Capítulo 750: Chapter 732: Master and Disciple Consultation

Bai Family looked towards Qin Liuxi, noticing her clad in a green dress, with collar and sleeves embroidered with runes, her black hair pinned up with a Purple Jade Bamboo Pin, exposing her smooth, well-rounded forehead, and her eyes clear and bright, as if capable of peering into one’s heart.

Previously, it had been said that she was a female crown, yet her face and attire, along with the aura she projected, rendered her gender ambiguous, certainly capable of making unmarried girls blush with shyness.

Bai Family forced a shy smile: “Junior Temple Master, your medical skills are extraordinary, please forgive my impoliteness, I am unwell and unable to rise to greet you.”

She also knew her own condition, which struck unpredictably and fiercely, yet never like this time; just a few needles had calmed her, seemingly as if nothing were amiss, demonstrating her exceptional medical skills.

“People from the Mystic Sect do not fuss over such formalities, you need not blame yourself,” Qin Liuxi replied politely.

“My lady has arrived.”

Bai Family attempted to rise, but Qin Liuxi pressed down on her arm, saying, “You have needles in you, do not move.”

Mrs. Wei strode in briskly, saying, “Is it another attack? Quickly, summon Dr. Ma for Granny…eh, Bai Family, you’re alright?”

Wei Ren said, “Mother, it was the Junior Temple Master’s miraculous Divine Needle, Wan’er has stabilized.”

Bai Family tugged at the corner of her mouth, looking remorseful: “Sorry to worry you, mother.”

Even though Mrs. Wei saw that Bai Family’s face still looked poorly, at least it wasn’t the ferocious look from when she was having an attack. Noticing the needles on her head, hands, and even neck, she turned to Qin Liuxi with surprise and joy, “Junior Temple Master is truly skilled in medicine, what should be done for my daughter-in-law’s illness?”

“I will start with feeling the pulse.”

Now that Bai Family knew Qin Liuxi was a female crown, she didn’t need to concern herself with the strict separation of sexes, and could have her pulse taken without reservation.

While Qin Liuxi was taking her pulse, Teng Zhao had already instructed the servants to fetch the prescriptions Bai Family had used, while carefully examining Bai Family’s complexion.

Doctors diagnose by observing, smelling, asking, and touching; taking the pulse is essential, but observing and asking are equally important, incorporating the patient’s responses to make a diagnosis. Relying solely on one’s pulse to identify an illness is a forbidden practice in medicine.

Qin Liuxi switched wrists to continue taking the pulse, asking, “Did this condition start before childbirth or after?”

“After giving birth,” Bai Family replied. “During my pregnancy with Chong’er, I felt restless and had frequent night awakenings…”

She paused, glancing at Wei Ren and Teng Zhao, one her husband and the other a young man, bearing in mind that in noble families, males over seven years old were expected to adhere to gender propriety.

Qin Liuxi, sensing her hesitation, said, “This is my senior disciple. He has already been able to consult, prescribe and perform acupuncture for minor illnesses such as colds and fevers. Keeping him by my side serves two purposes: as a practical teaching method and also thinking of practicing medicine to benefit the world. We must not isolate ourselves from practice; exposure to numerous cases and patients builds experience and avoids misdiagnoses. Of course, if Granny feels embarrassed, he can step aside.”

Teng Zhao’s expression remained neutral, an indifference as if gender distinctions did not matter to him.

Wei Ren, somewhat embarrassed, said to Mrs. Wei, “I’ll go check on Chong’er.”

Mrs. Wei waved her hand dismissively.

Teng Zhao saw Wei Ren avoiding, frowned slightly, and also turned around.

Bai Family said: “A doctor has the heart of a parent, the little Taoist should listen as well, there is nothing that can’t be discussed. After I became pregnant, I started to feel some chest pain and bloating, which made me even more irritable. After giving birth, the condition worsened, especially with the sudden onset of convulsions after childbirth, distorted speech, and twitching limbs. I sought several doctors for consultation and though there was some temporary relief, the attacks occur frequently, unspeakably painful.”

As she spoke, her eyes also reddened, saying: “Just now while playing with my son, the attack happened, which frightened him considerably.”

Qin Liuxi saw her full of self-blame and reassured her: “The onset of convulsions is unpredictable, you need not blame yourself, it’s not something within your control.”

“Junior Temple Master, this can be treated, right?” Mrs. Wei asked.

Qin Liuxi smiled and said: “This isn’t a very severe illness, of course it can be treated. Bring me the prescription to look at.”

Teng Zhao handed over all the prescriptions that had been used before, and asked with confusion: “I glanced at them, they are all primarily for treating ‘wind’, it’s not incorrect, but why does it recur? I’ve read some medical cases, the main causes of convulsions are external factors like wind, cold, damp and heat evils, and internal factors like organ dysfunction, Qi and blood deficiency, phlegm blockage, blood stasis leading to malnourished meridians. Shouldn’t the prescription focus on treating ‘wind’?”

Mrs. Wei and Bai Family widened their eyes in surprise; just now they heard Qin Liuxi say this eight or nine-year-old boy was versed in medical skills, but they felt somewhat doubtful about Qin Liuxi’s exaggeration, considering she was only sixteen or seventeen herself, how much could she really teach?

But hearing Teng Zhao sounding pedantic, they felt their cheeks getting hot.

Their faces were metaphorically slapped.

Meanwhile, Wang Chuan, who was listening silently at the side, looked at him with admiration filling his eyes, “Senior brother is so impressive.”

Qin Liuxi chuckled, “You have even read those medical cases. Treating with ‘wind’ is not entirely wrong, but it only cures the symptoms, not the root. You should know, the liver stores blood and manages water, liver Qi is associated with wind, liver blood with water. Simply treating the wind without treating the blood, how can the root cause be cured? To treat the wind, one must first treat the blood; with flowing water calms the wind, and then the meridians can relax, right?”

Teng Zhao pondered deeply.

“Moreover, a woman is bound to lose a lot of blood and Primordial Qi during childbirth, resulting in weakened Qi externally and blood internally. Convulsions require differentiation between externally contracted pathogenic factors and internal injuries, and between deficiency and excess patterns. Weakened Qi can lead to impaired protection allowing wind evil to invade, and childbirth blood loss causes liver wood to dry up due to internal injury. You say the liver blood is already dried up and not flourishing, how can it nourish the meridians? Blood is something the body cannot lack. Without properly nourishing the meridians, it naturally leads to convulsions, speech distortion, and recurrent attacks.”

Teng Zhao thought briefly, and said: “So, Master’s meaning is, to eradicate the root, we must first treat the blood?”

Qin Liuxi nodded with a smile: “Using some moisturizing supplements to nourish the liver blood directly supplements its deficiency, and then with a lesser amount of wind-draining agents to allow Qi to protect the surface, we could nurture the blood and supplement the Qi, the wind dissipates, blood flourishes, meridians strengthen, and the convulsions can be cured.”

“The disciple understands.”

Qin Liuxi, pleased, turned his head, and saw Mrs. Wei and her mother-in-law staring blankly at them, felt somewhat embarrassed and awkwardly said: “That is, I don’t disregard Granny’s health, it’s just that…”

“No trouble, no harm, just by listening to the dialogue between you and the disciple, I feel much more assured,” Bai Family quickly interrupted her.

What the two were discussing about externally contracted pathogenic factors and internally derived damage, and dried up ineffective blood, she could barely understand these professional terms, but she understood one thing: the previous prescriptions treated only the symptoms and not the root, were not fully targeted.

And Qin Liuxi and the others discussed how to really cure the root and how to treat it, which means, does her illness really have a chance to be fully cured, no longer worrying about frightening her son during playtime due to an attack?

Thinking of this, Bai Family’s eyes welled with tears of excitement.