281: Chapter 279 Blocking the Way

When Yun Ming followed the maid into the Ning Mansion, Ning Wanqing was sitting on a grand armchair in the main hall, waiting.

She sized Yun Ming up—wearing gray cloth clothes with patches, a lean face, looking to be in his early twenties. He neither resembled those old physicians with an immortal air nor the extraordinary imperial physicians from the Imperial Medical Academy in the capital. He was just an ordinary person.

Ning Wanqing sighed in her heart. Of all the physicians who had visited lately, which one hadn't shaken their head and sighed? What could this young man possibly do? But with her mother so ill, she truly didn't want to give up even a sliver of hope. She stood up, forcing a faint smile, and was about to exchange greetings when she suddenly heard a commotion from the front courtyard.

"The Eldest Young Master is back! The Eldest Young Master is back!" A servant rushed into the backyard, running and shouting, his voice full of pleasant surprise.

Ning Wanqing's expression changed instantly. It wasn't pleasant surprise, but tension. Her elder brother's return meant he had also received news of their mother's critical condition. She hurriedly stood and gave a quick bow to Yun Ming. "Please wait a moment, sir. I shall return shortly." After speaking, she lifted her skirt and walked quickly toward the front courtyard. The maid Xiao Cui also ran out after her, leaving only Yun Ming and Ah Yuan in the main hall.

Ah Yuan stood behind Yun Ming, looking at the empty doorway with some dissatisfaction. "Master, this family is too discourteous. We came all this way to treat their Old Madam, and they left before we even finished a cup of tea."

Yun Ming picked up his teacup and took a leisurely sip. "Don't blame them. Her brother's return is much more important than meeting a Itinerant Doctor." He set down the teacup, his gaze falling on the courtyard outside the window. His Divine Sense had already swept through the entire mansion the moment he stepped into the Ning Mansion. The Old Madam's bedroom was in the backyard, separated by two walls, but he could see it clearly. The Old Madam lay on the bed, her face gray and her breath as thin as a thread. Her Meridians were withered, and her internal organs were failing to varying degrees, especially her liver and kidneys, which were on the brink of total exhaustion. It wasn't a cold, nor some mysterious ailment; she was simply old. The hidden illnesses accumulated in her youth had all flared up in her old age. A Mortal's medicine could at most make her comfortable for a few days, but it couldn't treat the root cause.

Seven days. Seven days at most.

Yun Ming withdrew his gaze and said nothing.

In the front courtyard, Ning Yuanzhou strode in. In his thirties, with a resolute face and a short beard, he was dressed in official robes and looked travel-worn. His eyes were bloodshot from staying up, his beard was messy, and the official seal at his waist was crooked. Behind him followed a young man around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, wearing a cyan robe and carrying a medicine box. He had a fair complexion and appeared refined and scholarly.

"Where is Mother?" Ning Yuanzhou asked as soon as he entered.

"In the backyard, in the backyard," the Old Steward hurriedly led the way.

Ning Yuanzhou walked quickly toward the backyard, but after a few steps, he suddenly stopped and looked back at the young man. "Imperial Physician Zhao, this way please." Imperial Physician Zhao—the youngest imperial physician in the Imperial Medical Academy, surnamed Zhao and named Ke. He had studied medicine under the old Masters of the Imperial Medical Academy since childhood and possessed high talent, entering the academy before the age of thirty to specifically treat members of the imperial family and nobility. This time, when Ning Yuanzhou took leave to return home, it happened that Zhao Ke was reporting on his duties in the capital, so Ning Yuanzhou invited him to come along. Zhao Ke had endured the fatigue of the journey, traveling day and night and switching carriages three times, which left his bones feeling like they were falling apart. But he was young, had a good constitution, and could handle it. Had it been someone older, they might have fallen ill themselves before even reaching Linan City.

The two walked quickly into the backyard. Ning Wanqing came forward to meet them, and seeing her brother, her tears immediately welled up. "Brother, you're back..."

Ning Yuanzhou took her hand and gave it a firm squeeze. "Where is Mother?"

"In the room." Ning Wanqing wiped her tears and led them into the Old Madam's bedroom.

The Old Madam lay on the bed. Hearing the movement, she opened her eyes with difficulty and saw her son standing by the bed. Her lips moved slightly as if she wanted to say something, but she had no strength to speak. Ning Yuanzhou fell to his knees by the bed with a thud, holding his mother's hand as tears fell silently.

Zhao Ke stood aside, waiting quietly. Only after Ning Yuanzhou's emotions had calmed down a bit did he step forward, sit by the bed, and place his hand on the Old Madam's wrist. His fingers were steady, his movements light, and the expression on his face went from grave to even graver, then from grave to heavy. After a moment, he withdrew his hand, stood up, and walked to the outer room.

Ning Yuanzhou followed him out, and Ning Wanqing followed as well.

"Imperial Physician Zhao, my mother..." Ning Yuanzhou's voice was tight.

Zhao Ke remained silent for a moment before speaking slowly. "Lord Ning, the Old Madam's illness hasn't developed overnight. The cold was just a trigger; the real issue is that she overexerted herself in her youth, causing damage to her internal organs. Now that she is old, her Qi and blood are failing, and all her old injuries are flaring up at once. If I may be blunt—" He paused, his voice lowering, "I'm afraid the Old Madam's time is short."

Ning Yuanzhou's body swayed, and he only steadied himself by grabbing the doorframe. Ning Wanqing covered her mouth, her tears flowing silently.

"Seven days at most," Zhao Ke added.

The room was deathly quiet. There was only the Old Madam's faint breathing and the rustling of leaves in the wind outside the window.

Ning Yuanzhou took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. "Imperial Physician Zhao, is there really no other way? You are an imperial physician from the Imperial Medical Academy and have seen so many incurable diseases. You must have a way, right?"

Zhao Ke's brow furrowed. Of course, he had a way. By administering potent medicine—using expensive ingredients like ginseng, deer antler, and lingzhi mushrooms to forcibly sustain her—he could make the Old Madam appear better on the surface, more spirited, and even able to walk a few steps. But that was only an illusion; the underlying condition wouldn't improve, it would just be overdrawing her final Qi and blood. Once the medicine's effect wore off, she would only die faster. Moreover, if he prescribed such a formula, it would be equivalent to personally pushing the Old Madam toward death. He was an imperial physician; if he couldn't cure a disease, he could blame it on fate, but if he killed someone with Tiger and Wolf Medicine, his reputation would be ruined if word got out.

But—he glanced at Ning Yuanzhou's anxious face and then at the tearful Ning Wanqing, and a thought suddenly occurred to him. This wasn't the capital; it was Linan City. What kind of waves could a minor local official and a family in a small town stir up? He only needed to treat the Old Madam so she "got better," let Ning Yuanzhou see that he had done his best, and then leave. Whatever happened next would have nothing to do with him. How long the Old Madam could hold on would be fate, not a matter of his medical skill.

Zhao Ke gritted his teeth, a look of certainty appearing on his face. "Lord Ning, the Old Madam is terminally ill, and I dare not say I can bring her back from the dead. However—I have an ancestral formula specifically for conditions like the Old Madam's failing Qi and blood. As long as the medicine is taken on time, the Old Madam's condition will certainly improve. As for how much she improves, that will depend on her own luck."

Ning Yuanzhou's eyes lit up. "Imperial Physician Zhao, please go ahead and write the prescription. Whatever medicinal materials are needed, I will have someone buy them. No matter how expensive the materials are, I will buy them even if it bankrupts me."

Zhao Ke nodded, took out a brush and paper from his medicine box, and quickly wrote out a formula. He wrote slowly, each stroke deliberate, as if writing something of great importance. The ingredients on the formula were all expensive and highly nourishing; an ordinary person would feel a hundred times more energetic after a single dose, but for the Old Madam, it would be nothing more than a Terminal Lucidity. He handed the formula to Ning Yuanzhou.

"Lord Ning, this is the formula. Have someone fetch the medicine, decoct three bowls of water into one, and take it twice a day, morning and evening. After seven days, the Old Madam's condition will certainly stabilize."

Ning Yuanzhou took the formula, his hands trembling. "Thank you, Imperial Physician Zhao. Thank you."

Ning Wanqing also came over and gave Zhao Ke a deep bow. "Thank you, Imperial Physician Zhao."

Zhao Ke waved his hand with a modest look. "A physician has a parental heart; it's only right."

Ning Yuanzhou turned and handed the formula to the Old Steward. "Quickly, go fetch the medicine. Go to the best pharmacy in the city and get the best ingredients. Tell them this is a prescription from Imperial Physician Zhao of the Imperial Medical Academy, so they must use the finest materials and no fakery is allowed."

The Old Steward took the formula, repeatedly saying yes, and trotted out.

Just as the Old Steward reached the front courtyard and was about to pass through the back garden toward the back gate, a hand suddenly reached out and blocked his path.

The Old Steward looked up and saw a young man dressed in gray cloth clothes with patches standing before him. Behind him followed a young girl of fifteen or sixteen, standing quietly with her head bowed.

"You are... that Itinerant Doctor from earlier?" The Old Steward recognized Yun Ming. "Why are you blocking me? Get out of the way, I need to fetch medicine. This is a formula written by an imperial physician from the Imperial Medical Academy. You can't afford the consequences if the treatment is delayed!"

Yun Ming did not move. He looked down at the formula in the Old Steward's hand and reached out to take it.

The Old Steward grew anxious. "You—"