The vernal equinox is approaching, and it is still cold outside the pass, and a light snow suddenly falls on the March day, and the whole earth is covered with a thin silver veil. Night fell, and there was silence everywhere. A house in the south of Jieshi Town is brightly lit, and the light snow falling in the yard is not cleared, leaving chaotic footprints. A man in a white cloth robe walked back and forth in the room, and a young man sat behind him, his eyes wandering back and forth with the man's figure, and the young man suddenly patted the chair and said, "Dad, don't dangle it, my head is almost dizzy." The middle-aged man said slowly: "Xiao Shi, my father is anxious, I have been treating that little girl in the town for three days, not only has there been no improvement, but it is getting worse and worse!"

This middle-aged man and boy are Li Wenshan's father and son, who have been in Tianbao for 11 years at this time, and Li Shi is also 18 years old. I saw him leaning his cheeks and thinking for a while, "Dad, have you seen this disease before?"

"If you see it, you don't worry, it seems that it is just a headache and fever, but taking medicine is the same as not taking medicine. Li Wenshan stopped suddenly, raised his head and closed his eyes slightly, "Dad has a bad premonition. ”

"Bang, bang, bang......" A sharp knock on the door interrupted Li Wenshan's thoughts, and Li Shi stood up from his chair and said, "I'll open the door." After saying that, he ran out of the house, and the door opened, only to see a thin old man, dressed in black, followed by several officials and a sedan chair. The old man said to Li Shi: "Is Dr. Li at home?" In a hurried tone, Li Shi said, "Yes, please come in." ”

The old man entered the house and hugged his fist at Li Wenshan and said, "Doctor Li, do you still recognize Lao Xuan?" Li Wenshan took a closer look and suddenly said: "Liu Xiancheng!

"No need, Lao Qian came here only because Mr. An's wife suddenly fell ill and bothered Dr. Li for a trip. ”

This person is Liu Xiancheng, Chen Zhaoling was recuperating from his injuries at Li Wenshan's house for more than three months, and then he didn't say goodbye, and he had seen him several times. Li Wenshan secretly thought that Liu Xiancheng would visit late at night, it seemed that Mrs. Na'an was not lightly ill, so she didn't dare to slack off, so she hurriedly cleaned up, and instructed Li Shi to go with Liu Xiancheng after a few words.

Li Wenshan often goes to the clinic at night, and Li Shi is also used to being at home alone. Outside the door, the breeze was gusting, the cold was bone-chilling, and the light snow was still drifting. Li Shi closed the door, added some charcoal to the stove in the house, and moved the chair to the stove and sat down to keep warm. After a while, sit cross-legged on a chair, palm down, back straight, chest straight, gently take two breaths, and start to breathe. This is exactly what Chen Zhaoling taught him to practice qi. After Li Shi learned, because he had to follow Gu Daihui to learn poetry during the day, he had no time to practice, so he only practiced at night. Li Shi couldn't stop swallowing in his mouth, the palms of his hands, the soles of his feet, and his abdomen contracted with him, only to feel that the three places slowly became warmer, and the time for exhaling and inhaling became longer and longer. Later, there were sweat stains oozing from his body, and then he exhaled a long breath, only to feel that his whole body was extremely comfortable.

Chen Zhaoling's learning is really the authentic martial arts, Li Shi's understanding is quite high, in recent years, he has practiced night and night, and his internal strength has become small but he doesn't know it, he only feels that every time he practices, he can't say how comfortable he is, and when he arrives, he is no longer happy.

Li Shi stayed by the fire for a while, and the sleepiness became stronger, so he went back to the house and went to bed. I just lay down, and suddenly remembered something, it turned out that the light was still on outside. got up to the table, held on to the oil lamp, and just wanted to blow it out, when suddenly something flashed, rubbed his eyes, looked down, and saw that there was a silver needle on the table, and secretly thought: "Maybe Dad just packed up the medicine box and dropped it on the table." And he twisted it.

Li Shi returned to the back room, took a wooden box from the windowsill, opened it and took out a cloth needle bag, and inserted the silver needle into it. Just about to close the wooden box, but saw a cloth bag at the bottom of the box, Li Shi thought it was a cotton cloth spread at the bottom of the box, but the tentacles were stiff, so he took it out from the bottom of the box, and it seemed that there were books wrapped in it in his hand, and when he opened it, he saw that it was four thick medical books. Take out a book that I saw written "Elbow Quenching Sutra", flipping through the two pages are some acupuncture prescriptions and other descriptions, Li Shi was interested, and looked at the remaining three books were "Ophthalmology", "Materia Medica" and an anonymous book, the first page of the anonymous book only has a line of small block in the lower left corner: Shaolin Temple Tongguang Gift. Li Shideng wondered: "Shaolin Temple Tongguang? Could it be the great monk of Shaolin Temple." The world says that the world's martial arts come out of Shaolin, isn't this book a medical book, but how can it be put here?" Li Shi was not interested in medical Taoism, and after looking at it for a while, his eyelids became heavier, so he put the book in the box and went back to bed to rest.

On the second day, Li Shi woke up early, and Li Wenshan was sitting on a chair in the outhouse, his eyes were red, and his face was haggard. Li Shi asked, "When did Dad come back, why don't you sleep?"

"Not sleepy. ”

"Then I'll take a break! I'll cook. ”

"Not hungry. ”

Li Wenshan was stunned, Li Shi wondered what had happened, and asked, "Did you go to the town last night and cure Mrs. An Qingxu?"

"It's not cured, and the symptoms are the same as the little girl I saw two days ago. ”

"Are they a disease?"

"The two have very different identities, and they are not infecting each other, but they are afraid of others. Li Shi suddenly thought of something and said in a panic: "Dad, will you also be infected?"

"Daddy's perennial exposure to the patient's herbs is unlikely. ”

"It's better to be careful. Li Shichang sighed.

"This disease is not ordinary, but I am afraid that Lu County will suffer a catastrophe. ”

"What havoc?"

"Plague!"

Although Li Shi is eighteen, he has never been exposed to the plague, and he does not know the horror of the plague, but he has heard from the elderly villagers and said, "Does the county order know that it is a plague?"

"I said, but because I was not sure, I did not tell the people. While the two were talking, Zhang Wentai and Gu Daihui also came from home. Seeing that Li Wenshan's complexion was not good, Zhang Wentai asked, "Is Uncle Li sick?"

"It's okay, I went to the city last night, An Qingxu's wife was sick and didn't sleep well. ”

"I guess I didn't sleep at all. Li Shi said on the side.

Li Wenshan sighed: "I'm going to live in Anfu for two days, there may be a plague in the town in the near future, the three of you stay at home, don't go out." Gu Daihui was startled when she heard this: "Plague, isn't it dangerous for you to go to the city?"

"I'm a doctor, I have to go. In these two days, we have to find a cure, otherwise once it spreads, I don't know how many people will die. ”

The four of them were a little worried about Li Wenshan's going to Anfu, and Li Shiyan said: "Then An Qingxu is not a good person, why take the risk to treat his wife." Li Wenshan was slightly angry: "It is my duty to practice medicine and cure diseases, not to mention that An Qingxu's evil has nothing to do with others." Later, it turned into a loud rebuke, scolding him for being unkind. Li Shi rarely saw his father angry and didn't dare to persuade him again. Li Wenshan cleaned up and went into the city without eating.

There were three people left in the family, Gu Daihui's mother and son and Li Shi, all of whom were worried, Gu Daihui didn't have the heart to teach Li Shi anymore, and Zhang Wentai walked around the house.

Besides, it was noon when Li Wenshan arrived at De'an Mansion, and he saw An Qingxu's eyes confused and without brilliance, but he was afraid that he had not slept all night, and when he saw Li Wenshan waving his hand and sitting down, he sighed and said: "Madame is seriously ill, and the plague will be gone, hey! Doctor Li has a good plan?"

An Qingxu's words were not loud and seemed to be stable, but Li Wenshan had already heard the depression and nervousness in his heart, and said: "The grass people thought that the adults should send people to investigate everywhere to see if the other doctors in the city had the same condition as their wife. All those with the same symptoms will be escorted back to the county government and temporarily separated. And report to the court as soon as possible, which is good for both the adults and the people. An Qingxu shook his head: "Everything else is fine, but it's too early to report to the imperial court." ”

"Why?"

"Now that the plague has not occurred, so I will write to the imperial court, and the imperial court may immediately impose martial law on Lu County, if there is no plague in the end, let alone the truth of others, my father will not easily spare this official!"

"My lord, Lu County seems to be calm now, but in fact, it is a bad heart, the plague is about to break out, and it cannot be controlled in time, and Lu County may be full of grief and devastation after a month!"

"This matter can be discussed later, there is no need to worry!"

Li Wenshan was a little angry, and he also understood that his words did not carry much weight, and the way of officialdom was secretive, but the matter was very important, and he couldn't worry too much, so he said suddenly: "As a doctor, Li Wenshan understands the priorities most now. Which is more important than the honor and disgrace of Lord An and the people of the whole city? If the Lord insists on going his own way, he will be a sinner in Lu County for the ages. An Qingxu was furious, "snapped" and slapped his palm on the table, and said: "Li Wenshan, Lao Tzu can do whatever he wants, when will it be your turn to point fingers, if you cure your wife's illness, you can just cure it, and even your little Xiucai will be buried together!" At that time, Li Shi was already a little Xiucai in Jieshi Town, but it was a pity that Liaodong could not be promoted, and he was still a Xiucai for a few years.

Li Wenshan held his breath, but he had no choice but to find a cure first, An Qingxu couldn't help but say, and ordered Li Wenshan to visit his wife first. Mrs. An lived in the side room, and when the two walked into the house, they saw a rich middle-aged woman lying on the bed, with a dull complexion and a sickly face. There was a little maid sitting next to her, An Qingxu said: "Xiaocui, has Madame eaten?" The little cui maid stood up and said, "I didn't eat much, and now I am asleep." Li Wenshan walked to the edge of the bed and sat down to check his pulse, and after a while, he uncovered his eyelids and mouth. But in any case, Mrs. An never woke up, and An Qingxu was faintly uneasy: "Mrs. Fei is seriously ill, how can she not react." He couldn't help but exclaim, "Madam, ma'am." Li Wenshan made a gesture to silence An Qingxu. In the middle of the sound, Li Wenshan walked out with a wink at An Qingxu, and when he went outside the house, An Qingxu asked urgently: "How is Madame's illness now? Why does it seem that she has no consciousness at all?" Li Wenshan thought secretly: "Although An Qingxu is not a good person, he is very concerned about his wife, and he still has some conscience. said: "It's okay, last night the grass people gave Xiaocui a dose of medicine, and asked Mrs. to take it together when she was eating, but she could sleep peacefully, and Mrs. is now just right in medicine, so she hasn't woken up." An Qingxu breathed a sigh of relief, and was talking about an old man coming in outside, with a gray robe and long sleeves, it was that Liu Xiancheng, who entered the door and said, "Lord An, something is wrong." An Qingxu said: "Say it quickly!" Liu Xiancheng said: "The officials who went to the villages have returned, and it is reported that there are now 32 people with fever and rash in the county, 21 people in the county seat, and 11 people in the countryside.