Su Tao took a mouthful of high-degree alcohol and sprayed it out towards the candle. The alcohol quickly caught on fire as it blazed, causing the surrounding people to exclaim out.
Although Su Tao did not put on a Taoist robe, he still gave off an unearthly vibe from his long robes as he brandished the wooden sword. His moves were perfect, looking like a Daoist priest from Mt. Mao.
Ni Jingqiu was enjoying his performance while recalling a martial arts novel she read when she was young, hiding under the quilt and imagining herself to be the female protagonist. After all, it"s not common to see someone dressing up in Su Tao"s style, and he seemed like a young martial artist from those novels.
Su Tao wasn"t aimlessly brandis.h.i.+ng the sword, he was using the Jiang Clan"s Swordplay taught to him by his master, Jiang Qinghan.
The Jiang Clan"s Swordplay was not only powerful in actual combat, but also extremely graceful to watch.
Occasionally, he would leap into the air and would brandish swings with his wrist. Even if everyone here were amateurs, they couldn"t help exclaiming in their hearts from Su Tao"s impressive performance.
After scattering a handful of rice in the sky, Su Tao stabbed a yellow talisman and swirled it around the air a few rounds before he jabbed it at the candle.
The yellow talisman swiftly caught on fire, which blazed into a lump of eye-catching flames that left the spectators in exclamation.
After the talisman was burnt, Su Tao placed it in a bowl of water with a smooth movement.
Standing to the side, Ni Jingqiu felt both teased and annoyed when she looked at Su Tao"s earnest performance. Turning her head over to w.a.n.g Qiaozhen, she saw her mother holding onto her Buddhist bead as she chanted Buddhism sutra.
A Daoist ritual was performed while the host chanted Buddhism sutra. It"s practically out of place.
But despite how the scene looked out of place, both Su Tao and her mother were extremely focused.
She was well-aware of what"s going on, but there was nothing she could do due to her trust in Su Tao"s medical skills. She knew that there must be a reason for Su Tao to act in this manner.
At the same time, she had also guessed the reason why her mother would cooperate with this act.
Finally, Su Tao"s performance came to an end and he drew a pattern with the wooden sword before placing the sword aside and raised the bowl of water. "Please, drink the holy water."
w.a.n.g Qiaozhen only briefly hesitated before she chucked down the "holy water" and walked up the altar. Looking at her mother"s memorial tablet placed at the center, she started to cry her heart out.
In everyone"s eyes, w.a.n.g Qiaozhen was a mature and calm mistress who would wear a smile on her face at all times. No one has ever seen her losing control of her emotions in this manner.
Initially, w.a.n.g Qiaozhen only wanted to go with the act. However, she never expected that she would lose control of her emotions and cry the grievance that was in her heart out.
Her life had been bitter these years due to her sister-in-law"s insults, which she endured. Before she married Ni Buwei back then, her w.a.n.g Family was also a prominent family, so her marriage with Ni Buwei couldn"t be considered as social-climbing. It was so much so that Ni Buwei"s operation these years was supported by the w.a.n.g Family"s political and commercial powers.
However, she had been silently enduring her sister-in-law. But facing her mother"s memorial tablet, she finally lost control of her emotions and cried her heart out.
No one understood her; only her mother, who had pa.s.sed away, knew how many grievances she suffered.
Su Tao had also purposely chosen a particular person, which jabbed at w.a.n.g Qiaozhen"s sore spot.
Brawling her eyes out, w.a.n.g Qiaozhen kneeled beside the memorial tablet and felt her entire body weakening. However, her asthma did not break out.
Looking at w.a.n.g Qiaozhen, Su Tao saw a rosy gloss appearing on her face. It was a sign of her energy and blood dissipating. He felt relieved, since that meant that his treatment was effective.
Outside the residence, a bunch of wealthy ladies gathered together. They were all influential figures in Beijing from how they could become neighbors with the Ni Family.
Mrs. Zhang pinched a slim cigarette between her fingers as she took a puff and asked, "What"s the Ni Family up to?"
"They"re performing a ritual!" The rounded Mrs. Chen answered. "They"ve been preparing since this afternoon, and the housekeeper has been busy. I heard that they have invited an expert to cleanse the Ni Family"s fortune."
"Oh? What do you mean?" Mrs. Zhang could smell a story behind this matter.
"You should know that w.a.n.g Qiaozhen has asthma, right?" Mrs. Chen sighed. "Actually, she"s not the one who"s sick, but she was possessed."
"Ah? Is that true?" There were superst.i.tious people within the upper circle. Many wealthy people were fond of Feng Shui, which they"re naturally superst.i.tious with ghosts and deities as well.
Mrs. Zhang urgently asked, "Who did they offend?"
"It"s all because of her sister-in-law. That Ni Buqing has been insulting w.a.n.g Qiaozhen, which the latter"s mother felt that her daughter has suffered grievances and possessed her body." Mrs. Chen further added, "According to that expert"s explanation, the reason why w.a.n.g Qiaozhen"s mother possessed her daughter was due to her unhappiness for the Ni Family. w.a.n.g Qiaozhen has done so much for the Ni Family for all these years, but Ni Buqing is really too much."
Nodding her head, Mrs. Zhang spoke up for w.a.n.g Qiaozhen, "That Ni Buqing has a b.i.t.c.hy character. With a sister-in-law like her, anyone would have a headache."
"If I had a sister-in-law like her, I would surely forbid her from entering the house. A woman married off is akin to water being poured out. What position does she have to poke her fingers in the family?" Mrs. Chen raged.
"w.a.n.g Qiaozhen"s character is mild, and she"s a woman that concerns her face. Who knows how long she has been enduring, and anyone would be sick in her shoes!" Mrs. Zhang sighed.
Hugging her mother"s memorial tablet, w.a.n.g Qiaozhen sobbed to the point that she was extremely weakened. When Ni Buwei returned home from the office, he heard what was going on from the housekeeper and helplessly sighed.
The reason why he kept his marriage with w.a.n.g Qiaozhen for all these years was due to his gratefulness for how she risked her life to give birth to Ni Jingqiu.
Although Ni Jingqiu wasn"t a male, she was smart and created the Newlight Media that"s growing more prosperous with each pa.s.sing day. So even if she wasn"t a male, she"s determined to inherit the Ni Family"s inheritance.
His secretary stood beside him, wearing an uncertain expression. He misunderstood that his boss was unhappy and asked, "Should I get them to stop?"
Waving his hand, Ni Buwei replied, "No need! Let her vent out her emotions a little."
Hearing that, the secretary was briefly stunned then swiftly caught up to Ni Buwei, who had entered the house.
The ritual lasted for more than an hour. Although the commotion wasn"t huge, the news still spread throughout the upper circle.
This was also w.a.n.g Qiaozhen"s motive for agreeing to the ritual. As long as the news spread out, she would have a reasonable reason to show a disgraceful side of her and also let her sister-in-law be swept in some controversy.
Driving Su Tao back, Ni Jingqiu smiled. "My aunt just called my dad. Can you guess what she said?"
"She probably wants to cut off all connections to the Ni Family from now on!" Su Tao smiled.
Hearing his answer, Ni Jingqiu was briefly stunned before admiration zapped on her face. "You"re truly clairvoyant!"
"This ritual might seem to be something that I suggested, but I"m just cooperating with your mother to put on an act. Aside from giving your mother a legitimate reason, it is also meant to annoy your aunt a little. Right now, the crucial point lies in how your father faces this issue. If he handles it properly, then your mother"s condition will be 90% cured!" Su Tao patiently a.n.a.lysed.
Ni Jingqiu was a smart person, and she instantly figured it all out after some hints.
"My dad said that since my aunt has suggested that, then he will return her shares to her in the form of money, and they will cut contact from now on."
Nodding his head, Su Tao commented, "Although your father is shrewd, he has done well in this matter."
"My mother has given him lots of help these years, and the two of them are like partners. My aunt"s character has been weird since she was young, and my grandmother indulged her a lot. After my grandmother pa.s.sed away, she even tried to change her son"s surname into Ni several times." Ni Jingqiu added.
Su Tao never expected that there would be such an episode, and it was no wonder why Ni Jingqiu would deal with her own sister in this manner this time. As a smile rose on his lips, he asked, "Your mother"s state must"ve become much better, right?"
"We still have no idea with her body, but her mood is definitely much better. Earlier, she even took out a bottle of wine and drank half of it." Ni Jingqiu smiled.
Handing a prescription over, Su Tao smiled along. "Give this prescription to her to be taken twice a day. After ten doses, I will visit again."
Ni Jingqiu immediately took the prescription over and looked at it. Although she didn"t know their usage, she could recognise some of the expensive herbs, since she has been taking medicine since young.
"Don"t worry. Your prescription isn"t the same as your mother"s; the prescription of your mother is called the Exorcism Powder."
This prescription originated from the Imperial Physician Scripture, which he had revised to be effective for the heart, spleen, lungs, liver, and stomach.
This is the difference between a doctor and a brilliant physician. Doctors would generally prescribe tons of medicine, while physicians only had to make a single prescription.
w.a.n.g Qiaozhen"s condition originated from her kidney. Thus, medicines were used to clear up her meridians for her energy and blood to flow smoothly. For his next visit, all he had to do was to perform acupuncture on w.a.n.g Qiaozhen a few times for her to recover fully.
This sort of treatment cannot be rushed if it wanted to be completely treated.
Physicians had a taboo when prescribing medicine, which they would try not to use common herbs.
That was the same for western medicine doctors as well. When patients find it expensive to purchase those medicines from the hospital, they would try to find them in pharmacies, which they would fail to find since some medications were exclusive for hospitals only.
Although western medicine doctors knew that they could use those conventional medicines, they would generally choose those that were exclusive for hospitals so that the patients wouldn"t feel that they"ve wasted their money.