Chapter 66: Him? Not Good
Lord An nodded. “Go ahead and say it.”
Lu Chengjing said, “This little one once read in a medical book that a doctor with many years of practice can determine through the pulse whether a patient has engaged in Conjugal Rites within three hours.”
Many people were hearing this claim for the first time. Some could not help but think of certain experiences before their own doctor visits, suddenly feeling as if even their underpants had been stripped clean.
Shang Wan paid close attention to the expressions of Fang Cailian and Shopkeeper Ge. Neither showed anything unusual, so she did not know if they were just good at pretending or had another trick up their sleeve.
Although Lord An had another method, he was somewhat curious about the one Lu Chengjing proposed. He sent someone to invite Old Doctor Sun from Gu An Hall to come and try Lu Chengjing’s method first.
Old Doctor Sun had been practicing medicine for forty years, with skillful and benevolent hands, and a reputation known to all.
Lord An first asked Old Doctor Sun if he could truly, as Lu Chengjing said, determine through the pulse whether a patient had engaged in Conjugal Rites.
Old Doctor Sun stroked his beard and nodded.
These were all a patient’s private matters. Normally, even if detected, he would see through but not point it out, to avoid embarrassing the patient. Only with patients who lacked temperance would Old Doctor Sun give a slight reminder.
However, he also said that taking the pulse of women was not as accurate, and it would be better to find an experienced old woman to check.
Coincidentally, among the onlookers was a midwife surnamed Li.
After Lord An confirmed Midwife Li’s identity with the onlooking crowd, he had her take Fang Cailian to the back for a check.
Lu Chengjing placed his left hand on the pulse pillow and lightly nodded to Old Doctor Sun. “Thank you for your trouble, Mister.”
The two were acquaintances. Old Doctor Sun had visited the Lu Family multiple times to treat Lu Chengjing and was very familiar with his physical condition.
He placed his fingers on Lu Chengjing’s pulse while having Lu Chengjing stick out his tongue for him to check the tongue coating.
Yuan Yuan suddenly woke up. She rubbed her eyes with her small hand and yawned.
She tilted her little head and stared unblinkingly at Old Doctor Sun with her big eyes for a moment, then stretched out her short arm.
Old Doctor Sun skillfully grabbed the small hand in front of him and took her pulse with a serious expression.
The crowd: “…” Please don’t make trouble!
Shang Wan turned to look at Shi Tou. “This… what’s going on?”
Shi Tou was already used to it and explained, “Previously, when Old Mister was taking Brother-in-law’s pulse, he amused Yuan Yuan like this once, and afterward Yuan Yuan remembered it.”
Shang Wan: “…”
Old Doctor Sun first released Yuan Yuan’s hand and gave the little one a loving smile. “Her body is very good. She can eat and sleep well.”
Yuan Yuan could tell she was being praised and grinned, revealing two millet teeth.
Xiao Huan could not help but ask, “Old Mister, how is my brother-in-law?”
“Him? Not good.” Old Doctor Sun furrowed his brows as if changing faces, his mouth corner turning down. “White tongue coating and sunken pulse, faint and indistinct—clear signs of deficiency.”
He scolded Lu Chengjing, “Do you need this old man to remind you of your own condition? Young man, you must practice temperance in your actions. You’ve damaged your body too early and will suffer greatly later. This old man will prescribe you a tonic formula right now. No sexual intercourse for three months.”
At these words, the crowd erupted in an uproar.
This pulse-taking method had been proposed by Lu Chengjing himself, and with Old Doctor Sun’s medical ethics guaranteeing it, there was no way it could be fake.
The crowd’s gazes toward Lu Chengjing instantly filled with anger and contempt.
He had actually done such a beastly thing!
They had almost been deceived!
“Beast!”
“Scum!”
“Shameless and vile!”
The crowd’s disappointment and anger at being deceived turned into words that crashed toward Lu Chengjing like waves.
Lu Chengjing only felt a black pot falling from the sky, squarely buckled onto his forehead.
Regardless of others, he hurriedly turned to look at Shang Wan. But he saw her staring at him with an expression that was hard to describe.
“I…”
“No need to say it. I understand.” Shang Wan raised her hand to cut him off. “I get it. I really get it.”
Who would have thought, this guy’s body was so weak, yet instead of properly recovering from illness, he secretly had an intimate love affair with Lady Five Fingers. Was he really that unable to hold back?
Shang Wan did not understand, but she could try to respect it.
As for suspecting that Lu Chengjing had actually slept with Fang Cailian, Shang Wan scoffed. Unless the two put on a live show right in front of her, she really could not believe her eyes were so blind as to be completely fooled by Lu Chengjing.
But Lu Chengjing misunderstood Shang Wan’s meaning. He had no time to think about why his pulse was off. In panic, he gripped Shang Wan’s hand tightly. In his eagerness, the corners of his eyes reddened slightly as he stared straight at Shang Wan. “You said you believed me.”
Shang Wan blinked. She did believe him. Hadn’t she made that clear before?
Seeing Shang Wan silent, Lu Chengjing grew more anxious.
He worried she would shake off his hand, so he unconsciously gripped tighter. Then remembering her joke, he feared hurting her hand red again and quickly loosened his grip a bit. For a moment, he did not know what to do.
“Why are you panicking?”
Although Shang Wan was full of question marks, she still reached back to hold her little fox’s paw. Seeing the panic and eagerness in those beautiful eyes before her, she could not help but gently stroke Lu Chengjing’s flushed eye corner, her voice soft with comfort. “Take your time if there’s something to say. I’m not going anywhere.”
Feeling the gentle touch at his eye corner, Lu Chengjing unconsciously tilted his head to rub against Shang Wan’s palm.
Shang Wan was surprised. Was this acting cute?
Her little fox was actually acting cute!
She… really wanted to be rubbed again.
But the occasion seemed wrong.
She comfortingly pinched Lu Chengjing’s earlobe, withdrawing her hand only when he returned to normal—that is, when his ear root flushed red.
Little Friend Yuan Yuan tilted her little head up, looking at Daddy, then at Mommy, blinking her big eyes in confusion.
She did not understand and was getting anxious!
Lord An watched coldly, thinking this young husband and wife were truly carefree. Even with fire burning their eyebrows, they still had the kung fu to flirt.
“Silence!” He slapped the gavel, startling the crowd into immediate quiet.
Shen Qi leaned close to his lord and whispered a few words.
Lord An nodded, his gaze toward Lu Chengjing taking on deeper meaning.
The old woman Li helped Fang Cailian out and nodded to the crowd watching her, the meaning self-evident.
The crowd dared not speak and instead looked at Lu Chengjing with eyes reserved for beasts.
Lu Chengjing understood he had fallen into a trap tailored precisely for him, and he also confirmed exactly who was behind it.
He ignored the crowd and only lowered his eyes to look at his hand clasped with Shang Wan’s, pondering a way to break the situation.
Fang Cailian’s face was pale, her eyes red and swollen, inevitably stirring pity in people’s hearts.
Fang Bao hurriedly went to support his younger sister. Seeing her complexion so poor, he asked Old Doctor Sun to check her as well.
Old Doctor Sun naturally agreed. He had only just understood why he was summoned. Though he did not believe Lu Chengjing would do such a beastly thing, that pulse made him have to believe.
Toward Fang Cailian, his expression softened slightly as he focused on taking her pulse.
Shopkeeper Ge said, “The facts are before our eyes. Please make a decision, my lord.”
“Please make a decision, my lord.”
“Please give Cailian justice, my lord.”
“Please severely punish the villain, my lord.”
The rice shop people all spoke up in request, and the onlooking crowd joined in from outside, their voices rising higher and higher.
