Tang Dynasty Puppet Doctor

Chapter 14 Strange Disease
While Murong Huan was still asleep, a quarrel was about to break out in the west wing of the Su family. When Su Ze, the third son of the Su family, was carried back to the yard by several servants, he was frightened to the point of having a convulsion. His mouth was crooked, his eyes were slanting, his teeth were bared, and his whole body was shaking wildly. The servants couldn't control him.

Madam Qin was so anxious that she burst into tears and almost vomited blood. She pointed at several servants to go out and find a doctor. But it was already three o'clock in the morning, where could they find a doctor at such a low hour? Even if they found one, how could the doctor be willing to come at this hour?

Fortunately, the third wife, Mrs. Qiu, said that she knew a doctor, and that the doctor lived not far from the Su family, so she would definitely be able to invite him. So, she wrote a visiting card and asked her maid and the servant girl beside her and Qin's wife to go to Xiushanfang to look for him.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Si. Sanlang will surely be well. As soon as Doctor Mo comes, he will definitely get better."

Qin couldn't help crying after hearing this. "How can I not be worried? You said Sanlang was fine all the time, how could he suddenly get this strange disease? Although my Sanlang is not very smart, my expectations are not high. I just hope that he can be safe and sound."

"I know, I know. This is what I expect of my son Liu Lang. A smart brain is not as good as a healthy body, and a bright future is not as good as a peaceful life."

"Then why did he suddenly fall ill?" Qin cried, her face suddenly becoming horrified.

The servant, trembling with fear at her stare, kowtowed quickly, "Madam, it's a ghost. Mr. San asked me to accompany him to the toilet, but on the way back, I suddenly saw a ghost floating through the courtyard, so Mr. San was frightened... scared like this!"

"Nonsense! Where's the ghost?"

When Old Lady Su heard the noise, she hurried to Su Erlang's Yunxiang Courtyard with the help of her maid, and shouted when she heard the noise.

"There really is a ghost. I saw that ghost figure...seemed to be heading towards the northernmost courtyard!"

The northernmost courtyard was the one that Mrs. Qiu arranged for the second wife who had just returned. It was a courtyard that had been abandoned for a long time. It was cleaned for a long time today before it was vacated as the child's residence.

"Ajia, could it be that the child deliberately ran out to scare us? This child has had a strange disease since childhood, and now she wants to make my son suffer from the same disease? And she has always been an unlucky person..."

Before she finished speaking, she heard a sharp rebuke:
"What nonsense! I see that the child is doing fine now, no different from a normal person. If you walk uprightly, all evil will cease. As long as you act uprightly, you won't be afraid of any demons or evil spirits. Has Sanlang done anything wrong recently? Why are you always so suspicious?"

It was Su Qing who walked in and scolded her without any politeness.

"Do you still have a conscience? Sanlang is already like this, and you still say such things? Are you still his father?"

Qin cried loudly and was about to punch Su Qing, but Su Qing dodged.

Su Qing had no expectations for his third son. Apart from the fact that he had a relatively normal brain, he was a mediocre talent who could not be taught no matter what. He had originally wanted to train him to study at the Simenguan under the Imperial College, but after finally asking someone to give him the opportunity to go to the Simenguan, he ran away cowardly before the entrance examination. In fact, the so-called entrance examination was just a formality. From then on, Su Sanlang avoided him and went around with a group of friends, playing chicken and dog fighting, eating, drinking and having fun. He didn't go to school for a single day and lost a lot of money.

If it weren't for the shops left behind by my second brother and his wife that brought in a lot of money for the Su family over the years, the Su family would not have been able to withstand the turmoil caused by Master Su Sanlang and the younger generation.

Su Qing sighed and said, "Then let's go to the child's yard and ask if she was the one passing through the yard just now."

Su Qing's proposal was quickly supported by the women in the house, so except for a few servants who stayed by Su Sanlang's bed, the rest of the people came to the Wisteria Courtyard where Murong Huan was with lanterns.

When I arrived at the door, I saw that the yard was very quiet. There was no sound except the rustling of leaves, and there was no light in the room. I guess the two girls were asleep.

"Since the child has fallen asleep, let's not disturb him. Let's go back!" Su Qing said.

"Ah Lang, as soon as this child came back, our son got scared and fell ill. Is this a bad omen? Do we have to keep her here and continue to harm people?"

"Shut up! Qin, listen to what you are saying!"

"What does she have to do with what happened to Sanlang? How can you blame all these misfortunes on a child?"

"My second brother is gone. Can't he have a little kindness towards the child he left behind? I feel that because our Su family ignored a child, the descendants of our Su family are like being cursed. None of them will become successful!"

This sentence not only confused Qin, but also embarrassed Qiu.

The old lady was even more angry and said, "I don't like what you said. Could it be that in your eyes, all the descendants of my Su family are mediocre?"

But at least I really can't find any successor who is even half as talented as my second brother.

Su Qing fell silent and stopped talking. At this time, Ah Shu staggered out as if she was still asleep.

Because there was no light, the black figure swayed and floated towards them, really like a ghost. Suddenly, several maids were frightened and screamed in unison: "Ghost!"

This cry made Ah Shu wake up instantly.

"Why... did you all come to our yard?" "What an unruly girl! What do you mean by 'your yard'? She's just a servant, not even a servant at all. These are all bad habits that child picked up in the countryside!"

"Someone, give me a hard slap in the face!"

Several maids were about to rush over, but Ah Shu, seeing that the situation was not good, ran away and hid in the room.

"Oh, girl, you still dare to hide? I'll sell you out!" shouted the leading maid, Mrs. Jiang.

"I am my girl's maid. Why do you want to sell me?" Ah Shu said unconvinced.

"Forget it, let's not make a fuss about it!" Su Qing continued in a somewhat depressed and annoyed tone, then turned to ask Ah Shu, "Is Ah Huan asleep? Was she walking around in the yard just now?"

"No, no, my girl was tired after a whole day yesterday and was sleeping soundly!" Ah Shu said quickly.

Su Qing stopped talking and turned his gaze to his mother.

At this time, a maid ran over from Yunxiang Courtyard and reported: "Master, Madam, Doctor Mo is here!"

"Forget it, Mother. This has nothing to do with Ah Huan. You should go back and take good care of San Lang!"

The old lady was speechless and hurried to Yunxiang Courtyard. At this time, an old doctor was already taking Su Sanlang's pulse, but after looking at him for a long time, he didn't say a word except frowning and sighing.

"How is it? Is it serious? It should be curable, right?" Qin asked impatiently.

The old doctor then said, "Judging from your son's pulse, there's nothing serious wrong with him. But how did he become like this? I really can't figure it out. But why are you so scared?"

"Yes! It's just fear! Can it be cured?" Qin asked hurriedly.

Doctor Mo frowned and pondered again. At this time, Su Sanlang kept muttering, "Don't look for me. It's not me. It's not me who harmed you. All this was Zhou Jiulang's idea. It was him..."

Doctor Mo stood up in shock and bowed to Su Qing, saying, "Forgive my limited knowledge and ability to treat this disease! I have something urgent to attend to, so I'll be leaving now!"

After saying that, he walked out the door.

"Doctor Mo——"

Qin wanted to stop him, but Su Qing stopped her, bowed to Doctor Mo, and called a servant to send him out.

"Ah Lang, what do you mean? Why did you let the doctor go? What should we do about Sanlang's illness?"

"Doctor Mo's meaning is very clear. He is not sick at all. He just doesn't want to go to school, so he is pretending to be sick!"

"How can you say that, Alang?"

"Even if he's sick, it's not a physical illness, but a mental one! Didn't you hear what he said just now? He said it wasn't my fault. This rebellious son must have done something shameful, so he's guilty and scared himself into becoming ill!"

At this point, Su Qing sighed helplessly and said, "Don't bother calling any more doctors. If he says one more word in front of outsiders, we'll all be thrown into prison together!"

Qin bit her lips, tears streaming down her face, but she remained silent.

……

The chaos in the Su family's house did not wake up Murong Huan, but what woke her up was a strange dream.

In the dream, several drunk playboys followed a fairy in white clothes into a temple. They saw several beauties in the temple, so these playboys started to play with them. But in a blink of an eye, the scene changed, and the beauties disappeared, leaving only a few bones. These playboys died suddenly in the temple due to excessive excitement.

Murong Huan suddenly opened his eyes and sat up from the couch. When he just woke up, he felt a burning pain in his right arm.

Ah Shu's voice came from my ear: "Ah Huan, are you awake?"

(End of this chapter)