This Crown Prince is Ascending the Throne in the Entertainment Industry - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Xiang Xu exhaled a breath, his gaze falling onto the traditional Chinese medicine cabinets in the distance.

Though this world was said to be unfamiliar, there were still many recognizable things, such as the characters and the herbal medicines. From an architectural standpoint, it seemed significantly more complex than the Yin Dynasty.

Furthermore, his Imperial Sister was here… But why did she always look so guilty? She wouldn’t take this opportunity to sell him off, would she? Was human trafficking illegal in this world?

No, surely not. If she wanted to sell him, why would she bring him here to see a doctor? Xiang Xu was rather scaring himself.

“I see your brother’s problem as very severe,” the old doctor stared at the siblings, who clearly looked like they had just entered society, his voice carrying a trace of pressure: “But looking at it now, it’s better to get checked than to never get checked. His condition will be quite difficult to treat, but it isn’t incurable. If you had brought him any later, I would have been completely powerless.”

Xiang Xu’s train of thought snapped back, his eyes narrowing beneath his bangs.

Why did the way this man spoke remind him of his most despised Grand Tutor Zhang? The words Grand Tutor Zhang said most frequently were:

“When the Emperor was your age, he had already fought all across the land to establish the Yin Dynasty. Though your natural talent does not match his, if you begin to be diligent now, you will at least surpass the First Prince in five years. But if you do not work hard, even if this old man exerts all his heart, there will be no solution.”

The purpose of these two sets of words was identical: apply psychological pressure to the opposing party, and then make them obey submissively.

He swept a glance at his Imperial Sister, only to see her expression silently sink as well, though on the surface it was not quite obvious.

“Then tell me, how should it be treated?”

Xiang Ji’s tone was somewhat cold and detached. The old doctor cleared his throat, adjusted the stethoscope hanging around his neck, and pulled out a form, taking notes as he spoke:

“First, he needs to do a psychological test paper, then do a brain CT, an electrocardiogram, draw blood for routine testing…”

“Hold on.” Xiang Ji’s gaze locked onto him sharply, “What blood drawing and routine testing do you need for a psychological issue?”

“When you go to a hospital for an illness, drawing blood for testing is perfectly normal. This concerns the subsequent administration of medication. Besides, your younger brother has malnutrition, so he needs to be checked even more.”

Xiang Ji swallowed hard: “What about the electrocardiogram?”

“In case there is an issue with the heart, it wouldn’t be suitable for medication. That must be ruled out.”

Xiang Ji’s mouth twitched. Unwilling to give up, she asked: “And the brain CT?”

“Severe psychological issues will manifest externally in the brain. According to the standard procedures, everything must be checked.”

Xiang Ji’s expression grew increasingly gray and dejected. She highly suspected this quack-like doctor was intentionally scamming them for money and wanted to find some loopholes. However, this was an area unfamiliar to her, and the opponent was a professional doctor.

“Oh, right…” The old doctor with graying hair moved his shriveled lips, “Aside from the blood routine, we also need to check liver and kidney functions, as well as vitamins.”

“Hold on!” Xiang Ji practically threw out an “Erkang hand” gesture to stop him, “Why do we need to check vitamins?”

“A lack of vitamins severely affects mood changes. If you want the treatment to be effective, we must check for it and then prescribe corresponding supplements.”

Xiang Ji felt like she was about to faint. She constantly felt that something was wrong, yet everything the doctor said sounded very reasonable.

Only, to her ears, all of these meant money. She only had a little over two hundred yuan; would she still make it if she ran away right now?

She turned her face over inch by inch, the smile on her face barely holding together: “Xiao Xu, didn’t you say earlier that you were fine?”

Xiang Xu couldn’t understand what those things they mentioned earlier were, but he had indeed indicated earlier that he was fine, so he gave a cautious, slight nod.

Xiang Ji grabbed his arm, hurriedly fleeing outward. Yet, before the doctor could even call out to stop them, she came to a halt on her own, and then aggressively dragged her younger brother back inside.

Playing video games day and night without a break, refusing to communicate with other people—Xiang Ji had always wanted to bring Xiang Xu to see a doctor. But Xiang Xu had a bad relationship with her. Every time she brought it up, she would be blocked by Xiang Xu’s words, “I’m not sick, if you force me I’ll die right in front of you.”

Now, with great difficulty, his brain had become muddled from a knock, allowing her to drag him here by force. His speech was also completely bizarre. He was likely severely ill.

If he wasn’t treated now, what if he suddenly jumped down from the building like that person from Building 10!

Xiang Ji could neither leave nor stay. Pressed by urgency in that moment, her hand slammed onto the counter with a loud thud:

“I’m warning you, old man! I only have two hundred yuan in my pocket, not a single penny more! If you can treat him, then treat him. If you can’t treat him, I’ll find people to tear down this scam clinic of yours. Anyway, I am capable of doing absolutely anything!”

Xiang Xu and the old doctor were both left dumbfounded.

“You don’t believe me? The local tyrant of South Street, Jiang Lingdong, is my friend. I can make a call and summon him here right now!” Xiang Ji shoved her phone screen right in front of the old doctor’s face. On the contact list, the name Jiang Lingdong was written clearly.

Jiang Lingdong held a massive reputation in this area. It was rumored that three years ago, he had even entered the detention center for murder, but was released within a few months. Rumor had it that he possessed connections in the police station.

What was more terrifying than a tyrant was a tyrant whom no law could restrain.

The old doctor couldn’t help but size up this girl. She possessed a very pure and quiet appearance, the type who might have been an obedient girl with excellent academic grades during her school days. He hadn’t expected that people couldn’t be judged by their appearance, and that she could actually be tied to such a tyrant.

Although it was highly likely she was intentionally bluffing, what if it was real?

“Speak up, can you treat him or not?!” Seeing that the old doctor gave no reaction, Xiang Ji pressed closer by a few steps, her voice raising a few notches, her posture looking almost as if she was about to swallow the doctor whole.

Forced to take two steps back, the old doctor finally spoke with some lingering fear: “…The, the psychological test is free, taking the pulse is 30, and then I’ll prescribe some Chinese medicine…”

“Then it’s a deal.”

Xiang Ji gave a cold snort and stepped back: “Don’t you dare play any tricks. I can still tell whether someone is extortionate or not!”

The old doctor tremblingly looked at this woman with messy hair, wearing a hoodie paired with slippers. Previously, he had only felt she was frail and quiet, but now she seemed intensely like a street hoodlum.

Imperial Sister… she… although she is a bit crude, this is actually quite good. It makes it hard for her to be bullied.

Xiang Xu nodded in his heart.

Furthermore, she truly cared about her younger brother; this point was identical to his memories.

Next up should be the treatment for that psychological issue illness, right? Once cured, would he be able to return to the Yin Dynasty? His Crown Princess was still waiting for him.

Thinking of this possibility, Xiang Xu decided that, at least regarding the treatment, he ought to cooperate.

The doctor brought over a copy of the psychological test questions and then handed Xiang Xu a pen.

That pen was a click-type ballpoint pen, featuring a transparent outer casing with a rubber grip fitted over the lower end. A portion of the black refill inside could be seen, and the tail end was a clickable cap—it was the most common variety.

Xiang Xu stared at that pen for a full five seconds before receiving it, holding it in his hand with some helplessness.

Looking at the stack of paper before his eyes, he grew even more dizzy.

Upon the smooth, pristine white paper, those characters were even smaller than small regular script, and he didn’t recognize over half of them. Xiang Xu read row by row from right to left, and from top to bottom; what he read was simply incomprehensible.

He felt like an illiterate person who had studied for 20 years.

“Write your name first.” The old doctor pointed at the psychological test paper, “For the other questions, check the boxes.”

Looking at that horizontal line, Xiang Xu gripped the pen with some tension. He suddenly recalled that although this “Imperial Sister” called him “Xiao Xu,” his name might not necessarily be “Xiang Xu.” Furthermore, the way “Xiang Xu” was written here might be different from the Yin Dynasty.

What made him even a bit anxious was that, although what he held was a pen, how was this pen supposed to be used?

Using the method of holding a brush, he tentatively drew a stroke at the horizontal line, yet no ink mark manifested.

The old doctor knit his brows: “Click it.”

Click? Click where?

Xiang Xu groped along the pen shaft, his finger pads pressing here and pressing there, just avoiding pressing the very top.

The old doctor let out a long, long sigh. This sigh caused the hearts of both siblings to tighten.

The younger brother was afraid that the matter of him not being a local would be discovered, while the older sister knew that a doctor’s sigh definitely meant the patient had a massive problem.

Sure enough, the doctor spoke: “Your brother’s brain is already a bit…”

Xiang Ji’s heart dropped with a gedeng, the corners of her eyes flushing a bit red, yet she still forced herself to maintain her aggressively fierce posture: “Do you know how to talk? Cut the nonsense, treat as much as you can treat!”

The old doctor shrunk his neck: “You help him write. Ask him question by question, keep your speaking speed a bit slower, and see how much he can understand.”

Xiang Xu watched as his Imperial Sister took the paper and pen from his hand and clicked the pen cap.

So it’s clicked right there.

Why didn’t you explain it more clearly, he rolled his eyes in his heart.

When his Imperial Sister wrote his name, he took a stealthy glance without making it obvious.

It turned out “Xiang” was a bit different, while “Xu” was still the same.

However, why were these two characters written horizontally? Even if they were written horizontally, why was “Xiang” to the left of “Xu”?

Nevertheless, he was actually still called “Xiang Xu.”

Before he had time to ponder further, his Imperial Sister had already begun to ask.

“1. Do you frequently find it difficult to relax? A. Never B. Rarely C. Sometimes D. Very Frequently…”

Xiang Xu couldn’t understand what “Ei Bee See Dee” meant, and didn’t even know these were choices. Consequently, he picked randomly on the multiple-choice questions.

He did understand the yes-no questions a bit better, but those questions were all things that only abnormal people would have, such as “Do you frequently experience shortness of breath in social situations” and the like.

Xiang Xu’s inner mind shook its head at every single question. What were social situations and shortness of breath?

But they should be bad things, so he might as well just shake his head.

As a result, for what followed, he shook his head so much he was about to vomit.

He recalled those highly famous historical emperors who feigned madness and acted foolish, feeling that his own plight was quite similar to theirs at that time.

He completely experienced their helplessness, only that seeing his Imperial Sister’s increasingly worried face, he still felt a bit unable to bear it.

I’m sorry, Imperial Sister of this world, I truly cannot understand. But in order to survive, I must pretend that I can understand. I hope you can comprehend.

Once the final question was asked, he anxiously watched his Imperial Sister hand the paper up.

The old doctor nudged his glasses, scanning through the questions one by one. He glanced at Xiang Xu, and then scanned through them a second time.

The siblings tensely watched his increasingly serious face, as though awaiting the pronouncement of a death sentence.

He slammed the test paper back onto the counter, his mouth twitching: “Are you just refusing to see the doctor, picking randomly to waste time?!”

Xiang Xu’s heart skipped a beat, dreading that his inability to understand “Ei Bee See Dee”—which might be a matter of common sense—was about to be exposed. Xiang Ji, however, paused, a trace of dejection flashing across her face: “Perhaps he is angry with me.”

Xiang Xu was stunned. How was this conclusion reached?

The old doctor frowned slightly: “You and your brother have a bad relationship?”

Where did this conclusion come from?!

Under Xiang Xu’s shocked gaze, he actually watched his Imperial Sister give a heavy nod.

It turns out he and his Imperial Sister had a bad relationship!

No wonder his Imperial Sister always wore a guilty look. It was highly likely that the original Xiang Xu would fundamentally refuse to come see a doctor with his Imperial Sister.

Xiang Xu felt he had miscalculated the situation and made an error in strategy. But since he was already standing here, he could only harden his resolve and turn his face to the side, looking exactly as though he was truly throwing a tantrum at Xiang Ji.

Consequently, when the old doctor invited him to have his pulse taken, he behaved somewhat conflictually—standing there stiffly with his neck craned, pretending he hadn’t heard a single thing.

Probably because he had never been rebellious before, this was already the most rebellious act he could think of. But catching sight of his Imperial Sister’s eyes which were on the verge of shedding tears, Xiang Xu instantly felt he was being a bit too excessive. Pouting his lips, he sat down with extreme reluctance.

The doctor smiled: “Your brother actually doesn’t hate you that much.”

His Imperial Sister’s surprise was too obvious. Xiang Xu intensely wanted to cover his face, scream, and run away.

Whether it was acting like an ordinary good child or playing a bad child throwing a fit at his Imperial Sister, he didn’t possess an ounce of talent.

Just stay put quietly. If I keep acting, I’m truly afraid I’ll be locked up as a lunatic!

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