At that moment, Duan Youyan and Sheng Yunjin, who had just shakily opened his eyes, locked gazes. Both of them froze .
Duan Youyan, seeing the man's line glowing brightly between his brows, quickly felt his pulse again: "How can it be a heat flush?!"
This was impossible!!!
He had checked three times, three times, and found nothing!!!
Duan Youyan stood frozen on the spot, as if struck by lightning. He was certain he hadn't misdiagnosed the pulse, but it was too late!!!
Sheng Yunjin, already feverish and now fully triggered into a heat flush after touching the noticeably cooler parts of Duan Youyan's body, had completely lost all rationality. He directly clung to Duan Youyan's neck, his scorching lips kissing Duan Youyan's face wildly.
Then, from kissing to licking—his tongue was frighteningly hot. Only by licking Duan Youyan could he find momentary relief.
But there was too little exposed skin on Duan Youyan. He had to frantically tear at his clothes.
The change happened in an instant. The guests still waiting in the residence to hear about Sheng Yunjin's condition were scared stiff and quickly fled the room. Magistrate Sheng's face darkened like coal. Duan Youyan pushed Sheng Yunjin away, wanting to explain.
Magistrate Sheng's hands were shaking with anger. He looked at Duan Youyan as if he were a mortal enemy. But ultimately, he said nothing. He fiercely flung his sleeve , decisively closed the door, and said through gritted teeth from outside: "I see the doctor is not yet married. I ask the doctor to continue treating my son. Afterwards, we will certainly engage you as a son-in-law with a proper betrothal. If the doctor refuses to save a life... Hmph!" He didn't finish, but the threat in his tone was clear to everyone.
At that time, married men would bind their hair or wear a crown. Duan Youyan clearly had his hair down, only tied at the root with a ribbon, indicating he was unmarried.
"...I can't!" Duan Youyan at that time absolutely did not want to defile Sheng Yunjin. He beat on the door, desperately trying to get out.
But they were locked in a room together. If he didn't save Sheng Yunjin, he could only watch him die. He had no other choice! No other choice! No other choice!
"Afterwards, everyone blamed me for not being able to diagnose a man's heat flush pulse," Duan Youyan's eyes reddened. "My master found me disgraceful . My parents knelt to beg for mercy. I had no choice but to marry into the magistrate's family."
"I only hate that my medical skills weren't more advanced," Duan Youyan clenched his fist. "I want to study medicine. I want to understand what exactly happened."
"But my father-in-law despises me for being just a doctor, unworthy of A-Jin, and demands I take the imperial exams," Duan Youyan gritted his teeth. "I took them. I studied day and night for two years. I thought if I passed the Xiucai exam, brought honor to A-Jin, I could return to studying medicine. But..."
"It's different now, different," Duan Youyan gripped the table edge, his face pained. "Everything is different..."
He thought passing the Xiucai exam would allow him to return to studying medicine as before. But his status and identity had changed. How could he go back to being that country doctor who only wanted to study medicine and open a clinic by forty?
His master wouldn't shout orders at him like a disciple anymore. He could open a clinic whenever he wanted.
Even he himself started thinking: if he didn't study, didn't take exams, didn't become an official, what good would opening a clinic do? If he encountered another situation like A-Jin's, would his parents have to kneel and beg for him again?
Moreover, he found himself feeling pleasantly fulfilled when studying, remembering the close friends he made at the academy like Xu Huaqian, striving together for the exams.
This feeling was completely different from being an apprentice in a small county town for most of his life, learning only half-baked medical skills.
All of this seemed to tell him: stop studying medicine, take the exams! Only continuing with the exams is right!
But studying medicine was the ideal he had persisted in for over twenty years! If he continued with the exams, he would never be able to study medicine again in this lifetime. Without studying medicine, he would never understand why he misdiagnosed A-Jin back then...
For a time, he was lost . He couldn't distinguish what he truly wanted anymore...
So he kept thinking: if he hadn't entered the magistrate's residence that day, if he hadn't misdiagnosed A-Jin, would everything have remained unchanged...?
Duan Youyan's pain and internal conflict left Meng Fangxun and the others dumbfounded . It was like listening to an opera, each act more dramatic than the last. They stood with mouths agape, completely at a loss for words.
Only Chen Liejiu and Xu Huaqian were different—one was cracking sunflower seeds, the other eating them, listening happily until the very end.
When the story finally finished, Xu Huaqian, holding a handful of seeds shelled by Chen Liejiu, asked with lingering interest : "That's it? No more?"
"No more." Duan Youyan shook his head. These past few days, he had been immersed in this confusion and pain , not knowing what to do, completely lost.
This was the story of a small person who set a lifelong goal for himself from childhood. Then, due to an accident, he began to study, broadened his horizons, and looked back to find that his present self no longer matched his past goal. He stubbornly wanted to return to the turning point in his fate but found he couldn't go back, resulting in confused agony .
Xu Huaqian could understand Duan Youyan quite well. After all, before encountering the magistrate's family, he was just a country boy studying medicine.
His lifelong dream was to become a doctor and open his own clinic. For him, that would be a fulfilling life.
Things like studying to become an official were too far away, so distant he didn't even dare to think about them.
A mistake led him to marry into the magistrate's family as a live-in husband, becoming the magistrate's son-in-law. Everyone urged him to advance, but he stubbornly wanted to continue studying medicine, believing that once he improved, he could return to it. However, after improving, he found he couldn't go back. Even if he returned to medicine, he was no longer the country boy who only wanted to study medicine and open a clinic.
It was like a fish swimming into the ocean, losing all its ideals and goals, completely unsure how to proceed.
So he became obsessively fixated: if he hadn't crossed that threshold, hadn't ventured out, hadn't seen the world, would everything have remained unchanged?
Especially with a forcing growth magistrate father-in-law who subjected him to daily discouraging education , he became even more confused, pained and unable to see a way out.
"Do you regret marrying into your husband's family?" After analyzing his psychology, Xu Huaqian suddenly thought of this question and asked it.
"No regret." Duan Youyan shook his head. He regretted many things, but not meeting his A-Jin.
He only regretted why he had to administer that acupuncture that day! If only he hadn't!
If he hadn't, when Sheng Yunjin's heat flush arrived, Magistrate Sheng would have found him a well-matched marriage, not chosen to take someone like him as a live-in husband!
Someone like him marrying into the magistrate's family, and in such a manner—who wouldn't think poorly of it?
Even without listening intentionally , he could guess how harsh their words were: "That doctor probably did it on purpose! He wanted to latch onto Magistrate Sheng, become a son-in-law, rise rapidly, and have power, a husband, wealth—everything in his later life!"
"So that's why you never introduced your husband to us." After hearing this, Xu Huaqian felt a mix of emotions .
When he saw Duan Youyan leave Sheng Yunjin at the foot of the academy mountain, he thought it was because he was embarrassed about marrying a husband. He never imagined there were such messy reasons behind it.
Duan Youyan didn't know how to explain. He wasn't afraid to talk about A-Jin to others, but how could he?
Should he boast proudly to others about how he married into A-Jin's family?
Who would believe that he took the pulse three times and found no agitation in A-Jin's yin-yang blended pulse?
Who would believe that, despite hours of fever, he, a doctor, failed to diagnose the heat flush?
Who would believe that the moment he administered acupuncture, the needle just happened to trigger Sheng Yunjin's heat flush?
As soon as he mentioned being the magistrate's live-in son-in-law, everyone believed he had used underhanded methods. It always looked like he was showing off .
He could only hide himself. As long as others didn't mock him, they wouldn't mock A-Jin.
So he accepted marrying in and taking the exams. These were debts he owed A-Jin and needed to repay.
But A-Jin's pain was all caused by him. What could these actions truly compensate ?!
If possible, he still wished A-Jin could be the magistrate's son, Sheng Yunjin, chatting and laughing freely at banquets, noticing him, the doctor, complimenting his handsomeness, smiling, and then moving on.
And he would remain the country doctor with modest ideals. Having taken the pulse and treated the magistrate's son would be the most noteworthy thing in his life.
Not like now, everyone was in pain.