Ink Burns

Chapter 63: Robbing the Rich to Help the Poor

During the epidemic, in Songjiang Prefecture, the new prefect, Lord Bai, abolished the night watchmen's timekeeping, postponed the curfew time, and also designated the three medical and public welfare bureaus opened by the court to be open all night long. Unfortunately, there were usually only two boys dispensing medicine inside, and no long-term master.

In the few pharmacies that are still open, the doctors in charge must have warm hearts, while the cold-hearted doctors would have closed their doors early.

Cheng Xingyu, Peng Da and Peng Erleng finished examining all the men in the queue. The women in the inner room were examined by Wei Ruchun, her foster mother and two other women. Few women came to see the doctor, one because it was inconvenient for them to go out, and the other because they had to take off their outer clothes for acupuncture. Although the customs of the Wei Dynasty were slightly more open than those of previous dynasties, the common people still had concerns.

Therefore, Wei Ruchun said to some slightly embarrassed women: "You have to remember the acupuncture points. If you can't come tomorrow, crush the mugwort into small moxa sticks and apply them to these acupuncture points for hot moxibustion. It will also be effective with decoctions. The most important thing is not to vomit. As long as you don't vomit or have diarrhea, no matter how serious the disease is, there is a chance of saving it."

Seeing that the woman didn't understand, Wei Ruchun thought for a moment and said, "It's just like saving lambs in the village. As long as they are willing to eat grass, they won't die."

Oh, the woman understood.

When Wei Ruchun smiled, her round eyes curved into crescents, and her round face, faintly visible under the veil, looked very festive.

Shanyue stood beside the pillar and watched her. He found that after Wei Ruchun performed acupuncture, he would ask if there were any virgin girls in the family. If so, he would give them an extra packet of medicine. He would circle the acupuncture points on each woman with a pen, open the medicine, put a handful of coarse gravel inside, and then wrap it in oilcloth paper and hand it out.

Wei Ruchun noticed Shanyue was looking at her, so she opened her arms and greeted her like a big monkey: "Sister!"

A passion that cannot be concealed even by a veil.

Shan Yue walked over and brushed the gravel in the basket: "Why do you add a handful of coarse gravel to the woman's medicine?"

Wei Ruchun smiled and said, "To prevent men from drinking secretly."

He paused and said, "In the past, in the village, a couple came to see a doctor. They were obviously taking the same medicine, but the man insisted that taking one more dose would be more effective, so he drank his wife's medicine as well. In the end, the man took too much medicine and his eyes were damaged, while the wife didn't get any medicine, and her illness didn't end well. So they simply sprinkled some mud into the woman's medicine, and the man would stop trying to cure it, and the woman would still be able to drink the medicine."

It's not a funny thing, but it makes people laugh because of its absurdity.

Shanyue looked at Wei Ruchun's foster mother again. She was a short and skinny village woman with dark skin but bright eyes. She didn't talk much, and there was always a gentle smile in her eyes when she listened to Wei Ruchun speak.

Shan Yue was very grateful to her: "Who is this?"

Wei Ruchun dipped his hands in the strong liquor, took them out after a while and wiped them clean: "It's my mother!" He introduced Shanyue to the foster mother: "Miss He from the Cheng family is a very good person. If it weren't for her, all the medicine in our room would have flown away long ago!"

Shanyue bowed solemnly, which shocked Wei Chenshi.

In the inner room, people were talking and cleaning up, but outside, they suddenly heard hurried footsteps and suppressed crying: "Doctor Cheng! Doctor Cheng! My mother is dying! I'm too weak, I, I can't carry her! Doctor Cheng, please go and take a look! Please!"

Shanyue leaned against the window and looked out.

A skinny boy knelt on the ground and cried bitterly, holding a dozen copper coins in his hand: "Please go and have a look! Please! It's in the alley at the east end!"

The alley at the east end is closest to the opening of the city wall of Songjiang Prefecture. It was the first to be affected by the disease and had the most deaths.

Cheng Xingyu carried the silver needle box he had just put away, lifted his robe with one hand, and asked the boy to show him the way: "Let's go."

Wei Ruchun followed him: "I'll go too! The patient is a woman, and it's not convenient for Doctor Cheng!"

"no!"

Shanyue spoke up subconsciously, pulling Wei Ruchun back and pushing her to Wei Chenshi, clearing her throat and saying, "Miss Wei, you've worked hard. I came later, so I'm not that tired. You and Aunt Chen should go home first, change clothes and have a good sleep. You'll be on the early shift tomorrow."

Shanyue put on her veil and followed Cheng Xingyu. The black boy leading the way wiped his tears as he led the way. Dongtou Lane was not far away, and they would arrive after turning around Sancha Street. The city walls were tall, and guards were on duty. The flaming red lanterns seemed unaware of the plight of the people in the city and still shone brightly.

The further we walked into the alley, the more we smelled an unpleasant odor through the veil.

Cheng Xingyu frowned: "The dead are piled up outside?"

The boy cried, "The ancestral temple is on the outskirts of the city, and we can't bury him outside. My father is still lying on the cold ground!"

Cheng Xingyu said, "People who died of the epidemic must be burned after death." The boy cried, "No!" He repeated, "My father is still lying on the cold ground!"

Cheng Xingyu glanced to the side, and his narrow, clear eyebrows showed a bit of worry.

Putting aside the matter of the corpse for the moment, Cheng Xingyu took two steps at a time, turned the corner and pushed the door open. The room was dark with only a small candle flickering faintly. A woman was lying on the broken wooden bed with one hand hanging by the side of the bed. The room was filled with a sour and fermented smell.

Cheng Xingyu strode forward as if he had smelled nothing, grasped the woman's wrist and felt her pulse, and after a moment of silence, he lifted her chin, pinched her jaw and looked at her throat.

In the dim candlelight, Cheng Xingyu's profile was covered with a soft halo by the flickering flames.

Kind, clean, pure, peaceful.
Shan Yue unconsciously raised his chin and pursed his lips tightly.

"Did you receive the medicine during the day?" Cheng Xingyu asked in a low voice, his voice trembling slightly due to fatigue: "After boiling it, did you give it to your mother to drink?"

The boy cried, "I drank it twice, but I didn't vomit! You said I didn't need to get the injection if I didn't vomit, so I didn't go! But I suddenly had a fever at night, went to the toilet several times, and then fainted!"

With one hand, Cheng Xingyu took out the mother-of-pearl red lacquered wooden tube that Shanyue had found that night from his bosom, poured out a small half piece of ginseng slice from it, tilted the woman's jaw, and carefully inserted it under the root of her tongue. He then asked Shanyue to take out the three-edged needle and acupunctured thirty-eight points on her body.

When giving acupuncture, the hands need to be steady and calm.

Cheng Xingyu stared at the silver needle intently, holding his right wrist with his left hand, and soon beads of sweat appeared on the tip of his nose.

After about half an hour, the acupuncture was completed. The boy's eyes were bright and full of hope: "My mother, can my mother survive?"

Cheng Xingyu said nothing, and put the silver needles together and put them in place: "To live or not, it will take two days. If you can live, you will wake up tomorrow morning, if not..."

Cheng Xingyu stopped talking.

The boy bit his fist tightly, tears welling up in his eyes.

Cheng Xingyu stood up, staggered and almost fell to his knees.

Shan Yue subconsciously went to help him.

The boy was extremely sad, but he still remembered his teacher: "Well, how much is that small piece of medicine? If it's not enough now, I'll sign and write you an IOU."

Cheng Xingyu was already very tired, his spine slightly bent, his chest had to rise and fall greatly to ensure that he did not pant, he held onto the wall and walked out, waving his hand: "The ginseng slices were taken by the female swordsman from the rich to help the poor, no money required."

After saying that, he pushed the door and left the house.

Cheng Xingyu walked very fast, and after taking two big steps, he stopped and leaned against the wall.

Shan Yue followed closely behind.

Under the towering city wall, Cheng Xingyu held the cold wall bricks with one hand, lowered his head, and used the veil to brush the yellowed linen collar. He felt that the moonlight knew nothing about the affairs of the world, and every day was like water and like a song.

"You can't save everyone." Shan Yue said.

In this world, there will always be cruel people.

After a long silence, Cheng Xingyu also spoke: "So I tried my best to save people."

In this world, there must always be kind people.

　After some modification, I feel it is better than the previous approach.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)