“Well, Shen Jinyan!” Jia Xiangwei’s anger flared up. She raised her arm and pinched his ear. “Now you’ve even learned to lie? Have all the rules your father and I taught you gone to the dogs?”
“I didn’t! Mother, just now I really felt like my knee was about to shatter!” Shen Jinyan pointed at Chi Yan. “He must have deliberately used a dirty trick!”
“Young Master Shen, please do not blame me,” Chi Yan smiled gently and bowed in apology. “As I mentioned earlier, releasing the acupoint may cause some discomfort. However, it is understandable that Young Master Shen suspects me of ill intent, especially since you seemed to have had some minor disagreements with A’Ning before.”
He then turned to Jia Xiangwei with a smile. “Madam Shen, Young Master Shen… now Shisan, is still a child after all. It’s inevitable that he can be a bit mischievous. There will likely be more incidents like this in the future, so I hope Madam Shen can forgive him this time.”
Shi…san?
Jia Xiangwei turned to look at her son, who stood a head taller than her, feeling an indescribable sense of absurdity.
But Doctor Chi was right—such incidents would not be uncommon in the future. With A’Xun’s whereabouts unknown and a pile of matters to handle in the capital, she couldn’t possibly keep an eye on this “child” all day long.
“In that case…” Jia Xiangwei pondered for a moment, then suddenly clapped her hands and laughed. “Why don’t I entrust the discipline of this brat to Doctor Chi and Doctor Gu from now on? You may hit or scold him as you see fit. As long as he isn’t seriously injured and can be cured, I have no objections to however you treat him.”
Shen Jinyan stared in disbelief, unable to believe what he had just heard.
“Mother… are you even my real mother?”
His gaze swept across the three of them, and when his eyes briefly met Chi Yan’s, he couldn’t help but frown and take a few steps to the side.
Although this man smiled the most gently, Shen Jinyan couldn’t shake the feeling that he was oozing malice from head to toe. That smiling face looked downright creepy!
“I refuse! I don’t agree!”
Jia Xiangwei slapped the back of his head. “Who cares if you agree or not? In this house, I’m in charge!” She placed one hand on her hip and pointed a finger at Shen Jinyan with the other, addressing the maids and servants. “Tie the young master up and take him back to his room. The two doctors need to treat his illness!”
Upon hearing this, everyone rushed forward.
“Hey! Let go of me, don’t pull my arm!”
“Let go! I can walk on my own!”
Jia Xiangwei watched as Shen Jinyan, not daring to struggle too fiercely, was meekly locked back in his bedroom.
Peach blossom petals drifted slowly down, piling on the ground like a soft, woven floral carpet. Gu Ning and Chi Yan trailed at the back of the crowd, walking slowly.
“Were you doing that on purpose just now, Senior Brother?”
Earlier, she had used a silver acupuncture needle on Shen Jinyan’s Crane’s Crown acupoint on his knee. There were many ways to release the acupoint, but Chi Yan had deliberately chosen the most painful one.
“Senior Brother just now used a silver acupuncture needle on the Knee Eye acupoint on his leg. This area is densely packed with meridians. Applying pressure or striking it forcefully can cause intense pain, but it’s unlikely to leave any lasting marks,” Gu Ning stopped walking and looked into his eyes. “Senior Brother… why did you do that?”
She had an inexplicable intuition—Senior Brother harbored hostility toward Shen Jinyan.
But Gu Ning still couldn’t figure out where this hostility came from.
“The Purple-Sight Grass before came from the Zhenyuan General’s residence, and now the Moon-silk Flower does too. Moreover, Madam Shen has always treated us with courtesy. As for Shen Jinyan…” Gu Ning suddenly found it somewhat amusing. “He suffers from hysteria. Why bother holding a grudge against him?”
“I just can’t stand him bullying you or speaking ill of you,” scattered flecks of light filtered through the flower shadows into his eyes as Chi Yan smiled gently and helplessly, “Ah Ning, just think of me as being petty.” With that, he turned and walked ahead.
Gu Ning couldn’t help but shake her head with a smile. She never expected her usually mature and steady senior brother to have such a fiercely protective side.
“Senior brother, wait for me!” She hurried after him.
Chi Yan’s gaze fell on Gu Ning, who was walking slowly beside him with a smile, like an inkless brush tracing over a treasured painting again and again, just to etch every detail of the person in the painting deep into his heart.
Behind them, spring peach blossoms drifted down, covering the ground in a flurry.
…
The treatment was not progressing smoothly.
The stubbornness of a mischievous child was displayed to the fullest in Shen Jinyan, who now had the mind of a thirteen-year-old.
For example…
“No, I’m not sick, I won’t get the needles!”
Shen Jinyan had wrapped himself up like a rice dumpling, his voice muffled from under the blanket. After a long while, he poked his head out and stared at Gu Ning, who stood nearby holding her medicine chest: “I won’t give you the chance to take revenge under the guise of duty!”
And for example…
“Young master, please just take one sip,” the servant Qingshu brought over the medicine, a plate of preserved fruits also on the tray, “if only for the sake of these plums and apricots. Don’t you love preserved fruits the most?”
“I won’t drink it!”
Shen Jinyan grabbed the medicine bowl and poured it into the flowerpot on the windowsill, then pushed the bowl away: “I won’t drink it, won’t drink it, won’t drink it, won’t drink it! I just—won’t—drink—it!”
This went on for three full days.
Early the next morning, Gu Ning habitually picked up her medicine chest to go and argue with Shen Jinyan about giving him the acupuncture treatment. Unexpectedly, as soon as she entered the courtyard, she saw the young maid Shuangzhu, who tended to the flowers and plants, holding a wilted pot of portulaca grandiflora, her face full of heartache.
“What happened?”
Shuangzhu looked up and, seeing it was Gu Ning, immediately complained: “The young master pours his medicine into this flowerpot every time he doesn’t want to drink it. I worked so hard to keep it alive… what a waste! Doctor Gu, please think of a way to help!”
“Doctor Gu, Doctor Gu!” Before Gu Ning could even open her mouth to console her, Chuiliu, who was brewing medicine in the small kitchen, hurried over, “Doctor Gu, the medicine in the kitchen suddenly disappeared! I clearly saw there was quite a bit left last night…”
A smug chuckle suddenly came from the window nearby.
Gu Ning rubbed her forehead in frustration, a word popping into her mind.
Demon child.
No, how could a thirteen-year-old Shen Jinyan be so difficult to handle?
“Doctor Gu, I’m sorry, it was my fault for not keeping a closer eye on the medicine,” Chuiliu said anxiously, somewhat uneasy, “but whatever medicine is needed, I can go buy it right now!”
A crack had opened in the window of the bedroom. Gu Ning calmly withdrew her gaze and let out a long sigh. Even if she sent Chuiliu to buy more, with that little troublemaker causing trouble, it probably wouldn’t be easy to get it. Besides, her senior brother’s medicine was almost used up, so she needed to go to the Jiang family pharmacy, and there was also the matter of Jiang Yingyue…
“No need, I’ll go buy it myself,” Gu Ning smiled gently, “You two keep a close eye on him and try not to let him run around.” With that, she set down her medicine chest and left.
The ancestral mansion of the General’s residence was in the northern part of the city, not particularly close to the Jiang family pharmacy. The Shen family carriage rocked and swayed for nearly half an hour before finally stopping in front of the pharmacy.
As soon as Gu Ning lifted the carriage curtain, she saw Manager Jiang standing outside the door, leaning forward and peering out as if waiting for someone.
“Manager Jiang,” Gu Ning stepped down from the footstool and approached with a smile, “Manager Jiang, it’s been a long time.”
Hearing the familiar voice, Manager Jiang was first startled, then smiled. “So it’s Doctor Gu. I heard some time ago that Doctor Gu had fallen ill and thought of visiting, but some matters came up and I never found the time. Is Doctor Gu feeling better now?”
“Much better,” Gu Ning nodded with a smile. “Today I came to buy some medicinal herbs and also hoped to see Fifth Miss Jiang. Is Fifth Miss Jiang here?”
Hearing this, Manager Jiang’s expression turned somewhat odd for a moment. After a pause, he said, “Doctor Gu… hasn’t heard?”
Gu Ning was puzzled.
“Fifth Miss now…” Manager Jiang hesitated for a long while before lowering his voice, “has fallen ill with Heart-Loss Madness!”