Chapter Two: The Stranger Su Chen

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Hearing the voice, Li Chengqian looked outside and saw that it was Changle, the very person he had sent for. Li Chengqian quickly stepped out of the hall to meet Changle, who was approaching at a brisk pace. Grasping her arm, he scrutinized her carefully from head to toe. Apart from a slightly flushed complexion, he found nothing amiss and immediately asked, "Changle, are you in good health?"

Changle bowed gracefully and replied, "Thank you, elder brother, for your concern. Changle is doing well in every way."

While the siblings exchanged polite words, Su Chen, who had been seized by the palace guards nearby, noticed Changle and called out, "Ah, Princess Changle, we meet again!"

Hearing Su Chen’s persistent chatter, Li Chengqian’s expression darkened instantly. Turning to the two guards, he commanded, "Hurry and drag him out. Give him a severe beating—no favoritism allowed!"

The two guards obeyed immediately, roughly dragging Su Chen away with the intention of taking him to a side chamber for punishment.

Seeing this, Changle quickly grabbed Li Chengqian’s wrist, anxiously asking, "Brother, what are you doing? Why punish Master Su so harshly?"

Li Chengqian blushed slightly at her question. He had no idea what was going on in his sister’s mind. Didn’t she know why he was disciplining Su Chen?

Yet, he could not lay everything bare and only hinted vaguely, "That scoundrel was utterly brazen toward you today at Baqiao!"

He sighed deeply, a look of bitter disappointment on his face.

Changle frowned tightly, irritated. "Brother, do you really think Master Su’s actions are immoral? It is said that the sick do not fear the doctor. Master Su was considerate enough to let me enter his carriage. Would you rather have me walk barefoot on the street and accept treatment there?"

"What do you mean? Treatment?" Li Chengqian’s jaw nearly dropped. He never expected Changle to soften the matter.

Only when Su Chen’s agonized cries came from the adjacent courtyard did he snap back to reality, incredulously asking, "Changle, what do you mean by treatment?"

Hearing Su Chen’s cries, Changle’s heart grew anxious. She pulled her brother toward the courtyard, explaining as they ran, "Lately, I have been unable to eat or sleep, my body exhausted. Upon learning this, Master Su massaged pressure points on my feet. Within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, my condition improved. If that is not treatment, then what is?"

Li Chengqian felt his mind faltering. Since when did that rogue know how to heal? Could it be that Changle was protecting the reputation of the Su and Changsun families?

As he pondered, they reached the courtyard where the guards finally stopped under Changle’s insistence. Only Su Chen’s cries of pain echoed.

"You, Li Chengqian, are you trying to beat me to death? Tell me, what law have I broken to deserve this treatment?" Su Chen’s curses dragged Li Chengqian’s thoughts back.

Seeing Su Chen’s tears and snot mingled on his face, Li Chengqian snorted, dismissed the guards, and asked, "Did you enter Changle’s carriage today? What exactly did you do inside?"

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"Tell the truth. If I catch even one lie, I’ll keep beating you!" Li Chengqian warned sternly.

Hearing it was about this matter, Su Chen felt deeply wronged and cried, "Oh, this is unfair! Nowadays, even doing a good deed gets misunderstood."

He raised his head to Li Chengqian, insisting, "What else could I have done but treat your sister? Look at her flushed face, chest tightness, pale fingertips—clearly, she is overthinking and causing blood circulation issues. I gave her a massage—what’s wrong with that?"

Seeing that Su Chen’s and Changle’s accounts largely matched, Li Chengqian’s doubts lessened somewhat. Yet, he still found it hard to believe this rogue had such a skill. After all, Su Chen was notorious as a troublemaker in Chang’an.

He remained cautious and leaned in, sharply asking, "Are you and Changle colluding? If you dare coerce her to cover for you, I’ll beat you to death right now."

Su Chen was so frustrated he wanted to bang his head against the wall. His goodwill had been so grossly misunderstood—how unreasonable!

He realized now that with such a brother-in-law, life would be anything but easy.

He had hoped to find shelter under a big tree, but now that tree seemed crooked. If he didn’t intervene, Li Chengqian might indeed walk the same doomed path of history.

With this thought, Su Chen’s expression darkened and he said seriously, "Li Chengqian, ask yourself honestly: do you truly know the whole story? Just ask Changle carefully—she will tell you the facts. You’d better stop jumping to conclusions and believing rumors, or you’ll suffer the consequences."

Li Chengqian snorted coldly. "You’re lecturing me now? Truly disrespectful."

He then looked at Changle, who produced a folded paper from her sleeve and handed it over. Li Chengqian unfolded it and saw a prescription written there.

Concerned about his sister’s reputation, he was compelled to be cautious. He summoned the imperial physician to verify the prescription. Upon learning it was indeed for treating overthinking-induced ailments, Li Chengqian breathed a long sigh of relief.

Knowing he had misunderstood his brother-in-law but unwilling to apologize due to his status as crown prince and brother-in-law, he softened his tone and said with some reluctance, "Enough. Have the physician treat your injury on your backside. Don’t wander outside these days."

After giving instructions, the physician approached with his medical box and reached to pull down Su Chen’s trousers.

Su Chen slapped the physician’s hand away and grumbled, "I can handle it myself. No need for your fake concern."

He rolled his eyes inwardly, thinking Li Chengqian must be out of his mind. He was shameless, but he still had some pride. Exposing his backside in front of Changle was hardly dignified.

After several rounds of bickering, Li Chengqian grew irritated and said sternly, "What nonsense are you spouting? I know exactly what you’re capable of. If your sister were here, she’d probably scold you."

Feeling belittled, Su Chen’s temper flared. How dare they treat him like a nobody? If he didn’t show some skill today, he’d be ashamed to carry the name of a ninth-generation medical prodigy.

With that, he nodded to the physician and recited, "Remember: star anise, galangal, raw Sichuan aconite, raw grass aconite, ephedra... for now, use rosin as an auxiliary. You know the dosages—no need for me to teach you."

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The imperial physician held the freshly copied prescription, visibly trembling. In his decades of practice, apart from having once seen the legendary Sun Simiao use some unusual formulas, he had never encountered such a bizarre prescription.

Yet, this strange prescription was remarkably well-matched and made excellent use of each ingredient, perfectly suited to Su Chen’s current ailments.

Seeing the physician shake all over, Li Chengqian thought Su Chen’s nonsense had angered him and quickly tried to smooth things over.

"Physician Zhou, he’s just a rascal. Don’t take him seriously."

Unexpectedly, Physician Zhou shook his head repeatedly, muttering, "Excellent, excellent. I dare say, even if Sun Simiao himself were here, he would not claim to have written such a perfect prescription. This is truly a priceless formula!"

Flattery never fails, and Su Chen was thoroughly pleased. He squinted and waved a hand, "It’s just a formula for pain relief and inflammation. For me, it’s a piece of cake. Hurry and get the herbs so I can take them with me."

Physician Zhou quickly put away the prescription, his face creased with smiles as he respectfully said, "In future medical matters, I’ll rely on Mr. Su’s guidance."

Su Chen replied, "We’ll see about that later," and Physician Zhou happily trotted away.

Changle had already witnessed Su Chen’s medical skill, but even she was surprised by Physician Zhou’s reaction. More shocking was Li Chengqian.

In his memory, Su Chen was a rogue despised by all. How could he have transformed into a physician so skilled that even Physician Zhou felt inferior, all within just a dozen days?

There had to be something strange going on.

Li Chengqian stepped forward and kicked Su Chen’s stool, asking, "When did you learn medicine? Why have I never heard about it before?"

Su Chen felt the pain shoot through his backside again and shouted, "What do you take me for? When I was young, I trained under Taoist Sun for a while. Do you think I’d go around bragging about it?"

Su Chen’s angry defense had its reasons. First, he did not want his medical skills wasted and needed a plausible explanation. Second, his original master had indeed sent him to Sun Simiao’s place as a child to toughen him up, but he was later kicked out for burning down the herb hut.

Li Chengqian, having been bested repeatedly, did not wish to argue further. He gestured for Changle to leave quickly, though in his heart he sensed his brother-in-law was hiding some secret.

Su Chen, after threatening the two guards, was finally carried home with due respect.

Upon entering, he immediately ordered the gatekeepers to erect a sign that read, "Pigs may enter, dogs may enter, but Li Chengqian may not."