Wen Qingci had a dream. In the dream, the little snake that was confiscated by Song Junran somehow followed Lian Helai.
The snake's body was hotter than I remembered, and its coils were more powerful.
It tightly wrapped around his fingers and even kept biting his fingertips with its sharp teeth.
But no matter what Wen Qingci did, he couldn't get rid of it. Instead, it entangled him more tightly, making him unable to move.
"Stop, it hurts..." Wen Qingci said vaguely in the dream.
After he finished speaking, the little snake finally stopped biting reluctantly and used its tongue to caress the tiny wound on his fingertips.
In the dream, there was no hissing sound in Wen Qingci's ears, only a few faint gasps.
But how can a snake stop panting
— Before falling into a deep sleep, Wen Qingci thought vaguely.
Wen Qingci was awakened by the sound of cicadas outside the house.
It was already daybreak. He blinked, and with the light coming through the window, he subconsciously lowered his head to check if there were any new wounds on his fingers from the snake bite.
There was nothing on the slender fingers, and everything in front of her seemed to be hidden behind a faint white mist.
After a while, Wen Qingci realized that the so-called "snake bite" was just a dream.
What he saw before his eyes was not white mist, but the gauze curtain on his veil.
So, I slept with my clothes on last night
Wait... last night
Wasn’t I decocting medicine last night
Thinking of this, Wen Qingci completely woke up.
He stood up and walked towards the door. As soon as he opened it, he saw a servant from the county government office coming towards him with a basin of water.
His movements were very careful, and when you got closer you could see that there was still a hint of steam coming out of the basin.
"You're awake," the other man smiled and nodded, then walked into the house with a basin of water, "The inspector has specifically instructed that you must use boiled water for washing these days."
After saying that, he put down the basin and was about to leave.
"Wait a moment," Wen Qingci recognized that the man in front of him was the servant who boiled the medicine last night. He quickly stepped forward and stopped him: "Last night..."
"Oh, you mean last night?" The boy scratched his head and said, "I woke up in the middle of the night and went to the kitchen. I saw you sitting there and fell asleep, so I helped you back. What happened?"
As he spoke, his expression was a little strange.
But Wen Qingci didn't think much about it and thought the other party was just embarrassed.
It turned out that he was the one who helped himself back.
After hearing the servant's words, Wen Qingci finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Nothing," he smiled and shook his head and said slowly, "I'm sorry to bother you last night."
"It's not a bother, it's not a bother!" the servant said hurriedly. "Decoction is my job. I should feel embarrassed to leave you waiting there." There was some gratitude in his voice.
However, what he was grateful for was not that Wen Qingci boiled medicine for him.
But... thanks to this God of Wealth, I was able to make such a huge sum of money.
Before daybreak this morning, the inspector had called him in and told him that if the doctor asked, he should say that he had been the one who had helped the doctor back to his room from the kitchen last night.
At the same time, he was rewarded with one or two ounces of silver.
The air in midsummer was hot and dry, and Wen Qingci felt uncomfortable after standing at the door for a while.
He glanced at the closed door on the side and asked casually, "Where is the adult next door?"
The servant shook his head: "I don't know about this little one. It seems that he didn't come back last night."
This was also what Xie Bufeng told him.
Wen Qingci nodded slowly, and finally lowered his head to look at the basin.
Seeing this, the servant said hurriedly: "Go wash up first. If you need anything else later, just tell me!"
"Okay." Wen Qingci nodded with a smile.
The servant exchanged a few words with him and then walked towards the courtyard gate. When he was about to go out, he couldn't help but look back at Wen Qingci.
The doctor was dressed in white and looked like an immortal at first glance.
But he was wrapped a little too tightly.
I heard from another doctor who came with him that his face seemed to be... accidentally scratched with a knife and disfigured when he was a child.
Thinking of this, the servant couldn't help but feel sorry for him.
*
Life in Lianhe County was particularly difficult.
Wen Qingci had hardly seen Xie Bufeng in the past few days. He was leading people to transfer grain from the neighboring prefecture and put medicinal herbs into the well. He was so busy that he had no time to rest.
Wen Qingci's situation was even more difficult.
All the medicines prescribed for the day have been decocted and distributed to patients with milder symptoms.
But after a few days, the medicine still showed no signs of working.
It is common for herbal remedies to be slow to take effect.
But the terrible thing is that the plague is changing day by day. The symptoms of the sick people in the city are getting stronger and stronger, and the course of the disease is also showing signs of accelerating.
You can't just wait in vain.
Song Junran boasted at the time that he and his junior fellow apprentice had experience in dealing with similar incidents.
Therefore, Xie Bufeng handed the leading role to them this time, with the imperial physician as the assistant.
Also temporarily given to Wen Qingci and Song Junran was "Xinglin Jie'e" written by an "old friend".
It was already midnight, and Wen Qingci was still reading by lamplight.
Song Junran, who was sitting next to him and said he wanted to "study with him", had already fallen asleep with his head supported by his hands.
It was not until his wrists could no longer support him and his chin hit the table that he came to his senses.
"… What time is it?" Song Junran rubbed his eyes and yawned, "How long have I slept? Why didn't Junior Brother wake me up?"
After a pause, his eyes fell on the paper covered with words on the table.
Forsythia, Bupleurum, Pueraria, and Angelica are all common fever-reducing and evil-repelling medicines.
"It's already midnight," Wen Qingci slowly put down his pen, "Brother, go back and rest first. I'll read for a while."
"No, no," Song Junran waved his hand and frowned, "How can I let you be busy here alone?"
Finally, he sighed and said, "You have been too busy these days. Although healing is important, you also have to consider your own health."
Wen Qingci has been almost sleepless these past few days, much like when he first came to the Valley of Divine Doctors as a child.
"I'll finish reading this chapter before going to bed." Wen Qingci shook his head stubbornly.
It is no exaggeration to say that he has almost read "Xinglin Jie'e" to pieces.
Even with the original owner's memory restored, he could tell what every page of the book was about with his eyes closed.
However, the abilities required to memorize a book and to write a book are vastly different.
For Wen Qingci, "Xinglin Jie'e", which is full of ways to deal with leprosy, is like a textbook.
But patients don’t get sick the way textbooks say they will.
It is not enough to just understand the concepts; the important thing is to know how to adapt.
Wen Qingci possesses some of the original owner's memories, but his abilities have not yet been restored.
Especially considering the large number of patients in Lianhe County, only common medicinal materials can be prescribed in the prescription.
As a result, the restrictions become even greater.
Wen Qingci picked up the pen again and clenched the pen tightly.
But the next second, what emerged in Wen Qingci's mind was the hell-like scene in the Yujian Stream...
His head started to hurt as well.
Wen Qingci's face turned pale in an instant, and he bit his lower lip involuntarily.
if.
I wish I were the original owner.
If he were here, he would be able to handle this matter smoothly.
Wen Qingci suddenly felt such a desire for no reason.
In an instant, the tragic scene of Shanyujian in my mind became clearer and clearer.
All this seemed to be a warning to Wen Qingci and a way to scare him away.
"Junior brother, junior brother, what's wrong with you?"
Although the veil blocked his view, Song Junran could still see that Wen Qingci's body was trembling slightly.
As he said this, he raised his hand and wanted to pull open the gauze curtain on Wen Qingci's hat to see what he looked like now.
The guest room in the Lianhe County government office has only two small windows.
Although the summer night was not too hot, it was extremely stuffy, so Wen Qingci opened a door for ventilation.
He was always careful, and even at this time he still wore a veil. Unconsciously, Wen Qingci had become accustomed to the light white mist surrounding him.
"It's okay," Wen Qingci dodged Song Junran's action by turning sideways, "I'm fine." He said in a low voice.
"How can this be possible!" Song Junran stood up as he said this.
He pressed one hand forcefully on Wen Qingci's shoulder, and with the other hand he went around Wen Qingci's body, trying to pull open the veil from the other side.
However, at this moment, footsteps suddenly sounded behind the two of them.
By the time Wen Qingci reacted, the dark figure had already appeared outside the house.
Xie Bufeng, who has been so busy lately that he has been missing for a long time, actually comes back at this time!
His gaze passed through the open door and fell on Wen Qingci and Song Junran.
In the dark night, those amber eyes looked particularly cold.
Xie Bufeng completely blocked the moonlight behind him.
Like Shura descending, full of evil spirit.
Seeing him coming, Song Junran immediately gave up his plan to pull down the veil.
But he still stood up slowly and put Wen Qingci behind him: "My Lord, why are you running here so late at night instead of going back to your room?"
Xie Bufeng did not answer Song Junran's question and walked straight in.
The guest room in the county government office was not big to begin with, and Xie Bufeng was tall, so when he walked into the room, the surroundings seemed even more depressing.
He completely ignored Song Junran, but slowly lowered his gaze to look at the blue shirt on Wen Qingci's shoulders.
—This dress belongs to Song Junran.
As a medicine man, Wen Qingci has a faint bitter fragrance on his body.
"Living in a room with orchids for a long time without smelling their fragrance" Wen Qingci, who has long been accustomed to this smell, will unconsciously ignore this point.
Therefore, Song Junran put his clothes on him during the day.
Like most people of this era, Song Junran also has the habit of burning incense on a daily basis.
There was a hint of sandalwood on the blue shirt, which just covered up the bitter scent in Wen Qingci's blood.
Xie Bufeng found that he hated the smell.
He frowned slightly and said calmly: "This dress may not be clean, so let's change it."
Song Junran clenched his fists. He didn't know if he was overthinking it, but he felt that Xie Bufeng was scolding him.
"What do you mean, sir?" Song Junran said, suppressing his anger, "This dress was just washed and dried yesterday, how come it's dirty?"
Xie Bufeng seemed not to have heard the emotion in Song Junran's words and said, "If I am not mistaken, it has not been fumigated with Atractylodes lancea."
Song Junran was stunned for a moment before he realized what Xie Bufeng was talking about.
A few days ago, other medicines distributed along with the decoction were Atractylodes lancea, Patchouli, and Realgar.
These medicines are not for consumption, but for fumigating clothing.
What Xie Bufeng meant was that there was no smell of these medicinal herbs on the clothes.
As a doctor, Song Junran naturally would not take this risk.
In fact, his and Wen Qingci's clothes were soaked in special herbs from the valley before washing, and the effect was far better than fumigation.
However, I couldn't tell Xie Bufeng about this.
He had no choice but to suffer in silence.
Song Junran gritted his teeth and said, "That makes sense."
Wen Qingci also cooperated very well by taking off his blue shirt and placing it on the table.
Xie Bufeng isn’t leaving yet
The moonlight shone from behind, giving Xie Bufeng a thin layer of silver edge like ice.
Seeing this, Wen Qingci couldn't help but become nervous.
As if he could read his thoughts through the veil, Xie Bufeng finally turned to look at Song Junran and told him the real purpose of his visit: "You must be very tired after running around outside all day, you should go back to your room and rest early."
"Besides, it's not safe for two of us to be in the same room." After saying that, he slowly turned around and left the room before Song Junran.
Xie Bufeng's reasons were very reasonable, and he even set an example himself.
"Why does this little emperor like to meddle in other people's affairs so much?"
"He's so cruel!"
"Your Excellency's words make sense," Wen Qingci suddenly stood up and slowly walked to the door, as if he was seeing someone off. "Go back and rest first." He lowered his voice and said to Song Junran.
There was no other way, so Song Junran had to grit his teeth and retreat. Under the gaze of Xie Bufeng, he returned to his room step by step.
The courtyard became quiet again.
Wen Qingci finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He returned to the house and continued reading medical books.
However, not long after, Wen Qingci heard footsteps again.
Xie Bufeng appeared outside the door holding a book.
His expression was calm and slightly serious.
"… What is this, sir?"
"This is a map of Lianhe County." Xie Bufeng slowly raised his right hand. "I wonder if it's convenient for you now, sir. I have something to discuss with you."
Finally, fearing that Wen Qingci would reject him, Xie Bufeng added: "I have changed my clothes and cleansed my skin with strong liquor."
So he just went back to do this
The night wind blew in from outside the house, gently lifting the corners of their clothes.
Wen Qingci then realized that there was indeed a faint smell of alcohol on Xie Bufeng.
(End of this chapter)