Chapter 2 Seeking a doctor
In the early spring of the second year of Taijian, we were in Xingyang County of the Northern Qi Dynasty.
In the middle of the night, a scream suddenly rang out from the Zheng family mansion in the east of Bishui Pass. The scream cut through the sky, like a stone breaking through the water, making the originally quiet night suddenly become eerie. The terror boiled like a demon walking in the night.
The old lady Zheng Lushi woke up from her sleep, hurriedly called her maid to put on a cloak, and with the help of two old women, she rushed to the other courtyard where the screams were heard, and she saw a crowded room. , all the servants trembled and knelt on the ground, but the young man lying on the collapsed bed in the bedroom had a crooked mouth and squinting eyes, his whole body was twitching, and his sad cries filled the whole room.
Seeing her lively, smart and handsome grandson turn into what he is now, the old lady was heartbroken. She used crutches angrily and asked sternly: "What's going on? Wasn't everything fine in the past two days?" ? Isn’t it almost recovered? How are you taking care of me?”
The maids were so frightened that they trembled, and one of them raised his head tremblingly and replied: "Back to the old lady, my husband has indeed been much better in the past two days. He can eat and drink, and he can also interact with the two men from the Yang family and the Li family. We are racing together with you, but for some reason today..." The maid seemed to have thought of something, and raised her head, "Old madam, Sir, he must be possessed by evil spirits!"
"What kind of evil is in my body? If I am upright, I am not afraid of shadow evil. I, the descendants of the Zheng family, have always devoted themselves to the Buddha and are willing to do good deeds. Where can this evil thing come from? Come on, please call the doctor quickly."
A woman took the order and was about to leave, but she heard a voice interrupting: "Jia, we have already gone to invite you. Dr. Zhang, who used to live in the alley next to us, moved away at some time. It’s empty.”
The person speaking was her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Li, her grandson's aunt's mother.
The old lady's heart felt cold, and she immediately became angry: "Without Dr. Zhang, wouldn't there be no other doctors available?"
It can be said that the illnesses of the Zheng family have always been treated by Dr. Zhang. Although Dr. Zhang is not the exclusive physician for the Zheng family, there may not be a better doctor than him in the entire Xingyang City.
At this time, it was the middle of the night again. Where would they go to find a better doctor? The old lady was worried, and her face showed more panic and depression. She hurriedly staggered to the bedside and hugged her as if she was dying. Struggling young man cries.
"My good grandson, you must never abandon your grandmother. You are my grandmother's darling!"
Hearing the old lady cry, the cries of the women in the house doubled in volume. The mournful cries spread to every corner, causing the flower branches to tremble, the trees to wither, and the entire yard once again fell into a state of silence more terrible than death. In the terrifying darkness.
The old lady seemed to realize something was wrong, stood up again, and shouted sternly: "Why are you crying? The person is not dead yet! Everyone, please go out and look for me now, even if you turn the entire Xingyang City upside down. Get all the doctors here. If Shiro Shiro is in trouble, I want all of you in this room to be buried with him!"
As soon as this order was given, the maids who were kneeling on the ground all turned pale, and were so frightened that they were trembling and speechless. Just as they got up one by one and were about to run out, one of the maids suddenly said : "Old madam, I know that there is a disease doctor in Xingyang City. She can definitely cure my husband's illness."
"Then why don't you catch her quickly!" Madam Li on the side quickly ordered.
But I heard the servant girl's hesitant and trembling reply: "I'm afraid she won't."
"It is her blessing to be able to treat the children of our Xingyang Zheng family. What else..."
Before Li finished speaking, the old lady stretched out her hand to signal her to cover her mouth, and then signaled the maidservant to continue speaking.
The maid then explained the reason: "Originally, a month ago, when Lang Jun was playing in Bishui Pass, he passed by Peach Blossom Valley and accidentally met a woman and a child. Although the woman was wearing a silk hat, But when a gust of wind blew, the husband saw her appearance and was astonished. He wanted to take the woman as his concubine, but he didn't want the woman to refuse to accept him, and instead told him that he had a serious illness. "
"It's ridiculous. Just because she said she has a serious disease, can you conclude that she is a miracle doctor?" Zheng Lushi interrupted again.
The maidservant immediately shook her head: "No, old madam, eldest madam. Later, Lang Jun went to inquire about the news about the lady. I heard that the lady cured many villagers suffering from the plague. She was called "Mrs." by the people in the village. Miracle doctor."
"She also told Mr. Lang that in a month, he will have a relapse of his old illness. His mouth will be crooked, his eyes will be slanted, his whole body will twitch. He will not be able to eat, drink, move, or live. Life will be worse than death."
The old lady looked at her grandson again, and saw that the young man was twitching more violently as if he had seen something terrible. His mouth was drooling. He could not speak or move. Isn't it worse than death?
She hurriedly shook the young man's hand, and said sadly and distressedly: "Fourteen, don't be afraid, grandma will invite this miracle doctor for you right now!"
Just as she was about to leave, Mrs. Li stretched out her hand to stop her: "Ah Jia, don't you think there is something wrong with what this servant said?"
"What's the problem?" the old lady asked.
Mrs. Li replied: "This maid said that Shiro Fourteen wanted to take the woman as his concubine, but the woman refused, so she told him that he had a serious illness."
"You mean, you suspect that this woman is responsible for Jushiro's illness?"
"My wife just feels that we have never met this woman, and she has a problem with Shishiro, so we have to be on guard. Not to mention whether she is really as amazing as the rumors say, if she wants to be detrimental to Shishiro..."
"Whether it can be cured or not, whether this woman is a human or a ghost, I will talk about it after seeing her." The old lady interrupted.
At midnight, in the starless and moonless sky, the night fell like splashing ink. The Zheng Mansion's house suddenly opened wide, and a group of people followed a carriage slowly out of the house and sped towards the west of the city.
The carriage rolled, mixed with the sounds of panicked and messy footsteps, passing through the entire street leading to the west of Sishuiguan City, until it stopped at a suburban village on the upper reaches of Qingquan Stone.
"Old lady, this is it."
With a soft call from the maid, the old lady opened the carriage curtain, stepped on the back of an old servant, and walked out of the carriage. She saw the scenery in front of her illuminated by the torch: small bridge, flowing water, green bamboos, pines and cypresses, There are also spring apricots that look like snow, and young peaches that are as beautiful as ever. I can’t help but sigh in my heart: What a paradise with apricot blossoms and misty rain like those in the south of the Yangtze River, with peach blossoms and flowing water shaded by greenery. It turns out that there is such a quiet and elegant place here.
Under the leadership of the old lady, the group of people stepped on the white stones emerging from the stream and walked towards the village in a winding way.
No one noticed that when the torches were lit one after another, a small figure walked through the pine forest and quickly ran into a low and dilapidated hut.
"Brother Qing, as you expected, they are here." A slightly childish boy's voice said.
The room was silent and sparsely furnished, with only a couch, a table and a few chairs, plus a huge screen that could separate the room into two rooms. A "young man" in white was holding a wolf-hair pen with a dull look in his eyes. Staring blankly at the screen, the bean-like candlelight flickered, giving the "young man" a dense blush on his lustrous skin.
If someone looks carefully, they will find that there is actually nothing on the screen, or in other words, there is only an unfinished painting with only a few outlines.
And this painting may be waiting to be resurrected under the pen of the "young man", showing all the splendor that originally belonged to it.
"Okay, I understand." The young man replied, put down the pen in his hand, and picked up the hat on the table beside him. The door rang at this moment, and there was a burst of noise in the silent night.
…
"Go, invite that lady out, and tell her that it is our old lady from the Zheng family in Xingyang who has come to seek medical treatment." Mrs. Li pointed at the maid in front of her and ordered.
The little maid looked at the dark room, with only a few flickering candles. A gust of cold wind almost extinguished it, and the half-open door made a creaking sound, frightening the little maid. The maid shivered violently, her legs were trembling and she did not dare to step forward.
"Go quickly! Why are you still standing there!" Mrs. Li pushed impatiently, and the little maid was so weak that she stumbled to the ground.
"It's useless. Whoever goes in and asks for the miracle doctor will be rewarded heavily by me when he goes back." Mrs. Li simply offered benefits to lure him.
Several maids who were standing blankly on one side immediately rushed towards the door, but at this moment, they suddenly saw a lantern dangling from the door.
The servants screamed in fright, and when they looked closely, they saw clearly that the lantern was being held by a child in green clothes. The child looked to be only about ten years old, but he was actually beautiful and beautiful, with skin as bright as snow. In an instant, all the maidservants were stunned.
Mrs. Zheng and Mrs. Li were both a little surprised and stunned when they saw him. They had seen a lot of this beautiful husband from the North, but the shock to them at this moment was far beyond what they had been before.
Just when everyone here was stunned and stunned, they heard the boy ask: "Are you here to seek medical treatment?"
The sound is full of joy, as beautiful as water hitting a stone chime, and it is actually beautiful in both voice and appearance.
"Yes!" the servant girl replied repeatedly, "We are servants of the Zheng family. Please tell me that our old lady is here."
When she finished speaking, she heard the boy say unceremoniously: "I'm sorry, my master has gone to sleep peacefully. It's not convenient for people to see a doctor now. He's exposed late at night. Please go back quickly!" After that, he seemed to close the door. Thank you.
Madam Li was instantly dumbfounded. Could it be that this boy had never heard of the Zheng family in Xingyang? As the saying goes, "Wang Lu Cui Zheng, Wang Xie Yuan Xiao", whether in the south or in the north, the Zheng family in Xingyang was always associated with top-notch people. The rich and famous family is the existence that these untouchables look up to all their lives. Even the hermit has never seen a famous and quiet person. What's more, this boy looks like a lowly servant boy, just wearing this clothes. Look, the status of the owner's family isn't that high.
"Wait a minute, kid, please listen to me. We are here to ask for medical treatment, not for medical treatment. Today, your master has to go whether he wants to go or not. Someone is here -"
Li felt that she wanted to show some color to scare this ignorant and ignorant child. At her signal, the two subordinates picked up their long sticks and strode in the direction of the boy.
Unexpectedly, before the two of them got close, their stomachs felt severe pain, as if they had been kicked hard in the abdomen, and their bodies were thrown back like a kite with no money.
Seeing two bodies slamming down in front of her eyes, Li screamed and widened her eyes. She looked in shock and disbelief at the boy who was standing on his feet with an angry look on his face.
He is actually a martial artist!
"It turns out that you are not here to seek medical treatment, but to seek trouble. I will not accompany you. Please leave immediately without sending me away!"
The boy once again issued an eviction order, and Mrs. Li didn't dare to fart again. Mrs. Zheng, with a solemn expression on her face, turned her hand and slapped Mr. Li, and then gave the boy a fist-cup salute with a calm tone. He said humbly and kindly: "Little man, you have the so-called parental heart of a doctor. I heard that your master is also a kind-hearted man. He has treated many villagers suffering from diseases. Why are you unwilling to help and save a life today?" What? As the Buddha says, saving one life is better than building a seven-level pagoda. This is also to accumulate merit for your master. If you can cure my grandson's disease, I can also use the power of my Zheng family to help you. The master of the house spreads her reputation and makes her medical skills famous all over the world!”
By saying so much, I just want to tell boys that this is a matter of fame and fortune.
The old lady thinks that this kind of inducement with such benefits is tempting enough! People live their lives just to leave a name, but unexpectedly the boy actually asked: "Saving a life is better than building a seven-level pagoda, but what if you save a wolf? Letting the wolf return to the mountain will only cause more people to die." Many living beings are suffering, Mrs. Zheng, do you want to save them or not?”
The old lady was stunned. She really didn't expect that she would have to preach and discuss Buddhism with a child today after living for most of her life.
What does it mean to let the wolf return to the mountain? To save or not to save?
When the boy saw the old lady pondering, her lips slightly curved, her eyes showing contempt, he turned around and was about to slam the door and go in. Then he heard the old lady yell: "Wait a minute -" This was not a question of wolf or not, the old lady suddenly lost her mind. Qingming, let's get to the point: "Little Master, has my 14th Master ever offended your master?"
The boy said: "What's more, your 14th son not only seized fertile land, bullied good people, and raped people's daughters, but he also wanted to molest my brother Qing. Why did my brother Qing save him?"
The old lady's face turned pale. Sure enough, this was a feud that had been made for a long time!
"Then the disease that my Shishiro is suffering from is your master..."
Before the old lady finished speaking, the boy raised his eyebrows in displeasure and said, "What? You still suspect that the illness of that wretched fool is related to my brother Qing?"
Who are you calling a fool? Her grandson was obviously 'more handsome than Pan An and more talented than Zizi'. Even the emperor once commented that he was 'intelligent and enlightened'. The old lady frowned and was displeased, but after all, it was hard to say anything when she wanted to ask for help.
At this time, a sentence suddenly came from the dark and silent cabin for a long time: "Phoenix, come in!"
Phoenix? Is that the boy's name? How dare such a lowly servant boy be named "Phoenix"?
Amidst the stunned astonishment of all the women, the boy entered the house like a whirlwind. Not long after, he walked out again and said with a sullen face: "My brother Qing promised to cure the second son of your family. You fools, send them over quickly!”
"Send it here? No...shouldn't it be sent to our house? We have a carriage here..."
Li added something casually, but she was immediately met with a glare from the boy and an angry shout: "Should you treat the doctor, or should we? The doctor is more arrogant than the one we treat. We don't want to send people away." Come and get out of here right now!”
Mrs. Li was dumbfounded again. The servants and women were holding back their laughter and did not dare to make a sound. Only the old lady suppressed her anger and calmly responded without changing her expression: "Okay, I will ask someone to send him here right away." He ordered his servants, "Go back quickly and send Shiro Shiro here!"
Several servants and the named servants responded to the order, and when they were about to leave, they suddenly heard the boy shout again: "Wait a minute, if I want to cure the disease of the second idiot in your family, my brother Qing has one condition. "
condition? What conditions?
The people headed by the old lady raised their voices again: They knew that this matter would not be so simple.
(End of chapter)