Chapter 30: Diseases Enter Through the Mouth
Qiu Xuan had never been to the pharmacy in the past few years in the Marquis' Mansion.
This place is located to the west of the old lady's courtyard, and there is an empty yard used for drying medicine.
Lu Dongfeng pointed to the northwest corner of the yard: "The thing is there."
"How did you find out?" he asked as he walked.
Lu Dongfeng huddled behind Qiu Xuan: "The medicine drying over there always smells wrong, so I went over to take a look."
Qiu Xuan sniffed carefully, but there was nothing.
"It's in the corner. Go and see for yourself. I don't dare to look."
As he said that, Lu Dongfeng stepped back.
Before she could run, Qiu Xuan grabbed her collar.
"You can't leave. Come and help me identify what this is. Aren't you a doctor? Why are you so taboo about these things?"
"Before I am a doctor, I am first a human being." Lu Dongfeng explained seriously.
The corner of the wall had been scraped, and there was a thin layer of soil covering it. Qiu Xuan swept it with a broom and revealed something in the pit.
A box and a black jar.
There was a strong smell of medicine in the box. Even though Qiu Xuan couldn't tell what was inside, he still thought it would be better not to touch it.
The jar has no smell.
"You've seen everything, let's go." Lu Dongfeng looked around nervously, and when she turned back, she almost screamed.
"What are you doing opening it!"
Qiu Xuan raised the white cloth on her hand and said, "I didn't touch it."
"Some things can kill you just by smelling them."
Lu Dongfeng took a breath and said, "Fortunately it's not poison."
Qiu Xuan held the jar under the doctor's nose without saying a word.
"Then take a look at what's inside?"
Lu Dongfeng took a half step back and looked again.
"Oh, I was so scared, it turned out to be ashes."
“Ashes?”
Lu Dongfeng picked up a branch from the ground and poked it inside.
"It's human ashes. Look, there's even half a finger bone."
"Can't tell whose it is?"
"I'm a doctor, not a psychic."
Qiuxuan put the jar back in place.
"If we want to know who it is, we have to open it."
"Can I leave now?" Lu Dongfeng begged.
"Doctor Lu, you're welcome to leave, but I can't guarantee you won't run into the old lady's people after you leave."
"Well...it's not like we have to leave. Don't open the box suddenly!"
"It's open."
Qiu Xuan opened the box quickly and decisively.
Inside were two little figures with strips of cloth sewn on their bodies, and nothing else.
"Is this the legendary magic of exorcism?" Lu Dongfeng came closer and examined it curiously. "You know what, it's quite exquisitely done."
Qiu Xuan identified the words on the strip of cloth.
"These are the birth dates of the old lady's husband and eldest son."
Looking down, Qiu Xuan frowned, "Was this ritual performed by Wu Zhuang?"
"Is it the imperial master Wu Zhuang who can control the wind and rain?"
"Except for her, no one else dares to use this name."
Qiuxuan put the box back in place and carefully filled it with soil to bury it and the jar again.
She didn't want to get involved in the past of the Marquis' Mansion, but the relationship between the old lady and the witch was far beyond her imagination.
This made Qiu Xuan wonder what role Nangong Shao, the former Grand Chamberlain, had played in Empress Lu's affair.
"Go back, there's nothing for you to do now." Qiu Xuan instructed Lu Dongfeng, "If you're scared, just stay in the Marquis' Mansion for the next few days and don't go anywhere."
"Wait a minute." Lu Dongfeng held her back.
"I still have some pomelo leaves. Do you want to wash your hands?"
*
The water flows gently, and the spring water brought down from the North Mountain is specially supplied to the emperor's quiet room for meditation.
All eunuchs and palace maids who fetched water had to fast and burn incense, and were not allowed to touch the water source during the entire process.
There was a young eunuch who slipped while carrying a bucket of water and hit his face on the water platform. He was immediately dragged down and beaten with a stick.
It happened yesterday or the day before yesterday.
Wu Zhuang thought about it, but she wasn't sure. She dipped her hands into the spring water, rubbing them gently to wash away any remaining spice residue.
The tiny residue quickly flows away along the water flow, and the spring water becomes free of impurities again.
Wuzhuang has been performing this evil trick since the spring was created.
She did it secretly at first, and every time she succeeded, she would be happy for several days.
Later, he polluted the spring water in front of the eunuchs and palace maids, and they never dared to say anything.
Now, Wu Zhuang shook the water off her hands, and she actually felt a little bored.
She actually did such a boring thing for ten years.
How many years has she been in Central Plains, fifteen years, twenty years?
I can't remember.
Maybe I’m getting too old, Wu Zhuang thought self-deprecatingly, I can’t remember small things, and I can’t remember big things either.
Wu Zhuang thought of the secret letter he received yesterday.
She had completely forgotten all the previous compliments, except for the last sentence: After the task is accomplished, you will be allowed to return home.
Return home.
Wu Zhuang couldn't help laughing out loud.
The wind dried her hands, and her bones began to ache again.
The years have left heavy marks on her body, and she drags her feet forward step by step.
She remembered that the new shaman was still waiting for her outside.
Wu Zhuang was a little annoyed. How many times had this happened?
Every time she changes one, she has to teach it again.
But these shamans seemed to be cursed, no matter how clever or beautiful the names were when they were given.
Within a few years, they quickly become obese or skinny, with their heads filled with stupidity and greed.
"elder sister."
Shaman Zhuang, wearing a black robe and a black mask, bowed respectfully to Wu Zhuang. When the wind blew, the black robe tightly wrapped around his armless right half of the body, forming a strange straight line.
"Um."
Wu Zhuang didn't like Xin Ji Zhuang. She preferred Feng Xu, who was pretty, sweet-talking, timid and not that smart.
This one reminded her of the sixth one, smart and silent, and eventually this silence exploded into a disaster.
"Sister, there's a letter from the west," said Xi Zhuang, "Should we contact that person now?"
"No rush, let's go."
Wu Zhuang handed his hand to Sha Zhuang.
"It's going to rain soon."
*
In the evening, it suddenly started to rain outside. The raindrops fell eagerly along the eaves, landing on the empty medicine rack and on the stove where the charcoal fire flickered.
Lu Dongfeng brought the boiled pomelo leaf water into the pharmacy. Qiu Xuan was opening the medicine cabinets one by one, curiously checking the contents.
"What is this?" Qiu Xuan asked, pointing to a pile of brown rhizomes.
"This is mugwort. Don't touch it before you wash your hands." Lu Dongfeng quickly put down the water and came to close the drawer.
"It's different from what I usually see. Did I buy a low-quality one?" Qiu Xuan wondered.
"What do you know? This is the best product from Liangzhou. The ones you usually use are inferior."
Lu Dongfeng retorted and hurriedly checked the other medicine cabinets that Qiu Xuan had damaged.
"Go wash your hands now, I've adjusted the water temperature."
"I didn't expect that you, who came from the south, know so much about northern medicinal herbs." Qiu Xuan said casually.
"Who said I'm from the south?" Lu Dongfeng turned around in confusion.
"Pick plum blossoms."
"Oh, yes, it's her, it's me." Lu Dongfeng pointed at the basin again, "Hurry up and wash your hands."
"You poisoned the water?"
Lu Dongfeng turned around suddenly and saw Qiu Xuan holding a basin of water and pouring it towards her.
She was so frightened that she dodged quickly, and the knife she had just pulled out of the medicine box fell to the ground before she could hold it firmly.
She quickly bent down to pick it up, but Qiu Xuan pushed her to the ground.
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