"The noodles are ready! The noodles are ready!"
As Li Ang locked up the wooden box containing all their money, Chai Cuiqiao erged from the kitchen carrying two bowls of steaming egg noodles.
The master and servant began to eat. Perhaps due to being scarred by poverty in her childhood, Chai Cuiqiao had a hearty appetite. Even a simple bowl of plain noodles without oil was devoured with enthusiasm, accompanied by loud slurping sounds.
"Slow down, don’t choke," Li Ang reminded her with a gentle smile.
Chai Cuiqiao rely humd in acknowledgnt and continued to bury her head in her al, alternating bites of noodles with vegetables. Only when a perfectly intact poached egg and a little soup remained did she reluctantly bite into the crispy edge of the egg and finish it off with the soup.
THUMP, THUMP.
A knock on the door shattered the montary tranquility. Li Ang frowned slightly and looked towards the entrance of Security Hall.
The mourning period just ended; who would visit now?
He glanced at Chai Cuiqiao, who understood imdiately. She wiped her mouth with a handkerchief, stood up, picked up the wooden box filled with coins from the floor, and went into the backyard.
Only after Chai Cuiqiao had left did Li Ang clear his throat, walk to the door, and ask, "Who is it?"
"Is young Mr. Li of the Li Family at ho? I am Yu Jie, an assistant from Qing’an Hall in East City. You may call Yu Liu, Mr. Li."
The voice outside continued, "My master sent to deliver the gift box distributed at the last Xinglin Society eting."
"Your master? Qing’an Hall?"
Li Ang narrowed his eyes. Qing’an Hall in East City, much like Security Hall, was a dicine shop and clinic. Its owner, surnad Yu and nad Miaoshui, was one of the most sought-after "Fortune Doctors" in Yizhou City.
A Fortune Doctor wasn’t soone from Fu Province, nor did it an they were prosperous. It referred to a doctor believed to possess "good fortune."
Having grown up in a clinic, Li Ang had a profound understanding of the dical system of his era.
The dical resources of Yu Country could generally be divided into two categories: official and civilian.
The official side was primarily represented by the Chang’an Imperial dical Bureau, the Chamber of Imperial dicine, and the dicine Storage Bureau. The Pharmacy Bureau and dicine Storage Bureau served the Emperor and the Crown Prince, respectively. Sotis, upon the Emperor’s command, they would also treat ministers, concubines, and high officials.
The Imperial dical Bureau, on the other hand, was responsible for national dical governance and education.
These three central institutions were ticulously organized, concentrating dical elites, and their level of dical care was arguably second to none in that era. However, this contrasted sharply with the backwardness of local dical care throughout Yu Country.
The fifth volu of "Yan Family Precepts" from the Forr Sui era, titled "On Frugality," describes those who are "knowledgeable but not proficient" as follows: "...in divination and archery, hitting the mark three tis out of six; in dicine, five out of ten treatnts failing; in music, ranking below dozens of others; and in archery, being rely one among hundreds..."
Sun Simiao, the dical saint of the current dynasty, also stated bluntly in the preface of "Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold Pieces": "Today’s Doctors only know how to diagnose and prescribe. They do not understand the proper seasons for harvesting herbs, nor are they familiar with their places of origin, their properties, or whether they are fresh or old. This is why, when they treat ten patients, not even five or six recover; this is truly the reason."
If not even five or six out of ten recovered, it ant that most Doctors had a cure rate below fifty percent.
It’s important to rember that the dical system of this era lacked detailed data for reference, such as a patient’s constitution, age, physical condition, specific type of illness, the severity of symptoms before seeking dical help, and the duration of the illness.
Many ailnts were conditions from which patients could recover on their own through their body’s immunity, and these cases were also counted as successful treatnts. This ant the actual cure rate for most Doctors was likely even lower.
The overall diocrity of Doctors seriously dampened the public’s willingness to seek dical treatnt, leading to widespread criticism and ridicule in nurous texts.
The "Han Shu·Yi Wen Zhi" states: "...and for those who misapply treatnt, they add heat to heat, and cold to cold. The Essence Qi is injured internally, though not visible externally; this is their unique failing. Thus, the proverb says, ’It is often better to go untreated than to fall into the hands of an average doctor.’"
This long-standing popular proverb implies that it’s better to remain untreated than to receive diocre treatnt, which is still preferable to being misdiagnosed and hard by an incompetent doctor.
"Though unable to cure minor ailnts completely, it is still better than mistakenly taking harmful dicine."
This sentint stemd essentially from a distrust and mockery of incompetent doctors. As for the so-called advice to "not take dications blindly, adhere to the unity of heaven and man, and allow for natural healing," this was actually a misinterpretation of the sarcastic saying, mistaking criticism for praise.
In summary, the overall backwardness of the dical system in Yu Country gave rise to various chaotic situations. Many common people, when they fell ill, would stay at ho copying the "New Bodhisattva Scripture" or the "Exhortation to Virtue Scripture," hoping to dispel their diseases by transcribing Buddha Sutras and accumulating rit through good deeds.
Copying Buddha Sutras instead of seeing a doctor was, naturally, akin to waiting for death. However, relying on dical Books wasn’t much better. The dical Books of the ti were of inconsistent quality, often containing self-contradictory statents, ambiguous language, and even bizarre folk redies.
For instance, the "Supplents to the Materia dica," compiled in the early part of this dynasty, claid that "human flesh can cure wasting diseases" (possibly referring to tuberculosis). This led to "many filial sons and daughters, benevolent mothers and fathers, scraping their own flesh to feed the sick," resulting in countless tragic deaths.
All these circumstances contributed to the ergence of "doctors with good fortune," or "Fortune Doctors."
These kinds of doctors had no real dical Skill. They simply beca famous by coincidence, "curing" a few patients (most likely through the patients’ own natural recovery), and were suddenly sought after by everyone. As soon as they prescribed a redy, thousands would rush to buy it, regardless of whether it was appropriate for their condition.
If a patient recovered after taking the dicine, it was attributed to the doctor’s good fortune, which was believed to have been transferred to the patient through the dicine, leading to their recovery.
If, however, a patient did not improve after taking the dicine, it was considered fate. The patient’s own "thin destiny" prevented them from benefiting from the doctor’s good fortune.
Even if the patient died, no one else was to bla.
No matter how one looked at it, Fortune Doctors always ca out on top.
Yu Miaoshui was a typical Fortune Doctor.
Six years ago, he was just a penniless Jianghu itinerant doctor in tattered clothes who had wandered into Yizhou City. He beca famous overnight, earning a fortune daily, by treating hundreds of patients with a so-called "Divine dicine" that allegedly "cured a thousand ailnts upon ingestion"—his Divine dicine was mung bean soup.
That’s right, initially, Yu Miaoshui only prescribed one redy: mung bean soup.
Stomach ache in children? Drink mung bean soup.
Headaches and fevers? Drink mung bean soup.
Imbalance of qi and blood? Drink mung bean soup.
Gynecological disorders? Drink mung bean soup.
Yu Miaoshui instructed patients seeking his dicine to drink it in the morning, in the evening, before als, after als; to cook it into a thick porridge, a thin porridge; to drink it hot, drink it cold. His prescriptions caused the price of mung beans in the city to skyrocket.
Within Yizhou City, there existed the Xinglin Society, a self-established guild of folk doctors.
Faced with Yu Miaoshui, an outsider who disregarded rules and blatantly deceived naive n and won, the Doctors of the Xinglin Society were naturally indignant at first and wanted to teach him a lesson.
However, as ti went on, an increasing number of common people claid that drinking mung bean soup daily made them feel healthier. This caused the Doctors of the Xinglin Society to have second thoughts.
Less skilled Doctors were skeptical but began to believe that Yu Miaoshui might genuinely be a "Fortune Doctor" blessed with good fortune.
The more adept Doctors, though aware that Yu Miaoshui was a charlatan deceiving the public, were powerless to stop the fervor of the naive common people. Patients themselves would offer "proof" on Yu Miaoshui’s behalf, citing ancient texts: mung beans are sweet and cooling; when boiled and eaten, they clear the gallbladder and nourish the stomach, relieve sumr heat and quench thirst, promote urination, cure dysentery and diarrhea, strengthen the intestines and stomach, improve vision, treat headaches, stop vomiting, heal rashes, and reduce swelling...
If drinking mung bean soup didn’t work, it simply ant one hadn’t drunk enough.
Yu Miaoshui knew how to seize an opportunity. After becoming a "Fortune Doctor" by selling mung bean soup, he knew when to quit while he was ahead. With his first pot of gold, he bought a storefront in Yizhou City, opened a dicine shop and clinic, and actually hired a proper doctor to see patients. He himself rarely made house calls anymore, generally preferring to expound on the theory that "mung bean soup cures all illnesses."
Li Ang quickly reviewed Yu Miaoshui’s background in his mind and, with a silent ’tch’ in his heart, reached out, unbarred the door, and opened it.
He had absolutely no favorable impression of such Jianghu charlatans who deceived the world. However, he was surprised that the Xinglin Society had actually allowed Yu Miaoshui to join.
What happened outside during the four months of mourning?
"Yu Liu, correct?" Li Ang nodded towards the gray-clad young servant outside the door. "The items from the Xinglin Society..."
"They’re here." With a smile, Yu Liu presented a copper-edged wooden box with both hands.
Li Ang took the box, opened it, and glanced inside. It was the sa as the gift boxes distributed at every regular eting of the Xinglin Society in the past, containing small gifts like saltpeter and ginseng.
"Thank you." Li Ang closed the box and looked at Yu Liu, who remained standing in place. Frowning, he asked, "Is there anything else?"
"Ahem, it’s like this." Yu Liu cupped his hands, feigning hesitation. "My master wished for to ask you if you... have any intention of selling the Security Hall shop in the near future."
"What?" Li Ang’s eyes narrowed. He gripped the doorfra and said coldly, "No. Please leave. I won’t see you out."
Seeing Li Ang about to close the door, Yu Liu hurriedly said, "My master is willing to offer 180,000 coins for Security Hall!"
One hundred and eighty thousand coins—one hundred and eighty strings—was enough to buy forty to fifty acres of dium-grade farmland outside the city, or two similarly sized residences in a slightly more remote part of Yizhou City.
BANG!
The door slamd shut. Outside, Yu Liu bit his lip and stomped his foot. "One hundred and eighty thousand coins, plus a house in the city..."
"I won’t sell, no matter how much you offer," Li Ang said coldly from inside. "Go back."
"You..." Yu Liu took a deep breath, cald himself, and cupped his hands outside the door. "In that case, my master will pay a visit later this evening to discuss this with you personally."
With that, he pressed his lips together tightly, flicked his sleeve, and departed, leaving a chilling "Just you wait" hanging in the air.
Hearing the footsteps gradually recede, Li Ang turned around with an indifferent expression and casually placed the gift box on the counter.
"He’s gone?" Chai Cuiqiao’s small head peeked out from behind the beaded curtain. "What was that about? Does Yu Miaoshui want to buy our house?"
"He’s probably after this storefront." Li Ang waved his hand. "This street along the river is near Yishui Bridge and has a lot of foot traffic. If Yu Miaoshui wants to expand, he’d need to move here from East City."
"Then..."
"Of course, we can’t sell it to him." Li Ang scoffed. "Sending a servant to inquire about the price right after my mourning period ended clearly shows he’s banking on the fact that I haven’t had my capping ceremony yet and supposedly lack the ans to support myself. We both run dicine shops; a quick look at the custor flow is enough to estimate revenue and net inco. He probably thinks we don’t have much savings and are afraid of depleting them, so we’d sell to him without hesitation, right? Hmph, Yu Miaoshui. He has business acun but lacks a doctor’s heart and ethics. Letting him get his hands on a pri location would only be helping a villain."
"Exactly, exactly! That fellow is too vile!" Chai Chai nodded in agreent, clenching her small fists and punching the air a few tis as if to puml Yu Miaoshui from afar.
Besides... Li Ang walked to the table, picked up the now-cold tea, gazed at it for a mont, then drained it in one gulp, silently adding in his heart, This Security Hall... holds a secret.
Li Ang rembered very clearly: his first awakening of mories from an Otherworld had occurred four months ago, right after drinking water from the well in the backyard.
Although he wasn’t sure if there was truly a connection between the two, this concerned his greatest secret. He couldn’t risk it, no matter what.
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