Chapter 185 White Lotus Dew

The fire in the medical officer's house was lit at night.

The noise outside gradually rose, and the two people sleeping in the room were awakened.

Lin Danqing climbed up from the couch in a daze and turned on the light. There were people outside, and some people were whispering.

"What's wrong?" Lu Tong followed and put on his clothes.

"I don't know." Lin Danqing rubbed his eyes, got out of bed, pushed the door and went out, "I'll go take a look."

The lights in the yard gradually brightened, and more and more medical officers ran out of the dormitory, holding candles and whispering. The older medical officers put on their clothes and hurried out with their medical boxes on their backs, and no one knew where they were going.

Lin Danqing talked with several medical officers under the tree for a while, then returned to the door with a candle and said to Lu Tong: "There's a fire in Yanzhi Hutong."

Lu Tong paused: "Fire?"

"Yes. It started from Fengle Tower. I heard that Fengle Tower is a wooden restaurant. If it burns, it will be terrible."

"They all went to check on the injured, but they didn't let us new medical officers go with them. There shouldn't be many injured. I remember that there was a fire at Jingdemen Lantern Festival, and the entire medical officer's office was mobilized."

"Speaking of which, there have been several fires since the beginning of summer this year. We should be more careful when using fire on weekdays to avoid fires..."

She said a bunch of things to herself, and seeing that Lu Tong just stared into the distance for a long time without saying a word, she couldn't help but say: "Why are you stupid?"

Lu Tong came back to his senses: "Nothing."

She took the candle and smiled faintly: "Water and fire are ruthless, and we should indeed be prepared early."

...

The big fire that started in Yanzhi Hutong that night was put out in a blink of an eye.

The rumors that arose from the fire quickly spread throughout Shengjing City.

The fire started from Fengle Tower in Yanzhi Hutong. Fortunately, the fire watchtower was close and there happened to be two fire-hitting shops next to it. The fire was discovered early and put out in time. Except for the top floor of the building which was almost burned to ashes, the rest was fine. Fortunately, no one lost their lives. Only a few drunken guests were fainted by the smoke and suffered minor injuries.

It is not right to say that they were slightly injured. There was another special injured person in Fengle Tower.

When the injured person was rescued, he was already mentally unclear. He kept saying that he was the son of the Taishi Mansion. He was described as crazy and stupid, and behaved in a rude manner. He grabbed the people next to him and cried that Huamei killed people. He didn't look like a normal person at all.

There were many idle guests in the alley. How could they not be interested in seeing a pile of fun? Before the fire in Fengle Tower was put out, the news that the son of the Taishi Mansion, Qi, was scared crazy, had spread throughout Shengjing City.

In the Taishi Mansion.

The morning light was dim, the gauze curtains covered the figure on the couch, people came and went in the room, and there was a strong smell of medicine coming from the room, interspersed with shouting and cursing.

There was a sound of "bang".

Then, there was another shrill cry: "Father, save me - Huamei killed people -"

Qi Huaying stood at the door and listened to the movement in the room, his face was as pale as paper.

Late last night, Qi Yutai was sent back to the mansion.

When he returned home, he was unconscious, his nose and tears were a mess, his face was full of palpitations and fear, and his face was grayed by fireworks.

Qi Yutai had an accident in Fengle Tower.

He did not bring guards when he went out, and no one knew who he was except the servant. Later, Fengle Tower caught fire, and he confessed his identity in front of everyone in a frenzy.

But at that time, he was crazy and no one believed it for a while. Until later, when everyone saw the gorgeous carriage tied in front of the door, they sent someone to the Taishi Mansion to communicate, and the Taishi Mansion learned about this disaster.

Qi Yutai seemed to be crazy.

Qi Huaying's eyes were red.

Qi Yutai went to Fengle Tower to take "Hanshi Powder".

She and her brother had always had a very good relationship. She had known that her brother had this problem. She had advised him many times in the past, but in the end she could not resist Qi Yutai's pleading and gave him the silver to buy loose money.

If she had not given Qi Yutai the silver bills a few days ago, Qi Yutai would not have gone to Fengle Tower, and would not have encountered this fire and this unprovoked disaster.

Qi Huaying clenched the corners of her skirt and tears fell.

In the room, Qi Qing sat in front of the couch.

Qi Yutai struggled too hard to feed the medicine, so he had to ask the servants to tie his hands and feet temporarily.

With his limbs tied, Qi Yutai lay on the bed, staring with his eyes wide open and struggling hard, his screams were piercing and sharp.

The old housekeeper stood with his head down, unable to help but secretly frightened.

About five years ago, Qi Yutai had also had an attack, but it was not as serious as it is now. His speech was just a little confused, but he was still calm, not as dazed as he is now.

This time was more unpredictable than the last time, and the lady was in the same state back then...

The old housekeeper shuddered and heard Qi Qing say: "Is Fengle Tower ready?"

"I have already said that, but it happened suddenly and there were too many people present..."

The news of Qi Yutai's madness had spread, and Yanzhi Hutong was full of drunkards. Many people left and went to other places, like fish flowing into a wider stream. They could not be distinguished in the sea, but spread the news everywhere.

The Qi family could shut up one person's mouth, ten people's mouths, but not a hundred mouths, not to mention that these hundred mouths would soon become a thousand, ten thousand, and they would continue to flow.

This matter was troublesome.

Qi Qing closed his eyes.

The sword of a warrior and the pen of a scholar are both tools for killing people. Moreover, the killing of a pen is a hundred times faster and more fierce than the killing of a knife.

Qi Yutai's screams gradually subsided. He was tired of struggling. The medicine he had ordered to be boiled had not yet been brought. Qi Qing sat quietly, his eyes full of fatigue, like an aging father.

Qi Yutai turned his head and faced Qi Qing.

His expression was confused, his eyes were as scattered as those of a newborn baby, covered with a thin layer of tears, and the red marks on his face were not yet dry. Without the usual impatience and feigned respect, he looked like a harmless and ignorant child.

"Dad." He suddenly called.

The two people in the room were shocked.

Awake?

Qi Qing leaned over, stared at him and said in a soft voice: "Yutai, do you recognize me?"

"Dad, help me."

Qi Yutai looked at him timidly and said with fear: "Someone wants to kill me."

The old housekeeper raised his head in surprise.

Qi Qing held Qi Yutai's hand slightly tightly and said calmly: "Who wants to harm you?"

Qi Yutai swallowed.

"A man."

He shuddered: "A...man I don't know."

…

The Qi family was gloomy and gloomy, but the court was very lively.

The rumors in Rouge Alley quickly spread out and spread to the Imperial City in an instant.

The Grand Master had a high position and had disciples all over the government and the public. It was difficult for lower-level officials to openly discuss the affairs of the Qi family. However, the Third Prince and his faction took advantage of the opportunity to add insult to injury.

In the court hall, the prince said calmly: "Rumors are spreading, but the truth is not yet known. The grand master has inherited the world with great honour, and promoted virtuous people to serve the country. As officials, you should be honest and cautious. How can you be like a learned woman who has a long tongue and cannot distinguish between right and wrong."

The third prince Yuan Yao smiled and said: "What the prince said is absolutely true. This matter is also simple. As long as the young master of the Qi family comes out and proves that he is sane and behaves the same, the rumors will naturally be self-defeating." After speaking, his eyes He walked around the court officials and showed a sudden look on his face: "Ah, I almost forgot, the Grand Master is on leave today."

Grand Master Qi claimed to be ill today and did not go to court.

The prince's face was gloomy.

Yuan Yao rejoiced in his misfortune.

Prince Ning, who was standing nearby, blinked and yawned slowly.

Before Emperor Liang Ming could speak, another censor came forward and said that someone blocked the sedan door on the way to court this morning. Yesterday there was a fire in Fengle Tower. Someone reported that Qi Yutai, the grand master's son, secretly took cold food in Fengle Tower. scattered.

As soon as this statement came out, the officials were in an uproar.

When the late emperor was still alive, he had already strictly ordered the whole country to ban the consumption of this substance. If anyone was found to have taken it, he would be immediately punished.

But the censor who spoke was famously upright in the court.

On the dragon chair, Emperor Liang Ming listened calmly, his expression indistinct from joy or anger.

"The high wind will inherit the world and the whole country will be virtuous?"

Yuan Yao saw the embarrassment on the prince's face and smiled mockingly.

"The grand master ensures the security of the country and the people, and governs the country peacefully, but... could it be that the political affairs in the court are so complicated that he doesn't even have time to teach his son?"

"If you manage a family like this, how can you govern a country? Or maybe the Grand Master is now over sixty years old and is no longer capable of doing what he wants!"

He took a step forward and looked at the emperor on the high seat.

"There is a saying in "Shenzi": When a king abandons the law and decides the severity based on his heart, he will be rewarded differently for the same merit and punished differently for the same crime. This is where resentment arises." Yuan Yao leaned over and said: "I also ask my father, officials do not have personal relationships. , the law never leaves behind love.”

"...investigate this matter thoroughly."

…

A court incident, everyone has their own agenda.

Arguments were made, slanders were made, those who watched the show did not say a word, and dozens of them yawned.

As for whether Qi Yutai had taken Hanshi Powder, Emperor Liang Ming had sent people to quickly investigate, but Hanshi Powder was not mentioned in advance. It was a fact known to everyone that the Qi family's young master went crazy downstairs in Fengle.

In the dark room, the firelight flickered on the copper scaffolding.

Xiao Zhufeng followed Pei Yunying down the long stone steps until he reached the low table in the corner.

There was a person sitting in front of the low table. Xiao Zhufeng stepped forward and said "Teacher".

Yan Xu raised his eyes.

The court meeting has ended, and each department has returned to its respective positions. However, the fire in Fengle Building has burned not only the Qi family's always beautiful reputation, but also the stable situation in the court for many years.

A rumor about a fire would never have caused such a big stir in the past. Perhaps it wasn't that the Grand Master's Palace was not as powerful as before, but that the Third Prince's lineage came from behind.

And Emperor Liang Ming...

The firelight in the room was silent, Yan Xu squinted his eyes, and stared at Pei Yunying with a pair of falcon-like eyes.

"The fire in Fengle Building was caused by you?"

"How can it be?"

Pei Yunying said seriously: "I was busy organizing the new army in the past few days, and I haven't left the house yet. I don't want to slander you." After saying this, he poked the person next to him: "Isn't it Xiao Er?"

Xiao Zhufeng coughed lightly: "Yes, I testify. This matter has nothing to do with him."

Yan Xu looked at the person in front of him with a stern face.

The young man let him look at him openly, with a somewhat innocent look on his face. His upright and selfless look made people feel ashamed, as if doubting him had become a sin.

Reminiscent of his mother.

Yan Xu suddenly looked away.

Pei Yunying blinked.

The man looked away and said coldly: "Yuan Yao will not let go of the opportunity to deal with the Taishi Mansion. Don't act rashly in the past few days and wait and see what happens."

"don't want."

Yan Xu and Xiao Zhufeng looked at him at the same time.

Pei Yunying spoke slowly: "Now Yuan Yao is trying his best to 'win' me over, and I have just become enemies with the Grand Master's Mansion. To show my loyalty, of course I must spare no effort and take advantage of this opportunity to add insult to injury, so that His Majesty, the officials, and the third prince can be defeated." See my sincerity.”

The lights flickered and the room was silent.

Yan Xu stared at Pei Yunying inscrutably for a long time, and suddenly sneered: "Pei Yunying, you are so roundabout, can't you be doing it for that medical woman named Lu?"

He suddenly realized: "What a great idea. It kills two birds with one stone."

Yan Xu laughed angrily, and his tone was gloomy: "I don't know whether to live or die."

Pei Yunying was calm and relaxed.

"This is not what my teacher taught me back then: I want to repay kindness, but I want to forget resentment. It is short to repay kindness, but it is long to repay kindness."

He said sincerely: "I will never forget my teacher's teachings."

The sight of such a careless person made people angry. Yan Xu was so angry that he grabbed the paperweight on the table and threw it at him, but he sidestepped him.

Yan Xu said: "Get out!"

"Oh." He responded leisurely, took two steps, suddenly remembered something, and turned around.

"Teacher wants to speak for the prince these days, and also wants to go toe-to-toe with me. Why don't you give me another punch now to show that you and I are working harder for our own masters?"

Xiao Zhufeng lowered his head and said nothing.

Yan Xu gnashed his teeth: "Get lost."

He raised his eyebrows and regretfully said, "Okay."

…

After the trivial matters of the court were spread to the medical hospital, the busy day became more interesting.

In the evening of the summer solstice, a strong wind suddenly blew before the heavy rain.

A patch of green in the dormitory was swaying in front of the window, rustling, and the strong wind made people feel cool.

The medical officers were collecting clothes to dry in the courtyard while whispering that if it had rained at Fengle Tower a few days ago, the situation in the DPRK might have been different in the near future.

Lu Chen closed the wooden window.

Chang Jin's youngest daughter suffered from acne, and she took a leave of absence from the hospital. There was no one to take care of the medical records cabinet, so the new doctor asked Lu Zhuo to temporarily take over Chang Jin's errands.

Newly received medical records are sorted into their proper places according to categories, official medical records are divided into departments and ministries, and royal medical records are locked and cannot be opened by ordinary people... Medical records must be taken out from time to time for cleaning and drying, and incomplete records must be removed. It needs to be repaired. After checking and checking each roll, it is already very late.

The noisy chatter and laughter of the medical officers outside disappeared at some point. Lu Zhuo glanced at the time, and it was almost midnight.

She blew out the lantern, leaving only an oil lamp, and was about to close the door and go back to the courtyard to rest. Suddenly, there was a light tapping in her ears.

"Dong dong——"

The sound was very soft and came from the window.

Lu Chen calmed down and walked to the window door. He hesitated and reached out to push the window door open.

As soon as she opened the window, a bamboo tube gently pressed against her cheek, which was ice-cold and a bit cold.

Pei Yunying's face was revealed from behind the bamboo tube.

In the summer before the rain, the strong wind blew the branches outside, and it was about to rain, but he looked calm, holding a bamboo tube in his hand, and his expression was refreshing.

Across the window, Pei Yunying stuffed the bamboo tube into Lu Zhuo's hand.

"What's this?"

"White lotus dew."

The young man leaned out of the window and said with a smile: "There was a fire in Rouge Alley. The stalls selling sweet syrup in the city disappeared overnight. If you saw it when passing by the alley, save your drink."

There was a big fire in Fengle Tower, and the manpower of Wanghuo Tower was doubled. The patrolmen of the patrol house patrolled around the house day and night, preventing stalls selling hot food and drinks from wandering around. This strict situation is likely to continue for a while, and maybe summer is over.

Lu Zhuo was not polite to him. He took the bamboo tube and took a sip. The syrup was cold and slightly sweet, with a faint fragrance of lotus. After drinking a little, he felt the fragrance of flowers on his lips and teeth.

"how?"

"Not bad." Lu Yan glanced behind him.

"Qing Feng is guarding outside." Pei Yunying raised the corners of her lips, "Don't worry."

The guards in the Medical Officer's Court are just like decorations. If one day someone from the front office wants to come in and do something, it is estimated that the bodies of the entire Medical Officer's Court will be cold and no one will find them.

With such murmurs in his heart, Lu Zhen withdrew his gaze and said, "Come in and talk."

He was startled.

"how?"

Pei Yunying said: "The door is locked, how can I get in?"

When she came in to sort out the medical records, she locked the door from the inside. Speaking of which, I locked the door because I remembered that when I was sorting out the medical record library last time, someone came swaggering in through the door at night.

Lu Zhuo turned around, walked inside with the white lotus dew in his hand, and said softly: "Let's go through the window. It's not difficult for the palace commander anyway."

Pei Yunying: "..."

After taking two steps toward the door, there was a soft sound behind him, and Pei Yunying followed.

Lu Tong paused.

Unexpectedly, he actually walked out of the window.

Seeing her look, he raised his eyebrows, smiled, and said provocatively: "It's really not difficult."

childish.

This man seemed to be in a good mood today. Lu Zhu put the oil lamp on the table and asked Pei Yunying, "Why is the palace commander here?"

"Let me tell you good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?"

"bad news."

"The Qi family's suppression of Qi Yutai, despite the current rumors, will subside soon. The matter of Fenglelou taking Hanshi Powder will eventually turn out to be someone else."

This is not surprising. With the Qi family's methods, they will never sit back and wait for death.

Lu Yan asked: "What's the good news?"

He smiled, with the pear dimples clearly visible on his lips, "The good news is that Qi Yutai is still very crazy and won't get better for a while. Therefore, there is no way to go out and 'prove' himself for the time being."

Just as Yuan Yao said in the court, Qi Yutai wanted to prove that he was sane now, and the reason why Fengle went crazy downstairs was because someone else was pretending to be someone else. As long as he showed up in front of everyone, everything would be solved.

But unfortunately, this is the most difficult thing for Qi Yutai to do right now.

A person with epilepsy cannot control his anger, laughter or fear. It is too late for the Grand Master's house to hide him, so how can he take the initiative to expose it to others.

And the more you hide it, the more excuses you use, it becomes the default for another method.

Pei Yunying smiled and said: "It's such a big circle, it just makes him crazy."

He looked at Lu Tong: "If that's the case, why not just burn him? Aren't you afraid that he will get better and let the tiger go back to the mountains?"

Lu Tong was silent.

The fragrance of lotus flowers lingered in her nose, and the summer night was particularly refreshing. She lowered her eyes: "There is a fire watchtower near Yanzhi Hutong, and the two fire shops are only one mile apart. Once the fire starts, it will be extinguished anyway."

"But if you use other methods to kill him, it will inevitably leave traces. The Grand Tutor's Mansion will not give up, and it will only involve more trouble."

"Let him go, not let him go. I have my own way."

Pei Yunying looked at her for a while and nodded lazily: "Tired his energy, weaken his fighting spirit, disperse him and then capture him, without bloodshed..."

He curled his lips: "It turns out that it's not letting the tiger go back to the mountains, but playing hard to get. I am getting more and more curious now. How does Doctor Lu plan to deal with the Grand Tutor's Mansion?"

The house was quiet, and the flames were shaking. The young man leaned against the bookshelf with his arms crossed. The pattern of beads on his brocade clothes was clear and neat. When he tilted his head and looked at her with a smile, his dark eyes became brighter under the fire, as if he was really puzzled.

Lu Tong did not respond to his words. He paused and looked up at him: "Thank you for this time, Master Pei."

"The sword of a warrior, the pen of a scholar..." - "Random Thoughts"