193 – Reunion
As early as that year, when he met the young man who looked similar to him in the Capital, Qin Mian imagined that he would meet the family of the body’s original owner in the future. Therefore, he was not surprised or excited at this time. It was even more impossible to say if he had any feelings for Qin Wencai.
He was very calm, “The left side of my waist side does have a mole; as for whether there is on the right shoulder, I don’t know.”
Qin Wencai almost blurted out “just see it at a glance”, but although the other party was a man, he also had the identity of Lady of the State Defender Duke. Therefore, Qin Wencai could not be sudden and brusque.
“There must be… You look so much like me, and you happen to have a mole on your left waist. These two points alone are enough to explain the question.” Qin Wencai’s tone was firm; his eyes glistened with moisture as they fell on Qin Mian, reluctant to part.
Qin Mian was a little uncomfortable that he frowned. After Qin Wencai’s real son died, he just happened to occupy his body. It was somewhat impossible to have him genuinely and sincerely accept Qin Wencai as a father. First of all, he wouldn’t take advantage of a dead man and enjoy something that didn’t belong to his kinship; second, he couldn’t call a stranger his father; third, he was selfish – like Lei Tie, he didn’t want to give rise to a more complicated household. Back then, the young man mostly doubted his identity but did not take the initiative to recognize him. It could be seen that he was not welcome back to the Qin family. The situation in the Qin family must be very complicated.
Qin Wencai sighed, “You haven’t taken the initiative to go home since you’ve been in the Capital for so long. I guess that you most probably don’t have the memory of the past. Sure enough… you…”
Qin Mian interrupted him in polite and estranged manner, “Imperial Doctor Qin, it’d be better to wait until we arrive at the western pass to talk about it. How about it?” He had to ask Lei Tie if he had a mole on his right shoulder before he thought of a plan.
Qin Wencai was nine out of ten sure that he was indeed his son – half of the load on his mind had laid rest. In a good mood, he nodded, “Alright, alright…”
A few days later, the group arrived at Solemn City, Western Pass near noon. There was no snow in Solemn City, but the climate here was much worse than that in the Capital. The cold and dry wind blew on the face was like blades. The faces of pedestrians on the road were all red with cold. As long as the face, neck, hands, and ankles were not covered, the cold wind would fiercely invade, and the chill bit into the bone.
Qin Mian originally thought that because of the war, the doors of the houses and shops in the city would be tightly closed and the city would appear cold and desolate. When he entered the city, he found that it was still bustling. The flames of war at the border station seemed to have no impact on them. On the roadside, stalls sold various snacks, steaming smoke came from the woks and flew away with the wind carrying the smell of steamed stuffed bun, sesame seed pancake, baked sweet potato, and other food, which made one’s mouth salivated and body felt warm.
The shop assistants wore felt hats and thick cotton-padded jackets and tightly tied their waists with either a rice straw or cloth strips. With their hands in their sleeves, they opened their mouths wide and shouted out, exhaling clouds of white steam.
“Steamed stuffed buns, hot steamed stuffed buns!”
“Sweet and fragrant roasted sweet potatoes. I’m sure you’ll want a second after one taste!”
“Beef noodle, it’s delicious and spicy. A bowl can keep you full until night!”
“……”
Qin Wencai praised, “Thanks to State Defender Grand General, who is brave and skillful in warfare, under his strict control, the common people can live and work in peace and contentment as before.”
Proud, Qin Mian modestly smiled, “Imperial Doctor Qin overpraised.”
The leader of the escort rode to the side of the carriage and politely said, “Qin-Daren and Imperial Doctor Qin, please bear it for a while. We’ll go directly to the military camp.” Along the way, Qin Mian never complained, let alone made things hard for them. Moreover, he gave them fermented tofu to mix with their rations. The whole escort team had a very good impression of Qin Mian.
Qin Mian knew that these people also needed to report the leadership after accomplishing a task, so he would not make things hard for them. He nodded, “Alright, thank you for your hard work.”
The procession went straight to the gate of the western city wall. When the passers-by saw that they were soldiers, they consciously retreated to both sides of the street to make way for them.
Solemn City now had two military camps – one outside the city and the other inside. According to the victory report sent back to the Capital, the army at the border station had penetrated the territory of Tuluo for nearly 50 li, defeated 200,000 troops of Tuluo, and conquered four big cities of the enemy country. Currently, the two armies were in a standoff at Tuluo’s strategic pass and might launch an all-out attack at any time. The camp in the city was now especially used to house the poisoned soldiers.
Because of the tension of the war, Lei Tie needed manpower. Apart from six military doctors, Lei Tie only arranged one hundred soldiers to help the military doctors take care of the wounded.
After the leader of the escort showed his token to the chargehand of the camp, the chargehand immediately sent two people to the camp outside the city to report to State Defender Grand General Lei Tie.
Although Qin Mian was eager to see Lei Tie, it was important to treat the poisoned soldiers. He sat down with Imperial Doctor Qin for a while, drank a cup of hot tea, and then went to see the soldiers.
More than 10,000 people were huddled in over twenty tents, critically ill with a little breath. No matter who saw it, one could not help feeling down. Fortunately, although the soldiers could not move, their complexions looked better. The pill Qin Mian gave to Lei Tie had a remarkable effect.
Surprisingly, every time the battle drum was heard in the distance, all the soldiers were anxious and wanted to get up immediately to join the battle, however, their physical conditions didn’t allow them – they fell into morbid depression, more or less.
When they learned that Qin Wencai was the imperial doctor who specially treated the emperor, everyone’s eyes lit up. Qin Mian was young. Although he came to treat them specially, almost no one care about him.
“Imperial Doctor Qin, in your opinion, what kind of poison is it?” Doctor Yu was one of the military doctors who stayed in the camp in the city. He looked tired because of long-term hard work, but the city was short of manpower, so he had to endure it.
Qin Mian carefully observed the symptoms of the poisoned person – his face was white, his lips were black, and his skin was blue and slightly swollen with bulging blood blisters. The poisoned person mainly felt fatigued and had a slow reaction.
Another military doctor, holding his sore shoulder, said, “A few days ago, Grand General found a miracle-working doctor who successfully suppressed their poisoning. Since taking the medicine, no one’s skin has festered and no one is infected. It’s a pity that the miracle-working doctor has an eccentric nature. He just disappeared after half a day in the camp.”
Qin Wencai inquiringly looked at Qin Mian. Although Emperor Xiaohui didn’t say it clearly, Qin Mian was in the leading position when they came to the western pass this time. He just assisted him (QM).
Qin Mian knew that he was too young to be convincing. However, he didn’t care, so he nodded to Qin Wencai.
Qin Wencai said, “No wonder this old fellow noticed that these people’s complexions are not bad. The symptoms are actually very similar—let this old fellow takes the pulse first.”
He didn’t mind and knelt on one knee at the edge of the sickbed, picked up the wrist of the wounded, and closed his eyes for nearly half a moment. He felt the pulse for several other people nearby and it took a long time for him to feel the pulse every time.
The soldiers nearby nervously watched him, praying in secret that the imperial doctor could cure them and let them return to the battlefield.
Imperial Doctor Qin said, “If this old fellow’s diagnosis is correct, they were inflicted with a kind of strange poison called ‘halving life’ by the people of Tuluo. This old fellow would like to ask you, do the poisoned people feel that there is an invisible monster sucking their blood in the body at first, and the body gradually becomes cold?”
Doctor Yu was overjoyed. “Exactly, Imperial Doctor Qin is worthy of being the descendant of the medical family! Since Imperial Doctor Qin knew of this poison, there must be a way to detoxify it?”
Several other military doctors gathered around in pleasant surprise.
Imperial Doctor Qin was very prudent. Instead of making a statement immediately, he said to Qin Mian, “Qin-Daren, please have a try.”
Qin Mian was too young. The several military doctors looked at him with disapproval as he felt the pulse of a few soldiers.
Qin Mian stood up and said, “I don’t know the name of this poison, but I know how to detoxify it. I’ll write a prescription first and Imperial Doctor Qin can check it if it’s feasible.”
Doctor Yu opened his mouth to speak but was stopped by Qin Wencai.
“Alright.”
Doctor Yu gave up the idea of objecting to it. If Qin Mian and Qin Wencai put people to death, it didn’t have much to do with him. Since Qin Wencai wouldn’t let him chip in, why should he get into trouble?
On the desk at the side, there were writing materials. The medical assistant cleverly ran over to polish the ink.
Qin Mian picked up the brush and wrote down a prescription and handed it to Qin Wencai.
Several military doctors came to see that there were more than twenty herbs in the prescription, one of which was cow urine!
“This…”
Qin Wencai’s expression did not change as he slightly nodded. “Cow urine can cure dropsy and abdominal distension. It’s suitable to use for this disease. It’s once recorded in the Thousand Golden Prescriptions of Huainan Dynasty.”
Several military doctors had nothing to say. Imperial Doctor Qin was born in a medical family. It was said that the Qin family had seen the illness of an emperor for eight generations – they had the foundation of profound learning inherited by the family. It was not uncommon for them to have the Thousand Golden Prescriptions and other medical books that others only heard but could not see.
Qin Wencai looked at Qin Mian with approval. He went to the table and also wrote a prescription.
“Qin-Daren looks at it. This old fellow thinks it works faster. Unfortunately, one of the herbs –chaste tree– grows only in Tuluo and is rarely used in Great Xia.”
After Qin Mian read it, he looked around with a hesitant look.
Qin Wencai felt odd, “This old fellow tells all there is to say. It’s fine if Qin-Daren has something to say.”
Qin Mian still motioned him and several military doctors to go to the corner, out of the soldiers’ hearing.
“If the prescription of Imperial Doctor Qin is aimed at ‘halving life’, I can say for sure that the poison in them is not the ‘halving life’. If Imperial Doctor Qin really used chaste tree, the body and spirit of the patients can indeed recover to the normal appearance within an hour, but after an hour, they will be poisoned to death.”
“What!” The military doctors were shocked.
Qin Wencai couldn’t believe it. “You mean…”
Qin Mian said, “This poison is obviously tampered with ‘halving life’. If we really use the chaste tree, we’ll fall into the enemy’s trick.”
Outside the tent, the resounding voices of the guards echoed.
“Greetings, Grand General!”
Qin Mian’s heart pounded; he turned to look at the tent’s opening.
The curtain of the opening was lifted. Lei Tie, dressed in a combat suit, strode in with his deep eyes gently fell on Qin Mian’s face.
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