Denghuaxiao

Chapter 236 Aroma

 The snow on the mountains has stopped.

The branches of the plum trees were frosty and cold, and Lu Zhuo suddenly shivered.

Pei Yunying lowered his eyes and looked at her.

She stood in front of her, her thin body wrapped in a gray-green cotton robe, making her whole body pale and thin. Everyone who has met Lu Chen thinks she is weak and delicate. People who know her better know that she is calm and crazy, but no one knows that she has worked alone as a medicine practitioner for many years on a barren mountain sealed by heavy snow.

 Medicine person.

Pei Yunying’s eyelashes trembled.

That stone tablet, that rough-hewn stone tablet has scrawled and familiar writing, and even more familiar is the name "Mo Ruyun". He had heard it once from Miao Liangfang during the celebration party at Renxin Medical Center.

“That day, officials dug up the bones of many children from Miss Mo’s backyard. Later it was discovered that Miss Mo had been secretly buying children as medicine men.”

"In the beginning, they were just maids and girls in her courtyard, but the frequent changes of servants in a month aroused suspicion. Later, she bought children from poor backgrounds from various people. Because she gave them a lot of money, she gradually included them. A group of people specially went to Beijing to find some beggars and farmers’ children to buy.”

"She hid these children in a secret room, provided them with food and drink, fed them various poisons, and then untied them, and so on. The children's bodies are already delicate, no matter how hard they are, they will die in just a few months at most."

Miao Liangfang said that the medical officer who supported the medicine people was eventually killed in the sea of ​​​​fire. However, the stone tablet under Luo Mei Feng proved that Mo Ruyun was not dead.

He didn't know how Mo Ruyun escaped from Shengjing, but he knew very well that Lu Yun, who was engraved with the word "mentor", was by no means just a "good disciple" of this ruthless medical officer.

There are rows of unnamed graves behind the stone tablet, sixteen in total. When she first saw them, she called herself "Seventeen".

 Seventeen, the seventeenth medicine man, seventeen, the people who will be buried in the tomb.

Pei Yunying's heart shook violently.

Many things that I didn’t understand before were suddenly understood at this moment.

The first time he met Lu Huan, she was picking up corpses at the Sunan execution ground. Li Wenhu also mentioned that he met her again on the execution ground and she picked up corpses more than once.

The secret letter from Changwu County stated that Miss Lu San was arrogant, capricious, lively and clever. However, Lu Yun, who later appeared at Shengjing Renxin Medical Center, was completely different from the cold and indifferent person in the secret letter.

 What kind of experiences did a little girl who ran away from home when she was young be able to kill and bury corpses without changing her expression? She was desperate for revenge, more crazy than decisive.

Why did she always keep silent about Sunan's past, why could she move freely on the barren mountains that others avoided, the strangely long ropes in the thatched house, the deep finger marks on the wall... At the celebration banquet that day, she and An unusual trance.

In the small farmyard of the tea garden in Mangming Township, she held a tea bowl and said sarcastically to him in a calm tone: "Then you may be disappointed, I am invulnerable to all poisons."

 She is really very patient.

 He didn't notice it at all.

Those deliberate alienations, the so-called "impossibility", the madness and weakness revealed at certain moments, finally suddenly condensed into a picture at this moment, pieced together into a complete answer.

“Lu Yun,” Pei Yunying looked at her and said softly, “Have you ever been Mo Ruyun’s medicine man?”

 Lu Zong raised his head stiffly.

　　When they first met, he was always aloof and sure of victory, teasing, probing, and questioning. He was like a shadow that was annoying but could not be shaken off. She wanted to pull him down and take off his mask of ease.

Later, as they got to know each other, got to know each other, and interacted with each other, he knew the details she was hiding, and she also knew that he was not as simple as he seemed.

The distance that was deliberately drawn had already been crossed unconsciously. The way he looked at her became softer and softer, and his smile no longer had the meaninglessness of the past. At this moment, his eyes were so complicated that it made her eyes sour. , my heart surged.

 She couldn't face it.

Instinctively wants to run away.

I want to escape from this sad and sad ending. She hoped that her story would end more lightly, even if it was sudden, instead of sinking into the mire so heavily and slowly, making the onlookers on the shore mourn for her.

 The familiar dull pain in the chest gradually came, like a surge of pain that was about to drown the person in an instant. Lu Yan pushed him away, turned around and walked back.

Having only taken a few steps, I couldn't help but cover my chest and slowly bent down while holding on to the wall.

Seeing this, Pei Yunying stepped forward to help her slide down, and asked nervously: "What's wrong with you?"

Lu Zong turned his head and spat out a mouthful of blood with a "wow" sound.

Pei Yunying's eyes changed drastically and he hugged her: "Lu Yun?"

"I…"

The pain in her chest was more severe than every time before. The pain that she had been trying to suppress all hit her at this moment. She was so painful that her whole body was shaking, and she was sweating for a moment. She curled up in the other person's arms and said with difficulty: "Take my flower." Go back...Golden Tan..."

 After saying this, she could no longer hold on, her vision went dark and she fainted.

The last thing she heard was Pei Yunying's hurried shouting.

 “Lu Huo!”

 …

 Lu Zong had a brief dream.

 Dreams about the heavy snowfall in Changwu County that year, and she meets Yun Niang who wants to get into the carriage in front of the Li Zhi County House.

Yun Niang helped her kowtow and saved the Lu family. She followed Yun Niang to southern Jiangsu and lived in Luomei Peak.

Testing medicine, testing poisons, studying medicine, and studying medicine, she wandered around Luomei Peak for many years, visiting every place. When she finally came down, she looked back at the lonely cabin left on the mountain, and the small wooden house hidden deep in the grass and trees. There are seventeen messy and desolate tombs.

 She is not the one in the seventeenth grave.

 It was Yun Niang who took her up the mountain.

 When she woke up, her eyes were completely blank, and she felt like she was lying on someone's back and being carried down the mountain.

The man walked very fast, and his back was safe and warm. She moved her fingers and looked sideways: "Pei Yunying?"

The heat of his breath fell on the other person's ear. Pei Yunying was startled and said, "Are you awake?"

 “What are you doing?” Lu Yan asked weakly. The pain he felt just now is no longer obvious, like a raging tide, only to be calm afterward.

 But her body is very tired, so tired that it is difficult for her to say more than one word now.

"You fainted just now. There is a medical officer at the bottom of the mountain." Pei Yunying carried her on his back and said without stopping, "Hold on, I will take you down the mountain now."

 Lu Zhen got sick just now.

 He looked at her arms and saw that there were no peach blossom spots or purple cloud spots, which showed that it was not a disease. However, the way she lay trembling in his arms just now was shocking.

 He is not a medical officer, so the only thing he can do is to take Lu Shuo down the mountain to find Chang Jin as soon as possible.

 “Where are my flowers?”

 “They are all here.”

 Lu Zong felt relieved.

She put her hands on his neck. For some reason, she felt calm in her heart at this time. It was like a huge boulder hanging in the air finally crashed to the ground at a certain moment, feeling helpless and relieved.

Pei Yunying finally found out.

 She actually never wanted him to know that she had actually tried hard to save herself. But during those years in Luomei Peak, those poisons were like a part of her body, fused with her body forever.

Perhaps no poison in the world can poison her anymore.

 Similarly, there will be no medicine in the world that can save her.

She was destined to sink into the quagmire, but at the last moment when she was sinking, she met the person she wanted to be with.

What a pity.

 Lu Zhen closed his eyes.

“You are crazy,” she said with tears in her eyes, but she smiled slightly and complained in a low voice, “You dare to go down the mountain without me to guide you.”

Pei Yunying turned his back to her and spoke in a gentle tone: "When I went up the mountain, I tied a red cloth and marked it. Don't worry, Doctor Lu, the selection of our front minister will not be based on looks alone."

Lu Zhen laughed "puff".

He once said this sentence, when she didn't know everything, when she had dreamed about the future, it was teasing and funny, but when she heard it now, there was a bit of sadness hidden in the joke.

"Why don't you tie a cloth?" She touched Pei Yunying's eyes, and her long eyelashes were like flickering butterfly wings, slightly itching in her hands: "Aren't you afraid of going blind?"

"It's very dangerous, so Doctor Lu, watch me and don't sleep."

His tone was as gentle as possible, but Lu Zhen saw that there was no smile on his face. She had never seen such an expression on Pei Yunying, which reminded her of the night when Pei Yunshu gave birth to the orb in Prince Wenjun's Mansion.

 So helpless yet trying hard to stay calm.

 She suddenly felt sad. It hurts to be left behind, and she knows what it feels like.

 She didn't want Pei Yunying to experience that feeling.

 It’s just that it seems like it’s going to be counterproductive after all.

The crisp fragrance coming from his body was gentle and cold. Lu Zhu leaned his head against his face and whispered in a daze: "You smell so good... I like the smell of this sachet."

Pei Yunying was startled.

 She had said more than once that she wanted his "Xiao Guang Leng". At first, she thought it was a joke, but then she found out that she didn't understand the meaning of "lover's fragrance". He restrained and avoided it to avoid misunderstanding, but now he regrets it at this moment.

 Why wasn’t it discovered earlier?

 Why are you starting to regret it now?

 It's too late, he's always too late.

Pei Yunying said softly: "If you like it, I'll give you a sachet when you get better, okay?"

 Lu Zhen did not answer.

She was as thin as a snowflake, heavy and light at the same time. She was lying on his back, her breathing was thin, and she was so well-behaved that she had never seen him before.

But he would rather she was still as powerful and smart as she was when they first met, tricking everyone around. At least then she was alive, like a ball of fire, instead of like now, when the ball of fire is gradually burning out, leaving only A little will extinguish the embers.

Lu Zong tilted his head and put it against his ear. His lips were soft, warm and clear, and he murmured a few words.

Pei Yunying turned around. Her voice was so soft that it was drowned in the wind and snow and could not be heard clearly.

"What did you say?"

 Lu Zong tilted his head.

The snow on Luomei Peak began to fall again. The light snow at the beginning turned into heavy snowflakes, falling on people. She lay on Pei Yunying's back, covered with a cloak, and the snow particles quickly covered their heads. Looking from a distance, Go, it looks like a white head.

"Snowing?"

She looked toward the sky, gently stretched out a hand, and caught a snowflake in the distance. The snowflake fell on her palm, taking the shape of a complete flower, melting away little by little and disappearing into nothing.

Lu Zhuo murmured.

"The snowy moon is the most suitable, and the plum blossoms and snow are all clear... Last year when there was snow in the south of the Yangtze River, the plum blossoms bloomed at the end of the month..."

“The plum blossoms bloomed early this year, and they are still as bright as ever...the cold and solitary light is shining brightly, all I owe is...some snow..."

Pei Yunying was startled and asked warmly: "What is this word?"

 She didn't speak, she put her head on the young man's shoulder and closed her eyes quietly.

 …

The snow from Luomei Peak drifted down from the mountain, and when it reached Sunan City, it was a bit less cold.

 In the execution ground, two more corpses of sick people appeared overnight.

The corpses of the plague victims were buried in the ground, and deeper snow covered them. In the vast expanse, it was gradually difficult to tell which grave was where.

Chang Jin’s face looked very ugly.

 The epidemic kills new people every day, and medical officials **** people from the hands of the king of hell. The epidemic in southern Jiangsu is no longer spreading, which is a blessing among misfortunes. However, for those who are infected, it seems to have fallen into deeper despair.

The purple cloud spots on Cuicui's body have also worsened. She fell into coma twice last night, and the poison of the thick and flat skin has not yet been resolved. Her body is already weak and she will not be able to hold on like this.

Ding Yong's only thought before his death was that his daughter would live. The medical officers were in Shengjing to treat noble people, and they only had minor illnesses and pains. However, his gradually condensed heart came back to life at the critical moment of life and death in Sunan, and he once again felt the separation between life and death. Compassion.

After the government servants who buried the body left, Chang Jin returned to the hospital with a heavy heart. As soon as he entered the door, he saw Lin Danqing and Ji Xun sorting medicinal materials at the table.

Seeing Chang coming in, Lin Danqing stood up, and Ji Xun looked a little wrong.

 “What’s wrong?” Chang Jin asked.

"Yizheng," Ji Xun glanced at the patients in the hospital, and went to talk to Chang Jin outside the door, "The person who transported Chimu Teng wrote in a letter saying that heavy snow has delayed the trip, and Chimu Teng from Pingzhou may be three days late. It won’t arrive until five days.”

As soon as these words came out, Chang Jin's expression changed: "Three to five days? No, they can't wait that long!"

Even these two days are tight. If we wait another three to five days, there will only be a few more dead bodies in the execution ground.

Lin Danqing walked over with worried expressions on his face.

At present, only the red wood vine can cure the poison of thick and flat, but the recent Pingzhou shipment did not arrive in time. At present, there is no other alternative medicine, which is extremely difficult.

"Can you ask Pei Dianshuai's men to go to the rescue? Their guards may be able to move faster."

It's okay if I don't mention it, but if I mention it, Chang Jin's eyebrows will be even more anxious.

Pei Yunying went up and down Meifeng with Lu Zhu yesterday.

These two people are not impulsive people on weekdays and act calmly. They don't know why they suddenly went crazy when such heavy snow came into the mountains. Unexpectedly, Pei Yunying's men didn't take this to heart and rejected Chang Jin's suggestion to immediately take people into the mountains to search for the person.

　　I haven't returned home for a day and a night, and I don't know what happened.

Ji Xun said: "In order to correct the problem, it is better to tell Li Xianwei's people again to go into the mountains."

Medical officers were unable to command the imperial guards, but the county captain in Sunan City might be able to speak more easily.

Just as Chang Jin was about to speak, Lin Danqing on the side suddenly moved his eyes, pointed in the distance and shouted: "Yizheng, is that Sister Lu? They are back!"

 Everyone looked in her direction.

In the windy and snowy field, a person gradually came. The young man was dragging a medicine basket in his hand and carrying someone on his back. When everyone saw this, they hurriedly ran towards him. As they got closer, they gradually saw clearly that the person behind him had his eyes closed and was lying on Pei Yunying's shoulder. His face was as pale as paper. It was Lu Zhuo.

Lin Danqing was startled: "Sister Lu?"

 Lu Zhen was silent and unresponsive.

Pei Yunying put down the medicine basket, turned around and held her in his arms, his eyes condensed: "Take her back to her place of residence first."

“Yes, yes, yes,” Chang Jin said, “It’s snowing too much here. Let’s take Medical Officer Lu back first.”

Hurrying all the way back to the medical officer's dormitory, Pei Yunying put Lu Zhu on the bed. Lin Danqing quickly sat on the edge of the bed and opened Lu Zhu's sleeves.

"I've seen it, and there are no peach blossom spots." Pei Yunying said.

　　“Then this is…”

“She vomited blood once on the mountain. I don’t know what happened to her, whether it was an old illness, but she seemed to be in pain.”

"Vomiting blood?" Chang Jin's expression changed, and he left everyone alone and stepped forward to check Lu Zhuo's pulse.

 Everyone in the room looked at him nervously.

After a moment, Chang Jin took back his hand, looked at the person on the couch and frowned: "Strange."

"how?"

“The pulse is weak and the energy is weak, but other than that, there is nothing abnormal. How come you suddenly vomited blood?”

Lin Danqing thought for a while: "Is it because I am too tired from being busy treating the epidemic these days? Sister Lu had a nosebleed before."

Ji Xun shook his head: "Tiredness will not cause pain." He looked at Pei Yunying: "Master Pei just said that she was in pain?"

Pei Yunying nodded silently.

He still remembered the way Lu Huo curled up and trembled in his arms. He knew that Lu Huo had always been very patient and would not even moan unless he was in extreme pain.

"First, go and make a bowl of medicine to calm the mind and nourish the qi and give it to her." Chang Jin said, "It snowed heavily yesterday and it was cold on the mountain. She is not angry at all now."

Ji Xun nodded and was about to turn around and leave when he suddenly heard Pei Yunying say: "Wait a minute."

 Everyone looked at him.

 He said: "Ordinary medicines are of no use to her."

Ji Xun frowned: "Why?"

 “She worked as a medicine woman.”

As soon as these words came out, there was a sudden silence in the room.

Lin Danqing looked at him in disbelief: "What did you say?"

Pei Yunying lowered her eyes and her tone was solemn.

“Lu Huan may have been a medicine man for many years.”