Imperial Physician Wei strode into the room.
Ling Jingshu sat on the bed, her face still pale and bloodless, her lips dry. Compared to her usual cleverness and composure, she now seemed fragile, stirring up a sense of pity in onlookers.
Madam Jiang came forward earnestly. “Imperial Physician Wei, thank you for waiting so long. Please check A’Shu’s pulse, and prescribe her a medicine to help restore her body.”
Imperial Physician Wei glanced quickly at Ling Jingshu.
Sure enough, Ling Jingshu’s face went paler still, and her body unconsciously stiffened.
Ling Jingshu steadied herself and opened her mouth. “Imperial Physician Wei, I—”
“Young Madam Ling,” Imperial Physician Wei said, cutting in calmly and without haste, interrupting Ling Jingshu. “Would all of you please step out for a moment? I would like to examine Miss Ling alone.”
Ling Jingshu: “…”
Madam Jiang and the others were equally taken aback, all turning at once to look at Imperial Physician Wei.
It was remarkable that Imperial Physician Wei, with his bright and gentlemanly bearing, could say such a thing with such perfect composure. Surely he couldn’t be unaware of the principle that men and women shouldn’t touch or be too familiar with one another!
Imperial Physician Wei said calmly, “Could it be that Young Madam Ling doesn’t trust me?”
Madam Jiang coughed once. “It’s not that I don’t trust Imperial Physician Wei. A physician’s heart is benevolent, and naturally you have no ulterior motives. It’s only that, to avoid even the appearance of impropriety, one ought to…”
Imperial Physician Wei, as if he hadn’t heard the last part of Madam Jiang’s sentence, smiled faintly. “Since Young Madam Ling trusts me, then nothing could be better. Please, everyone, step aside for a little while, and come back in once I’ve finished examining Miss Ling. Rest assured, it will take no more than the time it takes for one stick of incense to burn.”
Madam Jiang was left speechless, instinctively glancing at Ling Jingshu.
Ling Jingshu, too, was filled with astonishment, staring blankly at Imperial Physician Wei.
Why was he proposing to be alone with her? Could it be that he had already noticed something?
Ling Jingyan and Bai Yu were just as bewildered. However, neither of them said anything, deferring entirely to Madam Jiang’s judgment.
Madam Jiang weighed the matter for a moment, then finally steeled herself and nodded in agreement. “Then we’ll trouble Imperial Physician Wei. We’ll wait outside for the time of one stick of incense before coming back in.” She then said to Ling Jingshu, “A’Shu, we’ll all be right outside. If you feel uncomfortable in any way, just call out.”
She emphasized the time of one stick of incense, whether intentionally or not, and made a point of adding this reminder to Ling Jingshu.
Ling Jingshu, her thoughts in complete disarray, nodded vaguely.
After Madam Jiang and the others left, only Ling Jingshu and Imperial Physician Wei remained in the room.
Imperial Physician Wei didn’t hurry forward to check her pulse. He merely gazed steadily at Ling Jingshu.
As if he had seen through all her pretense, as if he had glimpsed the secret buried deep in her heart.
Ling Jingshu’s heart trembled, and she forced herself to steady her mind. “Imperial Physician Wei, why are you looking at me like this? Is there something wrong with me?”
Imperial Physician Wei raised an eyebrow, his expression caught between a smile and something more serious, as he countered, “Miss Ling, I went out of my way to send them away for your sake. Are you still going to hide your condition and refuse to tell the truth?”
Ling Jingshu was inwardly shocked, yet still refused to admit anything. “Imperial Physician Wei is joking. I fell into the water today—I’ve probably just caught a slight chill, and it will pass with a few days’ rest. How could this even count as a real condition!”
“Since Miss Ling puts it that way, then I won’t pry any further.”
Imperial Physician Wei’s lips curved slightly, and he strode to the bedside, sitting down in a chair, his words brief and forceful. “Miss Ling. Please extend your right hand—I need to check your pulse.”
He was tall to begin with, and even seated in the chair, he was still considerably taller than her as she sat on the bed. The two of them were no more than a hand’s breadth apart.
He could see clearly how the color drained gradually from her pretty face, how her pearly teeth bit down hard on her lips, leaving deep indentations.
Refusing to let himself soften, he hardened his heart and continued. “Why won’t Miss Ling let me check your pulse? Is it that you don’t trust my medical skill? Or are you concerned about the distinction between men and women?”
“If it’s the former, Miss Ling can rest entirely at ease. I’ve studied medicine for many years and excel at treating all manner of difficult and complex ailments—a condition caused by falling into water won’t stump me. If it’s the latter, Miss Ling needn’t worry even more. In a physician’s eyes, there is no distinction between men and women, nor will anyone gossip about it.”
Having said this, he held Ling Jingshu’s gaze fast once more.
Ling Jingshu’s pretty face grew even paler.
Imperial Physician Wei pressed on, calm and unhurried. “I’ve already said as much as this—why does Miss Ling still refuse to let me check your pulse? Could there be some difficulty you find hard to speak of?”
Who had said this man was gentle and harmless?
Once he shed the mask of cool courtesy, he turned out to be this sharp and overwhelming.
A chill welled up again and again in Ling Jingshu’s heart, as if she had fallen into a net from which there was no escape.
So be it! Since he had already guessed, what harm would there be in telling him? Her strange affliction couldn’t be hidden forever anyway!
Ling Jingshu gritted her teeth and said, “The reason I won’t let you check my pulse is that I suffer from a rare and strange affliction. I cannot let any man come near or touch me, or my whole body will convulse and I’ll vomit uncontrollably.”
Having said this, she turned her head aside, refusing to look at Imperial Physician Wei again.
The secret she had kept buried deep in her heart had been spoken aloud, just like that.
She didn’t feel relieved at all—only an indescribable anger and humiliation, and perhaps a trace of bleak loneliness as well.
An unmarried young lady, of all things, afflicted with such a shameful, hard-to-speak-of illness. No matter how many difficult cases Imperial Physician Wei had treated, surely he would still find this astonishing!
What kind of look would he give her now? He would probably think she was some kind of monster!
Her motion in turning her head had been quick, yet his sharp eyes still caught the glint of moisture flashing in her eyes. For a moment, he himself couldn’t quite name what he was feeling.
Was it regret? Was it tenderness? Or perhaps both at once?
In a heart that had for years been like a dried-up well or cold ice, a complicated, indescribable feeling now stirred.
“I’m sorry.” Imperial Physician Wei’s voice was like a soft sigh, echoing low in her ear. “As a physician, when I encounter a strange ailment, I instinctively want to get to the bottom of it, without considering your feelings. I was rather presumptuous just now—I apologize to you.”
Ling Jingshu blinked hard, forcing the moisture in her eyes back. Only once her emotions had calmed somewhat did she speak. “I was born with this strange affliction to begin with—it has nothing to do with you. Why should you apologize?”
Her words came out somewhat stiffly, yet her tone carried an unconscious tremor and a catch in her throat.
What a stubborn, willful girl she truly was!
Imperial Physician Wei couldn’t help but secretly sigh again. The number of times he had sighed in all his days before probably didn’t add up to as many as today…
“In any case, it’s all my fault.” Imperial Physician Wei’s expression softened, his voice low. “It’s only right that you’re angry. If you want to vent, just direct it at me. Keeping anger bottled up inside is the worst thing for your health.”
His tone was gentle, like the murmured words between lovers.
When this thought flashed through Ling Jingshu’s mind, she startled herself, her heartbeat quickening involuntarily by several beats. Her originally pale cheeks gained a touch more color.
Imperial Physician Wei, of course, had no way of guessing what Ling Jingshu was thinking, and continued. “I truly have never encountered this kind of strange ailment before. Tell me about it in detail—perhaps I can think of a way to cure your condition.”