The Duke's Pampered Darling is So Scheming Chapter 158: Cold Illness

Ye Chutang propped herself up with her right hand on the edge of the bed and slowly sat up. She glanced at the pitch-black sky outside and sighed.

"You shouldn’t have... why go to all this trouble so late at night?"

Chu Qiyuan studied her for a few monts. Seeing that her face was pale but her spirits seed fine, the heart that had been lodged in his throat for so long finally settled.

"The Eldest Princess was worried about you and specially sent soone to summon . If not for that, I don’t know when I would have learned of your injury." As Chu Qiyuan spoke, his brow furrowed. "How on earth did this happen? How did you get so badly hurt?"

Ye Chutang shook her head.

"Doctor Chen and Sun Taiyi are here. They’ve already checked my pulse. There was no need to trouble you."

"What do those two know?" Chu Qiyuan said with a look of disdain.

Ye Chutang cleared her throat. "The Princely Heir and the Commandery Princess are still outside."

Chu Qiyuan realized he had been too agitated and felt a little embarrassed, so he quickly lowered his voice.

"I’m just speaking the truth. Their skills are what they are. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have co rushing over in such a panic, would I?"

He was the Hospital Director of the Imperial Hospital, the most senior of all the imperial physicians. He wouldn’t hesitate to scold them to their faces.

Ye Chutang grabbed a bolster and found a more comfortable position to lean against the headboard.

He’d had this temper ever since she t him three years ago. He couldn’t be persuaded otherwise, so she had simply stopped trying.

"The two imperial physicians are helping to brew the dicine," Ye Chutang said.

Chu Qiyuan’s eyes lit up with hope. "The prescription you provided?"

Ye Chutang chuckled. "I was ’unconscious’ at the ti. How could I have given them a prescription?"

Chu Qiyuan’s face fell with disappointnt. "Oh. In that case, I’m afraid your recovery will be delayed even longer by them."

Ye Chutang’s lips curved into a smile. "It’s not as serious as you make it sound."

’After all, those two are from the Imperial Hospital. They wouldn’t have lasted this long without so skill.’

"Isn’t it all relative? They’re fine for treating common headaches and fevers, but your case—" Chu Qiyuan’s face was full of disapproval.

"My injuries aren’t severe. A few more days of rest will be enough." Ye Chutang paused, a little exasperated. "Besides, this is the Capital City. Please don’t use honorifics with anymore. It wouldn’t do for others to hear it."

It was pure coincidence that she had co to know Chu Qiyuan.

At the ti, she was traveling south with Yan, A Feng, and Xiao Wu when they encountered a plague among disaster victims on the road. As the Hospital Director of the Imperial Hospital, Chu Qiyuan had been sent there by imperial decree.

Back then, the plague was rampant. Chu Qiyuan had tried many thods, none of which had any significant effect, and the situation was growing worse.

One day, as he was checking the pulse of a terminally ill victim by the roadside, Ye Chutang approached him and said she had a thod that could help him resolve the current crisis.

Chu Qiyuan didn’t know her then. Seeing a teenage girl with a few even younger children in tow, he didn’t take her words seriously. With a grim face, he just told her to leave quickly, or no one would be able to save them if they caught the plague.

Of course, Ye Chutang didn’t leave.

She stayed there for a full half-month.

And it was during that half-month that Chu Qiyuan ca to regard her as a semi-master, treating her with the utmost respect ever since.

Later, the two occasionally exchanged letters and gradually beca well-acquainted.

After Ye Chutang returned to the Capital City, Chu Qiyuan had wanted to visit her several tis but had always held back.

He just never expected that after waiting so long, the one opportunity he finally got would be under these circumstances.

Chu Qiyuan nodded. "You are right. That is... ahem, Second Miss Ye is right. I understand."

Ye Chutang said, "Actually, there is sothing I need your help with this ti."

Chu Qiyuan imdiately replied, "You— Second Miss Ye, please speak."

...

CREAK—

The door opened, and Chu Qiyuan walked out.

Shen Yanchuan looked over as Princess Qingyang, unable to hold back any longer, rushed forward.

"Chu Hospital Director, how is Chutang?"

Chu Qiyuan stroked his beard, his brows knitted tightly, and let out a long sigh.

Princess Qingyang’s heart pounded with unease, and she glanced worriedly at Shen Yanchuan.

’From the looks of it, this seems... not good, does it?’

Chu Qiyuan said grimly, "Second Miss Ye’s injuries this ti are quite serious."

Princess Qingyang let out a small "Ah!"

"How could that be? When Doctor Chen and Sun Taiyi checked her pulse just now, they said it was a superficial wound that didn’t harm her internally. They said as long as she received tily treatnt and rested well, she would be fine. This..."

"Not so," Chu Qiyuan interrupted Princess Qingyang, his expression grave. "Second Miss Ye suffered from a cold ailnt in her early years. This injury has caused a great loss of her qi and blood, damaging her vital energy and triggering the old affliction. It’s only natural that she has beco bedridden."

Shen Yanchuan’s brow tightened slightly.

Princess Qingyang was a bit dazed. "A cold ailnt? What does that an?"

Chu Qiyuan glanced back at the closed door and sighed heavily.

"I heard that a few years ago, Second Miss Ye went to Wuzhou with her family and later fled south into exile. Perhaps the illness was contracted back then."

The surroundings fell silent for a mont.

The story of what the four Ye Family siblings went through back then was no secret in the Capital City.

But who would have thought that Ye Chutang had also suffered such an affliction?

Princess Qingyang murmured, "...That was in the dead of winter, which was indeed the coldest ti of year. But... she always seed perfectly fine before. She never looked like she was ill, did she?"

Chu Qiyuan countered, "I hear she spent the last few years in Jiangling, correct?"

Princess Qingyang fell silent.

Jiangling was a small place, but it was part of Jiangnan, which was warm and pleasant.

’So... was it to recuperate from her illness that Ye Chutang stayed there all this ti and delayed her return to the Capital City?’

Shen Yanchuan asked, "Does Chu Hospital Director have a redy?"

Chu Qiyuan pulled a prescription from his sleeve.

"I’ve just looked at the prescription from Chen and Sun. It only treats the symptoms, not the root cause, and at best provides a warming and nourishing effect. This is another prescription I’ve written. I’ve changed a few of the herbs. Brew the dicine according to this one, and we’ll change it again in ten days."

Shen Yanchuan took it and glanced down.

The calligraphy was wild, and a few spots of ink were not yet dry. It was clear that Chu Qiyuan had just written it.

Just then, Doctor Chen arrived, carrying a bowl of dicinal soup.

Seeing the three of them standing there, he froze.

"Hospital Director, what are you doing here?"

When Chu Qiyuan saw him, he imdiately waved him over.

"You’re just in ti. Go on, pour that soup out and brew a new dose according to what I’ve written."

Doctor Chen: "...???"

Shen Yanchuan folded the prescription and handed it over.

"Two of the dicinal herbs on this list are not available on the mountain. I will send soone to fetch them."

...

「The monastery’s woodshed.」

The area was now heavily guarded. The captured assassin was being held here.

"Greetings, Princely Heir!"

Seeing him arrive, everyone bowed respectfully.

Lian Zhou, who was guarding the door, imdiately stepped forward.

"Master."

Shen Yanchuan said, "Imdiately send soone down the mountain to fetch two herbs: Danggui and Galangal."

Lian Zhou was taken aback but imdiately complied. "Yes!"

Shen Yanchuan looked toward the woodshed.

Lian Zhou said, "The man is inside. He hasn’t regained consciousness yet. Would you like to go in and see him now?"

Shen Yanchuan nodded.