Chapter 318 - 318: Live to Find out the Truth
Lu Jiao knew that Xie Yunjin was concerned about the four little ones and so she urged him, “You should go help the students study. At least give them some guidance and try to get a few more students to pass the exam. It wouldn’t be in vain for you to have guided them that way.”
Xie Yunjin nodded and turned to leave, but Uncle Shu came over to report, “Young Master, madam, the Liu family next door has come to visit.”
Xie Yunjin immediately thought of the Liu family they had visited with Lu Jiao last time. It was the family with the grandfather, grandmother, and their grandson Liu Ziyan, who was Xie Yunjin’s schoolmate.
In the past few days, Xie Yunjin had grown closer to officer Zhao and had learned more about the habits of their neighbors. The Liu family, as he had learned, usually stayed indoors because of their sickly grandson and the family rarely socialized with their neighbors.
The old man from the next door, the Tong family, loved to drink and was always drunk. He was, however, skilled in martial arts. He had adopted a son named Tong Feng, who was very filial and had good martial arts skills despite being only sixteen years old.
However, only officer Zhao knew about the martial arts skills of the father and son from the Tong family. The other neighbors were unaware.
Officer Zhao knew this because he himself was skilled in martial arts and was sensitive to his surroundings. Old man Tong would teach his son martial arts in the middle of the night, which might not have raised any red flags for other households, but officer Zhao was aware of it.
Xie Yunjin was surprised that officer Zhao had told him about this. Although he appreciated officer Zhao’s trust in him, he couldn’t help but wonder if officer Zhao’s unusual kindness was because Xie Yunjin had helped his son, Zhao Hong.
Because of this, Xie Yunjin paid special attention to Zhao Hong and guided him individually when he had the chance.
When Lu Jiao heard uncle Wen’s report, she instinctively turned to Xie Yunjin, as she sensed that the Liu family had come to see him. Xie Yunjin immediately waved for uncle Wen to bring the visitors in and said, “Please bring them in.”
“Yes, young master.”
The Liu family soon arrived, and Xie Yunjin and Lu Jiao warmly welcomed them into the main hall of the Xie residence.
“Grandpa Liu and Grandma Liu, you’re such rare visitors.” Xie Yunjin said with a smile.
Grandpa Liu and Grandma Liu looked at Xie Yunjin and Lu Jiao and said with a grin, “It’s because Ziyan’s health is poor, that’s why we usually don’t interact much with our neighbors. We’ve become estranged from them.”
After the two old people finished speaking, they looked straight at Lu Jiao.
Xie Yunjin and Lu Jiao knew then, that the Liu family had come to see Lu Jiao. After they thought about the old couple’s words, they realized that the Liu family had probably come to ask Lu Jiao to treat Liu Ziyan’s illness.
As soon as Xie Yunjin and Lu Jiao had this thought, Grandpa Liu and Grandma Liu became nervous and stood up. They looked at Xie Yunjin and Lu Jiao, then said, “We heard from the Su family that Lady Xu had already died when Lady
Lu saved her and brought her back to life. After we heard about this, we asked Officer Zhao if it was true, and he confirmed it was.
So we thought that Lady Lu’s medical skills must be very out of this world. Could you please take a look at my grandson, Ziyan? He has had bad luck since he was a child.”
Grandma Liu finished speaking and burst into tears. Ziyan immediately stood up, walked over to her, and comforted her, saying, “Grandma, why are you crying? I’m perfectly fine.”
Grandma Liu cried even harder and said, “Look at you, young man. You’re already wearing so many clothes and can’t even leave the house during the winter. My poor child, you’re so unlucky.”
Ziyan’s eyes turned red after he saw Grandma Liu cry. Grandpa Liu wiped away his tears from time to time, and the whole family looked particularly desolate.
Xie Yunjin couldn’t bear to watch and turned to look at Lu Jiao, wondering if she had any way to cure Ziyan’s illness.
Lu Jiao spoke in a gentle voice, “Is this Ziyan? Come here, and let me take a look.”
Grandpa Liu and Grandma Liu were overjoyed. They had already asked many doctors to treat Ziyan’s illness, including those from the imperial palace. However, none of them could cure him. This time, they invited Lu Jiao not because they were certain she could cure him, but because they were hoping for a miracle. They were hoping that someone could heal their grandson.
Grandpa Liu and Grandma Liu urged Ziyan excitedly, “Hurry up and go, let
Lady Lu take a look. Lady Lu’s very capable when it comes to medicine. Maybe she can cure you.”
Liu Ziyan’s mood was very calm. He had lost hope for many years. If it weren’t for his determination to avenge his mother, whether he lived or died didn’t matter much to him.
However, thinking of his own suspicions, he decided that he wanted to live – at least to investigate the truth of that year and give his mother justice.
Otherwise, even if he died and went to the underworld, he would not be able to face his mother.
Liu Ziyan walked over to sit next to Lu Jiao. While Lu Jiao took his pulse, she looked at him.
It was not yet September, yet Liu Ziyan was already wearing a thin cotton brocade jacket. If he entered winter, his body would not be able to withstand the cold, and he would have to sit by the firepit all day. Even then, he would probably get sick at the slightest touch.
Lu Jiao diagnosed him while he checked his other conditions. Finally, she looked at Liu Ziyan and said, “You have both internal and external cold syndrome. Due to the severity of this illness, all your organs have been seriously affected, and their functions have become sluggish. If this continues, I’m afraid…
Lu Jiao paused for a moment, then continued before the Liu family could speak. “I believe you were born premature and have had insufficient kidney functions since childhood. Normally, such a body can be healed through proper care, but you fell into cold water during winter when you were young. The internal injuries never got to heal when you contracted an external cold. Once those pathogens entered your body, your symptoms worsened.”
After Lu Jiao finished speaking, Liu’s grandparents became excited. Lu Jiao’s medical skills were indeed impressive. She managed to figure everything out by just examining his pulse.
In fact, the powerful doctors in the capital city had also reached similar conclusions before, but their treatment plans didn’t provide him with much improvement.
Liu’s grandparents took their grandson away from the capital city to live in the Qinghe District because of the warmer climate. If it weren’t for that, their grandson’s life would have been lost.
“Lady Lu, what you said is correct. Can you save my grandson?”
Seeing that Lu Jiao might feel pressured, Grandfather Liu quickly added, “If you can’t cure him, it’s alright.”
To be honest, it would be difficult to cure Liu Ziyan’s illness if Lu Jiao didn’t have something like spiritual water in her body. However, she did have it, so she could cure his illness.
“It is possible to cure it, but…”
Lu Jiao’s words were cut off as Liu’s grandmother fainted.
This shocked Grandfather Liu and Liu Ziyan. Lu Jiao hurried over, took out a silver needle, and pricked Grandmother Liu with it.
Grandma Liu woke up instantly and grabbed Lu Jiao’s hand, “Lady Lu, if you can cure my grandson, you will be our Liu family’s savior..”