Chapter 539: Will Excessive Nourishment Cause a Slippery Pulse Too?
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
At this point, Luo Le no longer had any reasons or excuses that he could use to turn Wen Xinya down. Feeling rather wary about her, he conceded. “Miss Wen, please go ahead and ask.”
Wen Xinya said calmly, “When I read Aunt Ning’s pulse previously, I found that she seemed to show signs of septicemia, which is also a sign of miscarriage. However, your diagnosis is that Aunt Ning has a blood deficiency. Why is that so?”
Luo Le chuckled and answered, “Your diagnosis is right. Madam Wen has indeed consumed plenty of nouris.h.i.+ng tonics. However, her body is too weak to absorb the nutrients of the tonics even though she’s over-nourished. Hence, she showed signs of septicemia.”
Wen Xinya replied in a moment of enlightenment, “So that’s why!”
Luo Le nodded smilingly and said, “Miss Wen, you’re so young but already know about reading pulses. You’re very impressive.”
Feeling a little shy to receive such a compliment, Wen Xinya asked, “Master Luo Le, are pulses definitive? For example, are slippery pulses only caused by pregnancies? Could they be caused by external factors?”
As soon as Wen Xinya finished speaking, Ning Shuqian clenched her fists tightly.
Why did Wen Xinya ask such a question in front of everyone? What tricks is she getting up to? Is she trying to expose my fake pregnancy in front of everyone? Im… impossible. Master Luo Le has long been bribed by me. It’s impossible for Wen Xinya to expose me in front of everyone.
She felt a little relieved.
At this moment, Xia Ruya suddenly got the gooseb.u.mps. If it weren’t because of the fact that Luo Le had been bribed by Ning Shuqian, she would not have been able to keep her cool.
What exactly is Wen Xinya trying to do? Why would she ask such questions?
Old Mr. Wen glanced at Wen Xinya with an inexplicable emotion in his eyes, making her wonder what he was thinking about.
Luo Le frowned slightly, finding Wen Xinya to be luring him into a trap with those questions. However, he had no choice but to answer. “Pulse-reading is not always accurate and is only part of the process of diagnosis. Only those who are very experienced in Traditional Chinese Medicine can tell a patient’s health condition just by reading their pulse.”
In a moment of enlightenment, Wen Xinya said, “No wonder I couldn’t diagnose Aunt Ning’s slippery pulse when I read it previously. Turns out it has to be in accordance with one’s body condition too.”
Ning Shuqian got the chills.
Luo Le said, “One of the reasons is that Madam Wen was in the early stages of pregnancy. Secondly, it’s also because of her malnourishment which caused her pulse to be faint. Thirdly, Madam Wen has septicemia which caused her pulse to be erratic. Lastly, it’s also because of your lack of experience, Miss Wen.”
Wen Xinya acknowledged with a nod and said, “You haven’t answered me yet. Are all slippery pulses caused by pregnancies?”
Luo Le took a deep breath and shot Xia Ruya a glance before saying, “That’s not the case. For example, a slippery pulse could also be a sign of phlegm, fluid retention, heat, anemia, rheumatism, acute infection, fever, chronic gastroenteritis, cirrhosis or ascites.”
Wen Xinya’s eyes lit up and she continued, “Excessive consumption of tonics may lead to the imbalance of blood. Does that lead to a slippery pulse too?”
Luo Le felt as if he had just fallen into a trap. He thought to himself, This girl is so young and yet so scheming. She beat around the bush just to lure me into saying that Ning Shuqian had consumed too many tonics and ended up over-nouris.h.i.+ng her blood. Her purpose is to make everyone suspect Ning Shuqian.
Ning Shuqian felt like there was a boulder on her chest. Her fingers trembled and she thought to herself, Wen Xinya did this just so she could make Father-in-law suspect me.
Xia Ruya did not expect Wen Xinya to be this cunning and vicious as to set a trap and lure Luo Le into it bit by bit. Being extremely intelligent, Old Mr. Wen would definitely think twice about Ning Shuqian’s pregnancy.
She had wanted to use Master Luo Le to make Old Mr. Wen drop his suspicions about Ning Shuqian.
Yet, Wen Xinya managed to turn the situation around and make Old Mr. Wen doubt Ning Shuqian instead.
Old Mr. Wen glanced at Ning Shuqian and noticed the look of uneasiness on her face. He then looked at Wen Xinya whose eyes were glistening and staring at Master Luo Le intently while waiting for his answer. At last, he s.h.i.+fted his gaze onto Luo Le.
A cold chill was sent down Luo Le’s spine and he said, “There are such examples.”
Wen Xinya asked, “Slippery pulses can be erratic and faint. They can be vague and elusive as well. Does that mean that they can easily mislead inexperienced Traditional Chinese Medicine pract.i.tioners?”
Wen Xinya’s words gave everyone a great shock.
Ning Shuqian held her breath, feeling like she was about to suffocate.
Xia Ruya clenched her fists tightly and an icy cold stare formed in her eyes.
Old Mr. Wen pressed his lips together and appeared cold and austere.
Finding himself to be stuck in a knotty situation, Luo Le was caught in a dilemma and he broke out into cold sweat, at a complete loss for words.
Wen Xinya asked, “Master Luo Le, is that true?”
Luo Le nodded reluctantly and answered, “There are such cases, but they don’t happen to experienced Traditional Chinese Medicine pract.i.tioners. Take Madam Wen as an example! Her condition is difficult to be diagnosed and several experienced Traditional Chinese Medicine pract.i.tioners might make mistakes too.”
He was simply trying to say that Wen Xinya was too inexperienced to diagnose her pulse.
Wen Xinya beamed with joy and said, “Frankly speaking… Master Du did give me a tip or two about pulse-reading. But I don’t know much since I’m inexperienced. I’ve been troubled about Aunt Ning’s pulse. However, I haven’t dared to consult Master Du directly. Thank you for answering my questions, Master Luo.”
He could not believe that he had just fallen into the trap of an underage girl. Staring at Wen Xinya with a glimmer of menace in his eyes, he said, “Don’t stand on ceremony with me, Miss Wen. These are just basic knowledge about pulse reading. They’re included in several Traditional Chinese Medicine books.”
He was indirectly trying to say that she was asking the obvious deliberately.
Wen Xinya smiled and answered, “I don’t know much about pulse reading and I’ve only read a few books about that. The information was too complex for me to understand. However, pulse-reading is a technique used for diagnosing diseases and I dared not be overly casual about it. I’ve made a fool out of myself, Master Luo.”
Luo Le was rendered speechless by her answer. Well, if everyone could understand medicine just by reading some medical books, everyone would be Traditional Chinese Medicine pract.i.tioners.