Chapter 7: 7.第7章 神医初现（上）

"Doctor Gu, please forgive me for making an impertinent request," Jia Fangmin cupped his fists in both hands and bowed deeply once more, addressing Gu Baiyu, who was reading with her head bowed, "Our Second Young Master is young and frail, so he is ill-suited for the jolting of a long journey. Would you be so kind as to make a house call and accompany me to the Jia Family Mansion to treat him?"

After much hesitation, Jia Fangmin was ultimately swayed by the confidence radiating from Gu Baiyu. Coupled with the calm and composed demeanor she had displayed since he entered, even his pair of piercing eyes—honed from years of traveling with the Jia Family Master, Jia Shouyan—could scarcely believe that such poise and equanimity belonged to a girl of merely seventeen or eighteen who had grown up on a farmstead.

"The Jia Family Mansion?" Gu Baiyu lifted her head from the book and looked at Chaxin, who stood by her side.

"Replying to Miss, the Jia family is a newly wealthy clan in Qingzhou City dealing in cloth and fabrics. The Jia Family Mansion is located in the west of the city, near the western suburbs, a certain distance from our farmstead. However, it is still early; if we take a carriage, we should be able to return before nightfall." Upon hearing Gu Baiyu's question, Chaxin put away her usual playful demeanor and replied in a soft, measured voice, displaying the proper bearing of a personal maid to a noble young lady.

"Chaxin is correct. I have brought a carriage, and I respectfully request that Doctor Gu agree to the house call." The moment Chaxin finished speaking, Jia Fangmin spoke up respectfully.

After a brief moment of thought, Gu Baiyu nodded. She rose and said to Chaxin and Liu-ma, "Chaxin, go to my room and fetch that set of silver needles. Come with me to the Jia family. Liu-ma, you stay and watch the house. If anyone comes seeking treatment, tell them to come back tomorrow unless it's an emergency. If it is urgent, direct them to the neighboring village, to Doctor Geng; he returned from gathering herbs yesterday."

"Yes, Miss."

Chaxin and Liu-ma acknowledged the order in unison and went their separate ways. Gu Baiyu followed Jia Fangmin out to the courtyard gate. Looking up at the carriage parked in front of the Jinyi Shop, she saw a dark blue "Jia" character embroidered with gold thread in a cross-thread pattern on the indigo canopy—understated yet unmistakably luxurious. Gu Baiyu walked steadily toward the carriage with Chaxin following behind.

The journey was smooth and peaceful. Even though the route from the farmstead to the Jia Family Mansion necessarily passed by the Gu Family Mansion standing in the east of the city, Jia Fangmin handled it perfectly, attracting no attention from the Gu household whatsoever, nor causing Gu Baiyu the slightest embarrassment.

The speeding carriage gradually came to a halt. Gu Baiyu lifted the curtain and descended with Chaxin's assistance.

A dark blue plaque hung on the tall lintel, inscribed with the two gold characters "Jia Fu" (Jia Mansion) in powerful, flowing calligraphy. Four vermilion doorposts featured vividly carved coiling snakes. Two guards stood ramrod straight on either side of the black main doors. Seeing Jia Fangmin arrive with Gu Baiyu and the others, they efficiently pulled the bronze door rings and slowly swung the doors open. A glazed screen wall painted with the beautiful scenery of Jiangnan glittered in the sunlight.

Stepping around the screen wall, a spacious vista instantly unfolded within the courtyard. Bees and butterflies danced among myriad flowers; a path of green pebbles stretched smooth and level. The sound of water whispered by the ear, though no water was visible—only strands of dampness mingling with the deep fragrance of flowers enveloping her.

Walking on the pebble path, Gu Baiyu couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion.

From Chaxin's words earlier, the Jia family had only become wealthy in recent years, yet their mansion was already so exquisite and grand. One could only imagine the opulence of the Gu clan, a prestigious aristocratic family in Qingzhou City for many years. Such a wealthy and powerful household could have easily raised a Gu Baiyu, yet they had abandoned her on the farmstead, ignoring her completely. Thinking this, Gu Baiyu felt a chill in her heart on behalf of the original owner of this body.

"Master, Madam, Doctor Gu has arrived."

Gu Baiyu was lost in thought when Jia Fangmin's voice suddenly rang by her ear. She snapped back to reality and found herself already standing inside the Jia family's main hall. A middle-aged man and woman in their forties stood on the dais, warmly inviting her in and ordering maids and servants to serve tea. They were presumably the Master and Madam Jia Fangmin had mentioned.

"Master Jia, Madam Jia, please dispense with formalities. If it is convenient, please take me to see the patient now." Looking at the expressions on Master Jia Shouyan and Madam Jiang's faces—a mix of barely concealed doubt and forced smiles trying not to slight her—Gu Baiyu felt a pang of bitterness.

Although the Jia family were nouveau riche in Qingzhou, with their manpower and wealth, there were few in all of Jiangnan who could make the Jia couple lower their brows and watch their step. Yet now, facing a girl in her early teens, they harbored suspicions but still wore ingratiating smiles. If not for that sick child in bed, what else could it be for?

Truly, the hearts of parents everywhere are pitiable. Gu Baiyu thought of her parents in her previous life, who had also treasured her like a jewel in their palm, yet she had forced them to bury their own child. The bitterness in her heart deepened.

"Good, good. Then, Doctor Gu, this way please, this way please." Unexpectedly, despite bearing the title of "Divine Doctor," Gu Baiyu had no airs whatsoever, nor the haughtiness of some noble ladies; her only thought was to treat the patient. The suspicion in Jia Shouyan's heart lessened, replaced by a few parts of gratitude. He hurriedly led the way, taking three steps for every two, heading toward the courtyard of his precious late-in-life son, Jia Yunqing.

"Second Young Master, Second Young Master, how are you? Don't knock into things, don't knock into things!" Before Jia Shouyan's party could enter the courtyard, the voice of Wanqing, Jia Yunqing's personal maid, rang out.

Everyone's heart tightened. It seemed Jia Yunqing's headache had flared up again. They all unconsciously quickened their pace, but unexpectedly, Gu Baiyu, who had been walking behind Jia Shouyan, suddenly sprinted ahead. Following the sound, she flung back the bamboo curtain and ran into Jia Yunqing's room.

"This young lady, you—"

"What are you blathering about! Hurry up and hold him down on the bed! He already has a mild concussion; if he keeps slamming his head against the wall like this, even a god couldn't save him!" Shaking off Wanqing's arm as she tried to block her, Gu Baiyu rushed forward and embraced the pained Jia Yunqing. Despite his desperate struggles messing up her loosely tied hair, she pinned him firmly to the bed without letting go.

"Qing'er, Qing'er, listen to me, don't move. Mother is holding you; it won't hurt if Mother holds you." Madam Jiang, who had arrived right after, took the violently struggling, wailing Jia Yunqing from Gu Baiyu's arms and comforted him softly. She signaled Wanqing and the others to pin down his flailing limbs and continued, "Qing'er, don't cry. Let Doctor Gu take a look. Doctor Gu is a Divine Doctor; once she examines you, you won't be in pain anymore. Be good."

Seeing Jia Yunqing gradually calm under Madam Jiang's soothing, Gu Baiyu casually tucked the loose strands of hair behind her ear, then reached out to take the small wrist of Jia Yunqing, concentrating on discerning his pulse, which was unclear due to his agitated breathing.

Although on the way to Jia Yunqing's courtyard, Madam Jiang had already answered Gu Baiyu's earlier questions—aside from the fall on the snowy ground last December where he hit his head, Jia Yunqing had indeed not suffered any head trauma recently—after a careful pulse diagnosis, Gu Baiyu could not confirm Madam Jiang's words.

After all, it had been over a year since the head injury. Many doctors had prescribed blood-activating and stasis-resolving medicines; the blood stasis in his brain should have decreased. Yet the pulse diagnosis showed the exact opposite—it was far from improved, even showing signs of worsening.

Withdrawing her hand, Gu Baiyu looked at the now-quiet Jia Yunqing and asked again, "Yunqing, have you really not hit your head again recently? Not even an accidental fall?"

Gu Baiyu's repeated questioning sparked a hint of displeasure in Madam Jiang's heart. She had just confirmed this with her; why ask again and again? Was her medical skill lacking, and she was looking for an excuse to shirk responsibility?

Her gaze toward Gu Baiyu grew colder, but she saw Gu Baiyu merely looking calmly at Jia Yunqing in her arms, her eyes filled with certainty. This steadiness gave Madam Jiang pause. She lowered her head and asked softly, "Qing'er, Doctor Gu is asking you. Tell the truth, was there anything or not?"

"No... no..." After a long hesitation, Jia Yunqing denied it. His pale little face beaded with fine sweat, his two faint eyebrows knitted together.

Hearing the denial, Madam Jiang was about to speak when a sudden cry came from the doorway. She looked up to see the family's six-year-old daughter, Jia Yunyi.

"Yiyi, what's wrong? Why are you crying like this?" Seeing his little daughter leaning against the doorframe weeping like a pear blossom in the rain, even the aging Jia Shouyan felt a pang of heartache. He hurried over, scooped Jia Yunyi into his arms, and asked gently.

"Si... Sister..." Lying in Madam Jiang's arms, Jia Yunqing suddenly spoke, as if trying to stop Jia Yunyi.

"Yiyi, what exactly happened? Tell Father quickly." Hearing the implication in Jia Yunqing's tone as well, Jia Shouyan turned his back with Jia Yunyi in his arms, blocking her view of Jia Yunqing, and asked again.

"I... Brother... Brother a few days ago... to help me... to help me get my handkerchief... from the small tree... from the small tree he fell down... Brother... Brother told me not to tell... I didn't mean to... wuwu... Brother..." She finished her broken explanation and buried her face in Jia Shouyan's chest, weeping even harder.

That day, she had slipped away from her personal maid to play in the back garden. Her handkerchief had been blown by the wind onto a low tree branch. Jia Yunqing happened to pass by and climbed up to retrieve it for her. Just as he was climbing down, he heard the maid calling for them. Startled, Jia Yunqing fell from the tree and hit his head.

Because Jia Yunqing had been unable to shake off his headaches for over a year, he was the focus of the Jia family's protection. This time he hit his head, he feared Father Jia Shouyan would punish Jia Yunyi or their maids, so he forbade her from telling anyone. He even endured the initial headache in silence without telling a soul.

But watching Jia Yunqing's headaches grow increasingly severe, Jia Yunyi was consumed by regret and fear. Hearing Jia Yunqing deny it once more, she couldn't hold back her tears.