Believing in sorcery rather than medicine, there are six cases that cannot be cured.
The disease known as Porphyria, even in Yu Jinnian’s previous life, was an extremely rare condition. Due to its peculiar nature, many patients often presented with no specific symptoms, lacking the typical rash or bleeding. Furthermore, the patients themselves often couldn’t clearly articulate where exactly they felt discomfort, leading to frequent misdiagnoses. Some even underwent unnecessary surgeries.
Yu Jinnian had encountered this disease only twice and had not deeply studied its origins. Therefore, when he first saw Madam Li, he merely thought she had some kind of internal organ disease causing her abdominal pain and did not immediately consider Porphyria. It wasn’t until he saw the chamber pot being taken away by the servant that he suddenly realized.
One of the most notable characteristics of Porphyria is the change in urine color—
If the urine of a Porphyria patient is exposed to sunlight for half an hour, its color will gradually change to resemble red wine. This is a significant indicator during the acute phase of the disease, serving as a valuable diagnostic sign in the absence of other reliable testing methods.
Considering Madam Li’s symptoms of intermittent abdominal pain before menstruation, photophobia, confusion, and hysteria, Yu Jinnian increasingly suspected that she might be a Porphyria patient. If this were true, then the medicinal pills given to her by the monk, Chengkong, could somewhat alleviate her symptoms—high-sugar foods can indeed help ease the symptoms of an acute Porphyria attack.
Worried, Yu Jinnian hurried towards Madam Li’s courtyard. The change in the color of the urine indicated that Li might be having an attack, prompting him to quicken his pace.
When he arrived, sure enough, he heard Madam Li’s cries. Just as he was about to enter, the steward hurriedly approached.
The steward, hearing Madam Li’s cries of pain, seemed accustomed to it and was unfazed. His primary concern was the vegetarian feast scheduled for today. From afar, he saw Yu Jinnian and felt a moment of relief, but then he noticed the elegantly dressed man in silver-embroidered white beside him, causing his headache to worsen.
He recalled how yesterday, this man had kicked open his door and flashed a jade pendant with a rose pattern, claiming to be from the Duke of Li’s household and demanding the immediate search for a missing boy. Though the Yang family estate was in a remote area, they were involved in various illicit activities besides gambling, often dealing with officials and knowing some of their movements.
The Ji family of the Duke of Li’s household was a prominent noble family, revered for their contributions in establishing the empire. Their ancestor was a military general and one of the founding emperor’s right-hand men, who achieved great feats on the battlefield, earning the hereditary title of Duke of Li. Though several generations had passed, and the family had shifted from military to civil roles, the rose pattern had been passed down, becoming a symbol of the Duke of Li’s household. Common folk dared not imitate it, as its unique design was easily recognizable.
When the steward saw that jade pendant, he remembered the county magistrate mentioning this family after a few drinks, and he was so terrified that his legs went weak, not daring to take a closer look at the man’s appearance. This was someone who could crush the Yang family with a mere finger!
Today, after sneaking a few more glances, he noticed the noble aura that set Ji Hong apart from others and cursed himself for not realizing sooner… Since this man was from the Duke of Li’s household, what was the identity of the boy beside him?
After a moment of contemplation, the steward even began to sense some noble quality in Yu Jinnian as well, making him even more anxious. He didn’t want to approach them but couldn’t afford to offend either the Duke of Li’s household or his own haunted family, especially since the white-robed monk had specifically requested that the boy prepare the vegetarian feast. What a tangled web this situation had become, leaving him at a loss.
He was supposed to wake the boy early to prepare the feast, but knowing that the Ji family’s son was also resting inside, he didn’t dare disturb them. So, he stationed someone outside to notify him as soon as they woke. Who knew they would wander off, making him search high and low for them?
After much hesitation, the steward finally approached them, bowed respectfully to Yu Jinnian, and said with difficulty, “Young Master Yu…”
Yu Jinnian noticed the chilly weather and how the steward was sweating profusely. He replied, “Yes, what is it?”
The steward bowed even lower, forcing himself to speak, “Due to the incident yesterday, the monk has decided to perform a ritual to exorcise evil spirits in the Orchid Pavilion this evening at the Hour of the Rooster. Could I trouble you, Young Master, to prepare the vegetarian feast before then?”
Yu Jinnian merely needed to prepare the vegetarian feast, so he nodded, “Consider it done.”
The steward sighed in relief, bowed to Ji Hong, and quickly retreated.
Ji Hong said, “If you don’t want to do it, just refuse them outright.”
Yu Jinnian smiled and said, “Since I’m here, it’s just a few dishes; it won’t take much effort. Consider it the price for watching the show.”
As they spoke, they entered Madam Li’s courtyard, where Zou Heng was already inside. Second Young Master Yang was pacing angrily nearby. Several servants were trying to coax Madam Li, who was rolling on the couch, to take her medicine. Madam Li was clutching her stomach, crying out in pain, sweating profusely, with her hair sticking to her forehead in clumps, looking quite disheveled.
Zou Heng gave him a disapproving look when he entered, while Second Young Master Yang held back his anger, having been warned by the steward the previous day not to cause trouble for the two of them.
Yu Jinnian was not interested in the Yang family, but he was very intrigued by this case of Porphyria. After all, such a rare disease was one in a million, extremely difficult to encounter. Even an experienced national physician might only see a few cases in a lifetime, let alone someone as young as him. Faced with the opportunity to gain such experience, Yu Jinnian could not let it slip by and naturally wanted to take a closer look.
Madam Li, in unbearable pain, kicked over the small table on the Luohan bed, which Yu Jinnian narrowly avoided.
Seeing Yu Jinnian approach, Yang Cai shouted, “What are you doing!”
Yu Jinnian replied, “Naturally, I’m going to examine the patient.”
Yang Cai found him very displeasing, but recalling that even Zou Heng had praised his medical skills, he hesitated. Could this young man actually be a capable physician? However, his foul mouth could not be restrained by a few words of persuasion. He immediately threatened Yu Jinnian, “If you can’t cure her, I’ll—”
Ji Hong raised his eyes and looked at him coldly.
Yang Cai: “…”
Seeing Yang Cai rendered speechless, Yu Jinnian couldn’t help but smile before walking to the Luohan bed where Madam Li lay. He first glanced at the medicine bowl in the servant’s hand and, while asking what kind of medicine it was and how she had been treated previously, he rolled up his sleeves and instructed the maidservants to help Madam Li lie flat.
The medicine had always been prescribed by Zou Heng, but most of it was spilled rather than consumed. Madam Li had become quite obsessive, preferring the exorcism pills given by the now-absent monk Chengkong over the seemingly ineffective decoctions of Doctor Zou. The servant, knowing only how to prepare the medicine, couldn’t say what it contained and had to consult Zou Heng.
Yang Cai angrily urged Zou Heng, “Speak up!”
“…It’s a blood-regulating formula. She also took Gualou Xiebai Banxia Decoction, but neither had any effect.” Zou Heng was almost grinding his old teeth to dust, utterly confused about who this Yu Jinnian had allied with to make even the Yang family fear him. Since the Yang family didn’t dare provoke him, how could Zou Heng act rashly? He reluctantly agreed to show his prescription to Yu Jinnian.
Yu Jinnian looked at the prescription, which included Angelica sinensis, White Peony, Ligusticum, Safflower, and Corydalis. Though it differed slightly from the blood-regulating formula he knew, the variations were minor, with only a few ingredients added or removed.
This formula could clear heat, cool the blood, dissolve stasis, and relieve pain, primarily treating “abdominal cramps before menstruation.” Judging by this prescription, Zou Heng indeed treated Madam Li’s abdominal pain as menstrual cramps.
If Yu Jinnian had been unaware of Porphyria, he might have similarly misdiagnosed Madam Li’s condition as menstrual cramps, making his reasoning entirely understandable. This showed that Zou Heng wasn’t entirely an incompetent doctor—he had some skills. Returning the prescription to the servant, Yu Jinnian asked, “May I examine the lady’s abdomen?”
Yang Cai’s expression changed subtly. Although he was a libertine who disregarded propriety, his wife was still his wife, and he couldn’t tolerate another man touching her, especially not her abdomen, a private area.
Just as he was about to scold Yu Jinnian for his outrageous request, Ji Hong calmly said, “You may proceed.”
Yang Cai had been warned by the steward the previous day, and though the details were vague, he understood that this Ji fellow was a noble from the capital, someone whose family had connections right up to the Emperor’s court. The Emperor was a figure as distant as a myth to a small fry like Yang Cai, who would fight his own brothers for the family estate. With Ji Hong having spoken, what could he say? He could only swallow his words and seethe in silence.
Yu Jinnian found it strange that Yang Cai didn’t even object, acting like a turtle afraid to stick its head out. He had no idea that everyone in the Yang household was aware of Ji Hong’s noble status, while he himself remained in the dark, simply thinking that Yang Cai had suddenly decided to behave. Ignoring the rest, he instructed the servants to lay Madam Li flat on the bed, with her legs bent.
The abdominal pain caused by Porphyria differed from other types of abdominal pain. It often presented as colicky pain, with patients describing it as if a sharp knife were twisting inside their abdomen. The pain sometimes circled around the navel and sometimes extended to the lower back, making it difficult to pinpoint to any specific area, which often led to misdiagnosis as another condition.
First, Yu Jinnian placed his entire hand on her abdomen, pressing gently. The abdomen felt soft, without any signs of tension. Then, using two or three fingers, he palpated various areas of the abdomen. Although Madam Li continued to cry out in pain, there was no specific tenderness or rebound pain, no fluid accumulation, and no palpable masses. The liver, spleen, and kidneys all felt normal.
There was no apparent abnormality—just pain.
Yu Jinnian became even more certain of his diagnosis of Porphyria. He then asked Yang Cai, “Does your wife’s family have any relatives with similar symptoms?”
Yang Cai grumbled, “How would I know? Her entire family is dead! That cursed woman…”
Yu Jinnian was most annoyed by Yang Cai’s constant swearing, so he stopped asking him and instead searched for any maids or servants who had accompanied Madam Li from her family. He eventually found two, but neither had heard of anyone in her family having such an illness. However, one maid mentioned that a relative on Madam Li’s mother’s side had died young, supposedly due to possession by an evil spirit, but she didn’t know the details.
After listening, Yu Jinnian nodded and asked for ink and paper. While writing, he said, “I will first prescribe some pain-relief ointment for your lady. Take this prescription to the pharmacy, have them grind the herbs into powder, and then prepare a bowl of aged rice wine.”
This formula was one often prescribed by an old national physician Yu Jinnian had studied under. It was highly effective for severe pain, such as cancer pain, as it could promote blood circulation, dissolve stasis, and relieve pain. It was said to rival the potency of morphine and other strong painkillers. Yu Jinnian had only heard patients praise this formula but had never personally witnessed its pain-relieving effects. Today, he had the perfect opportunity to try it on Madam Li.
Zou Heng initially did not believe that someone as young as Yu Jinnian could diagnose anything significant, but seeing him actually writing a prescription, he couldn’t resist walking over to take a look. He saw that Yu Jinnian had clumsily written down various herbs such as “Corydalis,” “**,” “Myrrh,” “Borneol,” “Dragon’s Blood,” “Aconite,” and “Panax Notoginseng.” However, Yu Jinnian had misspelled the characters for “Dragon’s Blood” and the characters for “Corydalis.” A sneer appeared on Zou Heng’s face.
As he suspected, how could this boy possibly diagnose such a strange illness? He even wrote the wrong names for the herbs—this prescription was probably something he had copied from someone else!
Hearing Zou Heng’s snicker, Yu Jinnian also lowered his head to scrutinize his prescription. After all, for a physician, a mistake in even one herb could be more than just a careless error—it could be deadly! But after staring at it for a long time, he couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Just as he was feeling frustrated, Ji Hong walked over, saw the prescription, and first sighed lightly before bending down to hold Yu Jinnian’s hand as he wrote.
“How many times have I taught you this character for ‘Corydalis,’ and yet you still can’t remember?” Ji Hong gently scolded, guiding Yu Jinnian’s hand to correct the errors. “There’s no dot in the character for ‘Dragon’s Blood,’ and the horizontal stroke in the character for ‘Corydalis’ is too short.”
Yu Jinnian’s hand was wrapped in Ji Hong’s grasp, and he felt his entire hand, even his face, growing hot with shame.
“Will you remember this time?” Ji Hong bent down slightly, his head level with Yu Jinnian’s ear, so that when he spoke, his voice seemed to brush directly into Yu Jinnian’s ear, carried by a warm breath.
Yu Jinnian felt a shiver run through him and quickly pulled away from Ji Hong’s embrace. He lowered his head, took the paper, and recopied the prescription, incorporating Ji Hong’s corrections before handing it to the waiting servant. He then focused his thoughts on how to prescribe the internal decoction.
Ji Hong shook his head with a helpless smile and stepped aside, no longer interfering.
Madam Li’s Porphyria had been lingering for years, and since this was Yu Jinnian’s first time treating this disease personally, he couldn’t guarantee how long it would take to see results. Zou Heng’s previous blood-regulating formula, which primarily promoted blood circulation and resolved stasis, had been ineffective, so Yu Jinnian decided to approach the treatment from a different angle. The fundamental pathology of Porphyria involved damp-heat obstruction and organ dysfunction, as evidenced by Madam Li’s tongue and pulse.
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treats based on syndrome differentiation, focusing on treating the syndrome rather than the disease itself. This gave rise to the principle of “different treatments for the same disease, and the same treatment for different diseases”—meaning that the same disease might present different syndromes, such as a common cold, which can be caused by either wind-cold or wind-heat. Conversely, different diseases might share similar syndromes, such as vomiting blood and headache, both potentially caused by liver fire.
This is why—same syndrome, same treatment; different syndrome, different treatment.
Though Madam Li’s illness was rare, it was not without a suitable treatment. The marvel of TCM lies in its ability to treat conditions with which the practitioner has no prior experience, effectively allowing patients to “live muddle-headedly.” After much contemplation, Yu Jinnian finally began writing a prescription, listing ingredients for Da Huang Huang Lian Xie Xin Tang, with additional herbs like Chen Pi, Corydalis, and Mu Xiang to regulate qi and relieve pain, along with a few herbs to dispel dampness.
This formula was originally intended for qi stagnation with no substantial physical presence in the epigastrium, but here, it was adapted for its heat-clearing and damp-drying effects, aiming to clear the bowels and expel heat, providing an outlet for the damp-heat pathogen.
This time, Yu Jinnian wrote each character carefully, contemplating each one multiple times before committing it to paper. He even unconsciously tapped his chin with the pen when he couldn’t remember a character, so focused that he didn’t notice the ink dripping onto his hand.
Suddenly, behind him, Madam Li abruptly sat up, frantically waving her hands as if pushing something away from her abdomen, all the while crying out, “Don’t come near me, don’t come near me! It wasn’t me who harmed you; I didn’t do it on purpose, I didn’t mean to… I just wanted to have a baby so badly… If you want revenge, go find Second Master, it was him, Second Master, Second Master…”
Before she could say what Second Master had done, Yang Cai’s face turned ashen, and he rushed over to tightly cover Madam Li’s mouth.
Hallucinations.
Yu Jinnian became even more certain of his diagnosis. He dipped his brush in ink, completed the prescription, and handed it to the waiting servant.
As the servant left to fetch the herbs, a maid entered with a bowl of porridge for Madam Li. Yu Jinnian glanced at it and saw that it was yet another so-called nourishing soup made from large bones and chicken. He then instructed, “From now on, whenever your lady has an attack, prepare her sweet porridge, the sweeter, the better, or any other sweet dish. The amount of sugar used in her daily meals should be no less than eight taels… the sweeter, the better. If she has no appetite, feed her thick sugar water directly—understood?”
“We understand…” The maids answered in trembling voices.
Yu Jinnian then called over another maid who attended to Madam Li’s daily needs and verbally instructed her on how to mix the pain-relief ointment with the rice wine, apply it around Madam Li’s navel, and secure it with a clean bandage, reminding her to change it every two to three hours.
After everything was arranged, he finally left Madam Li’s courtyard under a barrage of curious and skeptical gazes, exhaling a long breath of relief.
The two walked towards the main kitchen.
“Are you tired?” Ji Hong asked. “If you are, don’t bother going to the kitchen, just rest.”
Yu Jinnian shook his head, “No, it’s not that. I think I might know what ‘that thing’ Madam Li mentioned is.”
Ji Hong wasn’t particularly curious but followed the boy’s words and asked, “What is it?”
Recalling his thoughts, Yu Jinnian shivered slightly. “It might be a child, or perhaps a baby? She probably always believed that the baby was causing her constant abdominal pain, which is why she kept praying and taking those exorcism pills…”
As they talked, they reached the entrance of the main kitchen. Upon entering, Yu Jinnian saw seven or eight stoves with several kitchen maids assisting, some younger ones washing vegetables around a basin while listening to an old maid gossiping. Since the Yang family was already troubled by the supposed “wildcat demon,” this had become a significant issue for the household. The steward was increasingly unable to control the maids’ chatter, and the servants were all anxious, digging up old scandals to gossip about, even mentioning the long-deceased Fourth Master.
One person said, “So, Madam Zhao’s miscarriage was really related to the Fourth Master?”
“Of course it was. I served the master for a while back then, and I remember it clearly. After Madam Zhao miscarried, she made a big fuss to the master,” the old maid said in a hushed tone. “She claimed that the Fourth Master, unable to force himself on her, poisoned her in revenge. At the time, the master was so bewitched by Concubine Lan that he didn’t punish the Fourth Master much, only saying it was a family shame and forbidding Madam Zhao from spreading the news. In the end… nothing came of it.”
A young maid widened her eyes and said, “What, the Fourth Master tried to—”
She suddenly stopped, too afraid to say the vulgar word, but her face flushed with embarrassment as she asked, “But wasn’t Madam Zhao already pregnant? How could she… how could she do that?”
The old maid nodded. “Exactly, if he really did that, it would be worse than a beast. Who would have thought the Fourth Master had such wicked intentions at such a young age? Truly, like mother, like son…”
Yu Jinnian almost burst out laughing. Leaving aside whether Concubine Lan was truly a bewitching fox spirit, the story of Madam Zhao’s miscarriage was suspect. At that time, the little Fourth Master was only thirteen or fourteen years old. Whether he had even learned self-indulgence was questionable, let alone how he would suddenly master the skills needed to force himself on his sister-in-law?
A young maid heard stifled laughter, turned around, and stood up in shock. “G-g-gong—”
Yu Jinnian stifled his laughter and corrected her with a serious expression, “It’s ‘gongzi,’ not ‘gonggong.’ Don’t get it wrong.”
The maid trembled, fearing punishment for gossiping, “Yes, yes… gongzi.”
Yu Jinnian, uninterested in idle chat, led Ji Hong directly into the kitchen and began inspecting the vegetables and ingredients. He ordered the maids to borrow whatever was missing from the other kitchens.
Since Buddhists avoid consuming the “five pungent spices” that are said to hinder spiritual practice and attract evil spirits who are fond of these odors, Yu Jinnian excluded these from the menu—no onions, garlic, chives, leeks, or asafetida. However, he was relieved to know that ginger and pepper were allowed.
Otherwise, if he were to simply throw a bunch of vegetables into a pot with some salt, not only would he find it unappetizing, but even the deities might cover their mouths and avoid it.
Yu Jinnian instructed the kitchen maids on which vegetables to use, and they skillfully chopped them for him. All he needed to do was oversee the cooking. He planned to make dishes such as Sweet and Sour Lotus Ribs, One-Pin Mushrooms, Three-Color Vegetables, Mixed Vegetables, an exotic-sounding Jade Scroll Roll, an auspicious Golden Jade Mantle, a refreshing Lotus Tofu and Coix Seed Soup, and finally, a tangy and sweet Yam Puree with Fruit Jam and Honey, along with soft steamed buns made from cornmeal and several cold vegetable platters.
All in all, there were about fifteen or sixteen dishes.
After listing the dishes, the maids waiting to chop vegetables were stunned. Besides a few familiar dishes that the household had prepared before, they had never heard of things like Jade Scroll Roll or Sweet and Sour Lotus Ribs. One of the maids finally snapped out of her daze and asked, “Could you say that again…”
Yu Jinnian chuckled and repeated the list.
The maid blushed at his smile, quickly jotting down the dishes, murmuring them to herself as she hurried to instruct the others.
Yu Jinnian chose to start with the Jade Scroll Roll—so named for its appearance, which was as clear and bright as jade.
He peeled off each leaf of the lotus cabbage, removing the hard stems and leaving only the soft leaves, which he blanched in boiling water. Then, he finely sliced some mushrooms, carrots, winter bamboo shoots, and bean curd skin, stir-frying them with sugar, salt, and soy paste. The stir-fried vegetables were then wrapped in the lotus cabbage leaves, rolled into finger-sized rolls, and stacked neatly on a plate like small mountains.
The rolls were then steamed briefly until they became translucent, their white jade-like appearance gleaming, before being drizzled with a thick sauce.
Since he couldn’t let others enjoy the fruits of his labor alone, as soon as the rolls were done, he quickly set aside two, placed them on a small dish, blew on them to cool, and held them up to Ji Hong’s mouth. “Have a taste—this is called Jade Scroll Roll.”
Ji Hong was amused by his sneaky behavior, took a bite, and nodded, “Hmm, the concept is clever. It indeed looks like white jade.”
Ji Hong only ate one and then stopped. Yu Jinnian quickly finished the other with a crunch and turned to start on the next dish.
Suddenly, Ji Hong said, “Don’t move.”
Yu Jinnian, puzzled, asked, “What’s wrong?”
Ji Hong suddenly leaned in close, causing Yu Jinnian to instinctively shrink back. He felt Ji Hong’s lips brush against his, licking away the sauce from the corner of his mouth. Ji Hong then lightly kissed Yu Jinnian’s lips and, looking into his eyes, whispered, “Hmm, tastes good.”
Yu Jinnian felt his scalp tingle under Ji Hong’s gaze. He nudged Ji Hong with his elbow, warning him softly, “What if someone sees?”
Despite his words, a smile tugged at the corner of Yu Jinnian’s lips. As he bent down to pick up more ingredients, he couldn’t resist licking his lips. Ji Hong noticed these little gestures, but since a maid had just glanced over, he restrained himself and didn’t continue teasing Yu Jinnian.
Feeling sweet inside, Yu Jinnian decided to make something equally sweet: honey yam puree.
He steamed the yam until soft, mashed it into a fine puree, and then mixed it with fresh orange juice and honey to make a sauce, which he poured over the yam puree. The result was a dish that was tangy, sweet, soft, sticky—just like the emotions bubbling inside him.
He sneaked a glance at Ji Hong, who was helping to plate the dishes, and felt his heart flutter again. Just then, Ji Hong suddenly turned and smiled at him, causing Yu Jinnian’s hand to tremble—he accidentally added too much honey.
…
By the time they finished preparing the vegetarian feast, it was nearly the Hour of the Rooster. Yu Jinnian and Ji Hong, having sneaked plenty of bites during the cooking, were already full. Soon, a group of maids, sent by the steward, arrived to carry the dishes.
Yu Jinnian followed them to the Orchid Pavilion where the ritual was to be held.
As he walked, counting the cobblestones underfoot, he heard the clear and ethereal sound of golden rings on a Buddhist staff coming from ahead. The jingling sound instantly quieted the surroundings, as if the world had fallen silent in response to the monk’s presence, leaving only the solemn and measured tones of the staff’s bells.
Raising his head, Yu Jinnian saw a few steps ahead the white-robed monk leading the Yang family members from the front courtyard. As Yu Jinnian and Ji Hong were blocking the path, the group had to stop.
A breeze stirred the monk’s white veil, briefly revealing a faint smile beneath. Compared to the solemn staff and bells, this smile seemed oddly out of place, almost frivolous.
Yu Jinnian and Ji Hong stepped aside to let them pass. As the white-robed monk continued chanting while approaching, his voice sounded familiar to Yu Jinnian. When the monk drew close, Yu Jinnian couldn’t suppress his curiosity and called out softly, “…Yixin?”
The monk hesitated for a moment, as if letting out a faint, ambiguous chuckle, before continuing his chant, “The evil deeds committed in the past were all due to the three poisons of greed, hatred, and delusion from time immemorial…”
Just as the monk finished, Madam Li, who was supposed to be resting after taking her medicine, suddenly rushed out barefoot, her hair disheveled. She hadn’t run far before collapsing in pain, dropping the jewelry box she was holding. Pearls scattered across the ground, and various gold, silver, and jade hairpins spilled out, drawing gasps from the onlookers.
Terrified of being dragged back, Madam Li frantically crawled forward, hastily gathering the scattered jewels into the box, and then crawled to the feet of the white-robed monk. She placed the jewelry box at his feet and, in a frenzy, kowtowed, begging, “Master Chengkong, Master Chengkong, please save me! Give me more of your pills, and all these jewels will be yours…”
She opened the drawer of the jewelry box, finding only five or six hairpins inside, and began to sob bitterly, “This is all I have left! I swear, from now on, I will worship Buddha and live a vegetarian life to serve you… Please, have mercy, and drive that ghost out of my body… I didn’t mean to eat his heart. It was—it was Second Master, he invited a sorcerer who said doing this would help me conceive a son…”
She glanced back, then pointed at Madam Zhao and screamed, “His mother is here too! Master, master, tell him, his mother is here! Make him go find his mother! Master, please, give me some of those pills, I can’t take it anymore…”
Her words shocked everyone in the Yang household.
—Madam Li had eaten Madam Zhao’s child’s heart?
At that moment, everyone in the Yang household wore expressions of shock, anger, and disbelief. Third Master Yang’s face was filled with fury, while Madam Zhao’s eyes were a mix of anger and sorrow. Second Master Yang Cai’s face alternated between pale and green as he loudly cursed Madam Li as a madwoman.
As for Yu Jinnian, he watched the chaos unfold with a smile, satisfied that the situation had finally boiled over. But as a physician, he also thought of an old saying: “Those who believe in sorcery over medicine are beyond cure.”