Housekeeper of the Hundred Blossom Palace

With that, Yui Mei called out to Li Yong, who was taking refuge behind them.

“Li Yong, it’s a bit hard to see, so can you please help me turn Lord Ming so he’ll be lying on his back?”

“Yeah.”

Li Yong drew closer once again, and he held Ming so he wouldn’t move after turning him on his back.

Afterward, Yui Mei touched Ming here and there, and she also rolled his sleeves up. The old woman was mortified, so she let Li Yong calm her down as she inspected Ming all over.

“I see, I have a general idea now.”

Yui Mei released Ming’s body as she sighed.

She couldn’t help but be amazed that Ming didn’t wake up despite being touched everywhere, not to mention she also moved his hands and feet.

However, that must be set aside for now.

“Lord Ming exhibited an exemplary model of a specific illness, to the point that I want to sketch him to leave that for the future generations.”

“What did you discover?”

Li Yong asked Yui Mei while she was immersed in amazement at the results after the physical examination. 

Yui Mei decided to explain it to both of them, since the old woman also seemed perplexed at what was going on.

“Yes, based on the examination earlier, I can conclude that Lord Ming is suffering from  tòngfēng, or simply put, gout.”

“Gout?”

Li Yong and the old woman asked in unison. Apparently, it was the first time they heard such a term, so Yui Mei explained further.

“This gout is also called tòngfēng based on the characters of 痛 for pain and 風 for wind, because it was said that the slightest stimulus of the wind blowing would cause the patient to experience extreme pain.”

Of course, Yui Mei was also concerned about the intense stink of alcohol, but the thing that bothered her the most was his feet. It was obviously swollen.

Moreover, the ankles, joints, and even the ears were slightly swollen, and this symptom was a distinct one exhibited in patients with gout.

“The pain from gout is sporadic, or to simply put, the fits will occur from time to time, but it will eventually lessen. The cycle of repeated pain and healing will eventually worsen until even the other internal organs will be affected.”

When Yui Mei said those words, realization dawned on the old woman as she mumbled “now that you said that…”

“There were times when Master would suddenly roar without any warning in the past. The other servants thought that he must be possessed, so they would resign in twos and threes from time to time.”

“That is how a gout patient is. Just like its name, just the touch of the wind must have caused him pain.”

Ming was textbook worthy; he had all the symptoms.

Yui Mei really felt that it would be good if she could draw his pictures and write all the symptoms and conditions one by one so she could leave that for the future generation. 

At any rate, since it was treated as a strange disease with no other information available, there was no way for them to know about the existence of uric acid.

Even in her previous life, gout had existed since ancient times. However, it was only recently that the cause of the disease was discovered.

Yui Mei harbored that ambition. Li Yong then timidly asked her.

“Ahm, so, what’s the cause of that gout? Perhaps…”

“Just as Li Yong thought, in Lord Ming’s case, it’s because he drank too much.”

Yui Mei frankly confirmed Li Yong’s fear.

Strictly speaking, the root was uric acid, and it was a by-product when the body metabolizes the food we eat.

However, alcohol would produce a huge amount of uric acid.

Thus, it was an illness that was common among the drinkers.

“I tried pressing his back but he reacted painfully, so his kidneys — er, the organs that are responsible for making pee probably have some stones, too. Perhaps he doesn’t pee that much?”

If uric acid builds up in the kidneys, their function would be impaired, and peeing would be hindered. If stones formed, the area where they formed would be extremely painful.

It was highly likely that Ming had this condition.

“If he left that untreated, even the pathway where the urine flows will be blocked with stones, so every time he has to go, he will experience pain akin to hell. Well, we can’t really say, but maybe he already experienced that.”

“…Really?”

Li Yong’s face stiffened, probably because he imagined the scenario, and Yui Mei solemnly nodded.

“Gout is attained because of gluttony and heavy drinking. Really, everything must be in moderation.”

“I can’t believe that the rumored tòngfēng illness is something like this.”

Li Yong could only shake his head as he muttered ‘oh goodness’, but the story was far from over.

“Furthermore, based on Lord Ming’s body odor that reeks of alcohol, it is possible that he might even have another illness along with it.”

“Even reeking of alcohol is an illness?”

When Yui Mei mentioned another sickness, the words ‘there’s more?’ was written all over Li Yong’s face, so she nodded once again.

“Yes, it’s an illness. If he was healthy, then he wouldn’t stink to this extent.”

Too much drinking could also impair liver function.

If the liver is impaired, the body won’t be able to get rid of the alcohol from the body, and as a result, the body will adjust by disposing of it as sweat.

That’s why he reeked much more than normal.

It was already coming from inside his body, so a bath wouldn’t solve it.

The color drained from the old woman’s face when she heard all of this. She posed another question for Yui Mei.

“Ahm, is Master suffering from a severe illness?”

“Yes, it is a sort of a grave illness, but it is possible to heal him.”

Yui Mei answered. She was concerned about the extent of damage to the liver, but it doesn’t seem to be the worst yet.

“Really!?”

Relief washed over the old woman.

Hi everyone, Hanazakura here, thanks for reading, I’m grateful to you guys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Housekeeper of the Hundred Blossom Palace schedule of release is every Mon, Wed and Fri. 

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