gnovel Chapter 18 Ninth Master's Illness
Chapter 18 Ninth Master's Illness
"Ouch...ouch..."
It was the Ninth Prince's voice, but it was completely different from the smooth, worldly, and cunning Ninth Prince he usually was.
"Aa ...
Suddenly, a heart-wrenching scream erupted from the other side of the wall, so loud that even the dust on the top of the wall was shaken and fell down.
Yin'e subconsciously shrank his neck, and his heart tightened.
Then came Lao Jiu's curse: "Damn it, it hurts like hell!"
"Sir, the doctor said to soak these herbs in water and apply the juice to your toes. Look how swollen they are, you'll have to bear with it." A woman's soft voice came from behind.
Before he could finish speaking, a series of crackling sounds rang out.
The sound of porcelain shattering, the dull thud of a copper basin hitting the ground.
"Bear with it?" Old Nine's voice rose several octaves. "You try bearing with it, you bastard! My toes are swollen like radishes, and touching them feels like being pricked with needles. How can you expect me to bear it?"
Then came another sound of something breaking.
"Useless! All of you are useless! You can't even prescribe a painkiller! What use are you lot to me?! Get out! All of you, get out!"
The maids were clearly terrified; they didn't even have the courage to clean up the broken pieces and just ran outside.
Then, it quieted down.
Yin'e squatted by the wall and finally understood why the Ninth Prince hadn't left the house all day.
It turns out he was sick.
Moreover, listen to their conversation.
My toes are swollen, extremely painful, I can't put weight on them, and I can't even bear the slightest touch...
These symptoms, taken together, suddenly made a word pop into his head.
gout.
In the Qing Dynasty, this was called "Bi syndrome" or "wind Bi syndrome," and it was common among the wealthy and noble families who enjoyed a rich diet.
Old Nine is rich and obese, and his favorite thing to do is to invite friends over for a feast.
Chilled watermelon in summer, charcoal hot pot in winter, and delicious food and wine all year round.
With purines piling up in the body, it's no wonder people get gout.
When gout flares up, the joints become red, swollen, hot, and painful, as if someone is gouging out the bones with a knife.
Let alone walking on the ground, even the slightest touch of the bed sheet can cause excruciating pain and break out in a cold sweat.
So it's not that the Ninth Prince doesn't go to the Ministry of Revenue, nor that he doesn't listen to the Eighth Prince.
Rather, he simply couldn't go.
Illness strikes like a landslide; no one can stop it.
Yin'e slowly put away "Overheard" and extinguished the light on the pages with his fingers.
He suddenly realized that his previous suspicions and wariness were somewhat unnecessary.
Lao Jiu is a man full of evil schemes, and his methods are more venomous than snakes and scorpions.
But at least in this one instance, he didn't do it on purpose.
As Yin'e listened to the occasional groans and indistinct curses coming from the other side of the wall, a thought suddenly popped into his mind.
He should have a way to treat gout.
In his past life, his boss was a gout sufferer for many years, with flare-ups every few days, causing him excruciating pain.
Each time he had an attack, the boss would take out a small medicine bottle from his desk drawer, pour out a small white pill, and swallow it with warm water.
Within half a day, the redness and swelling will subside, and the pain will be greatly reduced.
He remembered the name of the medicine: colchicine.
He knew about autumn crocuses; their pale purple flowers resembled miniature lilies, and their bulbous stems, when cut open, revealed white flesh containing a special alkaloid.
Colchicine is a substance extracted from the rhizome of this plant and is specifically used to treat acute gout attacks, with immediate results.
What would it mean if he could extract this substance and deliver it to Lao Jiu?
Yin'e's eyes lit up in the darkness.
That means Lao Jiu will owe him a huge favor.
In Lao Jiu's eyes, he was his savior.
At that time, Lao Jiu's favorability towards him will skyrocket.
It didn't just rise by a point or two, it shot up like a rocket.
At that time, the issue of the 200,000 taels of silver might not just be a matter of "whether or not to repay it".
Instead, Lao Jiu would willingly help him, and would even take the initiative to think of him and make arrangements for him.
After all, the debt of gratitude is the hardest debt to repay in the world.
Yin'e took a deep breath and suppressed his excitement.
"Don't rush," he told himself, "Go back first and think carefully about how to do it."
He stood up, patted the dirt off his bottom, straightened his melon-shaped hat, and tidied his clothes.
He then took a folding fan from his waist, waved it in his hand, and pretended to be strolling around.
Then, he walked towards the alley entrance.
It was completely dark by then.
The hour of You (5-7 PM) is drawing to a close, and the hour of Xu (7-9 PM) is approaching.
The Qing Dynasty had a strict curfew system.
In the summer, at eight o'clock in the evening, which is the time of Xu (7-9 PM), the soldiers under the command of the Nine Gates Admiral would begin patrolling the streets.
At that time, no one, regardless of who they are, will be allowed to walk freely on the street.
Even if you're a prince, if you're caught by patrolling soldiers, they can't really do anything to you, but if they report it to their superiors, they'll impeach you.
Saying that you "stay out all night and are improper" is a troublesome matter.
What Emperor Kangxi hated most was the princes' improper behavior and troublemaking.
The original owner's impression in Kangxi's mind was gradually depleted over the years.
Yin'e did not want to repeat the same mistake.
He quickened his pace, almost jogging.
There are very few pedestrians on the street now.
Only a few travelers remained, hurrying along with their heads down.
Most of the shops on both sides had already put up their doors, with only a few restaurants and teahouses still having their lights on.
Yin'e lowered his head, pulled his hat brim even lower, and strode through one street after another.
His mind was never idle.
How to extract colchicine?
He wasn't very good at chemistry in high school, but he was still a science major and understood the basic purification principles.
The rhizomes of autumn crocus contain alkaloids, which need to be extracted with organic solvents and then concentrated and crystallized to obtain the active ingredients with high purity.
The problem is, in this era, he had no ethanol, no ether, no separatory funnel, no rotary evaporator, nothing at all.
"With wine," he said silently to himself.
Alcohol is the most basic organic solvent.
Although the concentration is not high enough, repeated soaking and concentration should be able to extract some effective ingredients.
And dosage.
Colchicine is poisonous, and the therapeutic dose and the toxic dose are very close.
The pills the boss took in his previous life were strictly purified and dose-controlled; the exact number of milligrams in each pill was crystal clear.
However, the concentration of the substances he refined using his own methods was impossible to control precisely.
If the dosage is too high, it will not only fail to cure the disease, but may also poison Lao Jiu to death.
That would turn someone from a savior into a murderer.
Yin'e slowed his pace, his brows furrowing into a knot.
"We need to test the dosage on a small animal first, or... start with the lowest concentration and increase it little by little."
He knew it was risky, but if he didn't try, he wouldn't have a chance.