Chapter 68

"How could there be such a flaw? Where did those wild dogs come from?" Xing Yuesen said with a stunned look on his face and a frown.

The servants knelt down when they heard this and said hurriedly: "I don't know, Fifth Master Xing, but there are often wild dogs in the mountains outside the back mountain. These wild dogs are very cunning. They probably dug holes in some nook and corner."

Xing Yuesen After hearing this, the warmth and anger on his face subsided a little, and he ordered him to get up and speak, and asked him: "How many people in the nursing home are going to drive away wild dogs?"

One of the young men replied: "In reply to Fifth Master Xing, Wang Huyuan brought Three people went. "

This Wang Huyuan was rented by the Xing family to see the family. He has some skills. Xing Yuesen has seen him. He is tall and muscular, and it is hard for people to forget him.

Xing Yuesen felt relieved knowing that it was him who went up the mountain to drive away the wild dogs.

He turned around and told the truth to his friends beside him, saying: "I'm afraid I won't be able to go to the back mountain to eat. Let's go to the teahouse to drink tea." At the same time, he sent his servants to the teahouse to light the incense burner.

Xu Yi silently cast his gaze on the mountain behind. They were not too close and couldn't hear any movement.

I wonder if these wild dogs can be driven out of Zhuangzi.

Xing Yuesen touched his arm and asked him why he didn't leave.

Xu Yi shook his head and asked: "Is it enough to drive away wild dogs with only four people? Don't need two more people?"

"Brother Yi, you don't have to worry." Xing Yuesen said to him, "Then Wang Huyuan can fight , As long as he is here, there will be no problem."

Zhuangzi's master said so, Xu Yi had to shut up.

By the time they reached the tea room, there was already a boy waiting in the tea room, charcoal was lit in the stove, and smoke was curling from the incense burner above the low couch.

Xu Yi took off his shoes and put on his socks to come up to the tea table and smelled the incense burning in the incense burner.

"This incense is different. It's different from what you used before." Xin Shengyuan sat down and suddenly said to Xing Yuesen.

"Xing Wu, have you changed the incense?"

"No." I happened to get a piece, so I asked the boy to order it."

Xu Yi touched his nose: "..."

It was indeed sold to an acquaintance.

That piece of agarwood was only half a catty, but it was sold for dozens of dollars. Xu Yi now has two and a half pieces of larger agarwood in hand.

This top-quality agarwood is a rare commodity. Xu Yi didn't know that Agent Huang, who helped him last time, only regretted not asking the boy who he was from. After Mr. Xing got the agarwood, he asked him several times, but Mr. Huang couldn't find one that satisfied Mr. Xing.

At this time, Xing Yuesen suddenly asked Xu Yi: "Brother Yi, this agarwood can ward off all evil and calm the mind. My father often uses it, is there anything wrong with it?"

Xu Yi said: "Agarwood is warm in nature and returns to the spleen and stomach. Stomach and kidney meridian, it is not harmful to be used as incense. It can calm the mind, relieve cold in the stomach and condense qi stagnation. Smelling it can nourish the mind and body. However, if it is made into pills and taken, it needs to be avoided. Agarwood is pungent and warm. People with yin deficiency and strong fire, and those with qi deficiency should take it with caution, and when taking the pills, the diet should be light. "[Note 1]

Nowadays, powerful people like to take supplements no matter what, and this is not something that only appeared in the Song Dynasty. .

Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, there has been a silk book "Ten Questions" on health and wellness. People not only like to take supplements, but also like to take pills. In the Wei, Jin and Tang dynasties, the trend of taking supplements became even more popular. In the Song dynasty, there were even more ways to eat health-preserving foods.

Agarwood is not only a spice, but also a health care product.

In addition, people in the Song Dynasty were very popular about eating porridge to maintain health. There are hundreds of kinds of porridge, such as bean porridge, plum porridge, Zhenjun porridge, and Hezhi porridge. Agarwood can nourish the stomach and can be added to the porridge to make health porridge. [Note 2]

This agarwood needs to be ground into juice by adding water, draining away the impurities and leaving only the juice, and then cooking it with rice and tangerine peel, yam, etc. I heard that this way of eating can nourish the stomach and spleen, making people feel energetic after eating.

Xing Yuesen said that after his father heard Xiang Po talk about the magical effects of agarwood, he invited Xiang Po to stay in the house and let Xiang Po cook the health-preserving porridge himself.

Xu Yi frowned when he heard this. "It's three parts of the medicine that are poisonous. Agarwood and tangerine peel are both warm medicines .

Although the medicinal properties are mild, you can't eat too much."

"

As you get older, your stomach is prone to discomfort. Maybe your stomach function is declining, but if you don't control your diet, it will show up if your stomach can't bear it.

Xu Yi hasn't seen anyone, so it's hard to make a conclusion.

Hearing Xing Yuesen's worries, Tao Qinghao was deeply touched. He muttered: "Those porridges don't taste good. I really don't understand why."

The same was true for his grandmother. She often asked doctors to come to the house to check Ping An's pulse and make sure everything was fine. I have to switch to a health-preserving medicinal soup.

Every time Tao Qinghao goes back to his grandmother's house to say hello, he smells the strong smell of medicine, which is not inferior to that of Xu Yi's family.

He once mentioned Xu Yi to his grandmother. Unfortunately, her grandmother did not believe that Xu Yi had such amazing medical skills at such a young age. She only believed in the old doctor who often came to the house.

But let him see, the old doctor's level was simply incomparable to Xu Yi's.

"Alas." He sighed.

Xu Yi glanced at him and teased him: "It's not good to sigh at a young age."

Tao Qinghao shook his head and said: "People have worries, and I have them as a human being." He said something politely and listened to himself. They were so happy that they interrupted the topic and talked about something else.

He chatted with Xu Yi about other interesting things they had encountered in the past few days.

"Xu Yi, have you been to the county school?" Tao Qinghao asked.

Xu Yi looked at him in surprise and nodded. Yesterday he went to see Fang Jiaoyu's son and passed by the county school.

Tao Qinghao said: "In the past few days, the county school has opened lectures, and students from all over the county can attend them. I went with Brother Xing and Xinyao twice to attend, and the words were different. It was always the same, and my father thought it was the same. I'm about to succeed in my studies."

Xu Yi: "..."

The other two people: "..."

Xu Yi poured a cup of tea and tasted it, and said slowly: "You heard this twice, and that's all. Insights?"

Tao Qinghao laughed, he was very self-aware and said: "I am not a scholar after all, but my father still wants to have a son."

He actually envied Xu Yi, who was not bound by his family and could be alone. He was so free and easy, and his behavior of "abandoning literature and medicine" was enough for him to take a high look.

It would be great if he could also learn from Xu Yi and follow "abandoning literature and doing business".

Xu Yi didn't know what he was thinking, otherwise he would say a few words, whether it is studying medicine or doing business, it is not necessarily easier than studying.

"There is a road to the mountain of books and diligence is the path, and there is no limit to the sea of ​​learning and hard work." [Note 3]

Studying is not something that happens overnight. If it were so easy to gain fame, would there still be so many hard-working students in the world?

"Now that you've read it, let's study hard." Xu Yi said.

Tao Qinghao sighed again.

Come on, even Xu Yi said this, and his father will never give up on being the father of the people.

...

They were chatting and drinking tea in the tea room. Xuelian, as the only maid serving today, went to the next room to rest to avoid suspicion.

The maid who brought her here to rest told her that everything in the room was available and asked her to have a good rest.

"Thank you sister for informing me." Xue Lian bowed and said softly.

The maid did not dare to accept her gift. This maid was dressed differently from ordinary servants. She wore a pink silk flower on her head and a pearl and silver pendant. One look at her and she knew she was a maid.

"Sister Xuelian is so polite. As servants, we all follow your husband's arrangements." The maid said, "There is incense in the house, including patchouli and pear. I won't disturb Sister Xuelian's rest. If sister wants to light some incense , feel free to use it, it is always available in Zhuangzi."

Xue Lian thanked her again, then walked into the house and closed the door.

The side room was not big, with a bed, a small table, cabinets, a screen for changing clothes, and a dressing table. There was a red lacquer box on the table. She opened it and saw that it was empty and used to store the removed headdress.

Xuelian took off the silk flowers and hairpin, lifted up her collar to look at her neck, and breathed a sigh of relief when the red spots disappeared.

Dr. Xu is really powerful. No wonder Brother Xin always keeps talking to people every time he meets them.

She took out the prescription and opened it, looking at the handwriting on it, she could only recognize a few characters that were easy to read, but she couldn't recognize the rest.

Even so, she still felt that Doctor Xu's calligraphy... was actually more beautiful than Lang Jun's.

Xuelian frowned, but she didn't know how much money it would cost to get this prescription from a medical clinic.

As the eldest daughter of her husband, she received a monthly salary of six hundred cash, which seemed not low, but she had to be filial to her mother-in-law on weekdays, and she also had to give some dental favors to the girls below her during the holidays. After saving for so many years, I have only saved a few dollars. This time, I am afraid that it will all be included in the medicine money.

Xuelian was worried about the money for medicine, but the waiter on the other side caused a commotion.

Wang Huyuan brought a wild dog to revive Xing Yuesen.

The wild dog was beaten to death with sticks, and it was bloody and dripping with blood.

In the end, Wang Huyuan didn't think there was anything wrong with it at all, so he showed it to Xing Yuesen carelessly.

Xing Yuesen and Xu Yi were relatively calm and not frightened.

But Xin Shengyuan was different. When he turned his head, he saw the wild dog's big black eyes that were staring at death, and his vision turned black with fear.

"Why did you just bring it over?" Tao Qinghao immediately saw something was wrong with his friend, stood up to block Xin Shengyuan's sight, and said angrily in displeasure.

Wang Huyuan said: "This wild dog is dead, I will show it to the gentlemen."

There are many wild dogs in the mountains, but in the eastern suburbs so close to the county seat, it is still rare to see groups of wild dogs. dog.

There were three wild dogs that came into Zhuangzi this time to steal poultry. The one they killed was not that big. The other two were too cunning and ran away with their tails between their legs.

Tao Qinghao looked at him in astonishment. Is this man incapable of listening to others?

"The wild dog you brought makes people look scared. Even if you want to show it to us, why don't you bring it to us without asking for permission first?"

Wang Huyuan said honestly: "I didn't expect this."

Tao Qinghao was so angry that he didn't know . What can I say? Turn your head and look at Xin Shengyuan.

Xin Shengyuan was just frightened by the sudden appearance. When he came to his senses, he shook his head and said he was fine.

But I don’t want to know about the curious things that I would get involved in before. They sat far away with their backs facing each other, no longer looking at Wang Huyuan who had blood stains on his body.

"Fifth Master Yue, do you want the skin of this wild dog?" Wang Huyuan couldn't tell that someone in the waiter looked ugly, so he picked up the wild dog in his hand and asked, "Peel and dry the skin of this wild dog." It can only be sold for a few hundred coins."

Xing Yuesen felt a headache and pinched his eyebrows: "Take it away, you can decide what to do with it."

"Thank you, Fifth Master." Wang Huyuan smiled naively, carrying it. The wild dog carcass is about to leave.

Xu Yi stood up and said: "Your arm is injured."

When Wang Huyuan heard someone calling him, he stopped and saw that it was the person who had not spoken just now.

He said: "It's okay, it's just a little skin injury. It'll be fine in a few days."

"Can you let me take a look?" Xu Yi saw that half of the wound on his arm was covered by his sleeve, and only half of it was exposed. He couldn't see the specific details. How is the injury?

The wild dog that was killed was a type of gray wolf. It had messy fur, long canine teeth, and a ferocious face. As long as it is a canine, its teeth that eat raw meat will contain bacteria to some extent. If a person is bitten by it, the wound will easily become infected.

Wang Huyuan saw that he wanted to take a look, so he rolled up the sleeve of the injured arm to let Xu Yi take a look.

"This wild dog didn't hurt me at all. I threw it away as soon as it bit me. It was only scratched by its claws on the back. I just went back and grabbed some herbs and applied it on it." Wang Huyuan looked at this man carefully. He couldn't help but speak.

Xu Yi did not answer him in a hurry.

It is recorded in the "Huangdi Neijing" that "dogs with madness will foam at the mouth and should not be approached." [Note 4] Although this wild dog is not crazy, there is no guarantee whether there is rabies hidden in its body.

There is currently no vaccine to prevent rabies, but some first aid measures should still be taken.

Xu Yi felt that compared to rabies, he was more concerned about the infection and fever if the wound was not disinfected.

In ancient times, the mortality rate of infections and fevers was so high, and Wang Huyuan had an indifferent attitude. If something really went wrong, it would be too late to regret it.

"What herbs did you use to treat your wounds?" Xu Yi asked him when he heard that he knew how to use herbs.

Wang Huyuan: "There is a herb called tiger palm grass. You can chew it and apply it on the wound. It can cure the wound. I used it to heal my injuries before."

Xu Yi raised his eyebrows.

Tiger Palm Grass is also known as Jianfengqing, Silky Chicken, etc. It is slightly poisonous and can cure scrofula, tuberculosis, malaria, rheumatic pain, etc. It can indeed treat bites, but it is mostly used to decoct and take it internally.

Xu Yi asked him how he knew about this tiger palm grass.

Wang Huyuan explained: "Once I was bitten by a snake in the mountains. They say that wherever there are snakes, there is an antidote. I just grabbed a handful of herbs, chewed them and applied them to the wound. Unexpectedly, it was cured..."

Later, he took the herbal medicine to the medical clinic and found out the name of the herbal medicine. He thought it was really useful, and he kept using it to deal with injuries later.

Xu Yi: "..." is a very wild usage.

Like poisonous herbs, if you are not careful when using them, you can be poisoned. It can cause dizziness and nausea in mild cases, and can induce various symptoms in severe cases.

Wang Huyuan can keep chewing it and it's fine. He's still alive.

Xu Yi said: "I will prescribe you a prescription. From now on, you should not just use tiger palm grass. It would be more appropriate to use my prescription to clean the wound first and then apply the medicine."

Wang Huyuan frowned: "Yes. Is it so troublesome?"

Before he finished speaking, there was a cold snort next to him.

"You do whatever he asks you to do. Why are you talking so much nonsense?" Xin Shengyuan felt angry in his heart. When he heard Wang Huyuan's words, he suddenly became even angrier.

Wang Huyuan looked up and was stared back by Tao Qinghao who was standing in front of him.

He was confused and moved towards Xing Yuesen.

He asked in a low voice: "Yue Wuye, do you think I should listen to him?"

Xing Yuesen: "..."

How come he didn't know before that Wang Huyuan was so stupid? For a while, he couldn't do anything about Wang Huyuan. If he scolded him, he had just done a good job in driving away the wild dog. If he didn't scold him, it would appear that he, the master, was not good at disciplining his servants.

When he was in a dilemma, Xu Yi smiled and said, "You should listen to me. I am a doctor and I will not harm you."

"Are you a doctor?!" Wang Huyuan was surprised. He opened his mouth and said

in disbelief, "I have never seen a doctor of your age."

Xu Yi: "Now I have."

Here."

He was afraid that if he didn't speak, Wang Huyuan would say more disturbing things.

Sure enough, after hearing that it was Xing Yuesen who provided the money, Wang Huyuan did not object anymore and smiled and said thank you, doctor.

The others didn't say anything. Every time they saw Xu Yi treating people's illnesses and injuries, they felt it was magical.

Xu Yi wanted to get paper and pen to write down the prescription, and Xing Yuesen immediately called the boy to get it ready.

Soon, the boy came over with pen, ink, paper and inkstone.

Xu Yi sat on a stool, watched them gather around curiously, and said: "If a dog bites a mild case, you can use mugwort leaves, coptis, dandelion and other medicines. Crush it and apply it on the wound. It can reduce inflammation and detoxify, and prevent the wound from becoming red and pus-producing." . I will prescribe another honeysuckle decoction and take it internally, the effect will be faster."

He said while writing down the prescription.

There happened to be a recipe for honeysuckle decoction in the medicine box he brought over today. Just to apply the medicine on the wound, it is better to use freshly picked medicine.

Xin Shengyuan and others became interested when they heard that Xu Yi was going to the back mountain to see if there were any medicinal materials that could be collected.

"Xu Yi, I want to go with you." He hasn't dug out any medicinal materials yet.

Xin Shengyuan wanted to go, so Tao Qinghao naturally wanted to follow him and said, "Xu Yi, you used to go up the mountain to dig for herbs. We have never seen you. Why don't you let us follow you this time."

Xu Yi said, " "Okay" and asked them to change out of the satin long-sleeved robes they were wearing.

When they went to change clothes, Xu Yi simply cleaned Wang Huyuan's wound and bandaged it.

Not long after, the group of people changed their gear, all wearing tight-fitting short brown clothes, and hummingly followed Xu Yi to the back mountain.

Wang Huyuan did not dare to let a group of young men go to the back mountain alone, so he insisted on following them.

The back mountain of Zhuangzi is not really a mountain, but a slope more than ten meters high. The way up the mountain is made of bluestone steps.

They walked through the steps to the top of the hillside. When they looked down, they could see the pavilion where they had a lunch stove and the creek next to it.

Wang Huyuan said: "A few dozen steps further, there is the place where I and others killed the wild dog."

"So close?" Xu Yi was surprised.

In other words, when they were making fire, the wild dogs that sneaked in were watching them from dozens of meters away.

If there weren't wild dogs that stole poultry, they might have been attacked by these wild dogs when they went up the back mountain.

"Yes, these wild dogs are wild and untamed, and many crops around them have been trampled and destroyed." Wang Huyuan said.

Xu Yi asked him: "Have you found the entrance of the hole where the wild dogs came in?"

Wang Huyuan said: "Two nurses were sent to check."

Xu Yi came up with an idea: "You can follow the traces of their entry and find them. No need to search blindly."

Wang Huyuan's tiger body was shocked, "What a great idea!"

The others said: "..."

They were so shocked by the wild dog's corpse that they forgot about it.

However, this time they came to dig for herbs.

Xu Yi described to them the shape of the medicinal materials to be dug. Among them, mugwort leaves and coptis leaves are similar, with the former being more slender and the latter more like coriander leaves.

If you distinguish carefully, you will feel that there is a big difference between the two.

Not long after, Xu Yi saw a wormwood plant.

It was just a little small and the leaves were very tender. Xu Yi thought about it and didn't pick it.

They went to the nearby fruit forest. Only then did Xing Yuesen and the others understand why Xu Yi wanted them to change clothes.

If he were to wear a satin robe, he would be cut and stained if nothing else happened.

Although I don’t feel sorry for my clothes, I can avoid it if I can. Otherwise, if I go back, I might be scolded by the elders in the family.

After they walked for a while and were approaching the outskirts of Zhuangzi, Xu Yi found two Coptis chinensis plants in the corner.

Next to him, Xin Shengyuan shouted happily: "Xu Yi, look, is this the dandelion you mentioned?"

Xu Yi walked over and said, "This is chicory."

"Not a dandelion?" Xin Shengyuan was a little disappointed. He said in confusion, "But it also has yellow flowers, and the leaves are very similar to what you described."

Xu Yi pointed to its stem and showed him: "Dandelions grow on a single branch, but look at this chicory plant There are many branches, that’s the difference.”

He then motioned to Xin Shengyuan to look at the flowers that had grown. When he opened them, he found that the pompon inside was made of small fluff, which was another difference from a dandelion.

After this analysis, the difference between the two becomes clear.

Xing Yuesen sighed: "There are thousands of medicinal materials, and there are many similarities. It is quite difficult to distinguish them so clearly."

"It's so tiring." Tao Qinghao squeezed his sore thighs, and it took less than half an hour for them to come up. , he was so tired.

Fortunately, they found all the medicinal materials they wanted to find next. They planned to take a shortcut while it was still dark.

Wang Huyuan led the way, and Xu Yi was behind. As they were walking, Xu Yi suddenly shouted: "Look."

The group stopped and looked at the place Xu Yi pointed at, and saw the outer wall there. There is a hidden hole in the weeds.

"!!!"

They were surprised. Did this wild dog come in from here?

But there were no traces around. If Xu Yi hadn't noticed it carefully while walking, it would have been easy to miss it.

"It seems that this wild dog has been here more than once." Xing Yuesen's face darkened.

Zhuangzi rarely had people coming to him, so it was normal for the servants guarding Zhuangzi to be lazy, but if something went wrong, it wouldn't be something that could be resolved with just a few words of scolding.

Xing Yuesen said nothing the rest of the way. When he returned to the tea room, he asked Wang Huyuan to take medicine to treat the wound, and then asked the boy to call the housekeeper in charge of Zhuangzi to come over and see him.

When the master wants to question his servants, outsiders such as Xu Yi and Xin Shengyuan are not suitable to stay in the tea room.

Xing Yuesen arranged for a boy to receive them and lead them to change clothes and rest.

Xu Yi didn't go to rest, he went to Wang Huyuan's room.

Wang Huyuan's house is in the courtyard of the servants and is a separate small courtyard. There is a main room after entering, and the sleeping cabin inside is separated by a curtain.

The furnishings in the room were simple, with rough wooden tables and benches, a machete hanging on the wall, a few earthen jars in the corner, and no other objects.

After Wang Huyuan came in, he said to Xu Yi: "Doctor Xu, please sit down, I will deal with the wild dogs first."

Xu Yi watched him take the knife and walked out.

There was silence for a moment.

He came here originally to treat Wang Huyuan's wounds, but in the end the man left him alone in the room.

Xu Yi pinched his eyebrows and asked aloud: "Were you a hunter before?"

Wang Huyuan was surprised: "How do you know?"

"You can see it."

Whether it was the state when going up the mountain or the method of dealing with wild dogs, Very similar to Zhang Tiegou.

Wang Huyuan admitted: "I used to hunt a lot, but since I came to Zhuangzi, I haven't done hunting anymore."

After saying that, he asked a little worriedly: "You won't go to Yue Wuye to report me, will you? "I haven't hunted since I came to Zhuangzi!"

Xu Yi: "...No."