Physician, Not A Consort

The journey there was shaky and bumpy. After an incense’s worth of time, the horse carriage came to a stop. Lin Haihai got out of the carriage. This was a deprived village with only a few dozen households. Their homes appeared to be worn-down. Lin Haihai was secretly shocked. There was actually such an impoverished place under the emperor’s rule?

Aunt Wu led the way in front and kept telling Lin Haihai to pay attention to the road. The latter lifted the lantern ahead and glanced at the potholes on the road. She felt very uncomfortable and upset. Helplessness surged through her heart. Physicians might be able to treat illnesses, but they were powerless facing poverty. That was something they had to reconcile with. 

Aunt Wu stopped in front of a house. There was faint light emitting from the inside, and they could hear people talking. 

“Elder Guang, open the door!” Aunt Wu shouted. 

The door creaked open, and a few young men jumped out. Seeing Lin Haihai and Qing Feng, as well as the horse carriage, their gazes turned alarmed. 

“Elder Guang, Second Guang, Little Guang, quickly come over and kowtow to Physician Lin. She saved your father. If not for her, your father would’ve been dead!” Aunt Wu choked. 

The children looked at each other before their knees thumped against the ground, and they kowtowed to Lin Haihai repeatedly. Startled, Lin Haihai hurriedly helped the children up. “Don’t, or I won’t treat your father no matter what!” 

“Physician Lin, can my father still be saved?” the slightly older teen asked, while the other two kids’ eyes were sparkling with a hopeful glint. 

“I will try my best. You must be the eldest brother in the family. Here, let’s hold a meeting and talk about treatment plans and what not. Aunt Wu, go pack your things up first. I have a few things to talk to the children about.” Lin Haihai needed to communicate with the children. They weren’t that young. By the standards of this era, they were already old enough to shoulder the responsibilities of the household. 

Aunt Wu looked at Lin Haihai, and was a bit unwilling to walk away. But Lin Haihai indicated for her to hurry, so the older woman could only move slowly into the room. 

The children led Lin Haihai to their room, insisting on discussing the matter inside. Lin Haihai was confused. The moment she entered and took a look, she saw a few simple and crude wooden beds. On a cleaner bed sat a girl who looked about ten. Her features were delicate, and she had big eyes. However, there was no light within her eyes, obscured by a layer of white film. She was blind. Lin Haihai felt a stabbing pain in her heart. She walked over quickly and waved her hands in front of the girl. The girl said gently, “I’m blind.” She must’ve been blind for a while with how acute her hearing was. She had cataracts! Lin Haihai hugged her and gently sat down. The girl smiled a bright and pure smile as she lifted her head. “Sister, you smell nice! You must be very beautiful!”

Lin Haihai pretended to think about it before saying, “I’m not sure about this because this sister hasn’t personally seen herself yet.”

She lifted her head to see the boys standing there and looking at her, touched. She knew why they wanted to discuss the matter inside the room now. They hoped that their sister could be involved in everything and they didn’t want her to feel alone and useless. 

One of the older boys asked, “Physician Lin, what’s the meeting about?” The others looked at her nervously. 

Lin Haihai said seriously, “You guys must know that your father is incredibly sick. Your mother wakes up early to work and comes home late so that she can earn money. Her body is already in a bad condition. You guys are still young, but with your family facing such difficulties, you need to shoulder the responsibilities of taking care of your parents. Are you guys willing to?”

The children looked at each other before replying in unison, “We’re willing!” 

Lin Haihai was touched. “That’s good, that’s good. You guys are all good kids! I heard that your names are Elder Guang, Second Guang and Little Guang, right? Then how about your little sister?”

“I’m Elder Guang. He’s Second Guang, and this is Little Guang. Our sister is Little Xiang!” Elder Guang pointed at his sister and brothers as he introduced them. His voice was mixed with a hint of bashfulness. He constantly tugged his tiny clothes down. He was already about sixteen or seventeen, so it was inevitable that he’d feel a bit uncomfortable when facing a beautiful woman. 

Second Guang? Er Guang?[1] Lin Haihai tamped down the urge to facepalm. “Then have you guys been going out to earn money?”

“I work in the fields with Second Guang while Little Guang takes care of Little Xiang.” Elder Guang replied. 

“Oh, I see. Then do you guys trust me?”

“We do!” They answered loudly and clearly. 

“Okay, I want to hire you brothers to work at my plantation. You guys can get two silver taels every month. As for Little Xiang, are you willing to go back with me? I can treat your eyes!” 

A figure stumbled in from outside the door. Aunt Wu got on her knees and kowtowed repeatedly. “Physician Lin, if you can really treat Little Xiang, our entire family will work extremely hard for you without any complaints for sure!” 

Lin Haihai said angrily, “I said don’t kowtow to me. If this happens again, I’m leaving immediately!” 

Aunt Wu jumped up and stood to the side, not daring to talk. However, tears kept on streaming down her face. 

“Physician Lin, can you really treat Little Xiang’s eyes?” Elder Guang asked in disbelief. He was scared that he would be let down again if he dared to hope. 

“Yes, if I can’t treat Little Xiang, then I will give you her eyes as compensation, okay?” Everyone was frightened by her words. They hurriedly said, “That’s not what we mean. We don’t dare!” 

“Okay, it’s getting late. We should go too. You guys should also pack up and ask if anyone else in the village is willing to come to the plantation with us. We can go together!” Because she had obtained a thousand gold taels, Lin Haihai was in no danger of running out of money at the moment. Besides, she did need manpower in the mountains. Her generous side took over again. This village was too impoverished. She hoped to improve the villagers’ conditions with this offer. 

“Physician, I’m not going.” Little Xiang suddenly said. Lin Haihai lifted her brows, waiting for her to continue, confused. But Little Xiang didn’t say anything else. Instead, she sat there stubbornly. 

“Little Xiang, why don’t you want to be treated? Don’t you want to see us?” Elder Guang asked anxiously. 

“Right. Little Xiang, this brother knows that you actually want to be able to see very much. Why don’t you want to try then?”

Little Xiang said nothing, not even looking around with her unseeing eyes. Aunt Wu was so anxious that she was about to cry. She walked over and shook Little Xiang, begging, “Little Xiang, this mother begs you. Please go get treated. Physician Lin is really a good person, not like those physicians swindling money!” 

“Mother, I don’t want to get treated. Don’t you remember that a physician in the past has said this is a congenital disorder? It’s incurable! You’ve helped me find all these physicians in the past, but each one said that they couldn’t cure me. I don’t want to be treated!”

Lin Haihai understood now. The girl was afraid of false hope. She would be beside herself if her hopes were again dashed. 

Upon realization, Lin Haihai covered Little Xiang’s eyes with gentle hands. Circulating her dantian to keep the spirit pearl rolling, she pushed her spiritual energy to her palms.

Little Xiang felt her eyes warming up, and then white fog gradually dissipated. Lin Haihai pulled her hands away. Little Xiang opened her eyes and vaguely saw a few figures moving about, but she couldn’t see them clearly. Lots of white fog was still blocking her vision. She did her best to push away the white fog, trying hard to look at the figures in front of her clearly. However, the white fog persisted no matter what. She started crying. 

Lin Haihai held her hands and asked, “Do you want to see them clearly?” 

Little Xiang nodded as she sobbed. “I do, I want to very much. Please treat me!” 

Lin Haihai smiled tiredly. This was the first time she used the spiritual energy of the spirit pearl. She wasn’t able to use it skillfully, thus hurting her vital essence. 

After the family had packed up, Lin Haihai ordered Elder Guang, “Go to the village tomorrow and ask if anyone is willing to come with us. Bring them to Linhai Hospital to meet me.” 

Elder Guang said, “We don’t need to wait. I’ll go ask each household right now!” 

Lin Haihai shook her head. “No, it’s too late now. It’s better if you ask tomorrow.” Elder Kuang nodded. 

By the time they returned to Linhai Hospital, it was already getting late. Lin Haihai looked at her watch, which her mother had bought for her. It was past midnight, and Official Wang wouldn’t be brought here by Official Luo until another four hours. According to her research, 4am was the time when people’s willpower and spirit were at their weakest. During that time, people’s ability to analyze and be on guard would be lowered. It was the safest and most suitable time for the patient to be taken to the hospital.

She had some time to look for Baize. She returned to her room to change her clothes. Just as she was about to head out, a white silhouette suddenly appeared inside. 

“You weren’t secretly watching me change, right?” Lin Haihai turned and glanced at the perfect face in front of her, exasperated.

“Why would I?” Baize said mockingly. “Stupid woman. You actually abused your spiritual energy. You don’t even know how death is spelled, do you? You haven’t even learned how to steer your power, and you think you can control the spirit pearl just with your vital essence? You’re too naive!” After that, he reached over and swayed his hands gently in front of her. She immediately felt dizzy and weak. She fell limp on the chair helplessly and asked, “What happened to me?”

“I sealed the spirit pearl’s power. You’re just an ordinary human right now. Because you were just injured, you feel weak now!” Baize said coldly. 

“You can seal the spirit pearl? Why did you do that?” Lin Haihai was a bit anxious. She wasn’t used to being the weak woman that couldn’t truss a chicken that she had been. 

“Don’t worry. The spirit pearl will automatically be unsealed an hour later. If I don’t seal it, how am I supposed to treat your injury? The pearl’s strong power will cancel out the vital essence I am transferring to you. Don’t move!” Baize placed his palms on her back tightly. Heat transferred from Lin Haihai’s back to her five yin organs and six yang organs. Some of her clogged and obstructed meridians were cleared.

About an hour later, Baize withdrew his hands and clasped his palms together, gradually reeling back the vital essence so that it was back within his body. Lin Haihai leaped up and felt relaxed and free. Her spirit pearl must have been unsealed. 

“Why was I injured this time? I never feel uncomfortable when I fly around.” Lin Haihai was very confused.

“You were using the vital essence that the spirit pearl granted you, which has long been flowing through your body. But you tapped into the spirit pearl’s spiritual energy this time. Without the proper chant, you forcibly extract the pearl’s power instead. The vital essence in your body couldn’t handle the spirit pearl’s tremendous power, which then left you injured!” Baize analyzed. 

“Then teach me the chant,” Lin Haihai didn’t so much request but order. Baize was speechless. Everything was so very simple in her mind. However, she was much more talented than snakes. She was actually able to summon spiritual energy herself. Originally, the Queen didn’t plan on teaching her how to use spiritual energy, but it seems that they had no choice. She would learn how to control it sooner or later. Rather than letting her fumble about blindly, he may as well teach her the chant. However, her imposing manner was becoming more like the Queen! 

“Nevermind. It’s not like I want to practice arcane arts. No one in the world is my match. Those tricks aren’t going to help me in any way.” Noting Baize’s hesitation, Lin Haihai lost her interest. She wasn’t going to perform magic. Why would she need such skills?

“No, you have to master it. I’ll teach the chant to you right now. Remember it carefully, the arcane arts will definitely be useful in the future!” Baize recalled the many types of witchcraft and the spirits that stirred up trouble in the ancient times. Her martial arts skills were enough to deal with humans, but she couldn’t guard against people resorting to insidious tricks. In order to prevent anything from going wrong, she must become invincible to all manners of attack until she completed her mission in the end. 

“Then I’ll learn. It’s not like I’ll suffer losses from it.” Being studious was the Lin Family’s tradition. Fortunately, she was very talented. In just a short few hours, she was able to grasp the chant and its essence completely. Once again, Baize thought that the Queen had indeed chosen the right person. With her abilities, she would be able to complete her mission soon. It would be better if there weren’t so many obstacles, though. This woman was compassionate and patient enough, but lacked astuteness and cleverness. Hopefully, the people by her side could help her overcome the difficulties to come! Still, when was she going to stop getting involved with that man?

1. means “slap” in Mandarin.