I would rather have died on the bed than have eaten pigswill!…… It smelled so good
The people in the medical hall had been so busy that they did not even have time to take a sip of tea, and the physicians truly suffered. After enduring the twice-daily shift changes and one round of ward checks, then handling their own patients, they finally found a bit of spare time to sit down and rest. Yet they had not rested long before they were urged to record the medical cases.
Imperial Physician Chen did not know what kind of hysteria he had, but he took great interest in recording these medical cases. Day after day, he pressed them whether they had finished writing.
Meanwhile, the beggars and homeless widows hired by Yu Jinnian to serve as nurses hurried in and out like ants. Yet it was rare to see anyone complain, for in such a time when human lives were treated like worthless straw, Master Yu was able to feed and clothe them, teach them simple medical skills, and give them several tile-roofed rooms in which to sleep. He was simply a unique, peerless philanthropist. Thus, upon seeing their employer coming through the night dew, the few on night duty quickly rose to greet him.
Qi En led Yu Jinnian and Ji Hong straight upstairs to the sickroom of the First Prince. Two personal guards, whose vigor had been dimmed by the plague, stood watch at the door. Only when they saw the group approach did they rouse themselves enough to open the door for them.
Perhaps it was Qi En’s instructions, for at that moment, a young eunuch stood by Yan Sining’s bed holding a chamber pot and coaxing him to urinate, whispering “shh, shh.” Nobody mentioned anything about how precious the imperial root was and that it could not be openly viewed; the whole room anxiously watched his little private part, coaxing and deceiving. But Yan Sining merely furrowed his brow and pitifully squeezed out a droplet that was hardly bigger than a pinhead. He looked like a piece of pickled vegetable that had been wrung dry.
Qi En, uneasy, said, “I heard from the physicians that if the orifices closed, it was an omen of great danger… Little Divine Doctor Yu, please save His Highness!”
Yu Jinnian parted the layers of attendants and walked to the bedside, pressing Yan Sining’s lower abdomen. He heard the young man groan a few times; the boy had no strength to resist. Yu Jinnian pressed around the navel area once in a circle, then said, “Do not panic. It was not that the orifices had closed; it was merely that he had lost too much fluid and thus could not urinate. I told you all to feed His Highness salted rice water at set intervals. Did you feed it on schedule?”
A young eunuch kneeling on the floor at once bowed his head to the ground in fear and said, “His Highness did not want to drink that rice water. He spat out most of the medicine that the imperial physicians brought. We have already talked ourselves hoarse, but His Highness simply refused to drink more. We… we could not force-feed him, right… and even the medicine brought by the imperial physicians, we had to coax him gently for him to take it.”
“Outrageous! He was a patient. If he said he would not drink, then he did not drink? Then what use was a doctor like me?” Yu Jinnian slapped the bedside in anger, scaring the eunuchs so badly that they dared not raise their heads, only sneaking glances at Qi En standing nearby. Yu Jinnian followed their gaze and asked, “How about it—did your Manager Qi allow this?”
Qi En lowered his hands. After some time, he admitted, “His Highness said he felt uncomfortable and did not want to eat…”
Yan Sining opened his weary eyes. When he had been vomiting and having diarrhea so urgently, he could not worry about anything else, but now that he had nearly emptied himself out, he actually had time to glance around. He watched Yu Jinnian take a bowl of rice water from one of the eunuchs, preparing to feed him.
That rice water looked crude, like pig slop. Moreover, whenever he saw any watery liquids, he immediately felt nauseated. Even the thought of it made him feel like he would throw up. So when the spoon reached his mouth, he turned his head sharply aside, knocking over the bowl in Yu Jinnian’s hand. “I am not eating… Get out!”
The porcelain bowl shattered on the ground, breaking into seven or eight fragments. Fortunately, the porridge had been mixed to just the right temperature for drinking and did not scald Yu Jinnian. Yet a whole bowl of that watery mixture splashed across his chest. He jumped back in alarm, and the wet, diluted porridge began streaming down along his clothes. Ji Hong took two quick steps over to pull Yu Jinnian aside and used his sleeve to wipe him down a bit, asking, “Are you alright?”
“I am fine.” Yu Jinnian shook his head and then complained, “What is his problem, to have such a nasty temper? Manager Qi, please bring another bowl in.”
Qi En hesitated for a moment. Just as he was about to comply, Yan Sining struggled to get up and then stumbled back onto the bed. His weakened body trembled slightly, yet his mouth refused to yield. He shouted haughtily, “You insolent servants—who is your master?”
“Your Highness… please do not make it difficult for us.” Qi En did not know what to do. After a moment, he slowly withdrew his foot.
Though their young master was skilled at riding, archery, and passed his lessons with flying colors, he had one flaw: he was quite spoiled.
Everyone in the world knew that the Emperor deeply favored Noble Consort Ji, staying in Chang Le Palace night after night, never tiring of her company. He seldom visited other concubines in the harem, let alone took new brides. Had he been an ordinary man in an ordinary household, such devotion might have been enviable, but unfortunately, being born as Emperor and carefully tending to the affairs of court, he could not avoid constant memorials from censors condemning the “wicked consort’s havoc” or worrying over the “lack of imperial heirs.”
Furthermore, Noble Consort Ji had difficulty bearing children and had never birthed a prince in all these years. Seeing that the Emperor was getting older, officials kept urging him all the more. Even common families worried about leaving no heirs. How could the throne be left empty for so many years? After much nagging, the Emperor finally visited other palaces now and then, and thus Yan Sining came to be.
Yan Sining was regarded by everyone in the palace with the highest expectations. From birth, he had been the most precious person in the Forbidden City, second only to the Emperor. It was not until years later that the palace had a few other young princes, still little. This rare, cherished young master, proclaimed the Emperor’s firstborn son, received the utmost care from everyone. He was the sort who could sit on his father’s knee and pull the King of Heaven’s beard. No one ever told him no.
Having been so pampered, Yan Sining had grown used to compliance from others. Smiling faces met him wherever he went, with people always humoring him and never letting him suffer a bit of discomfort. Other than his father, the only one who dared to show him a cold face was Ji Hong, but Yan Sining admired him greatly, so that did not matter. What was going on now? From nowhere, a brazen boy appeared, daring to turn a scowl on him? Never mind that he did not kneel or bow. He even tried to force-feed him rice water!
He remembered meeting this person briefly before leaving the capital—the one who hopped around in front of Lord Ji, a very improper lad. Even back then, Yan Sining had not found him pleasing.
Yu Jinnian did not fear him at all. Since Qi En would not go, he went himself, taking a full jug from the small kitchen at the staircase, along with the freshly brewed medicine, carrying a stack of empty bowls. He slammed them heavily onto the table and smiled with patience, “That is alright, Your Highness. I do not have much, but I do have plenty of bowls.”
“……” He felt like he was going to be infuriated to death before he could die of diarrhea.
Seeing Yan Sining’s face go pale with rage, the young prince, already weakened, looked almost as fragile as paper. Qi En hastened to step forward, testingly asking Yu Jinnian, “Sir, why not give up the rice water? Could there be another way to treat him?”
Yu Jinnian leapt to his feet. “Fine! Since you prefer to coddle your master, then treat him yourselves! I, being unskilled and having no supplies, cannot serve you. A-Hong, we are leaving.” With those words, he tugged on Ji Hong’s sleeve.
“Doctor Yu!” cried Qi En. Shocked, he dropped to his knees and tried to hold him back. At once, everyone at the bedside also knelt with a thud. “Please stay, Doctor Yu! We servants are just ignorant. We are only stupid, coarse people. Please do not take offense at our foolishness!”
Yu Jinnian halted and asked, “So am I the one treating His Highness, or are you?”
Qi En said, “…It is you.”
Yu Jinnian glanced at Yan Sining. “Then will you listen to me or to him?”
Qi En looked over his shoulder and then glanced at Ji Hong’s clearly displeased face. In a low voice, he said, “We will listen to you, sir.”
Satisfied, Yu Jinnian nodded and waved dismissively, “Alright, then. Everyone get out. The farther away, the better. If anyone says a single word of interference, I will punish them by making them sweep the city gates!” Then, with a sudden change in manner, his voice became gentle, “A-Hong, please leave as well. The sickness here is severe, and I do not want you catching it.”
“But…” Qi En hesitated, and Yu Jinnian shot him a fierce look. Qi En immediately shrank back, leading the younger servants out.
Ji Hong, too, was not at ease. He could see Yan Sining felt some aversion toward Yu Jinnian, and he worried that the two being left alone might cause friction. But Yu Jinnian patted his shoulder to reassure him. Left with no choice, Ji Hong swallowed his concern, helped Yu Jinnian remove his wet outer robe, covered him with his own coat, and rolled the sleeves to a suitable length before stepping out.
Yan Sining watched the two of them changing clothes and rolling up sleeves, going back and forth intimately, entirely treating him as if he did not exist. From the capital all the way south, whenever he tried to exchange pleasantries with Lord Ji, the other man only dealt with him in a lukewarm manner. He thought Ji Hong was born that way, disliking social interactions and thus took comfort in believing it was the proud temperament of a talented scholar. He admired him greatly, yet it turned out that the scholar was not cold-hearted; the man simply could not be bothered to pay attention to him.
Seeing Yu Jinnian at that moment only made him even more irritated. If it were not for his illness keeping him bedridden, he would already have leaped up, furious, to deal with that insubordinate Yu Jinnian.
Outside, a group of eunuchs pressed their ears to the door in worry, each of them sweating in anxiety. Qi En kept a steady face, but inside, he was just as frantic as an ant in a hot pot. Seeing Ji Hong standing under the eaves, wearing only an inner robe, silently gazing at the moon, Qi En hurried over. “Lord Ji, what if His Highness simply refuses to eat and then starts a fight? What shall we do?”
Ji Hong said calmly, “If they truly fight, then your master will be the one on the receiving end.”
Qi En: “…”
At the moment, there was no one else in the room, and Yan Sining was a patient who could hardly raise an arm, so would he not just be at the other’s mercy? Yu Jinnian brought over some porridge, and Yan Sining refused to lower himself and still shouted, “I… I would rather have died on this bed than have eaten pigswill!”
He had thought this person would surely explode in anger, but Yu Jinnian merely sat down with the bowl and asked calmly, “Why are you this upset? If this pigswill saved a life, then it was divine nectar. Even if your father the Emperor were here, I would treat him in the same way. Besides, those servants outside all wished you well, and your father and mother concubine would never want you to die here, right? Otherwise, I could pour this into the medicine, and Your Highness could drink it together. Would you find it less unpleasant?”
“Would that not make it even worse…” Yan Sining was caught off guard by his gentle temper and did not react at first. By the time he came back to himself, he realized he had inadvertently gone along with the man’s suggestion, so he immediately shut his mouth, acting stubborn.
Yu Jinnian lifted the spoon, cooled the salted water a bit, then smiled and said, “Your Highness admired Lord Ji?”
Yan Sining was instantly poked in a sore spot. “Absolutely not!”
He was being stubborn like a dead duck. When Ji Hong had draped a robe over him earlier, his eyes nearly popped out, yet he still denied it. Yu Jinnian thought, why were there so many who admired Ji Hong in this world? One handful was enough to fill a sack. Good thing he had a broad mind to hold a thousand sails. Otherwise, faced with so many suitors, he would have switched trades and opened a vinegar shop by now!
Yu Jinnian blinked a few times, mercilessly using his own man’s good looks as bait. “How about this: if Your Highness could take your medicine and salted water on time, I would have Lord Ji come visit you every day. How about that?”
“Really?” A hint of happiness surfaced on Yan Sining’s pale face, only to fade at once. “You must be lying… I tried talking to him all along the way, and he ignored me. Now that I have a plague, he would only avoid me more. He will never come…”
Yu Jinnian propped him into a half-reclining position, placing a pillow behind him. Then he held out a spoonful of medicine to Yan Sining’s lips. “If I called him here, he would come. He always listened to me.”
Yan Sining hesitated for a while, unable to resist the temptation. He slowly opened his mouth and sipped the spoonful of medicine. He grunted, “When I finally speak to him, I will have him toss you out.”
“Yes, yes, yes. Just make sure you drink your medicine, Your Highness.”
He was just a child, and a few words of coaxing were enough. But after only a couple of mouthfuls, Yan Sining had a wave of nausea and vomited it all up. The little bit of color that had just brightened his face instantly drained away. Yu Jinnian hastily grabbed a spittoon and stroked his chest as he finished vomiting, then continued to feed him in small sips.
He took half the medicine and threw up half, while barely swallowing half a bowl of salted water. Yan Sining seemed to realize that this person did not harbor any malice toward him. No matter how much Yan Sining disliked him, the man at most retorted a couple of times in displeasure. But he always tended him with a gentle hand, as warm and soothing as a spring pond, much like how his mother concubine used to pat him to sleep when he was sick. It made him let down his guard little by little without even noticing it.
“You are called Yu Jinnian? You are this close to me. Are you not afraid of catching the illness?”
Yu Jinnian was currently tucking him into the covers. Hearing the question, he froze slightly, then lifted his eyes to look at him. “Of course I am afraid. But… if we physicians all clung to life for fear of death, who else would be left to tend the sick in this world?”
Yan Sining felt as if his whole body was an empty shell, his very spirit coughed up as well, leaving him light and hollow. He looked at Yu Jinnian, who sat by the bed and felt his pulse. Even though he wore a piece of white cloth over his face, he appeared quite young. Then he glanced outside the window, where a tall figure stood, as if watching this young physician through the gauzy window. For some reason, Yan Sining suddenly felt a bit disheartened. “…Am I going to die?”
Yu Jinnian put his wrist down. “Your Highness has not yet spoken to Lord Ji. You have not told him to throw me out, and you are already thinking of death?”
“If you died, there would be those who mourned you.” Yan Sining slowly lay back down, curling up in the covers like a snail. He mumbled to himself, “Anyway, he does not like me. I studied hard every day, yet no matter what I did, he was never satisfied. Perhaps if I died, he would finally remember to see me…”
Yu Jinnian did not know who he was talking about, but he felt that the young man was probably not referring to Ji Hong. Since he could not figure it out, he did not dwell on it. With the medicine taken and the salted water fed, his major task was done. He rose and said goodbye, “Your Highness, rest well. Do not let your thoughts run wild. I will call Manager Qi inside.”
Yan Sining did not reply. Yu Jinnian stepped out. Outside, Qi En had long been waiting in a panic. Seeing him, he hurriedly asked how things were.
“He should not act up again,” Yu Jinnian replied, explaining the situation. The eunuchs were overjoyed, praising Yu Jinnian’s skill. After sharing in their delight for a moment, Yu Jinnian reminded them, “He is sick, so his mood will be especially sensitive. Coax him a bit more, and you should be fine. I know you dare not disobey him, but surely you can at least appear to comply while defying him inwardly, right? From now on, do not indulge him too much.”
They quickly agreed.
Just now, when Yan Sining vomited, his clothes were inevitably soiled. Yu Jinnian took off his outer robe and handed it to a servant to be burned. Then he and Ji Hong went side by side to the washroom to wash their hands. Ji Hong casually asked, “How did you manage to placate him?”
“I relied on Lord Ji’s good looks,” Yu Jinnian said, giving him a sidelong glance as he rubbed the scented beads in his hands, speaking sourly, “Lord Ji really is the fairest in the land, admired by so many that they would circle Xia Capital three times over. From the highest nobles to the young daughters behind their doors, if you bestowed a glance on them, I am afraid they could enjoy your beauty day after day, three hundred and sixty-five days a year!”
“…” Ji Hong sighed softly. “Alas, my eyes were caught by a single stalk of foxtail grass.”
Yu Jinnian puffed out his cheeks. “Who are you calling foxtail grass?”
“A foxtail was hardy wherever it landed, stronger than all those other flowers and plants,” Ji Hong replied, flattering him. Yu Jinnian curled up his lips slightly, indicating that Ji Hong’s sweet words worked. Ji Hong saw his headscarf had gone crooked, so he straightened it. “I do not know what my little foxtail wants to eat. We hardly touched our dinner earlier.”
Yu Jinnian replied solemnly, “Since we already came up to the building, let us not go back. Some of the patients here are in poor condition, and I need to check on them, not to mention the First Prince’s illness, which still needs observation. You have stationed soldiers at all the sources of polluted water around the city, eliminating a major threat. Hopefully, the number of new patients will now drop. But treating those already ill remains daunting.”
Ji Hong asked, “How so?”
Yu Jinnian said, “In truth, they did not die from vomiting and diarrhea alone, but from the imbalance of bodily fluids caused by vomiting and diarrhea, which led to a disruption of yin and yang. Even if we speak of a thousand years in the future, there may not be a perfect cure. But if we stayed within the patient’s range of tolerance, doing our best to keep water and yin-yang in balance and strengthen their vital energy so that the body’s righteous forces fought off the disease, then once righteousness triumphed over evil, this illness would resolve itself.”
Ji Hong thought for a moment and said, “So you needed to have the patients drink salted water?”
Yu Jinnian nodded. “But from what I saw now, merely salted water was far from enough. Earlier, I observed that the First Prince’s body was weak and exhausted, making it difficult even to lift his elbows. He was also irritable, had no appetite, and vomited after eating. That was the initial sign of lacking a certain substance in the body. If this condition continued to worsen, the First Prince might develop failing lungs and shortness of breath, at which point there would be no remedy! Furthermore, in this building, the First Prince was not the only one with these symptoms. Some had even developed swelling in their limbs, reaching a very severe level.”
“As you said, did you need some sort of medicine?” Ji Hong instantly understood his meaning. Yu Jinnian shared these treatment details with him rather than consulting the other imperial physicians, presumably because his treatment method was highly unconventional and unlikely to gain the Imperial Medical Office’s approval, so he could only turn to Ji Hong.
Yu Jinnian said, “I needed coarse salt.”
“Coarse salt?” Ji Hong had thought it was something rare. Although the salt tax was strictly controlled by the court, with his connections, it might not have been impossible to obtain some for Yu Jinnian. “We are fairly near the sea. If there are newly dried sea salt, perhaps we could bring in a little.”
Yu Jinnian shook his head. “Not sea salt. Rock salt. The kind mined from the mountains and left unrefined—what you all called ‘poisonous salt.’”
Ji Hong was slightly surprised. “That poisonous salt often killed people who ate it, so how could it be used to treat illness?”
Yu Jinnian said, “The reason it poisoned people was because the salt mine contained many tiny components. Some were harmful to the human body, but some were exactly what the body needed. Among them was an element called ‘potassium.’ It is critical to maintaining the body’s fluid balance. Yet having too much or too little of it could be lethal. Since most people ordinarily did not lack potassium, eating so-called poisonous salt containing potassium ended up poisoning them.”
Ji Hong lowered his eyes and pondered for a while. Indeed, the youth’s words sounded incredible. From ancient times, no one had proposed such a theory. He had once set broken bones for Qing Huan and sewn up Min Xuefei’s injuries with glass tubes. Now he wanted to use poisonous salt for treatment. Such methods could only be called strange and arcane.
But every time, he succeeded.
So Ji Hong was willing to try again. “I could keep an eye out for you. However, as far as I knew, the color of rock salt varied depending on the mine, and its toxicity also differed greatly. How would you distinguish which particular salt was the one you needed?”
Yu Jinnian answered solemnly, “I needed rock salt that was as clear and transparent as possible. If I took a small piece and burned it in a flame, that flame should be purple.”
Ji Hong memorized it carefully, then could not help sighing. “I truly wished to meet the old gentleman who taught you medicine.”
Yu Jinnian smiled and casually made up a tale. “These medical skills were not all realized by just one person. They came from my late master wandering across many nations and learning everywhere. It was the result of many traditions. Unfortunately, he had now cast off his mortal body and roamed immortal realms. If you wished to meet him, I could introduce you in a dream. If he happened to drift over your bedside, do not be afraid.”
Ji Hong joked with him as well. “Then I ought to prepare a jug of wine every day, so I could have a long conversation with the old gentleman.”
While they spoke, Physician You Qingbai from the Imperial Medical Office ran over. Upon seeing them both in front of the washroom, he hurriedly said, “Sir Yu, here you are! The child patient in Room Thirty-two suddenly had cold limbs, strange blotches on his skin, and was panting heavily. Master Chen asked you to go have a look.”
“Alright, I’ll go now.” Yu Jinnian took a few steps, then remembered to look back and call to Ji Hong. “A-Hong, you should head back first. Remember to tell the servants to heat up a bath before you sleep.” He then followed You Qingbai, striding off toward Room Thirty-two.
In that sickroom was a child called Xiao Hai, aged around eight or nine. His father had already died of the plague. His mother had spent all their family savings and failed to save her husband, only to see her child become infected the day before. The boy had vomited non-stop. By chance, she heard that the newly opened Sanyu Pavilion treated patients free of charge, so she brought him here. She herself stayed on as a helper in the building to repay Master Yu’s kindness.
He was from a destitute family, used to barely subsisting on the coarsest fare. Small and thin, once he fell ill, he quickly deteriorated. When he first arrived, he was already on the verge of death, his belly and eyes sunken hollow. That night, Yu Jinnian and others stayed up watching him, forcing broth and medicine into him while applying acupuncture and massage. After all that, they barely stabilized him.
Yu Jinnian entered the room with brisk steps, checking the child while listening to the physician at his side recount what he had eaten that day. They had given him his scheduled doses of soup, medicine, and salted water, yet somehow, his condition had worsened. At that moment, the boy’s hands and feet were cold, his skin pale, and he would not wake when called. Yu Jinnian pricked his philtrum with a needle, but got no response. Clearly, he was already in shock and unconscious.
Chen Yang deduced a reversal condition from the coldness in the boy’s extremities and severely weakened vital energy. He wanted to use Four Counterflow Decoction to treat him. Though the medicine room had long prepared that formula for emergencies, the question was how to get it down his throat, given his condition.
Yu Jinnian asked someone to bring a reed tube and a funnel to force the medicine in, but the guards outside failed to stop the child’s mother from bursting in. Seeing Xiao Hai like that, she panicked and shoved Yu Jinnian aside just as he was about to give the medicine, clutching her son and weeping uncontrollably.
It was a crucial moment for snatching him back from death’s door, and the child should not have been jolted around like that. Chen Yang shouted anxiously, “Why are you all standing there? Take her out!”
You Qingbai seized Xiao Hai back and laid him flat on the bed. The child was startlingly still. He reached out to check the boy’s breathing but felt no air against his fingers. He then felt for a pulse on his neck and found none. Horrified, he cried, “Master Chen, Sir Yu, the boy has stopped breathing!”
“Move!” Yu Jinnian brushed aside the bystanders and immediately placed his hands, fingers interlaced, on the child’s chest to perform resuscitation. The boy was eight or nine, with each rib clearly distinct. As Yu Jinnian pressed down forcefully, it seemed as if those fragile bones might snap at any moment. Chen Yang and the others had never witnessed such a method and exchanged perplexed looks among themselves.
Luo Qian arrived at the commotion. He had learned this technique from Yu Jinnian, so seeing the young man’s forehead already drenched in sweat, he stepped in to replace him. They took turns back and forth for nearly three quarters of an hour. By then, the strands of hair around Yu Jinnian’s cheeks were stuck together from tension and heat. Luo Qian withdrew to check the boy’s pulse, then shook his head with a sigh. “Sir Yu, he is already…”
Yu Jinnian closed his eyes in silence for a while, then finally let go, exhausted, dropping to his knees. He ordered, “Take him away. Send him to the outskirts, scatter lime over him, and after half an hour… burn him. Disinfect this room according to the rules. Let it stand empty for a day before admitting more patients.”
Two physicians wearing masks covered the boy’s body with coarse cloth and carried him out. They immediately heard the mother’s wails. You Qingbai called two female helpers to comfort her. When he turned back, he saw that the young doctor was still there, head lowered, clutching his stomach. Alarmed, he hurried over to help him up. “Sir, what’s wrong? Are you unwell? It’s very late. Why not go back and rest? Return at dawn tomorrow. I’ll have someone send for Lord Ji—”
“No, it’s fine. Lord Ji was busy with official duties every day, so what would I need him for? Tonight, a few patients demanded careful observation. Even if I went home, I wouldn’t sleep well. Besides, if I got tired, I would head back on my own.” Yu Jinnian quickly grabbed him, waving his hand. Only his eyebrows showed the faintest furrow. “I’ll just drink some hot water and sit for a while. Thank you. You can all return to your duties.”
You Qingbai swiftly poured him a cup of hot tea, which he drank. Seeing his brow relax a bit, You Qingbai felt slightly relieved. Just then, two patients arrived at the building in the dead of night, and he had to set down the teapot and go see to them.
Yu Jinnian took a couple of sips of warm water. Hearing someone call him from the corridor, he promptly got up and hurried away. He had just come out of Room Five when he entered Room Seven, and someone was already shouting that the patient in Room Twenty-six was about to die. He was busy through nearly the entire night without closing his eyes.
It was not just him who was busy. By the end of the Yin hour, just before dawn, he found a reclining chair and dozed for a short while. Then he heard the young men assigned to sweep the building say that there had been an accident at Litou River outside the city. A few laborers finishing the dam repairs got into a brawl over a few cross words; two of them slipped and fell in, losing their lives. The local officials of Chunan had either fled or vanished; from taxes and grain to everyday disputes, everything fell to Ji Hong and his few men to handle.
One matter was resolved, and another arose. More and more patients flocked to the Sanyu Pavilion. After that night, it became a luxury for Yu Jinnian and Ji Hong to sit down quietly and share a meal. Ji Hong busied himself at the government office, and Yu Jinnian stayed in the Sanyu Pavilion all day. If he remembered, he took a few bites of food. If not, he only drank a couple bowls of water. When he was tired, he found some corner to nap for a while, and that was his rest.
You Qingbai often saw him alone, curled up on the stairs, his back hunched and a few medical records next to him. It seemed he had dozed off from exhaustion, but whenever anyone passed by, he woke at once, soon darting around again with endless energy, as though it would never run out.
And as for the refugees outside the city walls, they did not know from where they heard the rumor that there was a living bodhisattva’s clinic in Chunan City, which admitted patients regardless of rank. They all dragged their sick relatives to seek refuge. It was said that a large crowd gathered outside the gates, begging the guards to open the city doors for them.
Even just dealing with the city’s own residents had already driven everyone to distraction, and now hundreds more arrived, wailing day and night. The Imperial Medical Office and the others gathered in one place to discuss a plan. Chen Yang believed that there was still enough space in this building. At present, each room held only two or three people, so if they adjusted to fit five or six, they could accommodate more than triple the patients. It would only require the physicians to work harder.
Who would have expected that Master Yu, who was usually soft-hearted and compassionate, merely sat silently at the far end. After a long while, he spoke decisively, “No.”
Chen Yang looked at him in surprise. “Why not?”
Yu Jinnian pressed one hand over his abdomen and spoke slowly and calmly, “There were rules governing how many patients each room could hold. Our hall was already at capacity. Manpower obviously wasn’t sufficient, and both physicians and nurses were at the end of their tether. If we kept admitting more patients, the physicians would surely be dragged down. At that point, any overlooked detail could trigger an outbreak throughout the clinic, and then, forget about saving others; you wouldn’t even be able to save yourselves.”
Someone slammed the table and rose. “When did you become so cowardly?”
Yu Jinnian retorted on the spot, “If five or six people were stuffed in one room, air wouldn’t circulate well, and the cramped space would make it impossible to clean or disinfect properly. That wouldn’t be saving lives; that would be turning this building into a breeding ground for the plague! If you wanted to take in more patients, you ought to build a new facility in another well-ventilated part of the city, follow the regulations I specified, hire more doctors, and manage it the same way, instead of forcing more patients into this building.”
Chen Yang hurried over to mediate. “Sir Yu was right. Perhaps we should find another place.”
You Qingbai asked, “Then… who should oversee this new facility?”
“…” Everyone looked toward the young man at the far end. “This hall was established at Master Yu’s suggestion, and only he understood these rules. We… we had no idea. We still relied on Master Yu.”
“Yes, yes, we needed Master Yu’s guidance.”
Chen Yang could not bear to listen any longer and said, “We already relied on Sir Yu for all the medication, daily tasks, medical records, and sickroom assignments. The new facility would be just as complicated in the beginning, so how could we have him handle it alone?”
You Qingbai agreed. “These past days, when did you see Sir Yu leave this building, even for a step? He never shared a single meal with you, merely snatched a bite or two in private. While you lay on soft beds with silk pillows, time and again I saw him sleeping on the stairs. He truly worked himself to the bone. If the new facility still depended solely on him, I feared… the young sir’s body would not endure!”
Yu Jinnian’s fingertips grew pale against his collar. He responded sarcastically, “If you didn’t understand, learn. If you didn’t know, ask. Didn’t you live half your lives already? Were you all mute and blind? You said I made the rules, but how many of you actually followed them? You—and you,” he pointed at a few, “only bullied the new arrivals to stand guard at night, didn’t you?”
He sneered, “Whenever anything was needed, you called for the ‘miracle-working little doctor,’ but the rest of the time, you claimed Yu Jinnian was cowardly. What, did you still think you could command me forever? Could this plan for stamping out the plague in Chunan City not proceed without me? Honestly, I never wanted to take over this mess in the first place. This plague—did you think I could save everyone with a wave of my hand? Was I a god? If not for my Lord Ji being stuck in Chunan, I wouldn’t have come here to serve as your underling.”
“…” The crowd felt wronged, unsure who was serving whom.
Chen Yang chuckled awkwardly, stepping forward again to calm things. “Alright, alright, let’s dismiss now. Go look after your own patients. We will discuss the new facility again. Little Sir Yu, don’t speak in anger.”
With that, they muttered among themselves and dispersed one after another. You Qingbai lingered a moment, and when everyone had left, he suddenly remembered some questions to ask Yu Jinnian. Yet the moment he stepped back into the meeting hall, he saw Yu Jinnian’s face, white as a sheet, his left hand gripping the chair’s armrest as if they had truly provoked him. But upon closer inspection, the young man also pressed his right fist against his upper abdomen, cold sweat beading along his hairline. Realizing something was wrong, You Qingbai rushed over in a few strides.
“I noticed two days ago that something was off. Were you ill but didn’t tell us? Has it been like this since the day Xiao Hai had his accident?”
He reached to feel Yu Jinnian’s pulse, but Yu Jinnian pulled back. “It’s nothing serious… just a minor ailment. A moment’s rest and I’ll be fine.”
You Qingbai grew anxious, pinning his wrist in place. “Last time, you said the same, yet I saw it wasn’t getting better, but worse. If you won’t let me take a look, I’ll tell Master Chen, or Lord Ji, and let them examine you.”
“Hey, hey, fine, fine. Go ahead.” Yu Jinnian clicked his tongue and extended his hand, gasping between breaths, “Take a look… just don’t alarm anyone else. Don’t make it sound like I had some incurable disease. I am a physician myself, so wouldn’t I know? Truly, it’s nothing major.”
You Qingbai scolded him with his eyes. “Don’t talk. You could barely form words now.”
After feeling his pulse and checking his tongue for quite some time, You Qingbai’s frown only deepened. Yu Jinnian could not help laughing. “What is it? Did you see something? Judging by that expression, were you about to say, ‘Congratulations, Your Highness, you were expecting’?”
You Qingbai flipped his wrist off the chair’s armrest in irritation. “You wished. It hurt so much, and you could still joke!”
Yu Jinnian grinned even wider. “I experienced much worse pain before. This was nothing.”
You Qingbai nearly choked on his anger. “You found that something to be proud of?”
Having had his fun, Yu Jinnian grew serious again, reminding You Qingbai in all earnestness, “Don’t tell Lord Ji about this. Nor his men either. They were a bunch of big mouths, every one of them Lord Ji’s lackeys, never able to keep a secret.”
Before You Qingbai could respond, in walked Duan Ming.
Yu Jinnian promptly clammed up, curling into the chair’s armrest with an expression of complete innocence, showing no trace of the youth who had been sweating in pain just moments before. You Qingbai had to admire him. He wondered what Yu Jinnian meant by having experienced ‘worse pain’ before. Could he be hiding some other illness?
Duan Ming entered so silently it seemed like he floated. Upon seeing Yu Jinnian, he brightened, then looked slightly troubled.
Yu Jinnian asked what was wrong, and Duan Ming scratched his head. “Young Master, we found the rough rock salt you asked for. About ten li west of Chunan City, we intercepted a caravan from a foreign country. On their wagons were a few pieces of the rock salt you wanted, but not many.” He produced a piece from inside his robe and gave it to his young master for inspection.
“Really?” Yu Jinnian took it, scrutinized it, then told him to bring a candle flame to test it. Indeed, the flame turned purple.
Duan Ming continued, “But… the interpreter for those foreigners died of the plague on the road a few days ago. They got lost and ended up here in Chunan. We detained them, but we couldn’t understand their language, so we had no choice but to bring them all in. We locked them in the government office’s jail.”
“Take me to see them.” Yu Jinnian used the chair to push himself upright, but in his excitement, the pain in his abdomen intensified, twisting from his front all the way to his back. When he remained still, he could endure it, but now it felt so sharp that he doubled over, his face pale, his vision blurred.
Duan Ming turned to lead the way, then heard a thud behind him.
Right after that, he heard You Qingbai’s alarmed cry: “Sir Yu, Sir Yu!”