Chapter 5 Deep love between brother and sister
Cui family.

Doctor Cui was taking Cui Shuyun's pulse.

From time to time, he would reach out with a frown to pry open Cui Shuyun's eyelids and look left and right.

"Uncle, how is my sister?"

Cui Ronghe asked.

As for Cui's mother, in order not to disturb the doctor's treatment, Cui Ronghe had already asked his wife to help his crying mother to the side.

Now I am secretly wiping away my tears.

"Strange! Strange!"

Doctor Cui shook his head, seemingly completely puzzled.

"His pulse is stable, but his face is pale, his eyes are dull, and he is unconscious! I have been treating patients for decades, but this is the first time I have encountered such strange symptoms."

"This doesn't seem like the symptoms of an accidental fall into the water! Something else must have happened!"

Doctor Cui said this, glanced at the Cui family, and then put his hand on the patient and continued to feel his pulse.

After a long time, Doctor Cui sighed and withdrew his hand.

"Let's hang him with ginseng first and see what happens!"

"Uncle, don't you have any solution? Will anything happen to my sister?"

Cui Ronghe finally asked this question.

"There is no danger to his life for now. But how long it will take for him to wake up depends on his will!"

The first half of Doctor Cui's sentence made Cui Ronghe feel relieved.

"Will?" The second half of the sentence made Cui Ronghe feel relieved again.

"Although your little sister fell into the water, she was rescued in time and is not seriously injured. Judging from her current pulse, it seems that your little sister does not want to wake up, so she is unconscious." Doctor Cui explained.

"Don't want to wake up?" Cui Ronghe murmured to himself, as if he understood something.

"So, uncle, based on your experience, how long will my sister be unconscious?"

"It's hard to say. It could be one or two days, one or two months, one or two years, or even a lifetime."

"For a lifetime?" Upon hearing this, Cui's mother almost fainted.

"Brother, brother, you must save Yun'er! She is still so young. She can't just sleep like this forever!" Mother Cui couldn't bear it any longer, she rushed forward, pulled Doctor Cui's sleeve and begged.

“Sister-in-law, we are all members of the Cui family. You can’t write two Cui characters with one stroke. If there is a way, I will try my best! But…” Doctor Cui was also in a dilemma.

"There is no other way now. We can only use ginseng and other precious medicinal herbs to keep her alive and leave it to the girl herself."

"You can also talk to her more and see if you can strengthen her will to live and make her wake up sooner."

"Of course, sister-in-law, you have a lot of connections, so you can try other doctors!"

The fact that Doctor Cui could say something that would ruin his own job proves that he really has no other options!

If it were anyone else, Doctor Cui would have just done his best and left the rest to fate, and would never have asked the patient's family to find another doctor.

Peers are enemies.

A doctor saves people. If the patient is cured, it is due to his skill. If he is not cured, it is due to the patient's bad luck.

But Cui Shuyun is different.

Not only are they both members of the Cui clan, but his father is also the head of the second branch, and his father and brother are both officials in the court.

Doctor Cui really didn't want to offend him, but he couldn't afford to offend him.

"Yes, yes. There are so many famous doctors in Jiangnan, there must be someone who can cure Yun'er. If it really doesn't work, we will go and ask the king to let the imperial physician see Yun'er. After all, Yun'er and Fu'an are about to..." Mother Cui muttered nervously.

"Mom!" Cui Ronghe shouted, interrupting Cui's mother's mumbling.

Doctors pay attention to inheritance.

The Cui family is a large family and has many medical books.

Doctor Cui is one of the most famous doctors in the area within a hundred miles.

"Uncle, please forgive me! My mother was worried about my sister and said something without thinking! You have worked really hard this time! Please don't spread the news of my sister falling into the water." Cui Ronghe turned around and bowed to Doctor Cui to thank him, and stuffed five taels of silver into Doctor Cui's hand.

Even though we are both members of the Cui family, the medical fee still needs to be paid.

After all, Doctor Cui makes a living from this.

Moreover, what Cui's mother said just now made it seem as if Doctor Cui was not a famous doctor in Jiangnan.

If you don’t pay enough for the consultation, you may easily offend people.

"Brother He, please rest assured that I am not a talkative person. It's just that the consultation fee is too much. I can't do it. I am useless and can't help you at all!"

Don't underestimate these five taels of silver.

In this era, a family working on the fields could save 1 or 2 taels of silver in a year of bumper harvest, in addition to the family's food.

If God doesn't give you face, not only will you not be able to save any money throughout the year, you may even suffer from famine.

Five taels of silver was enough to feed a family of three for half a year when they had no other income.

Even for an old doctor like Doctor Cui, who is a high-income person, an average visit only costs a few dozen coins.

Including the medicinal materials, it is possible to earn hundreds of coins at a time.

Only wealthy families could possibly exceed one tael.

Doctor Cui has surpassed more than 90% of the people in the land of Jiangnan.

"Uncle, this is what you deserve. But please keep today's matter confidential. I may have to trouble you to come back and check on my little sister later. Second brother, please see me off." Cui Ronghe mentioned confidentiality again.

"this…"

This situation made Doctor Cui feel that the five taels of silver in his hand were too hot.

Even though Cui Zongyan's family, both father and son, were officials in the court and had no shortage of money, no one would think that the money was too much.

Moreover, after seeing so much of worldly affairs, Doctor Cui knows very well that the richer people are, the more stingy they are.

Today, the eldest son of the Cui family is so generous...

And keep asking for confidentiality!

There must be a demon in the abnormal situation!
But after all, they were from the same tribe, so Doctor Cui did not ask any more questions. He just secretly decided to keep his mouth shut.

Having been a doctor for such a long time, Doctor Cui has encountered patients' families asking for confidentiality.

Doctor Cui is not someone who cannot keep a secret.

Otherwise, he would not have become a famous doctor in the neighborhood.

Doctor Cui believed that even if there was some secret behind Cui Zongyan's daughter falling into the water, as long as he didn't talk nonsense for the sake of being a member of the same clan, nothing would happen.

In this era, people would kill three or nine clans at will...

The clan is the most solid community of interests.

Cui Zongyan's family and Doctor Cui were born to stand on the same side.

Just like today's obviously unusual situation, didn't Cui Ronghe only ask him, a doctor from the same clan, to come? "Erlang, stay."

"Uncle, walk slowly!"

Seeing Doctor Cui leaving from the Cui family’s main gate, a peddler walking around the streets quietly followed him.

……

"Brother, what should we do now?" After seeing off Doctor Cui, the second son of the Cui family came back and walked up to the eldest son of the Cui family, Cui Ronghe, and asked in a low voice.

Cui Rongtian didn't like his elder brother before.

Cui Rongtian was not convinced because his elder brother had everything since he was a child and the Cui family would belong to him in the future.

But after his father married a virtuous sister-in-law for his eldest brother, he arranged such a marriage for him.

After the eldest brother passed the imperial examination and became a second-class Jinshi.

Cui Rongtian knew that he would never be able to replace his elder brother's position in his father's heart.

If he wants to live a good life in the future and get more property when the family is divided, he needs to please his elder brother.

At the very least, we can't offend them again.

After all, reality smoothed out his edges. So, he began to put himself in the right position.

"I didn't expect that my little sister dislikes the Fu'an Marquis Mansion so much that she would rather jump into the water than... Alas!" Cui Ronghe didn't know what to do.

difficult!
too difficult!
The marriage between Marquis Fu'an and my younger sister is not just a matter between two people, nor is it just a matter between Cui Ronghe's family. It concerns the entire Cui family.

If he had known that his younger sister was so strong and resisted so fiercely, Cui Ronghe would definitely persuade his father not to push her out.

However, at the beginning, Cui Ronghe, like his father and mother, thought that the Fu'an Marquisate was a good marriage.

It's not only good for the Cui family, but also for my younger sister.

When my younger sister first started to rebel, Cui Ronghe, like her father and mother, believed that she would eventually come to her senses.

but now……

My father paid a lot for this marriage, and the exchange of interests within the Cui family has been completed.

Cui has also replied to the Marquis of Fu'an's Mansion.

Now, as long as Marquis Fu'an nods, he can report this to the king and queen and get their approval.

This marriage is settled.

It’s not impossible to cancel the engagement now, but the cost is too high.

Not only can you not get back what you paid before.

And more will be given away.

Many people have been offended.

However, the most important thing now is to control the message.

The news that my younger sister jumped into the water in order not to marry Marquis Fu'an must not be spread.

Once the news spread, the daughter of the Cui family would rather commit suicide than marry the Marquis of Fu'an.

Not only will it offend the dead Marquis Fu'an.

The king and queen might also have some ideas.

My father's future...

If it is just a private regret, if done well, it would be much better than spreading such rumors.

It’s nothing more than a matter of replacing the girl from the Cui family.

Although it would also offend Marquis Fu'an.

But if I don’t regret the engagement, what should I do with my sister?
Cui Ronghe was full of thoughts.

Um~
correct!

Perhaps this is not unsolvable. Cui Ronghe changed his way of thinking and suddenly found that the situation was clear.

The Cui family girl would rather die than marry the Marquis of Fu'an, which would certainly offend the Marquis of Fu'an and even displease the king and queen. But she could get closer to the current crown prince...

As long as the Cui family can hold on until now, the crown prince will be able to ascend the throne smoothly!
Perhaps the broken engagement and rumors are a blessing rather than a curse for the Cui family.

And it can also satisfy my younger sister's wish.

"Second brother, you go and invite... Forget it, I'll go there myself." Thinking of this, Cui Ronghe was about to say something to Cui Rongtian, but in the end he didn't say it.

"Mother, please use the ginseng to stabilize my sister's condition and prevent it from getting worse. I will go to Uncle Zongji to discuss whether I can help my sister fulfill her wish."

"Okay, okay!" Cui's mother, whose mind was completely on her daughter, didn't listen carefully to what her son said.

"Brother, do you want to cancel the engagement? Will the clan leader and father agree?" After all, they grew up together, and Cui Rongtian guessed what Cui Ronghe was thinking as soon as he saw Cui Ronghe's expression and tone.

While admiring Cui Ronghe's courage and envying the deep brotherly love between Cui Rong and Cui Shuyun, Cui Rongtian couldn't help but worry whether this would affect him.

Cui Rongtian also likes this little sister who has no conflicts of interest.

But they are half-siblings after all.

Cui Rongtian cares more about himself.

It is precious for people to be selfish.

"What? Cancel the engagement!" Cui's mother finally reacted.

"Son, why don't you discuss it with your father first!" Cui's mother cares about her daughter, but she also cares about the future of her husband and son.

As her daughter's life or death was in doubt, Cui's mother could only take care of the present.

But since she learned that her daughter was unconscious but not in danger of life, Cui's mother has begun to regain her sanity.

As time passed, Cui's mother calmed down and even began to blame her daughter for being ungrateful.

People's hearts are changeable!

Human nature is complex!
But my daughter is still unconscious...

After all, she was the daughter she had carried for ten months and gave birth to. Her daughter resisted so fiercely that Cui's mother wanted to cancel the engagement to avoid any unspeakable regrets.

However, this marriage was arranged by Cui Zongyan himself.

Over the years, Cui's mother has long been accustomed to following Cui Zongyan's opinions.

This is not just a rule of religious etiquette.

Cui Zongyan has proven countless times over the years that his opinions are correct and beneficial.

"I will discuss it with my uncle Zongji first, and then write a letter to my father." Cui Ronghe also felt that such a big thing as breaking off the engagement should be approved by his father.

After all, marriage is a matter of parents' orders and matchmaker's words.

But at the same time, Cui Zongji was the patriarch of the Cui family and the head of the family. Marquis Fu'an married a daughter of the Cui family, so his consent was needed to cancel the engagement.

(End of this chapter)