The Empress Dowager looked at Ning Que with a beaming smile.
How wonderful if he were her child!
When Ning Que visited today, he found that she had relapsed. After diagnosing her with pulse-taking through a thread, he prescribed medicine. Initially, she was half-skeptical, but then she discovered that Ning Que was quite knowledgeable in medicine and spoke with great clarity. After her persistent questioning, she learned that Ning Que had studied medicine.
Lin Xianhong bit her red lips lightly.
She tried hard to control her emotions.
She looked up at Ning Que, her face full of disdain.
Ning Que was clearly doing it on purpose!
For her, the Empress Dowager was her last resort.
As long as the Empress Dowager was ill, she would be indispensable.
Therefore, Ning Que came ahead of time.
He used tactics to make the Empress Dowager trust him!
Despicable, shameless!
He was just a scoundrel!
Did he think this would make her compromise?
Dream on!
She would rather die, die outside.
She would never again accept Ning Que's favor!
"Empress Dowager!"
"What is it?"
Lin Xianhong suppressed the anger in her heart and said earnestly, "Empress Dowager's illness has always been treated by me. If we abandon the treatment midway and change the medicine rashly, it might harm your foundation. I implore the Empress Dowager not to listen to others' slander and consider your health."
The Empress Dowager immediately frowned, showing a hint of coldness.
She looked at Ning Que again.
He remained indifferent, not even looking up.
He calmly shuffled the cards and sipped his tea.
She had originally intended to save Lin Xianhong some face.
Now, it seemed, there was no need!
Just as she was about to speak, a maid walked in slowly.
She carried a wooden tray with a bowl of medicinal soup on it.
Smelling the herbal scent, Lin Xianhong trembled instantly.
This smell was very familiar!
"Is this the prescription I formulated?"
"I know!"
"You actually stole my prescription?!"
"Ning Que, how can you be so shameless?"
"Presumptuous!" The Empress Dowager slammed the table heavily and reprimanded, "Who gave you the audacity to dare call Ning Wang by his given name?"
"This concubine dares not." Lin Xianhong's face flushed red as she argued, "This concubine humbly requests the Empress Dowager to see clearly. In the past, this concubine, to treat the Empress Dowager, scoured medical texts and repeatedly consulted Chang Divine Doctor. Finally, with great effort, I formulated a prescription. After many trials, I confirmed its effectiveness before daring to give it to the Empress Dowager. Now that Ning Wang has stolen this concubine's prescription, this concubine is indignant!"
"You..."
Just as the Empress Dowager was about to scold her, Ning Que raised his hand to stop her. He calmly stood up, took the porcelain bowl, and said indifferently, "I thought your medical skills were so profound, but I didn't expect your basic knowledge to be so poor. You say I stole your prescription, but do you know what medicinal ingredients are used in this bowl?"
"Does that even need asking?" Lin Xianhong merely sniffed it and said firmly, "Ephedra, White Peony Root, Astragalus, Licorice... and the most important, Cantharides. Cantharides is highly toxic, and its dosage must be carefully controlled. Ning Wang, do not recklessly formulate medicine for personal revenge. If the Empress Dowager suffers any mishap, Ning Wang cannot bear the responsibility!"
Lin Xianhong looked at Ning Que angrily.
She now understood everything.
Ning Que must have stolen her prescription.
Then he ran to the Empress Dowager to claim credit.
And he even overconfidently claimed to understand medicine?
It was simply ridiculous!
Studying medicine takes time.
It's not something you can just talk about.
She had read classics since childhood and understood some pharmacology.
The Book of Heavenly Return, The Book of the Heart, The Book of the Pulse, The Book of a Thousand Gold!
The Inner Canon, The Difficult Canon, The Cold Damage Canon, The Materia Medica Canon...
The Four Books and Eight Canons of medicine, she knew them by heart. Chang Baicao was willing to take her as a disciple precisely because she had a good foundation. She achieved what she had today all by herself.
Now he says Ning Que understands medicine?
Heh... who would believe that?
He clearly stole her prescription!
And then boasted about his medical skills in front of the Empress Dowager.
Taking such risks and doing so much, it was nothing more than wanting to attract her attention. At the time of the divorce, he seemed so carefree, even saying they would not bother each other and never meet again. Just two or three days later, and now he's acting out of love-hate, using despicable means to frame her and the Lin family!
But would this make her compromise?
No!
She would only dislike Ning Que even more!
"Smell it again."
"Even if I smell it a hundred times, it's still correct!"
Ning Que's face showed helplessness.
This woman was truly incredibly foolish.
He couldn't understand what he had been persisting in for the past three years?
The prejudice in people's hearts is a great mountain!
In Lin Xianhong's eyes, Gu Yuan was perfect in every way. Even if evidence was laid before her, Lin Xianhong would not believe it. Instead, she would think he was jealous and deliberately causing trouble.
"So, I said you were foolish."
"Cantharides is highly toxic, and the Empress Dowager is advanced in years. Since entering the palace, the Empress Dowager's health has not been good. In the past, she even had a difficult labor, leaving her with a chronic illness. Given her constitution, if she took your prescription, she would be poisoned within three months."
Ning Que looked at Lin Xianhong and said indifferently, "However, what I formulated is slightly different; the main ingredient has been changed to the milder Aconite, not Cantharides. You pride yourself on your medical skills, yet you never thought of this all these years. The medicine is right in front of you, and you can't even smell the difference. Lin Xianhong, your medical skills are nothing special."
"You... you... you're talking nonsense!"
"Impossible, my medicine can't be wrong!"
"The Empress Dowager's illness these past years was cured by me!"
"If what you say is true, why is the Empress Dowager fine?"
Ning Que glanced at her.
These things were already in the past.
He was actually too lazy to bring them up again.
But Lin Xianhong wouldn't shed tears until she saw the coffin.
"You want to know, do you?"
"I want to hear what kind of nonsense you can make up!"
"Heh..." Ning Que shook his head helplessly, saying airily, "Every time you entered the palace to diagnose the Empress Dowager, you would have Imperial Physician Zhang prepare and decoct the medicine for you. I brought Chang Divine Doctor to meet him and explained the pharmacology. After multiple verifications, confirming there were no errors, I had all your medicines replaced. So the Empress Dowager didn't get better from taking your medicine, but from mine!"
"Impossible!"
"Nothing is impossible."
Ning Que flicked his sleeve and turned around.
He could only say that he had been blind back then.
He thought he could warm Lin Xianhong's heart.
Three years...
Even a stone should have warmed up, right?
But Lin Xianhong had never smiled at him.
Over the years, Ning Que had done many things for her.
To make Lin Xianhong happy, he had never mentioned them.
Even if he did, she probably wouldn't believe him.
Originally, Ning Que thought of enduring it.
After all, Lin Xianhong was still pregnant.
As long as she was happy, some grievances were fine.
He never expected that for Gu Yuan, she would cruelly abort the child!
"You can't possibly understand medicine!"
"You've never read medical books."
"Nor have I ever heard of you taking anyone as a master!"
"We've been married for three years, have you ever understood me?" Ning Que glanced at her, coldly saying, "When I was ten, I went to Kunlun Mountain and became a disciple of a master. It's not that I only understand trivial skills; I just didn't want to use them."
"I don't believe it... I don't believe it!"
Lin Xianhong screamed hysterically.
Looking at Ning Que, her face was filled with grief and indignation.
At this moment, she was truly broken. She had always prided herself on her own ability, becoming a Third-Rank female medical official renowned throughout Chang'an. Now Ning Que was telling her that all of this was false, that he had actually done it all!
How could she possibly believe it?!
"You can go ask Imperial Physician Zhang."
"Oh, and you can also ask Chang Divine Doctor."
"As for whether it's true or false, you'll know very soon."
With that said, the Empress Dowager waved her hand, "Yang Momo, please escort out the irrelevant people. I still need to entertain Xiao Ning for dinner, so as not to spoil my mood."
"Medical Official Lin, please."
Lin Xianhong trembled as she walked out of the palace gate.
Could it be that Ning Que was telling the truth?!