Survival countdown

Chapter 30

"Who is Xu Mingbi?" Zhao Baiyu asked.

"He is a genius doctor in the south of the Yangtze River. He was born as an imperial medical officer for generations. Grandpa Xu was once the director of the imperial hospital. In the previous dynasty, he was involved in a secret matter of the palace and was exiled to the frontier. Xu Mingbi was wronged by a high-ranking official in the south of the Yangtze River a few years ago, and he had an affair with a concubine in the back house. He was beaten into a trick and almost beheaded. Seeing a doctor, even asking for a thousand dollars, but not seeing them, only walking among the people, so when encountering several dangerous epidemics, the local doctors were helpless, and he took the initiative to stop them."

The old doctor stroked his beard and said with admiration: "I heard that he uses strange medicines, is bold, and does not follow the usual path. He has rules to follow, and the effect is obvious to all. But..."

Zhao Baiyu: "But what?"

The old doctor: "This person has a weird temper, and he scoffs at the doctor's code of conduct for saving lives and healing the wounded." He shook his head: "Without the benevolence of curing diseases and saving people, how can you be called a doctor? Although I can't understand his code of conduct, I have to admire it." If Xu Mingbi's medical skills were here, he might be able to solve the problems that bother us all."

Zhao Baiyu: "Maybe I can find someone to look for, where does this miracle doctor Xu live?"

The old doctor shook his head: "The last time he was seen was three years ago. Someone saw him in Kyoto Prefecture. I didn't see him again after that, and I didn't see him in private practice. It was rumored that he was hit by something, disheartened, and avoided the world. people."

Zhao Baiyu said to himself: "If he can really solve this epidemic, he will have to dig it out even in the blue sky and the yellow spring."

Not only the old doctor highly praised Xu Mingbi, but also several highly skilled and experienced imperial medical officers, Zhao Baiyu sent a letter back to Adjutant Cui.

***

Wei Bo: "Xu Mingbi? I have heard that he is skilled in medicine but has a weird temper. He is unwilling to do anything except for difficult and miscellaneous diseases. He does not treat high-ranking officials, but he is not a person who saves lives and heals the wounded. He only regards his mood as the criterion for treatment. I don’t know how to invite him out of the mountain. He appeared once three years ago, but his whereabouts have been hidden since then, and he seems to have retreated to a water town in the south of the Yangtze River? I’m looking for friends in the rivers and lakes to help find his trace—Adjutant Cui?”

Adjutant Cui was in a daze, suddenly smiled, clapped his hands and said, "Hahahaha——I almost forgot about Xu Mingbi!"

Wei Bo: "Do you know the whereabouts of Xu Mingbi?"

"Not only do I know, I also know!" Adjutant Cui said with a blushing face: "A few years ago, Xu Mingbi was wronged by a member of Jiangnan for having an affair with a woman in the back house, and he was almost beheaded. Clean up the grievances. Therefore, even though he made a poisonous oath not to treat high-ranking officials and dignitaries, he still made an exception to heal the general who was poisoned by Gu poison, and he was the one who said the medicine of Wannian Xuepo."

Wei Bo looked happy: "Great, you can write a letter, or ask the little county king to leave something like a seal, let me rush to Jiangnan to invite him out of the mountain!"

Adjutant Cui rolled up his sleeves and was about to pick up a pen when his expression froze and hesitantly said, "Not good."

Weber: "What?"

Adjutant Cui: "Xu Mingbi was emotionally hurt three years ago, and became discouraged. When he returned to Jiangnan, he hid himself from the world. If he didn't owe his life to the general, I'm afraid he wouldn't even want to touch medical science."

Wei Bo: "Human life is at stake. Does he not care about the lives of tens of thousands of disaster victims?"

Adjutant Cui frowned: "Xu Mingbi has a weird temper, it's not that cold-blooded and heartless, it's just that lovesickness is hard to cure, and the healer doesn't heal himself, he committed both! The lives of tens of thousands of victims may persuade him to go out of the mountain, I'm afraid of him Xiangsi is seriously ill, her heart and brain are not clear, and she can't think of a way to save her life!"

He turned around anxiously: "Xu Mingbi, ah, Xu Mingbi, open-minded and unrestrained, he fell into a love word in the first half of his life and couldn't get it out! Over the years, we have been looking for the whereabouts of the blood amber for thousands of years, but we have repeatedly missed it, and the general's poison has become more and more serious. Xu Mingbi thought of a weird recipe to get rid of Gu poison. He locked himself in the house for three days and three nights, but he couldn't think of a way, saying that lovesickness took away his talent-we single people don't understand , I don't understand, I can't figure it out at all, but we can't force him to forcibly cut off love, and the talent in medicine doesn't come back just by ordering you to come back."

"Oh, love characters are the most annoying since ancient times."

Adjutant Cui, who has been single for more than [-] years, expresses sincere emotion.

Wei Bo: "Who is the woman who hurt Xu Mingbi? Can you find her?"

"If I knew, I would worship this strange woman." Adjutant Cui suddenly remembered something, and said, "But the general seems to know who the woman Xu Mingbi is in love with, and it seems to be related to a poem."

"What poem?"

"Let's think about it... the capital bans pearls and jade, and the world is full of glaze. Fangfang is surrounded by emerald calyx, and everything is as you want it to be."

It is obviously a pieced together poem. The first two sentences refer to the extravagance of the jewels and emerald crowns before the founding of the Great Scenery. Inexpensive items that people can afford.

Although colored glaze is cheap, it is exquisite in workmanship, unique in style and popular all over the world.

The third sentence is taken from the first sentence of other poems, which is originally used to describe the amazing scenery, but it is placed here to describe the amazing beauty of the glass hairpin.The last sentence is taken from another poem but the first two words are changed, without the rhyme and antithesis of the poem, it is easy to get confused.

Wei Bo didn't understand poetry: "What's the meaning of the last sentence?"

Adjutant Cui scratched the back of his head and said, "I don't understand, the general just commented on a sentence that is true but the poem doesn't make sense. Wait, I'll find someone who has read the book to explain."

Pushing open the door, Adjutant Cui called Xiao Wence who was guarding outside to come in, recited the poem, and asked him how to explain the last sentence.

Xiao Wence was at least a student of the Son of Heaven, his knowledge was not even a great Confucianist, and he was not a problem in explaining poems.

Although after listening to the imperial envoy's poem, his real thought in his heart was that it was nonsense and insulting to the saint, but when he thought that the poem came from the imperial envoy, he quickly raised his smile and said: "The first two sentences describe the grand occasion of admiring colored glaze nowadays, and the third sentence extols The glass is exquisite and clear, and then the conversation turned sharply, praising the Ruyi hairpin as the best, elegant, beautiful, and lovely. And the Buddhist verse "Ruru" is used, which means eternity, which shows that love is extremely wishful. This should be a borrowed thing Metaphor."

Xiao Wence had a thoughtful expression on his face: "The Liuli Ruyi hairpin is something worn by women, and it may be used as a metaphor for women who are in love with the glass. The woman whom the author admires may love the Liuli Ruyi hairpin very much, or it may be as beautiful and elegant as Liuli. In his heart, A woman who is yearning for is always better than any girl in the world."

He boasted against his conscience: "The depth of love can be described as true and sincere, and it moves people to tears."

Adjutant Cui and Wei Bo looked at each other, did they like women wearing glass hairpins?

There are a lot of them in Kyoto Prefecture!

Adjutant Cui whispered to Wei Bo: "Forget it, the general will settle it. Why are we scratching our heads here and guessing about Xu Mingbi's sweetheart?"

Wei Bo: "I hope that the girl Xu Mingbi yearns for hasn't married into someone else's wife, otherwise it's useless to know someone."

Adjutant Cui's heart sank, feeling really hard to say.

Xu Mingbi, who can make the proud and proud Xu Mingbi worry about her heart and be hurt by love, must be an extraordinary woman.Even if the status is noble, as long as she is not married, she can be asked to intercede, because it is to save others, and it will not damage her reputation, others will only praise her for her righteousness.If you are already a married woman, even if it is to save others, there will inevitably be rumors of an affair between the two, which is not conducive to the life of the woman in her husband's house.

Xu Mingbi couldn't pursue his sweetheart, could it be that he really fell in love with a woman?

That's too beastly!

Adjutant Cui, who was thinking wildly, suddenly heard Xiao Wence continue to analyze: "...if it is a poem, it is likely to hide the name in the poem and have a double meaning. The official thinks that it is most likely to be 'Ruyi' or 'Yiru' ' Two words."

"What did you say?!"

Adjutant Cui suddenly screamed, and Xiao Wence was so frightened that he thought he had said something wrong: "Xia, Xiaguan said that it is possible to hide the name in the poem. Of course, it is the humble opinion of the lower official. The lower official has little talent and learning, and there is also the possibility of saying something wrong. This is a metaphor for the relationship between men and women...to describe other frustrated feelings, and it can be confirmed by combining the author's own life square. May I ask my lord, who is the author of this poem?"

Adjutant Cui stared straight at Xiao Wence, seeing that the latter was very disturbed, suddenly laughed, his expression was suddenly enlightened, suddenly surprised, suddenly pleasantly surprised, very strange.

Xiao Wence: "My lord?"

"It's none of your business, get out."

Xiao Wence left full of doubts.

Adjutant Cui in the room clapped his palms and laughed loudly: "Ruyi? Yiru? Three years ago... I can remember that Xu Mingbi went to the capital to treat the general three years ago, and occasionally went to Jinhuan Lane to treat the women there. How long did it take to fall in lovesickness, and then I lost my soul and went away to the capital, when Lady Li, the oiran, just became famous!"

Wei Bo was shocked: "You said that the girl Xu Mingbi misses is Miss Li?!"

"It can't be wrong!" Adjutant Cui spoke quickly: "I wonder why the general went to the Flower Tea House to investigate Zheng You in person, and even thought of buying everyone, and said that if Mr. Zhao dared to enjoy the blessings of all people, So they asked me to snatch all the girls away. At that time, I suspected that the general was possessed by something, but now it seems that there is a reason for everything, and it is justifiable!"

"Wonderful! Clever! It should be that the lives of the victims should not be lost! Even if Mrs. Li came forward in person, even if she was bedridden, Xu Mingbi, the ghost hand, would have to crawl to the epidemic area in Jiangyang County!"

Wei Bo was in a trance and couldn't believe it, it was too much of a coincidence.

"Ms. Li can make Xu Mingbi's disappearing medical talent come back with just one word?"

"You don't understand. Once these men and women fall in love, they are like crazy. You can't use common sense to speculate on them. I think it's a coincidence. It's like a play out of a storybook. Mr. Zhao really—" Adjutant Cui's face His smile gradually disappeared, replaced by depression and a little bit of breakdown.

Evil door!

Dazed by surprise, he told him to ignore that the coincidence came from Zhao Baiyu.

If it were someone else, he would say that it was a coincidence, that it was a good thing, but when it came to Zhao Baiyu, he felt awkward.

At any rate, the general knew that Mrs. Li was Xu Mingbi's yearning, but Zhao Baiyu didn't know, and he didn't expect that there would be an epidemic.

Everything is really a coincidence, but it is also too evil.

Wei Bo didn't understand Adjutant Cui's entanglement, so he just said: "If it's true as we guessed, then it means that good people will be rewarded. Goro does many good deeds, and Huang Tian loves him, so it's a coincidence."

As soon as these words came out, Adjutant Cui was enlightened, and the awkwardness and collapse in his heart instantly cleared away.

Good cause and good result, that is the case.

***

Hai Dongqing pierced through the night, passing through heavy clouds and mist, and pierced towards the cliff below like a sharp arrow. Dozens of war horses in heavy armor galloped across the cliff path. Wherever they passed, the ground rumbled and the stones trembled .

The frontmost cavalry in black iron armor suddenly tightened the reins, the horse neighed, its front hooves raised high, and it fell to the ground suddenly. The cavalry on the horse wore black iron armor, with only his eyes exposed, covered by the night, raised his arms, and the birds of prey screamed in the air With a sound, it pounced on his arm, and the sharp claws like knives didn't even leave a scratch on the heavy black armor.

The cavalry at the back tightened their reins and stopped almost at the same time, quietly waiting for the next order.

After reading the letter Hai Dongqing brought back, Huo Jingtang snorted coldly, said nothing, only raised his arms to make them move forward, then turned his horse's head and took a small path back to Kyoto quickly.

Changed the heavy armor on his body at the post station in Kyoto Prefecture, went to Beijing overnight, wrapped the letter in the stone and threw it into Li Yiru's room through the broken window.

Li Yiru was the first to open the window to check, but he didn't see any villains, so he opened the note and read it, and immediately put on his clothes and went out to find Madam Xiu and explain the whole story.

Mother Xiu was surprised: "This is a great merit for saving thousands of people, and I hope my wife will help."

"If I didn't want to help, I wouldn't have come to you." Li Yiru said in a soft voice with Fushen's beautiful mother, "I used to be in a family of officials and officials when I was young, and my house was ransacked because I committed a crime. The female relatives acted as official prostitutes. They used to sell jokes for a living in the south of the Yangtze River. When they encountered amnesty, they were redeemed by benefactors. He and I were also regarded as kind and courteous. He bought a small official and came to Beijing to report on his work. He brought me along Unexpectedly, there was a sudden change in his family, he was so anxious that he suddenly fell ill, and even his official position was stripped back, and his money was quickly spent. In order to save him, I had to go back to the brothel and send him the last mile with the money I sold myself. "

Nurse Xiu was so moved that she clasped Li Yiru's hand and rubbed it from time to time, trying to warm the miserable woman through this movement.

Li Yiru smiled lightly: "Three years ago, I ran into Xu Mingbi and found out that he was actually the person I had a marriage contract with when I was young. He was ten years older than me. There was an accident in his family, and my family could not help, but the engagement was not broken. Later Something happened to my family, he doesn't know, even if he knows, what can a white man do to help? After all, there is no destiny."

"Although we have a marriage contract, we haven't seen each other for more than [-] years. He has no red sleeves to add fragrance, but I have experienced thousands of sails."

"Don't underestimate yourself, the world owes you, it's not your fault."

Li Yiru shook his head: "I never despise myself, nor do I feel inferior. Xu Mingbi wanted to redeem me and marry me, but I refused."

"why?"

Rao Xiuxiu was also puzzled, Xu Mingbi carried the big sedan chair eight times and fulfilled the marriage contract, she was really sincere, the letter from Yangzhou also showed that Xu Mingbi had a deep affection for Li Yiru, why did she refuse?Is it more sad to be married to a lover than to be in a brothel?

"To repay the favor."

"what?"

"The person who treated me with great kindness was Huang Youshan, the eldest son of the richest man in Jiangnan. Mr. Huang once had friendship with my father. Not only did he not look down on me because of my status as an official prostitute, but he went around in many ways during the amnesty to help me successfully get rid of my low status. Even though I was placed outside and ransomed secretly so that no one would know about it, it was still a great act of kindness to me."

Aunt Xiu thought for a while: "I have the impression that the massacre of the richest man in the south of the Yangtze River a few years ago shocked the whole country. So far, the murderer has not been found, and it is listed as an unsolved case. Could it be...?"

"Exactly." Li Yiru said: "I rejected Xu Mingbi because I didn't want to entrust my life to another man. There was another reason, that was, someone was watching me at the time. I don't know who they are, but I know through some channels. There was also an orphan in the Huang family living outside. I was worried that the orphan of the Huang family would come to me, and I was even more afraid that the group of people would catch the orphan of the Huang family through me. I was afraid that they would kill the grass and roots, so I dared not leave the place of fireworks. Until recently In the past year, that group of talents did not show up again, and there happened to be a murder case, and it happened that Mr. Zhao rescued us from the sea of ​​misery."

"It's fate." Mammy Xiu said appreciatively, "Young lady is chivalrous and tender, she is the person I admire most in my life, Mammy."

"It's too much praise, it's human nature to know kindness and repay it." Li Yiru lightly revealed himself, and turned to talk about Jiangyang's epidemic situation: "I came here to find the wishful glass hairpin that I gave to Mr. Zhao before. That is the token of engagement between Xu Mingbi and me. A letter from me, with the wishful glass hairpin attached, asking Xu Mingbi to go out of the mountain to relieve the epidemic."

Nanny Xiu got up immediately: "I'll get it now!"

On the eaves, Huo Jingtang in a long robe with wide sleeves had his hands behind his back, staring down at the two people hurrying in the courtyard.People who practice martial arts have excellent eyes and ears, and Huo Jingtang listened to the conversation between Nanny Xiu and Li Yiru just now, and couldn't help thinking about it.

In this way, it can explain why the priceless ten thousand year blood amber is in Li Yiru's hands.

When it was discovered that Wannian Xuepo was in the treasury of the richest man in the south of the Yangtze River, Prince Kang's Mansion and Lin'an County Prince's Mansion jointly sent people to find it, but it happened to be one step too late, and the whole family was destroyed. , unlike ordinary robbers, all the clues found after that were interrupted.

Before they realized it, they actually noticed that Li Yiru, who was far away in the brothel Chu Pavilion in Kyoto Prefecture, had been under surveillance for two years just to wait for the orphan of the Huang family to fall into the trap.

Even orphans are not spared, unless the hatred is as deep as the sea, or the interests are astonishing, otherwise there will be no such perseverance.

Back then, all the money and silver in Huang's treasury were emptied, and the remaining valuable properties were taken over by the government. It was also thoroughly checked that there was no remaining property, so it should not be driven by profit.

Huang's business, it is inevitable to have quarrels with others, but the hatred will not kill everyone.

Not for money, not for enmity, why do you still chase after all the people who are destroyed?

At this time Li Yiru walked out, put the wooden box and the letter on the stone table in the middle of the courtyard, bowed to the blessed body of the sky, and left.

After a while, Huo Jingtang took the wooden box and the letter and went back to the post station in Kyoto. When he came out again, he was dressed in heavy armor. The horse was galloping along the steep path under the moonlight, and suddenly it stopped. The night sky was dark and swooped down. .

After tying the wooden box and letter to Hai Dongqing's feet, he raised his arms to send it away, and when he turned the horse's head by the rein, Huo Jingtang suddenly stopped, looking down at a climbing vine growing in the wild on the ground.

After a while, a loud whistle came from his mouth, and another black spot swooped down, which was the second handsome Costin.

***

Hai Dongqing arrived in Jiangyang County faster than Xu Mingbi, and handed over the token to Zhao Baiyu.

After feeding Hai Dongqing some food, Zhao Baiyu opened the letter, and a small yellow flower that was still a little fresh slipped inside, and the calyx was tightly entangled by tender green vines.

"?"

What do you mean?

Looking at the content of Zhao Baiyu's exhibition letter, it was Huo Jingtang's handwriting.

The previous paragraph briefly explained that Xu Mingbi was on the way to leave, and the latter paragraph pointed out that Zhao Baiyu should not enter the epidemic area alone. Anxiety.

Turn over and look at the second one, and there is a poem: "Lang is a vine, and I am a vine. The king's heart and the blue sky follow from afar."

What, what!Why did you suddenly engage in such tricks!

Zhao Baiyu patted his hot cheeks, trying to calm down his surging heart, the corners of his mouth couldn't stop rising, looking at the tangled flower vines he picked from somewhere, he unconsciously recited a poem written by Huo Jingtang, and with a bang, it finally fell down Heat came to his cheeks again.

In the face of major events, how can Huo Jingtang only think about love and love?Was Hai Dongqing, the King of Eagles who was trained with great difficulty, the one he used to send an unknown little yellow flower and a love poem?

Violence!Old and unprincipled!

"Wulang——" Yan Bing opened the curtain, and as soon as he looked up, he saw his little gentleman who looked like a breeze and a bright moon with a silly smile on his face, looking at the letter in his hand from time to time, touching it with pity Wild flowers on the side of the road, I couldn't help taking a breath: "How can a monster dare to possess my husband!!"

Zhao Baiyu glanced at Yanbing: "Stop talking nonsense!"

Yan Bing couldn't hide his worry: "Have you been running around day and night and lost your mind?"

Zhao Baiyu put the letter and the Panteng flowers into the envelope, trying to find a place to put it away, but found that the epidemic area was not hidden, so he carefully hid it in his heart.

Seeing this, Yan Bing was puzzled and said, "It's just a roadside wild flower, is it worth your precious care?"

"This Panteng flower has come from a long way, it's pitiful and cute, with deep affection, why isn't it worth cherishing?"

Yan Bing: "..." But it's still a worthless roadside wild flower, so it turns out that Goro likes wild grass and wild flowers?

"What's the matter with me?"

"A new battalion has been transferred from outside, and five additional carts of medicinal materials, four or five imperial medical officers, and ten carts of grain, all of which are real good rice, can finally feed the victims."

"They still have scruples about Tianwei." Zhao Baiyu was not surprised at all.

"Are you revealing your identity now?"

"Let's take a look when it's not time." Zhao Baiyu rolled up his sleeves and said, "Prepare paper, ink, brush and inkstone. I remembered the Qianjin Fang I read in ancient books before. Although it is fragmentary, I wrote it down for the doctors to think about. Let’s all work together and do our best.”

Yan Bing obeyed the order immediately.

***

At this time, people from all parties in Jiangyang County had different thoughts. Leaving aside Lu Liangshi, who had already been stripped of his official hat, Xiao Wence, the magistrate of Yangzhou, and Song Ling, the governor of Huainan, were sitting in the lobby of the inn. Battalion, torches make night as day.

Xiao Wence wiped the cold sweat off his face from time to time, feeling both angry and fearful, secretly scolding Lu Liangshi for being a fool, he has never seen such a fool in this world!

Can the epidemic be concealed? !

His attitude was ambiguous, the memorial was not clear and untrue, and he asked people to stay in the disaster-stricken area to prevent the real epidemic situation from getting out, which made him think that the epidemic was not serious, and he failed to respond in time, which made him have no confidence to speak in front of the envoy.

Immediately afterwards, Xiao Wence regretted that he should not have been involved in Deng Wen'an's case at the beginning. If he had dealt with it fairly, how could he be implicated by Lu Liangshi now?

If it weren't for that unjust case, he would have put all the crimes on Lu Liangshi early in the morning and got away cleanly.

Song Tixing and Anshuai are fighting each other, what is he messing with?

Xiao Wence regretted not as much as before.

At the other end, Song Ling is an old god, and he has done a good job. Whether it is an unjust case or an epidemic, he can't be blamed. There is also a reason for giving it to him.

However, he did not expect that a small county magistrate would dare to hide such a serious epidemic. He hoped that it could be resolved as soon as possible, Huainan could not afford another major turmoil.

It's just that Fu Envoy lived in an inn when he arrived in Jiangyang County. Although he borrowed a few people from the county government, he only investigated Deng Wen'an's case and never went to the disaster-stricken areas outside the city. Why does he seem to know the epidemic well? look like?

And that young envoy doesn't look like a civil servant, but looks familiar, where did he meet him?

Song Ling didn't suspect that the person inside was not the envoy. He thought that he had met him by chance before returning to Beijing to report on his work. From the letter from his mentor, he knew that the envoy's identity and experience were quite legendary. An official, who became His Majesty's confidant, shows that he is very capable.

Adjutant Cui in the room just received a letter from Jiangnan, opened it and read it, and heaved a sigh of relief: "Xu Mingbi will leave the mountain and arrive in Jiangyang County in two days!"

--------------------

The author has something to say:

Pearls and emeralds are banned in the capital, and the world is full of colored glaze. ——"Song History"

Fang Fang Yi Cui Calyx. —— "Yang Fang Poetry Post"

Ruyiyiruru is adapted from "My side is like Ruru" in "Sit at Night and Watch the Moon". Ruru means the eternal truth, and the meaning of truth is the eternally existing entity, the entity of all things and the universe.The Buddhist language comes.

To follow from afar, the original sentence is to follow from afar - Wen Tianxiang.

After all, I don't know how to write poetry, so I can only make up a few things.