The star of Shen is in the west, the star of Shang is in the east, never eting. — Quoted
* * *
The nineteenth year of the Zhen Guan period.
In Chang’an during October, the city teed with scholars, the imperial examination had just ended, and groups of scholars traveled in companionship.
Near the Ci’en Temple in South City, there was a vast expanse of maple and apricot woods. This season, fiery reds and bright yellows stretched as far as the eye could see—a sight that opened up the hearts of those who beheld it. Hence, this area had recently beco a favorite haunt for the scholars.
"Doctor’s talent is profound, if he were to participate in the imperial examinations, he would surely clinch the top spot. Doctor, please compose another poem!" A group of people of mixed ages lifted their cups in a toast.
So distance away, another group of gathered scholars sniffed disdainfully. "Who are you, Sang Sui Yuan? Just a craftsman, and you dare speak such big words! How should we, the scholars, conduct ourselves then!"
These people had devoted their entire lives to their studies, their highest ambition being to pass the Advanced Scholar exam. That a group of students from the Imperial dical Bureau could claim they could easily achieve top honors was audacious in their eyes!
"Light-hearted Doctor, they look down on us!" cried a young teenager, about fourteen or fifteen.
Liu Qingsong climbed out from a pile of dry leaves, looking at the scholar who had spoken insultingly, "Have the guts to state your na!"
"I always bear my true na and do not change my sitting position, my surna is Chen, my given na is Hui, and my courtesy na is Mingyao!" the man declared.
Liu Qingsong clapped his hands and laughed, "Perfect, my fellow students from the Imperial dical Bureau, take a good look at this man. Rember his face and his na."
Chen Hui, unshrinking, calmly t everyone’s gaze.
"Did you all get that! From now on, the Imperial dical Bureau will refuse to treat this person. He has insulted a doctor. We doctors have our dignity too, we won’t grovel. Today, I’m going to announce in Chang’an City that any dical facility that dares to treat this man will never have the opportunity to join the exchange etings!" Liu Qingsong shouted, hands on hips.
Upon hearing this, Chen Hui’s face turned green. This was cutting off his future prospects! The rest of the crowd too began to fear, thankful they hadn’t spoken anything overly offensive earlier.
Everyone in Chang’an knew about the "dical Exchange eting," a conference initiated by the Imperial dical Bureau and proposed by Lady of Xian Liang, inviting notable doctors from across Great Tang to the bureau annually to exchange dical skills.
This innovation completely changed the prevailing customs among Great Tang doctors of hoarding prescriptions and concealing dical practices.
Doctors participating in the eting had to contribute a valuable prescription, theory, or dical experience. Initially, the invited doctors were drawn by the allure of learning "Hua Tuo dical Skills," therefore they reluctantly parted with a cherished prescription. However, at the end of the eting, they found that these prescriptions had been compiled into volus and distributed to each participant. They not only learned about "Hua Tuo dical Skills" but also gained many more prescriptions.
Later, the Imperial dical Bureau compiled all the prescriptions and had them cataloged into books by Lady of Xian Liang, selecting only the most effective and useful theories, experiences, and prescriptions. This book was kept at the bureau, and during the eting period, more copies were printed. All invitees could borrow it to read, but it was neither to be taken away nor copied.
Moreover, the doctors also had the opportunity to explore the mysterious forensic section within the Imperial dical Bureau.
Moreover, doctors felt noticeably that patients trusted doctors who had participated in the exchange etings more, and dical institutions did not suffer from business losses due to their prescriptions becoming known to others, but instead flourished even more.
Therefore, after only three editions, the eting beca a grand dical event in Great Tang. All doctors aid to participate, continually improving their dical skills and ethics, hoping to be invited in the following year.
All rules of the dical exchange eting were made public. Being invited once did not guarantee an invitation the next year. Doctors who excelled in dical skills, ethics, and character would beco mbers. The Imperial dical Bureau would docunt all the mbers’ past achievents and specialties, post them throughout the streets, and distribute them to the prefectures and cities where the doctors resided, making them truly famous nationwide.
Until now, the Imperial dical Bureau had issued eight mbership docunts, with two directors from the bureau, Wu Xiuhe and Ran Yan, along with Liu Qingsong, a doctor from Chang’an, a doctor from Huainan Dao, and Sun Simiao, the dicine Saint.
Sun Simiao was a recluse and had never attended the dical exchange eting, but his reputation as a Divine Doctor was renowned. The bureau discussed reserving a permanent spot for him and also sent people out to find him and deliver an invitation.
"This is too much! Using power to oppress, I will not accept this! I refuse to believe that in Great Tang there is no place for reason!" Chen Hui’s face darkened. Who doesn’t have minor illnesses in a lifeti? What will he do if he falls ill in the future!
Before Liu Qingsong could speak, soone said, "Even if it cos to reason, the logic is on our side! Who asked you to speak rudely first?"
"You speak of his learning, implying he could easily top the imperial examination, what does that make of us who have spent our lives in study! If today he can produce an article that convinces us, I, Chen Mingyao, will bow down and apologize to him today!" Chen Hui shouted angrily.
Liu Qingsong said, "I’m not fond of ’Shi Wen’ [scholarly articles], so let’s recite a poem instead. If you say that composing poetry doesn’t count as talent, then I have nothing more to say."
Without a full grasp of poetry and books, creating a stunning poem is hardly less challenging than writing scholarly articles. Writing an article could take several hours, so everyone felt that composing a poem was a good alternative.
Chen Hui then set the topic: to compose a poem about the people or scenery around.
Liu Qingsong looked around, trying to recall any poems about maple trees or temples in his mind, but then he saw a familiar figure riding forward on a horse.
As Liu Qingsong watched intently, others also followed his gaze.
Along the shaded path, ginkgo leaves whirled in their fall. A tall man rode a dark horse in the lead, followed by a driverless carriage.
Suddenly delighted, Liu Qingsong began to recite loudly to the man:
"Life does not bring us together, ever as distant as Shen and Shang.
What night is this, to share this lamplight together.
Youth lasts but a brief while, hair already turning gray on each head.
Half the visits to old friends now et but ghosts, startling cries warm the bowels.
Who knew twenty years later, I’d be stepping back into the hall of the gentleman.
We parted before you were wed, now suddenly children line up in a row.
With a pleasant deanor they respect their father, asking where I’ve co from.
No sooner asked than answered, the children prepare the wine and grain.
Night rains clip the spring garlic, freshly cooked millet in between.
Our host claims etings are hard, in one go pouring ten toasts.
Ten toasts and still not drunk, the feelings of friends deeply felt.
"Tomorrow separates mountains and peaks, worldly matters doubly vast and vague."
This poem is not at all ornate, but it’s straightforward and genuine, mixed with the joy and sadness of reunion, and the sorrowful contemplation over parting by life and death; each sentence paints a scene, yet each is filled with a desolate truth.
The crowd was first shocked by the poem, but after coming to, they felt it had little relation to the current scene and people.
The rider on the shady path stopped and turned his head to look this way. Liu Qingsong threw away his cup of wine and ran over, shouting as he did, "Hero Su, long ti no see, shall we have a drink?"
"Hey! Why is he running off, who exactly won here!" Chen Hui said anxiously.
People from the Imperial dical Bureau, however, are used to this; when talking to Liu Qingsong, one should never take him too seriously, because you can never guess where his focus lies.
Liu Qingsong ran up to Su Fu, exclaiming with joy, "You’re back! Ran Yan has missed you to death."
Su Fu’s expression slightly eased, although he knew it wasn’t true, it still felt good listening to it. His relationship with Liu Qingsong was familiar though they seldom spoke, and unfamiliar could hardly apply since they’d known each other for seven or eight years, starting from when Xiao Song began to pursue him. On one occasion, if Liu Qingsong hadn’t been so unreliable doing sothing totally off-track, Xiao Song might have really captured him.
Thinking about it, Su Fu dismounted.
"Hero Su, you’re still so cool. You don’t know how boring my life has been without you. Jiulang no longer had a formidable rival, and both had too smooth a ti; I was a bit unaccustod. Are you back to see Ran Yan this ti?" Liu Qingsong said as he peered curiously into the carriage.
Su Fu replied, "I’m taking Rhinoceros ho."
Liu Qingsong laughed heartily and nodded vigorously, "I didn’t expect soone as icy as you to have quite the sense of romance, even eloping with a princess. Among so many princesses at the Emperor’s, you even abducted a young one; truly, you have as much taste as !"
Su Fu gave him a cold look.
Liu Qingsong shrank his neck and whispered, "No gossip, no madness; without the madness, there’s no living. It’s human nature, even Ran Yan asked, what more about ?"
"She asked?" Su Fu said.
Liu Qingsong’s eyes brightened, sensing a chance, he hastily added, "Of course, she knew you left and wept bitterly."
"She wouldn’t cry," Su Fu punctured his lie without hesitation.
"Right, she bleeds but doesn’t cry, you also know she was nearly killed in that palace upheaval, and I wonder why you, seeing death, did not rescue but took the princess..." Liu Qingsong, sensing Su Fu’s chilly air, thought he minded the gossip, and quickly switched, "took the princess on a long trip."
Su Fu had left with Princess Jinyang on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, at a banquet attended by officials and their wives. Later, Li Shimin was frantic with fury, a rage that left the palace maids trembling. They dared not report the princess’s disappearance; after all, losing the princess was a capital offense, so they risked colluding in their testimonies until Li Shimin’s rage slightly abated before reporting the princess missing.
The cleverness of these folks naturally didn’t end well, but it conveniently allowed Su Fu to leave Chang’an with ease.
"She...," Su Fu wanted to ask sothing, but ultimately he didn’t.
Seeing R...
Watching Ran Yan’s life after marrying Xiao Song, Su Fu suddenly understood that the peace Ran Yan pursued was not the tranquility of life but a person who could tranquilize her heart.
In this aspect, Su Fu knew he couldn’t compare to Xiao Song because Xiao Song could give her what she wanted, whereas he could only give her what he thought was best.
"Doctor Liu." A weak voice ca from inside the carriage.
Liu Qingsong paused, "Princess Jinyang?"
"Co in the carriage and talk," Princess Jinyang said.
Upon hearing this, Su Fu halted the carriage, and Liu Qingsong climbed in to see a stunningly beautiful young girl, her complexion pale and slightly sickly.
Princess Jinyang smiled faintly and said, "Please, sit down." (To be continued. If you enjoyed this piece, you are welco to visit Qidian (qidian) to cast your recomndation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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