon saying that you should visit the Xu family if you have the time. If you’re feeling better, you should go. She probably heard about the incident that night, but since she’s still in her confinement period and can’t go out, she wants you to check on her.”

It’s also convenient for her as she’s been worried about her eldest daughter. Since her confinement period is only halfway through and she has already visited twice, she doesn’t want to go too frequently to avoid raising suspicions with the Xu family. But it’s fine if the younger daughter visits.

“Why would the Xu family tell her about this while she’s in confinement? It only makes her anxious,” Lu Songli said. She felt it was inappropriate to burden a postpartum woman with such worries.

“The Xu family probably didn’t deliberately tell her. The incident of you falling into the water has been widely talked about outside, so she probably heard about it by chance. The Xu family isn’t that thoughtless.”

“Alright, I’ll visit her tomorrow morning.”

“Go in the afternoon instead. It’s still too cold in the morning.”

“Understood.”