The Tang Dynasty’s Female Forensic Doctor

“Come in.” Ran Yan leisurely said.

Sitting outside, Sang Chen’s whole body stiffened. He took his basket and buries his head inside, pretending not to have heard anything.

Ran Yan impatiently spoke: “Does Mr. Sang intends to make me go out to invite you?”

Sang Chen moved his buttocks and pushed the screen aside at an exasperatingly slow pace. He gave a rapid glance at Ran Yan’s face, and his own handsome face became both red and white, not knowing if he should be embarrassed or scared. He gripped his basked tightly and kneeled in front of the carriage door, “What instructions does Miss have for me?”

“Mr. Sang has said something about what is the meaning of a woman’s virtue?” Ran Yan propped her head with one hand, tilting her body over the small table at the side while coldly staring at him with the corner of her eye.

Such expression displayed a bit of indolence within her serenity. Sang Chen had but a glance, yet his mind went completely blank. How could he possibly remember whatever womanly virtue? He immediately lowered his eyes, stalling for time, not knowing what he should say.

Wan Lu chuckled when she looked at Sang Chen who resembled a rabbit that was frightened by her Miss.

Sang Chen was embarrassed to the point of wanting to dig a hole and crawl into it, even his earlobes were tinged with red.

“Mr. Sang, my Miss is only joking with you! Mr. should not be so stiff.” Wan Lu knew Ran Yan’s temper. Although she became a bit colder after recovering from her illness, she was the same as before as she hardly ever got angry. Moreover, Sang Chen hasn’t made any type of atrocity or unpardonable evil. His actions and behavior merely caused people to be annoyed while having no place to vent it off.

Ran Yan looked at his handsome and awkward appearance and somewhat sympathized with him. As the son of an aristocratic and influential family, he was born with a golden spoon in his mouth, but solely for the fact of his biological mother holding a lowly position, he had to grow up with a group of monks inside a Temple. Thinking until here, a part of Ran Yan wished to meet that Master Huai Jing. What kind of person could have taught Sang Chen such morals and behavior?

Wan Lu acted as a mediator and tried to smooth things over, but the atmosphere hadn’t improved thus far. Silence befell inside the carriage, and only its rumbling sounds could be heard as it traveled along the road. The sky gradually darkened. The vibrant rosy clouds coated the horizon, the whole sky was painted with a layer of golden-red as the evening breeze coolly blew over.

The carriage swayed while crossing a wooden bridge. Sang Chen’s clear eyes gazed through the curtain to the outside with uneasiness. He had a hard time holding up until the end of the crossing, sighing with relief when it was finally over.

Ran Yan had been observing his semblance and now she didn’t know why, but the feeling of disappointment [1] suddenly crept into her heart. She couldn’t help asking: “Doesn’t Buddhism emphasize indifference towards the matters of life and death?  You grew up in a Temple, how come you have yet to be enlightened about it?”

Master Huai Jing said that zaixia has no destiny with Buddha, hence, there is no enlightenment.” Sang Chen’s clear eyes were like the azure sky or like a limpid stream, innocently staring at the decorative patterns on the box at Ran Yan’s side.

Ran Yan thought this was actually odd. She knew these monks would frequently speak about destiny, and as long as they spoke of destiny, it would invariably be about a person’s fate. At long last, she had now heard someone say “there’s no destiny with Buddha”. Ran Yan suddenly felt that this Master Huai Jing was a person of great insight.

“You don’t have to keep on with zaixia here, zaixia there. Hearing it gets on my nerves.” Ran Yan had relaxed her tone. She realized that if she wasn’t dragged into this matter of principles, they would still be able to have a perfectly calm discussion.

However, during the moments where Sang Chen acts like a fool, Ran Yan would always feel like dissecting him to study his brain’s structure and see what difference it has with that of a normal person. And now… Especially after hearing about his past achievements, Ran Yan’s interest was even stronger. She often thinks about finishing him off, hiding the body and have a secret autopsy.

Sang Chen obviously didn’t know that he had become a frog on Ran Yan’s dissection table, he was just as happy as before. Normally, when people are unfamiliar with each other, they would use modest forms of address or respectful ones. Only after getting to know the other person well would you call them directly. He viewed this as a display of a close relationship, which led to the cheerfulness of his heart become completely visible on his face.

Wan Lu was inwardly lamenting. Sang Chen was poised and dignified, and although it seemed he couldn’t match Master Xiao, who was a dragon among men in Miss Xing’s mouth, he was a noble and scrupulous gentleman. If he had some sort of good family background, it would be fine even if he lacked a reputation! And so she unwilling to give up and asked: “Where is Mr. Sang’s hometown? Do you still have relatives at home?”

Sang Chen answered: “Master Huai Jing said I was born in Yuezhou, what is known today as Lianzhou. After my parents passed away in succession, I was sent to the Sang family in Chang’an. The Sang family had no means of raising me, so I was then entrusted to Xing Shan Temple’s care.”

Since the fall of Sui dynasty and the rise of Tang dynasty, the Li clan had the honor of having the Daoist Laozi [2] as their ancestor. Buddhism was then being gradually replaced by Daoism. As the imperial court strongly supported Daoism, temples everywhere began to fall into dereliction, and Daoist temples stood in great numbers. Fortunately, Buddhism still had a multitude of believers among ordinary folk. Moreover, the ruler wouldn’t let a single religious sect reign alone, and from time to time, he would give assistance to another one or two. Such was the way they were able to survive.

But life wasn’t easy for the temples. If it wasn’t for the many incenses and oil money [3] that the Sang family added, how could they possibly take in a child for no apparent reason? Even more a child with no destiny with Buddha.

Ran Yan knew that Sang Chen didn’t believe in the few words spoken by Master Huai Jing, but he took them seriously. She didn’t know if this was due to his escaping mentality or was it that he preferred to believe that there still existed some trace of warmth for him in this world.

Wan Lu sighed, “Nubi is too impulsive. I ask for Mr. Sang to please forgive me.”

Sang Chen waved his hands hastily, saying: “There’s no harm, no harm at all.”

[1] The famous Chinese phrase: “Hate the iron for not becoming steel”; i.e.= be disappointed that someone didn’t live up to the expectations. 

[2] Laozi = Lao Tzu = Lao Tze; here is his wiki page for those interested. 

[3] Voluntary donations that are given to temples are literally called “adding incense and oil money”; so, in other words, she is saying that the Sang family paid the temple – in the form of donations – for them to take in Sang Chen.