Heavenly phenomena descended from the sky, intending to alert the world.
It was a long summer night, with waves of insect chirps echoing. A bright silver moon hung high over the treetops, and a gentle breeze carried the subtle fragrance of green bamboo. Threads of fine rain, like cotton strands, fell upon people’s shoulders, bringing a slight chill.
An old man and a young man tiptoed through the bamboo forest. The older one carried an old handmade bow on his back, while the younger one clutched a net. They walked along, brushing aside the grass on both sides. The younger fellow yawned a long yawn, rubbed his eyes, and said, “Dad, let’s go back. It’s so late that we probably would not catch anything.”
The old hunter insisted, “Your mother had just recovered from her illness and only wanted a taste of game. Let’s wait a bit longer.”
The young hunter, supporting his drowsy eyes, mumbled, “At this hour of the night, the game must have gone to sleep…”
Right as he spoke, suddenly, a dark figure darted across the forest in the distance. Immediately, three or four more shadows followed, rustling the grass noisily. The hunter’s eyes lit up. He pressed down on his son’s shoulder, motioning him to be silent, then picked up his bow and arrow, aimed at the moving shape, and—“Tch”—with a single shot, they heard several sharp squeaks. It actually hit!
That lad hurried over to retrieve it, while the old hunter strung his bow again. Three or four more arrows were shot in succession, and none missed the mark.
“Dad! It’s raccoon dog!” The younger fellow, suddenly wide awake, grabbed the wild prey and shouted with excitement, “Now Mother would have a treat!”
The hunter also picked up a few more. It turned out they were all from one den of raccoon dog. Taken aback, he commented, “Raccoon dogs are usually sharp-witted; only in snowy weather, when they came out to forage, were they easier to catch. How did so many show up in summertime like this?”
The young hunter lifted the dead raccoon dog and tossed them into the bag, grinning widely. “Who cares! Let’s just go back! These are incredibly rare. Today, we could slaughter two, and tomorrow, cook them for Mother to nourish her body. I heard that Chunan City’s gate had reopened, so early tomorrow, we could rush to the morning market, find an inn, and sell the rest. We would get a good price, maybe even enough to buy some new cloth for Mother. I saw she had many patches on her clothes…”
“No, no…” The old hunter muttered as he headed back, “Whenever something went abnormally, there must be something strange!”
The young man found him long-winded. “Oh, come on. What could be strange about it? Stop overthinking!”
Early the next morning, the old hunter was roused by his son. Carrying three raccoon dogs, they headed for the morning market in Chunan City, also planning to buy a few feet of new cloth. This raccoon dog tasted best when fresh. If it stayed dead for too long, its skin and flesh would spoil, and no one would want it. Besides, folks in their village were mostly simple people who would never appreciate the value of raccoon dog. If they wanted a high price, they had to go to a big city like Chunan and sell it to wealthy people who knew its worth.
Driving the donkey cart borrowed from the village head’s family, he wondered the entire way why these raccoon dogs had suddenly appeared in such numbers during the summer months. He became lost in thought and nearly took the wrong path. In the end, despite hurrying, by the time the donkey cart entered Chunan, they had missed the morning market after all.
He had heard earlier that Chunan sealed the city because of a massive epidemic, yet today it no longer looked desolate. All sorts of shops bustled with grand openings; clerks and waiters greeted customers cheerfully. Many shops had hung colorful ribbons meant to bring good fortune, though a faint odor of herbal fumigation still lingered in the city air.
The old hunter observed as he went along. Missing the morning market did not matter, he thought, because he could just head to the Hundred Flowers Pavilion he used to frequent. The owner, Boss Liu, was a respectable businessman who truly appreciated game meat and fur and never cheated him. With that in mind, he carried his basket along a well-known route to the front of Hundred Flowers Pavilion. Unexpectedly, there was no longer the scent of wine but rather a strong medicinal smell. Several young fellows in white coats came and went with solemn faces.
Puzzled, he backed up a few steps and looked up—Sanyu Pavilion.
He quickly grabbed a passerby and asked, “Excuse me, lad, what happened to Hundred Flowers Pavilion…?”
That passerby waved his hand. “There is no Hundred Flowers Pavilion anymore! It closed down ages ago! Now it’s a medical clinic. The fact our city’s great epidemic improved was all thanks to the little miracle doctor here in Sanyu Pavilion! That young doctor was so kindhearted and so capable, truly like an immortal apothecary come down to earth!”
The old hunter was stunned. “…A medical… clinic?”
That day, Yu Jinnian conferred with Imperial Physician Chen and the others about the next steps in epidemic control. Though the lockdown order had been lifted, many epidemic patients remained in the city’s medical clinics, so one could not let down their guard, in case the epidemic rebounded. Yet those from the Imperial Medical Office had been in Chunan for over a month and could not stay indefinitely. Subsequent follow-up still had to be handled by the official medical office of Chunan and local physicians.
Still, they had already taught them methods and cautions, so it probably would not be more difficult than before.
After discussing various affairs, they brought up a patient they initially believed to have the epidemic. He suffered from continuous discomfort in his mouth, severe abdominal pain, and cold limbs, yet his mouth felt nauseous, though he could not vomit anything. It looked serious.
Yu Jinnian examined him and found it was jiaochangsha, commonly called dry cholera, which was not the same disease as actual cholera. It stemmed from cold-dampness obstructing the intestines and stomach, causing an upper and lower blockage and neither vomiting nor defecation. He remained calm and told the kitchen to fry two taels of hot salt, dissolve it in hot water, and have someone feed it to the patient.
Due to that concentrated salt being extremely bitter and salty, which ordinary people could not bear, the moment it was drunk, hardly a moment passed before the patient frowned, let out a “waa” sound, and hastily vomited up everything in his stomach. Yu Jinnian seized the opportunity, called for two more bowls to be poured, and used chopsticks to induce vomiting. Before long, the patient threw up again two or three times. His originally pallid face promptly regained color, and even the pain in his abdomen improved significantly.
Afterward, he prescribed several doses of follow-up medicinal soup, instructing the patient to take the medicine home to decoct and drink. The patient had been carried in by his family when he arrived, yet walked away under his own power, repeatedly expressing gratitude as he departed.
You Qingbai clicked his tongue in wonder, “No medicine was used, yet he recovered just like that!”
Yu Jinnian straightened his clothes and, feeling a bit embarrassed, said, “Jiaochangsha involved both vomiting and diarrhea being blocked, so it required inducing vomiting. I merely used a clever method.”
You Qingbai still wanted to ask more about the induced vomiting, but Yu Jinnian reckoned it was almost noon and worried about returning home to cook for his family, so he waved his hand and said they would talk next time. As soon as he stepped outside, he saw the old hunter pacing in front of the building.
Yu Jinnian thought he had come for a consultation, so he greeted him, “Elder, are you here to see a doctor or to get medicine?”
The old hunter replied hesitantly, “I—I am not here for a doctor…”
Yu Jinnian sized up his attire and quickly understood. “Sir, this inn was bought by me, a mere youth. If you were looking for Boss Liu’s family, they might have moved to the northern part of the city.”
“I am not looking for anyone.” The old hunter noticed he was dressed in silks and satin, so he took the basket off his back, lifted the cover cloth, and moved closer to Yu Jinnian. “Young boss, I am a hunter selling wild game. Last night, I caught several raccoon dogs. Would you like to buy them and bring them home for your family to try?”
“Raccoon dog?” Yu Jinnian exclaimed in surprise and leaned in with curiosity. He previously ate farm-raised raccoons once, courtesy of a friend. The meat was quite tasty, but the price was steep, so he had never eaten it again. He never imagined he would encounter it here. Lowering his head, he looked into the hunter’s basket and indeed saw a few raccoons, thoroughly drained of blood.
However, because raccoon dogs ate a lot and moved little in the overwintering season, they tended to be especially plump. It tasted best when snow blanketed the land, and there was even a famous dish called “Snowy-Day Raccoon Dog.” Why would someone be selling raccoons at this time of year?
The old hunter guessed Yu Jinnian’s thoughts and recounted the events of the previous night’s hunt. Yu Jinnian, after listening, could not help but marvel, “It’s certainly a rare coincidence.” Though he spoke as if it were fate, in truth, he just craved the deliciousness of raccoon dog. And upon hearing that the hunter planned to use the money from selling raccoons to buy cloth for his family, he decided to purchase all the raccoon dogs from his basket, planning to bring them back so everyone could finally eat some meat.
The old hunter used rope to string the raccoon dogs together and handed them to Yu Jinnian to carry. Only then, feeling quite satisfied, he received the silver and left.
That raccoon dog was called the “best of mountain delicacies.” Its fatty richness was “as white as jade.” Yu Jinnian happily returned to the small courtyard, calling on the cook to pluck and clean the raccoons. He then went out to buy some mushrooms and dried bamboo shoots. When he came back, he saw the cook slowly singeing away the fine spines over a low flame.
He was in the kitchen chopping scallions and ginger when Young Master Jiang and Shi Xing returned outside. The two of them were truly nemeses; when they were apart, they pined and longed for each other, but once they met, they bickered noisily. Standing outside the kitchen, Master Jiang shouted, “Brother Nian, you judge this! I said rabbit meat was cooling, while chicken meat was warming, so in this muggy weather, we should cook rabbit. He insisted on buying pheasants!”
Shi Xing refused to be outdone. “The little master is still recovering from a major illness, so what is wrong with drinking chicken soup to replenish his energy? Look at you, you have only been on medication for a few days and already think you can be the teacher!”
“All right, all right. Let us have rabbit tonight and try chicken tomorrow.” Yu Jinnian felt his head throbbing from their squabbling. When he looked out, well, they each had a chicken in one hand and a duck in the other, and Master Jiang also clutched two plump wild hares.
“What is going on here, bringing so much back?”
Shi Xing hurriedly answered, “We do not know what happened these past few days, but there have been many more vendors selling wild game. Every household could pull out a few pieces of game, leaving the neighboring pork stall without any business. It was practically as cheap as dirt. When Ya’er and I asked around, everyone said the game ran out by itself in the middle of the night, barging into people’s homes and causing quite a commotion!”
Yu Jinnian remarked in puzzlement, “Logically, after the great flood, the mountain animals should have fled in panic. How did so many appear all at once?” He pointed at the raccoon dog being prepared on the ground. “That raccoon was also sold to me by a hunter this morning.”
While cleaning out the raccoon’s innards, the cook said eerily, “The older generation said these wild animals had spirits of their own. If they came down the mountain, then there must have been some celestial anomaly.”
Yu Jinnian naturally did not believe such talk of gods and ghosts, so he turned to head back into the kitchen. The cook then pulled the naïve Master Jiang aside and poured a bunch of supernatural stories into his ears. Partway through, they heard her let out a loud “Ah!” Master Jiang was so startled that he landed on his butt and instinctively grabbed a handful of Shi Xing’s clothes.
Shi Xing patted his head, saying, “Do not be afraid.”
The cook let out a curious sound, prodding around in the raccoon’s innards, until she suddenly fished out something. Opening her bloodstained palm, a pair of eyeball-like objects rolled around in her hand.
“Ahhhhhh!” Jiang Bingren cried out, leaping up and hiding behind Shi Xing without daring to look. “What is that? Help, take it away!”
The cook washed the two round objects in water, cleaned them, and held them up to the sunlight. They looked like stones, but there were some patterns on them, carved horizontally and vertically, as though formed by nature. She could not read, so she handed them to Shi Xing. “Brother Shi, look at these. What do they say? Are there any words on them?”
Shi Xing took a look, and his expression changed at once. He strode into the kitchen and showed the stones to Yu Jinnian.
Yu Jinnian set down his knife and examined them, furrowing his brow. “Where did these come from?”
Shi Xing pointed at the opened-up raccoon dog.
Yu Jinnian thought for a moment, then fixed his gaze on the wild rabbits and pheasants they had just brought back. Shi Xing realized as well, a look of disbelief crossing his face. The two of them suddenly had an idea, so they hurriedly told the cook to slaughter the chickens, ducks, and rabbits all together. They checked the stomachs and intestines of those game meats—sure enough, they fished out a few round stones with markings on them. One pheasant even had several heavy lumps the size of longans inside.
“…” Yu Jinnian held a handful of stones in various shapes and thought that, if the bellies of all these animals were stuffed with such objects, they would surely feel uncomfortable, so of course they would howl and run about in the middle of the night.
Shi Xing looked worried. “Young master, this…”
Yu Jinnian said, “What do you mean ‘this’? Go chop up that raccoon dog that was gutted, or we will miss the midday meal!”
Shi Xing: “…”
He sent Shi Xing off to chop the meat, then Yu Jinnian tossed the stones into the brocaded pouch at his waist. He placed the disassembled raccoon dog in a pot with star anise, scallions, ginger, and dried orange peel, boiling them until no longer raw, then scooped them out to drain the blood before frying them in oil until the skin was a crisp red-brown.
Shi Xing saw him neither hurried nor flustered, as though he truly did not care about those stones. A major incident had occurred, yet he kept his focus on cooking, and Shi Xing was unsure whether to praise him for being carefree or commend him for his poise.
Yu Jinnian used a large bowl and arranged the fried raccoon dog pieces neatly around the rim. He added the soaked mushrooms and bamboo shoots in order, placed in scallion segments and ginger slices, poured in a little huangjiu and autumn soy sauce, then sprinkled some salt and honey before setting it in the steamer.
Raccoon dogs ate fruit from trees, so its meat was sweet and pleasantly fragrant, more tender than pork and more flavorful than chicken. A slight sweetness brought out the mild tenderness of the meat, so during deep autumn and snowy months, people often used soft pears to complement it, or in midwinter, they would cure it with honey wine. This time, Yu Jinnian used honey for seasoning based on the same reasoning, so that after steaming, the raccoon dog would be glossy and ruddy, aromatic and tender, rich without being greasy, with the added fragrance of mushrooms and bamboo shoots. When inverted onto a plate after steaming, it shone with juices, hence called “Red-Braised Raccoon Dog.”
Now that there were eight or nine people in the courtyard, counting servants and the cook, Yu Jinnian quickly made a clear stewed yam rabbit dish, a chicken-mushroom puree soup, and a few light side dishes especially for Ji Hong. Once done, he noticed Ji Hong still had not returned, so he could not resist heading to the courtyard gate to peer out. Possibly because of the little drizzle last night, the air felt fresher today than yesterday. Three or four children were gathered on the steps of the house across the way, playing a game of throwing stones.
Yu Jinnian had played that game as a child as well, tossing a handful of stones into the air and trying to catch them on the back of his hand, with the one catching the most as the winner. He saw that these children were tossing stones that looked like the small lumps from a pheasant’s belly. Because they were rounder and more uniform than normal pebbles, the children seemed to like them. Yu Jinnian could not help but wander over to watch. Originally, he was only looking, but before he knew it, he got caught up and lifted his robe to sit on the ground, joining in their play.
Shi Xing and the others waited at the table for a good while and still did not see Yu Jinnian come back, so they ran out to look for him, only to bump into their returning master, who had arrived at some point and was now standing behind the young man. Ji Hong held up a hand to signal silence, then stood there quietly, watching Yu Jinnian nimbly juggle a few “chicken-stomach stones,” winning nearly all of the other children’s stones.
One of the children pouted in displeasure. “Hey, your grown-up wants you to go back for dinner!”
“Wait a bit, let me finish this round.” Yu Jinnian flicked the stones into the air, just about to catch them, when a sleeve flashed by, snatching them in midair. He looked up and saw Ji Hong’s side profile, his eyebrows slightly raised.
Ji Hong turned the stones over in his hand and said, “Yes, it is time for you to eat.”
Yu Jinnian batted his eyelashes and jumped to his feet, grinning. “Oh, you’re back.”
Ji Hong said, “If I hadn’t come home, you would have played until you forgot to sleep and eat.”
The children waited hopefully for this “grown-up” to speak up so that Yu Jinnian would return the stones he had won, because they had pooled them all together. Yet the two merely brushed off their sleeves and, one following the other, joked and chatted on their way home. The children stared dumbfounded at the already shut gate, then finally let out a wronged wail.
Yu Jinnian and the others finally sat down at the table. Thankfully, it was summertime, so even though the food had cooled a bit, it still tasted fine. At the table, Ji Hong toyed with those confiscated chicken-stomach stones, studying their patterns with a meaningful expression. Yu Jinnian ladled a bowl of chicken-and-mushroom soup for him, placed a few of the fattiest pieces of raccoon dog in his bowl, and cast a silent, exasperated glance at the stones. Sarcastically, he said, “In this day and age, someone still played these tricks with fox calls and fish writings!”
Ji Hong asked curiously, “What did you mean by fox calls and fish writings?”
Yu Jinnian suddenly recalled that their historical trajectory differed from what he knew. Perhaps that anecdote had not occurred here, so he slightly revised the story of “Da Chu Xing, Chen Sheng Wang,” making up a version to share with him. He said, “Look at these stones from the chicken’s belly. Aren’t they the same as hiding books in a fish’s belly? It was just a means of confusing people.”
Ji Hong tossed the stones onto the table and asked, “In your opinion, what was the meaning of these markings on the stones?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Yu Jinnian fiddled with one of the round stones. It rolled slightly, revealing a few deep lines etched in its surface, faintly forming the words, “Xia yi dao wang—dao signifies the seed of grain. Clearly, someone intended to target your family!”
On the side, Shi Xing, Duan Ming, and a few others murmured in trepidation.
Ji Hong listened as Yu Jinnian vividly recounted a few half-true stories. Rather than showing any unease, he merely smiled. “Sometimes I think your master was certainly more than just a divine healer. Had your master still been around, even Minister Min would have had to yield his position.”
Yu Jinnian thought to himself that was not surprising—his “master” spanned five thousand years of history, traversing countless miles across nations both near and far. Even twenty Minister Mins put together could not compare!
Ji Hong finished his meal simply and waved the unrelated people away, leaving only Duan Ming, Shi Xing, a few trusted subordinates, and Yu Jinnian in the room. Then he got straight to the point. “A few days ago, in various southern regions, there were already signs of wild animals fleeing en masse, and countless such ‘omen stones’ appeared. Along the eastern coast, these stones were even found in the ashes after the dead were cremated. Wherever these stones appeared, there was an uproar among officials and commoners alike. Rumors spread that the drought in the north, flooding in the south, and this epidemic were all heavenly portents meant to warn mankind.”
“Utter nonsense,” Yu Jinnian muttered under his breath.
Ji Hong glanced at him and sighed. “Yet this turmoil, for the moment, did not first strike me, but rather my older sister in the palace. Word from the palace said that, led by the Lu faction, they had repeatedly submitted memorials, accusing my sister of neglecting state affairs due to favored indulgence. Now that such strange omens had descended, they directly claimed that the Noble Consort would eventually bring calamity to the court, so they requested the Emperor uphold the laws of the court and purge the harem.”
Yu Jinnian said, “Pah! A natural disaster was a natural disaster, and a man-made calamity was a man-made calamity. What did any of that have to do with a woman?! If just one or two women could determine the fate of a nation, wouldn’t that show how incompetent those so-called ‘patriots’ truly were?” Though he said as much, it could not prevent someone from making a big fuss out of it and pushing Noble Consort Ji into the eye of the storm. What was the real intention behind it? Was it to drive a wedge between the Duke of Li’s estate and the Emperor? But the Ji family, though favored, held no real power. Attacking them was less rewarding than going after the Min family.
Duan Ming asked anxiously, “What word came from the palace? Is Her Ladyship all right? What did the estate say?”
Ji Hong shook his head. “Palace affairs shift in an instant. Lately, it’s feared my sister could hardly take a step. Even if the Emperor favored her, how long could that protection last?”
Yu Jinnian suddenly asked, “Has the second young master of the Min family returned to the capital?”
“Not yet,” Shi Xing replied. “Ever since the second young master of the Min family went to Feng City, he originally wrote every three days to Supervisor Lian. Then, for some reason, all news suddenly stopped, so Supervisor Lian sent people here daily to ask.”
Duan Ming interjected, “I heard His Highness the Twelfth Prince had returned to Yue territory. Rumor has it that something about him offended His Majesty, so he was fined two years of salary and sent back to his fief to reflect on his mistakes. After arriving in Yue, this Twelfth Prince truly obeyed and shut himself in.”
“…” Yu Jinnian turned to look at Ji Hong. Ji Hong happened to look back too. They locked gazes briefly, as though they had the same thought.
Ji Hong said, “First, send people to find Xuefei. We will also choose a day to return to the capital.”
——
Outside in the courtyard, the children quickly found a new game and forgot about the stones Yu Jinnian had tricked them out of. Except for the initial shock and panic, the citizens of Chunan gradually got used to it. They only whispered about it occasionally over tea or after meals and did not dare proclaim anything openly. However, rumors spread throughout the city, and among the children arose a vague chant of an unknown ditty. If asked who taught it, no one could say.
In a flash, the city became vigilant again. At the yamen and city gates, many soldiers with blades stood guard.
Meanwhile, out in the old forest beyond the city, that old hunter grabbed a handful of dried tea leaves, tossed the stones from the raccoon dog into the blazing stove, and stepped out alone to catch his breath. He sat down on a tree stump near the door, chewing tea leaves as he gazed up at the clouds drifting overhead.
The wind swept the clouds into wrinkles, grass battered sparse blossoms, startling birds from the forest.
By the time the young fellow inside called him in for a meal, the old hunter had sat in the forest for a good while. Hearing the call, he brushed the dust off his clothes. Upon entering the house, he let out a sigh and muttered gloomily, “Alas, the weather might be about to change…”