"Found them?"
Both Dong Hu and Zhao Wu hung their heads low. These days, they had been loitering around the Xinglin Institute, hoping to catch another glimpse of Lin Miao and Sun Youwei.
But after that one encounter, the two had not appeared again.
They even missed attending the rare and valuable lectures of renowned physicians, a great opportunity for many medical students to improve themselves.
When they inquired at the Medical Bureau, aside from the name "Lin Miao," they obtained little useful information.
However, it was confirmed that this Lin Miao was registered to take the "Medical Officer" exam, and his master was an obscure, mediocre "Medical Officer" from a small place.
Apprentices taught by "Medical Officers" from such frontier towns still aspire to take the "Medical Officer" exams; truly, a fanciful dream!
Don't they know that one of the examiners for this year's Dongshan Prefecture "Medical Officer" exam is Ye Shengyuan, the Patriarch of the Ye Family?
The "Medical Officer" exam of the Da Li State is formed by local physicians into a "Medical Examination Bureau." The head of the Medical Bureau nominates, selecting three highly esteemed local physicians to set the exam questions.
"Please, Young Master, punish us!" The two, disheartened, knelt halfway before Ye Xizhao.
"Punishment? What use is it for me to punish you?" Ye Xizhao rebuked, "Go and find them! You must find them for me."
"Yes, Young Master." Dong Hu and Zhao Wu exchanged a helpless glance and agreed.
The young master's mood has become increasingly unstable recently, probably from excessive medication. Should they inform the Patriarch? They felt deeply conflicted.
If they speak up, their current master is the young master Ye Xizhao; he surely won't let them off. If they stay silent, the Patriarch finding out about the young master's antics later would likely result in punishment for them just the same.
Currently, the Patriarch is secluded in the Medical Bureau setting the exam questions; it's impossible for them, or even the young master, to meet him.
Unless Ye Shengyuan relinquishes the honor of selecting exam questions for the "Medical Officer" exam, which is highly improbable as he values it greatly.
After all, if anything goes wrong, they are just following orders.
...
Jia's Medical Hall.
"Mr. Jia, please take a look; my sister is unwell..."
"Miss Liuli, is this Miss Shi Yin?" Mr. Jia, a frequent visitor of Huaye Tower, immediately recognized the veiled girl as Shi Yin, a famous courtesan of Huaye Tower, and exclaimed.
"Yes, please hurry." Liuli anxiously urged.
"Alright, don't worry. Quickly, help her lie down on the couch; I need to take a closer look." Mr. Jia nodded, as his medical hall was located near Huaye Tower.
The girls from Huaye Tower would come to him for ailments like headaches or fevers.
His medical skills were average, but he did not discriminate against patients. Many physicians were unwilling to treat the girls from Huaye Tower, who were born into low status. Especially in cases of women's illnesses, they were often too ashamed to seek treatment...
Once afflicted with a venereal disease or terminal illness, these women generally had no choice but to "wait for death."
Girls from Huaye Tower rarely lived past forty if they couldn't find a benefactor and leave their profession.
"Alas, how old is Miss Shi Yin, and why is she taking such medication? Miss Liuli, you all..." Mr. Jia, possessing some medical skill, immediately understood the situation after a brief examination. He had seen it many times; Xiuyue Square was already a place of gathering for courtesans, and his business was half composed of these girls.
"She had no other option to avoid being forced into a benefactor relationship." Tears fell from Liuli's eyes continuously.
"Still the same old problem?" Mr. Jia asked.
Liuli nodded.
"I've said before that she should see a renowned physician. Though Xiao Yao Powder helps relieve pain, it can be addictive with excessive consumption, leading to a vicious cycle." Mr. Jia shook his head helplessly, acknowledging his limited medical skills, "In her state, I'm afraid I can do nothing to help."
"Mr. Jia, can't you help?"
"If I could save her, would I refuse? Mr. Jia replied, "Of all my patients, you never haggle over consultation fees and always pay the most. If I could save her, would I not?"
Liuli was suddenly in a panic, not knowing what to do: "Then what should I do?"
"Perhaps, you can take Miss Shi Yin to Hesheng Hall or Baoan Hall to try?" Mr. Jia suggested.
...
"Go, go, for a low-status woman, receiving treatment at our Hesheng Hall is already good enough, so demanding..."
Liuli and Shi Yin had initially intended to ask for "Ye Shengyuan" to personally treat Shi Yin. However, before they could even propose the request, they were thrown out.
Hesheng Hall was long notorious for its arrogance due to its size.
...
"Ladies, this old man is powerless; you'd better seek someone more capable!" Mr. Xu An, the old physician at Baoan Hall, shook his head after examining her.
"Then, how many days does my sister Shi Yin have left?"
"No more than three days; go home and prepare for the funeral." Mr. Xu An sighed, "She has taken too much medication. I'm powerless to reverse fate; truly a short-lived beauty."
Mr. Xu An was a high-level physician, one of the top ten physicians in Dongshan City. If he decided Shi Yin was beyond saving, could any other medical hall offer hope?
...
Despite this, Liuli still took Shi Yin to the Benefit People Pharmacy and Sansheng Hall, and received almost identical answers: no cure, go home and prepare for the funeral.
With a heart filled with despair, Liuli could only take Shi Yin back to Huaye Tower.
But they were stopped at the gate of Huaye Tower again. Miss Liuli could go back, but Shi Yin couldn't, being someone who's nearly dead.
Huaye Tower doesn't want to waste a single cent on her anymore. The four major medical halls in Dongshan City have all sentenced her to death, which basically means it's a dead end.
If they let someone who's about to die inside and she dies at Huaye Tower, that would be too unlucky.
No matter how Miss Liuli pleaded, the guards who usually wore smiles showed no mercy. Not only did they refuse to let Shi Yin in, they also packed up Shi Yin's personal belongings and threw them out, while her personal assets and jewelry were swallowed by Huaye Tower.
She hasn't even died yet, and they're already coveting her possessions. There's not an ounce of humanity there.
After all of Miss Liuli's bitter pleas, the tower master Qin Yanran finally relented and returned Shi Yin's indenture contract. After all, if she's going to die, the contract is meaningless.
One should be granted freedom to rest in peace at the end, without leaving regrets, right?
As for the money spent on Shi Yin over the years, Huaye Tower has already earned it back. Coupled with their bandit-like confiscation of Shi Yin's personal property and jewelry, even if it's not enough to redeem her, it's no debt.
The problem is, after an exhausting day, Shi Yin lies in the carriage, already at death's door. What shall she do next?
If they don't find a place to stay overnight and remain in the carriage, it's unlikely she'll make it through even one night, let alone three days.
In her utmost desperation, Miss Liuli noticed the adjacent Lin residence.
"Mr. Lin, please take in my poor younger sister!" Seeing Lin Miao, Miss Liuli disregarded her status and knelt before him with a thud, tears streaming down her face.
This is the last straw she could grasp.
"Miss Liuli, please don't do this, I don't deserve it." Lin Miao, being perceptive, immediately understood the situation.
Yet he had his reservations. It wasn't that he didn't want to save her, but he feared more trouble would arise afterwards.
Therefore, he inclined not to involve himself.
Dongshan City was abundant with renowned physicians; there's no need for him, an unlicensed medical apprentice, to take action.
But the fact that Miss Liuli sought treatment everywhere and couldn't find anyone willing to treat Shi Yin piqued his curiosity.
Is the medical skill in Dongshan City really this poor?
Doctors do not knock at doors.
Given that people are begging at his doorstep, if he weren't cold-hearted, it would betray the original intent of studying medicine, and publicly, it's unbecoming.
Fine, if others won't save her, he will; if others won't treat her, he will.
"Mrs. Yun, call over two people to lend a hand, help me carry Miss Shi Yin into the guest room, just the one she stayed in this morning." Lin Miao instructed.
After all, with male and female distinctions, Shi Yin being an unmarried girl, appropriate care was necessary.
Lin Miao carefully examined Shi Yin and checked her pulse; after a day of seeking treatment, her condition had evidently worsened.
The old physician at Baoan Hall wasn't wrong; if untreated promptly, Shi Yin has, at most, three days.
"Miss Liuli, I am an unlicensed medical apprentice, are you sure you want me to treat her?" Lin Miao asked once more.
"Treat, we will treat, Mr. Lin, I trust you!" Miss Liuli nodded repeatedly; Lin Miao's skill that morning had already earned her trust, and anyway, there's no better choice now.
"Alright, I'll give a prescription, you write it down..."
Fu Ling, Dang Shen, North Qi, each six qian; Pao Jiang, four qian; Gan Cao, two qian... Lin Miao spoke, while Miss Liuli recorded each item with a pen.
"Alright, these are enough for now. Can you purchase these medicines?" Lin Miao asked.
Miss Liuli thought for a while and nodded: "I can."
"Then hurry up." Lin Miao waved his hand, "Bring the medicine back, I'll teach you how to prepare it."
Miss Liuli hesitated for a moment, wanting to ask something, but swallowed the words back, turning quickly to leave with the prescription she had noted.
"Senior Sister, weren't you interested in learning pulse diagnosis? I'll teach you." Lin Miao's expression softened, offering Sun Youwei a gentle smile.
"Can I really?" Sun Youwei's eyes lit up, slightly excited.
"Of course." Lin Miao nodded affirmatively, "To learn pulse diagnosis, you must first understand the operation of our body's organs. What I teach might differ from what the master taught..."
Pulse science is profound and extensive, hardly explainable in a few sentences, and diagnosing different people's pulses can have discrepancies.
How to control these discrepancies, pulse diagnosis is just one of four diagnostics: looking, smelling, and asking combined with pulse, the four diagnosings together, differentiate and verify.
"The human body is a cohesive system; internal issues manifest externally through the corresponding pathways..."
"For the pulse on a person's left hand, the positions of cun, guan, and chi correspond to my index, middle, and ring fingers. With a gentle press, with strength about equal to a soybean, a normal person can feel their pulse, three beats a breath, slow is tardy, six beats a breath is rapid. Senior Sister, you can first try yourself, and then try me and Miss Shi Yin."
"It really is!" Sun Youwei, after trying herself and then Shi Yin, indeed found differences in their pulse states.
"Junior Brother, how about yours?"
Lin Miao rolled up his sleeve, extending his right arm.
"Junior Brother, yours seems faster than mine but slower than Miss Shi Yin's, and definitely stronger!" Sun Youwei, after feeling Lin Miao's pulse, her eyes lit up.
"Senior Sister, aside from tardy and rapid, pulse states include dozens more, some are easy to identify, while others challenge a physician's skill, Senior Sister, there's much to learn." Lin Miao chuckled, he learned about these pulse states but hadn't seen them all, for many physicians, identifying over a dozen types throughout life is considered good.
However, the pulse states of martial artists differ greatly from ordinary people; Lin Miao himself hadn't explored this, so he's essentially learning and exploring.