Chapter 156: Lin Jiaojiao Does Not Have a Heart Condition

The old man had hair and eyebrows as white as snow, yet his complexion was exceptionally rosy, and he was dressed in coarse burlap garments. On his feet were a pair of straw sandals with his toes exposed, and strapped to his back was a half-man-high bamboo basket.

"You youngster must not spout nonsense. This young lady has a healthy complexion, steady breathing, and rosy lips; she is clearly as normal as can be. Where on earth does she have a heart ailment?"

Let alone the old man, who failed to detect any heart condition in Lin Jiaojiao, the gathered crowd could not see it either.

A flash of panic quickly crossed Lin Jiaojiao's eyes.

Oh no!

Hearing that the Lin family had come to cause trouble, she had rushed over in such a hurry that she forgot to apply powder to her face. Her usual pale and sickly complexion had all been painstakingly painted on. Having forgotten to put it on today, wasn't she currently sporting the complexion of a completely normal person?

Zhang Cheng had initially wanted to rage: *Is it this doctor who diagnoses accurately, or is it you who sees accurately?* But upon realizing that the speaker was an old man, his tone softened somewhat as he said:

"Old senior, my younger sister indeed suffers from a heart ailment, diagnosed by the physicians of this estate. It is not something this junior is making up at random. An old senior like you surely cannot tell just by looking."

Upon hearing this, the old man became displeased at once.

"Whether others can tell or not, this old man does not know, but this old man dares to guarantee with absolute certainty that this young lady does not have a heart ailment."

Shen Zhao carefully scrutinized the old man who had spoken. Could this person possibly be a physician? What a coincidence indeed; not only could he expose Lin Jiaojiao's true colors, but he could also puncture her long-standing pretense of illness.

"Old senior, may I ask if you are truly certain that Miss Lin is a normal person?"

"Truly certain. This old man has practiced medicine all his life; whether a person is ill or not, this old man can tell at a single glance."

Lin Jiaojiao's body trembled slightly. *This damned old geezer, why is he still living to such an advanced age? Why won't he just drop dead? Why are all these people acting like blind men today, stubbornly hounding her while turning a blind eye to that bitch Shen? Shouldn't they be furiously denouncing Shen? Why has it turned to her?*

"Old gentleman, my elder brother sacrificed his life on the battlefield to save the General, leaving only me behind. Because of this matter, I grieve and sorrow day in and day out, which brought upon this heart ailment. When it is not acting up, I am no different from anyone else; when it flares up, the pain in my heart is agonizing and unbearable. It is only natural that the old gentleman cannot perceive it. The heart ailment in my body was diagnosed by a physician, and for the past two years, I have been recuperating. My health has improved greatly, and it rarely acts up anymore."

Lin Jiaojiao spoke without her face turning red or her heart skipping a beat. She could not say that she was fully recovered now. If she were to say that, she would lose a reason for people to pity her and lose an opportunity to gather wealth. Those medicinal herbs for treating heart ailments were far more precious than ordinary medicines, not to mention the daily uninterrupted medicinal diets. All of these were bright, gleaming silver taels—the source of her dowry silver. This must never be cut off.

Nearby, Madam Lin and Father Lin sneered inwardly at Lin Jiaojiao, but they did not dare to show it. That good-for-nothing Lin Feihu clearly hadn't died yet, so where on earth did her excessive grief come from? Even if she truly had a heart condition, it was certainly out of fear that her deception would be exposed, frightened out of her wits by the impending doom.

*Bah! How utterly shameless!*

"Little girl, are you doubting this old man's medical skills? Which quack doctor treated you? Drag him over here! She is clearly a normal person through and through, so how on earth did he diagnose you with a heart condition? Every medicine has three parts poison, especially those remedies for heart ailments; ordinary people dare not take them in excess, and you can easily eat your way into a real illness when you are perfectly healthy."

Shen Zhao wore a solemn expression, her eyes filled with worry as she asked:

"Are the old senior's words truly reliable? Would ordinary people really damage their health by drinking heart-medication decoctions year after year?"

With that, she looked somewhat anxiously toward Lin Jiaojiao and said:

"I beg the old senior to quickly examine Miss Lin. She has to drink heart-medication decoctions and medicinal diets every day."

Upon hearing this, the old man wasted no time and walked straight toward Lin Jiaojiao.

Looking at the old geezer's attire, Lin Jiaojiao thought to herself: *This old fellow probably only knows a few superficial tricks. If he really were a physician of such an advanced age, how could he have ended up in such a wretched state, without even a decent set of robes or a pair of shoes? He must be a charlatan and a swindler.* If she didn't let this old fellow examine her right now, Brother Chu would surely grow suspicious of her.

"Then I must ask the old gentleman to examine me."

The old man took Lin Jiaojiao's pulse. Within the time it took for just a moment, his complexion turned extremely ugly.

Shen Zhao knew that the old man had discerned that Lin Jiaojiao had never once drunk the heart-medication decoctions or medicinal diets. Those precious herbs had all been sold by Lin Jiaojiao in exchange for silver.

"Does this young lady truly drink heart-medication decoctions and medicinal diets day after day?"

Before Lin Jiaojiao could open her mouth, Chu Mu, who had remained silent all this time, spoke up in reply:

"Truly so, drinking them every day without interruption. Every single day, the estate sends over the medicinal herbs and ingredients for brewing the decoctions to Miss Lin."

He knew all of this, because those medicinal herbs were not a small expense, especially several of them which were worth dozens of taels each.

Zhang Cheng, standing nearby, anxiously interjected: "Old gentleman, has my sister's heart condition worsened again? Were the decoctions she drank incorrect? Did someone tamper with the medicine?"

Zhang Cheng firmly believed that Lin Jiaojiao suffered from a heart condition; he had encountered several occasions where Miss Lin suffered a flare-up, in such agonizing pain that she was completely overwhelmed and lost consciousness. Seeing the old man's expression so solemn, and questioning whether Miss Lin drank her decoctions daily, the first thing that came to Zhang Cheng's mind was not anything else, but rather that Madam Shen had tampered with something concerning Miss Lin, and this old man had diagnosed it.

The old man withdrew his hand and said with a hint of anger:

"This young lady is lying, causing this old man to worry just now whether drinking medicinal decoctions for two years would ruin her health. It turns out this young lady is simply spouting sheer falsehoods from beginning to end."

As soon as the old man spoke, Lin Jiaojiao's body noticeably trembled.

Shen Zhao's expression also grew solemn as she said: "What does the old senior mean by this? Miss Lin is a distinguished guest of our Grand General's Estate; we must not falsely accuse her."

Everyone watched with their own eyes as General Chu's expression shifted from initial worry to profound solemnity.

Someone in the crowd could no longer hold back, stepped forward, and said:

"If we want to know whether this woman surnamed Lin is lying, if the General does not trust this elderly physician, why not send someone to invite several reputable doctors to examine this woman? General, please forgive this lowly person for speaking bluntly, but this Miss Lin has malicious intentions. Just now at the estate gates, she even guided us into harboring misunderstandings against the esteemed Madam, claiming how the esteemed Madam squeezed and suppressed her. But our eyes are as clear as snow—her food, clothing, and daily amenities are of the absolute highest tier; where is there any bullying or suppression? If she were truly being forced out of the Grand General's Estate, they wouldn't still provide her with garments worth hundreds of taels, let housing her in such a luxurious courtyard, and dispatch servants exceeding protocol to wait upon her. Where is there any such oppression? If this is oppression, and Miss Lin cannot bear it, you can swap her out for me! I'll gladly take that blessing."

"Exactly, exactly! A single dose of ordinary herbal medicine is enough to sustain a normal family's food and warmth for several days, and these heart-medication decoctions are even more exorbitantly expensive. And the medicinal diets—how much silver does it cost to drink those every day? If your esteemed estate truly mistreated her, you wouldn't even need to provide her with medical treatment; just keeping her fed would suffice. Why bother wasting that effort and silver?"

The crowd chimed in one after another, all condemning Lin Jiaojiao's wrongdoing, shaming her to the point where she wished she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into. *Isn't it only natural for Brother Chu to treat her well? How dare these lowly wretches speak of her this way!*

"Very well. To prove the innocence of both the old senior and Miss Lin, I shall dispatch men immediately to Qihuang Street to invite several reputable physicians to examine her."