Chapter 4

Hearing the word "punishment," Cheng Chubi thought back to the times he had seen his older brothers secretly rubbing their bottoms and grimacing after waking up.

Cheng Chubi took a deep breath, and indeed, his father, a bully with prominent muscles, seemed to be a firm believer in the feudal education method of "spare the rod, spoil the child." Such outdated ideas were not worth promoting.

Looking at his father Cheng Yaojin, whose muscles were so strong they seemed about to burst through his clothes, Cheng Chubi looked down at himself. Although he had some muscle, it was nothing compared to his father's.

"Thank you, Father, for not blaming me. I am truly grateful..." Cheng Chubi decided not to harshly criticize his father's wrong educational methods but to go along with the feudal social trend. Of course, he was doing this to deepen the father-son relationship, not to avoid the Cheng family's punishment.

Sun Daotang, standing nearby, was twitching at the corners of his eyes. He couldn't bear the overly sweet father-son scene and quickly interrupted the two men showing their affection.

"Dear nephew, where did you learn this medical skill? How did you think of using the needle and thread to stitch the wound?"

"I don't know. When I saw Fang Xian's wound, a white-bearded old man in my head told me what to do, so I did it."

To prove he wasn't lying, Cheng Chubi pointed to his head with a serious face.

"White-bearded old man..." Yuchi Gong touched his black beard and repeated it, his gaze complex and his expression heavy. It seemed Cheng's third son was really crazy...

"Yes, and there weren't just one, but three. They all wore the same clothes as Sun and Yuan Daotang, but one wore yellow, one wore red, and one wore blue."

Cheng Chubi's expression was innocent and pure. Inside, he was gloating: red, yellow, and blue, the primary colors, you should have them, one qi transforms into three qings, mmm, mmm.

The four elders looked at each other with twisted faces, and the exhausted Cheng Chubi finally found an excuse to return to his room to rest.

"Two Daoists, what's wrong with my third son?" As soon as Cheng Chubi left the room, Cheng Yaojin eagerly asked Sun Simiao and Yuan Tianshi, who were still in shock.

"Well, this condition is really hard to describe. There are little people in his head, and there are three of them..."

Sun Simiao was completely baffled. What kind of disease was this? He had never heard of it.

Yuan Tianshi, the divine doctor who liked divination and massage, looked shocked and dazed. "Three white-bearded old men in Daoist robes, could it be the transformation of one into three qings? But the colors of the robes are wrong."

"..."

The first expert consultation for Cheng's third son ended in bizarre failure. After repeated discussions, Sun Simiao and Yuan Tianshi agreed that this was a form of mental disorder.

However, the condition was too complex to diagnose immediately.

They prescribed some calming and nourishing medicines for Cheng Chubi and advised not to let him get too excited.

"These few days, I will come to check on the situation. If your third son shows any abnormalities, General Cheng, you must remain calm and not panic, as it might scare him."

"As for bear hearts and leopard livers, I think we should try them, but not wolf hearts and dog livers."

"Also, Fang Xian, remember to come here in two days for Cheng Xian to examine you. Don't worry, I and Yuan Daotang will be here to ensure nothing goes wrong."

"Indeed, I will come back to check on the situation." Yuan Tianshi and Sun Simiao exchanged a glance.

Cheng Chubi's skilled treatment and suturing left a deep impression, but whether it was really effective and feasible would only be known after Fang Jun recovered.

As renowned medical experts of the Tang Dynasty, they were very curious whether the little people in Cheng's third son's head were a product of his imagination or if there were really deities guiding him.

This was a rare medical topic, though the two Daoists didn't understand what a topic was, they had a heart full of passion for pursuing and exploring the truth.

###

Back in his room, Cheng Chubi closed the door and sighed in relief. He couldn't help but praise his quick wit and humor.

After all, he had only inherited the body of the original Cheng Lao San, not his soul, and the original owner had left no memory at all.

So, amnesia was the first choice, and to prevent others from noticing his incompatibility with this era, he needed another plan. Hmm... having old deities in his head was a perfect choice.

Even a thousand years later, diagnosing such a fake mental patient would be challenging.

It would require a series of complex methods, including self-reporting of mental symptoms, lie detector tests, simple common sense tests, psychological tests, and physiological and biochemical tests to roughly determine if someone was faking madness.

Perfectly deceiving the medical authorities of the Tang Dynasty, Cheng Chubi felt a mix of joy and a slight sense of guilt.

But being certified as a mental patient by the two medical authorities of the Tang Dynasty, tsk tsk tsk, this was like a powerful reason to occasionally cover up mistakes.

Unfortunately, there were no mental health certificates in this era. Otherwise, Cheng Chubi, who came from the 21st century and felt uneasy without his ID, would feel more secure with one.

Since he had been transported to this era, he had been in a state of mental excitement and vigilance. Now that the crisis of his identity being exposed was temporarily resolved, Cheng Chubi could no longer hold on and fell asleep on the bed.

###

In the palace, Li Shimin met with Sun and Yuan Daotang again. Listening to their report, he frowned.

Amnesia was certain, and madness was likely, but the severity of the symptoms was hard to determine.

"...Thank you, two Daoists, is there any possibility of a cure?"

Sun and Yuan looked bitter. "Your Majesty, whether it can be cured will require further observation..." No one dared to guarantee a cure for madness.

"Indeed, if the two Daoists need anything to treat the illness, just come to me. I am also worried about what happened to Cheng's family."

After the two Daoists left, Li Shimin called a eunuch with a dark face.

"Go tell the Prince of Shu to stay at home and reflect on his actions. Without my order, if he dares to sneak out of the mansion, I will break his legs."

The news that the two famous medical experts of the Tang Dynasty, following the emperor's command, went to the mansion of Duke Lu to treat Cheng's third son's brain disease quickly spread.

"Did you hear? The third son of Duke Lu drank himself into madness." A gossiping auntie selling vegetables whispered mysteriously.

A gossiping old man who was packing up his tofu stall looked as if he had heard it before. "I heard it. I also heard that there are three little people fighting in Cheng Lao San's head..."

"This shows that the younger you are, the less you should drink. Otherwise, you might end up a fool or a madman, which is a lifelong disaster. It's better to drink rice wine. It has a wine flavor but doesn't harm the body." The owner of the rice wine stall quickly promoted his product.

"Come, come, come, sir, have a bowl. My rice wine is fragrant and sweet."

A dedicated matchmaker who happened to be passing by heard the gossip and touched the large black mole on her cheek with a look of regret.

"The son of a noble duke, not even engaged, and he's already mad. What will happen in the future..."

In short, the rumor that Cheng's third son had drunk too much, leading to amnesia and madness, spread rapidly through the streets and alleys of Chang'an, reaching every corner of the city.