Unusual Medical Condition...?

I have been writing books about the old karate system I teach. I am nearly finished with Vol.2, up to nearly 500 pages now. I have recently been blessed with access to historical records in Chinese, previously unheard-of in Western society. A few expert translators assisted gratis.

One historical figure I was researching died under mysterious circumstances, and I wondered if others out there have some knowledge of this kind of condition. Here is the excerpt from his own Family Genealogy Book:

""Bai shan xiao wei xian" (Filial piety is the most important of all virtues). He and his wife were well-known as a loving couple, and he was a devoted filial son to his mother. At that time, he suffered an outbreak of malignant sores, due to stimulation from a contradictory conflict between an old woman and his daughter-in-law. He who was master of pen and sword and a great hero of the generation with integrity of virtue, died tragically young. He was 48 years old."

The gentleman in question was a very strong-willed man, highly educated, and not prone to nervous tension or fearful reactions to any situation. Both he and his wife were highly-skilled kungfu experts and he especially was considered a medical genius of his time (b. 1886, d. 1934). He was the founder of a college and of various cultural societies, the principal of a middle school, and both he and his wife were famous philanthropists.

At this time I am waiting on further information, but I believe the "old woman" who had a hatred of, or some sort of severe argument with, the daughter-in-law (possibly the wife of a favorite son?) was probably his mother.

Can someone so strongly balanced and so mentally disciplined feel such devotion to his mother that such a disagreement can cause a nervous reaction leading to a physical outbreak of sores and eventual death?

Has anyone reading this heard of this sort of thing, and is there a name for such a condition?