My Lady Always Lacks Ambition

Du Mian’s body had thirty-five wounds from blades, mostly on the left side. The edges of the wounds were jagged and gruesome, some not even properly treated, now oozing pus and blood. As soon as the clothes hiding the ugliness were removed, the stench of rotting flesh immediately filled the nostrils.
Teng Zhao’s face turned several shades paler, feeling nauseous. He pinched the webbing between his fingers hard, forcing himself to stay composed.
This was nothing; he had seen dead bodies in the burial ground that were even more decayed.
"Three months ago, I was ambushed, barely surviving by a thread, just as you said. I managed to get a few doctors in time to save my life, but after months of recuperation my wounds have yet to fully heal and have become increasingly feeble," Du Mian said, pale-faced. "I don’t want to die. Hearing about the Junior Temple Master’s exceptional medical skills, I dragged my broken body here to try my luck."
Looking into his eyes filled with unwillingness, Qin Liuxi said, "You’ve come great distances over mountains and rivers, through the hardship of travel. With your injuries, yet being able to endure the journey to find me, your will to live is indeed strong."
Du Mian gave a bitter smile: "If I don’t act, I’ll only be waiting for death."
He knew his body best; just with these wounds, he had almost bled dry. His bones were shattered, and he had been unconscious for half a month before waking up. He had been bedridden ever since, and in these hundred days, although some of the shallower wounds had healed, the deeper ones festered with blackened skin, causing him to be in constant agony.
Nobody could understand the numbing pain that came from within better than him.
Just lying in bed, even with constant nourishment from medicinal soups, he could feel himself growing weaker each day, withering away.
He did not want to die!
He was the next in line to inherit the Huai River Water Transport. If he died, the Cao Gang that his grandfather had established would be destroyed in his hands.
And he knew that this calamity wasn’t as simple as a common pirate attack.
If he died, it would only fulfill the wishes of those coveting his position.
In the past hundred days, other than healing, he had exhausted all his mental effort, using tough measures to eliminate internal enemies and exposing those who were plotting against him, managing to stabilize the wavering hearts of his men.
But at the same time, he was utterly exhausted both mentally and physically, further weakening his body to the extreme.
It was the strong desire to live that sustained his body, and upon hearing about Qin Liuxi from a doctor, he clung to that hope of survival, settling his affairs in the gang, and then came seeking medical treatment with a few people.
He had not made it a grand affair, only bringing a personal servant and guard, secretly arranging a few loyal followers to accompany him to prevent further scheming.
And indeed, he had some fortune, as he encountered Qin Liuxi in Li City.
Heaven has not abandoned me!
Looking at Qin Liuxi, Du Mian’s eyes shone bright as stars.
"Do you truly believe I can save you?" Qin Liuxi picked up Du Mian’s right hand to begin taking his pulse.
"I dared not believe before, but now I do because I met you, Junior Temple Master, so effortlessly. This must be an arrangement of the Heavens, Heaven has not abandoned me!"
"Save your breath and focus on recovering. There’s no need to exhaust yourself with flattery," Qin Liuxi chided softly, continuing to take the pulse without further conversation.
Du Mian held his breath.
Qin Liuxi took his pulse for a long time, furrowing his brows.
"You really are..."
Du Mian forced a bitter smile, "I know I have a tough life; there’s no need to keep saying that I won’t die."
Qin Liuxi touched her nose and said, "Yes, you do have a tough life. To put it bluntly, your body is now an empty shell, hollowed out inside, and with these injuries just hanging there, as you previously said, you’re merely clinging to life, just waiting to die."
Du Mian’s face showed a trace of bitterness.
"What kind of medicine did the doctor who treated your wounds prescribe for you? All types to relieve pain, promote tissue regeneration, nourish yin, and enrich the blood, I presume?"
Wa Song, his personal servant, was well aware of the situation and nodded, "That’s right. Because the knife wounds were so numerous, when my lord was attacked, he was covered in blood, almost drained of it. In the past hundred days, he has continuously taken the medicines you mentioned, pain relievers, and blood-enriching tonics. Even the water he drinks is steeped with red dates."
Still, Du Mian’s face remained deathly pale, without a hint of color.
"Over-nourishment only becomes a burden," Qin Liuxi shook her head. "Consuming these every day only makes you lose your appetite, blocks the stomach, and as the wounds are gaping, healing becomes even more difficult. To nurture the body, one must eat well and sleep soundly. Without these, what recovery can we talk about? Besides, you’re also overwhelmed with worry, which exhausts your mind and body—a major taboo in recuperation. That you have managed to endure this long to meet me means you must have accumulated great virtue in your past life."
Recuperation necessarily requires peace and a mind free from distractions.
But Du Mian was different; he was at death’s door yet still taxed his mind with thoughts and schemes—harmful to both body and soul. It would be strange indeed if his myriad wounds were to heal.
He was completely disregarding his own life.
As a doctor, Qin Liuxi should disapprove of someone who treats their body so carelessly, pushing it toward death, but she understood that sometimes one has no choice.
Thus, she refrained from excessive criticism, and turned her attention to his left hand. After unwrapping the bandaged gauze, she saw the near-horizontal knife wound and glanced at Du Mian, realizing what had happened. It wasn’t just an accident; he had been targeted by an assassin—it was an effort to put him to death.
"This injury on your hand is at the left cun position. The Left Cun pulse corresponds to the heart and small intestine. Since your knife wound was not treated properly, and pus and blood are flowing back, your body is weak, yin and yang are out of balance, your qi and blood are depleted, and the wound is festering and deteriorating. How can it heal? You can’t even lift it with your strength now, can you?"
"My hand is probably done for," Du Mian stated very calmly.
Qin Liuxi fell silent; the injuries on his body were indeed very troublesome.
"Junior Temple Master, after saying so much, do you think there’s still hope for my lord?" Wa Song asked with reddened eyes.
Du Mian also looked up at her.
"Not destined to die, but the process will be quite painful," Qin Liuxi then pointed at a ghastly, rotting wound on his abdomen and said, "Aside from the left cun location, this wound here is also severely damaged. A little deeper, and you would have been a goner. And these two places are the most troublesome. If the wounds aren’t properly treated, the flesh will continue to decay, and as it decays, you’ll be gone. To heal, the rotten flesh needs to be cut out so that the pus and wound can subside, allowing fresh tissue to grow and blood to be replenished."
Du Mian’s body tensed.
Wa Song cried out in shock, "Are you saying, to cut off that flesh?"
"Of course."
Wa Song’s hand trembled.
There were several such wounds on his lord’s body—did that mean all needed to be cut out?
The pain of blades and swords he had also experienced, and it wasn’t light. The thought of cutting flesh...
"As long as it can heal, I can endure it," Du Mian uttered with pursed lips. Cutting flesh was better than losing his life.
Qin Liuxi spoke in a calm and gentle voice, "Cutting away the flesh is the easy part. However, the process of recuperation is not something that happens overnight. After all, these are serious injuries. Some wounds have started to close, but the inside has not yet healed properly, and they’ll need to be reopened to have the rotten flesh removed. Only once all that is dealt with can we talk about healing. To move about freely again might take half a year’s time, so you’ll need to make arrangements before we can proceed."