zChapter 1306 - Beiyue] Controversy
Chapter 1306: [Beiyue] Controversy
Although Gu Beiyue was low-key and kept the trip confidential, the Ren and Qin Clans still sent special people to wait by the gates of the medical academy day and night for his return. Over the past month, the Qin family had sent letters to Qin Min everyday, but she never replied to them.
One late night, a carriage slowly stopped in front of the medical academy. Although it was simple, the driver resembled the kind of exiled immortal who could only be seen but not forced. That’s right, Gu Beiyue had personally driven the carriage back with Qin Min inside. They chose to arrive at late night to avoid any eyes.
But Gu Beiyue sensed the presence of multiple figures lurking about as soon as he arrived. He got off the carriage first, then fetched a wheelchair from behind the horse before getting inside to carry Qin Min.
“There are people about,” he murmured, “Be cautious.”
“Understood,” Qin Min whispered back.
Gu Beiyue reached over. “Eldest Miss Qin, I’ll be offending you.”
Qin Min remained smiling. “Grand Tutor Gu, thank you for your hard work.”
Thus, Gu Beiyue picked up Qin Min with one hand around her back and the other below her knees in a classic princess carry. She remained with her hands at her sides, both demure yet nervous. Her entire body was stiff, a sensation clear to herself and Gu Beiyue. Her eyes drooped as her brows creased tensely.
As soon as he emerged from the carriage, he stepped on air and landed gently on the ground. Placing her in the wheelchair, he happened to see her expression and immediately looked away. For some reason, a faint smile rose to his lips. It was unclear whether he felt helpless, playful, or purely amused. Perhaps only he himself knew; perhaps even he himself had no idea. But the Qin Min right now wouldn’t notice even if he was grinning wider because she was too high-strung! She couldn’t think of anything else after being nestled against his chest and carried by his arms, surrounded by his faint scent of medicine. Her eyes stared at nothing as her mind went blank.
Subconsciously, she shut her eyes.
Many times, liking someone meant you couldn’t help closing your eyes just to sense his presence. Maybe that was because you couldn’t remember what you saw, but what you felt was forever.
Gu Beiyue immediately straightened after placing Qin Min in the wheelchair. His first task was to take off his cloak and place it over her legs. “Don’t catch a cold and have pains again,” he said seriously. Then he pushed her into the medical academy.
Before they got anywhere, Vice-Head Shen appeared. “Academy Head, you’re finally back!”
“Are you still treating that patient?” Gu Beiyue asked.
“Still am. It’ll be time’s up the day after the tomorrow, so we’ll lose a life if we don’t treat it by then!” Vice-Head Shen said anxiously.
Gu Beiyue walked towards the buildings as he asked, “What does the Qin Clan mean by this?”
But Vice-Head Shen still didn’t answer by the time they went inside. Qin Min was perceptive and knew Vice-Head Shen was wary of her presence. She quickly said, “Vice-Head Shen, since the Qin Clan is at fault, my father has sinned greatly! Whatever the matter, just say it straight!”
Vice-Head Shen was unfamiliar with Qin Min and was quite surprised. Everyone in the medical academy, including himself, had been convinced Gu Beiyue had ulterior motives for marrying Qin Min. He hesitated and Gu Beiyue made to speak, but Qin Min stood up from the wheelchair first.
“Vice-Head Shen, you don’t need to worry with this, right?”
“This?” Vice-Head Shen was scared. He circled around Qin Min in disbelief, unable to believe his eyes.
Qin Min moved to sit beside Gu Beiyue and made a grand gesture of invitation. “Vice-Head Shen, let’s sit and talk.”
Vice-Head Shen looked towards Gu Beiyue, who nodded, before sitting down. “Academy Head, this…what’s going on?”
Gu Beiyue told him about Qin Min’s poisoning, which made Vice-Head Shen immediately realize there was sabotage involved in the Qin household. He even had a suspect in his mind. Qin Min’s father was none other than Qin Fengli (秦奉礼),[1] the head of the Qin Clan. Qin Min was the eldest daughter with multiple little sisters and one little brother. This year he had just turned 16, but his medical skills and qualifications were only ordinary enough to make him a third-ranking Medical Adept.
Eldest Miss Qin had the most talent in the medical arts, but was unfortunately crippled in both legs. This ruined her marriage prospects and made it impossible for her to win better prospects for her little brother in the family via marriage. Thus, she was unfavored at home and never got the ranking she deserved. Even now, she had only participated in one examinations and was also a third-rank Medical Adept on paper. Meanwhile, her little sisters were all average. Qin Fengli knew his own situation well and didn’t let the girls participate in more exams, but simply married them off to good in-laws.
In the eyes of the Qin Clan, even a girl with excellent medical skills and rankings was only a female in the end. They couldn’t compare to the strength of their maternal clans. Since the Qin Clan only had one son, all of their efforts went to him; alas, the son was young and didn’t seize them.
Qin Fengli’s little brother was Qin Min’s second uncle Qin Fengxian (秦奉贤)[2] was the second head of the Qin Clan and had a young, very talented son who was 26 years old this year. He was a fifth-rank Divine Doctor and poised to break Han Congan’s[3] record to become the youngest man to reach sixth-rank Medical Primogenitor before he turned 30. That would make him the youngest sixth-rank doctor in medical academy history.
When it came to competing for the family head, medical skills were number one, but didn’t mean everything. Second Master Qin’s son had every possibility of poisoning Qin Min to vie for the position, so he was very suspect. If this was any other family, Vice-Head Shen wouldn’t care so much, but the Qin and Ren Clan’s feud had been under his and Gu Beiyue’s observation for a long time. After the fall of the top medical family, the Gu Clan, the Qin and Ren Clans became the two strongest families in the medical academy. Many of the academy’s decisions were subject to their approval. Originally the Ren Clan had better medical skills and contacts, but after Gu Beiyue married Qin Min and became the Qin Clan’s son-in-law, they could now compete against the Ren.
Of course, the Qin Clan’s infighting wasn’t directly related to this feud and Vice-Head Shen couldn’t very well probe. This time it was the Qin Clan fighting the Ren Clan, so it was only natural for Eldest Miss Qin to favor her father’s side. It would be best for her to avoid suspicion in the matter. When Vice-Head Shen stared at the academy head and saw that he didn’t plan to elaborate, he could only give up. As long as the academy head trusts Qin Min, I can too.
“Your Excellency Academy Head, madam, the Qin Clan still refuses to continue the treatment. If they don’t change their mind by the day after tomorrow, this patient will definitely die. To be prudent, it would be best for the academy head to make a personal showing,” Vice-Head Shen finished.
This time’s feud between the Qin and Ren families started like this: recently there was an old man over fifty years old who contracted a strange disease. He was from a poor family and sought medical help, so the Qin family head sent for him after hearing the news to examine his illness. The head of the Qin family was a seventh-rank Sage and together with the Ren Clan head was considered one of the Three Sages of the Medical Academy. They were second only to the eighth-ranking Empyreal doctor Vice-Head Shen and ninth-rank Sovereign Gu Beiyue.
It wasn’t easy to get treatment from the Qin Clan head himself. He treated patients either based on their “person” or their “illness” and usually limited his clientele to the rich and noble or rare diseases. The old man was thrilled at first and filled with gratitude towards the head. But after a month of treatment, he saw no effects and even got worse. Before the Qin Clan could began its second round of treatment, the old man suddenly ran away. He actually went to kneel before the Ren Clan’s gates and claimed he’d been tricked by the Qin Clan, begging the Ren Clan head to save him. This fully enraged the Qin Clan head. The Ren Clan also refused the old man’s request and coaxed him back to the Qin Clan. But the Qin Clan head was ruthless and said that no member of the Qin Clan was allowed to touch this case, including himself!
The Qin Clan head had developed a three-month treatment plan for the old man that consisted of stomping the disease to death by forcing out all its lesions first before treating them thoroughly. This was an extremely risky treatment method. If the treatment stopped halfway and was given to another doctor, the dangers increased! Even if the Qin Clan head was willing to share his treatment methods in detail with the Ren Clan head, the latter still wouldn’t dare take the case! Thus, the Ren Clan accused the Qin Clan of losing his medical ethics and treating his patients as ants to trample on their lives; he even questioned the man’s original treatment plan. Angry, the Qin Clan head pushed the patient back to the Ren Clan and steeled his heart against accepting the patient no matter who advised him.
The two families were already on turbulent terms but now their leaders had butted heads. Now they confronted each other in public and raised such a row that everyone else in Medical City was forced to take sides. Vice-Head Shen could turn a blind eye to the infighting between two families, but this concerned a patient’s life so he had to get involved. His men had suggested letting the families fight it out. The best course would be to leave that man for dead until Academy Head Gu stepped in afterwards to punish both heads, or maybe even cancel their qualifications to practice medicine. They could also seize this chance to promote reformation of the medical academy directly. It was an excellent idea. All changes required sacrifices, but Vice-Head Shen was too fatherly to be so ruthless. He was also clear that this young academy head was even less merciless. Thus, he did his best to preserve the patient’s life while waiting for the academy head to return.
Vice-Head Shen presented the case: if he had met this patient from the start, he could have cured him. Now the situation was too risky, so he could only keep him alive to prevent his condition from deteriorating. Gu Beiyue finished a careful review of the case and asked, “This old man is from the Ren Clan, right?”
Qin Min’s lips curved into a grin while Vice-Head Shen was floored. But he quickly realized the facts and slapped his head. “He must be! Must be! I was a fool!”
1. 秦奉礼 – fengli can mean “words of blessing.”
2. 秦奉贤 – fengxian can mean virtuous/worthy and blessed.
3. Han Yunxi’s “father,” for those who’ve forgotten.