Chapter 964 From Suzhou to Guazhou to Shazhou
In the dim candlelight, everyone stared at Li San Niang's face.
Fortunately, Li Sanniang had seen many big scenes, so she was not affected by her subordinates' accuracy in taking pulses.
After touching both wrists, Li San Niang asked all the men present to turn their backs. She then touched Su Wan Hui's body from her chest down to her lower abdomen, asking Su Wan Hui if she felt any pain or soreness.
Finally, she carefully inquired about Su Wanhui's symptoms when she fell ill in Yizhou. After listening to Su Wanhui's account, and combining it with the old woman's words and the prescription written by the doctor who had treated Su Wanhui in the past, Li San Niang asked Qiu Xiang to prepare paper and ink to write a prescription for Su Wanhui.
"Don't worry, the prescriptions they gave are all appropriate."
The problem hasn't improved, largely due to Illinois' climate.
Don't you yourself feel that the closer you get to Chang'an, the better the breathing becomes?
Su Wanhui was stunned for a moment. She had indeed felt this way before, but this illness would cause an unstoppable cough, especially at night, when the weather was cloudy or rainy. It felt as if there were feathers stuck in her throat, and the itching was unbearable.
Li San Niang took out a porcelain bottle from her medical kit. "These throat lozenges, you should hold them in your mouth after dinner every night. By the time it's almost time to sleep, the pills will have dissolved completely. This should relieve your persistent cough at night."
But ultimately it comes down to the climate. Once you return to Chang'an, your symptoms should improve significantly.
Here, you can take this.
Li San Niang handed over the prescription with the ink dried, saying, "There are a few of the ingredients that you might not be able to gather on your journey, but you can definitely find them in pharmacies in Chang'an."
If you can't gather enough medicine on the way, use these throat lozenges first. You can get more medicine when you return to Chang'an.”
After saying this, Li San Niang picked up her pen and wrote two lines on a piece of paper.
"There is a doctor surnamed Sun in the acupuncture department of the Imperial Medical Academy who is quite skilled in treating this type of illness."
I am on official business and I don't know when I will be able to return to Chang'an.
"Take this note. If you return to Chang'an and the medicine doesn't completely cure you, go to the Imperial Medical Bureau and find Dr. Sun to treat you with acupuncture."
"Third Sister, thank you so much, I..."
Li San Niang waved her hand and patted Su Wan Hui's hand: "It would be strange for us to thank each other. It is fate that we met here."
Don't thank me. Let's have tea together again next year when I return to Chang'an!
In the latter half of the night, after taking throat lozenges and receiving much comfort from Li San Niang, Su Wan Hui, though not completely free of coughing, was still much better than when she couldn't sleep at night in the past.
In the early morning, Shao Yang, who had slept through the night, finally learned from Lao Shi what had happened while he was asleep the previous night.
At the entrance of the dilapidated temple, Li Sanniang and her three companions bowed to Su Wanhui, who had only brought a few servants with her, mounted their horses, and set off again on the official road towards Suzhou.
“Madam, this rain is a good thing. If it weren’t for this rain, how would we have met Doctor Li here?”
If we can't find Dr. Li, even if we return to Chang'an, we won't be able to find her. How can we know that Dr. Sun is skilled in this disease?
Doctor Li is a renowned and skilled physician in Chang'an. If he says that the lady is alright, then she must be alright!
"Let me tell you, Madam shouldn't have come to this place with the Lord in the first place..."
Looking at the road ahead where no one could be seen, Su Wanhui wasn't thinking about her illness. Instead, she was thinking, "Who would have thought this would happen?"
That ordinary young woman from back then is now a powerful female official with influence in the imperial court.
Meeting Su Wanhui was just a small episode on Li San Niang's journey west. After they rode quickly to Suzhou, they went straight to Guazhou (present-day Guazhou County, Gansu Province) without stopping.
The journey should have taken four or five days, but it took the four of them a full seven days to reach Guazhou.
Why did it take two extra days to get there?
Firstly, after it rains, even the official roads become muddy, which will inevitably affect the speed of galloping horses.
Secondly, some places are deserts and Gobi plains, where not only are there strong winds and sandstorms, but finding water also requires taking a long detour.
As a result, they were inevitably delayed on the way, which is why it took them two extra days to reach Guazhou.
Entering Guazhou means arriving at the doorstep of the small kingdoms of the Western Regions. Further west, you'll find that there are more people from the Western Regions than Han Chinese.
For their safety on the journey ahead, Li Sanniang and her companions stayed an extra day at the post station in Guazhou.
The main purpose was to purchase supplies, and also because of the more than half a month of travel. Qiu Xiang and Lao Shi were fine, but Li San Niang and Shao Yang were more or less tired.
Lao Shi went out to buy dried meat, cakes, and salt. Inside the post station, Qiu Xiang was applying medicine to Li San Niang's inner thigh.
After gritting her teeth and enduring the pain, Li Sanniang reached out and wiped the sweat from her forehead. She smiled through her suffering and said to Qiu Xiang, "When I return to Chang'an, I can take Luzhu'er to ride horses in the countryside!"
Along the way, I felt like I was even a better rider than my older brother.
When Li San Niang praised her, Qiu Xiang said "good" but her face showed a teasing expression.
How could Li San Niang possibly ride a horse better than Li Da Xiong?
Brother Li is a Jinwu Guard who can wear heavy armor and wield a spear while galloping and charging at high speed on horseback!
Li San Niang was exhausted just from riding alone on horseback.
The four men traveled from Guazhou to Shazhou (present-day Dunhuang area, Gansu). Along the way, they changed horses but not riders at official post stations and never stopped during the day. It still took them three days to reach the territory of Shazhou.
Upon entering Shazhou, you can see Buddhist statues everywhere, and the world-famous Mogao Caves are located here.
Li San Niang naturally had no religious beliefs, but the Mogao Caves are not only a place for Buddhists to practice and worship, but also artistic treasures for people to appreciate, including Buddhist statues and murals.
Of course, Li San Niang didn't have time to be a scholar or poet to appreciate these things; she was in a hurry to cross the Jade Gate Pass and head to her next stop, Yizhou (now Hami region of Xinjiang).
Besides Yumen Pass, there is another pass to the south called Yang Pass, which is the gateway to the southern route of the Silk Road. Both passes are frequented by numerous caravans.
So, carrying official documents, they took the fast track and passed through Yumen Pass. Finally, Brother Shaoyang saw the caravans of camels.
At first glance, there must have been at least a hundred camels queuing to enter the country. Even from this distance, the smell of the large animals still wafted over on the wind.
"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey," Senior Brother Shaoyang spat out two mouthfuls of sand that had been blown into his mouth by the wind. "The wind here is really strong. No wonder everyone is wearing scarves and hoods."
Li San Niang didn't have time to respond to her senior brother Shao Yang's words. She was staring at a person in the foreign merchant caravan who was also queuing to enter the pass. No matter how she looked at him, she felt that something was wrong with that person!
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