Flower Stealing Master

Chapter 228: Strange illness

Song Qingshu came to a room. After checking that no one else noticed him, he reached out his hand and quickly knocked on the door lightly nine times. Then after a pause he did it again. The person inside received the strange code they had agreed to in advance. The door quietly opened.

After entering the room, Song Qingshu asked, ”Are the things ready?”

”Itʼs ready, but… are you really that good at medicine?” A pleasant voice was heard. It was the voice of the former ninth princess of the Ming Dynasty, Ajiu.

”No.” Looking at the leaflet on the table with the words “Specializing in Intractable Diseases” and a few medicine boxes, Song Qingshu smiled with satisfaction. It must’ve been really hard for her, a princess, to procure these things.

”Yet you still dare to come up with this plan?” Ajiu laughed angrily, and waited for Song Qingshuʼs explanation.

”I donʼt know how to cure common diseases, but I have a seventy percent chance of being able to cure the disease that Prince Baoʼs Palace is seeking a doctor for.” Song Qingshu replied.

”Seventy percent?” Ajiu thought to herself, ‘It’s not too low’. And then asked, ”What kind of disease is it, that made you so sure?”

”I donʼt know the name.” Song Qingshu shrugged.

”I donʼt know the name?” Ajiu angrily threw away the things in her hands, sat on the bed and sulked, ”If you still want to keep things secret at this moment, you can go to the palace by yourself, I wonʼt go!”

”Hey, my good princess, donʼt throw a tantrum at this moment.” Song Qingshu quickly hurried over to apologize, ”Iʼm really not sure what this disease that women tend to get is called. I am just guessing and if my guess is wrong, won’t I lose face.”

”If you guessed wrong, then you guessed wrong. What does it matter? With our level of movement technique, the people in Prince Baoʼs mansion probably wonʼt be able to catch us.” Ajiu turned to look at him, ”What did you guess? ”

Being stared at by her beautiful eyes, Song Qingshu felt a little embarrassed, ”Iʼm a little embarrassed to talk about this disease out loud.”

”Whatʼs the disease? Why are you being so difficult?” The more Song Qingshu hesitated, the more curious Ajiu became.

”Put your ears close.” Song Qingshu beckoned.

Ajiu hesitated for a moment, but her curiosity still prevailed over the womanʼs restraint, and she leaned over.

Looking at the fair, crystal clear ear, where the delicate platinum earrings gently swayed, Song Qingshu fell into a brief trance. Then he quickly recovered, and softly whispered a few words in her ear.

It was unclear if it was due to the heat exhaled from Song Qingshuʼs mouth, or the words she heard, Ajiu suddenly sat up straight as if she had a scare, and looked at him strangely, ”Why do you know this kind of thing about women?”

”I only know a little…only a little.” Song Qingshu also felt a little embarrassed.

In modern society, men who knew this kind of thing would be regarded as a model of a caring man, but in the ancient era, if a man knew this, it would inevitably make people feel that it was a bit improper.

”Well, since you know how to treat it, then we can really give it a try.” Ajiu’s tone seemed quite unnatural.

”I wasted a bit of time in the palace just now, so we have to hurry up, or it will be too late.” Song Qingshu was worried that the Mystic Dragon Cult had already begun to act, and he might not be able to enter the palace if he was too late.

He quickly picked up a human skin mask that had been prepared beforehand and put it on his face, then glued a few strands of beard on it. Then, he put on a clean and simple Taoist robe. Soon Song Qingshu transformed into an old man with a saintly aura.

Tightening his belt, Song Qingshu turned around and found Ajiu staring at him in a stunned manner, ”Why didnʼt you change your clothes?”

”How can I change with you here?” Ajiu angrily stomped her feet.

Song Qingshu also felt that he had been a little insensitive, and quickly turned around, ”Now the time is quite urgent, I also have to modify the human skin mask, so as not to be recognized by the people in the palace later. You can change here, I promise not to peek.”

Ajiu was no longer the princess of the inner palace who blushed when she was close to a man. The life in the Wulin had changed her a lot over the years. So she said, “Okay… by the way, wonʼt you be able to look through the mirror when youʼre modifying your mask?”

”It was really not intentional.” Song Qingshu became stunned for a moment, then quickly put down the mirror in his hand, and touched the mask on his face with his hand. After fixing one or two flaws, Song Qingshu felt that no one would recognize him anymore.

The sound of ruffling clothes from behind made him distracted for a while at first, but Song Qingshu quickly realized the danger of such things, so he focused on the next course of action, and his mood slowly calmed down.

”Okay.” Hearing Ajiuʼs voice from behind, Song Qingshu turned around, and saw that the beautiful and refined Ninth Princess had turned into a petite compounder with fair skin and tender flesh.

”Itʼs well done.” Song Qingshu nodded with satisfaction, ”Try not to talk too much, and no one should be able to realize that youʼre a woman disguised as a man. Oh, wait…”

Ajiu has been walking around Wulin these years, and it was not convenient for her to do that as a woman, so she often had to disguise herself as a man. After a lot of practice, she had perfected her ability to disguise herself as a man.

However, after Song Qingshu suddenly walked close to her, she couldnʼt help but be stunned.

As Song Qingshu was getting closer and closer to her, Ajiu subconsciously wanted to back away, but she suddenly heard him say, ”Donʼt move!”

When she noticed Song Qingshuʼs hand reaching out to her ear, she finally understood what he was going to do. It turned out that she was careless and forgot to take off her earrings.

Soon she felt a tingling feeling in her earlobe, and heard Song Qingshu say, ”There are usually two flaws when women pretend to be men— one is the Adamʼs apple, another is the ear piercing. Your collar is very high, so the issue of Adamʼs apple is naturally solved, but the ear piercings are too obvious. I will smear them with some medicinal mud, and they should not be noticeable in a short while.”

As Song Qingshu gently kneaded the round earlobes, it felt cold and smooth to the touch, and he couldn’t help but praise them in his heart.

”Miss Ajiu, your earrings.” After dealing with the problem of the ear piercings, Song Qingshu spread out his hands and put the earrings he had removed in front of Zhu Yuluoʼs eyes.

Ajiu felt shy in her heart, but her pretty face remained expressionless, and she gently said, ”You can keep them. I donʼt want anything that has been touched by a man.”

Song Qingshu was stunned for a moment, thinking that ‘I also touched your ear just now’ Then said, ”Since it’s a generous gift from Miss Ajiu, it would be disrespectful to not keep them.” After speaking, he put it away in his sleeves.

Ajiu glanced at him angrily, feeling strange in her heart, ‘Why did he have to make it sound like I gave him a token of love…’ But she didnʼt want to continue this topic, and quickly asked, ”Wouldn’t it be more convenient for me to be a female compounder than a male?”

”It really would be more convenient if you went as a female compounder, but Hongli and Fukangʼan are both lecher*ous in nature. Miss Ajiu is so alluring, if you were to appear as a woman, that would inevitably arouse their lu*st. That would lead to more complications.” Song Qingshu said with a wry smile. Women have been creatures that attract trouble since ancient times, and the more beautiful they were, the stronger their ability to attract trouble would be.

Hearing Song Qingshu’s casual compliment, Ajiuʼs face flushed red, so she quickly grabbed the medicine box on the table, and said, ”Letʼs go!”

*****

After what it would take to drink a cup of tea, a wandering Taoist priest came near the palace, followed by a handsome petite compounder. The Taoist priest looked at the medical notice on the wall, went straight to it and tore it off. The guard beside him was shocked and angry, ”You…you!”

”What, you?” Song Qingshu yawned, ”Since I dare to tear it off, I naturally have the ability to cure this disease, stop talking nonsense! Just go in and report.”

The guards hesitated for a moment, and finally sent a companion to report inside. The rest stayed to keep an eye at the two in front of them. If the order to punish them came from the Palace later, they could apprehend these two immediately.

At the moment, Fukangʼan was inside, discussing the matter of rescuing his sons with Hongli, but suddenly a guard came in and reported that the notice outside had been torn up. Fukang’an became stunned, and Hongli said, ”Go and see to this matter yourself. Weʼll discuss this matter again, and let you know when everything is ready.”

Fukang’an nodded and hurried to the side hall, then he informed his subordinates to invite Song Qingshu and his companion.

Seeing the still handsome Fukangʼan, Song Qingshu suddenly thought back to the events in Shanhaiguan again, and quietly signed in his heart.

As he was looking at Fukangʼan, Fukangʼan was also looking at Song Qingshu.

From Fukangʼanʼs point of view, Song Qingshuʼs saintly appearance made him out to be quite capable. When his eyes moved to Ajiu, he suddenly suspected that this person was a little too handsome. As a famous playboy, women could hardly escape Fukangʼan’s eyes even if they were disguised as a man. As expected, he subconsciously glanced at Ajiuʼs earlobe and saw that it was as smooth as a mirror, with no signs of piercings, and that dispelled his doubts for the time being.

”There were a lot of so-called famous doctors who came here before, but none of them were useful. I don’t want to waste more time, so I will test you first. If you can really cure her… I will not only offer you a thousand tales of gold, but I will also personally apologize for the offense at the moment.”

Song Qingshu lamented the fact that Fukang’an was not simply just a playboy, it seemed that his reputation for so many years was really not a hoax. So he coughed quickly and asked back, ”I dare to ask the Lord, is the patient in the house a woman who is lactating?”

Fukang’an was taken aback for a moment, then nodded, ”Indeed.”

”In addition to the fever, is the womanʼs breasts as hard as rock?” Song Qingshu continued to ask.

Fukang’an gave a blank look, and subconsciously replied, ”I donʼt know about that, but I heard her screaming in pain before, and it seems that was the reason.”

Then he quickly reacted and looked at Song Qingshu with an overjoyed expression, ”Honored Elder guessed the illness with just a few words!”

Song Qingshu smiled lightly, ”The Lord’s praise is unnecessary. I just guessed it from the helplessness of so many doctors before. They must have used ordinary methods to treat that fever, and natural medicines didn’t seem to have any effects?

”Yes, yes, Honored Elder, that’s exactly what happened!” Fukang’an stood up excitedly, ”Come with me, Honored Elder, Iʼll take you to see her.”

Song Qingshu looked back at Ajiu and saw that she was quietly giving him a thumbs up, then he smiled even more proudly.

”I have seen the Heir.” Passing by the door of the inner palace, Bai Zhen respectfully bowed to Fukangʼan.

Fukang’an nodded, and hurriedly walked inside. Song Qingshu and the two followed closely behind, because Fukang’an personally led the way, Bai Zhen naturally did not dare to stop them.

They finally arrived at a small elegant courtyard. Fukang’an pushed open the door, ”Honored Elder, please come in.” Then he took the opportunity to wave and let the maidservant next to him retreat first.

Across the silk screen, Song Qingshu saw a woman lying on the bed. She had sweat on her forehead, and she was groaning in pain from time to time. With his sharp eyesight, Song Qingshu could naturally see that this woman was the same one he had seen at the ruined temple on the road to Shengjing. It was none other than Ma Chunhua.

Song Qingshu pretended to check her pulse for a while, showed an expression of hesitation, and finally let out a deep sigh, ”It canʼt be cured, it canʼt be cured…we will be taking our leave.”

Fukang’an was stunned, ”Honored Elder, didnʼt you seem confident just now, why canʼt it be cured now?” Not to mention Fukang’an, even Ajiu herself was dumbfounded when she heard his words.

”If it were a few days ago, the Madameʼs condition could still be treated with medication, but unfortunately now…it canʼt be cured by medication.” Song Qingshu shook his head.

Fukang’an, was quite clever, so he noticed the strangeness in his words, and quickly said, ”Canʼt be cured with medicine? Then, there must be other ways to cure it! Please, Honored Elder, please save her life!”

It was difficult for Fukang’an to say what kind of feelings he had for Ma Chunhua, but her youthful and beautiful body really gave him an unforgettable experience. Adding to that, she was the only woman who gave birth to sons for him, so she naturally had a little more weight in his heart than before.

”Itʼs true that it can be cured, but Iʼm afraid that the Lord wonʼt be able to accept that kind of treatment.” Song Qingshu said after a moment of hesitation.

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