Chapter 236: Sticking to one’s guns, a pessimistic situation (2/2)

What did this woman say?

Was she rejecting Third Elder’s decision? Where did she get the guts?

“Poisoned? You haven’t even examined the pulse yet, what nonsense are you spewing?” Lady Lianxin immediately denounced her. Han Yunxi’s self-confident gaze grated on her nerves. She’d only knew of two cases of diagnosis where a pulse reading wasn’t needed. One was with commonplace illnesses, such as a cold, or injuries from falls and fractures. Even those doctors with minimal experience could accurately make such a diagnosis after a few questions and prescribing some medicine. The other type was something she’d seen from the head of the medical academy. As an eighth-rank Empyreal Doctor, the head could diagnose quite a few diseases, all accurately, without reading the pulse. In Han Yunxi’s case, she hadn’t even asked the patient any questions, much less taken his pulse.

“I’m not spewing nonsense. Third Elder, if you don’t believe me you can touch his wrist joint and see.” Han Yunxi skipped Lady Lianxin entirely to look at Third Elder, her eyes crystal clear.

She wasn’t being arrogant, but the situation had coincidentally fallen into her field of expertise again. If one was judging from medical skills alone, she’d be a third-rank Medical Adept at most, the lowest ranking amongst the lot. But when it came to poisons, she was the authority here. Even if the head of the medical academy was standing here right now, she’d still be that authority! Her detox system had sensed the poison long before she even entered the courtyard, scaring her half to death. That was because the poison had been found in the bones!

Bone Poison, that was a name she’d christened herself and only because it was a completely new poison. The poison pond in the detox system had cultivated its own version. The frightening thing about this poison was that it targeted the victim’s bones and joints. Once poisoned, not an inch of the body’s various joints could escape. When she first discovered this new poison, Han Yunxi had broken out into a cold sweat. She never expected that someone would actually use it.

The poisoner was absolutely ruthless, and the poison, absolutely violent!

Han Yunxi knew the victim had to be Long Tianmo before she even stepped through the door. She too, was certain that his identity was the real thing. That was because Jun Yixie was the only other person in the world who could use such a poison. It looked like he had gotten some of the liquid from the poison pond in the Medicine Forest after all. Long Feiye’s reminder was apt, Jun Yixie wouldn’t release someone so simply. He’d done something to Long Tianmo.

Third Elder was looking at Han Yunxi, but he didn’t take her words to heart. In his eyes, Han Yunxi wasn’t even worthy of being called a doctor. Still, her aura of authority had caused him to hesitate. It resembled the air of a doctor, her posture similar to something he’d only seen from the medical academy head. He never expected a girl like her to possess it as well. Just then, Lady Lianxin had said this girl’s mother was Lady Tianxin. Why did ‘Lady Tianxin’ sound like a familiar name?

Seeing that Third Elder still hadn’t replied, Han Yunxi added, “Third Elder, Just because they can’t feel it doesn’t mean that someone isn’t in pain.”

For example, when a person got injured, inflammation around the wound would cause pain. Perhaps a person suffering from paralysis wouldn’t feel anything from their nerves, but if left untreated, the inflammation would continue and worsen the victim’s condition all the same. Numbing Soup could ease Long Tianmo into slumber until he didn’t feel any pain, but his joints would still be in agony. If this was just ordinary pain or inflammation, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but Long Tianmo had been afflicted with an extraordinary poison. Just because he wouldn’t feel pain wouldn’t mean that he wasn’t in pain…

Third Elder finally listened to one of Han Yunxi’s sentences. Now he stroked his beard thoughtfully, a prudent expression appeared on his face as he remained as silent as before. Lady Lianxin couldn’t stand it anymore and spoke up. “Han Yunxi, haven’t you had enough? Can you afford to delay the diagnosis of a patient?”

“He’d been poisoned with Bone Poison. As soon as Numbing Soup is used, the medicine will react with the poison and change the nature of the toxin. Can you afford to shoulder the burden if nobody can cure the poison anymore?” Han Yunxi held no trace of politeness in her tone.

“You…hehe, how are you so sure he’s poisoned?” Lady Lianxin really couldn’t believe it. Heaven knew where this girl got her self-confidence from.

Right now, Lady Tianxin was the type of person Han Yunxi least wanted to acknowledge. Her manner was serious and sincere as she spoke. “Third Elder, touch the crown prince’s wrist joints and you’ll know the truth of the matter.”

Although Third Elder wasn’t a poisons doctor, he could still notice any peculiarities if he touched a joint so deeply poisoned. Unfortunately, Han Yunxi had thought things through too simply. Though this wasn’t a public consultation, there were still plenty of people present. How could Third Elder listen to her so easily!? Suppose he really did touch this wrist joint and confirmed it was poison. Where would Third Elder’s face go then?

Was he supposed to admit that his previous decision was wrong? That he, as a proper Sage Doctor of the present age, couldn’t even be compared to a slip of a girl? Of course, Third Elder was still inclined to medical ethics. Long Tianmo’s condition was urgent and couldn’t afford to be delayed. Yet as he prepared to speak up, the silent Fourth Elder abruptly opened his mouth.

“Second Elder’s the authority on orthopaedics, why don’t we invite Second Elder over?”

This…

Fourth Elder’s words were undoubtedly calling Third Elder’s words into question. Moreover, Second Elder and Third Elder had never gotten along, so if Second Elder was invited, would that be one more person who was present to see the joke? Third Elder was preparing to yield a step until he had heard those words. Anger poured into his heart and showed on his unhappy face.

“Heh, this old man’s practiced medicine for so many years. I’ve never needed anyone else to stick their mouths in. Lianxin, why aren’t you hurrying up with that Numbing Soup yet?”

“You can’t!” Han Yunxi grew angry as well, her face turning as cold as ice.

1. Numbing Soup (麻沸汤) – mafei tang, most likely derived from the famous Numbing Medicine (麻沸散) of the legendary doctor Hua Tuo and known for its numbing properties.