The Martial Doctor

Of course, wind-cold must also be differentiated. Some patients have other physical ailments and require specific medications tailored to them individually.

After a busy morning, with the thirtieth patient seen, Lin Miao could finally take a breather, stand up, and stretch his back.

"Young master, Mr. Pei has arrived. Seeing you are in consultation, he did not disturb you." Lianxin pushed the door open and reported.

Sun Youwei looked up in surprise. The prefect himself had come to the clinic, so surely there was something important for Lin Miao, and she stood up saying, "Junior brother, I’ll head out first; you chat with Mr. Pei."

Lin Miao nodded. With his senior sister present, it would indeed be difficult for him to speak with Pei Jian about certain things.

Sun Youwei got up to leave, and Lin Miao followed suit. After all, Pei Jian was a superior and it was customary to greet officials properly.

A parent’s official, after all.

"Apologies for keeping you waiting, esteemed official."

"No need to be so courteous, Chengde." Pei Jian saw Lin Miao welcoming him personally, and he was naturally all smiles. Initially of the fourth rank, he solved a conspiracy case against the royal family, was promoted a minor rank, now third rank. Once his term here as a prefect is up, if he returns to the court’s central agencies, he’ll at least be at the vice-minister level.

Of course, he might directly advance to the position of a state governor.

That’s uncertain, but this rank was indeed five levels higher than Lin Miao, a definite superior.

However, Lin Miao held a free and idle post, much less compared to Pei Jian, a head of the military and government, but a flowery canopy is lifted by people; as long as Pei Jian was willing to show consideration, Lin Miao couldn’t afford to act pretentious.

Even though Pei Jian sometimes acted like a political creature, he was still decent on most fronts, at least maintaining his word, much better than some of the untrustworthy, slippery officials.

"Please excuse the unsuitability of my place, esteemed official, but as we are on a brief pause, perhaps we could chat in the consultation room if you don’t mind?"

"I don’t mind. Since I came here, I wanted Dr. Lin to also take a look at me. I’ve recently been having insomnia; do you have any effective solutions?" Pei Jian smiled as he followed Lin Miao into the consultation room.

Yong’an Hall wasn’t large, and it required two consultation rooms. During remodeling, it had been optimized.

Lin Miao’s consultation room was only about eleven to twelve square meters. When he saw patients, across from him might sit his senior sister or Xia Zhu at times.

A small examination bed and a screen for privacy were also placed, almost the same as at the Convenient Medical Diagnosis Point back then.

But this was their own place, arranged according to his habits.

"Esteemed official, could you please stick out your tongue for me to take a look?" Lin Miao gestured for Pei Jian to sit down and took his pulse.

Pei Jian complied.

"Well, esteemed official, recently it’s not only insomnia; you’ve been frequently dreaming, feeling agitated and irritable, and waking up at night more often than usual." After checking the pulse, Lin Miao chuckled and said.

The pulse was surging and rapid, the tongue coating was red and yellow, greasy; yin fails to balance yang, indicating a flourishing heart fire, which is a false fire, and this has been for a while.

"Is there medicine for it?"

"Of course, it’s not a major issue. People of your age, once having worries, easily have this ailment." Lin Miao smiled, "I’ll prescribe a remedy for you, esteemed official. Take a few doses and keep a calm mindset, and the symptoms will be relieved."

"Good, then I’m indebted to you, Chengde." Pei Jian returned with a slight smile.

Lin Miao prescribed Pei Jian the Heavenly King Heart Supplement Soup: Rehmannia, Schisandra, Angelica, Salvia, Asparagus, Ophiopogon, Scrophularia, White Poria, Yuanzhi, Platycodon.

This prescription has the effects of nourishing the heart, calming the spirit, enriching yin, and nourishing the blood. Rehmannia clears heat and nourishes yin, Asparagus, Scrophularia, and Ophiopogon clear false fire, which is useful in treating internal heat from heart-yin deficiency and prevalent heart fire.

Of course, it could also be coupled with acupuncture treatment.

The combination thereof is even more effective.

However, Pei Jian didn’t agree to let Lin Miao perform acupuncture, not because of reluctance, but mainly because he came to discuss matters, with insomnia treatment being secondary.

"Lin Chengde, I heard you just returned from Li Hen City?"

"Yes, esteemed official, is there anything wrong?" Lin Miao asked. He was merely the deputy director of the Dongshan Prefecture Medical Bureau. When going out, he only needed to inform Wen Ruyu, the director, without needing to directly inform Pei Jian.

After all, at the Medical Bureau, he contributed just occasionally stamping and answering attendance calls, actually, it didn’t matter whether he was the deputy director or not.

The Medical Bureau was just a plain yamen, with most of the medical industry affairs being handled by guilds and associations.

Thus, his official duties were quite limited.

"No, no problem. I’m just curious as to why a promising official like Chengde insists on going to such a place. You know, it’s beyond the law there, and should anything happen, the authorities can’t respond immediately."

"I was merely attending an auction, you know. I lost my master’s physician command, and I’ve been trying to recover it. After a year with no leads, I thought I’d try my luck at Heaven-Dominating Tower’s annual year-end auction in Li Hen City, but my luck wasn’t good." Lin Miao said.

"I heard about the lost physician command of your revered teacher. Speaking of this, Yuanheng Pawnshop bears responsibility..."

"It’s pointless to talk about responsibility now as the item has been handled, and we don’t know whose hands it ended up in; moreover, if this person treasures it like a rarity, then finding it will be more difficult." Lin Miao sighed.

With his growing fame, if the buyer knows he’s searching for it, they will certainly wait for a high price, costing him significantly.

"Rest assured, our office is keeping an eye out. If there is news about this physician command, we’ll inform Chengde promptly."

"Then I thank you, esteemed official." Lin Miao said.

"Chengde, regardless of our official ranks, can we consider ourselves friends?" Pei Jian finally began to reveal his real intentions.

Lin Miao nodded. "Mr. Pei has taken good care of me in Dongshan; yes, we can be regarded as friends."

"Then I want to know, some days ago, a certain Mr. Zhao sought consultation with you. Are you aware of his true identity?" Pei Jian inquired.

"Mr. Zhao, hasn’t he left Dongshan?"

"Indeed, he left. But the night before Mr. Zhao departed, he visited your residence alone. What did you two discuss?"

"Is the esteemed official interested in patient privacy too?"

"No, I have no interest in Mr. Zhao’s medical privacy, but I am very interested in his identity." Pei Jian stated.

"Esteemed official, have you seen this Mr. Zhao before?"

"What do you mean, Chengde?"

"I mean, during your tenure in the capital, did you meet this Mr. Zhao?" Lin Miao asked straightforwardly, seeing no need to engage in riddles. He was sure that Pei Jian recognized Zhao Yuanze’s Crown Prince identity; otherwise, he wouldn’t be asking him today.

Only he didn’t ask sooner or later; it’s possible to speculate that the Crown Prince must have encountered something on his way back to the capital.

If everything was smooth, he naturally wouldn’t show interest or wait a few days after Zhao Yuanze had left before coming to ask Lin Miao.

Pei Jian knew he couldn’t conceal it, and since he came today, he didn’t plan to hide: "Yes, I met Mr. Zhao during my post in the capital."

"Esteemed official, you called us friends yet knew Mr. Zhao’s identity and didn’t say a word to me. Was this to dig a pit for me?"

"No, Mr. Pei absolutely did not," Pei Jian hurriedly denied.

"Alright, who Mr. Zhao is doesn’t concern me; I’m merely a physician. He came for treatment, I cured him, and that suffices." Lin Miao said.

"Chengde, you’re not curious about Mr. Zhao’s identity?"

"Curious? Curiosity killed the cat. What’s the point for a physician like me to know so much?" Lin Miao chuckled, "Esteemed official, best not say it, as I don’t wish to know either."

Lin Miao’s words blocked Pei Jian’s mouth. How else could he proceed?

He didn’t even want to know.

No, Pei Jian’s purpose wasn’t to tell Lin Miao about Mr. Zhao’s identity, but rather to find out if Fahai was arranged by Lin Miao to protect the Crown Prince.

But now, Lin Miao clearly avoided the topic, fearing he might not unearth anything.

How could this young man be so slick and untouchable at a young age?