Novel Bin Chapter 82 - Master of Medical Treatment
Chapter 82 Master of Medical Treatment
To be honest, the propriety, music, archery, riding, writing, and arithmetic taught in the academy were all the things that men needed to learn. As women, it was not very useful to learn more, master more, or become top female scholars. The ladies were sent to the academy to be more outstanding when negotiating a marriage and finding a good husband. Even if the legitimate daughters of Luo’s Family didn’t learn these things, they would be valuable enough. Their study experience in Chengxu Academy would be ice on the cake. And if they didn’t have this experience, they wouldn’t lose their advantages. Among all the families in Yangzhou, the two ladies were noble enough to marry anyone. Therefore, they could pick any good man in Yangzhou on their will.
And Mei, the second daughter-in-law of Madam Luo, liked to hold tea parties or poetry parties at home. There were almost one or two parties every month, and a dozen of childes from the relatives would be invited. If they were not enough to pick for the two ladies, Madam Luo just needed to send posts to every aristocrat family under her name of “Madam Luo in the East Yard of Luo’s Mansion” in Yangzhou, saying “Inviting the unmarried childes of the younger generation to come to East Yard of Luo’s Mansion for enjoying teas and flowers”, and so on. Everyone would understand what it meant. Many families would send one or two smart and handsome among the younger generations to visit. Even if the marriage couldn’t be settled, many people were willing to attend.
In other words, if people in Luo’s Mansion wanted to get their daughters perfect husbands, they would hold several tea parties. As for some aristocratic families, they wanted to choose their daughters-in-law similarly, and they also liked to hold several wine banquets or poetry parties. Sometimes, several families would jointly hold a large-scale noble banquet, and then they would send posts among the families. Even the Southern Zhili of Yingtian Prefecture and Northern Zhili of Shuntian Prefecture were likely to send invitation letters to Luo’s Family. As long as the ladies liked to travel, they could attend several similar blind dates every month.
Although Luo’s Family was almost the least powerful in the social circle of the nobility in the capital, anyone of Luo’s Family could say proudly, “We have the Senior Lord!” At present, the most powerful man in Luo’s Family in the capital, Luo Dusong, was just an imperial physician in the Imperial Hospital, Deputy Seventh-Grade. He played a tinny role with no future in the officialdom, not to mention others of the East Yard of Luo’s Mansion who couldn’t even pass the imperial examination and become a Juren.
The Senior Lord Luo Maitong was 81 years old this year. He was still hale and healthy. He was the old minister of the Emperor. They accumulated deep friendship when they fought for the state power together.
In the army, the Senior Lord was the Emperor’s military physician. He bandaged every wound and prepared every bowl of medicine for the Emperor. At that time, the Emperor called Senior Lord “Elder Brother Luo” because the Senior Lord was more than 10 years older than him. After the war ended, Senior Lord was appointed to the Imperial Hospital as an imperial physician for treating the Emperor and the Empress only. Later, he was appointed as Senator of the Imperial Hospital, Fifth-Grade. Then he was promoted to President of the Imperial Academy, Deputy Fourth-Grade, and finally transferred as the Director-General of the Provincial Administration Commission until he resigned and went back home 15 years ago.
Everyone said that the Emperor preferred to kill the meritorious officials, but he didn’t kill the Senior Lord the whole time. Of course, there were reasons. The reasonable explanation was the Senior Lord knew his situation, the Emperor’s mind and when to keep his nose clean. But it was also because the Emperor still thought highly of the Senior Lord. During the 15 years of resting, the Senior Lord had only lived at home for 2 or 3 years. And whenever he got home, the eunuch from the Palace would come and announce the imperial edict, asking the Senior Lord to come into the palace to treat the Emperor. In fact, the Emperor’s body was healthy. He just wanted to talk to the old friend because he missed the Senior Lord. Everyone knew the Emperor was a king with unpredictable happiness and anger. How many people in the world could be summoned into the palace for a long distance just for chatting?
At that time, speaking of why Chai’s Family in Chengdu sent two daughters to marry afar in Yangzhou, they did that for the reputation and fame of the Senior Lord. As for why Chai’s Family sent two daughters at a time, it was another old story.
Although the three sons of the Senior Lord didn’t make to the top of their political career, the son of his cousin (Senior Lord’s nephew), Luo Shuisheng, was very successful in the official business. Many years ago, Luo Shuisheng thrived in the official business, and was promoted to Tongzhi, Head of the Salt Production and Marketing Department, Deputy Fourth-Grade. 11 years ago, he retired in the name of observing mourning of his mother. At present, his son-in-law, Nian Guangsi, served as the Assistant Director of the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs, Deputy Fifth-Grade. And his youngest son, Luo Qiabo, was the Curator of the Department of Justice in Hunan and Hubei, which was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Punishments, Sixth-Grade. All of them were powerful officials in the imperial court. Although Luo Shaoji, the eldest son of Luo Shuisheng, didn’t enter the imperial court, and only concentrated on managing the 30-year-old “Ji Zhi Tang” owned by his family, he had once become Juren when he was young, and had the chance to be an official.
Moreover, Luo Shuisheng’s family had a close relationship with the Senior Lord’s offspring. In the early years, Luo Duheng, the master of West Yard of Luo’s Mansion, was not in good body condition and only had a daughter of the concubine, Luo Chuanjiao, before he became infertile. Therefore, he adopted the illegitimate of his nephew Luo Shaoji, Luo Chuanwu, who was now the First Lord of the West Yard. Luo Chuanwu was now the Deputy-Commissioner of the Imperial Hospital, often being busy running between Yingtian Prefecture and Yangzhou. He was the best son of this generation in the East Yard and West Yard of Yangzhou.
In general, the descendants of Luo’s Family were still powerful in the official court. The hundred-year old Luo’s Family was still full of vitality. It was possible that one day, there would be an extraordinary person, just like the Senior Lord, who would lead the whole family to be more prosperous.
Actually, they were descendants of Luo Tianyi, a famous doctor in the Yuan Dynasty. Then they practiced medicine for a living because of their family background.
Luo Bi, the son of Luo Tianyi, not only promoted his father’s medical skills, but also learned from Dou Mo, who was known as the “Master of Jin Zhen” in the Yuan Dynasty at that time. He learned the lifetime unique skill “San Qing Acupuncture” of Dou Mo. At that time, Luo Bi knelt for three days and nights in front of Dou Mo’s door before he became the last apprentice of Dou Mo. Therefore, in order to commemorate the day he was apprenticed successfully and remember his teacher’s kindness, Luo Bi designated September 17th as “Thanksgiving Day to His Master”. Every year, he used 3 animals and 10 fruits to worship, and asked his sons to do the same. So, “Thanksgiving Day to His Master” passed down from generation to generation.
Everyone said that the medical skill of the Senior Lord was “the top among all the doctors in the world”. Not only was it a compliment to his medical skills and ethics, but also because he was the only one in the world who was proficient in “San Qing Acupuncture”. Luo Duzhong, the Lord of the East Yard, was the only one who had learned 30-40% of the Senior Lord’s acupuncture therapy, but he had died many years ago. However, Luo Dusong in Luo’s Family in the capital wasn’t talented enough to learn only less than 10% of the acupuncture therapy.
After a long time, this “Thanksgiving Day to His Master” was no longer regarded as an important fiesta for all the descendants of Luo’s Family. Many of the young people in Luo’s Family and their daughters-in-law hadn’t even heard of this old story. However, as the only descendant of the “San Qing Acupuncture” of Dou Mo, the Senior Lord attached great importance to this day. As long as conditions permitted, he would return to Yangzhou at this time of every year, and then start his meditation for two days in a secret small yard in the West of Yangzhou City. He always attended the mysterious fiesta alone. No one knew what he was doing when he locked himself in it without eating and drinking.
The Senior Lord had his own big yard in both East Yard and West Yard of Luo’s Mansion. People in both yards tried their best to make their yards fresh and elegant, exuberant and magnificent. Although the Senior Lord might not stay there once a year, they both sent specially-assigned servants to clean the yard every day. If he wanted to go home someday, he could see the lively plants and the bright and clean house as soon as he entered his yard.
Since the Senior Lord would return to his secret courtyard for two days every year when it came to the fiesta, he might also go to the East and West Yard for a few days at this time every year. In recent years, Luo Baiqian of the First Branch had got three children in succession. And the Senior Lord also liked to see more, so he stayed in the East Yard most of the time. Because of this, he was able to appear in time in the last life, and save Zhu’s life. Because of that, He Danggui wasn’t charged of “using rats to murder people” instead of an “attempted murder”.
But in this life, He Danggui didn’t give him the chance to appear.
The Senior Lord saved Zhu after the latter had dead for 3 days. Now Zhu had been dead less than a day, but He Danggui had asked Nie Chun, who was possessed of Phantom Footwork, to send the letter with the method of saving Zhu’s life to Luo Baiqian. He Danggui also thought that the Senior Lord was too cautious about the prescription. She changed three most important medicinal materials in his prescription and added two laxative and blood activating medicinal materials to clean up toxins and parasites in Zhu’s body. Unless something unexpected happened, if Luo Baiqian followed the method mentioned in the letter, he could save Zhu’s life.
Of course, there was no safe prescription in the world. What’s more, in the previous life, the Senior Lord didn’t make the prescription until he checked Zhu’s “body” for a long time and performed the four diagnostic methods including inspection, listening and smelling, inquiry and palpation. He Danggui, however, never had seen the situation of dead Zhu. She heard all the symptoms of him only from the gossip of the servants after she returned to Luo’s Family.
In spite of this, He Danggui still wanted to test her improved prescription. But the cost was that if it failed, it would not save Zhu’s life, but block the pores all over his body. Even if the Senior Lord used his prescription to save him by then, it would be useless. In a sense, He Danggui would really become a “murderer”. If the matter really developed in that way, and the Senior Lord revealed it, then even if she held “the aged Immortal in the dream” as a shield, she might not be able to stay in the East Yard of Luo’s Mansion, and her mother would be hated by all the people in the First Branch. In the end, she and her mother would become the ones who couldn’t get back home.
He Danggui was not a fanatical medical experimenter who wanted to experiment with other people’s lives in a desperate way, especially when she was well aware of the cure but changed the prescription without authorization. In fact, as a doctor, she always wanted to use the best method and try her best to make the patients suffer the least pain.
It was said that illness came with overwhelming force, but left inch by inch. In the previous life, it took 6 hours for Zhu to wake up, and most of the accumulated poison in his body was not discharged. So, he wasn’t able to walk or talk normally until half a year in recuperation. However, he got an incompletely cured illness ever since. He was skinny and rickety. Later, it was said that he didn’t get married because he couldn’t have sex life. Since then, people would never mistakenly recognize Wei and Zhu. Seeing his twin brother was harmed like that because of himself, Wei must also be very uncomfortable. So, he didn’t get married in the last life, either. Instead, he kept some toy-boys at home for fun, and the offspring of the First Branch stopped at the generation of Luo Baiqian.
It was not clear if Ms. Zhao and Ms. Dong of the First Branch were really confused or pretended to be confused. They had always planted all the trouble with rats on He Danggui. And they had always regarded her as the culprit who had destroyed Zhu and Wei’s lives. So, in the previous life, whenever He Danggui faced the people of the First Branch, she was always carrying an endless debt.
Every time the First Branch asked He Danggui to do something, they would mention the “fact” how He Danggui had destroyed Wei and Zhu’s lives. Under their demands, He Danggui had to get an official position for the First Lord and seek a job for the Young Master. Besides, she was asked to propose marriage to the champion in the Martial arts examination, Chang Nuo, for Ms. Dong’s daughter, Yan. She failed once, but they asked her to do that repeatedly. Also, she was asked to help San Qing Tang deal with Yao Shi Tang, doing something bad in the medicine of Yao Shi Tang. If she refused Ms. Zhao, saying that her medical skills couldn’t be used to harm people, Ms. Zhao would recall the tragic past of Zhu immediately… Every time Ms. Zhao and Ms. Dong came to her, they asked her to do something deservedly, because in their hearts and words, she hurt Zhu first and Wei second, so she owed a lot of debt to their family.
Although He Danggui admitted to herself that she was very disagreeable with Ms. Zhao and Ms. Dong, she had no hatred toward those two cousins. She couldn’t bear to see that Zhu was weak like that in her previous life, so she wanted to treat him with the best way she could think of.
If her prescription was correct, she could expel the toxin and the bugs in Zhu’s stomach before his body recovered, and then he would wake up within two hours. In this way, he could recover only after a month or two, and he could marry and have children normally when he grew up. She believed that if Zhu could choose by himself, he would be willing to try this new prescription at the risk of not being able to return to the world.
As for herself, she took a risk because of changing the prescription. She was doing this to repay her grandfather Luo Duzhong’s kindness for leaving a book to teach her “San Qing Acupuncture” in the previous life. In return, she gave his descendants a life and a healthy body. She had lived twice. If there was revenge, there was grace. Although Luo’s Family’s meant more hatred than grace to her, the kindness couldn’t be offset. The innocent should be saved.
This was also a medical skill contest between He Danggui and the Senior Lord Luo Maitong. Who was the “Master of Medical Treatment”? The answer could be told from Zhu soon.