Opposite the entrance hall

In the early morning of the next day, Cen Yulou got the news and came to the Dou Mansion early to check for Qi Ran. After taking the pulse, he put the pulse pillow back into the medicine box and slowly got up, "It may be that Mr. Qi has better martial arts skills than ordinary people. The spread was slow, and it was fatal, but I was relieved, but if the source of the disease could not be found out for a day, and there would be no prescription for the medicine, then the fierceness of the disease, judging from the current situation, it would not last for a few days , Alas! In short, don’t slack off, don’t stop the decoction, it will be of some use.”

Qi Ran was leaning on the pillow, wearing a loose robe, his face was pale, his lips were colorless, his whole body looked sick, and even his breathing seemed extremely weak.

He waited until Cen Yulou finished speaking, then nodded slightly, and said with a light smile, "Dr. Laucen."

"Don't dare," Cen Yulou shook his head, "My medical skills are shallow, I can only do my best, and do my best to obey the destiny, and there is nothing else I can do. Master Qi is good to rest, and I will retire."

"Doctor Cen go slowly."

Cen Yulou packed up the medicine box, saluted him, turned around and left the house, just as his front feet stepped out of the threshold, a pair of hands suddenly stretched out from the right, pulled him over with the box, and hurried out of the yard run away.

After being dragged for a few steps, Cen Yulou panted a little. He couldn't take it any longer. He shook off the man's hand that was grabbing his wrist, and said angrily, "Master Ji, what are you going to do?"

Ji Si was thrown away and forced to stop. Hearing the question, he turned around, rubbed his nose, and smiled awkwardly.

When Qi Ran just woke up last night, Ji Si was a little shocked, more joyful, and a little unbelievable. Qi Ran was in a coma for three days, and his heart was in a mess for three days. He was busy all day long. Resting, like a lost soul, relying on the instinct of the body to be a walking dead.

Because of fear, how afraid!

I was afraid that once I calmed down, I would be frightened by the thought of Qi Ran's death, and I was afraid that the person on the bed would lose his breath and heartbeat and become a cold corpse.

It wasn't until the moment when he met Qi Ran's eyes that Ji Si had a real feeling, those scattered souls and eight souls returned to their places, and he felt that he was still alive again.

Qi Ran's question was an accident that Ji Si expected. A question that should have been asked three days ago was delayed by three days.

When Ji Si heard that question, all kinds of thoughts in his mind stopped, and he couldn't even utter a word of denial, so he could only nod in the end.

Yes.

He was delighted with Qi Ran.

Past, present, future.

Things change a lot, spring comes and winter comes, people disperse and gather again, everything is passing by, and everything is changing.

It is a fact that he is happy with Qi Ran.

There are three things in the world that cannot be hidden:

Illness.

Poor and without money.

A happy person.

Ji Si just nodded and opened his mouth, revealing the most secret in his heart that should not be known by others, he didn't feel anything wrong, but after calming down, he still felt awkward, it had nothing to do with anything else, it was just difficult to look directly at Qi Ran, Therefore, neither of the latter two made a sound until now.

Hearing Cen Yulou's question, Ji Si raised his hand and opened his mouth, but didn't make a sound, so he withdrew his hand and took a step aside, hesitated for a moment, then walked back, watched Cen Yulou open his mouth, but finally remained silent , The people watching are anxious.

"What exactly does Master Ji want to ask?" Cen Yulou couldn't stand it anymore, and asked, "But I want to ask Master Qi about his illness?"

"Exactly." Ji Si smiled.

Cen Yulou pushed the medicine box strap that had slipped down his arm to his shoulder, sighed and said: "Although a person is awake, it is of no use. If the source of the disease cannot be found, there will be no prescription. If there is no prescription, there will be no response." The decoction and medicine can only be delayed, at most three days, when the disease occurs, there is no way to save it, but the matter of early death and late death, is this considered good or not?"

Hearing this, Ji Si frowned and said anxiously, "What can I do?"

"Find the source of the disease," Cen Yulou stared into his eyes and said, "Isolation sheds were set up in the city to isolate the infected patients, and the city was also closed to prevent the people from spreading the disease. We have done everything that should be done. Now as long as we can find the source of the disease Only by knowing the cause of the epidemic can we prescribe the right medicine. Otherwise, it is only through the diagnosis of the infected people in the city. Everyone is a little different. Come here, see if it can be of some use, it's better than waiting to die in vain."

Ji Si's face was not very good-looking, and he remained silent for a while before speaking out, "Leave the matter of the source of the disease to me, I don't believe that Xiangzhou has been turned upside down, and I still can't find out where the source of the disease came from. Lin Anlu brought a lot of herbal medicines one after another, and the imperial hospital also sent an imperial doctor. The situation will gradually improve, and the city can last for a day, but Ziheng has to trouble Dr. Cen to spend more. Think about it, see if there is any other way."

"It's the foundation of medicine, it should be so," Cen Yulou nodded slightly, "Master Ji should pay more attention."

"Ok?"

"Master Qi...he always has a sickness on his body..."

What he said was ambiguous, and Ji Sicai heard the meaning from it, and said with a smile: "Thank you, Dr. Cen, others may not know about the epidemic in Xiangzhou, but Ji knows it in his heart. He is a good doctor in the world. If someone firmly believes what Dr. Cen said, Xiangzhou will not become what it is today. Most of the people in the world are ignorant and ignorant people. How many people with lofty ideals have lost their sincere blood. The common people owe Dr. Cen an apology, and Ji is here to thank Dr. Cen for Da Jin!"

Ji Si bowed and cupped his fists to salute the person.

"That's the truth."

When Cen Yulou's voice came, Ji Si raised his head slightly, and saw that the corners of the man's lips were raised, his eyebrows were smiling, and there was a bit of teasing and teasing in his eyes, "I'm not the kind of person who doesn't expect anything in return. It's done on purpose, just to show off your talent and win the attention of adults. Let's wait until this matter is over, and hope that Master Ji can report the truth when he returns to Beijing, and he doesn't expect any official position. You have to give some, don’t ask for more, you can have enough food and clothing for the rest of your life.”

Hearing what he said, Ji Si withdrew his hand and straightened up, laughing loudly, "It's easy to talk about it, let's find a good time to eat wine and enjoy the flowers when this matter is over, and then we can discuss how much the reward will be." suitable."

"Master Ji's golden words, I have written them down," Cen Yulou also smiled.

"Do you want Ji to make a written statement?"

"No need, Mr. Ji is trustworthy," Cen Yulou waved his hand, "It's getting late, I'll take my leave first, so there's no need to see you off."

"Doctor Cen go slowly."

When Cen Yulou left the yard, Ji Si stopped his smile and turned to look at the room behind him. After hesitating for a long time, he sighed and walked over with heavy steps.

When he reached the door, he stopped and tried a few times, but he couldn't get over the threshold. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. He was about to turn around and leave when he heard Qi Ran's voice calling him from the room: "Master Ji .”

"Ah." Ji Si subconsciously said.

"Can we talk?"

Ji Si lowered his eyes and thought for a while, and finally stepped over the threshold and walked in. After walking a few steps, Qi Ran said again: "Your official looks like this, Mr. Ji should stay too close, so as not to get sick .”

"Ah, good." Ji Si nodded, looked around, and sat back on the chair in front of the table.

Qi Ran raised his eyes, looked at Ji Si, and said sincerely: "Master Ji has worked hard these past few days, and the next official owes you a favor, and I will keep it in my heart. In the future, as long as I don't violate morality, my heart, and ethics , Mr. Ji asked the next official to die."

After the words fell, Ji Si frowned, a little unsure what Qi Ran meant by these words, could it be because his thoughts towards him made him sick, so he couldn't wait to draw a line with himself?

"It's easy, don't worry about it." Ji Si said coldly.

The displeasure in his tone did not conceal the slightest bit, Qi Ran's thoughts were surging in his heart, but he did not make a sound.

The room suddenly became quiet, and a needle could be heard.

Ji Si looked up, waited for a while, saw that no one made a sound, felt more irritable, and said unhappy: "Master Qi has something to do, if not, I won't stay any longer."

This person is always like this when he gets angry, he doesn't quarrel face to face, he just finds a place where there is no one to be angry with himself, Qi Ran sighed, "I wonder if the source of this disease has eyebrows?"

Anger turns into anger, but Ji Si made it clear what is the priority, suppressed the anger, and shook his head, "No."

Qi Ran pursed his lips tightly, closed his eyes half-closed, raised his head slightly, and rearranged all the details in his mind.

When he was thinking about something, everything around him would be blocked out, and Ji Si didn't bother him. He poured a cup of tea and sipped it, quietly waiting for this person to figure it out.

"Does Master Ji know about the Pingyang plague in the 40th year of Wanqing?" Qi Ran asked after a short while.

"I have seen it in the Ministry of Household Expenditure Files over the years," Ji Si put down his teacup and said, "In the 40th year of Wanqing, there was not a single drop of water in Pingyang in March. There was a drought, the land was dry, the rivers were dry, and the frontier was fighting with Beiyan. There was no way to rescue the disaster. There were corpses everywhere in the [-] prefectures of Pingyang. The corpses started to stink in the hot weather. The rats could not find anything to eat and began to eat carrion. What does the state epidemic have to do with it? Don’t you think that it’s because the rats brought the source of the disease and ran into the houses of the common people, so that they contracted the epidemic?”

"This disease is different from the Pingyang plague, of course not." Qi Ran said.

"Then what do you mean by that?" Ji Si asked.

Qi Ran tilted his head and coughed a few times: "The source of the plague in Pingyang is the spread of rats, which caused so many people to be infected. The epidemic in Xiangzhou has only been a few days, and more and more patients have been infected. I checked it before I went down. Infected patients are mainly concentrated in densely populated places such as Yuxi Lane, a small street in the northern suburbs of East Street, West Street, and South Street, where there are only a few people. Neglect, no one has ever noticed, then this detail ignored by everyone is the source of the disease."

South Street is mostly the mansions of dignitaries. Compared with other places, the number of infected patients is indeed much less. I didn't think much about it before, but now it seems that it is indeed not a coincidence.

Ji Si frowned in deep thought, and asked puzzledly, "But what have we overlooked?"

Qi Ran frowned, his face was extremely solemn, his body began to heat up, and a lot of fine sweat broke out on his forehead, he suppressed the rusty smell from his throat, and lowered his eyes in thought.

"According to what you said, it must be that other places in the city brought the source of the disease. There is no such thing in South Street. In this case, you are still infected with the disease while wearing a white cloth and being careful not to have direct contact with the patient. It's not a sickness coming from a patient."

Ji Si paused here for a while, looked up, and said word by word: "Perhaps, the people infected with the disease are not the main source of infection, this thing must be available in every household, it is necessary every day, it is readily available, and it can be obtained in a short time. spread all over the city without causing suspicion."

Hearing this, Qi Ran's heart cleared up, all the things that he had neglected all the time became clear, and all kinds of confusions were easily resolved.

"It's water!"

"It's water!"

The two spoke in unison.

Ji Si put the teacup back on the table heavily, "The water in the whole city comes from the Xiangjiang River, and the water in the South Street dignitaries' mansion is the clear spring on the top of the mountain, which is different."

Qi Ran said: "There are mostly wells in the city. It is from this well that we cook medicine and cook porridge. The government officials have been patrolling and checking in the city for the past few days. When they rest, they also use this water to quench their thirst. I also drank that day."

Hearing this, Ji Si stood up, raised his chin towards Qi Ran, and said with a smile on his lips: "Yan Wangye can't accept you. From now on, I will wait for your death!"

After all, he hurried away.

Ji Si borrowed [-] soldiers from Zhao Tongzhi, and found a lot of officials with good water quality. With Du Heng, a group of people walked along the Xiangjiang River from the upper reaches to the lower reaches. Let people get into the water to find out.

The Xiangjiang River besieged the city with many tributaries. It took a day to search but only half of it was searched. It was dark and windy, and the road could not be seen clearly. A bamboo pole was inserted into the river, and when something was wrong, he sent someone to tie a hemp rope around his waist, and went into the water carefully in the dark to check.

He made up his mind and made up his mind that the Xiangjiang River must be thoroughly searched before sunrise tomorrow morning, so there is no time to delay, and he has been guarding the Xiangjiang River all night, working with the generals.

Du Heng came over with a lantern and asked, "Are you sure the source of the disease is under the Xiangjiang River?"

Ji Si retracted the bamboo pole, turned around and sighed, "Not sure."

Hearing this, Du Heng frowned.

"But even if there is only a slight possibility, we can't give up. The people in the city are waiting for us." Ji Si said.

Qi Ran is also waiting for me.

He added in his mind.

Du Heng lowered his eyes, put the lantern in his hand aside, rolled up his sleeves, took the bamboo pole and said to people: "It's dark and the road is slippery, Mr. Ji, please be careful, and go to the side to have a look."

As soon as he took two steps, the commander of the envoy ran over with a dignified expression, and shouted before he could stand still: "My lords are looking for... I found it."

Ji Si paused, raised his eyes suddenly, met Du Heng's eyes, threw away the bamboo pole and hurriedly ran behind the basin.

Before they arrived, they could smell a stench from a distance, like the smell of countless dead mice mixed with underground sewage, it was strong and pungent, and it lingered for a long time.

A few people commanded by the capital were swimming in the water shirtless and barefoot, trying their best to drag something from the bottom of the water to the edge of the river. The exposed parts were thick and strong, like the limbs of some kind of large beast.

When the two got closer, they realized that this was a beast. It was clearly a corpse, its body was wrinkled by blisters, its face was bloated and contemptuous of its original appearance, and even its five sense organs were crowded together. The arms of the corpse were bigger than everyone's thighs. They are thick, and with a little force, the flesh on the top will fall off piece by piece. The flesh is covered with tiny fish and shrimp, and holes the size of sesame seeds are drilled out. The holes are full of white maggots. This corpse There was no blood on the bed, only a pool of sticky yellowish liquid with a stench that was hard to ignore.

The scene in front of me was too shocking. The officials of the Xiangzhou government office had never seen such a scene before. Their faces turned blue, their stomachs were churning, and they all spit out acidic water from the tree trunks beside them.

Du Heng's Adam's apple slipped, he swallowed his saliva, his expression was not very good-looking, but he still resisted showing timidity, and said in a trembling voice: "This... what is this?"

Ji Si's expression remained unchanged, he stared at the thing carefully, his eyes darkened, and said in a deep voice, "This is Xiangzhou's antidote!"

The flowing water never stops, the moon is bright, and the wind blows silently.

The moonlight in Xiangzhou City tonight is extraordinarily bright, pouring on the eaves of the blue tiles, as if covered with a layer of hoarfrost, suddenly, it is like daytime.

The sound of knocking on the wooden door was heard, the moonlight illuminated the small courtyard, and the man who pushed the door and hurried from the house to the courtyard walked up to the door, and there was a white man standing outside the door. Cang Cang looked at the person, saw him open the door, raised his head and smiled, "Doctor Cen."

When Cen Yulou saw this person clearly, he was stunned and said, "Grandma?"

Granny Zhao nodded, and said apologetically, "The old lady said a lot of nonsense a few days ago, don't take it to heart, doctor Cen, I am a widow dragging a son, and my son still looks like that, thanks to Cen The doctor helped me a little bit, otherwise the life might not be able to go on, the old woman will keep it in mind, and doctor Cen knows my temper, if I am not bad, I just have a bit of a cheap mouth. It's nice to talk like Dr. Cen, but you see, this is an old man, and he talks in a mess without any point."

Speaking of which, Granny Zhao patted her thigh and passed the bamboo basket in her hand, "This is a hen I raised at home. I boiled a pot of chicken soup on a low heat. I heard that Dr. Cen is helping the government to treat the epidemic. It’s a good thing, I just spent some energy, so I thought of sending you some chicken soup, so it can replenish your body.”

"Grandma, I can't take it." Cen Yulou pushed the bamboo basket back.

"Keep it, Doctor Cen," Granny Zhao repeatedly persuaded, "After being taken care of by you for so long, the old woman has nothing good to sell. This bowl of chicken soup should be regarded as a heartfelt wish. If Doctor Cen doesn't accept it, it must be because he dislikes it." .”

"that's not what it means."

"Then take it." Grandma Zhao stuffed the bamboo basket into Cen Yulou's arms.

Cen Yulou was a little embarrassed, but in the end he just sighed, "It's hard to turn down the kindness, thank you grandma."

Granny Zhao smiled, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth, but looked extraordinarily simple.

"By the way," Cen Yulou said cautiously, "Brother Zhao Hu,...what's the matter?"

As the words fell, Grandma Zhao's smile froze, and then deepened in an instant, "In the isolation shed, there are medicines and porridge. It's more comfortable than living outside, so I don't have to worry about it."

"A lot of imperial doctors have come to the capital, and the government has also distributed porridge and medicine. Don't worry, grandma, as long as the source of the disease is found, the disease can be cured, and Brother Zhao Hu will also recover," Cen Yulou comforted.

"Don't worry, don't worry," Grandma Zhao narrowed her eyes with a smile, "It's getting late, so I won't disturb Dr. Cen's rest. This chicken soup has to be drunk while it's hot. It won't taste good when it's cold."

"Grandma, go slowly."

After watching the people go away, Cen Yulou closed the door and went back to the house. As soon as he stepped in, he saw Chu Yi stretched his head and looked over, his eyes rolled around a little funny.

Cen Yulou lifted the bamboo basket in his hand and joked, "Snack."

"I don't care about it," Chu Yi looked away and rolled his eyes, "The old woman scolded us like that last time, and she also said bad things about you, sir, so that other folks don't come to see you. She has a very bad heart. It’s bad and dark, and I want to bribe us with a bowl of chicken soup, maybe the weasel is not allowed to pay New Year’s greetings to the chicken, so I don’t want to drink it, I’m afraid it’s poisoned.”

"What book do you read all day long?" Cen Yulou was a little dumbfounded, "Didn't I always tell you that if you have kind thoughts in your heart, you will have good deeds, and if you have good thoughts and deeds, God will bless you, and people will give you chicken soup with kindness. You're fine, if you don't drink it, why do you still scold people, you look like a little white-eyed wolf, respect your elders, keep words and deeds, this is the most basic truth, have you read it in the stomach of a dog?"

After being criticized, he was a little unhappy on the first day of junior high school, but he didn't want to quarrel with others, so he threw the "Book of Songs" on the table and got up angrily, "I don't care for her chicken soup, I will find it tomorrow Mrs. Ji wants to eat roasted chicken, and the roasted chicken is sizzling, isn't it better than this bowl of broken chicken soup, you can drink it by yourself, I'm going to sleep. "

Cen Yulou raised his hand, but before he had time to call someone back, he had already gone out on the first day of the junior high school, and he disappeared in the blink of an eye. He shook his head, brought out the fragrant chicken soup in the bamboo basket and put it on the table. Said to himself: "If you don't drink it, I will drink it myself."

In the middle of the night, dark clouds cover the moon.

In a courtyard in the city, the lights were not lit, and the surroundings were pitch black. There was a faint figure lying on the bed. The bowls, chopsticks and chairs in the room fell to the ground. The mouse creaked and got into the urn on the ground. Hearing the sound of footsteps, he hurried again. escape.

The man walked with heavy steps, kicked the urn aside, walked slowly to the side of the bed, sat on the bed, picked up the steaming chicken soup, and gently fed it to the figure on the bed, with a long voice while feeding Said: "My son~ You are not in good health. I am worried as a mother. Let someone take care of you!"

Her voice was old and hoarse, as if it was squeezed out of her throat, it was harsh and unpleasant, and it aroused goosebumps all over her body.

"Round head, pointed toes, patting, patting, sleeping until dark."

"Xiao Erlang, eat jujube, cry and cry, mother loves you."

……

The moonlight entered the room, illuminating the figure on the bed. It was a corpse that had been dead for several days. Its face was covered with flies, and the white maggots in its nostrils squirmed back and forth. The chicken broth slid down the corners of its mouth, covering the bed Mattresses, and some rotten food next to them.

The song didn't stop, resounding through every corner of the room, one after another.

The author has something to say:

Tips:

If you have good thoughts in your heart, there will be good deeds, and good thoughts and good deeds will be blessed by God.

The meaning of the aphorism in "Zeng Guang Xian Wen" is: there must be more celebrations in the home of accumulating good deeds, and those who have good thoughts in their hearts and often do good deeds will be blessed by Longtian Shanshen.

ps: I don't know what to say, put the lid on the pot and run away.

I plan to change the name, as I write, I feel that the name of Ruchaotang is too small, and I want to change it to Shanhe Yongan, what do you think?