The Duke's Pampered Darling is So Scheming

Chapter 570: Chapter 570: Contention

Xie Anbai instinctively turned to look at Ye Chutang.

”Second Miss Ye, my father is—”

”Second Young Master, please be calm. I will take the Marquis’s pulse first.”

Ye Chutang spoke in a gentle voice and took another step forward to sit down.

Xie Pei had coughed up several mouthfuls of dark blood. His face was deathly pale. He struggled to lie back down, looking utterly drained of strength and not even fully conscious.

Ye Chutang studied his complexion and reached out to take his pulse.

The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Even the air seemed to have frozen.

While taking his pulse, Ye Chutang asked, ”Has the Marquis eaten any spicy or irritating foods in the last few days?”

Xie Anbai froze, then instinctively looked toward Xiao Jiayi.

Xiao Jiayi shook her head. ”No. The Marquis has had a poor appetite recently, only eating some light porridge and simple dishes each day.”

Ye Chutang asked again, ”Then has he had any alcohol?”

Xiao Jiayi paused. A moment later, she said, ”It seems he has.”

Ye Chutang lifted her gaze. ”Seems?”

”The Marquis was fond of wine in his younger years, but his health declined later on. The doctors advised him to drink less, and he truly did stop drinking much. It’s just...” Xiao Jiayi’s brow furrowed slightly. ”Recently, a servant mentioned smelling alcohol coming from the study. Perhaps the Marquis...”

Xie Anjun looked shocked. ”How come I didn’t know about this!?”

Xiao Jiayi didn’t even look at him, only saying coolly, ”The Princely Heir is busy with important matters. Naturally, you wouldn’t remember such trivial things.”

”You—” Xie Anjun was humiliated by her public taunt, but this was not the time to argue. He could only suppress his anger. ”I’ve told you before that Father can’t drink! Why didn’t you try to persuade him?!”

Xiao Jiayi’s tone grew even colder.

”I am not permitted to enter the Marquis’s study. If he was drinking alone in there, how would I have known? Besides, it was just a bit of gossip, perhaps a private joke among the servants. Since I couldn’t verify it, how could I have intervened?”

Xie Anjun was rendered speechless, unable to find a retort.

Xiao Jiayi was a Princess, a woman of noble birth and high status. But the Duke Zhongyong Mansion was also a prestigious household. Although Xie Pei had long since relinquished his military authority, he still commanded immense prestige in the army and at court.

In the Duke Zhongyong Mansion, he was still the one who called the shots.

Without his permission, Xiao Jiayi truly couldn’t enter the study.

Even if Xie Anjun wanted to blame her for this, he couldn’t.

Besides, he himself had been living in a drunken stupor lately, so how could he have known something like this was happening in the mansion?

Ye Chutang’s gaze drifted between the two, a thoughtful expression on her face.

’It’s rumored that this husband and wife have grown apart. Especially after the successive troubles involving Xiao Chengxuan and Jiang Qingmei, Xiao Jiayi’s life in the Marquis Mansion has been difficult, and the two of them have had several major fights.’

’Looking at it now, the management of this vast Marquis Mansion is a chaotic mess. It’s truly terrible.’

Xie Anbai had no mind to pay attention to their argument. He just stared intently at Ye Chutang and asked, ”So, is my father’s condition caused by drinking?”

Ye Chutang nodded.

”The Marquis has been overwrought with grief and anxiety, suffering from excessive fatigue. He also has a liver ailment, resulting in qi stagnation and blood stasis. This time, it was most likely the consumption of alcohol that triggered the vomiting of blood.”

Xie Anbai’s heart leaped into his throat. ”Then... then is there a prescription that can cure him?”

Ye Chutang’s voice was gentle and calm, carrying a power that soothed the heart.

”This illness cannot be cured in a day or two. However, looking at the Marquis’s current condition, it is not yet life-threatening. I will write a prescription for Yellow Earth Soup later. Simmer it daily and have the Marquis take it. Continuing this for a month will alleviate the symptoms. But as for a complete recovery...”

Ye Chutang paused.

’Xie Pei’s condition is not optimistic. His spleen and stomach are in disharmony, and his liver also has problems. I’m afraid the damage is too deep-seated to be reversed.’

’Even with medicine, a complete cure will be difficult to achieve.’

Xie Anbai understood her unspoken meaning all too well.

He took a deep breath. ”Second Miss Ye, I trust your medical skills. If even you can’t do anything, then there’s truly no one else to turn to. I don’t dare to hope for my father’s illness to be cured quickly. For now, it would be good enough just to help ease his pain.”

Ye Chutang nodded.

”I will perform acupuncture first to stop the Marquis from vomiting blood.”

Xie Anbai immediately stepped back to make way. ”Please.”

Ye Chutang took out a needle pouch from the medical kit she had brought with her.

Seeing the cold glint of the silver needles, Xie Anjun’s brows knitted tightly.

”Are you completely certain about this?! What if his condition worsens after you use that needle!?”

Ye Chutang paused, then let out a soft laugh.

”If the Princely Heir doesn’t trust me, I can simply leave now.”

Xie Anjun’s expression immediately became awkward. ”I didn’t say that! I-I was just worried—”

Ye Chutang had been entering the palace daily to treat Emperor Muwu and was now held in high esteem. Who would dare to openly question her?

No matter how much Xie Anjun disliked her, he wouldn’t dare say such a thing out loud.

Xie Anbai said in a cold voice, ”If there are any consequences, I will bear them all myself!”

Hearing this, a sneer appeared on Xie Anjun’s face.

”You have the nerve to say that? If you weren’t idling around all day, carousing and causing trouble outside time and again, why would Father resort to drinking to drown his sorrows?!”

In everyone’s eyes, the Princely Heir of Duke Zhongyong Mansion, though frail, was brilliant and talented. In contrast, the second young master was young and unreliable, never doing anything proper. Naturally, Marquis Zhongyong held his eldest son in high regard while feeling that his second son was a disappointment who would never amount to anything.

On any other day, Xie Anbai wouldn’t have taken such remarks to heart. He had never bothered to argue with his elder brother.

But today was different!

”As for why Father broke his abstinence and resorted to drinking his sorrows away, you should know better than me, shouldn’t you, big brother?” Xie Anbai gave a cold smile. ”It’s normal for me not to come home. I’m out every few days, but Father has never reached this state because of it! On the other hand, you—”

His gaze fell upon Xiao Jiayi, whose face was just as frosty, and he said, word by word,

”Those sordid affairs in your courtyard... I’m afraid they still haven’t been resolved, have they?”

If Xiao Jiayi hadn’t been pestering Marquis Zhongyong to plead for Xiao Chengxuan and Jiang Qingmei, annoying everyone to no end, how would things have come to this!

Even he, Xie Anjun, wasn’t clean!

”You!” Xie Anjun’s face changed drastically as the barb hit a sore spot. ”Insolent! Do you still see me as your elder brother?! You—”

”The Marquis needs to rest. If you all must argue, please do it outside and leave the Marquis in peace.”

The light voice, like the gurgle of cool, clear snowmelt, instantly made Xie Anjun shut his mouth.

He glanced at Marquis Zhongyong on the bed, whose eyes were shut tight and brow deeply furrowed as if enduring immense pain. He swallowed his words, viciously flung his sleeve, and stormed out.

Xiao Jiayi stared at Ye Chutang for a few seconds, then looked back at Xie Anbai. Her tone was faint, her emotions unreadable as she spoke slowly,

”Since the Second Young Master has such faith in Miss Ye, then—I hope everything goes as you wish.”