Denghuaxiao

Chapter 230 Ziyun
The wind and snow in the yard had not stopped yet, and the windows were closed again.

Lin Danqing sat down in front of Lu Tong, frowned slightly, and took the pulse of the person in front of him.

After a long while, she withdrew her hand, looked at Lu Tong suspiciously and said, "Strange, there's nothing wrong."

"Don't worry," Lu Tong said, "Maybe I slept too late these days."

Lin Danqing shook his head: "I thought you were infected with the disease just now."

As soon as she entered the room, she saw Lu Tong sitting by the window in a trance, and the blood dripping from the tip of his nose startled her. Although the medical officers in the Medical Officers' Institute wore medicine bags and used anti-epidemic incense every day, and also took anti-epidemic soup every day, several medical officers unfortunately contracted the epidemic these days.

The elderly, the weak, and those with pre-existing illnesses are most likely to be taken advantage of by the epidemic. Lin Danqing, Ji Xun, and Lu Tong are still young, and are considered the least worrying of the medical officers in the fight against the epidemic.

"No." Seeing her serious expression, Lu Tong took the initiative to lift up his sleeves to show her: "I don't have any peach blossom spots on my body."

During a major epidemic in southern Jiangsu, infected people would gradually develop red patches on their hands and bodies, shaped like peach blossoms, hence the name "peach blossom spots". When the spots changed from red to purple and gradually became "purple cloud spots", the patient gradually died.

Before Cuicui's mother died, her body was covered with "purple cloud spots".

The outstretched arm was pale and had no scars at all. Lin Danqing breathed a sigh of relief, then frowned again and held Lu Tong's arm.

"How come you are so thin?" She said, "I can wrap my arm around it with one hand."

Lu Tong has always had a slim figure. Lin Danqing used to think she had the delicate and pretty appearance of a southern girl, but now, upon closer inspection, she was indeed too thin.

"You don't look good either," Lin Danqing looked at her, "You look much weaker than when you were in Shengjing."

Lu Tong withdrew his hand and put down his sleeves, "Nothing."

"Sister Lu, don't take your health lightly." Lin Danqing shook his head: "The patient is important, but you also need to rest. If I fall down first, how can I treat the people in southern Jiangsu? If you have a nosebleed for no reason, even if you are not infected with the disease, you must be unwell."

"I will tell Doctor Chang later that you are not allowed to be on duty at the plague station tonight. You should rest more in your lodgings for the next two days."

"It doesn't have to be..."

"What's the point? Just listen to me." She took a handkerchief and wiped the bloodstains on Lu Tong's dress. After wiping twice, the bloodstains became more mottled, red and creepy.

"Rest more and eat more." She said, "Anyway, Pei Yunying brought some medicine and food, so we are not starving now, understand?"

She spoke firmly. Lu Tong was silent for a while and nodded: "Yes."

……

Perhaps Lin Danqing said something to Chang Jin, and for the next two days, Chang Jin did not allow Lu Tong to go to the plague center again.

The plague center was busy, so when Chang Jin found a chance to come and see Lu Tong, he was very serious. Not only did he take her pulse himself, he also asked Ji Xun to take her pulse as well. He only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that she was not infected with the disease.

Chang Jin thought that she had a nosebleed because she was overworked and weak, so he asked her to rest well in her dormitory. During this time, Duan Xiaoyan came once and brought a lot of dry food and meals, which was the best he could do under the current circumstances. He also reminded her indirectly that she must eat more to nourish her body, and if she needed anything, she could ask him for help.

If Lu Tong knew who he was bringing the gifts for, he would thank him sincerely.

Since she didn't go to the plague center, she didn't have to make medicine bags. While Lu Tong was staying at the dormitory, she started writing prescriptions for the epidemic.

In the city of Southern Jiangsu, people now rely on macules to confirm whether someone is infected, but when the macules appear, it is too late. The disease is painless at first, but gradually it starts with body aches, fever, chills, and the symptoms are superficial but not internal.

The doctors now treat the inside and outside of the body first, but the decoction only delays the deepening of the macules and the effect is not obvious.

Lu Tong looked at the prescription, frowned, and crossed out the herbs on it.

Still inappropriate.

Just as I was thinking about it, Lin Danqing came in from outside.

She brushed off the snowflakes on her body, looked at the prescription written by Lu Tong, and read out: "Sanxiaoyin... Dayuanyin plus Shengsan Sanyangjing Chaihu, Pueraria root, Qianghuo, and Rhubarb..."

"A prescription for promoting the flow of qi and dispersing qi," she pondered for a moment, "This prescription is very similar to the new prescription written by Doctor Ji and Doctor Chang."

Lu Tong raised her eyes: "New recipe?"

"Yes," Lin Danqing said, "Yes, the epidemic has not been cured, so we discussed changing the prescription, but this prescription is a bit bold, and Brother Ding volunteered to try the medicine. He started taking a dose last night." She was puzzled, "I thought Doctor Ji had told you before."

Lu Zhen frowned.

Ji Xun had indeed told her about this before, but she had also clearly expressed her disapproval. I thought it wouldn't happen so quickly, but I didn't expect Ding Yong to have already started taking it.

She suddenly stood up, picked up her medical kit and was about to go out.

Lin Danqing grabbed her and asked, "Where are you going?"

"The plague center." Lu Tong paused and said, "I'll go see Ding Yong."

……

Lu Tong went to the plague center.

She stayed in her dormitory during the two days of rest and was not outside. When Cuicui saw her coming, she happily went to talk to her.

"Dr. Chang said earlier that Sister Lu was sick so she didn't come. Are you fully recovered now?"

Lu Tong said: "It's okay."

"That's good." Cui Cui smiled, "I was worried for a long time."

Lu Tong raised her eyes and looked around the plague area, finally seeing Ding Yong. Ding Yong just raised his hand to drink a bowl of brown medicine and wiped his mouth. The bowl for the medicine was not the white porcelain bowl he usually used. Next to him, sitting was Ji Xun, who was writing something on a piece of paper with his head down.

Lu Tong walked up to the two of them.

"Doctor Lu is here." Seeing her coming, Ding Yong hurriedly stood up and greeted Lu Tong.

Lu Tong nodded slightly and looked at Ji Xun: "Doctor Ji, I have something to tell you."

Ji Xun was startled, looked at her with some surprise, said nothing, put down the empty bowl, and followed Lu Tong to the thatched shed outside the plague center.

A bamboo basket filled with medicine bags was placed under the straw shed, and several guards were guarding the gate of the plague center. Ever since the last assassin appeared in the plague center, Pei Yunying called a few people to take turns on duty to avoid any unexpected accidents.

It was snowing lightly outside. This winter in southern Jiangsu was exceptionally cold. The snow seemed to have never stopped. The snow on the ground was getting thicker day by day. From a distance, the sky and the earth looked completely white.

"Why did you let Ding Yong become a medicine man so early?" Lu Tong stopped and spoke directly.

"Medicine man?"

Ji Xun was stunned for a moment, and explained to her: "He is not a medicine man..."

"If a new drug that has not been tested on humans is used on a patient, what else can it be but medicine for the patient?"

The woman's eyes were sharp, and under her stare, Ji Xun held out for a long time, but finally gave in.

"That's right." He said, "The peach blossom spots on Ding Yong's body have gradually begun to turn purple. The previous medicine is useless to him. If we don't change the prescription quickly, he will definitely not survive seven days."

"The doctor and I think that instead of procrastinating hopelessly, we should try another possibility." He looked at Lu Tong, "Besides, you have also seen the prescription used by Ding Yong."

The new prescriptions will be tested by every medical officer who helps with the epidemic. They will not be used until they are sure that no more loopholes can be found.

Ji Xun said: "The previous prescription was conservative, but now it seems that the disease is spreading both inside and outside, and the evil spirit is hiding in the membrane. It is half inside and half outside, so we should change to a stronger prescription. Didn't you say that Tianxiong Wucheng is a poisonous medicine, and a good doctor can save people. Diseases are ever-changing, and medicines are also ever-changing."

This is what Lu Tong said to Ji Xun when they were in the Medical Officers' Institute. He didn't agree with it at that time, but now he gradually accepts the truth in it, but she is reluctant.

"But for Ding Yong, nothing is known yet."

Ji Xun: "The doctor and I have informed him of all the possible consequences. This is Ding Yong's own choice. He knows what he will face."

Lu Tong suddenly looked up: "He doesn't know."

Ji Xun was stunned.

"What will happen to the medicine man? Not to mention the results of the new medicine, maybe he will feel unbearable pain all over his body while taking the medicine, maybe he will become blind and disabled, maybe he will lose his mind and become a puddle of unconscious mud... No one can guarantee that these results will not happen. He knows nothing at all."

The wind blew, and the snow swirled in the vast sky and earth, falling on people one by one.

Ji Xun looked at her: "Doctor Lu..."

Suddenly, a voice came from behind: "I know."

Lu Tong paused and turned around.

Ding Yong stood behind her, clasped his hands nervously, took a few steps forward, and mustered up the courage to speak to Lu Tong: "Doctor Lu, I know everything."

"Doctor Ji told me that no one knows what the results will be after using the new medicine. But even if I don't use the new medicine, I won't live long." He reached out and rolled up his sleeves, revealing the scars on his arm. The red spots there were gradually deepening, much darker than the last time Lu Tong saw them, and gradually turning purple.

"We're all going to die anyway, so we might as well try the new medicine. I want to spend more time with Cuicui."

Ding Yong looked towards the entrance of the plague center. Cuicui was fiddling with the charcoal in the brazier. When she saw him looking at her, she waved to her father. Ding Yong also smiled and waved at his daughter, then turned to look at Lu Tong.

"Even if it doesn't work, at least we can gain some experience. When you develop an antidote in the future, it might be helpful, and Cuicui can use it, too."

Ding Yong smiled and said, "I don't think as much as Doctor Lu does. To be honest, I did it just for Cuicui." He spoke sincerely and bowed to Lu Tong, "Doctor Lu, I am really willing to do this."

It was snowing heavily.

More snowflakes fell on Ding Yong's head, making it difficult to distinguish between the snow and the white hair.

It was quiet all around, with only the sound of snowflakes falling to the ground.

Lu Tong looked at the person in the snow for a long time, then lowered his eyes and said, "I understand."

"That's great!" The man was happy and bowed to her several times in gratitude, as if he had finally breathed a sigh of relief, and cast a grateful glance at Ji Xun.

"Dad——" Cuicui called him from the other end, and Ding Yong said hello to Lu Tong and walked towards the entrance of the plague center. Lu Tong stared at his back for a long while, then turned around and left without saying a word.

"Doctor Lu." Ji Xun caught up.

"Is there something wrong with you?" he asked.

Lu Tong did not stop: "What does Doctor Ji mean?"

"You are very cautious about trying new medicines. But you were always bold in making prescriptions in the Medical Officers' Office. This is different from your past."

Lu Tong said, "People always change. Didn't Doctor Ji advise me to be conservative in my medical practice before?"

"But trying new drugs is a stopgap measure, and in your opinion, you should not strongly oppose it."

Lu Tong stopped and faced him.

"Doctor Ji," she said, "the epidemic evil may recur again and again. This new medicine contains a poisonous herb called Houbian. You and I, as colleagues, have not found a way to cure Houbian. Even if the new medicine can temporarily suppress the peach blossom spots on Ding Yong's body, once they recur, the Houbian poison and the epidemic poison will attack at the same time, and he will not be able to hold on."

"Even if he can hold on for now, if he keeps using it over and over again, his body will be damaged. Ding Yong has never been a medicine man before. Is it really appropriate to use something that the medical officers don't know the efficacy of on him?"

Ji Xun was speechless.

Lu Tong rarely talks so much.

When she was working at the Medical Officers' Hospital, she would spend most of her time not on duty quietly reading medical books in a corner.

Even after coming to southern Jiangsu, she still looked indifferent to everything. The patients in the plague center once secretly told Lin Danqing that they often felt that Lu Tong was cold to others. Even when the yamen runners took away new corpses every day, she just looked indifferent, as if she was used to it.

She was like a light fallen leaf, floating in the water, drifting with the flow.

But he was very aggressive about this matter.

The falling snow silently fell on the two of them. In the vast snow, the two of them faced each other in silence.

In the distance, another person was walking towards them, and when he saw the two of them, he suddenly stopped.

Duan Xiaoyan grabbed Pei Yunying's sleeve and said, "Brother, it's Ji Xun and Doctor Lu!"

Pei Yunying: "I saw it."

"Why do they look a little strange?" Duan Xiaoyan observed, "It seems like they are arguing. Should we go and add fuel to the fire?"

Pei Yunying was impatient: "Shut up."

Duan Xiaoyan kept his mouth shut carefully.

He stood in the snow and wind, looking at the people in the distance calmly.

Further away, Ji Xun's expression slightly changed. He stared at the person in front of him and asked tentatively, "Doctor Lu."

"Are you...hiding something from us?"

"If you have something to hide, you can tell me. I won't tell anyone else," he said.

Ji Xun always felt something was wrong.

If a person behaves differently from the ordinary, there must be a reason. However, he knew too little about Lu Tong. Now that he thinks about it, apart from knowing that she used to be a chef on West Street, he knows nothing else.

Lu Tong paused and said, "No."

"But……"

"Doctor Ji." A voice suddenly came from the side. Ji Xun turned around and saw Pei Yunying walking towards him slowly from the other end.

Pei Yunying walked up to the two of them, glanced at Lu Tong, then turned around and said to Ji Xun, "Guard Duan suddenly feels unwell. Since you are here, please ask Doctor Ji to take a look at Guard Duan."

Duan Xiaoyan was stunned for a moment, and suddenly he cried out, "Ouch!" while holding his stomach, "Yes, yes, I had a headache this morning."

This exaggerated action made Ji Xun frown. Just as he was about to speak, Lu Tong nodded to them and turned to leave.

Ji Xun wanted to follow him, but Pei Yunying slightly moved sideways, blocking him and said with a smile, "Doctor Ji?"

But he stopped him.

Seeing Lu Tong walking further and further away, Ji Xun withdrew his gaze and looked at Pei Yunying.

The other person had a smile on his lips, but his eyes were indifferent.

After a moment of stalemate, Duan Xiaoyan stepped forward and put his arm into Ji Xun's hand: "Doctor Ji, come, help me feel my pulse first."

……

Lu Tong returned to his residence.

The new drug controversy soon passed, and in the next few days, she became busy again.

Ding Yong changed the prescription, but the thick and flat taste of the medicine always made her feel uneasy, so she read medical books day and night, hoping to find some new methods from the books.

However, surprisingly, Ding Yong's illness became less severe day by day.

On the third day of taking the new medicine, the red spots on Ding Yong's arms stopped getting darker. On the fifth day, they seemed a little lighter than the previous few days. On the seventh day, the faded red marks were very obvious. On the ninth day, only a light red color remained on the peach blossom spots.

Cuicui was overjoyed and hugged Ding Yong's neck to express her gratitude to the medical officers.

"My father's peach blossom spots have faded a lot. He will soon be well. Doctor Chang told me that when he gets well, he will give the new medicine to all the patients in the plague center. County Magistrate Cai also said that the plague god of southern Jiangsu will soon leave, and the epidemic will end!"

All the patients in the plague clinic were very happy about Ding Yong's improvement.

The new drug is effective, which means there is hope for everything. No one wants to wake up one day and find himself a corpse on the execution ground. The rashes on the body and hands that get darker day by day always make people anxious.

Cuicui hid in Ding Yong's arms with a smile on her face, and handed Lu Tong a newly-woven grasshopper.

"I have learned how to weave grasshoppers with my father. When spring comes and the banks of the Sunan River are covered with green grass, we will use fresh green grass to weave. The green grasshoppers will still jump. I have already made an agreement with the uncles, aunts, uncles and grandmothers at the plague center. I will set up a stall at the temple entrance to sell grasshoppers. Everyone should come to support me!"

She spoke clearly and had a sweet laugh, and everyone in the plague center couldn't help but laugh at her.

Ding Yong also smiled, looking at the medical officers surrounding the crowd, and said softly: "Thank you all for saving my life. If there is a chance in the future, the Ding family will definitely repay you."

The medical officers then reported their duties one by one and then dispersed to continue with the unfinished work in their hands.

Lu Tong also felt relieved.

She had been worried that the new drug's efficacy was unknown and might cause other harm to Ding Yong. Now it seemed that everything was getting better. After a few more days of observation, she could try to give this drug to other patients in the plague center.

The improvement was gratifying to the patients, and the medical officers were given new motivation. Cai Fang was even more motivated, thinking about adding a few more wells for the decoction after the new medicine was successful.

At night, when no one was in the dormitory, Lu Tong sat under the lamp and took out a booklet from the medical box.

Ever since the day when Lin Danqing caught her bleeding from the nose, Lu Tong told Chang Jin that she had been a light sleeper recently and wanted to sleep alone, so Chang Jin reserved a room for her.

At this moment, it was quiet inside and outside the house, and Lu Tong spread the documents on the table.

The book was not thick and half of it was already filled. Under the dim light, she picked up the pen and carefully added a few words to the book.

After finishing writing, Lu Tong put down his pen, picked up the textbook in his hand, and flipped through a few pages. As he flipped through the pages, he gradually became absent-minded.

Until there was a loud "bang" and the door was slammed. Lu Tong was startled, and quickly closed the document and stuffed it into the wooden drawer.

"Sister Lu!"

The one who came back was Lin Danqing. She looked like she had just run back from outside. Her head and body were covered with snow. She said breathlessly, "Oh no!"

Lu Tong asked: "What happened?"

"Ding Yong, something happened to Ding Yong!"

Lin Danqing's face was grim: "He was fine during the day, but when he was asleep at night, Cuicui shouted that his father was convulsing. The doctor on duty went to check and found that Ding Yong started to vomit blood."

"The peach blossom spots on his body... turned purple! In just a moment, they turned into purple cloud spots!"