CMWKSD -Chapter 21 Paying the Money

Madam Wang hurried forward. “Th-then… what exactly is wrong with him?”

Jiu Yue hadn’t taken his pulse yet, so she wasn’t entirely certain. She had only seen similar symptoms recorded in ancient medical texts—somewhat like the aftereffects of Five-Stone Powder.

But if it really were Five-Stone Powder, its addictiveness was so strong that Master Wang should have noticed long ago.

Jiu Yue merely tapped the table lightly. “I’ll know after taking the pulse.”

Madam Wang no longer allowed Master Wang to speak. She tugged him over and made him sit in front of Jiu Yue.

Steward Wang hurriedly brought over the pulse pillow from beside the bed.

Jiu Yue followed the same steps as before—first flipping up Master Wang’s eyelids, checking his mouth, fingertips, and other areas. Only then did she raise her hand to take his pulse.

She had barely closed her eyes for a moment when her brows furrowed.

She hadn’t frowned at all when she examined Wang Jinnian earlier, yet now her brows knitted together the moment she took Master Wang’s pulse.

Madam Wang and Master Wang’s hearts began to pound.

After finishing, Jiu Yue withdrew her hand. Madam Wang asked anxiously, “Well?”

Jiu Yue stood up and pointed at Wang Jinnian, who lay unconscious on the bed. “Five hundred taels.”

Then she pointed at Master Wang. “Three hundred taels.”

Ji Yiqing’s brow twitched violently. She really dared to name a price.

Did Jiu Yue even know how much eight hundred taels of silver was?

Even if Master Wang was the wealthiest merchant, he wouldn’t just hand over silver like that.

Master Wang felt Jiu Yue was being deliberately mysterious. “Are you saying you can cure my son?”

Jiu Yue spread her hands. “If I couldn’t cure him, why would I quote a price?”

As she spoke, she sat down on the stool beside Wang Jinnian’s bed.

Thinking Master Wang felt the price was too high, and since this was a major deal, she actually deigned to explain.

“Don’t think it’s expensive. Your people say he has two or three days left, but I say if he’s not treated, tonight will be the latest. I’m snatching him back from the King of Hell. Five hundred taels isn’t high.”

“As for why you’re three hundred taels—it’s because you probably still have three to five years left, so there’s still time.”

Master Wang jumped to his feet. “What did you say? I only have three to five years left?”

Tears immediately welled up in Madam Wang’s eyes. She had long had some expectations regarding her son’s condition. Jiu Yue’s words gave her hope—only for her to hear in the next moment that her husband had just three to five years left.

Jiu Yue widened her eyes. “You didn’t know? From your pulse, complexion, and physical condition, about ten years ago someone poisoned you with a drug that causes sterility, and also with a poison that affects lifespan. That poison was administered in small amounts over a long period. If you don’t find it, you have about three years left. If you don’t detoxify it and let it remain in your body, then you have about five years.”

Madam Wang stopped crying, staring wide-eyed as she stammered, “Ster… sterile?”

Jiu Yue shrugged. “Yes, sterile. That is, you won’t have children anymore. Is that clear enough?”

“Th-this…” Madam Wang shot a subtle glance at Master Wang. His face had completely darkened.

Jiu Yue didn’t understand. Sterile was sterile—wasn’t staying alive more important? Were these two focusing on the wrong thing?

Their son was still lying there.

Ji Yiqing quickly stepped in front of Jiu Yue, blocking her line of sight—mainly because the look of gleeful curiosity on her face was far too obvious.

Master Wang swayed where he stood. Steward Wang, who had been dumbstruck, rushed forward to support him. “Master.”

“You’re certain?” Master Wang asked.

Jiu Yue poked her head out from behind Ji Yiqing. “Certain. I’m saying you haven’t been able to father children for ten years.”

As she spoke, she looked toward Wang Jinnian. “And this son of yours isn’t sick—he’s poisoned. A womb poison.”

Madam Wang exclaimed in shock, “What?”

“Womb poison. It means the poison was administered to the mother. After it was confirmed she was pregnant, the poison was fed to her. The mother herself wouldn’t suffer much, but the child born would either die young, or be sickly and not live past eighteen.”

As she was speaking, someone arrived outside the courtyard. Jiu Yue heard soft, delicate sobbing. “Master…”

The next moment, a charming young woman with a protruding belly hurried in at a small run.

An older nanny followed behind her. “Concubine, slow down.”

Then the concubine threw herself in front of Master Wang, reaching out to grab his hand. “Master, you don’t even come to see me.”

Jiu Yue and Ji Yiqing exchanged glances and blinked at each other.

Now it suddenly made sense why Madam Wang and Master Wang had been so concerned about sterility.

After all, Jiu Yue had just said that Master Wang had been unable to have children for ten years.

Yet here was a concubine with a child in her belly?

This was a textbook case of being thrilled to become a father—for someone else’s child!

Jiu Yue couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing, only to have Ji Yiqing clap a hand firmly over her mouth.

Jiu Yue lowered her head, shoulders shaking. After a moment she finally stopped laughing and said, “How about you deal with your household matters first?”

Master Wang cast a dark look at Jiu Yue, then turned his gaze to the concubine beside him.

Of course, he wouldn’t conclude he’d been cuckolded based solely on Jiu Yue’s words. But what she had said made his heart sink.

Thinking back, it did seem that ten years ago he had lost interest in intimacy. Back then he had been in his prime. He’d only assumed his business had grown too large, leaving him with the will but not the strength.

Later, it was his younger brother who sent women to him, and only then did his desire slowly return.

But now that he thought about it, everything seemed far too coincidental.

Jiu Yue had also said she could cure Wang Jinnian—that was the first child he and his wife had together.

Later they’d had a daughter, also frail and sickly.

Now it seemed it might not have been illness at all.

Master Wang gave Steward Wang a look.

Steward Wang immediately nodded and went out.

Before long, two burly old women entered the room and reached out to grab the concubine.

The concubine shrieked in fright. “What are you doing? What are you doing? I’m carrying the Wang family’s only heir! How dare you touch me? Master! Master, look!”

But Master Wang didn’t say a single word. Whether or not it was a green hat, this matter couldn’t be handled in front of outsiders.

Madam Wang didn’t want to concern herself with it either. After all, she wasn’t the one being cuckolded.

What’s more, that concubine had been sent by Master Wang’s younger brother.

They were all people who had lived for years amid intrigue and scheming.

From Jiu Yue’s few words, they quickly understood the twists within.

As long as Jiu Yue could truly cure Wang Jinnian, then the matters of Master Wang’s sterility and the poison affecting his lifespan were, in all likelihood, also true.

The concubine was dragged away. Master Wang no longer had the energy to worry about anything else—treating Wang Jinnian was more important.

He wiped his face. “As long as you can cure my son, everything else is negotiable.”

Jiu Yue nodded. “Oh, and I want my indenture contract.”

Master Wang waved his hand. Steward Wang quickly brought over Jiu Yue’s contract. Jiu Yue didn’t take it immediately. “Young Master Wang will need at least three days to detox.”

“Bring paper and ink.”

She was being paid for the diagnosis and treatment; as for the medicinal ingredients, of course the Wang family would supply them.

“After the poison is removed, Young Master Wang’s body won’t be particularly strong, but getting married, having children, and living another thirty or forty years won’t be a problem—as long as there aren’t any other major illnesses in between.”

Some things couldn’t be said too definitively. If he happened to contract another illness later, and she’d claimed he could live thirty or forty years, it would end up being blamed on her.

At this point, Madam Wang could only treat a dead horse as a living one. She quickly ordered someone to prepare paper and ink.

Jiu Yue had studied many ancient prescriptions, so writing with a brush wasn’t a problem—but traditional characters were.

She lifted the brush, thought for a moment, then handed it to Ji Yiqing. “I’ll dictate. You write.”

Ji Yiqing didn’t ask any questions and sat down directly.

In truth, he was worried sick. Jiu Yue’s personality was far too lively.

She had even laughed outright when she saw the pregnant concubine.

He was terrified—terrified that Master Wang would send people to assassinate them. And yet Jiu Yue was still laughing!