Chapter 69: Chapter 33: Healing
"Nannan? And... Brother Rui, what are you doing here?"
The Third Lady instinctively sat up. The blanket slid off her, revealing the delicate curves of her body clad only in a thin undergarment.
Fang Rui turned his head just in time, but not before catching a glimpse of the lovely scenery through the sheer fabric.
’Mm, so full, so firm.’
"Ah!"
Perhaps her illness had slowed her wits, for it was only upon seeing Fang Rui’s reaction that the Third Lady realized what had happened. She let out a sharp cry and quickly pulled the blanket back over herself.
Two faint blushes appeared on her cheeks, which were already slightly pale from her sickness.
Fang Rui’s first instinct was to leave and wait for the Third Lady to put on her outer clothes and compose herself before he began the examination.
But Nannan was too young to notice such things. She grabbed his hand and pulled him forward. "Brother Ah Rui, come quick! You have to help my mommy!"
’Well, what’s done is done... My heart is pure and my spirit is righteous. I have nothing to hide and my conscience is clear.’
Fang Rui shifted his leg, adjusted his posture, and followed Nannan to sit by the Third Lady’s bed. He spoke as if nothing had happened. "Third Sister, just stay lying down. I heard you weren’t feeling well, so I came to take a look."
The Third Lady was, after all, a woman of twenty-five or twenty-six. She quickly suppressed her earlier embarrassment. With Nannan present and Fang Rui not mentioning it, she too pretended nothing was amiss.
"You must think this is silly, Brother Rui. It’s just some stomach pain. I suppose it’s ’gastric cardiac pain’."
Gastric cardiac pain—in other words, a stomach ailment.
"Similar symptoms don’t necessarily mean the same underlying problem. We’ll only know after I take a look... Third Sister, give me your hand!"
His tone, slightly teasing yet commanding, made the Third Lady roll her eyes instinctively. The girlishly charming expression, appearing on the face of a woman as ripe and alluring as a peach, held a stunning, contradictory charm.
Still, she obediently extended her wrist. "Then I’ll have to trouble you, Brother Rui."
"One moment."
Fang Rui nodded and took her pulse.
A moment later.
"It is indeed gastric cardiac pain... and a weak spleen and stomach. Also: an Innate cold constitution, with an invasion of Yin cold, causing an imbalance of Yin and Yang..."
He frowned. "This is quite troublesome. I’m afraid it will be difficult to cure completely..."
In truth, it was a stomach condition and uterine cold. Even with the medical technology of Fang Rui’s previous life, these were difficult to fully cure, let alone in this world.
’But maybe not,’ Fang Rui thought to himself. ’This world has Martial Arts; it might have other mystical powers as well...’
"Difficult to cure?"
the Third Lady murmured, her face growing paler.
Her thoughts immediately went to her daughter: If something were to happen to me, then... Nannan...
"Mommy! Brother Ah Rui?" Nannan looked at Fang Rui in alarm.
Seeing Nannan’s reaction, the Third Lady suppressed her panic and became much calmer. "Brother Rui, can it be delayed? How much time do I have...?"
"Third Sister, what are you thinking?!"
Seeing that the Third Lady and Nannan had clearly let their imaginations run wild, Fang Rui shook his head. "This condition isn’t life-threatening. I can’t cure it completely, but I can prescribe some medicine to manage it. You’ll be able to live a normal life, just like anyone else."
"However, I have to scold you a bit, Third Sister. When you’re sick, you should get treatment. Why didn’t you come see me sooner? It’s a good thing we caught this in time. If you had let it drag on and get worse, a minor illness would have become a major one. That’s when it would have truly been troublesome."
"Besides, it’s a good thing it was me. Any other Physician..." He shook his head.
It was only because Fang Rui’s Medical Skill had improved and his "Fang’s Medical Skill" had reached the Mastery level that he could help. An ordinary Physician would have most likely been helpless.
Furthermore, he had stockpiled a large quantity of medicinal herbs of a relatively complete variety. Otherwise, it would have been quite a problem.
The Third Lady finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Facing Fang Rui’s lecture, she was like a student being scolded by a teacher, obediently lowering her head. She subconsciously pouted, revealing a hint of a young girl’s temperament, which swayed with a captivating allure.
"That’s good, then. Thank you, Brother Rui... I just thought if I endured it for a bit, it would pass... It won’t happen again. I’ll be sure to seek treatment sooner next time..."
In this era, when faced with illness, the common people’s attitude was basically to just endure it until it passed. Many people went their whole lives without seeing a doctor more than a few times.
—A stark contrast to Fang Rui’s previous life, where people would go to a hospital for every minor ache and pain.
It wasn’t just the Third Lady; Fang Rui also breathed a sigh of relief.
’So it’s not a plague or some other infectious disease. It seems I was worrying for nothing,’ he thought to himself.
"Thank you, Brother Fang Rui!" Although Nannan was only four or five, she could understand what was said. Knowing her mommy was going to be alright, she stood on her tiptoes and gave Fang Rui a loud smack of a kiss on the cheek.
"It’s nothing."
Fang Rui wiped the saliva from his cheek and said, "Third Sister, you just lie down and get some sleep. Nannan, you take good care of your mommy. I’m going to get the medicine..."
...
Back at home, Fang Rui explained the Third Lady’s condition.
"That’s good! As long as she’s okay!"
Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family let out a breath of relief. After a moment’s thought, she went into the house and came out with half a dozen eggs and a small bowl of honey. "Brother Rui, Third Lass is sick. Why don’t you take these to her?"
She had always been a kind-hearted woman. Take Zao Huai’s family, for instance; just because they had shown a little kindness once, she had helped them time and time again...
So it was only natural she would do even more for the Third Lady’s House, with whom she was on better and closer terms.
"Alright."
Fang Rui took the items and asked, "Mom, don’t we have a cowhide water pouch? We should lend it to Third Sister for her treatment!"
"Oh, that water pouch! I originally made it for your father to take with him to the barracks... but before I could finish sewing it, he had already left..."
The memory was stirred in Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family. She sighed and shook her head. "Yes, we do. I’ll go get it for you."
Fang Rui took the medicinal herbs along with everything else and went to the Third Lady’s House.
...
"Third Sister, drink this, and then get some more sleep, alright?" Fang Rui said, bringing over a bowl of honey water he had prepared.