Qin Hen - (II)

Author: Wang Yun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: Creating Something from Nothing
Deception is not deception, but making the deception real. Yin, Lesser Yin, Greater Yin, and Yang.
——The Seventh Strategy of the Thirty-Six Stratagems
Zhao Gu was asked by Chang'an Jun to reexamine the sister of the Chu merchant.
After feeling her pulse, she exclaimed in surprise, "The illness has worsened?" It turned out that in her search for the little fox, Wang Ji had only returned to her room for rest at dawn and had fallen into a hazy sleep upon waking. Even in her dreams, she was still worried and anxious, and her pulse was unstable.
Ji Bing struggled to sit up, her face pale. She stammered, "Did Chang'an Jun ask you to come?" The attending physician had come uninvited—was she also sent by Chang'an Jun? Had he been furious after falling into the water?
"No," Zhao Gu said coldly. "I diagnose patients thoroughly, from beginning to end."
Ji Bing was puzzled by the attending physician's indifferent attitude. Then she thought that perhaps this person often visited the residences of the nobles in Zhao's court and looked down upon the wives of merchants.
She grew impatient: "My illness is just a lack of sleep. There's no need for further diagnosis." She took a jade hairpin from her hairpin holder and gently twisted it open. "My mother often had headaches too, and a little medicine would help her sleep."
Zhao Gu's expression changed slightly. Such exquisite and cleverly crafted jade pins could not be possessed by ordinary merchants' daughters. They must have been gifted by someone of high status. She took the pin, sniffed it, and said, "Where did this medicinal powder come from? Although it has a calming effect, long-term use is harmful."
"Harmful?" Ji Bing exclaimed. "This was prescribed by a renowned physician, a palace secret recipe. The prescription is worth a thousand gold."
"Illness may not be fatal, but medicine can kill silently. The faster the effect, the more potent the medicine, and the more harmful it is to the body." Zhao Gu looked at Ji Bing, as if wanting to understand her condition better. "Lack of sleep and excessive thought can be self-regulated. There's no need for medicine. What are you unwilling to share with others?"
Ji Bing fell silent. Yesterday, Yanran had escaped, and Zi Heng had even threatened her with words. Had he truly been willing to kill her? The wound on her neck had long healed, but her heartache only grew deeper. Even alliances between great nations could be broken, let alone the empty promises of a prince from Qin. Yet she clung to a faint hope. Who could she confide in about such private matters?
Seeing the patient hesitating to speak, Zhao Gu asked directly, "Is it because you have a lover and don't want to tell your brother?"
Ji Bing's face flushed instantly, and she shook her head vigorously, whispering, "Marriage is a major matter to be decided by parents. How could I have a lover?" She lowered her head and fiddled with the tassels at her waist. A lover? There was indeed someone who had hurt her heart.
"So, marriage is a matter to be decided by your brother, and you won't object?" Zhao Gu remembered that Chu Shang had said his parents had passed away and that in their absence, matters should be decided by brothers. She also noticed the elegant tassels in the girl's hands: she clearly remembered that last time she had come, Ji Bing had worn a jade pendant—a white jade as smooth as sheep's fat, with a lustrous color and exquisitely carved hollow patterns. Yet it was gone today?
The attending physician found the situation suspicious. Since Chang'an Jun had recommended her, Ji Bing mistakenly thought she was trying to mediate a match. She quickly changed her tone, saying, "According to Chu customs, a woman's first marriage is decided by her parents, and those who marry again or whose parents are absent can choose for themselves. My brother has no right to interfere!"
"Is there really such a custom? That's quite interesting." Zhao Gu, who usually spent her time studying medical books and rarely read other types of literature, found her words half-believable.