Denghuaxiao

Chapter 241 New Year’s Eve

 It was late at night, the snow was heavy, and the wind was still blowing.

The light from the lantern under your feet is like a thin layer of yellow mist, or like the magnificent sunset at Luomei Peak in the evening.

 Lu Zhuo spoke softly.

“Yunniang, she died in my hands.”

 After saying these words, it was like taking off the last heavy burden, and feeling completely relaxed in a corner that had been heavy all along.

 Actually, thinking about it now, some things happened quite unexpectedly.

 She stayed at Luomei Peak for seven years, day after day, year after year. At first, she always thought about trying to escape, but gradually she became numb. Like a puppet imprisoned on the stage, he repeats the same drama every day.

One day, she and Yun Niang went down the mountain to buy medicinal herb seeds and met a poor woman at the door of Sunan Medical Clinic.

The woman was not a native of southern Jiangsu. She spoke with a local accent and was pleading with the shopkeeper of the medical clinic.

She stood at the door and listened for a long time, and learned that the woman had traveled a long way to buy some medicinal materials to treat her son's illness. However, when she got here, she was still three coppers short. It was a long journey of dozens of miles. The woman wanted to Ask for credit or buy less, but the shopkeeper won't do anything.

Lu Zhen made up for the three copper coins for her.

 The woman was filled with gratitude to her and left with a lot of gratitude. She looked at the other person's back and was slightly lost in thought.

 The woman’s eyebrows look like her mother’s.

 When he turned around, he saw Yun Niang standing at the door of the medical clinic, looking at her with a half-smile but not a smile, with a clear look on her face.

After returning to the mountain, Yun Niang sprinkled the newly bought seeds under the plum tree, and looked at her sitting in front of the medicine stove and suddenly spoke.

“Xiao Qi,” she said, “do you want to leave here?”

Lu Zhen was stunned for a moment.

The plum trees are in bloom, and the cold forest is red. Under the trees, the women are wearing gauze, and their makeup is better than the red plums.

“You have lived in the mountains for so long, and you have peeked at so many of my medical notes. You usually make good antidotes, but you haven’t made any poison yet.”

Every time Yun Niang tried medicine on her, Lu Chen would detoxify himself according to the medical books he had read. Sometimes he could detoxify, sometimes not.

"Let's play a game." Yun Niang looked at her with her chin in her hands.

"what game?"

Yun Niang thought for a while: "You, learn to make some poison and give it to me. If you can poison me to death, you can go down the mountain. If it's the other way around..."

The woman’s eyebrows were crooked: “You can stay on the mountain and be my medicine man for the rest of your life, okay?”

 Lu Zhen didn't speak.

 Actually, even if she didn't agree, Yun Niang could leave her in the mountain and work as a medicine man for the rest of her life.

"Still don't you dare?" Yun Niang was a little disappointed and touched her head, "What a pity. I thought you wanted to go home."

go home.

 She looked into the distance.

Luomei Peak is covered with plum trees, covering the path leading to the bottom of the mountain. She thought of the woman she saw at the door of the medical clinic who looked like her mother. She had not been home for a long time. She wondered how her mother was doing now, whether her hair was half gray like that woman's.

 Seven whole years, she has been away for seven whole years, and maybe they will be separated for even longer. As long as Yun Niang didn't die, there was no way she could go home.

"good."

The woman was a little surprised.

Lu Zong looked at her and repeated: "Okay."

 She was startled, then laughed in surprise: "I'll wait for you, Xiao Qi."

 When she was on the mountain, she made many medicines, all of which were poisonous weeds from Luomei Peak, but they were all used to save people. She had read many of Yun Niang's poison sutras, but this was the first time she had used poison that hurt people.

Yun Niang watched her tossing with interest.

 She divided the prepared poison into two parts, one for Yun Niang to take and the other for Yun Niang to separate. On the surface, he is calm, but in fact, he is waiting for the ending uneasily.

Yun Niang took it with a smile.

 It took seven days from the time she took the poison to the onset of the poison. This may be because Yun Niang’s physique is different from other people’s. Otherwise, the poison should take effect on the third day.

The woman was lying on a chair under the plum tree, looking at her with gradually strange eyes: "Xiao Qi, what did you use in this medicine?"

Yun Niang claims to be familiar with all the poisons in the world, but she still cannot identify the last medicinal ingredient.

 “Can’t you tell the difference?”

 “So, what’s the antidote?”

　　Lu Huo shook his head: "There is no antidote."

Yun Niang was stunned.

 “I added my blood to the recipe.” Lu Hu said.

 Her blood, her blood has been mixed with hundreds of poisons during the seven years of testing and has become poison. Those poisons were mixed together, and it was impossible to tell which was which, even Yun Niang couldn't.

The tool that Yun Niang used to test medicine eventually became a problem that even she herself could not solve. Cause and effect in the world are like reincarnation.

The woman listened, stunned for a moment, and then laughed, looking at her with eyes full of admiration and relief.

“I see,” she sighed, “you are indeed a good seedling.”

"But I don't have an antidote," Lu Zhen looked at her, with an imperceptible tremor in his voice, "I can't make an antidote either."

That is her blood, her poison. If you can’t detoxify her poison yourself, how can you detoxify Yun Niang’s poison?

Yun Niang glanced at her sideways: "What are you afraid of?" She smiled faintly: "I was about to die too."

 Lu Zhuo was startled.

 A trace of blood gradually overflowed from Yun Niang's lips, which she brushed away nonchalantly.

“After I die, Xiao Qi, please remember to burn the medical notes in my house and bury them with me. No, they will be buried together with the sixteen others.”

“Those handwritten notes on poisonous scriptures are a waste if they are left to the world. Why don’t you leave with me? Luomei Peak is so big that I’m afraid of being alone.”

Lu Zhuo listened blankly.

She looked at Lu Yan again, with a strange and loving smile: "Xiao Qi, you are really amazing. I didn't expect you to be able to persist on Luomei Peak for so long."

"You are my last medicine man and also my first apprentice. I am very satisfied with you."

"I am the first life in your hand, Xiao Qi. From today on, you are the same person as me."

 She smiled slightly: "Congratulations, you are ready to leave the army."

Lu Zhen looked at her blankly, his eyes were a little sore, but there were no tears, and he was just a little helpless.

 More and more blood overflowed from the woman's lips. She sighed softly and slowly closed her eyes.

 Yunniang is dead.

Died by poison mixed with her blood.

Lu Zhen could no longer hold her and cry loudly like he did when Wu Yun died. He numbly stood up to help Yun Niang restrain herself and change her clothes. It was then that she saw the scars on Yun Niang's body.

Yun Niang had large burn marks on her body. Judging from her injuries at the time, she would not be able to survive now. Lu Chen gradually understood that perhaps in the past seven or even more years, Yun Niang had been hanging her life with poison, but drinking poison to quench her thirst would eventually reach its end.

 So before she died, she must see Lu Zhuo "depart the army" with her own eyes.

The flames engulfed the thatched cottage where Yun Niang once lived, and those carefully collected medical books and pharmacology were reduced to ashes in the flames. Lu Zhuo knelt in front of the tomb and was about to carve the inscription when he suddenly stopped.

 What is the relationship between her and Yun Niang?

 She stayed in Luomei Peak for seven full years, and Yun Niang's presence throughout these seven years made her become a different person. She had hated Yun Niang, and she had also been grateful to Yun Niang. In those cold days with snow, she might not have experienced the loneliness of a woman at a certain moment.

 She finally carved the word "mentor" on the inscription.

No matter what the purpose was at the beginning, her medical skills, poison classics and pharmacology were all taught in the seventh year of Luo Meifeng. Yun Niang taught her many things she had never seen when she was a child, including the gambler father who sold his daughter's body for money, the rogue son who secretly poisoned his old father on the bed just to get rid of the burden, and the man who wanted to win back his husband and spent a lot of money to have a child. A woman, a scholar who poisoned her brother to seize the family property...

 She has seen a lot.

So I gradually understood that things in the world are not all bright. The human heart is dangerous in the mountains and rivers, and it is difficult to understand the sky. There are still autumn, winter, summer and twilight periods in the sky, and people are kind and affectionate.

 Those things that I didn’t understand in books when I was young were gradually understood by walking around the city.

Life taught her patience, taught her to be ruthless and decisive, and taught her how to protect herself. That's why she decided to go to Beijing without hesitation after returning to Changwu County.

If she hadn't been taken away by Yun Niang, maybe her first reaction would have been like Lu Qian, to sue the officials and ask someone to make the decision. However, she was taken away by Yun Niang. The decoction she drank unwillingly at night in Luomei Peak, the corpses in the mass grave, the tears and fear finally turned her into a different Lu Yun.

 She just wants revenge.

  It’s all a matter of chance and fate, and everything is destined to happen.

 In the world, there are joys and sorrows, ups and downs, Yun Niang and her are no longer simply love and hate.

"Actually, I'm...scared." She said softly. She had killed someone, it was the first time she had killed someone, and a life was in her hands. Yunniang's words before her death were like a curse, lingering in her heart.

 “From today on, you are just like me.”

 “Congratulations, you are now a teacher.”

She guarded this secret fear, but tonight, she suddenly got tired of hiding it and allowed herself to be honest in front of the other person.

The night is long, the lantern light reflects the bright white snow, and there is a faint moonlight in the clouds, shining on the two people under the tree.

 “Don’t be afraid.”

 One hand reached out and gently held her face.

Lu Zhen raised his head, the person in front of him lowered his eyes, and raised his hand to wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes.

 She reacted belatedly, and at some point, she actually shed tears.

Pei Yunying touched her head, leaned over slightly, and held her in his arms.

 His voice is very gentle.

 “Doctor Lu is not a bad person.”

Lu Zhen was stunned for a moment.

 He could always see through her at a glance, see through her fear and worry, her restlessness and anxiety. Whether they were tit-for-tat at the beginning or tacitly understanding each other later.

The quagmire entangles people to sink deeper, but there is always a hand stretched out from the shore.

 She had the hand now.

The warmth of the cloak and his embrace drove away all the chill, and Lu Zhen smelled the faint and cold fragrance. She had been awakened by this smell in her dream. She was as attached to this smell as she was to the meager sunlight in winter.

She buried her face in his arms and hugged him tightly.

"I know."

 …

 Half a month after the snow stopped in southern Jiangsu, the sun came out in the city.

 The better the climate is, the better it will be for disease control.

The emperor ordered that redwood vines and gold vines from all over the country were continuously transported into southern Jiangsu. The new anti-epidemic prescriptions were so effective that the dispensing bureaus were reorganized in the city. In addition to patients in the hospital, people in southern Jiangsu voluntarily went to the dispensing bureaus every day to receive anti-epidemic decoctions.

Su Nan gradually became more alive.

No new corpses were buried in the execution ground after the ruined temple. After the epidemic stabilized, the imperial court issued an order to send another epidemic relief medical officer to southern Jiangsu to handle the aftermath. After the new medical officers arrived, the original batch of medical officers He was about to set off back to Beijing.

 With this gradually improving momentum, Southern Jiangsu ushered in the first New Year after the pandemic.

 Early in the morning, firecrackers were set off in the medical officer's dormitory.

Red "mantangcai" shattered all over the yard, and the smoke from the firecrackers diluted the medicine, adding a lot of excitement to the yard. Chang went in to find someone to beg for two red lanterns, and asked Ji Xun to write Spring Festival couplets and post them at the door of his dormitory. Lin Danqing saw this and said: "Yizheng, we will return to Shengjing in a few days, why are we doing this in vain?" Post this?”

"Young people don't understand." Chang Jin directed Ji Xun to put up the Spring Festival couplets. "This is a ceremony. Besides, won't it take a few days for the medical officer from Pingzhou to arrive? What does it look like when it's so bare?"

Lin Danqing had no choice but to say: "You are so particular." Turning around, he saw Lu Zhu coming out of the house, and immediately smiled and said: "Sister Lu!"

 Lu Zong came over.

Hearing this, Chang Jin turned around and held her pulse as usual, then withdrew his hand and nodded with satisfaction: "Not bad, not bad, getting better day by day."

 Lu Zong's health has improved a lot.

Perhaps it was Lin Danqing's ancestor's exquisite medical prescription. After she vomited black blood that night, it seemed that some of the accumulated toxins in her body were also taken away. After that, Ji Xun performed acupuncture on her every day, and together with Lin Danqing and Chang Jin prepared new prescriptions, her weak pulse became much stronger than before.

 The most gratifying thing is that some medicines started to work on her body.

Even though the effect of the medicine is much weaker than that for ordinary people, if it can have an effect, it means that everything is developing for the better.

“There are still not enough medicinal materials in southern Jiangsu,” Chang Jin sighed: “When we return to Shengjing, I and the Royal Pharmacy School will pick up a few medicinal materials to prepare the formula. It should be better than now.”

Lu Tong thanked Chang for entering and looked outside the dormitory door.

There was a lot of noise outside, and there were faint sounds of bargaining, mixed with one or two firecrackers.

“That’s a shop selling window flowers for the New Year.” Lin Danqing explained, “Today is New Year’s Eve.”

 Lu Zhen suddenly realized.

It has been another year.

Since the epidemic has improved, Southern Jiangsu has gradually ceased to be as lifeless as when they first arrived. Pedestrians are also passing by on the streets, and some shops have also reopened. Although it is not as lively and prosperous as before the epidemic, it is gradually getting better. Return to the way it was before.

 So this new year after the disaster becomes more and more precious.

“Cai Xian Cheng said that fireworks will be set off in Sunan City tonight. The doctor originally planned to have New Year’s Eve dinner together in the hospital tonight and watch the fireworks together.”

 “New Year’s Eve dinner?”

"Yes," Lin Danqing said: "We are working desperately to rescue the epidemic in southern Jiangsu. There is no credit but hard work. I heard that in previous years before the New Year's Eve of the Medical Officer's Hospital, everyone would get together in advance. Eat, drink, and listen. The hospital envoy is thinking about the future of the medical hospital, but this year the location will be changed to southern Jiangsu. "

Lu Zhen was speechless. He thought of something again and glanced past the door.

Lin Danqing rolled his eyes and came closer and said, "Are you looking for Pei Dianshuai?"

"No."

"Nothing," Lin Danqing sneered: "You two can't even put your thoughts on your face. Who can you deceive?"

 Lu Huan: “…”

"He went out with Li County Wei, Cai County Cheng and others." Lin Danqing explained enthusiastically, "We have to go back to Shengjing in a few days. There are too few guards in Sunan City, so he wants to keep some people here. It is probably very busy these days. "

 Lu Zhuo nodded.

 In fact, it's not just Pei Yunying who is busy, the medical officers are also very busy.

 In the next few days, medical officers from Pingzhou will come to take over, and various previous epidemic affairs in southern Jiangsu also need to be handed over. After Chang Jin finished posting the Spring Festival couplets, he went back to sort out the handover documents with the medical officers.

 When you are busy, the passage of time is always not noticeable. When Lu Yan and Lin Danqing finished sorting out the last volume of epidemic control documents, the sun set.

 The lanterns in the dormitory were lit up.

Li Wenhu and Cai Fang had people put together a long table in the yard in advance and also prepared meals. Southern Jiangsu had just survived the epidemic and it was no better than Shengjing. Even though there are relief medicines and food now, they still need to be frugal. The meals are very simple, and the middle There are pots of Yuanxiao, and I heard that some of them are wrapped with coins.

Lin Danqing took Lu Zhen to the yard and sat down. Chang Jin specially opened Tusu wine, but only allowed everyone to drink a small cup to avoid trouble. Lu Zhen was taking medicine, so he only got a cup of hot water.

"Thank you for your hard work," Chang Jin stood up with a cup of wine and said with emotion, "In the past few days since I came to Southern Jiangsu, all my colleagues have worked together with one heart and one mind, sharing joys and sorrows, and fighting the epidemic together. Now that the crisis in Southern Jiangsu has been resolved, all of you here We are all heroes. I would like to toast you all and wish you all the best. No matter where you go when you return to the Medical Officers Hospital, you will always remember the days when we fought side by side in Southern Jiangsu. We will never forget our original intention and support each other. I also wish Jiangsu Southern. Well, after this epidemic, everything will be fine!"

　　He seemed to be drunk before he drank, and spoke a long paragraph in one breath.

Lin Danqing leaned close to Lu Zhu's ear and whispered: "Look, the old medical officer is right. Dr. Chang really wants to think about the future."

 Lu Huan: “…”

 The next moment, Chang Jin pointed at Lin Danqing and said, "Medical officer Lin performed well this time. He will be promoted to level three in the official examination!"

"Really?" Lin Danqing stood up happily, swept away his disgusted expression, held the wine cup and said seriously: "Thank you, doctor, I'd like to drink a glass to doctor!"

The medical officers burst out laughing.

There were noisy toasts all around, and Lu Zhuo carefully poked the Lantern Festival in the bowl with a spoon.

A large pot of Yuanxiao in the middle of the table was given to each person, a small bowl, four in a bowl, as a sign of peace in the four seasons.

Lu Zhuo slowly finished four of them and found that there was not a single coin left.

 She stirred the empty porcelain bowl with a spoon. She was a little disappointed when a voice came to her ear: "Are you looking for coins?"

Lu Zhen turned around and saw Ji Xun pushing his bowl over.

She was stunned for a moment, and Ji Xun coughed slightly and explained: "I see you have been looking for it... I haven't touched this bowl, you can eat it."

He saw that Lu Zhen was not interested in other food, and he didn't use his chopsticks much all night. He only ate the Yuanxiao in front of him cleanly, and he still seemed to be unsatisfied. After thinking about it for a while, he realized that Lu Zhen was probably looking for coins.

It is said that eating Yuanxiao wrapped with coins will bring good luck in the new year.

"No need." Lu Yan thanked him and pushed the bowl back to Ji Xun, "I'm full."

Perhaps she was influenced by Lin Danqing. She believes in luck recently. However, although Ji Xun wanted more good luck, it was inappropriate for her to do this. If Ji Xun didn't have any in her bowl, she would probably be exhausted tonight after eating eight yuanxiao in a row.

Ji Xun paused and was about to speak when Chang Jin's voice suddenly came from behind him: "Master Pei."

The two of them looked back and saw a young man walking in with a smile on his face and eyes as he glanced at the people at the table outside the door of the courtyard where they were staying.

 “I’m late, sorry.” he said.