Congratulations xx on obtaining a finely crafted bracelet.
In the clinic, there were four cases of vomiting and diarrhea in total. Three of them all came from Chunan Prefecture, while the other one only met them on the eve of arriving in the capital and entered the city together, so he was infected. However, the illness came fiercely. The young man who had already collapsed on the ground had been placed in a side room away from the crowd. Yu Jinnian ordered someone to force two bowls of sugar-salt water into him, then used monkshood to give urgent moxibustion on his Guanyuan acupoint. After the man slightly recovered, he was made to drink Danggui Sini Shengjiang Decoction again.
In recent days, in order to deal with the endless stream of patients, the medical hall hired a few helpers who understood a bit of medical theory, only to handle some simple injuries. Among them was an old man who used to make a living by growing medicinal herbs. Because his own herb garden had been forcibly taken by local bullies, and the old man had no wife or children, it was hard for him to make a living. By chance, he encountered Sanyu Pavilion recruiting staff, so Yu Jinnian brought him back.
The old man considered himself a barefoot doctor, well-informed and experienced. When he took one look at the young man’s symptoms and then noticed that the others who shared the same illness all had a fierce onset and that they all came from Chunan Prefecture—even if one of them was not from Chunan Prefecture, he also had very close dealings with these people from Chunan Prefecture. After a little bit of thinking, he was so frightened that his face turned pale. Yu Jinnian made the young man drink three bowls of medicinal soup, then set the empty bowls aside and walked out of the room. The old man immediately stepped back several paces, covering his nose to avoid him.
Yu Jinnian turned his head and glanced at him. His expression did not look good either.
The old man looked around and trembled like a sieve, then said, “Master, th-this was a great plague! We couldn’t stay here anymore!”
As soon as he said this, the other disaster victims who had been watching the commotion in the courtyard all became alarmed. When they heard it was a great plague, everyone started whispering to each other, growing agitated, making noise, scuffling around, and blaming each other for coming to this clinic. Some of the timid ones had already tried to run outside. Yu Jinnian opened his mouth, wanting to speak, but his tongue had not yet straightened before he was repeatedly interrupted by the crowd of disaster victims. After learning it was a great plague, they all panicked and wore terrified expressions, pushing and cursing at each other, spitting everywhere.
Seeing that everyone was in chaos and fled in all directions, which became uncontrollable, Yu Jinnian’s brow furrowed. He shouted coldly, “Let’s see who dares to move again—lock them all up together! Shi Xing, seal the door!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the front door slammed shut with a heavy clang. Two tall and strong guards holding swords stood on each side of the entrance. The medical hall instantly quieted down, and the crowd turned around, wide-eyed, staring at Yu Jinnian.
Yu Jinnian said, “All right? Not arguing? Not making trouble?”
After a moment of silence, someone suddenly shouted, “You quack! What are you doing? Do you want to kill us all to cover this up? Hurry up and let us all out!” His voice was quite loud, echoing clearly among the silent crowd, making it stand out.
Yu Jinnian followed the sound, looking past several rows of heads, and finally saw the man who spoke in the crowd. That man had no bandages anywhere on his body, though he looked a bit gaunt. But since he was still able to shout with such energy, he probably had no major issues.
Once someone raised his voice, naturally, there were others who dared follow suit. Before long, the clinic was filled with various voices, calling Yu Jinnian a quack, accusing him of seeking wealth at the cost of lives, killing to silence people—one after another, a cacophony of noise.
Yu Jinnian leaned against a doorpost, folded his arms, and listened to their insults for a while. He felt a cold sneer inside. He already had a lot on his mind, and at that moment, continuing to care for these disaster victims was all thanks to his conscience. Otherwise, he would have run away faster than any of them. After a while, seeing that they kept repeating the same old stale nonsense, he couldn’t listen anymore. He let out a heavy breath and said, “Have you cursed enough?”
He lifted his eyes and scanned around, then straightened up. “If you have cursed enough and you still want to live, then all of you keep quiet.”
A few people first shut their mouths, and soon most of the hall fell silent. After all, they were like turtles in a jar. It was fine to vent with a few curses, but they still wanted to live.
Yu Jinnian washed his hands clean, told a young servant to bring him a mask, then turned and sat behind the medical desk, tapping his knuckles on it. “If you don’t want to die, keep your mouth shut and line up. I’ll see you one by one. No matter what I ask, you must answer truthfully. Anyone who conceals anything will be treated as having the same illness and quarantined. After the examination, you will still need to stay in the medical hall for seven days. If there is nothing wrong after seven days, we will let you go. During this period, all your food and drink will be provided free of charge by Sanyu Pavilion.”
He gave a signal, and everyone present was then given a mask and was taught how to wear it.
Those who were not afraid to speak went over for Yu Jinnian to examine. Those who felt resentful and thought they were not sick stayed aside. After examining each person, Yu Jinnian would wash his hands again. The water had been boiled and cooled, and he used soapberry and soap beads to clean his hands. No matter how many people there were, he did so every time. After checking people for about half an hour, he saw that a large number of people had been divided into several groups and placed in different rooms, each receiving new clothes. The remaining stubborn victims started to waver and moved toward the line one after another.
When he finally finished, it was already daylight. There were still three or four obstinate individuals crouching in the corner. Yu Jinnian’s hands had been washed almost raw, and the tips of his fingers were rubbed red. Shi Xing brought a new basin of water, and when he saw this, he felt distressed and said, “Young Master, please don’t keep washing your hands. If our lord sees this, he’s going to scold me again!”
Yu Jinnian only rested in the flower hall for about half an hour, which essentially meant he had not shut his eyes the entire night. Even if he felt somewhat exhausted at this moment, his nerves were tense due to current affairs, leaving him with no trace of sleepiness. He washed his hands again in Shi Xing’s copper basin, then instructed, “All items in the west wing that the patient touched shall be burned. Sprinkle lime powder in front of the doors of the rooms where those patients were isolated. Whether for drinking or other uses, any water in the hall must be boiled first—Sanyu Pavilion as well. Also, make arrangements to find out today whether there are patients with similar symptoms in all major medical halls and temples in the capital, how many, and where they came from. Whether this illness was truly a great plague could not be determined yet just by these few in our hall, so we still need to observe them for a while.”
Shi Xing agreed and said he would send someone to handle it shortly.
While waiting for his hands to dry, Yu Jinnian could not help letting out a sigh. With worry written all over his face, he asked, “Has there been any word from the south? Any of my letters…”
He did not spell it out, but Shi Xing knew what he was referring to. “Not yet…” After answering, he immediately added, “But Young Master, isn’t there a saying? ‘No news is good news.’ Our Third Young Master is blessed by heaven; he must be all right.”
The gloom on Yu Jinnian’s brow grew heavier. He turned his gaze to those few troublemakers curled up in the corner, itching to make a move. The irritation in his heart found a small outlet, and he immediately bellowed, “Are you coming over or not?!”
——
Outside the southern gate of the capital’s suburbs ran the official road leading to the Great Mercy Temple. Nowadays, the Great Mercy Temple was packed to capacity. After disaster victims poured into the capital, a thorough investigation of population and strict entry and exit regulations began, causing a large number of homeless victims to gather in a wasteland forest south of the city, relying on congee and grain donations from wealthy gentry to survive.
These days, the Xue family of Fuguizhai had set up a shelter by the edge of this forest. A group of disaster victims stood in a long line at that moment, waiting to get congee and steamed buns from the Xue family. Even though this congee was mostly mixed old grains, and the buns were made of coarse flour that could choke someone, at least they kept one’s stomach from being empty, so everyone gratefully ate. But even so, the disaster victims were not necessarily obedient or quiet. The strong pushed aside the weak, and the young bullied the old, not to mention how widowed, lonely people might or might not yield to each other—it was basically survival of the fittest, utterly disgraceful.
A skinny boy sat on a clean tree stump, about to stuff a newly received steamed bun into his mouth when someone suddenly kicked him from behind. A gang of beggars squeezed over, knocking him off the stump with one strike of the foot. The leader of the group even snatched the bun from his hand, sat on the stump, and ate it swaggeringly. After finishing, he still ridiculed him, “You usually can’t beg even a single coin, yet you sure eat a lot!”
That person spat heavily at him, tore off a strip of the bun’s skin, and dangled it in midair just to toy with him. Seeing how hungry he was, the other rough beggars laughed uproariously when he pounced like a dog, trying to bite that strip of bun. After they had enough of teasing him, the head beggar used his toe to tilt the boy’s chin, inspected him carefully, then clicked his tongue and said, “What a pity about that face. If there wasn’t a scar, you could have fetched a good price at Zhichungui.”
Zhichungui was a famous pleasure house in the capital, which also accepted some pretty young men. But for this one, the scar on his face was bad enough, his leg was lame, and he was quite old already. Not only would he fetch a poor price, but even the human dealers did not want him. He could only follow a group of rough beggars as a mere henchman.
Having been humiliated, the scar-faced youth hobbled back to the congee shed line, intending to ask for another steamed bun. He was very hungry, seeing stars from hunger. His life had been slightly better before, but once the disaster victims arrived in droves, he could not get a single penny anymore. Even though he disliked coming to the Xue family’s congee shelter—afraid he would be recognized and have his other leg broken—he had no choice. The Xue family’s charity meals were the most generous, and he was so filthy and smelly that almost no one paid attention to him. So, he felt emboldened enough to come here and eat.
By the time he lined up at the very end, the basket was already out of steamed buns. All that remained was one that had fallen to the ground, covered in dirt, lying pitifully on one side. The Xue family’s young servant, seeing his miserable state, broke off the half that did not touch the mud and gave it to him to eat. He was just about to tell someone to scrape some leftover watery congee from the bottom of the pot when he turned his head and found that the scar-faced youth had already snatched the other half, stuffing it into his mouth while sprinting off into the distance as if afraid others might steal it from him.
A shabby carriage came along from outside the city walls. The carriage was narrow and small, presumably not from a wealthy family. A middle-aged attendant with a full beard rode a black donkey alongside it. The driver waved his whip at the disorderly crowd of disaster victims along the roadside. Suddenly, a youth charged forward, slipped on a rock, and fell to the ground. Half a steamed bun in his mouth rolled away, then got crushed under the startled horse’s hooves.
The driver snapped his whip and yelled, “Where did this beggar come from?! Move out of the way, don’t frighten our lord’s carriage and horses!”
The scar-faced youth kept his head down, gazing at the flattened bun under the horse’s hoof. He mumbled quietly, got up, and stepped aside. He had nearly reached the side of the road when, seeing that the driver was not paying attention, he dashed back, grabbed the dirty bun beside the horse’s hoof, and devoured it in a few gulps, covering his mouth in muddy crumbs.
The horse neighed loudly. The driver cursed at him, “You little wretch, do you want to die?!”
The carriage curtain moved slightly. A slender hand with pronounced knuckles and several calluses peeking out between the fingers emerged from inside. Through a gap, the person inside revealed half of his face—sword-like brows and starry eyes—and looked out. Amid the layers of disaster victims, he saw a thin figure, limping deeper into the woods. That person’s leg was obviously lame, leaving a conspicuous drag mark on the forest ground. The man in the carriage was startled, momentarily forgetting what he had been about to say. Only when his raised arm grew sore and numb did he let out a hiss of pain and snap back to his senses.
The middle-aged attendant on the black donkey immediately asked, “Master, your shoulder and arm seemed worse. Are you all right?”
“Is… was that him?” The person in the carriage murmured to himself for a moment, then suddenly lifted the curtain and climbed out, heading straight for the limping youth. The middle-aged attendant dismounted at once and followed his master’s gaze. He also saw an extremely familiar figure, but he remained clear-headed and leaned in to persuade, “Master, how could that possibly be him? He has gained great renown now, famous in the capital as a kind physician, and he has Jinyouting backing him. In any case, there is no way he would have fallen to such a plight. We left the capital this time without an imperial decree. If anyone found out, it would be the grave crime of deceiving the emperor. We mustn’t draw attention to ourselves in such a crowded place—Master!”
It was a pity his master had been so bewitched, refusing to listen to even half a word. He was indeed furious enough that the false mustache under his nose fluttered with each breath, yet he had no choice but to follow and provide cover for his master.
Yan Chang walked over and stood behind the boy, watching him shrink under the tree while stuffing half a dirty steamed bun into his mouth. Beneath his tattered clothes was an equally dirty, bare leg. From below the knee, there was an odd protrusion that should not have been there at all. Clearly, someone had once broken his leg and then set it improperly, causing it to heal out of place, leaving a lump.
He frowned slightly, reached out, and said, “You…”
The boy on the ground shuddered, then slowly turned around with both cheeks bulging with steamed bun, staring at him with wide, innocent eyes. It was a look that was hard to describe—perhaps annoyance, perhaps hatred, and perhaps a silent interrogation. He stared at the man in front of him, the steamed bun blocking his tongue so that he could not speak. Yet from the jade pendant at this man’s waist and the gold hairpin in his topknot, he could tell this person was clearly wealthy.
Yan Chang recognized that he was not that person, inevitably feeling a bit disappointed, but he could not tear his gaze away. Although the boy’s face bore a scar, it only highlighted a pair of eyes that looked very much like those of that person. It was as though he had stumbled upon something rare—a patch to mend a gap—so he crouched slightly and asked in a low voice, “What is your name?”
“…” The scar-faced boy thought for a moment, then opened his mouth and answered randomly, “Xiao Jiu. Master, my name was Xiao Jiu. I was born on the ninth day of the first month, so they called me Xiao Jiu.”
“Xiao Jiu? That name was a bit too casual.” Yan Chang smiled and stretched out his hand. “Would you like to be a little young master?”
“R-really?” The boy stared at him, dazed. After a moment, seeing him nod gently, he became overjoyed and placed his filthy hand into Yan Chang’s palm, letting him pull him to his feet.
“As long as you stay obedient at the residence and do not wander off, I will bring you anything you want. The bright moon in the sky, or the pearls on the ground—they are all yours… Come on, let’s go home.” Yan Chang took off his outer robe and draped it over him without minding his grime, then lifted him horizontally into the carriage.
Crash—
The filthy boy was pressed into a wooden tub and thoroughly scrubbed. Though the maid who served him used a heavy hand, rubbing his skin raw, he ended up wearing a summer robe made of genuine silk. The weightless garment hung on his arms, thinner than a cicada’s wings. The jeweled necklace around his neck sparkled brilliantly, and the armlet on his wrist gleamed with a golden shine.
He eagerly slipped on a pair of black satin boots, and in an instant, he seemed to forget all the suffering he had endured at the hands of those vicious beggars. He hopped happily outside—he simply thought that this lord was a rich man, never imagining he could be this rich! Indeed, this was like someone handing him a pillow right when he was dozing off—surely fate had not abandoned Yu Xu!
Seeing all the ornaments around him, any one of which was probably worth a fortune, he narrowed his eyes, sneered inwardly, then spat in his mind.
He hopped out of the bath chamber, and a handsome young guard was already waiting at the door. He turned his head to look at him, only then realizing that this was the same bearded man who had been riding the donkey before, and it turned out that the beard was fake.
Zhou Feng turned around, glanced him over, then hung the saber in his hand at his waist. “Xiao Jiu, is it? Come with me. The master is waiting for you.”
Yu Xu shivered a little, following him around a few corridors. He stole a glance at the back of Zhou Feng’s head and asked carefully, “Head Steward, which family does our master belong to…?”
Zhou Feng did not turn his head and said, “First, I am not a head steward of this household. I am Master’s guard, named Zhou, and you may call me Guard Zhou. Second, there is no need for you to inquire about Master’s identity. If you want to stay alive, then keep watch over your ears and tongue—unless you no longer want them.”
Yu Xu immediately covered his mouth, following obediently. The farther they walked, the more splendid the halls before them grew. After passing through a moon gate, they saw an elegant courtyard filled with a bevy of young maids, all in the prime of youth, carrying trays of food in single file. Their powdered sleeves were layered, and their graceful steps were as if celestial fairies had descended. He had once thought that Jinyouting was already the most luxurious place, but it did not have so many young maids, so this place still seemed better.
He was led into Qihui Courtyard. Gazing around, he saw jade ornaments glittering and luminous agate, leaving him wide-eyed and wishing he could run up and touch them all. Seeing that they had reached the inner chamber, and there was only a large bed in front of him, he was wondering whether the lord was that impatient, when there was a sharp “click” by his ear. Guard Zhou had pressed some mechanism beside the bed—only to see a floor tile by his feet suddenly flip over, revealing a dark hole.
“Please,” Zhou Feng said.
Yu Xu froze for a moment. Seeing that he indeed pointed to the black hole, he wondered whether there was some other hidden chamber below. So he lifted his robe and carefully stepped onto the stairs, walking down. Before he descended, he heard Guard Zhou murmuring to someone in a low voice, “It’s just a fake.”
After walking about a few dozen steps, there was gradually more light—a small orange lamp brightened a room about the size of a palm. There were no jewels or ivory, only walls of books, some strange trinkets, a table laden with various fine dishes, and a man sitting quietly at the table reading.
Yu Xu opened his mouth, about to greet him, when Yan Chang suddenly asked, “What is your surname?”
Yu Xu hesitated briefly, then fabricated an answer, “I don’t remember…”
In truth, this excuse was painfully weak. He still remembered that he was born on the ninth day of the first lunar month, yet claimed not to know his surname. Anyone with a bit of sense would find it hard to believe. He was about to come up with more lies, such as bumping his head or having his brain scorched by fever… but the man at the table had already set down the book, as though he had long since made up his mind—a decision that would not be swayed by Yu Xu’s excuses. He merely said naturally, “Then you shall be surnamed Yu.”
Yu Xu’s eyes widened abruptly, staring at him in horror. “I, I—” How did he know his surname was Yu?! Could it be that this man was in league with Jinyouting’s lot, merely trying a different method of torment after beating him once was not enough?!
Yan Chang lightly lifted his gaze. The boy’s face, half blurred under the lamplight, briefly made him dizzy, as though time had wound back to early spring. He picked up the silver chopsticks, unable to keep his voice from softening. “You must be hungry. Come, eat. These were all your favorites.”
Yu Xu felt even more puzzled. Not only did this man know his surname was Yu, he also knew which dishes he liked? Trembling, he sat down. Before he could fully settle onto the stool, a large hand hooked around his waist and pulled him over, pressing him onto the man’s lap and half-enfolding him.
“Look—choose whichever you want. This Mapo Tofu was a dish you liked most when you were here with me. The chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorn came from Shu, and the tofu was freshly made. All the ingredients were the same as at Sanyu Pavilion; I only switched cooks afterward, so I wasn’t sure if the flavor was different from before, or whether it suited you.”
Yu Xu swallowed. Glancing over the table, he was at a loss for words—every dish contained red and green chilies, and even those that looked less spicy still didn’t suit his tastes. A few were dishes he hated the most. He was from the south, and the entire Four Directions Village for generations had never touched a single hint of spice. He himself certainly couldn’t handle spicy food. But now that the man served him, he didn’t dare refuse, so he forced down half a bowl. His tongue and throat went completely numb, burning in waves of pain.
After finishing the spicy dishes, Yan Chang brought over a plate of milky pastries. Yu Xu’s mouth was numb from the heat, and his stomach twisted with pain, so he grabbed one and stuffed it in. A rich, milky taste instantly flooded his tongue.
He felt that this was the best thing on the table and couldn’t help eating several more pieces.
When that torturous yet more-than-torturous “banquet” finally ended, Yu Xu wiped his mouth. He figured he could leave now. Unexpectedly, the grand lord carried him to the luohan couch in the corner and, from who knew where, took out a silver bangle and snapped it around his wrist. On instinct, Yu Xu tried to move slightly, only to hear a tinkling in the dim secret room. That was when he noticed that the silver bangle was chained to a thin silver lock!
“The dishes were all spicy, and you also liked sweets, but they couldn’t be too sweet. You liked dairy, and you liked drinking wine. I remembered it all and wouldn’t be wrong again.” Yan Chang sat sideways on the couch, gazing at the youth with eyes as soft as water. However, Yu Xu felt an icy dread far worse than anything he had felt under Ji Hong. Ji Hong’s cruelty only tormented the flesh, but this person was even more darkly terrifying! Yu Xu stared at Yan Chang, while Yan Chang, seemingly through his eyes, looked at someone else entirely, someone who wasn’t even there.
Yu Xu felt a chill down his spine that was far worse than anything in Ji Hong’s clutches. Under Ji Hong, it was merely physical pain, while here it was suffocating! He tried to scramble off the bed, but a chain caught his foot, sending him sprawling beside a bookcase, toppling several old volumes.
One book fell open, its bold ink words plainly visible: licorice, dried tangerine peel, and bitter Coptis.
—They were prescriptions! Blasted, damned prescriptions!
Yan Chang patiently gathered them one by one, stacking them in Yu Xu’s arms in proper order, speaking with remarkable tenderness, “These books were collected by the servants below. They thought you might like them, but there was never a chance to give them to you. It’s indeed a bit lonely here, so having some books to read can keep you from being bored. If you want anything else—anything to read or anything at all—just write it down, and I’ll have someone fetch it.”
Yu Xu’s hands shook as he held the stack. It was the height of summer, yet he felt struck by a freezing wind, shuddering violently. “Master…”
He had barely spoken when Yan Chang’s warmth turned half cold. He raised his hand to silence him and only patted the boy’s hair. “Rest. I’ll come see you later, perhaps bringing some good wine.”
“…” The sole door to the outside world sealed shut behind Yan Chang’s robe, crashing together with a deep sound. Yu Xu slumped to the ground, staring blankly at the medical texts and storybooks crowding the shelves. Finally, he let out a bitter laugh and understood the meaning of Guard Zhou’s mocking. He had become a big stand-in for that person, nothing more.
He truly wanted to be Yu Jinnian, and he wanted to replace Yu Jinnian to gain everyone’s affection—but he had never thought that the path to realizing that desire would be so absurd. He had become a real fake.