Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 459 Sun Simiao
Yuwen Yong was lying on the imperial couch.

His lips were black, his face was as pale as frost, and he looked inexplicably terrifying.

His beard seemed to have fallen off a lot, and there were large bald patches on his chin.

Very embarrassed.

Yuwen Xiaobo sat beside him, not daring to say a word.

Yuwen Yong looked at his old friend's expression and said, "It seems that the situation has become extremely bad. A few days ago, you could still tell some lies to deceive me, but now you can't even tell a lie."

Yuwen Xiaobo burst into tears immediately.

"His Majesty."

"I know you mean well, but you don't have to hide it from me. I don't have much time left to be awake, and I can still play a role while I am awake. Otherwise, the Great Zhou will really perish in my hands. Go ahead, tell me everything that happened."

Yuwen Xiaobo then slowly began to talk about the news that had been sent from various places in recent days.

The first was the rebellion in Liang and Gan states.

"The thief Dugu sent his thief general Huluxian to Liangzhou and Ganzhou. The officials of these two states did not want to serve the country and surrendered one after another. No one resisted."

Listening to Yuwen Xiaobo's crying, Yuwen Yong chuckled.

"At first, many people opposed my reforms, so I drove them to the border and told them to stay in Lianggan so as not to interfere with my great cause. I didn't expect that Liu Taozi would benefit from it in the end."

"No problem, if you lose it today, you will find it again tomorrow, just keep talking!"

Seeing that Yuwen Yong was really not angry, Yuwen Xiaobo plucked up his courage and talked about other things.

"The Chen people are attacking Jiangling fiercely. General Chunyu Liang leads the troops and attacks day and night without interruption. Jiangling is in danger. Yang Jian has sent people to ask for help several times. The King of Qi has sent an envoy to the State of Chen, but the envoy has not arrived yet and Jiangling is about to be lost."

"Chun Yuliang, yes, Jiangling has lost the support from the rear, while the Chen people are coming in continuously. It is not unusual for Yang Jian to be unable to stop them. When the envoy arrives, perhaps the situation will have changed."

"What's next?"

"Wei Xiaokuan surrendered to the enemy."

"what?!"

Yuwen Yong finally showed surprise on his face, "Wei Xiaokuan surrendered to the enemy?"

"Your Majesty, after this villain surrendered to the enemy, he actually persuaded our soldiers to surrender. The five states north of Chang'an have been captured by him. Even the Duke of Shu, Yuchi Jiong, who was stationed in the five states, was captured by the enemy and his life or death is unknown."

Yuwen Yong's lips finally began to tremble.

He held back the first few pieces of news and comforted himself, but the last two pieces of news
"Wei Xiaokuan!!"

Yuwen Yong suddenly yelled angrily, and then blood flowed out of the corner of his mouth again and he fell down suddenly.

Yuwen Xiaobo was so frightened that he screamed continuously. The imperial physician and the Taoist priest appeared here at the same time again.

The imperial physician was so anxious that he took out many needles from his bag and started to prick Yuwen Yong's body. After several injections, Yuwen Yong's brows twitched. The imperial physician just breathed a sigh of relief. The Taoist then took out another elixir, knelt beside Yuwen Yong with a smile, and prepared to swallow it for him.

The imperial physician watched this scene, and his lips trembled more frequently than Yuwen Yong's just now.

Why can't you finish this killer elixir?

One after another? ?

"Can't eat any more!"

The imperial physician suddenly reached out and grabbed Zhang Bin's hand that was holding the elixir.

The imperial physician looked at Yuwen Xiaobo and said, "Duke, you really can't feed His Majesty this kind of thing anymore. I have been treating patients in the palace since the time of Emperor Wen and I have no bad intentions. This elixir is definitely not a good thing. Every time His Majesty takes it, his pulse becomes disordered, his appetite decreases, and he becomes unconscious. There are so many disadvantages that cannot be described in a few words. Please don't let this person murder His Majesty again!!"

Zhang Bin is still the same.

He raised his head, his eyes full of arrogance.

He forcefully pushed away the old doctor's hand and said unhappily, "You old man, do you really think that His Majesty's awakening is due to your contribution?"

"It's because of the elixir!"

"What use are your mortal tricks?"

"You have stopped me from treating His Majesty in the past, and now you want to stop me again. What do you want to do? Are you trying to collude with Liu Taozi?!"

Zhang Bin cursed at the old man.

Judging from their ages, this old man is old enough to be Zhang Bin's grandfather, but Zhang Bin claims to be very old and only has good looks, so he does not take this elder seriously.

"enough!"

Yuwen Xiaobo interrupted the two of them and looked at the old doctor. "The elixir is what His Majesty requested. Don't stop me. Go out first."

The old doctor stood there for a long time without moving. Zhang Bin looked at him smugly. He had a special hatred for this old man who always slandered the elixir.

The old doctor suddenly sighed, nodded, and quickly left the carriage.

Since this had happened to the emperor, everyone stopped on their journey and stayed here. Zhang Bin was busy giving them elixirs.

The old doctor was now carrying a medicine box and walking back to his convoy.

The convoy where the old doctor was located was located relatively at the back. Originally, he was sitting right next to the emperor's carriage, until later, the Taoist priest took his position and left the doctor at the end.

When the old doctor returned to the carriage, a young man immediately looked up. His eyes were bright and he looked very kind.

"Teacher, how is it?"

"I've had the injection, Your Majesty is fine."

"Teacher's acupuncture skills are truly amazing."

Hearing the young man's words, the old doctor shook his head and said, "You have already surpassed me. I just treated him according to the method we discussed."

The young man's eyes were full of worry, "Have you tried to persuade him? That's not a magic pill, it's something that harms people."

"Your Majesty, in your current condition, you only need moxibustion on your feet, Qigong, support to walk, and food therapy to heal you, and you will be fine. But if you don't continue to take this pill, I can't do anything."

The old doctor smiled bitterly.

The young man in front of him was called Sun Simiao.

This was a very kind-hearted young man. He traveled to many places, from Zhou to Qi, from the north to the south, learning medical skills from various places. He treated everyone he met, regardless of their status.

Not long ago, the old doctor met this young man at the recommendation of a friend. The young man wanted to learn some acupuncture techniques from the old doctor.

The old doctor's unique skills were not originally taught to outsiders.

The young man offered to exchange what he had learned, but the old doctor did not think he needed to learn anything from him, so he rejected him.

The young man tried to persuade the old doctor with great principles.

Logically speaking, the old doctor has lived to such an old age, what logic could move him?

But this young man really did it, and the old doctor didn't know whether it was the other's sincere face that touched him, or his ambition to save the people of the world and make the world free of disease and suffering that touched him. In short, the old doctor passed on all his unique skills.

The young man has been staying by the side of the imperial physician. After the emperor got into trouble this time, the young man helped a lot. Several times, the old imperial physician thought that the emperor was beyond saving, but this young man found ways to save him.

The old doctor looked at the young man and shook his head.

“It can’t be broken.”

"what?"

Sun Simiao stood up immediately and said, "How can I watch that Taoist priest kill people with elixirs?"

"I have practiced Taoism before, but how can Taoism make money by refining elixirs? Taoism is about nourishing the mind, governing oneself, and restraining oneself! Refining elixirs is for saving lives, practicing medicine. How can there be immortality?!"

"I'll go talk to that Taoist priest!"

Sun Simiao stood up, but the old doctor grabbed him.

"You've done enough."

"He has been poisoning us, and we have been saving us. But in his mouth, it has become that he is saving us and we are poisoning us. If this continues, it will not be a matter of saving His Majesty. We should find a way to save ourselves. If something happens to His Majesty, I am afraid that we will be punished first!"

Sun Simiao couldn't understand.

He said without hesitation: "Even so, I can't watch others die in front of me, teacher, please run away. If I can't cure it, I will stay and talk to them in detail."

“Absolutely not!!”

The old doctor held Sun Simiao tightly.

He said seriously: "You have great medical skills, but you are inexperienced and don't know how treacherous people are!"

"I know you want to save the world, but now..."

"When I left just now, the emperor was already taking the elixir. He can't be cured. He can't be cured."

"You learned medicine from me, and I never had any reservations."

"Now, I want to impart one last piece of knowledge to you."

"Teacher, please speak!" "Serious diseases can be cured, but stupid people cannot be saved!!"

Sun Simiao was at a loss, but the old doctor secretly looked around and said, "Don't go and die. If you sacrifice your life for a person who can't be cured, who will realize your ambition to save the world in the future?"

"You will leave with me tonight."

"We can't stay here any longer. Let's escape as soon as possible to avoid being implicated!"

The old doctor said a lot, and Sun Simiao was very helpless. Until now, he had never given up on any patient, but in the current situation, if he did not give up, his teacher would definitely not leave privately. And if he had no other way, would he have to drag his teacher to death with him?

Sun Simiao suddenly realized that he could die, but he could not drag others down with him.

"Teacher, I will leave with you."

"well!"

The old doctor said, and then whispered: "The world is in chaos right now, we can run to the south, I heard that it is more peaceful there."

"Teacher, we don't have to go south, we can go to the Han Emperor."

The old doctor shuddered and looked at him in disbelief, "Why did you and the king vote for him?"

"Teacher, you don't know that I have been to the Han Kingdom."

"what?"

"The situation over there is completely different from here. They attach great importance to medical skills over there. They have set up medical clinics and hospital for the poor in every county. The medical clinic treats the rich and powerful, and the hospital for the poor treats the poor. The doctors in these two places are all supported by the government. The herbs and other things are also provided by the government. I have met many great doctors."

"I met a great doctor in Pingcheng, his last name was Chu, and I learned witchcraft from him."

"Witch doctor??"

The old doctor was a little confused, "Xianbei people's medicine?"

"It means using witchcraft to save people."

"Ah? You still believe this?"

Sun Simiao said seriously: "This kind of medical skill is also effective. Sometimes, if the patient believes that he is being saved by the magic, then his chances of recovery will be greatly increased. This is something I have seen with my own eyes."

"Okay, keep talking."

"I have asked this Mr. Chu many questions. The king of Han has great respect for doctors. Their temple spends a lot of money on these doctors every year to help them refine and make medicines. Even in remote places like Yingzhou, they have arranged special doctors. The king of Han is really a benevolent and righteous monarch. He asked Mr. Chu to set up a school to train these doctors. I have many ideas. I want to summarize the experience of doctors in the past and write a few medical books."

"Today's doctors rarely have compassion in their hearts. Most of them are only interested in gaining wealth. I want to change this situation."

"The division of labor among doctors today is very complex. I hope to summarize and generalize these different medical skills."

"If you want to accomplish these things, you can only do it with the King of Heaven!"

"Therefore, I want to seek refuge with the Heavenly King, gain his attention, and then realize my ambitions. Teacher, if you are willing, you can go with me to serve. If you are not willing to serve, you can also find a safe place there to treat people."

The old doctor was silent for a long time.

"Although I want to escape now, I have received the emperor's grace after all, so I cannot serve the Heavenly King with you. However, I can stay there and teach some disciples."

"Leave tonight!"

"it is good!!"

The next day, the sky was just getting light.

After washing up, Yuwen Xiaobo hurried to the emperor.

Let the imperial physician and the Taoist priest come together to check on the emperor's condition so as to determine whether we can continue moving forward today.

Zhang Bin arrived quite quickly.

However, the old doctor was slow to arrive.

Yuwen Xiaobo was quite angry about this and sent someone to summon him again.

While they were waiting, Zhang Bin had already begun to feel the emperor's pulse, muttering something to himself.

A moment later, the soldiers arrived and hurriedly reported: "Duke! Doctor Xu is nowhere to be seen! Several of his disciples are also missing, and his medicine box and other things are gone. Someone reported that he was seen going out last night in the name of collecting herbs!"

"what?!"

"Send someone to look for him!"

Yuwen Xiaobo became even angrier. The territory of the Zhou Kingdom was no longer that safe. If he went out to look for medicine and encountered bandits or wild beasts, wouldn't he be seeking his death in vain?
Zhang Bin's eyes lit up and he stood up immediately.

"Duke, I think there is no need to send anyone to look for him."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"If he was going out to collect herbs, why would he bring a medicine box with him? This is clearly a plot to murder the emperor but failed, so he fled!"

Yuwen Xiaobo frowned, and his expression became more and more frightening.

"If you ask me, this imperial physician may have defected to the Han Kingdom a long time ago. Otherwise, why would he always stop me from treating Your Majesty?"

"This is actually a good thing. Now that one troublemaker has gone, we don't have to worry about anyone interfering in the future!"

Zhang Bin looked quite happy, probably because he felt that he had driven away another person who could threaten his position, and that he would no longer be restricted and would be able to cure the emperor.

But Yuwen Xiaobo felt something was wrong.

How could this old doctor have served the royal family for many years and defect? ​​How could he have escaped?
The soldiers came back soon, but still couldn't find the imperial physician.

Yuwen Xiaobo sent knights to track down the perpetrators, and then decided to continue on his journey.

At the same time, the old doctor and his four disciples were riding away on horseback.

Except for Sun Simiao, the other three disciples were all relatives of the old doctor, one was his son and two were his nephews.

All of them can ride horses.

The old doctor seemed to have prepared for such a thing a long time ago. After he went out, he quickly met up with an officer, asked for a horse, and then left quickly.

The old doctor saved the officer's life and helped him at a critical moment.

They avoided the fighting areas and ran towards the east.

The conditions along the road were indeed very dangerous.

There were bandits and refugees everywhere. A large number of people were displaced by the war, and this road became a paradise for bandits.

In addition to avoiding bandits, you also have to avoid the rebels. These fleeing soldiers from the battlefield are ten times more terrifying than bandits.
I don’t know how long I ran, but I finally avoided the terrible Zhou-Chen battle zone.

Even from a distance, they could see the flames rising into the sky in the direction of Jiangling.

The sounds of shouting and killing could be vaguely heard from a distance, making it impossible for them to imagine how brutal this war was.

They didn't dare to stay and could only keep moving forward, the farther away from Jiangling City the better.

At this moment, Jiangling City had been devastated.

Yang Jian stood on the top of the city wall, his face no longer as calm as before.

This Chun Yuliang is really crazy!!

Attacking fiercely day and night and frequently taking the lead in the charge, this madman managed to remove several barriers in Jiangling bit by bit. Chen Bing suffered heavy casualties, and Zhou Liang's army was even more so. As the arrow towers, moats, and outer walls were conquered by the enemy one by one, the morale of the defenders in the city was constantly declining.

This made Yang Jian extremely terrified.

What on earth does Chun Yuliang want to do? !
Inside the Chen army camp outside the city, Chunyu Liang was kneeling on the ground, welcoming the imperial edict from Jiankang.

The messenger was the old messenger, the one who brought Huang Fachu over in the past.

He looked more tired and thinner.

The content of the edict was very simple, which was to stop fighting with the Zhou people and lead the army to retreat.

Chunyu Liang suddenly raised his head, tears in his eyes.

"Why is this happening?!"

"I was ordered to come and recapture Jiangling. It cost me a lot of money and resulted in countless casualties. We were about to take Jiangling City. Why did Your Majesty let me retreat?!"

"General Chunyu, the envoys from the Zhou Kingdom have arrived. They are willing to cede cities and land to us, and are also willing to give us a large number of war horses and weapons."

"Please go back and tell His Majesty!!"

"The Zhou people have always been cunning. The reason they are in a hurry to send gifts is because I attacked Jiangling fiercely and made them feel threatened. If I retreat, let alone whether these things can be sent to us, even if they can be sent, what's the point of us leaving Jiangling and asking for some broken land given by the enemy?!"

"I will take Jiangling for your majesty and I will never retreat! I will be on the battlefield, and I cannot obey this imperial edict!!"

"you!!!"

The messenger widened his eyes and dared not speak.

(End of this chapter)