Jade Beauty Syndrome was no great problem to Yang Chen, but he still did not speak too absolutely.
Even so, shopkeeper Zhao Xiaowen was thoroughly panicked.
What kind of situation was this?
He had tried to curry favor with Feng Xuewu and belittle Yang Chen because he wanted to establish a connection with Feng Xuewu. Who was Feng Xuewu? An Excellent Genius of the Feng family, one of the Three Golden Hairpins, and a future high-ranking member of the Feng family. If he could form a connection with Feng Xuewu, then for a mere commerce association shopkeeper like him, it would naturally be enough to soar to great heights.
As the shopkeeper of the Li Family Commerce Association, calling him a shopkeeper was the pleasant way of putting it. Put bluntly, he was an outsider's watchdog.
And what had happened? Not only had he provoked Yang Chen, but instead of connecting himself to Feng Xuewu, Yang Chen—the good-for-nothing he had disparaged—had instead formed a connection with her.
In his panic, Zhao Xiaowen hurriedly shouted, "Miss Feng, you absolutely must not believe Yang Chen's words! Yang Chen is one of the most notorious scoundrels around. He spends all day idling about and living the life of a wastrel. If you believe him, you will definitely regret it!"
Feng Xuewu had initially thought Zhao Xiaowen was kindly advising her, but when she heard the words "regret it," she was instantly enraged.
When a beauty grew angry, she possessed a charm all her own. Feng Xuewu said coldly, "Shopkeeper Zhao, whether what I do is right or wrong, I have my own judgment. It is not your place to interrupt. Please conduct yourself with dignity!"
Feng Xuewu's words made the pursuers behind her, who had originally wanted to chime in, abandon the thought after seeing that she was determined to have Yang Chen help her.
They each stared coldly at Yang Chen, unable to understand how he had somehow guessed the symptoms of Feng Xuewu's mother's illness and won Feng Xuewu's trust.
At present, Feng Xuewu completely believed Yang Chen's words.
"Damn it, this is too damnable." After being rebuked, Zhao Xiaowen was filled with resentment.
Had he not lifted a stone only to smash his own foot?
Not only had he failed to please Feng Xuewu, but he had also offended Yang Chen.
Fortunately, Yang Chen was no major figure. Offending him was no great matter, and Zhao Xiaowen could handle it.
Meanwhile, Feng Xuewu hurriedly led Yang Chen outside the commerce association.
It turned out that Feng Xuewu's mother was resting inside a carriage outside the commerce association. Feng Xuewu had driven the carriage through the city in a storm, searching everywhere for Fire Red Fruit to cure her mother's chronic illness.
Seeing this, Yang Chen's admiration for Feng Xuewu increased somewhat. After all, someone with filial devotion could not be all that bad, no matter how bad they were.
"Mother!" Feng Xuewu entered the carriage, and when she saw the pale-faced middle-aged woman, sorrow appeared on her face.
Yang Chen followed Feng Xuewu inside and naturally saw the middle-aged woman as well. Once he got a clear look at her, he confirmed his suspicions. Feng Xuewu's mother indeed suffered from Jade Beauty Syndrome, just as he had expected, and it had already reached the point where the disease had invaded her very marrow.
"Xuewu, this is..." Feng Xuewu's mother asked with gentle warmth.
Yang Chen smiled. "Auntie, try not to open your mouth and speak for now. Miss Feng, come outside with me for a moment."
Though he had only taken one look, it was already enough for him to understand Feng Xuewu's mother's condition.
"Mm." Upon hearing Yang Chen's words, Feng Xuewu hurriedly left the carriage with him.
"Xuewu, how is Auntie?"
"Yes, how is Auntie's condition?"
The pursuers behind Feng Xuewu eagerly displayed their concern, afraid that if they were even a step too slow, Feng Xuewu would question their devotion.
How could Feng Xuewu have time to pay attention to them now? Her pair of crystalline, clear eyes were fixed on Yang Chen as she asked impatiently, "Little Brother Yang Chen, my mother's illness..."
"I did not dare say it inside the carriage just now. To be honest, your mother's illness was not originally serious at all. Solving it would have taken only minutes. But the crucial problem lies with the Fire Red Fruit!" Yang Chen said with great displeasure. "I do not know why Miss Feng had your mother take Fire Red Fruit to treat Jade Beauty Syndrome. But I suspect someone must have abused the principles of the five elements, believing that your mother's Jade Beauty Syndrome was a cold ailment that needed the yang energy of a supremely yang fruit like Fire Red Fruit to wash away the cold. But that is not the case. Your mother is a woman, and she has never set foot on the path of martial arts. Her body is frail. With both yang and cold energies clashing within her, how could her body possibly endure it?"
As Yang Chen finished speaking, one of Feng Xuewu's pursuers, a handsome young master, became displeased.
He was Wang Yunkai, the Wang family pursuer who had mocked Yang Chen most fiercely earlier. Upon hearing Yang Chen's words, his expression immediately turned ugly. This was because the method of using Fire Red Fruit to wash away the cold ailment had actually been proposed by him. He had learned from alchemy books about the mutual restraint of the five elements, and smugly assumed that medicine worked the same way.
But how could he have known that medicine was hundreds or thousands of times more difficult than the Alchemy Way? How could it possibly be summed up by something as simple as the mutual restraint of the five elements?
Still, if he admitted it was his own fault, would that not be no different from slapping his own face?
Wang Yunkai shouted sharply, "Yang Chen, how long do you intend to keep spouting nonsense and trying to swindle people?"
As Feng Xuewu listened to Yang Chen, she had already been furious with Wang Yunkai. She actually hated having so many people constantly following behind her and fawning over her, but in order to treat her mother, she truly needed more people to offer suggestions. That was why she had no choice but to bring this group of pursuers along, hoping for even the slightest turn for the better.
Yet she had never imagined that this choice had nearly harmed her mother. What use was there in bringing along a mob of rabble?
Now that she heard Wang Yunkai's words, Feng Xuewu said even more angrily, "Wang Yunkai, my mother is still resting in the carriage. Are you making such a loud commotion because you want to frighten her?"
"I..." Wang Yunkai was so angry that his face flushed red. In the end, he could only glare coldly at Yang Chen.
Yang Chen did not take Wang Yunkai's anger seriously at all. He stated bluntly, "Your mother has taken too much Fire Red Fruit, and the damage to her meridians is extremely severe. Her Jade Beauty Syndrome has also reached the point where it has invaded her very marrow. Ordinary methods will no longer work! At the very least, Miss Feng should have noticed that your mother is now weak, and ever since taking Fire Red Fruit, her health has worsened by the day."
"This... Little Brother Yang Chen is right. But my mother..." Feng Xuewu finally lowered her head and said sincerely, "Does Little Brother Yang Chen have any good solution? If you can cure my mother's chronic illness, consider it that this elder sister owes you a favor."
The young masters nearby were furious, gritting their teeth inwardly. A favor from Feng Xuewu—how many people could only dream of obtaining one? This favor could be said to be the best way to get close to Feng Xuewu.
They only hoped Yang Chen would quickly reveal his fox's tail, so they could make him pay.
Seeing Feng Xuewu so anxious, Yang Chen fell into thought.
To be honest, Feng Xuewu's mother's illness was not difficult for him to resolve. It could even be said that it would be as easy as turning his hand over. Even though Feng Xuewu's mother was already at death's door, it was still nothing to him. It was simply that, at such a young age, curing Feng Xuewu's mother would be rather astonishing if word got out.
But after thinking it over, and seeing Feng Xuewu's urgent filial devotion, Yang Chen sighed, clasped his hands behind his back, and said, "Miss Feng, curing Jade Beauty Syndrome is not actually difficult. Three spiritual medicines are needed. The key lies in prescribing the right medicine for the illness. These three spiritual medicines are Honey Sugar Flower, Money Coin Grass, and As Cloud Fruit. If Miss Feng can gather all three and boil them into a medicinal soup for your mother to drink, then after repeating this for less than half a month, your mother's illness will naturally be cured."
"Yang Chen, which of the three spiritual medicines you named is not a precious medicinal herb, difficult to obtain? Are you deliberately making things difficult for Xuewu so that she cannot find these spiritual medicines, then using that as an excuse to shirk your own responsibility?" Wang Yunkai shouted sharply.
Yang Chen's expression gradually darkened. "Miss Feng, I only want to say one thing. I have never sought anything from you by helping you. On the contrary, I could have pretended not to know about this today. Why did I have to wade into this muddy water? Yet I still helped you out of respect for your filial devotion. But I do not want to help your mother only to endure other people's expressions afterward. You must understand that I could have chosen not to help you at all!"
Yang Chen's words undoubtedly enraged the young masters behind Feng Xuewu. What did Yang Chen mean by this? He was clearly pointing at the mulberry tree while cursing the locust tree.
A piece of trash who had been infamous only a short while ago dared speak to them like this?
Which one of them was not a genius prized by the head of their family?
Wang Yunkai was especially unable to swallow it. "Yang Chen, let me ask you one thing. If Feng Xuewu's mother drinks the soup brewed from these three spiritual medicines and her condition does not improve, what will you do then?"
"Are you asking me to take responsibility?" Yang Chen laughed. "Miss Feng, I do not know whether this Wang family member's words represent your own, but I am helping you, not him. If possible, please make him shut up. If he represents your wishes, then very well, Miss Feng. Pretend I never said any of that. For your mother's illness, please seek someone more capable."
What a joke. When he had practiced medicine and treated illnesses in the past, when had he ever endured such stifling anger? Even when great figures invited him to treat them, which one had not behaved properly and respectfully?
Feng Xuewu finally lost her temper as well.
This was her business, yet the admirers and pursuers behind her kept targeting Yang Chen in every possible way. Were they not simply refusing to put her in their eyes?
Feng Xuewu's pretty face flushed warm red as she shouted angrily, "Wang Yunkai, I have my own judgment regarding right and wrong. My mother's affairs will be handled by me. If you keep interrupting here and making sarcastic remarks, I will naturally tell my father about this matter. Should anything happen to my mother, I believe my father will personally pay a visit to the Wang family."
At these words, Wang Yunkai shuddered all over. Feng Xuewu's father was a towering name, and his family elders did not even dare provoke a man of such strength. How could he dare act rashly?
Feng Xuewu's words were already a threat.
Thinking of this, Wang Yunkai could only cast a pair of venomous eyes upon Yang Chen, clearly believing that Yang Chen was the root cause of everything.
Feng Xuewu's pretty face was filled with worry. She looked at Yang Chen with slight hesitation, and the meaning in her delicate expression could not have been more obvious.
Yang Chen had lived for nearly twenty years, so how could he fail to see Feng Xuewu's anxiety? In a stiff tone, he said, "Miss Feng, I know you do not fully trust my words. I have nothing else to guarantee. If the soup brewed from these three spiritual medicines truly has no effect whatsoever, Miss Feng may come to the Yang family at any time to hold me accountable."
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