Vol 2 Chapter 12 (1/2)
Chapter 28: Illness
A few days have pa.s.sed and still Huo Qu Bing hasn’t shown up. Hong Gu, Xing Yen, and none of the maids understand what could have happened. Hong Gu tries to ask me but I refuse to say anything. I feel the mood is getting so tense and soon everyone around me talks less and their voices get lower. Until the end, when the maids see each other, they simply communicate via their eyes. One would shoot a look to the other while the other returns a look. I have no clue what they are communicating and how they are able to understand each other.
I point to Xing Lan and Xing Yen, who are delivering a meal, and ask Hong Gu “Do you have any idea what they are saying to each other?” Hong Gu replied “What’s so hard to understand. Xing Lan asked Xing Yen “Did she eat today?” Xing Yen shook her head “Nope.” Then Xing Lan followed with “I haven’t eaten either, I’m so hungry!” Then Xing Yen snuck a peek at you and nodded to Xing Lan “Later let’s get something to eat behind Yu Er’s back!” and then the two girls agreed.”
I spit out the tea in my mouth, coughing and laughing at the same time “Hong Gu, looks like your visual communications with Xing Yen after you entered the room was also all about whether I’ve eaten, and making plans to go eat later.” Hong Gu calmly sipped her tea “My question was not “Has she eaten today?” but was instead “Has she drank anything today?” I wiped my lips with a handkerchief “You go on talking nonsense!”
Hong Gu lowered her cup “If I don’t talk nonsense how can I get you to laugh. These past few days your expression has been just terrible. You’re hurting and we are also suffering for you. Yu Er, why are you so hard on yourself? You clearly miss him terribly and are filled with lots of worries. Why don’t you go see him?” I lower my head and say nothing when Xing Yen walks in “Ms. Yu Er, Housekeeper Chen from the Huo Estate is here to see you.”
Hong Gu quickly invited him him in and walked out “The mediator is here so I can let out a breath of relief. If you two don’t make up, you two might be able to withstand it, but none of us can any longer.”
Uncle Chen walked in and immediately kneeled before me without even saying a word. I try to duck “Uncle Chen, please talk directly, I can’t take such a courtesy from you.” He continued to kneel, his face completely bleak, like he hasn’t slept all night
“Ms. Yu, that day when the Big Boss of the s.h.i.+ Enterprises came to see me to ask about you, he made a total of three trips. Each time I kept him out, and I also…..I also was quite rude to him. Even though young master ordered that we hide the driver of the carriage and conceal all information related to the inn at Liang Zhou, all he did was ask me to keep your whereabouts secret but he never asked me to be rude to Jiu Ye. Young master is arrogant and now he’s trying to protect me, so he’s not bothering to explain to you. I can’t watch the two of you fighting over something I did all on my own, causing a rift between you two.”
Mu hurt came forth “Uncle Chen, why did you do that? What’s happening right now, is this the happiness you wanted for Qu Bing?” Uncle Chen was silent and only bowed his head to me three times. I continue to try and avoid his courtesy but he managed to bow at least once to me “Please get up! What can I do now since everything has already happened. Even if I rage or ask for punishment, there are no do-overs. Please get up and talk. I’m not used to talking to someone kneeling to me.”
Uncle Chen continued to kneel and said nothing. Moments pa.s.sed and I stared at him quizzically. He suddenly avoided my eyes and appeared to be summoning his courage. It took him a long time to say it “Yesterday the young master was out riding and he suddenly tumbled off his horse. He’s been unconscious since then.”
His words were so unbelievable that I couldn’t comprehend what he just said “What? What did you just say?”
Uncle Chen spoke in such a low voice “The Palace physicians have been by many times but none of them have any solution. Normally they are all proclaiming themselves miracle healers fighting for recognition and respect. But once they face a genuine illness, they start hemming and hawing, trying to p.a.w.n it off on each other. The Palace is already in an uproar and the Emperor is in such a rage that he’s threatened to kill the entire lot of them. If killing them means the young master will awaken, I don’t care if a hundred heads roll. But right now we need them to save a life.”
I only understood a few words of what he was saying, but it was like the sky had fallen on me. My shock, fear, regret, and pain all bubbled forth. I pay no heed to what he’s saying and my foot is already out the door. Uncle Chen rushed behind me and kept calling me “Ms. Yu, please slow down, I’m not done talking yet.” I see the carriage outside belongs to the Huo Estate and I leap inside “Immediately return to the estate” I ordered.
I can hear Uncle Chen calling me “Please wait” and the driver doesn’t move. I want to grab the reins and drive the carriage but Uncle Chen calls out to me “Ms. Yu, I’m not done talking. I’ve heard that the Big Boss of the s.h.i.+ Enterprises is a talented healer. I was wondering…..” I now realize why he didn’t start by telling me that Qu Bing was ill, and why he was on his knees and bowing to me. So this was the whole story.
Uncle Chen ran in front of the carriage and was out of breath “Hiring a doctor requires the doctor to be willing to heal the patient. I know Ms. Yu’s personality hates that I’m beating around the bush right now, and I am so embarra.s.sed and ashamed about it as well. But if I don’t explain everything, I cannot ask you to help. If young master Meng Jiu can heal my young master, if he wanted my head, I’d hand it to him without blinking an eye.”
I angrily huff “You underestimate Jiu Ye!” My heart was churning with anxiety to go see Qu Bing immediately, but I have to push that urge down. I tell the driver “Go to the s.h.i.+ Estate.” Uncle Chen said he would return to the estate and wait for us.
Jiu Ye sat there reading a novel and when he raised his head and saw me, his book dropped to the ground. He looked incredulous and his dark eyes were s.h.i.+ning with happiness “Yu Er, I’ve waited for so long, and you’ve finally decided to walk back into the Bamboo Residence willingly.” My heart ached and I wouldn’t meet his eyes “I’m here to ask you to heal Qu Bing. He’s been unconscious since yesterday and word is that none of the Palace physicians can heal him.”
The light in his eyes slowly disappear until his eyes are simply dark with disappointment, sadness, and pain. He didn’t ask anything and just said one word “Yes” and then pushed his wheelchair out the door. Uncle Chen was waiting outside the estate and when he saw Jiu Ye, his old face was bright red. He bow low and Jiu Ye graciously asked him to get up. But Uncle Chen’s face was still beet red with shame. Two servants came with a bamboo pallet and Uncle Chen explained that the estate was not made for wheelchair access and this would be faster.
Jiu Ye smiled “Please have them hold the pallet still, I can get on myself. Have the wheelchair brought inside, I’ll need it later.” I see the way Uncle Chen is behaving and I’m angry to think about how poorly he must’ve treated Jiu Ye before to be so polite and courteous now. I sarcastically say “I wonder how he was able to move about the estate in his wheelchair in previous occasions?”
Uncle Chen said nothing and just led the way, while Jiu Ye looked at me and the coldness in his eyes seeped away. He murmured in a low voice “I thought you only cared about him now, and no longer care about how I feel.”
The moment we enter the room, Wei Shao Er has been standing vigil next to the bed and she looks up in alarm. She rushes forward to greet Jiu Ye like a drowning person seeing a branch. Hope mixes with despair in her eyes, whereas I’m the opposite reaction. I don’t even bow to her before I rush to the side of the bed.
He lays there quietly, his lips tightly pressed together and his brows furrowed with worry. It appears he has a lot on his mind. Since I’ve known him, he’s been as bright as the suns.h.i.+ne, always so full of life and energy. This is the first time I’ve seen him like this, so still and seemingly helpless. I use my finger to rub his forehead, my nose starting to redden and before I know it, my face is wet with tears “Qu Bing, Qu Bing…..Yu Er is here! I was wrong. I shouldn’t have engaged in a temper battle with you.”
Jiu Ye pressed his hand on Qu Bing’s wrist but he couldn’t reach a pulse. “Have the servants bring a basin of ice water, I need to clean my hands.” The maid flew out the door and then Jiu Ye wiped his hand on an ice cube and then dried it. He appeared to be calming himself down on the ice before once again placing his hand on Qu Bing’s wrist.
Wei Shao Er and I stare at Jiu Ye without blinking, unconsciously pleading with him to wake Qu Bing up. Jiu Ye closed his eyes and focused all his attention on his finger tips. Everyone in that room held their breaths, it was so quiet we could hear the ice in the basin melting. The more time that pa.s.sed, the more my fear increased. Why did he need so much time? Jiu Ye’s expression was calm and I couldn’t tell what was happening. Finally Jiu Ye pulled his hand back and I stared at him. My voice was filled with abject fear and pleading anxiety “He’ll be fine, won’t he?”
Ju Ye’s eyes were as calm and impossible to read as ever, and he hesitated before nodding “He’ll be fine. I’ll do everything I can to make sure he wakes up.” My heart, which had been perched on the tip of a needle, finally returned to its normal spot. He looked at Qu Bing’s visage and pressed his ear to Qu Bing’s chest to listen for quite some time. He then placed his finger on Qu Bing’s wrist once more before asking “What did the Palace physicians say?”
Uncle Chen looked at a row of men standing to the side, and one white haired elderly gentleman stepped forward “All of us cannot diagnose the problem. His heartbeat is weak but it’s steady. Usually we can use medicine to shock him awake, but the General’s situation is beyond odd. Usually an unconscious person can be forced to drink medicine, but the General refuses to accept the medicine. We cannot force feed him, and acupuncture does not work either. We’ve flipped through all the books and cannot find a treatment.”
Jiu Ye nodded and turned to Wei Shao Er “General Huo is emotionally stressed, which is normally not a big deal. But this has caused all his hidden ailments acc.u.mulated from years on the battlefield to arise. Because General Huo is different than a normal person, the split second before he tumbled off the horse, his self-preservation instinct is so strong that it’s caused him to shut himself off from any outside attempts to force feed him medicine. Madam, the Palace physicians are right in their diagnoses, and they’ve tried all the treatments already. I can do no better. But….”
Wei Shao Er was so anxious her voice turned high pitched “But what?” Jiu Ye continued “I can try something different, and it’s something I’ve only been researching and have never actually performed before.” Wei Shao Er quickly asked him to explain. “A person has five senses, and taste is but one of them. The sense of touch, the skin is tied to all the major organs. If we can’t get the medicine in through his mouth, we can try another entry point. Take off the General’s clothes and lock him in an airtight room and use a steam method to boil the medicine and have it enter his body through his skin.”
Wei Shao Er looked at the Palace physicians and they all exchanged looks before one spoke up “Steaming the medicine into the body would make the room exceedingly hot. From a medical standpoint, the heat is not good for the patient and might exacerbate the illness. But this method also sounds like it could work. We cannot authorize it and will need Madam to make the decision.”
Wei Shao Er glared at them and then looked at Qu Bing with hesitation, unable to make up her mind right away. No one dares make a noise, afraid that if anything were to happen, they would be held responsible. Wei Shao Er looked at her husband for guidance, but since it’s not his own son, he is anxious but still unable to step forward and says that he will support whatever she decides to do. I get up and bow to Wei Shao Er “I beg of Madam to please consent, the longer this drags out the worse it’ll get.”