BDSMST -Chapter 37 Could the Old Marquis’s Leg Ailment Be Cured?

On the official road from Qingshi Town to the capital, Li Si drove the ox cart slowly along. This was already his third trip to the capital this month.

The first time was to send Uncle Fu, the second was to deliver some fresh samples from Yue Lai Ju’s shop to a noble in the capital, and this time, it was to deliver a single letter.

One letter, requiring an entire ox cart to make a special 200-li trip—others would have thought it an incredible extravagance. But Jiang Suisui insisted. She knew the weight of this letter was worth such solemnity.

The letter arrived at the Yongning Marquisate on a gray, rainy afternoon.

The damp air aggravated Old Marquis Gu Yuan’s leg ailment. His left knee felt as if countless tiny needles were stabbing it, sending sharp pain up his leg. This old injury had been left from years of battlefield campaigns, and rainy weather always tormented him, making it impossible to sit or stand comfortably.

Imperial physicians had treated him countless times, and he had taken many rare medicines, but they only offered temporary relief; a complete cure was impossible.

At this moment, he leaned against the soft couch, brows tightly furrowed, face dark with discomfort. The Old Madam sat beside him, massaging his knee with her hands, her expression full of worry.

“Damn this weather again,” the Old Marquis grumbled irritably.

At that moment, the steward hurried in, holding a letter.

“Old Marquis, Old Madam, a letter has arrived from Wo Niu Village. It says… it’s a family letter written by the Young Marquis.”

“The Young Marquis’s letter?” Both elders perked up immediately.

The Old Madam quickly took the letter. Seeing the familiar, crooked characters on the envelope reading “To Grandfather, personally”, her eyes reddened.

“Quick, open it and see,” the Old Marquis urged.

They unfolded the paper. Two full pages of uneven, childish handwriting greeted their eyes.

The Old Madam read each word softly.

When she read, “I am doing very well here, and I am busy every day,” the Old Marquis’s frown eased a little.

When she read, “The pigs I raise are named ‘Hum Hum’ and ‘Ha Ha,’ and are almost two hundred jin now,” the Old Marquis’s mouth twitched involuntarily, uncertain whether he wanted to laugh or scold.

When she read, “I am the chief in charge here. They all call me ‘Boss,’” a complex, hard-to-read expression flickered in his eyes.

Finally, when the Old Madam read, “I’m not going back to the capital. This place is more fun than the capital,” the room fell into a long, quiet silence.

“That little rascal…” The Old Marquis muttered after a long pause. Yet his tone carried little real anger, mixed instead with a kind of helpless amusement.

The Old Madam pressed her handkerchief to her eyes, softly sobbing, “This child… has grown up… he knows to report back to the family…”

The grandson who once caused trouble, who would throw things whenever a word displeased him, now demonstrated his new life in this awkward but sincere way.

This letter carried more impact than anything Uncle Fu could have reported.

The Old Marquis picked up the letter and read it all over again himself. Looking at the childish handwriting, imagining his grandson under the dim oil lamp, carefully writing each character, even the hardest part of his heart softened a little.

“Hmph, the handwriting is still terrible, no improvement at all,” he muttered, pretending to complain, but carefully folded the paper and handed it to the Old Madam. “Keep it safe—it’s, after all, the boy’s first family letter.”

The Old Madam solemnly placed the letter in a sandalwood box.

The atmosphere in the room eased considerably because of this letter. The Old Marquis’s mood seemed much lighter, and even the pain in his leg felt slightly diminished.

“Huh?” He moved his left leg and a look of surprise crossed his face.

“What’s wrong? Is it hurting badly again?” the Old Madam asked, anxious.

“No.” The Old Marquis shook his head. He tried bending and stretching his knee again. The look of surprise on his face gradually shifted into one of delight. “It doesn’t hurt… it really doesn’t hurt much anymore.”

“Really?” The Old Madam’s eyes widened with shock and joy.

“Really.” The Old Marquis sat up straight on the couch, and even took a few steps. His movements were still a little stiff, but the aching, stabbing pain that had tormented him all morning had largely vanished.

“This is strange…” he muttered in disbelief. “On a day like this, it would normally hurt for a whole day and night without fail. What happened today? Could it be that Imperial Physician Liu’s new prescription finally worked?”

The Liu he mentioned was the court physician assigned specifically to manage his health.

The Old Madam shook her head, recalling something else. “It probably isn’t the medicine. The prescriptions you’ve been taking these past few days are the same as always. But… the vegetables we’ve been eating recently are different from before.”

Her words made the Old Marquis pause and reflect.

Ever since Uncle Fu brought that basket of vegetables, they had been amazed by the freshness and quality. The Old Madam had then instructed the kitchen to prepare those vegetables in different ways for the Old Marquis every day. Though the portions were small, it had never stopped.

By now, they had been eating them for four or five days.

Could it… really be because of those vegetables?

The thought seemed absurd. A few leafy greens easing an old, stubborn ailment? It sounded more like a fairy tale than reality.

Yet the fact was right before his eyes.

Nothing in his daily routine had changed—except for the few bites of these “miraculous” vegetables included in each meal.

“Go, summon Imperial Physician Liu immediately,” the Old Marquis decided without hesitation.

Imperial Physician Liu arrived at the Marquisate quickly. He took the Old Marquis’s pulse, examined his knee thoroughly, and a look of unprecedented confusion spread across his face.

“Strange… truly strange,” Liu muttered, stroking his beard, utterly puzzled. “Old Marquis, from the pulse, the cold-damp energy that has accumulated in your body for years… seems to be dissipating. It’s still faint, but clearly improving. Your leg ailment… it seems we may have found the right remedy. Have you taken any new elixirs recently?”

The Old Marquis and Old Madam exchanged glances, shock mirrored in each other’s eyes.

“I haven’t taken any new medicine,” the Old Marquis said in a steady voice. “It’s just… a few vegetables added to my daily meals, sent from the countryside estate.”

“Vegetables?” Liu was even more perplexed. “What kind of vegetables could possibly have this effect?”

The Old Marquis ordered a servant to bring the last cucumber remaining in the basket.

Physician Liu took the perfectly shaped cucumber, first sniffing it under his nose. The crisp, fresh aroma invigorated him. He pinched off a small piece, tasted it slowly, and his expression grew increasingly serious.

“Sweet, crisp, pure in fragrance, full of vitality…” He closed his eyes, savoring it. “Old Marquis, this is no ordinary vegetable! Most common vegetables are cold in nature and would normally aggravate your cold-damp condition. But this… it contains a warm, gentle energy that slowly spreads through the body, harmonizing your qi and purging impurities. If consumed regularly, it will greatly benefit your condition!”

Physician Liu’s words struck the Old Marquis like a stone dropped into the depths of his heart.

He stared at the cucumber, his gaze burning with intensity.

If before he had only been curious or cautiously interested in that estate, now it had risen in his mind to a completely new, irreplaceable height.

It was no longer just his grandson’s “transformation workshop,” nor merely a farm producing delicious vegetables.

It might just be the hope for curing his old ailment!

“Someone!” The Old Marquis’s voice rang with unshakable determination. “Prepare a carriage! I’m going to Qingshi Town myself!”