Click here for content warnings
Mentions of suicideIn the moment that Wu Qianqing and Guan Tong saw Hei Xuanyi, they were first shocked but quickly recovered their calm. Seeing that Hei Xuanyi helped Wu Ruo through the door without disdain, a thread of comfort weaved itself in their hearts. It had been difficult enough letting their son marry into another man’s family, if their son had suffered at his in-laws1婆家 (po jia) which refers to the “husband’s” family, which is different from the word they use to refer to the “wife’s” family/娘家 (niangjia)., they would’ve been filled with self-reproach for the rest of the lives.
Wu Ruo introduced: “Dad, Mum, he’s Hei Xuanyi.”
Remembering that he had a favour to ask of Hei Xuanyi, he added: “My husband2Every time Wu Ruo uses this particular term to refer to Hei Xuanyi, I lose all my sanity. So the original is 夫君 (fujun), which is an outdated term for referring to your husband. Nowadays, people just use 老公 (laogong), where the gong is also a respectful term for elders. In the word 夫君 (fujun), it splits into fu, which means husband/man, and jun, which can be used to refer to a monarch/sovereign, but also means “mister” or “sir”. So, essentially, it makes Wu Ruo sound like he’s saying “my sir husband/Mr. Husband”. It’s a norm for the time period the author seems to be imitating (in case anyone was confused, this is story is set in a fictional fantasy country and adapts a lot of culture from ancient China). But for me the term fujun has a lot of connotations to it that indicates Wu Ruo is showing respect to Hei Xuanyi’s status as his husband, which is pretty important for the whole story. For reference, I think the modern approximation of this is referring to one’s husband as 丈夫 (zhangfu)..”
Wu Qianqing and Guan Tong were dumbfounded for a moment, then nodded their heads.
They never thought that Wu Ruo would directly address Hei Xuanyi as his husband. One had to know that before he got married, Wu Ruo was extremely against this marriage. To say nothing of mentioning Hei Xuanyi, they couldn’t even discuss the matter of dowry in front of him. As well, the closer it got to the wedding day, the more depressed he became. They even previously worried that their son might commit suicide, yet just after three days, why was there such a huge change?
Hei Xuanyi took the cup of tea that the housekeeper Wu Xu brought over, toasted to Wu Qianqing and Guan Tong, addressing them simply as ‘father-in-law’ and ‘mother-in-law’3岳父岳母 (yuefuyuemu): specifically the terms to refer to your wife’s parents. once, and then remained silent.
Wu Qianqing could tell that he was not a talkative person, and wanted to look for a subject to chat with him about, but the other’s aura was far too overwhelming. It was even more stressful than going to meet Wu Chenzi, and made him feel restless. At once, the atmosphere became cold.
Wu Ruo glanced at Wu Xu.
Wu Xu understood his intentions, dispersing the rest of the servants from the main hall, and closed the doors of the main hall, leaving Hei Xuanyi’s people to guard outside the doors.
Wu Ruo said: “Dad, Hei— ahem, Xuanyi’s medical skills are not bad, let him take your pulse, maybe he can help restore your health.”
Although his dad seemed like he didn’t mind losing all of his cultivation, but he knew that his dad would always quietly sigh to himself when no one was around. Being the head of the household, unable to protect one’s family, he must’ve been very upset.
Wu Qianqing’s gaze brightened: “Then I’ll have to trouble Xuanyi to help me take a look.”
The Wu family had hired Tianxing’s top doctors to take a look at him before, all of whom said that his cultivation field was destroyed, with no chance of any recovery, but he still didn’t want to give up on treatment like this.
Guan Tong was also extremely happy, hurrying out of her seat to give way to Xuanyi.
Hei Xuanyi didn’t know medicine, but still followed Wu Ruo’s instructions. He circulated his own cultivation energy once through Wu Qianqing’s body, then stopped in the cultivation field. Only after a long while did he speak as Wu Ruo instructed: “Cultivation field has been torn apart, resulting in loss of cultivation, no way to gather energy…”
Wu Ruo sat by the side, listening quietly. Actually, the doctors had also said the same thing, and the conclusion was always that there was no way to continue cultivating. Yet, when he took his father’s pulse, it wasn’t that there was absolutely no chance of recovery, only that it would require large amounts of spiritual medicine to properly nurse. There was even a high chance that his father’s cultivation field could recover to its original state. So why had all the famous doctors that the Wu family hired said it was impossible?
Wu Ruo narrowed his eyes, already quickly coming to an answer.
The doctors that the Wu family had hired were either those who had accepted bribes to hide the truth or all those famous doctors had been fake. He and his father had only ever heard of the famous doctors’ reputations but had never seen the doctors themselves. If the Wu family had simply hired someone to feign being the doctor, they wouldn’t have known at all.
He felt that the second possibility was more likely. Doctors were the type to attach importance to their reputation and name, and those who were more elite especially so. They could earn plenty of money just from curing any rich patient and were aloof from politics or material pursuits. It was unlikely that they would accept bribes to lie and destroy their own reputations.
Wu Ruo thought of the Wu family treating them like that, and felt thoroughly disappointed.
Wu Qianqing sighed: “The doctor who took my pulse also said this.”
Hei Xuanyi glanced at Wu Ruo indifferently, and continued: “Although very severe, but there is a chance for recovery…”
