Fuzhu's Ballad

51

Chapter 51 All questions

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Ge Chun brought the medicine in a plate and gestured for Lan Dan to take it. “It’s hot, let it cool a bit before he drinks it,” he said sternly, with a look as if everyone owed him money.

Lan Dan quickly took the dish and put it on the table, stirring it with a spoon.

Ge Chun walked to the side of the bed and lifted the thin blanket covering Shentu Rui’s body. He removed the gauze from the wound and examined it carefully with a frown. He applied the medicine again and when he wrapped the wound, his face still looked bad.

Lan Dan touched the temperature of the bowl with her hand and felt that it was almost ready. She didn’t dare to feed it to Shentu Rui rashly, and asked Ge Chun next to her cautiously, “Is it ready?”

Ge Chun’s eyes widened again and he snorted, “Do you have to ask me if it’s ready? Don’t you want to taste it first?”

This criticism was really impossible to refute. Lan Dan also felt that she was at fault for not thinking of it and quickly scooped up a small mouthful, wrinkling her whole face, not because it was hot, but because it was too bitter, even more bitter than the “poison” the Empress Dowager gave her just now.

Ge Chun looked pleased as he watched, but before Lan Dan could feed the medicine to the patient, she stole a glance at him and was surprised to see his smug expression. In fact, she always felt that Ge Chun was the least compassionate physician she had ever met. He never showed any good attitude or patience towards his patients, and often seemed very impatient. She used to think he was only like this towards her, but now she saw that he was just as severe with Shentu Rui, as if he were a debtor.

“From now on, you must taste his medicine, food, and drink first!” Ge Chun’s face darkened again. “So many people want him dead. If he is really poisoned to death, others will think I didn’t save him, and I’ll be blamed.”

Lan Dan’s heart sank when she heard this. In the past three days, she had been extremely anxious and dazed, with only one thought in her mind: whether Shentu Rui was still alive or not. It was not difficult to guess who was responsible for the fatal arrow. Despite the apparent chaos of various factions in Tongye, there were only three major powers at play, and only Shentu Cheng wanted Shentu Rui dead. Now that his first plan had failed, he must have a backup plan, and since he had already resorted to extreme measures, it was unlikely that he would let Shentu Rui leave Tongye alive. No wonder there were heavily armed guards outside the door. They were probably there to stop Shentu Cheng from forcing his way in. Lan Dan nodded heavily. It seemed that not only Shentu Rui’s injuries were worrying, but the whole of Tongye was in a huge upheaval.

Lan Dan’s heart unexpectedly softened and warmed for a moment. She realized that for her sake, Shentu Rui had sacrificed his entire wealth, which had been built up over many years of careful planning, and had almost collapsed at that moment.

“Feed the medicine,” Ge Chun urged.

Lan Dan snapped out of her reverie and secretly berated herself for having such frivolous thoughts. She brought the medicine to Shentu Rui’s lips, scooped up a spoonful, and gently coaxed him to swallow it.

Suddenly, Shentu Rui choked on the medicine. Although he had swallowed the first spoonful, his lips were tightly pursed, and Lan Dan could not feed him a second spoonful.

She looked at Ge Chun imploringly with a pained expression, but he just sneered and said, “This guy has improved a bit, he knows the medicine is bitter.” Seeing that Lan Dan was having trouble feeding Shentu Rui, Ge Chun let out a cruel smile, pinched Shentu Rui’s jaw himself, and squeezed his joint tightly to force him to open his mouth. Feeling relieved, he ordered Lan Dan, “Pour it in for me!”