The Terminally Ill Youngest Daughter of a Medical Dynasty Is a Genius Physician - Chapter 31

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 31
I couldn’t make a final judgment yet.
What mattered now was the patient.
I slowed my approach to avoid startling the Male Patient.
Once I reached the side of his bed, I pressed my hands together and bowed formally at the waist.
“Good day. I’m Yeon Ryeong-hwa, and I’ve been assigned to conduct your Diagnosis here at the Physician’s Examination today.”
The Male Patient lifted his head with difficulty.
The moment his gaze—dulled by pain—found my face, his pupils visibly trembled.
“……Yeon Ryeong-hwa?”
I let my eyes narrow for just an instant. He already knew who I was.
The Male Patient glanced behind me several times, as though checking whether anyone else might follow through the tent entrance.
But the only people who had come inside were myself and the Attendant.
Visible distress settled across his features.
His lips moved soundlessly several times before he finally opened his mouth with care.
“I’m terribly sorry. I apologize for even asking, but…….”
The Male Patient hesitated, then looked directly at my face.
“Are you truly the one treating me today?”
His tone was respectful, yet undisguised anxiety colored his voice.
I studied his expression and nodded slowly.
“Yes. I’m the one who will examine you and provide your Prescription today.”
As my words settled, the Male Patient’s hands clenched.
He closed his eyes briefly, enduring the pain, before continuing with effort.
“I mean no disrespect to you. The Elders themselves approved of you, so surely you possess exceptional skill.”
The Male Patient fell silent for a moment. Whether from pain or hesitation, his fingertips trembled where they gripped the bedside.
“Moreover, I come from the Slums and have no means to pay for proper treatment. I should be grateful simply that Medicine Street is offering me care at all through the Physician’s Examination. And yet…….”
At last he seemed to steel himself, biting his lip.
“On the way here, I overheard people speaking. I learned that the Clan Lord’s daughter is also taking the Examination today, but she has been frail since birth and has never properly studied medicine…….”
The Male Patient’s gaze carefully traced my pale face and small frame.
He didn’t simply know my name.
A seven-year-old child who had spent her entire life bedridden, never properly trained in the medical arts.
He had already heard that story too.
I held his wavering gaze steadily.
A patient with unusually severe symptoms.
And immediate distrust the moment he saw me.
Either one alone might have been coincidence. But together, they formed a pattern.
‘Could someone have arranged this deliberately?’
I kept the question to myself.
I could discover who and why later.
For now, examining this man came first.
The Male Patient hadn’t spoken to insult me.
His clenched abdomen, his hollow face, his labored breathing—all of it made that clear.
He was simply afraid. Afraid something might go wrong.
‘……Because he wants to live.’
And I understood that desire better than anyone.
The despair that sank deep into your chest each time you heard there was no cure.
The countless Herbal Decoctions swallowed in blind hope, wondering if this time they might work.
I too had been forced to entrust my life to another’s hands for one reason alone: I wanted to survive…….
I moved slowly toward the bedside and lowered myself to meet the Male Patient’s eye level.
“You’re very frightened, aren’t you?”
His eyes faltered for a moment. His lips moved without sound.
A moment later, he managed a nod.
“……I still have young children at home. If something were to go wrong with this illness…….”
His words trailed away.
I regarded him quietly for a breath, then spoke softly.
“I’m afraid of dying too.”
The Male Patient slowly raised his head.
“What you’ve heard isn’t entirely wrong. My body is weak, and I still don’t know when I might fall seriously ill again.”
An expression of regret crossed his face.
I continued before he could apologize.
“That’s why I understand your fear. You want to live, so you want to be treated by someone you can trust, even a little.”
I extended my hand.
Small and delicate—the hand of a seven-year-old child.
“So there’s no need for you to trust me right now.”
……
“Just let me examine your body this once. If you still find it difficult to trust me afterward, you can call for another physician.”
I paused for a moment, then added:
“And the medicine I prepare won’t be used immediately—it will need to be verified by the elders first.”
The man’s gaze lingered on my hand for a long moment.
The anxiety hadn’t completely vanished. But after a brief silence—
he slowly unclenched the hand that had been gripping his belly.
Even the movement alone seemed to bring a fresh wave of pain; his face contorted. Yet despite this, he extended his wrist toward me.
“……I want to live.”
Wordlessly, I accepted his wrist with utmost care.
“Then please, examine my illness.”
“Yes.”
I met his eyes and nodded.
“As long as you don’t give up, neither will I.”
Only then did the man exhale softly.
It was not complete relief.
But at least he no longer pulled away from my touch.
I cradled his arm comfortably with one hand and placed three fingers of my other hand on the pulse point.
The sensation of cold, damp skin transmitted through my fingertips.
I lowered my gaze and concentrated on the pulse.
Thump-thump.
Fast.
Yet something was wrong.
Given the severity of the pain, the pulse should have carried proportional force, but the beat beneath my fingers, despite its speed, was weak.
‘His body is severely exhausted.’
Still holding the pulse, I examined the man’s complexion again.
A pallid face.
Cold sweat.
Chilled fingertips.
His vital energy had declined far too much to be that of someone merely suffering from acute abdominal pain caused by undigested food.
I withdrew my hand.
“I’ll examine your abdomen now.”
“Yes…….”
I rubbed my palms together several times to generate warmth, then placed my hands carefully on his belly.
Even through his clothes, I could feel the cold.
Starting from around his navel, I slowly applied pressure with my fingertips, and when I touched his lower abdomen, his body flinched sharply.
“Ugh…….”
“Is this where it hurts most?”
“Yes. Though the pain hasn’t stayed in one place. Earlier it was over here…….”
He pointed to the side of his abdomen.
‘The pain isn’t localized to one spot either.’
Several possibilities flickered rapidly through my mind, only to fade.
There was still not enough.
I drew my hands back from the man.
“What did you eat last night?”
“Last night?”
“Yes. Tell me everything you ate that differed from your usual diet.”
The man paused to search his memory.
“After finishing work, I had a drink with an acquaintance. I ate meat as well……and I did consume more fatty foods than usual.”
“And after that?”
“I returned home and drank cold water because I was thirsty.”
“Did you manage to sleep after the pain began?”
The man shook his head, his face worn.
“No. I haven’t slept a wink all night. The pain made it impossible.”
I nodded quietly.
The pulse I’d felt, his complexion, and the state of his abdomen all converged into a single picture.
“You had diarrhea once near dawn but didn’t vomit, and rather than fever, your insides felt frozen with cold—wasn’t that so?”
“……!”
The Male Patient stared at me in shock. I continued, gauging his reaction carefully.
“The pain isn’t staying in one spot like a needle wound either—it’s been moving around inside your belly, twisting as it goes.”
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
The Male Patient’s eyes widened.
“All of it—you’ve described it perfectly. How could you possibly…….”
I placed my fingers on his wrist again.
Beneath my fingertips, a rapid but feeble pulse fluttered.
‘Just as I thought.’
The examination sheet listed only “Acute Abdominal Pain.”
Following the obvious symptoms alone, one might easily assume the blockage needed to be cleared quickly.
But this man’s case was different.
Rich foods and drink had weakened his stomach, and now cold energy had invaded it, preventing food from passing through properly.
On top of that, he’d already suffered diarrhea, which meant his vital energy had been significantly depleted.
‘Strong medicine won’t work here.’
If I forced the blockage out, the pain might ease temporarily, but his weakened Qi could drain away along with it.
That would only delay his recovery.
I withdrew my hand from his wrist.
When you see only the symptoms before you, the instinct is to treat them forcefully.
But what he actually needed was the opposite.
“Cold energy has overwhelmed your weakened stomach, and undigested food is blocking the way.”
The Male Patient asked tensely.
“Is it a serious illness?”
“It’s not life-threatening right now.”
“Truly?”
A faint relief crossed the Male Patient’s rigid face.
“But you must not try to force the blockage out just because the pain is severe. Your vital energy is already greatly depleted.”
I pulled the rumpled blanket up over his belly.
“We need to warm your stomach while gradually clearing the blockage. We’ll also need medicine to help prevent further loss of your Qi.”
“Then…… can it be cured?”
“Yes.”
I answered without hesitation.
“If we treat it now, you’ll recover.”
Only then did the Male Patient’s shoulders relax slightly.
“I’ll prepare the medicine at once! In the meantime, keep your body warm, and breathe slowly—don’t hold your breath.”
“Yes.”
I turned to leave.
The Male Patient, who had been seeking another physician just moments ago, called after me hesitantly.
“Miss.”
I stopped and turned back as he bowed his head.
“……I’m in your hands.”
I smiled softly.
“Yes.”
As I stepped out of the Medical Tent, the sound of mortar-grinding and medicinal materials being cut rushed in all at once.
The incense stick I’d been using to mark time was already more than halfway burned down.
Only then did my heart begin to race.
‘Time has slipped away faster than I expected.’
The test-takers were hurrying back and forth between their medicine cases and braziers.
I went straight to my preparation station and opened my medicine case.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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