Chapter 380: Chapter 143 Jin Xianrong_3

Atop the verdant glazed bed screen was a large painting of a beauty blending fragrances. The room was scented with lilies, permeated with a cloyingly sweet aroma. Beneath the window, at the desk, a person was seated in a chair.

This person had a dark complexion, with straw-yellow hair, a bulbous nose, and two hedgehog-like eyes, not to mention broken eyebrows. He was wearing a brand-new robe in a dull yellow, which accentuated the hump of his slightly stooped back even more.

Right now, this person was holding a lotus pattern blue and white bowl, filled with something black and unidentifiable, about to bring it to his mouth.

A servant stood at the door and said, "Master, Ayi and Wen Ayi have arrived and are waiting outside in the courtyard."

With a "bang,"

The man with the broken eyebrows set down the bowl, his tone full of irritation, "Just say I’m asleep and haven’t woken up yet, don’t let them in!"

The young servant dared not reply and left with a consenting murmur.

The room returned to silence once again.

The man looked at the blue and white bowl in front of him, his expression exceedingly unpleasant.

This man was Jin Xianrong, the Vice Minister of the left in the Ministry of Revenue.

Jin Xianrong was thirty-five years old, in the prime of his life, with some real skill in his career and a bit of good luck. If you could overlook his unattractive appearance, he was indeed a young and successful winner in life.

However, it seemed that the more you lack something, the more you desire it. Jin Xianrong himself was unattractive, but he had an insatiable lust for beauty. He had taken eight concubines into his household, each as lovely as a flower or as precious as jade. Standing next to him, they looked like "delicate birds perched on an old tree, strange flowers accompanied by dull stones"—a sight too pitiful to behold.

He was also quite cunning, taking in concubines who were both beautiful and came from poor families that could hardly sustain themselves. Over the years, surprisingly, no scandals had erupted in his household.

But perhaps even the heavens couldn’t stand the sight of an ugly man paired with beautiful women. Some days ago, Jin Xianrong had contracted a kidney abscess. Though this disease was not life-threatening, for a man, it was extremely painful to endure, especially for someone like Jin Xianrong, who valued sensual pleasures as if they were his life. It was as if his life was being taken from him.

For nearly two months, he hadn’t been intimate with any of the concubines in his household. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, but rather he couldn’t. For instance, right now, as the two Ayis came to the door of his courtyard, he could only bitterly send them away.

Such misfortune!

As he was thinking, the young servant who had gone out to deliver the message came back: "Master..."

"What now?"

"... The Medical Officer from the Medical Officer Institute has arrived."

Seeing the displeasure on Jin Xianrong’s face, the servant quickly added, "It’s a new Medical Officer today."

At this, Jin Xianrong sneered, "What new Medical Officer, a quack doctor is more like it!"

Ever since he had been afflicted with this kidney abscess, the Medical Officer Institute had sent several Medical Officers to treat him. Those officers collected their salary, appearing to be more professional and capable than the last, but as time passed, and one Medical Officer replaced another, his illness showed no improvement and seemed to be getting even more severe.

This bunch of quacks!

Jin Xianrong’s inner anger flared, his tone growing increasingly hostile: "Let him roll in here!"

In recent times, it was a new officer named Cao Huai who was providing treatment—a newcomer, a young fellow. What would such a youngster know about medicine? His treatments, predictably, had no effect. Jin Xianrong, who had been holding back his frustration for days, had been wanting to lash out. Given that Cui Min had been deceiving him in such a manner, now that the opportunity presented itself, Jin Xianrong decided to berate him harshly to vent his own fury.

The door was pushed open, and someone walked in from outside.

"You quack..."

But before he could finish his sentence, he looked up, and the remaining words were caught in his throat—

The person who entered was a woman.

A young woman at that.

She looked even younger than Cao Huai, around seventeen or eighteen years old. She wore the same water-blue gown adorned with embroidered orchids that all Imperial Medical Officers wore, with a waist belt also styled with an orchid pattern. The beauty on the large screen in the room became a noisy background, setting off the cold and striking allure of the young lady.

Jin Xianrong stared with wide eyes.

It had been over two months since he had been intimate with a beautiful woman. In order to dismiss those concubines, he had avoided even seeing them altogether. His longing was already intense, and suddenly seeing someone akin to a celestial being, he momentarily forgot about his illness, promptly stood up from the chair, and took two steps forward: "Who might this be..."

The young servant hurriedly said, "This is Doctor Lu Tong, the new Medical Officer from the Medical Officer Institute."

"Doctor Lu..." Jin Xianrong said with a grin, his broken eyebrows twitching as he smiled, as if they were about to fly off his face.

The servant stealthily retreated out the door, even kindly closing it behind him. Lu Tong placed her medical kit on the desk and, turning around, was faced with Jin Xianrong’s beaming expression.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read