Brother Donggong

Outside Yongjing City, Shilipo.

This year's year is not going well. Drought has started since the beginning of spring. The whole province of Zhili is not bad. It starts from Luoyang in Xijing, goes south to the nine counties of Jingxiang, then to Bashu, and finally goes east to Jiangsu and Zhejiang. There are only a few drops of rain. In previous years The paddy fields are all dry and cracked, piece by piece, lifeless.

If hundreds of thousands of disaster victims had no food to eat, the local government was afraid of stirring up civil uprisings. Two of them were so courageous that they dared to provide military rations for disaster relief without asking for an order.Some places are very poor on weekdays. Even if the warehouses are opened to release grain, there is not enough food for so many people. Some people drag their families along the pipeline and go northward to Yongjing. There is water in the outside, and a shack is set up in an open area to take refuge temporarily.

I got off my horse by the river, and looking from here, there are ragged people sitting in the open space, and some places are broken with wooden supports, and they are cooking some dark and moldy rice soup.I coughed twice, tied the horse far away, and saved myself from being slaughtered by hungry people, and then blocked my nose with my sleeve, and searched for that Miss Yin among the pots.

I have never seen such a scene before my eyes.

All of them seemed to have dull complexions and dull eyes. One seemed to be unconscious and stuffed grass roots into his mouth; Then I put the lice in my mouth and chewed them one by one. I suddenly felt a strange empathy, and almost fainted in the river.

"She is going to die, please do me a favor, don't bother her anymore... Besides, we have no money to pay you at all... Just let go..."

On the other side of the reed, there was an old woman weeping and begging, but there was a voice as clear as a milk warbler, which was louder than the old woman's cry: "Bai Zhi, use a silver needle to pierce this woman's ditch, welcome Fragrant two acupoints, let her open her mouth and pour her mutton soup, I don't believe she can't be saved!"

I pushed aside the layer of reeds and took a look. I ordered a group of people to boil herbal broth, and it was Miss Yin who poured the broth on a woman who looked dead.

The refugee woman was kneeling in the mud by the river, with both hands tightly protecting a young woman in her hands, crying, pointing to the sky and cursing, "God, open your eyes, what's going on in the world now! These monsters eat people and don't spit out bones! The old man went yesterday, we can't let him be buried naked like this, just like a person who looks good borrowed a coffin board, who knows, just such a thin board will be replaced I have a big granddaughter! I have a hard life, Nier! You are a wicked female robber! You look kind and kind, but you are actually poisonous! You must have taken a fancy to my grandson, my wife is over 60 this year , it’s been a few years since I died, no matter what, I can’t let you exchange a bowl of hot soup for my grandson!”

Yin Qiluo stared at her, perhaps really anxious, but she opened her mouth in Shanxi dialect, and she yelled at her family, "Don't talk to her, give Hong Kong a hard drink!" (Leave her alone, give me a drink!)

The old woman refused to allow anyone to feed a young woman in her arms. Those group of retainers of the Yin family, who were named after various Chinese medicines, would fight hard if they didn't understand that they were trying to save a dying woman. With the life of the dead woman, I really thought they were the bullies of those dragons and snakes in the southern city of Yongjing who robbed men and women.

Is this saving lives?

The weather is too hot this day, and there is another large pot of boiled medicinal soup and meat soup here. Yin Qiluo took this big wooden spatula in his hand and stirred it vigorously twice, took a broken rough pottery bowl and scooped up half a bowl of soup, and then ate it. The woman's mouth was opened, and she gulped it down in one gulp, and then Miss Yin proudly touched her forehead and cheeks with sweat, staining her entire makeup.Her face was covered with dark blue, bead powder, and rouge, all of which had been pasted into a ball.

Through the big broken pot, she finally saw me, she seemed slightly surprised, "Prince Qi, why are you here?"

I also wondered why I was here, "Miss Yin, you are such a noble person who forgets things too much, didn't you let me come here?"

Yin Qiluo glanced at me, seeming to be even more surprised, "It seems that I said so, but I'll give it to you if you want a ginseng. You can completely treat what I said as nonsense. You are a dignified man. Prince, even if you make it clear that you don't admit it, no one can do anything to you."

Me, "I never want to owe a woman anything."

She laughed, "Don't treat me as a woman at this time. A person's whole life is like singing on the stage. It's okay to change your face. Like me, if I want to suppress others for a while, I will name my father Take it out, if I want to be coquettish, "

I,"……"

A woman, um, can be regarded as delicate and pretty, but it is a pity that her eyebrows have become half a caterpillar, and her face is smeared with powder, oil and rouge, as if the sauce has just been mixed at the Tianfu Sauce Knuckle Shop. Such a woman I twisted and said in a voice like a baby warbler, "Well~~~~~~~~~, she is still a young girl who has not left the cabinet", she shocked me as much as a hungry person by the river.

I pointed at her face and said, "You have a lot of makeup."

"Huh? Shinichi?"

She was very concerned, and hurriedly took out the mirror she was wearing, took a picture, then fixed her makeup in front of the mirror, wiped her face clean with a handkerchief, and then applied rouge on her lips.

I said, "Actually, you don't have to worry about it. It's so hot here. Anyway, it will take a while."

She glanced at me, "That's not okay. Girls have to prepare their appearance at any time. What if I meet my sweetheart while I'm putting on makeup? It's a big event in my life. My mother also said about me, she said I was Death, the last word must be..." As she said, she pretended to be dying, with a miserable look on her face, and stretched out her hand, "Give me some rouge, I want to touch up my makeup!"

"My lord, don't blame me. When I said that I wanted you to accompany me, someone asked me to say, I can't tell you who that person is. I didn't expect you to come here at all, but when you come, don't go away. Yes. I just don’t have enough manpower here, so please write the prescription for me.”

Me, "Miss Yin is really good at catching young men."

She has reapplied the rouge, and she looks quite radiant among the dull and hungry people.

Yin Qiluo, "My lord took away more than 1 taels of silver from me, which is enough for many people here to eat. On March [-]st, my lord has no choice but to give me back something! When I just returned to Yongjing, I heard that my lord is ignorant, but I Considering that you are from Yuzheng Palace after all, you should be able to read and write normally."

Then she looked at me suspiciously again, "Really?"

Well, don't look at the human side and look at the silver side.

Who told me to take three ginsengs worth 1 taels of silver?

I could only nod my head, "Although it can't compare to your father and Chu Qiangsheng in the Prince's Attic, but I can barely write neatly."

"That's good. The people here are all brought back from the desert. Hunting and killing are fine, but grinding and writing is not. Here, you have to cook a lot of medicine, and you have to write the prescription on each pot of medicine for identification. I want to see a doctor." , I have to copy the prescriptions again, and I am already a little out of my wits, with you here, my lord, I am much more relaxed."

As she said that, she spread the paper for me on the broken table over there. She sat on one side and I sat on the other. As soon as I took the brush, she frowned and said, "Forsythia, honeysuckle, mint, raw licorice, Houttuynia cordata, Rhodiola rosea, patchouli, Mianma Guanzhong, ... Well, this is a prescription for Qingwen. It needs to be boiled in a large pot and fried. Each person who is dying will give half a bowl ,besides……"

As I was writing, suddenly there was a commotion over there, and a young man ran over with his face full of sweat, "Miss, miss, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law have woken up!"

I raised my eyes, and sure enough, the woman not far away who called Yin Qiluo a 'vicious female bandit' just now was a bit shy, wondering if she should come over to thank her.

Yin Qiluo glanced at the boy and said, "As soon as that girl wakes up? Just wake up. Doesn't that woman have a grandson? I saved his mother's life. You call that child over to help make the medicine."

"Hey, Xiaoyi will go here."

So, there was another burst of screaming.The mother-in-law thought that Yin Qiluo really wanted to rob his grandson, so she scolded her daughter-in-law for not dying, if she hadn't come back to life, her grandson would not have been robbed.

Yin Qiluo listened, her small face sank, "Yinqiao, you are a woman with weak hands, you can find that woman to give you a couple of punches in a strong place. What, you are not honest after you beat her, anyway, her daughter-in-law is taken care of by herself, you Grab that old woman and help with the cooking. There are so many wild vegetables and mushrooms by the water, let her pick them slowly!"

I gave her a hand, "You have no mouth, why can't you talk about it?"

She gave me a white look, "These are unscrupulous people. They are used to being bullied by others. They have given birth to their own cunning. You can give them food and drink for free. As long as you let them work a little more, they really dare to roll around. Confucius once It has been said that the people can make them know but not know. Li Shu can be beaten or scolded, and he can be subdued. Okay, my lord, let's continue to write prescriptions, kudzu root, scutellaria baicalensis, yellow lotus, atractylodes, Huoxiang, ginger pinellia, perilla leaves, Magnolia officinalis plus Yiren, this is the one for clearing away heat and detoxifying."

She said very quickly, I really don’t have any research on traditional Chinese medicine, this thing is medicine, and if I make a mistake, it is about human life. I can only concentrate and write down everything she said. As I was writing, someone shouted over there:— — "Little thing, don't run around, our eldest lady is there, don't make trouble!"

I just felt as I was writing, my arms were heavy. When I lowered my head, I saw a whole body that seemed to have rolled out of a muddy pond, drooling, and was wiping my nose with my sleeve.

My mind is twitching.

The material of this suit is really good, one piece is worth 50 taels of silver, this is not including the whole body embroidery and tailoring, this embroidery is the best in Suzhou, the embroiderer dared to get it out in a month, It is full of tangled lotus patterns, plus coral beads to make a button, a belt made of silk tapestry, and a jade buckle specially carved. This body is small for 200 taels of silver, and now it can sell three big girls with yellow flowers for ten taels of silver in the market. , Being a concubine or a girl can do anything.

I looked at this little radish head again, looking up, and there was still snot under his nose. He wiped his nose with my gorgeous and precious Suzhou embroidered robe, smiled with a simple and honest face, and then said inarticulately, "Brother The sleeves are not good, tie them up."

I have a grumpy impulse.

At this time, Yin Qiluo came over with a voice like catkins, "My lord, don't be angry, talk carefully, maybe that child can be moved by you and give you a piece of edamame."

I looked at the kid holding one or two edamame sticks in his small dark hands. He probably understood that he had done something bad to me, so he held a handful of edamame in front of me with some reluctance, "Brother, eat Edamame."

There was even a sip of his water on it!

I held my forehead, looking a little depressed.

This afternoon, I seem to have written every word of my life. In the end, my mind is full of yellow lotus, bezoar, big green leaf, plague, and the smell of fireworks and broth in my nose.After the sun went down, Ms. Yin asked people to close the stall. After I put down the brush, my arms felt sore and numb, and I couldn't even hold my chopsticks when I thought about eating at night.

Yin Qiluo smeared her face with pearl powder to make her face smooth and beautiful, and combed her hair again, "My lord, you have worked hard today, let me treat you to dinner. There is a Shanxi noodle restaurant in Taoranting, where the meat stew is fragrant and the noodles are kneaded. He said vigorously, the prince usually eats delicacies from mountains and seas, big fish and meat, how about some wild snacks by chance?"

I took the rein and brought the horse over, "Forget it, Miss Yin, after eating your noodles, maybe you will assign me some work next time. I do have something to do today. I will give the ginseng to the girl tomorrow." Send it over."

"Look at what the lord said." She smiled and didn't stop her.

I cupped my hands at her, she bowed slightly, I put my legs on the horse's belly, and drove to Yongjing.

I reckon, even if You Pingan is a tortoise, four hours is enough for him to take pills.Because there are many first-class people from outside, it took some effort to enter Yongjing City in the evening, and it was dark when I arrived at You Ping'an's house.

I patted on the door outside Laoyou's courtyard for a long time, but no one responded, so I patted again, and then I heard hesitant footsteps in the courtyard, and then the door opened with a bang.

I said, "Old You, have you rubbed the pills yet?" I walked in and bumped into a person on the opposite side.

——Cui Bicheng? !

He looked at me suspiciously, and I looked at him too.

Me, "You, why are you here? The prince let you out?"

"Cut!" Cui Bicheng curled his lips, "He wished that I would leave the Palace, no matter what, he would not let the Ministry of Justice take me away from the Palace of Qi. Don't talk about me, just say hello, I said, you run away Where did you go? I told you to get the medicine and you ran away without a trace. For more than three hours, you can come back even if you go to Shanxi."

As soon as I heard it, I couldn't help but get angry, "It's not all because of you, you are greedy for money and lust, you gave such a good ginseng to Miss Yin Qiluo, and you made an old man and no one grinds ginseng pills. If not I'll give up my face to find Yin Qiluo, you won't be able to fix it tomorrow with a single pill!"

When Cui Bicheng heard this, his eyebrows frowned, "What did you say? I gave Miss Yin three sticks, and Lao You still has a bag full of good ginseng collected last year. Besides, I had already asked him to rub the Anxin Baosheng Pill. Well, why did he..."

He suddenly shut up and didn't speak, his face was extremely solemn, as if his father and uncle had come back to life and were about to die.

I smelled a dizzying smell wafting in the air.

Fishy sweet fishy sweet one...

"What does it taste like?"

Cui Bicheng didn't speak, I bumped him away and stepped into the yard in two steps.It was dead quiet here, and there were two crows on a branch over there, croaking four times.The door of the main room over there was ajar, and butter wax was still burning. I walked in, opened the door, and saw the fat You Pingan crawling on the table with his hands spread out. He had a long knife cut on his neck. On the saber, the blood pooled all over the ground, and it had already congealed.

I was so scared that my legs went weak, and Lao Cui supported my armpit with both hands, "You go, go back and forth wherever you go."

But when my leg was not stiff enough to stand up, he calmed down, listened carefully, and yelled, "It's not good."

Outside the You's compound, there was the sound of horseshoes knocking, and the sound of more than 300 potatoes rolling together, which was the sound of many people's footsteps.

Cui Bicheng scattered around, "There should be a tunnel here, you go first, to save you from getting involved."

With a coax, the wooden gate was smashed open by a tall horse, and one piece of torch was connected to the other. Like a golden snake, a flash of lightning split the sky into two halves, as easy as splitting a ripe watermelon with a precious knife. After a gasp, rolling thunder roared from the sky.

It's raining.