Denghuaxiao

Chapter 115 Descendants of the Lu Family

 The snow in Shengjing stopped at the fifth watch.

 One night passed, and the whole city was covered with white.

I don’t know what happened in the palace last night. Early in the morning, the whole city was under martial law, and there were city guards patrolling in and out of West Street.

Hu Yuanwailing's servant came to Renxin Medical Center and sent a message to Lu Zhu, saying that the quota for the Spring Examination of the Imperial Medical Bureau had been entrusted to others, and he was trying to find a way to accommodate it. Not long ago, news came back and asked Lu Wait patiently.

Lu Zong packed some nourishing medicinal tea and asked the boy to take it back to Mr. Hu. When Acheng saw it, he hesitated and asked: "Doctor Lu, are you really determined to go to Hanlin Medical Hospital?"

The young man’s eyes were full of reluctance. Before Lu Zhuo could say anything, Yin Zheng rubbed Acheng’s head and comforted him: “You should go to higher ground.”

Acheng lowered his head and said dullly: "Now that you are gone, my boss and I will be the only two people left in the hospital."

Lu Zhen and Yin Zheng have been coming to Renxin Medical Center for more than half a year. Not to mention Acheng and Du Changqing, everyone on West Street has long been accustomed to their presence. If I really want to leave suddenly, I feel deserted just thinking about it.

Yin Zheng looked at the door and changed her subject: "But when will my boss come to the hospital?"

Ever since he learned that Lu Yun was going to take the spring exam, Du Changqing had not been to the medical clinic again, and only sent Acheng to guard the shop. No one could even see his shadow.

Acheng glanced anxiously at Lu Huan, who was opening the medical book, and explained in a low voice: "My boss was very angry. He didn't stop scolding him until midnight yesterday. He shouldn't come here in the next few days."

Yin Zheng was startled, curled her lips, and whispered, "You're quite angry."

 …

Yazhai Bookstore is located in a dark alley at the end of Mingqing Road on West Street.

 The bookstore is not as elegantly restored as its name. At first glance, it looks like a canteen. There were no calligraphy and painting decorations around, and a large number of books were piled randomly on the ground in front of the door of the house. The owner of the bookstore, Luo Dazui, was wearing a big coat and sitting at the door with his legs crossed, chewing duck bones.

　　It is early morning, the time is still early. The Yazhai bookstore has not yet opened. Luo Dazui is sitting at the door of the bookstore, with a charcoal fire under his feet, chewing braised duck bones and roasting sweet potatoes on skewers.

The iron skewers were roughly skewered, and they were all put on the firewood. The burnt aroma and black smoke came out from the depths of the alley.

“Bah, bah, bah—” Someone was hit by the black smoke from the pavement as soon as he walked to the alley, and cursed, “What’s the matter?”

Luo Dazui raised his eyelids and saw a young man wearing a cherry-colored jacket and gown walking over, holding his nose. He looked like a bright and swollen oriole in the snow. He paused and greeted without enthusiasm: "Shopkeeper Du—" "

 The visitor is Du Changqing.

Du Changqing walked to Yazhai Bookstore, glanced at the sweet potatoes that were roasted black in the charcoal fire, and asked: "Where is the roasted cow dung?"

Luo Dazui rolled his eyes at him: "What, do you want to eat?"

"You'd better keep it for yourself." Du Changqing waved his hand and walked towards the study room, "There is a charcoal pot in the study room, so you are not afraid of setting yourself on fire."

Luo Dazui turned his head and saw Du Changqing carefully stepping over the pile of books at his feet and standing in the middle of the bookstore, so he put down the iron drill in his hand, stood up and followed him in, while reminding him: "Be careful, don't step on me. "

Du Changqing said "hmm" twice, walked around the bookstore twice, turned around and asked Luo Dazui: "Where do you keep this medical book?"

Luo Dazui frowned and glanced at him suspiciously: "You want to buy a book?"

Yazhai Bookstore has been open on West Street for many years. Du Changqing has never set foot here except for being brought here by Mr. Du to buy a few copybooks when he was a child. In his words, the smell of paper musty here is too strong, and it smells fuzzy as soon as he comes in. People feel dizzy. So much so that Luo Dazui never gave him a good look.

Du Changqing was not aware of the owner of the study's displeasure. He touched his chin and said, "Isn't there going to be a Spring Examination for the Imperial Medical Bureau next year? Do you have any medical books and pharmacology books in your library that the Spring Examination students have bought to review? Take them out and let me take a look."

There are many traders doing business in West Street, but there are few elegant guests like Hu Yuanwai. The reason why the bookstore in Luodazui can survive until now is mainly because of the candidates who failed in the tribute examination.

Those candidates always came to buy some examination papers and books prepared for the tribute examination. Later, Yazhai Bookstore rarely displayed poetry collections and poems, but more policy books, specifically to prepare for the tribute examination.

Du Changqing also came here to try his luck.

After gnawing on the duck bone for a moment, Luo Dazui looked him up and down: "The **** sun rises in the west, when will you start studying hard?"

Du Changqing said angrily: "When did I say I wanted to watch it? My friend will watch it!"

 “Do you have such progressive friends?”

Du Changqing said angrily: "Is there any?"

Luo Dazui wiped duck fat on his hands and pointed into the bookstore: "They are all there."

Du Changqing approached the bookshelf that Luo Dazui pointed to.

This bookshelf is not big. Compared with the policy books, it is surprisingly few. It is so sparse that it can’t even fit in a row.

Du Changqing picked up a book. The medical book looked very old, as if it had not been read for a long time and was covered with a thin layer of dust.

　　Blowing the dust off the cover, Du Changqing asked: "Why is it just this?"

Luo Dazui shrugged: "Many medical books in the city are kept in the Imperial Medical Bureau Book Garden, and not many have been leaked out. This is complete enough."

In the Liang Dynasty, except for those students in the Imperial Medical Bureau who had specialized teachers to teach medical science, most private doctors relied on generations of veteran doctors to teach and pass on their experience. This is also the case among the common people today. Most of the miracle doctors with outstanding medical skills have white hair. The reason for the old man.

 Experience always takes time to accumulate.

 Ordinary doctors do not have the meticulous teaching and summarization of medical theories from the nine subjects of the Imperial Medical Bureau, so they all rely on their masters and their own slow exploration. A good medical book is very precious and difficult to spread to the market.

The few medical books on the bookshelf of Yazhai Bookstore are actually just some basic medical theories, not very sophisticated.

Du Changqing frowned and looked at it for a long time, but finally had no choice but to grab all the few medical books left on the bookshelf and slap them on the desk: "How much silver?"  Luo Dazui glanced at it: "Give me two taels."

 “Two taels?” Du Changqing jumped three feet high: “Why don’t you go and grab it!”

"Don't buy it if it's too expensive." Luo Dazui picked up the book and slowly put it on the bookcase to play back one by one, "How can there be any bargains on things for scholars?"

Seeing this, Du Changqing took the medical book back from the opponent's hand, took out a piece of silver from his pocket and threw it on the table, cursing: "Who said I won't buy it? You only sell a few tattered books for 2 taels, you have such a dark heart. No, you have to give me a nod!"

Luo Dazui showed contempt.

Du Changqing is hard at work.

Finally, he couldn't stand Du Changqing's interference in the book store. In desperation, Luo Dazui got up and walked into the room, rummaged through the miscellaneous books piled up in the corner and found a pile of unkempt volumes.

Du Changqing was confused: "What is this?"

"Don't you want to talk to me?" Luo Dazui pressed the volume into Du Changqing's arms, and along with the medical books just now, he pushed Du Changqing out of the door, "This is the 'Essential Analysis of the Shengjing Imperial Medical Bureau's Spring Examination Questions' '. With this, you will definitely come out on top in this year's spring exam!"

"Really?" Du Changqing especially didn't believe it. "Who wrote it? Are you fooling me?"

The snow was deep outside. Luo Dazui stood in front of the bookstore and winked at him and smiled: "Yes."

 Then, there was a "bang" and the door was closed.

Du Changqing: "...bad luck!"

 …

 Snow in Shengjing accumulated half a foot on West Street, blocking passers-by's carriages. In a wealthy residence, it becomes the icing on the cake.

In the Taishi Mansion, the plum branches on the rockery were covered with deep snow. The flower branches could not withstand the accumulated heavy snow, and they rustled all over the pond below. The koi carp moved in the pond, and its long tail flickered a little in the ripples.

 There was an old man standing in the pavilion, looking up into the distance.

 The scenery behind the snow in Shengjing is vast, and to the east is the direction of the Imperial City. The red wall showed a bright shadow under the gray clouds, and was quickly covered by a deeper silvery white.

 The old man lowered his head and coughed twice.

Last night, an assassin broke into the palace gate at night and attempted to assassinate the East Palace, but he allowed the assassin to escape under the eyes of the imperial guards. Today, the city is under martial law. The emperor was furious and the man in the palace fell on his back. However, Grand Master Qi Qing took leave a few days ago due to a cold, so he was able to avoid this turmoil.

The steward himself came forward, put on Taishi Qi's cloak, lowered his hands and said, "Sir, there is news from the palace that His Royal Highness was frightened last night and was bedridden. Your Majesty hastily summoned all the guards in front of the palace to enter the palace."

“Your Majesty acted in isolation back then, but now he naturally feels guilty and afraid.” The old man looked back and sighed: “It’s been a troubled year.”

The steward said: "I have followed the master's instructions and told you not to let the young master and the young lady leave the house in the past few days."

Taishi Qi nodded: "It's not peaceful in the city, so be careful."

　　Xu mentioned Qi Yutai, which reminded the housekeeper of something. After a pause, the housekeeper looked at the person in front of him and whispered: "One more thing, sir, I have some clues about the good wife of the Ke family whom I asked someone to inquire about earlier."

As soon as these words came out, Qi Qing's unmoving figure moved slightly.

 “How?” he asked after a long while.

The steward bent his waist lower and replied in a gentle voice: "The name of the good wife of the Ke family is Lu Rou. She is not a native of Shengjing. She lives in Changwu County. The inquirer reported that Lu Rou's parents have passed away, and her younger brother Lu Qian is here. When he entered Beijing a year ago, he was thrown into a dungeon and sentenced to death for stealing property and insulting his parents.

“Other than that, there have been no other relatives in the Lu family in recent years.”

 “Oh? They are all dead?”

"Yes, but sir, I also want to know something..."

Qi Qing's expression paused.

“There was an epidemic in Changwu County eight years ago. Almost no good people in the entire county escaped. However, the Lu family had some good luck. The four members of the family are still alive and well.”

The housekeeper said: "This is strange. The Lu family is very poor. There are very few survivors in Changwu County, but no one in the Lu family has suffered any loss. However, the epidemic in Changwu County was fierce at that time, and everyone died. No one with knowledge of the Lu family's past. He is no longer here, and according to the newly moved county neighbors, there is no problem."

 Everyone who knew the past of the Lu family was dead, so naturally there was no useful information.

There was a long silence.

Qi Qing pondered for a moment: "There are no other relatives in the Lu family?"

The housekeeper shook his head and looked at Master Qi again: "Master is suspicious..."

“The Lu family is extinct. If someone wants to use the Lu family to make a knife, they must find a living relative of the Lu family. Besides...”

Qi Qing said calmly: "In ancient times, a filial son avenged his father. If the descendants of the Lu family are still alive in the world, they will definitely not give up."

 He turned around, his silver hair blending into the snow behind him.

“Perhaps there are still fish that have slipped through the net,” he said.

 (End of this chapter)