My Lady Always Lacks Ambition

Qin Liuxi and Hospital Director Ou were both invited by Lin Xiang to another room for a talk.
Upon assessing the situation, Hospital Director Ou knew something was amiss. Based on his years of medical experience, he was certain that Lin Xiang intended to ‘put him on the spot’.
Indeed, he went right ahead and inquired about how long Madam Lin could hold on.
With a forced smile, Hospital Director Ou thought of resorting to the vague responses he had used in the past, but Lin Xiang interjected, “The Junior Temple Master said that my mother could possibly live to a ripe old age.”
Hospital Director Ou: “!”
He looked at Qin Liuxi with an astonished expression. Really?
Qin Liuxi sipped her tea, worthy indeed of the Prime Minister Mansion, such fine tea leaves. The tea was clear, quenching, and had a lingering sweetness. Noticing Hospital Director Ou’s gaze, she looked back at him.
“Director, unlike you, caught up in the whirlpool of officialdom, I am just a Daoist doctor. I see life and death, reincarnation, as nothing out of the ordinary, and there’s nothing that cannot be spoken of,” Qin Liuxi said with a smile.
Hospital Director Ou sighed, his eyes showing envy.
The title of Imperial Physician sounds prestigious and powerful, but once you serve as an Imperial Physician in the Palace, there are many things beyond one’s control – what to say and what not to say must all be learned and carefully weighed, so sometimes they are not even as good as the ordinary doctors among the people.
Hospital Director Ou fell silent for a moment, then turned to Lin Xiang and said, “Prime Minister, the Old Lady is advanced in years. Though she has come back from the brink of death at Ghost Gate, her constitution has always been weak, I’m afraid…”
Lin Xiang, though he had some idea in his heart, felt a tightening in his chest like something was being wrung out when he heard Hospital Director Ou say this, filled with sorrow.
Yet he maintained a composed facade and replied, “I understand.”
Seeing that there was no further discussion, Hospital Director Ou took his leave. He definitely needed to report Madam Lin’s health condition to the Saint.
After seeing him out and giving a few instructions, Lin Xiang turned back to see Qin Liuxi looking up as she drank her tea and couldn’t help but smile.
Upon his return, Qin Liuxi stood up and clapped her hands, saying, “Prime Minister, are you reassured now? Shall we settle the doctor’s fee?”
Lin Xiang: “What do you want?”
“I don’t want much. The Meng Family is preparing a birthday gift for the Saint – a Jiao Pearl, and I want that pearl,” Qin Liuxi said. “Of course, to avoid the complaint that I am making an unreasonable demand, as long as you bring me the Jiao Pearl, in return, I can divine a fortune for you or someone you designate once.”
Lin Xiang was momentarily taken aback, not really putting much stock in her promise to divine fortune, and asked instead, “What if it’s not possible to get it, could something else be substituted?”
The Meng Family was the maternal family of Noble Princess Consort Meng. Last year, after Noble Princess Consort Meng gave birth, she received substantial favor and flaunted it prominently, raising the status of her family significantly – a classic case of ‘when one man gains power, even his pets rise to the heavens’.
But around August or September, the Saint took a fancy to Lady Xue, casting a shadow over the Meng Family twice, suggesting that Noble Princess Consort Meng was probably feeling anxious. Whatever this Jiao Pearl was, since the Meng Family prepared it as a gift, it must be nothing ordinary.
And this girl, she actually set her sights on the gift that the Meng Family had prepared for the Saint?
“If it can’t be obtained, then…” Qin Liuxi tapped her thigh and after a moment of thought, she said, “If you can’t get it, then please help out the people who were exiled to the northwest last year, including Qin Yuanshan, if the opportunity arises.”
Help retrieve Qin Yuanshan and his party?
Lin Xiang’s face took on a peculiar expression as he looked at her, his gaze inquisitive, and asked, “Are they yours?”
“Qin Yuanshan is my grandfather; the Qin family is my own family,” Qin Liuxi said indifferently.
Lin Xiang’s fingers twitched slightly.
That tone – if you say she’s respectful, she refers to her grandfather by name, and when she speaks of her own family, it’s as if she doesn’t care.
To say she doesn’t care at all, yet she’s using his favor for the sake of her family.
Yes, a favor.
Regardless of whether Madam Lin can live a long life, today, it is Qin Liuxi who brought her back from the brink of death at Ghost Gate. This favor, Lin Rufeng must remember.
The favor of saving one’s mother’s life is no small matter, yet she uses it to help a family member who was exiled, without too much concern.
Her feelings for the Qin family are indeed contradictory.
And the Qin family, do they know that this granddaughter who has entered the Taoist Sect has such great abilities?
Lin Xiang sat down and said, “Imperial Physician Qin Yuanshan made a grave mistake in the great ritual, seen as a major ill omen, disliked by the Saint, such a big mistake, even if he can be pardoned from his exile, I fear he cannot return to his former official position.”
“I don’t care about returning to an official position or the like; if they are not up to it, there is the younger generation, just train them up. If they really can’t be trained, and the family declines, that is the fate of the Qin family.” Qin Liuxi said indifferently.
Lin Xiang took another look at her.
Qin Liuxi curled her lips: “You don’t need to look at me like that. It’s true I carry the name Qin, but my ties with the Qin family are weak; I won’t use what I’ve learned to seek official positions for them.”
Of course, she would not humiliate the Qin family, for to humiliate the Qin family would be to humiliate herself.
As for the future of the Qin family, that’s for their men to contemplate. Once brought back, as the pillars of the family, they should act as they wish; they should not expect her to use her knowledge to bring all the good things to their doorstep for the choosing. That’s impossible!
Lin Xiang, who usually kept his emotions concealed, showed surprise and after a while sighed, “Junior Temple Master, though young, you have a very clear heart.”
“You flatter me, Lin Xiang.”
Lin Xiang then said, “I have another unrequested favor. My mother’s health still requires acupuncture, that same old saying, don’t trouble the second master for a matter already engaging another. Could I ask the Junior Temple Master to stay in the capital during this period to administer acupuncture and maintain my mother’s health? I will bring the Jiao Pearl to the Junior Temple Master.”
Qin Liuxi thought for a moment and then nodded: “Very well, I will come again tomorrow.”
“If the Junior Temple Master has no place to stay, why not stay at the Prime Minister Mansion?” Lin Xiang invited again.
Qin Liuxi shook her head: “I will stay at the Jiuxuan Auction Hall. When it’s time for acupuncture and follow-up, I will visit your mansion.”
Lin Xiang did not push matters, saying, “How can we trouble you to travel? I’ll arrange for the steward to send a car to pick you up every day.”
Qin Liuxi was indifferent and simply looked at him, saying, “Give me your hand.”
Lin Xiang: “?”
“Your energy doesn’t seem right; let me regulate your Peace Pulse,” Qin Liuxi said.
Lin Xiang was somewhat surprised and smiled as he extended his hand, watching as her slender fingers pressed on his pulse, her face slightly tilted as she read his pulse, thinking to himself that the Qin family is interesting, having a treasure mountain yet unable to use it.
As Lin Xiang’s thoughts drifted, Qin Liuxi withdrew her hand and asked, “Do you sometimes feel chest tightness, palpitations, bodily heaviness, fatigue, sleepless nights, anxiety, and worry?”
A sharp light flashed in Lin Xiang’s eyes, and he said, “State affairs are of utmost importance. Being an official and a prime minister, how can one not be worried?”
“That said, you should not be too anxious or agitated. Prime Minister is of the age to ‘know heaven’s mandate’, no longer young; if you do not take care of your health, you may easily succumb to angina, which is a heart disease.” Qin Liuxi said, “Once a heart disease occurs, if rescue is not timely, the mortality rate is as high as that of a stroke.”
Lin Xiang’s smile faded.
Qin Liuxi smiled and said, “If Prime Minister wishes to serve the people, you must also be healthy and strong to pursue great ambitions, right?”
“How should that be managed?”
“I will prescribe a Peace Formula for you to regulate. Moreover, as it is said, cultivating virtue and maintaining health are most reliable through the Dao. Our fate lies not in the heavens but within ourselves; perhaps Prime Minister could consider cultivating the Dao for health? Our Qingping Temple has some introductory scriptures on health cultivation that are quite suitable for you.”
Lin Xiang: “…”
Why do I feel that this child is trying to persuade me to believe in the Dao?