Chapter 189 Mediocre

The jasmine flowers under the window are mostly in bloom, with fragrant branches and green leaves, which dilute the smell of medicine in the house.

In the garden outside Qi Yutai, Qi Qing stood with his hands behind his back.

The setting sun fell into the pond, and the water was stained with a layer of light red. The shimmering light seemed to be swaying flames burning under the water, and the remaining red was everywhere.

Qi Qing watched quietly.

It had been almost ten days since the fire in Fengle Tower that night.

In these ten days, the court had been arguing endlessly, Yuan Yao was pressing step by step, and the prince's people had come several times - Emperor Liang Ming's attitude was subtle, and he could no longer keep his temper.

The court was in turmoil, and he just claimed to be sick and stayed in the mansion, guarding Qi Yutai every day.

There were footsteps behind him. The old housekeeper crossed the yard and walked behind Qi Qing, whispering, "Master, the matter of Hanshi powder has been settled."

"Good."

On the second day after the fire in Fengle Tower, someone reported that Qi Yutai had taken medicine powder in the building. How could Yuan Yao not seize this opportunity and force the emperor to investigate in front of all the officials?

There are countless noble children who secretly take Hanshi powder. As long as they can hide it on the surface, no one will pursue them.

It happened to be now.

Qi Qing asked someone to find a scapegoat to take the blame. The person who took the medicine powder was someone else, and naturally it had nothing to do with Qi Yutai.

Forget about it.

The old housekeeper said, "The young master got into trouble that day and was reported the next day. It's too coincidental. Master, could this be a trap set by the third prince?"

Qi Qing shook his head.

Yuan Yao was impulsive and relied on the emperor's favor to be stubborn. If he wanted to set a trap, he would not use such a roundabout method. Moreover, Qi Yutai's taking of the medicine powder could be said to be heard by some people, but Qi Yutai's old illness...except for the Qi family, only Cui Min knew about it.

Unless Cui Min didn't want to die, he would never take the initiative to reveal this to others.

"Let's go." Qi Qing turned around, "I'll go see him."

The door of Qi Yutai's room was closed.

When he was ill, he cried and ran away in shock and anger, and loudly beat and scolded the people around him. In just a few days, the servants who served him were replaced several times.

The housekeeper pushed open the door, and a maid was kneeling in front of the door, with blood still flowing from her forehead, and porcelain was smashed all over the floor. There were two other servants guarding the couch, watching the person on the couch nervously.

The old housekeeper winked at the maid with blood on her forehead, and the maid retreated while pressing the wound on her forehead. The two servants hurriedly made way when they saw Qi Qing coming, and Qi Qing walked forward slowly and pulled aside the hanging curtain.

On the rosewood lotus-patterned bed, Qi Yutai huddled in a corner, a thin blanket wrapped around him, staring blankly at the four-cornered sachet hanging above his head.

Qi Qing tightened his hand around the corner of the curtain.

Shuhui was like this when she fell ill.

She would not listen to anyone else, or would lower her head and whisper to someone she did not know. Yutai had been ill a few years ago, but it was not as serious as it is now. His careless look made people suspect that he might never wake up again in the future.

Qi Yutai in the corner seemed to have finally heard something, his eyes moved, and his sight slowly moved to the two people who entered the room.

"Father." He suddenly called out.

Qi Qing was silent for a moment, holding his hand: "Yutai."

The withered old hand and the young pale hand held together, showing a more desolate and dead silence.

Qi Yutai whispered: "Dad, someone wants to harm me."

In the past few days, Qi Yutai would occasionally say this sentence.

Qi Qing held his hand, like a father looking at a young child, and asked gently: "Yutai, tell me, who wants to hurt you?"

The loving tone seemed to make Qi Yutai bolder, and he looked dazed for a moment: "I saw the eyebrows..."

"Where are the eyebrows?"

"In Fengle Building, on the wall, there is a large painting of eyebrows, many eyebrows--"

Qi Qing's expression moved.

The old housekeeper behind him looked up in surprise.

Since Qi Yutai was sent back to the mansion, he has been unconscious every day and always said that he saw eyebrows.

Perhaps it was the fire in Fengle Building that frightened Qi Yutai and reminded him of the fire in the Yang family of Mangming Township, which brought up the old story of eyebrows.

But today is the first time that the "painting" in Fengle Building has been mentioned.

After the fire in Fengle Building, the Qi family also suspected that the fire was not accidental and sent people to investigate in the building. However, the top floor where Qi Yutai was was the place where the fire started. The people from the fire shop put out the fire downstairs, but the upstairs was completely burned by the fire at night, leaving no trace.

Nothing can be found.

But...

The layout of Fengle Building, the guest room is facing the wall, and there is indeed a silk painting hanging on it.

Qi Qing leaned forward, and his tone became more and more gentle, "Yutai, tell Dad, what does the painting look like?"

"It's... There are so many birds in the tea garden..."

Qi Yutai stared at the void, as if he saw a silk painting that others could not see out of thin air, and murmured: "And that old man, he and Huamei looked at me together... His eyes were bleeding... Dad!" He was terrified all of a sudden, grabbed the blanket and buried his head in the blanket, going crazy, "There are ghosts, there are ghosts, the ghosts of the Yang family are here!"

"Get out of here--"

He began to cry and curse, and the two servants hurried forward to try to hold him back.

Qi Qing lowered his head and looked at the blood mark on his wrist that Qi Yutai had suddenly grabbed, and sighed deeply.

"Young Master... doesn't seem to be getting better..." The housekeeper spoke anxiously.

After so long, Qi Yutai still spoke in a trance, without any improvement.

Qi Qing shook his head.

In the incense burner in the room, the incense burned quietly. There was a light knock on the door outside, and then the door was pushed open, and Cui Min walked in with a medicine bowl.

Seeing Qi Qing, Cui Min bowed: "Sir."

Qi Qing waved his hand.

Cui Min stepped forward and placed the medicine bowl in his hand on a high table that was out of Qi Yutai's reach. Seeing two young men pressing down on Qi Yutai, he let them go and poured a medicine bottle from the medicine box. Feed Qi Yutai the red pill and take it.

Qi Yutai gradually became quiet.

The Anshen Pill could only make him calm down for a short while, and he briefly regained his composure due to his confusion. Cui Min asked the boy to bring him a medicine bowl, and when Qi Yutai was calm, he fed him a spoonful of medicine.

After drinking a bowl of medicine, Qi Yutai had completely calmed down, his eyelids were drooping, and he was drowsy. The boy wiped him clean and accidentally got the concoction on his body, helped him lie down and covered him with the quilt, then lowered the curtain, and the room finally calmed down.

Qi Qing looked at Cui Min who was packing the medical box. After a while, he said, "Mr. Cui, Yutai's condition has not improved."

Cui Min made a move.

He turned around and bowed respectfully to Qi Qing: "My medical skills are not good, and my diagnosis has been useless for many days. I am unworthy of trusting you, and I am very ashamed."

Qi Qing said calmly: "Why are the envoys so humble? The "Cui's Pharmacology" was praised by all the doctors in Shengjing. If you say that your medical skills are not good, no one in the Liang Dynasty would dare to say that they know medical principles."

He said: "The hospital envoy also treated my son before, why is this time different from the last time?"

Cui Min's palms were slightly wet and he replied calmly: "Sir, the young master's illness was caused by panic. It was due to a sudden encounter with a fire and a narrow escape from death. He was frightened and lost his mind. Last time, although the young master's panic was unbalanced, the symptoms of panic were similar. It’s not fatal, but maybe the situation is dangerous this time, so it’s more serious.”

He didn't mention the word "crazy", nor did he mention the weirdness in Qi Yutai's words, as if it was just a common and complicated disease.

Qi Qing was silent for a while and asked: "Chief Cui, this is the only son I have."

"Yutai has been weak since she was a child and has a gentle temperament. Although she is occasionally naughty, she is still well-behaved."

"I won't get this son without being confused. When Yutai's mother left, she was only worried that the Yutai would not be down. If something happens to Yutai, I will be too embarrassed to face my wife in the future."

"Therefore, I just want to ask you," Qi Qing looked at Cui Min, "Can Yutai's disease be cured?"

The room was quiet, and the muttering behind the curtain was particularly obvious.

The old man looked at him calmly with a pair of gray eyes. Because he was too old, if he looked carefully, he seemed to have a shallow haze. When he looked again, the gray haze seemed to be an illusion again.

Cui Min felt a layer of fine sweat gradually forming on his hands in his sleeves. The fine sweat seemed to grow, crawling from the palms of his hands to his back, then falling drop by drop from his forehead, and silently sank into his clothes. Collar.

He lowered his eyes, and wherever he looked, the woolen carpet had bright patterns, and the petals dotted with spar were dark brown. Qi Yutai sometimes got sick, and would often pick up anything that could be smashed in the house and throw it around. Not long ago, a young maid was killed here.

The stagnant air was heavy on his head. Cui Min stared at the red spot for a long time and uttered two words: "It can be cured."

Qi Qing was pleased: "Okay."

"The hospital envoy is benevolent and benevolent. In the hospital, I only trust you. The empress intended to promote Ji Xun to the position of deputy envoy, but I dissuaded her. After all, Medical Officer Ji is a bit younger and not older and more stable than the envoy Cui. "

He slowly stood up, patted Cui Min's shoulder affectionately, and said, "Envoy, please don't betray my trust." He left with the help of the housekeeper.

Cui Min stood there and didn't raise his head until Qi Qing and Qi Qing were no longer visible outside the door.

His spine, which had been slightly bowed just now, felt stiff and painful, and he wiped his forehead.

His body was covered in cold sweat.

…

The last ray of sunset sank and the moon rose.

Silence fell in the hospital.

When Cui Min returned to the medical hospital, the night was already very late.

The green branches were swaying in the grove, and there was no one around. His confidants were not in the Medical Officer's Hospital. Today he went to the Taishi Mansion for a medical consultation, and he should have gone back directly.

But Cui Min didn't want to go back.

The scent of medicine in the hospital seems to make him feel more peaceful.

He entered the study and closed the door.

There are piles of medical books on the bookshelves and tables in the room. Since he became a hospital envoy, he has collected all kinds of unique medical books everywhere. His subordinates also knew about his hobby and often spent a lot of money to buy them for him as gifts. Others say that it was because he came from a humble background, and all kinds of medical books in the Liang Dynasty were owned by the Imperial Medical Bureau. Cui Min, a common medical worker, had never studied in the Imperial Medical Bureau, so after he entered the Hanlin Medical Academy, he had to All the medical classics and pharmacology that have not been learned in the past are supplemented.

But he is not.

He just wants to prove himself.

Cui Min sat down at the table.

Halfway through the compilation of the new medical book, Fang Zi was still dissatisfied no matter how much he changed it. In fact, five years after the publication of "Cui's Pharmacology", he was already feeling anxious.

Ordinary medical workers are struggling in the medical hospital. Every year, there are new medical officers in the imperial medical bureau. There are many young students with strong backgrounds. This alone is not worthy of fear. What is even more frightening is that those with good family backgrounds, Not all of them are mediocre people, there are many who have outstanding medical skills and extraordinary talents.

For example, Lin Danqing, for example... Ji Xun.

Thinking of Ji Xun, Cui Min's eyes darkened.

This young genius medical officer showed amazing talent as soon as he entered the hospital. He was also uneducated. He spoke out regardless of the situation if he had different medical opinions. He pointed out errors and omissions in his prescriptions several times, making it difficult for Cui Min to step down.

However, Ji Xun's family background was not bad. Even if he wanted to punish Fa Luo, he could not find the opportunity.

He couldn't criticize Ji Xun, he could only watch the other party getting more and more comfortable in the palace, and he felt more and more anxious in his heart. I had no choice but to decide to write another medical book.

One volume is accidental, two volumes, at least the position of envoy of other courts has not been shaken for the time being.

Cui Min thought so, but the more anxious he became, the harder it was to get the prescription. He is like an old scholar who has exhausted his talents, and the ink in his pen is full of decay. So he searched everywhere for lonely medical books, gained extensive knowledge, made up for his lack of intelligence, and tried to prove that he was not mediocre.

The book says: My appearance is dull, which will not catch others, and my talents, which are mediocre, will not catch others. If I learn it day by day, I will not slack off for a long time, until I am almost successful, I don't know whether I am dull or mediocre.

How can everyone in this world be a genius? As long as he works diligently, there is no difference between him and those geniuses.

That's what he thought. However, after several years, Cui Min sadly discovered a fact.

Genius and mediocrity are different from the beginning.

Ji Xun became more and more comfortable in the palace. He could only watch helplessly and felt that his position as the envoy was on the verge of falling. Ji Xun was born in a better family than himself, had the same medical skills, and was a young member of a well-known family. He was more suitable to be a medical official than an aging ordinary medical worker.

Just when Cui Min himself was gradually accepting his fate, something happened to Qi Yutai, the master's son.

Qi Yutai was frightened by the collision and started talking nonsense. Master Qi asked him to come to his house to see a doctor. Cui Min knew that his chance had come and treated him diligently for several days, and Qi Yutai recovered.

Qi Qing was very grateful to him.

This gratitude was reflected in the fact that when someone in the palace reminded Ji Xun that he could now serve as the deputy director of the Medical Academy, Grand Master Qi blocked him.

Cui Min understood deeply that this was the reward given to him by the Taishi Mansion.

In the following years, no one else coveted the position of envoy of his court.

Cui Min understood that this was the result of the Taishi Mansion. Then I dream about it at midnight, but sometimes I still feel uneasy.

Just like a hollow person who is forced to ascend to a high position, knowing that there is nowhere to hold on to, he is always frightened.

Until today, the fear has become a reality.

Qi Yutai fell ill again.

This time the attack was more serious than last time, and there was no improvement after several days. Cui Min himself was also worried. Epilepsy is inherently difficult to treat. Qi Yutai has used Lingxi incense since he was a child to sort out his emotions and stay awake. However, once the epilepsy occurs frequently, it is difficult to cure it with medicine or stone.

Very tricky.

Cui Min remembered what Qi Qing said in Qi Yutai's house in the evening.

He asked him: "Can Yutai's disease be cured?"

That's not asking whether he can be cured, but whether he still wants to live.

Cui Min's lips were pale.

He knew in his heart that Qi Qing sought him instead of Ji Xun to treat Qi Yutai, not because he thought his medical skills were better than Ji Xun's, but because in Qi Qing's eyes, he was easier to manipulate than Ji Xun.

As a child of a noble family, Ji Xun has the support of his family background and will treat Qi Yutai seriously, but he will not lie about Qi Yutai's medical records like himself.

Nor would he help conceal the fact that Qi Yutai had epilepsy.

That fact that the Taishi Mansion most wanted to hide.

He is still alive now only because the Taishi Mansion needs him. If Qi Yutai really falls ill and never regains his consciousness, he will not survive.

When an aristocratic patient gets into trouble, ordinary doctors and workers are buried with him. This has always been the case, even if the hospital envoy is no different.

Cui Min scratched his hair, his usually plain face was full of anxiety, and he was nervous about being at the end of his rope.

It would be great if there were a new remedy, a new remedy for confusion and madness.

It's a pity that he couldn't write it himself, and the disease is difficult to treat. In recent years, no new medical officer in the Medical Officer's Hospital has been able to come up with a new prescription. Even Ji Xun did not have a solution to this problem.

Newcomers who passed the spring exam are not allowed either...

Spring test...

Suddenly, Cui Min's expression changed.

He stood up in a hurry, not knowing what he thought of, turned around and walked out of the door with a lantern, walked quickly through the woods, until he reached the door of the medical record library, unlocked the door and walked in.

There was no one in the medical record library, and fine dust lingered on the tip of his nose along with the scent of old ink. Cui Min walked around the corridor, walked to a wooden cabinet in a few steps, and unlocked the cabinet with a key.

There are piles of volumes neatly stacked in the wooden cabinet.

This is the nine-subject test paper for students in the Spring Examination of the Imperial Medical Bureau over the past years.

Cui Min put the lantern on the ground and leaned over to look for it.

He searched quickly, flipping through the papers quickly. There was only a rustling sound in the night. After a while, the sound suddenly stopped.

Cui Min took out a letter from the thick stack of volumes and held it under the lantern with trembling hands.

The light was dim, so he squinted his eyes and looked at each word one by one in the light of the falling fire. Then, his expression gradually became excited.

"found it……"

The man pursed his lips silently, with rare joy in his eyes.

The scrawled handwriting on the examination paper, the name line with the seal torn off, was illuminated by the dim light, and the shaking blur gradually became clear——

Lu Tong.

…

"what sound?"

In the dormitory, Lu Zhuo looked towards the wooden window.

"It's a rat." Lin Danqing was sitting in front of the window reading a book. Hearing this, he stretched out his hand to close the window. "It's been hot these past two days. There are a lot of rats in the Medical Officer's Hospital. I cleaned them the past two days and dragged them out of the hole in the wall of the hall." There was a big handful of peanuts, half a bag of rice, and half of the walnuts I had eaten were gone.”

"Shameless things," Lin Danqing cursed, "just doing petty theft."

Lu Chen smiled faintly.

"Speaking of which, the lights in the hospital guard's room were still on just now." Lin Danqing glanced outside and said, "It's so late to go back to the hospital. The hospital guard is really working hard."

After the fire in Fengle Building, Cui Min was often absent from the medical officer's hospital. The hospital was too busy with affairs, and even Chang Jin was transferred out of the library. Temporarily reinstate the position.

"I heard that Qi Yutai's illness has not yet recovered. I think it is probably still very serious. Otherwise, why would the court official be like this? It's already so late. I never saw him stay up so late before."

He sighed again: "However, the illness is so serious, I think Court Official Cui will be very busy in the future."

Outside the window, the night is quiet and the wind is quiet. There is only the sparse shadows of the woods, burying the moonlight above.

Lu Tong turned a page of the book and nodded casually.

"Indeed," she said, "he should be very busy."

"My posture is so dark..."-"A Poem for Learning to Show My Children and Nephews"