The moment Duan Youyan saw Xu Huaiqian's fever-flushed face, his expression darkened. "Are you trying to kill yourself? Coming to the exams burning up like this?!"
"What else can I do?" Xu Huaiqian lifted his heavy eyelids to look at him. "Abandon the exam?"
Duan Youyan pressed his lips together and fell silent. Having come this far, if it were him, he wouldn't give up either.
Duan Youyan felt Xu Huaiqian's forehead and checked his pulse. "Did you take any medicine?"
"No," Xu Huaiqian shook his head. Due to his constitution, medicine made him extremely fatigued and drowsy. He was afraid he might fall asleep in the exam hall. "I plan to take it after the exam."
After the exam, he would have three days to rest, which would be enough time to recover.
"That won't do," Duan Youyan said, his brow furrowed deeply as he felt the pulse. "Your pulse is very weak. If the fever continues like this, you won't last until the end of the exam."
"What should we do then?" Meng Fangxun and the others were frantic. They had already tried to persuade Xu Huaiqian back at the Chen residence, but he was stubborn. Even Chen Liejiu couldn't stop him; how could they?
"Acupuncture," Duan Youyan suggested with a frown. "Use acupuncture to forcibly reduce the fever. But afterwards, your body will likely be weak for a while. It's hard to say how long it will take to regain your previous condition."
Over the past two years, under Chen Liejiu's careful nurturing, Xu Huaiqian's health had visibly improved. Duan Youyan remembered when they were studying at the academy before passing the Xiucai exams, Xu Huaiqian would vomit blood frequently. It had taken great effort to get him to a point where he could talk and walk without getting breathless and without vomiting blood regularly.
Now, they were about to set him back to square one.
It was terribly difficult!
His health had been painstakingly restored by Chen Liejiu. Xu Huaiqian didn't dare make the decision lightly. He looked at Chen Liejiu. "Should I do it?"
"Do it!" Chen Liejiu nodded. So what if they had to start over? He had managed to restore his health once; he wasn't afraid of doing it a second time.
Duan Youyan took silver needles from Sheng Yunjin and performed acupuncture to forcibly reduce Xu Huaiqian's fever. After a quarter of an hour, he asked, "How do you feel now?"
"Better," Xu Huaiqian nodded. Earlier, he felt utterly exhausted, his eyelids heavy. Now that feeling had lessened considerably.
Pei Wangshu looked at Xu Huaiqian's face. "Your face isn't as red either."
"Indeed," Chen Liejiu agreed, seeing the alarming flush had faded from Xu Huaiqian's face. He thanked Duan Youyan sincerely. "Thank you."
Fortunately, Xu Huaiqian had a friend who knew medicine. Otherwise, he wouldn't know where to find a doctor at this hour.
"Don't thank me yet," Duan Youyan shook his head, not accepting the gratitude. "This method of reducing fever is very taxing on the body. Another doctor might not have been willing to do it."
An ordinary person would need several days to recover from such treatment. For someone with Xu Huaiqian's constitution, it was impossible to say how long it would take.
"Then I thank you even more," Chen Liejiu insisted, thanking him again regardless. The fact that Duan Youyan was willing to take the risk to treat his little husband was a debt he felt he owed, regardless of the outcome.
"It's fine. We're all friends," Duan Youyan said, handing the needles back to Sheng Yunjin. He reminded them, "The exam is about to start. Shall we go in?"
"Mm," Xu Huaiqian glanced at Chen Liejiu. "I'll go in now?"
Although his wife hadn't said much, Xu Huaiqian could sense he was deeply upset.
"Go on, go," Chen Liejiu waved his hand in farewell. Since his little husband had chosen to be a soaring eagle—even a sick one—what could he, as his husband, do but support him?
Seeing his wife relent, Xu Huaiqian finally dared to enter the exam grounds with Duan Youyan and the others.
Once away from Chen Liejiu, Zhang Bingwen, who had been quiet until now, spoke up. "Senior Brother, Brother Liejiu was really scary today."
The Chen Liejiu he knew was always smiling. Even when not smiling, his demeanor was gentle. Today, he had turned fierce, as if he wanted to cut someone down.
"Mm," Xu Huaiqian agreed. In all their time married, this was the first time he had seen his wife truly angry.
It wasn't the kind of anger that involved shouting at people or smashing things. His expression hadn't even changed much, but the aura around him was somehow profoundly intimidating.
"Senior Brother, are you still feeling unwell?" Zhang Bingwen asked as they queued to enter the Gongyuan. During the routine inspection, he noticed Xu Huaiqian's face, no longer red but pale again. He took a piece of malt candy from his own food box and offered it to Xu Huaiqian. "Have some candy? It might help."
He remembered when he was young and felt unwell after seeing the doctor, his grandfather would give him candy, and he'd feel better.
Xu Huaiqian took it and noticed a mark on it. "Why is this Little Sister's candy?"
Ever since Xu Huaiqian taught Chen Xiaomei a convenient bookkeeping method, she had developed a habit of marking all her belongings. Whether it was marking eggs with ink or putting symbols on candy wrappers, if it was hers, she marked it. Xu Huaiqian, having seen it often, recognized her mark immediately.
Zhang Bingwen didn't hide it. "I helped her build a swing in her courtyard yesterday. This is her thank you."
Chen Xiaomei was, after all, still a child. Living alone in such a large courtyard felt too empty. Fortunately, there were two tall willow trees in her yard. She found some rope and a plank, wanting to build a swing herself.
But she was too short to reach the branches or assemble it properly. She was stomping her feet in frustration under the tree when Zhang Bingwen, taking a break from studying, saw her.
Zhang Bingwen had now grown to about Pei Wangshu's ear level, roughly 178 cm tall. He easily helped her build the swing.
Thinking it was just a small favor, he was surprised to receive two pieces of candy as thanks.
He wasn't a child anymore; who ate this kind of candy? But he didn't refuse the young girl's kindness and casually stuffed it into his food box for the exam day, thinking he could suck on it to pass the time if he got bored.
Now that Xu Huaiqian was feeling unwell, he offered it to him first.
"Oh," Xu Huaiqian understood and didn't mind. He unwrapped the candy and ate it.
It worked out well. He hadn't been able to eat much this morning due to the fever. Having a candy to tide him over was good.
"You didn't eat anything either?" Duan Youyan, seeing Xu Huaiqian eating the candy with apparent relish, suddenly asked as they were waiting for their inspection.
Xu Huaiqian nodded. "Couldn't keep anything down this morning." It was better not to eat than to eat and feel nauseous.
Just as it was almost their turn for inspection, Duan Youyan swiftly swapped his own food box with Xu Huaiqian's. "Eat my portion."
The Metropolitan Exams lasted three days, with candidates entering and leaving on the same day for each session. The Gongyuan didn't provide food; candidates had to bring their own.
The food boxes for Xu Huaiqian and the others were prepared by Wang Wanwan, so the taste was naturally excellent. But perhaps considering they needed to be full for the exam, the food was quite rich.
Xu Huaiqian thought Duan Youyan was worried the greasy food would be bad for his condition and agreed without hesitation. "Okay."
After they passed inspection one by one and reached their individual exam cells, before the exam papers were distributed, Xu Huaiqian opened Duan Youyan's food box, intending to eat something to regain some strength.
He was taken aback to find it contained various foods simmered with medicinal herbs. "Could it be that Duan Youyan, besides knowing how to treat illnesses, can also foresee the future and prepared medicinal food for me in advance?"
With Duan Youyan's robust health, surely he didn't need medicinal food to supplement his energy just for the Metropolitan Exams?
He didn't realize he was eating Sheng Yunjin's pregnancy meals.
Although they hadn't yet secured benefits from the clan, the fifth branch placed immense importance on Sheng Yunjin's pregnancy. For men, pregnancy was inherently difficult; most could only conceive once in a lifetime, and very few could carry a child to term.
They hoped this child would be a boy. Furthermore, if Duan Youyan outperformed Sheng Yuxuan in the exams, they were determined to wrest a share of resources from the clan!
Therefore, they specially invited a physician skilled in medicinal cuisine from the clan to prepare meals for Sheng Yunjin.
However, Duan Youyan felt Sheng Yunjin was perfectly healthy. He himself hadn't noticed any discomfort, and consultations with doctors in the capital revealed no issues. He believed such supplementation was unnecessary.
Over-nourishing the fetus could lead to difficulties during childbirth. But as a junior couple with little influence, they found it hard to refuse the clan's "kindness."
Hence, they resorted to a bait-and-switch: Duan Youyan usually ate Sheng Yunjin's medicinal meals, while Sheng Yunjin ate Duan Youyan's ordinary food.
The rich tonics caused Duan Youyan to have several nosebleeds recently. Xu Huaiqian's arrival conveniently solved a major problem for him.
The medicinal cuisine prepared by great clans was exceptional. Not long after eating it, Xu Huaiqian felt somewhat better.
At least the chill that followed the fever subsided.
However, after finishing the meal, putting away the food box, and looking at the exam papers distributed, the warmth he felt quickly dissipated.
He had incredibly bad luck. The first session tested poetry.
Xu Huaiqian: "..." He would have preferred questions on the Four Books and Five Classics. Poetry was his true weakness.
Although the Emperor had established current affairs as the primary focus, the Metropolitan Exams had three sessions. They couldn't all be on current affairs; other subjects had to be included.
The Emperor might not favor poetry, but scholars had studied it for over a decade. They couldn't be completely dismissed; some hope had to be left for them.
While others happily composed poems, Xu Huaiqian racked his brains trying to create something both rhythmic and meaningful.
Meanwhile, Chen Liejiu was staking out a spot on the route leading to the Imperial Hospital.