The moment the word “no” left Xu Ping’an’s lips, he knew he was in trouble!
If it were a normal person’s reaction, it should have been something like, “Please forgive my inability to help.”
But this “no” was clearly not a normal answer.
However, the words had already been spoken, and he couldn’t take them back.
After a slight pause, he immediately found a solution.
“I can’t… treat it, ah~ Oh, Princess, please don’t make things difficult for me.”
“Oh?”
Perhaps it was that momentary reaction that made Li Yu certain of something in her heart.
She opened the fan and looked into Xu Ping’an’s eyes with a smile.
“Mr. Xu… it’s not that you can’t treat it, but that you don’t want to, is it?”
“This… what are you talking about, Princess? You’ve wronged me.”
Xu Ping’an feigned surprise, but what he didn’t know was that his reaction only made Li Yu even more certain.
Although they were just details, Li Yu, who had long been in a position of power, understood very well how a subordinate with a normal sense of guilt would speak in such a situation.
And clearly, Xu Ping’an’s series of reactions were different from what she was familiar with.
“Let me think, what would make Divine Doctor Xu afraid to act?”
Xu Ping’an was slightly startled, and his expression gradually darkened.
Clearly, this woman in front of him was not so easily deceived.
All those with Nine Yin Meridian Deficiency have a Seven-Aperture Exquisite Heart, with intelligence superior to ordinary people, capable of discerning good from evil, and truth from lies.
The Ancient Medical Classic truly didn’t deceive me.
This is troublesome now!
Xu Ping’an thought to himself, but his expression gradually calmed down.
He knew that whatever he said now would be useless.
“Hmm, I’ve guessed it. Divine Doctor Xu, with such medical skills, yet unwilling to align with certain powers and preferring to live in seclusion, clearly doesn’t want to get involved in unsettling matters, but rather to cultivate peace of mind and disregard worldly affairs. Am I right?”
Xu Ping’an’s face remained calm.
“What is the Princess saying? I don’t understand.”
“No, you do understand.”
Li Yu took a step forward, her eyes filled with confidence.
“You don’t want to treat me, not just because you don’t want to get involved with certain powers, but also because you don’t want to offend other doctors. My illness has been seen by no fewer than dozens of famous medical masters in Nanzhou for decades, yet it remains incurable.”
“Once the news that you can cure my illness spreads, you will truly become famous in Great Qi. By then, whether you want to or not, the whirlpool will involuntarily push you to the forefront.”
“If it were just among the common people, it would be fine, but once it involves the royal family, even you probably won’t be able to refuse.”
After a pause, Li Yu tapped her fan in her palm, a smile on her face.
“Mr. Xu, do you think what I said is right?”
It had come to this, what else could he say?
“Sigh… I say, Your Royal Highness Princess, since you already know, why bother to expose it?”
“If I don’t expose it, how can Mr. Xu treat me?”
Li Yu revealed a bitter smile.
“As Mr. Xu knows about my illness, I have been plagued by sickness since childhood. Although it wasn’t obvious in my youth, I was clearly weaker than others. As I grew older, I became increasingly frail, and my illness gradually worsened.”
She pleaded in an almost begging tone:
“Mr. Xu, I don’t want to die… I still want to see this beautiful land, I still want to taste all the delicacies in the world, I still want to live like a normal woman, not dressed like a man as I am now.”
She didn’t know when, but tears, unexpectedly, slid down from the corners of her eyes.
“From a young age, I knew I was a girl, but my father, in order to prevent Nanzhou from falling into others’ hands, could only raise me as a boy. He was injured on the battlefield when he was young and can no longer have children. I… am the last bloodline of the Prince of Zhennan.”
So that’s how it is.
No wonder the Prince and Princess of Zhennan loved each other, but no new child ever arrived.
It turned out the Prince of Zhennan had lost his fertility.
“Sir… no matter what, even for the sake of a dying person, please lend a helping hand and save my life.”
Li Yu turned to look at Xu Ping’an, her eyes full of anticipation and pleading.
However, Xu Ping’an just quietly looked at her and after a long time finally spoke:
“I cannot treat the Young Master. Please make your own arrangements.”
Li Yu was slightly stunned, a look of despair appearing on her face, but then, a glimmer of hope suddenly rose in her eyes, and she abruptly turned her head to look at Xu Ping’an.
“Is what Mr. Xu said true!?”
“No lies.”
Hearing this, Li Yu’s face brightened even more, while the maid beside her glared angrily at Xu Ping’an.
“Divine Doctor Xu, people say doctors have the heart of parents. Can you really bear to watch our princess die so young? She’s only sixteen, she hasn’t even experienced life yet!”
But facing the maid’s questioning, Xu Ping’an merely glanced at her with a calm expression.
This glance made the little maid even angrier.
Just as she was about to step forward and argue with Xu Ping’an, Li Yu pulled her back.
“Xiaojing, stop talking. Let’s go.”
“Since it can’t be cured, I won’t bother you any further. Mr. Xu, take care. Farewell.”
“Don’t bother.”
Xu Ping’an watched them leave the house expressionlessly, then unceremoniously shut the door.
It made a ‘thud’ sound.
Hearing that, the little maid immediately looked furious and turned to say something, but Li Yu pulled her back.
“Xiaojing, don’t say anything.”
“But Princess… he! He was too rude!!”
Looking at her maid, Li Yu couldn’t help but smile slightly, tapping her forehead with the fan in her hand.
“Oh, you~ you’re really too straightforward. Mr. Xu didn’t say he wouldn’t treat me.”
Xiaojing’s eyes widened, and she looked at the princess with a suspicious gaze.
“But, but he just said…”
Li Yu covered her mouth and chuckled.
“You’ll know tomorrow.”
Li Yu quickly returned to her normal demeanor; her girlish posture from earlier vanished, and she reverted to her previous appearance as the young master.
Zhao Pingzhi, who was waiting outside the courtyard, saw Li Yu walk out and immediately stepped forward, cupping his fist.
“Young Master, Mr. Xu, he…”
Li Yu merely shook her head in feigned disappointment.
“Let’s go, back to the manor.”
She got into the carriage with the help of her maid, Xiaojing.
Zhao Pingzhi saw this scene, couldn’t help but look back at the small fenced courtyard, and finally could only let out a helpless sigh before turning, mounting his horse, and escorting the carriage as it gradually moved away.
Not until the sound of horse hooves was no longer clear did the room door finally open.
Xu Ping’an stood inside, sighing as he looked in the direction the carriage had left.
“Sigh~ I’ve gotten myself into another troublesome situation. Who can I even tell this to?”
“Husband, what kind of trouble is it~”
Unbeknownst to him, Pei Qingxuan, who had been hiding in the house, came out and put her arm around him.
A hint of confusion was revealed in her innocent eyes.
“Oh, you~ don’t be curious about everything. Some things are better left unknown.”
“Oh~”
Pei Qingxuan nodded, half understanding.
Xu Ping’an entered the medicinal room, rolled up his sleeves, and began to tidy up, mainly arranging the arhat bed.
Pei Qingxuan, seeing this, happily followed him.
Whether she was messing around or helping, she also started moving things with him.
“Husband, what are you doing?”
“What else could I be doing? We’ll have guests tomorrow. I’m just preparing. We can’t have guests sleep with us, can we?”
“Guests? Who?”
“Who else… Ah, ah~ don’t touch the gourd, just leave it there.”