The Female Supporting Role Shows Out

Translator: thornling | Editor: thornling

By the third course of treatment, Niu Dabao was able to hold onto the wall and walk a few steps. The remaining course of treatment would just consolidate the effect; there shouldn’t be any accidents with that. So far, Lin Dan had collected a thick pile of data, all of which were her insights and notes written down during the course of treatment. With this, curing Brother should be within her grasp.

On this day, she said goodbye to Niu Dabao and Mrs. Niu, and after collecting enough herbs, hurried back home. She waited for Xue Boyong to finish dinner, clasped his hand, and said carefully: "Brother, starting today, I will begin treating your legs."

Xue Boyong had already heard from the two guards and knew what Lin Dan had been doing in Fengtian Province, so he wasn’t surprised.

"Then I'll leave it to you." He reversed the grip and held Lin Dan's hand, his eyes full of trust.

"Brother, the method I use is comparatively risky. If you have internal strength, don't circulate it to resist, just accept mine calmly. After the first course of treatment, you should have a feeling of pins and needles in your legs; after the second course of treatment is over, the sensation in both legs should be mostly restored; and after the third course of treatment, you should be able to stand up and walk a few steps by yourself. However, Brother's body is much more fit than ordinary people, and you have outstanding martial arts skills, so you might not need three or four courses of treatment. Just one or two courses of treatment might already have amazing efficacy." Lin Dan said calmly.

"Okay, I understand. Whether I’m cured or not, I will be okay with the outcome. Don't feel too much pressure." Xue Boyong took out his handkerchief and wiped the beads of sweat off the girl's forehead. It was already midwinter, and even if the brazier was lit, it was still very cold inside. But Lin Dan, without realizing it, was covered in sweat. It could be seen that she was extremely tense. However, the guards said that when she treated that young man in Fengtian Province, she was cool-headed from start to finish, never once revealing an unconfident attitude. That’s why it’s said that care is chaotic; when all was said and done, treating irrelevant people versus treating loved ones were two completely different things.

Thinking of this, Xue Boyong chuckled twice, his expression becoming more and more gentle. Lin Dan snatched his handkerchief and wiped the back of her neck as well, causing his low smile to grow into a wide one.

A guard standing at the door suddenly said, "General, this is a significant matter. Shall we inform the old madam and Madam and write a letter to the marshall general?" Marshall General Xue had returned to the manor once and, seeing Lin Dan taking excellent care of his son, left feeling reassured. Now, he had gone back to the border, he would not be able to come back home for a year or two even if he wanted to.

"No need to tell them. Grandmother is getting old, a rollercoaster of emotions will harm her health. My mother has an anxious temperament and will keep it on her mind all day long. Might as well wait for me to make a full recovery, then get up and walk in front of them.” Xue Boyong waved his hand to refuse. But the most important reason was that he didn't want to give Lin Dan too much pressure, and didn't want so many people to show up in front of her and disturb her composure.

The guard nodded and no longer brought up reporting to the main courtyard.

Lin Dan asked Xue Boyong to take off his shirt and trousers and lay down on the bed with only a pair of shorts on. She was about to rub the medicinal tablet when she heard him speak in a deep tone: "When you treated that Niu Dabao kid, was he also in this state of dress?"

"Of course." Lin Dan blinked, her expression innocent.

Xue Boyong secretly gritted his teeth, but didn’t say anything else. The heart of the doctor was like a parent. In the face of human life and death, the differences between men and women are set aside, and this little girl didn’t do anything wrong. He forced himself to ease back with great effort, and his face finally softened.

Lin Dan had no idea what Xue Boyong was thinking. She just focused on rolling the medicinal tablets, placing the moxibustion base on his key points and lighting them. After they were heated thoroughly, she administered the needles. Brother's physique was indeed many times better than Niu Dabao's. As soon as the gold needles began to vibrate, he already had a reaction. His paralyzed legs started twitching uncontrollably.

"General, how do you feel?" All of the guards who had been standing guard outside the courtyard gathered at the doorway, looking at him nervously and expectantly.

The feeling of being bitten by ants was obviously uncomfortable, but compared to not being able to feel anything at all, the current suffering was almost a delight. Xue Boyong gritted his teeth and said, "I'm very good. I've never been better!

"Brother, do you feel a slight prickling sensation right now?" Lin Dan gently twisted the end of the needle.

"It's not just a slight prickling, it's a very severe acidic soreness, like there are countless ants digging into my flesh." Xue Boyong was unable to take his eyes off Lin Dan, lifting his cuffs to wipe the beads of sweat on her forehead.

Lin Dan didn't evade either, but instead tilted her head and rubbed her face against his sleeve. She was currently twisting the end of the needles with both hands, using the tremor of the needles to monitor the situation of the inner strength rushing the acupuncture point. She had no time to handle being soaked with sweat at all.

Xue Boyong was amused by her kitten-like movement. Even if his legs were screaming in pain and his mind was tossing and surging violently, when he compared all of that to the solid person in front of his eyes, everything else seemed not to be that important. He often said that he didn’t care whether this pair of legs were cured or not. He said this so that Lin Dan would not study until she burned out and not put too much pressure on herself, and they were not empty words. It was good to be healed, but even if he wasn’t healed, his life was also very satisfying and happy.

Lin Dan didn't expect Xue Boyong's reaction to be so strong and broke out in cold sweat. When treating Niu Dabao, she could be as calm as water, but seeing Brother suffer with her own eyes, she felt extremely uncomfortable and even had an indescribable sense of panic.

"Brother, hold on, you just need to get through it." She murmured these words repeatedly, not knowing whether she was comforting her brother or herself.

Xue Boyong immediately suppressed his look of pain and then tried his best to control his twitching legs, soothing her: "I feel much better."

"Really?" Lin Dan looked at the gold needles trembling incessantly with a somewhat uncertain expression.

"It's really not painful anymore, and not numb either… my legs are beginning to have sensation." Xue Boyong smiled slightly, as if pleasantly surprised.

Lin Dan finally breathed a huge sigh of relief and sighed, "No wonder there’s that saying in the field, ‘a doctor cannot heal oneself.’ My heart was in such a mess just now, I almost messed things up.”

Xue Boyong took her hand and patted it lightly, instantly feeling like his pain was gone, leaving only warmth and joy.

After another three quarters of an hour, the gold needles stopped quivering. After pulling out the needles, Lin Dan boiled a bowl of medicine for Xue Boyong, personally watched him take it, lay down, and close his eyes, before returning to her room feeling relieved. But what she didn't know was that after she left, Xue Boyong sat up again, rubbing his sore and prickling legs, unable to fall asleep for a long time.

—

Half a month later, Xue Boyong began to go out frequently. The old madam and Madam Xue sent people to inquire about the situation, but only got the reply that he was "going out to relax" with no other information, so they could only let him be. Going out of the Xue Manor was a good thing, better than being shut up at home.

Lin Dan went out to practice medicine every day as usual, only coming back after dark. The old madam didn’t care, but Madam Xue was not very happy. She often wanted to summon her to the main courtyard to reprimand her, but the servant girl sent to bring her would be given a severe tongue lashing by Eldest Young Master, and she came back to report weeping. Eldest Young Master's protection of Lin Dan had almost reached the point of not distinguishing between black and white, right and wrong. He supported everything Lin Dan wanted to do and gave her whatever she wanted without even asking for a reason.

In just a short dozen days, half of the rooms in Xiaofeng Pavilion were converted into herb warehouses by Lin Dan. The courtyard was covered with various herbs drying in the sun; the smell could fumigate a person to death. Not only did Xue Boyong not stop her, he also bought a small courtyard belonging to the family next door, saying that he wanted to break down the courtyard wall and build more warehouses for Lin Dan to store herbs in.

Madam Xue sometimes even thought: If Lin Dan wanted her son's life, he might be willing to give it up to her, right? He was simply poisoned by Lin Dan!

Thus far, Lin Dan's influence on Xue Boyong had already reached a level that no one could replace. When she was in the manor, he was full of smiles. When she was not in the manor, he had a stoic expression, not saying a single word, neither happy nor angry, frighteningly cold. What's more, he would be too lazy to stay in the manor. Lin Dan went out on the front foot, and he also left on the back foot, only coming back with Lin Dan after evening fell. When he was being helped down from the carriage by the guards, his face was full of gentle smiles, as if he were a completely different person.

Madam Xue looked on helplessly as her son relied more and more on Lin Dan. She didn't know whether to dissuade him or let him do what he wanted. She ran to the old madam to tell her about it, but the old madam waved her hand and gave her one sentence— younger generations will do all right on their own. So, Madam Xue also stopped worrying about it, and let them do what they wished.

The elder son's future seemed to have a landing place, but a problem occurred on the younger son’s side. He stopped going to the barracks, stopped doing work, staying at home drinking himself drunk all day. Madam Xue didn't need to think hard to know that Wu Xuancao must have made some drama, which caused her youngest son to suffer.

She was just preparing to have a heart-to-heart with her youngest son, and help him resolve his grief, but Wu Xuancao, whom she hadn't seen for a long time, came to the door by herself and even brought a lot of gifts. Madam Xue desperately wanted to inquire about the situation, but her younger son locked her outside the door. The two talked secretly for a while, then reconciled as before, making Madam Xue so angry her face flipped. She deeply hated that her belly was so unsatisfactory: the two sons she gave birth to were both so boneless, as long as a woman coaxed them for a bit, they became so confused that they couldn’t find north!

Since then, Wu Xuancao often came to the Xue Manor to have fun. One day, she coincidentally rescued the eldest grandson of the second branch, who had fallen into the pond in a moment of inattentiveness. The second branch shed tears of gratitude and felt extremely indebted to her. Whenever she came, the old madam of the second branch and their eldest daughter-in-law would personally accompany her, treating her like a valued guest. They even, from time to time, asked the old madam when she and Xue Jiming would hold their wedding.

Although Madam Xue was very sullen, she was also grateful for Wu Xuancao’s life-saving grace, and did not reject her as much as before.

One day, Wu Xuancao heard that Xue Boyong's wheelchair was broken and was going to be taken to a carpenter's shop for repair, so she volunteered to help take a look. Since the wheelchair was invented by her, and the Second Young Master brought her over in person, the guards dared not obstruct them and invited them into Xiaofeng Pavilion.

Wu Xuancao looked at the wheelchair and said that she could repair it, but she had no tools at hand, so she had the guards go find some. The guards did not suspect her and quickly departed. Wu Xuancao made another excuse to send Xue Jiming away, then quickly ran into Lin Dan's study and immediately trained her eyes on a big mahogany chest traced with gold.

A thought violently reverberated in her mind— yes, it was this chest! What you want is in here!