Was Dr. Wu Ching Ngau really unable to cure Mr. Silver Leaf, or just unwilling?

[Ken Cheng]

In HSDS, Granny Golden Flower murdered Dr. Wu Ching Ngau because the doctor did not save her husband, Mr. Silver Leaf. Did Dr. Wu not save Mr. Silver Leaf because, as he claimed, he was unable to? Or was he capable, but unwilling?

If he was unwilling, why?

[pannonian]

Silver Leaf wasn't a member of the Ming Sect, and by that point Hu Qingniu had already vowed not to cure anyone who wasn't a member of the Ming Sect. The reason for that? He and his wife had informally engaged in a contest to see who was most skilled. Wang Nangu would poison someone, the Hu Qingniu would find some way to heal the victim. Eventually she stormed off, saying that her husband didn't respect her. The Ming Sect restriction was because she, as a member of the Ming Sect, was bound by rules not to harm another member of the Sect, and so Hu Qingniu could treat the victim without any fear of upsetting his wife.

The episode ended when Wang Nangu tied up Hu Qingniu, then poisoned herself, saying he couldn't heal the victim this time (he could). He took the poison himself (after first writing out a prescription for the cure for Zhang Wuji to administer), and she renounced their rivalry. She never got to know she'd been tricked, as Golden Flower killed her and Hu Qingniu not long afterwards.

[Ken Cheng]

Of course, that still doesn't settle the matter of whether or not Dr. Wu could treat whatever ailed Mr. Silver Leaf.

We know that he refused to treat him and the reason, but the remaining mystery is if Dr. Wu could have cured Mr. Silver Leaf even if he had wanted to.

[pannonian]

Of course, that still doesn't settle the matter of whether or not Dr. Wu could treat whatever ailed Mr. Silver Leaf.

We know that he refused to treat him and the reason, but the remaining mystery is if Dr. Wu could have cured Mr. Silver Leaf even if he had wanted to.

Given that he was able to deal with whatever the Sage of Poisons could throw at him, he would probably have been able to cure Han Qianye if he'd wanted to. It was only the extent to which the Xuanming poison had pervaded Zhang Wuji's major organs that made him accept defeat.