Book 11 Chapter 6 - Joining Hands in Expelling the Poison
Arriving at the gate, they saw there were already a lot of people in front of it, some were even leaving in disappointment. Turned out Qian Duguan issued an order that starting that afternoon, no outsiders were allowed to enter the city.
Naturally the two boys did not mind it too much. Relying on their current-level of ‘Bird Crossing Technique' and with the help of a rope, they would be able to easily climb the more-than-ten-zhang high city wall.
While they were looking for a good location to climb into the city, a man, around forty years of age, wearing servant attire, intercepted them and with eyes brimming with expectation he asked them, "I wonder if the two gentlemen know how to treat illness?”
Making his voice hoarse, Xu Ziling replied, "What is it? We do have a little bit of medical expertise.”
The man happily said, "My name is Sha Fu. If Lao Xiansheng [old mister] knows how to treat illness, please come with me, we will definitely not treat Mister meagerly.”
Seeing his polite demeanor, after exchanging a glance, Kou Zhong said in rough voice and rough manner, "Lead on then!”
Sha Fu led them toward the pier; while walking, he grumbled, "We thought that as soon as we enter Xiangyang we would find a doctor, who would have thought that we are not allowed to enter the city? Fortunately I saw two gentlemen carrying mountain herbal medicine basket on your back, so I took my chances and asked, and sure enough I was lucky. May I ask gentlemen's honorable surname and great given names?”
Stroking his beard, Xu Ziling spoke in an old-man manner, "I am Mo Wei; he is my nephew cum apprentice, Mo Yixin. We are specializing in massaging [tui na] acupoints to treat illnesses, including treating various strange and complicated diseases; hands arrive, illness gone.”
Hearing that, Kou Zhong nearly burst out laughing; fortunately he was able to hold back in time.
Delighted, Sha Fu said, "That's great! For some reason our Xiao Gongzi [little young master] suddenly having cold and fever, and is delirious. Ay! Shao Furen [young madam] is such a kind person, yet she has to suffer this torment.”
The two boys jumped in fright.
They originally though the sick was a grownup. As long as they could transfer their qi to open his channels, whatever his illness was, his condition ought to improve somewhat, which means they were doing a good thing. But since it was a child, they did not have too much confidence.
The pier was crowded, quite a lot of them were refugees from Jingling. Sha Fu took them toward a skiff anchored on the shore. The servant on board the skiff immediately loosened the rope and rowed the boat toward a medium sized sailing boat anchored on the opposite bank.
The fine rain continued drizzling endlessly, the sky was gradually darkened. Unceasing flow of boats were moving along the river course, taking advantage of still available light to leave Xiangyang before dark.
In time where warlords were setting up independent regimes, where everybody was competing fiercely against each other, owning a ship in peace and quiet was not an easy matter at all.
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling pretended to curiously looking at the ship. They saw several men standing on the deck, staring condescendingly at them with wooden expression.
Very soon the skiff attached itself to ship's port side. Sha Fu was the first to climb to the deck. "Doctor is here!” he called out.
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling exchanged glances; they could see how anxious the other side was. If they failed to treat their little young master's illness, their young madam would be very disappointed. But things have come to this, they had no choice but to step onto the deck.
Those five men, who looked like courtyard [i.e. pleasure house] bodyguards, came to meet them. The leader was a tall, lanky middle-aged man, only about a cun shorter than Kou Zhong, but half a head taller than Sha Fu. His face was long and thin, his eyes narrow, his nose crooked; in short, his outward appearance would not incite any compliment from anybody. Moreover, his manner was haughty; he looked at the boys with his slanting eyes, without any hint of friendliness at all.
After introducing the two boys, Sha Fu said, "This is Ma Xuran Laoshi [teacher] …”
Ma Xuran was sizing Kou Zhong up; he coldly cut Sha Fu off, "This Xiongtai [brother] must leave his saber first before he is allowed to enter the cabin to diagnose and treat Gongzi.”
Stunned, Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling looked at each other, wondering why he would deliberately make things difficult for them.
One majestic sounding voice came from the cabin door, "Rules are dead. Two friends, please come in, Shao Furen has been waiting anxiously!”
Ma Xuran's countenance changed slightly; he stared furiously at the man talking at the door, but did not say anything. Obviously he was rather afraid of him.
Sha Fu hastily led the two boys to the door.
The man stepped out of the door. Turned out he was a fat man with fair skin, a bit like a big businessman; but his eyes were sharp, plus although he was fat, he gave the impression that he was a solid and nimble person.
Cupping his fist toward the two boys, he said, "Zaixia Chen Laiman. I wonder how I should address Laozhang [sir] and this renxiong [dear friend/brother].” [Translator's note: I know that I might irritate a lot of you, but I wanted to show just how complicated Chinese appellation is. From the way they address each other, you can deduce their relation. In this case, Chen Laiman was being very polite without lowering himself.]
Xu Ziling replied in hoarse voice, "Laofu [old man] Mo Wei. This is Laofu's apprentice and nephew Mo Yixin. Helping people is like fighting fire, is it possible for you to take Laofu to see Xiao Gongzi?” [Interesting fact: surname Mo can also mean ‘do not/there is none who'. Wei means ‘to be/to do'. So Mo Wei can mean ‘nobody'. Yixin means ‘one heart/wholehearted', so Mo Yixin can mean ‘without aspiration'.]
Chen Laiman gave Ma Xuran a hard stare first before saluting and said, "Gentlemen, please come with Ol' Chen!”
The two boys and Sha Fu followed him into the cabin. Without saying a word Ma Xuran followed behind them. The atmosphere was very strange.
‘Knock! Knock!'
‘Creak!' the cabin door opened immediately, revealing a delicate face.
Chen Laiman said, "Xiao Feng, tell Shao Furen, the doctor is here!”
Xiao Feng opened the door wide, she said delightedly, "Doctor, please come in, Shao Furen has been waiting anxiously.”
Chen Laiman signaled Sha Fu with his eyes; the latter immediately said, "Let me wait outside with Ma Laoshi! Doctor Mo, please come in!”
Until now Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling was still unclear of Ma Xuran's status, but one thing they know was that this fellow's relationship with the young madam was definitely a problematic one, but Chen Laiman and Sha Fu were on the young madam's side.
However, their main concern right now was whether they would be able to treat the little young master's illness; therefore, without any choice they followed Chen Laiman's fat body stepping into the cabin.
The cabin was quite spacious; it was furnished with interesting and antique-looking bits and pieces, revealing both the scholarly and the richness of the host. Near the door was a set of rosewood furniture, against the window was a large mahogany bed, with gauze curtain hanging above it.
A magnificently dressed woman, who was sitting on the bed, stood up to greet them. Other than Xiao Feng the maid, there was another pretty maid in the room, which was thick with the aroma of herbal medicine.
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling took a closer look, and their eyes lit up. The woman looked around twenty, with a delicate, pretty and pleasant face, and rather petite. Although not nearly as beautiful as Wanwan's deceptively out-of-the-world beauty, and could not compare with Shang Xiuxun's proud and aloof elegance, yet she possessed some kind of charm that they felt in their bones, mixed with lovely, yet pitiful, and fascinating good looks, so that others could not help but would be moved by her.
Chen Laiman obviously had deep respect toward this young madam; scrambling one step forward, he spoke gently, "Shao Furen! The doctor has been invited. This is Doctor Mo, and the other gentleman is Doctor Mo's disciple.”
The young madam's pretty eyes lit up with hopeful expression. She bowed and said, "Sorry for troubling gentlemen, my child … ay …”
Her voice was soft, gentle and clear, matching her graceful bearing perfectly like seamless heavenly clothes. Especially now that her heart was grieving, she could not even speak without choking, that anybody who heard her could not help feeling pity.
Yet Xu Ziling was thinking about Sister-in-law Zhen, the steamed bun sellers in Yangzhou in the past [see Book 1 Chapter 1]. She often revealed an expression similar to this young madam, an expression showing that she bore life inequities and injustice quietly, and could only complain silently. His heart softened as he asked, "May I ask how did Xiao Gongzi get sick?”
With glistening tears hidden in her beautiful eyes, the young madam hung her small cicada head and said, "This morning, when Xiao Zhu came to wait upon the child, the child was already like this!”
The maid by her side, Xiao Zhu, immediately had her tears flowing down like rain, yet she was sobbing quietly. Her excitement was a bit over the top.
Chen Laiman signaled Xiao Feng to take Xiao Zhu out of the room. He said, "Doctor Mo, please come over. No need to stand on ceremony.”
Kou Zhong secretly gave Xu Ziling a push. The latter had no choice but to suppress his feeling, brace himself and walked over to the bedside.
A three, four years old boy was lying quietly with his eyes closed; his face was so pale that it was scary, his breathing was short but quick, making those who looked at him could not help having tender affection for him.
Xu Ziling sat down on the bed and reached into the cotton quilt to find his little hand.
In an instant he already had his true qi circulated around the boy's Eight Extraordinary Channels. A hard to describe intuition, so strange that he found it difficult to explain, burst forth in his mind. His heart was greatly shaken as he blurted out, "Xiao Gongzi is poisoned!”
Kou Zhong included, the three other people by the bed was shocked.
Kou Zhong's shock was different from the young madam and Chen Laiman's, because only he knew perfectly well that Xu Ziling did not have the skill of diagnosing illness by checking the sick person's pulse.
The young madam's face was completely drained of blood; she nearly passed out. The terrified Chen Laiman and Kou Zhong were in predicament; it was improper for them to help her, yet not helping her was even more out of question.
"Madam, please be careful!” Chen Laiman anxiously called out.
Fortunately the young madam quickly recovered; but hot tears flowed down her face as she spoke in distress, "How can it be so? Does Doctor Mo have a way to save him?”