Chapter 382: Chapter 144: Everything Becomes Clear
Impotent?
What impotent?
Who is impotent?!
Jin Xianrong’s mind went blank for a moment, and he blurted out subconsciously, "What nonsense are you talking about..."
The female medical officer, as if afraid he didn’t understand, looked at him and said, "Does Lord Jin not know? Your ailment is not a renal carbuncle, but impotence."
"Nonsense—"
The other party’s words were too shocking and outrageous, startling him so much that his dark yellow complexion turned slightly pale, startling his two bushy eyebrows as if they were about to fly off his face, startling him to the point where even his voice changed pitch.
"Stop spouting nonsense!"
The young man at the door heard the commotion and rushed in, asking anxiously, "My lord, what’s wrong?"
He was bellowed away by Jin Xianrong, "Get out!" and bolted the door tightly behind him.
Lu Tong, holding her medical kit, spoke indifferently, "Lord Jin, haven’t you felt weak in your vital energy, lacking in strength, and unable to perform in bed these past few days?"
"...That’s because of the renal carbuncle!"
"Loss of vital essence is not a symptom of renal carbuncle," she glanced again at the Lotus Pattern Blue and White Bowl on the table, picked it up, sniffed it lightly below her nose, and then shook her head, "Lord Jin is inherently yin-deficient, taking warm kidney and fortify yang medicine will only deplete your vital essence further, making your impotence more severe."
"How do you know this is warm kidney and fortify yang medicine?" As soon as he spoke, Jin Xianrong suddenly realized, "No, on what basis do you claim that I suffer from impotence? The Hanlin Medical Institute sent several medical officers to treat me, and they all said it was renal carbuncle. You, a mere girl, dare to make bold assertions without proper skill. Do you believe I can have you dismissed from the Medical Officer Institute once I return?"
As he spoke, his confidence gradually returned.
How could it be impotence? The many medical officers before all said it was renal carbuncle, and besides, this female medical officer only took his pulse and hadn’t even examined his body... The symptoms she mentioned earlier were most likely wild guesses, like a blind cat stumbling upon a dead rat!
Lu Tong furrowed her brow, "The previous medical officers, they all said it was renal carbuncle?"
"Indeed!" At this point, he had no interest in flirting with a beauty, intent on proving the other party’s words wrong, still the dominant Vice Minister Jin.
The female medical officer pondered for a moment, revealing a faint look of realization, "I see." But she did not continue.
The more she acted like this, the more Jin Xianrong’s heart clawed at him with anxiety, and he couldn’t help but ask, "What do you mean, ’I see’?"
"I meant to say, the reason Lord Jin’s renal carbuncle hasn’t healed is exactly that."
"Speak clearly!"
The female medical officer paused for a moment and looked at him again, her tone was calm, "Lord Jin insists that this officer is unskilled in her profession, trusting entirely in the previous medical officers’ diagnosis of renal carbuncle. May I ask Lord Jin, after these medical officers have treated you for many days, have you seen any improvement?"
Jin Xianrong was rendered speechless.
Forget about improvement, he felt the situation was getting even worse.
"Because the crux of your ailment is not renal carbuncle, naturally treatments for a carbuncle will not cure it."
Jin Xianrong clenched his teeth, still wanting to struggle, "Then why did they deceive me?"
Lu Tong looked at him with pity, those cold eyes behind her long lashes as touching as autumn water, yet the words she uttered were colder than the chill of winter snow.
"Because they didn’t dare."
"Lord Jin holds a high position, in the prime of life, to say it out loud would not only bruise your pride, but it would also be awkward in future encounters." She spoke calmly, as if unaware of the sarcasm in her words, "Moreover, impotence is hard to cure. If the medical officers couldn’t cure it, they might as well claim it to be renal carbuncle, to give Lord Jin hope and continue to earn their fees."
Her blunt words felt cold-hearted.
Jin Xianrong was reluctant to believe it.
But...
He had inquired before, ordinary people who had renal carbuncle would recover within a month or so. Even more so during these two months, despite taking medicine, having prescriptions written, and being seen by medical officers, there had not been the slightest improvement.
Although he had repeatedly cursed the Medical Officer Institute as a bunch of quacks, they were still Hanlin Medical Officers and ought to have some skill. How could they be baffled by a minor ailment like renal carbuncle?
But if it were impotence...
He looked up at the person in front of him, his expression wavering, "You say that those medical officers deceived me, but you are also a medical officer, how dare you speak the truth?"
"Me?" Lu Tong thought for a moment, "Perhaps it’s because I am a commoner."
"I’m a commoner, with no backing in the palace; no one informed me about this issue before I came. If I had known, maybe for my own sake, I wouldn’t have spoken out. Moreover, the medical officers can only conceal the truth for so long, perhaps they had already decided to choose a scapegoat, so they chose me to tell you the truth."