Even Song Junran himself found his words absurd.
Through the veil, he couldn’t see Wen Qingci’s expression. But Song Junran could roughly guess that his junior brother probably thought he was a fool.
“Ahem,” Song Junran forced a cough, trying to change the subject, “I’ll keep an eye on the critically ill patients outside. You don’t need to worry about these things.”
Wen Qingci: …
Fine, as long as senior brother is happy.
“Thank you, senior brother,” Wen Qingci responded.
“It’s no trouble,” Song Junran, regretting his words, quickly stood up with his things, pretending to have something to do, “I’ll go get busy. If you need anything, just send someone to find me.”
“Alright.”
After Song Junran left, Wen Qingci finally lowered his gaze to the wooden carving in his hand.
… Lianhe was not known for wood carving, and the craftsmanship of the piece in his hand was not exquisite, with even some small untreated splinters. But the shape of the carving was very lifelike, and Wen Qingci could immediately recognize that the sandalwood carving was of his own hand.
Dealing with the plague was urgent, and although Wen Qingci was not a hasty person, he still quickened his pace.
He spent no more than the time it takes to burn an incense stick with each patient.
Could someone really remember the shape of his hand in such a short time?
…
The small town was surrounded by mountains, with only a few small plots of arable land. Both people and animals in the wild relied on these few plots for survival.
In spring and winter, when there was no food in the nearby mountains, sick rats came down and gathered here, burrowing and breeding underground, even extending their territory into the town.
Before long, the large amount of rat feces and corpses polluted the underground rivers and wells.
Moreover, the rice jars in every household in Lianhe were not spared.
The people knew the rice was contaminated, but if they didn’t eat it, they would starve.
In desperation, the plague spread widely.
After identifying the source of the plague, the first thing Xie Bufeng did was to transport grain from other prefectures.
At the same time, he temporarily abandoned the wells in the west of the town and disinfected the remaining usable wells with large amounts of herbs.
Now, the grain from other places had arrived, and the old grain in Lianhe County was gathered and burned.
At noon, outside the Lianhe yamen office.
In addition to the patients, two large cast iron pots had appeared on the open ground. One pot was cooking soup and rice, and the other was boiling vegetables.
The aroma of the food could be smelled from several streets away.
Even before lunchtime, people were already lining up in front of the open ground.
Lianhe was gradually coming back to life. Patients who had been lying on their deathbeds were showing signs of recovery, and many could even queue up for food themselves.
“Physician, it’s already noon. You should go back and eat, then continue your work,” said an old man lying on a bed, tightly holding Wen Qingci’s hand.
His eyes were cloudy with age, and his speech was unclear, but he no longer had the aura of death about him.
As soon as he finished speaking, his son ran over and added, “Yes, Physician! You need to eat to keep your strength up. You’ve been working so hard, take a break.”
The son’s eyes were full of respect as he looked at Wen Qingci.
The story of the Physician with the veil dissecting corpses on the open ground had spread throughout Lianhe.
At first, people were afraid of him, avoiding and even resenting him. But seeing the effectiveness of his medicine, their attitudes changed significantly.
With the plague under control, Wen Qingci felt much more at ease.
Seeing that the old man seemed to be in good condition, he finally nodded slowly, “Alright, I’ll come back in the afternoon.”
Just as he was about to leave, Wen Qingci suddenly asked, “By the way, how long have you two been staying in front of the yamen office?”
Although he didn’t understand why Wen Qingci was asking, the old man replied, “About eight or nine days…”
“Eight or nine days? Did you see anyone deliver a wooden box to the yamen office during that time?”
Wen Qingci didn’t have much hope when he asked, but the old man’s son paused for a few seconds and then raised his voice, “Yes, I saw it!”
“A carpenter from the south of the city brought something over a few days ago, saying it was for you,” he recalled, “You weren’t here at the time, so the constable took it inside.”
… Could it really have been sent by a patient?
Wen Qingci instinctively asked, “Do you know where that carpenter lives?”
“Of course! Just follow this road south,” the man said, pointing, “Turn left at the end, and you’ll see the sign from a distance. Do you want me to take you there?”
“No need,” Wen Qingci quickly shook his head with a smile, “I have a rough idea. I’ll go by myself.”
“Alright, be careful on the way.”
“Okay.” With that, Wen Qingci followed the direction indicated and quickly walked towards the carpenter’s shop in the south of the city.
The sandalwood ornament was too valuable. Since it was already carved, there was no reason to return it. But Wen Qingci still wanted to find the carpenter to thank him in person or buy something from his shop to ease his conscience.
As the man had said, the carpenter’s shop was easy to find.
After a short walk, Wen Qingci arrived at the shop.
The slightly dilapidated wooden door had white couplets pasted on both sides, and a soul-calling banner stood in one corner, not yet taken down.
… This family must have lost several members to the plague.
Wen Qingci’s mood instantly became heavy.
Before he could knock, he heard an excited voice behind him, “Physician? What brings you here!”
Wen Qingci turned to see a thin middle-aged man holding a rough porcelain bowl and leading a four or five-year-old girl.
They must have just returned from lunch.
Before Wen Qingci could respond, the thin carpenter handed the bowl to the girl and quickly opened the door, “Please come in, please come in.”
“Thank you,” Wen Qingci nodded and followed them inside.
The carpenter’s shop was small, filled with furniture, wood, and various tools, leaving little room to move.
Wen Qingci’s gaze slowly swept across the shop.
If he wasn’t mistaken, most of the wood piled up in the shop was common types like pine or paulownia.
The sandalwood ornament he received was worth more than everything in the shop…
“It’s no trouble!” The carpenter, not even bothering to eat, pulled the little girl over, “This is my daughter, Jiaxi. She had the plague a few days ago. If it weren’t for you… she might have…”
He couldn’t help but cry as he spoke, then tried to kneel before Wen Qingci.
Poor children grow up quickly, especially Jiaxi, who had just survived a brush with death.
Hearing her father’s words, she also teared up and tried to kneel with him.
“Please, get up—”
Wen Qingci was startled by their actions and quickly extended his right hand to help them up.
He had treated so many patients in the past few days that if they hadn’t mentioned it, he wouldn’t have remembered that this little girl was one of them.
The carpenter suddenly seemed to remember something and quickly turned to bring a chair for Wen Qingci. “Please, have a seat!”
He then said somewhat awkwardly, “You know, our water here isn’t very clean, so… it’s not good for making tea.”
The little girl also brought a stool and sat beside Wen Qingci.
He quickly waved his hand and said to the carpenter, “No need for such trouble. To be honest, I came here today to… buy something.”
“Buy something?” The carpenter was a bit confused. “Are you here to buy furniture?”
His shop mainly sold large pieces of furniture.
If Wen Qingci wanted to buy something, he would be happy, but why would Wen Qingci come here to buy furniture?
Although this Physician was just a traveling physician, he was always dressed in white and saved people from danger, making him seem like a deity to the common people.
Why would such a person come here to buy furniture?
Wen Qingci himself found the idea strange.
He thought for a moment and quickly said, “I want to commission a new medicine chest.”
Wen Qingci’s voice came through the white gauze, sounding muffled.
When his daughter was sick, the carpenter had stayed by her side and had seen Wen Qingci’s medicine box.
Having been in the trade for so many years, he wouldn’t mistake it. Wen Qingci’s medicine chest was made of top-quality golden nanmu wood.
The wood was dense, hard, and resistant to decay, lasting for hundreds of years.
Why would the Physician, who had a perfectly good golden nanmu medicine chest, come to him?
The carpenter paused and then sighed softly.
He finally guessed why Wen Qingci had come to him today.
“Sir, you came for that sandalwood carving, didn’t you?” The carpenter decided to be direct.
Seeing this, Wen Qingci didn’t beat around the bush either.
He nodded slowly and said, “Yes… this gift is too precious. I really can’t accept it casually.”
Even through the veil, his tone was unmistakably sincere.
“To be honest,” the carpenter sighed, “someone had already paid me for that carving.”
…He had originally promised not to reveal this.
But the carpenter couldn’t bear to profit from the carving any longer.
Under his wide sleeves, Wen Qingci subconsciously clenched his hands. “What do you mean?”
He didn’t realize how anxious he felt at that moment.
The middle-aged carpenter paused and then turned to his daughter. “Jiaxi, go to the room and bring those two carvings to Daddy.”
“Okay!” The little girl nodded quickly and ran into the courtyard.
The room suddenly fell silent. After a moment, the carpenter said in a deep voice, “That day, an official came and asked if I had any good wood for making carvings.”
Almost immediately, Wen Qingci realized that the “official” the carpenter mentioned was Xie Bufeng.
The carpenter’s voice was low and hoarse, with a slight accent from Lianhe.
It was like a wind carrying yellow sand, blowing into Wen Qingci’s heart.
Each word felt like a grain of sand, slowly scraping across his heart.
It didn’t hurt.
It just felt strange.
“…I said I had three pieces of ancestral sandalwood. The official didn’t hesitate and bought all three pieces.”
“Then, he asked me to teach him how to carve.”
“But carving isn’t something you can learn in a day. The official spent two hours here and still couldn’t carve something he was satisfied with. In the end, he gave me the last piece of wood and asked me to carve it according to his instructions.”
As soon as the carpenter finished speaking, the little girl named Jiaxi came running back with two wooden boxes.
“Sir, look, it’s these!”
She carefully handed the items to Wen Qingci.
…The box containing the sandalwood carving was particularly heavy.
For a moment, Wen Qingci didn’t know how to open it—
Holding the box with his right hand, he gently raised his left hand.
Whether due to injury, weakness, or nervousness, his fingers trembled slightly at that moment.
Sunlight streamed in through the window.
The tiny wood shavings floating in the air glowed faintly golden.
At noon, people were lining up outside the yamen office to receive food.
The streets were empty and quiet, with only the sound of cicadas ringing in the air.
After a few seconds, Wen Qingci gathered his courage and, under the little girl’s expectant gaze, slowly opened the box.
—Two rough and simple wooden carvings appeared before his eyes.
The carvings had many knife marks, clearly showing that the carver had repeatedly modified them.
But unfortunately, carving wasn’t something that could be mastered in a day.
These two pieces only vaguely resembled hands and had no aesthetic appeal.
…Wen Qingci slowly reached out and gently touched them with his fingertips.
Through the rough wood grain, Wen Qingci could almost imagine Xie Bufeng carving them.
The middle-aged carpenter said softly, “I thought the official was buying them for himself, but I didn’t expect that after finishing them, he asked me to deliver the carving to the yamen office.”
At this point, he was already choked up.
The next moment, he wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes with the back of his hand.
“He even instructed me to say that it was a gift from the people of Lianhe County, and that you must accept it…”
With that, the carpenter was already sobbing uncontrollably.
Seeing this, the little girl beside him also had red eyes.
She burrowed into her father’s arms and began to sob softly.
Unfortunately, Wen Qingci had been inside the yamen office and did not come out, so Xie Bufeng had to “deliver” the item on his behalf.
Although the carpenter was extremely grateful to Wen Qingci, it was difficult for him to survive in this year of disaster.
He really couldn’t afford to give away the family heirloom sandalwood as a gift.
It wasn’t until Xie Bufeng reminded him that he realized that not only himself but the entire Lianhe had not properly thanked Wen Qingci.
Thinking of this, his heart was half grateful and half ashamed.
“…Why would he do this?” Wen Qingci murmured.
At this moment, his mind was blank.
Hearing Wen Qingci’s voice, the little girl sitting next to him sniffled and said, “That lord, the lord said, said that you have never been properly thanked by your patients, so—so he wanted us to give you a small gift.”
Wen Qingci: “…”
He slowly closed his eyes and clenched the rough wooden carving in his hand.
The girl, who was sobbing softly, spoke with a Lianhe accent and a bit of a nasal tone.
But just from her words, Wen Qingci could imagine how Xie Bufeng looked when he said this.
—The young emperor in black robes, perhaps frowning slightly, gently twirling a piece of wood in his hand.
After a moment’s pause, he spoke these words in a voice devoid of emotion.
Then, with utmost solemnity, he entrusted this task to the carpenter’s family.
There was no need to guess anymore.
…Xie Bufeng definitely knew that he was Wen Qingci.
Never been properly thanked by patients?
Wen Qingci never knew that Xie Bufeng could think of this.
In his previous life, when he was in school, Wen Qingci had also thought that one day, a patient would give him a banner of gratitude.
But unfortunately, he was unexpectedly transported into a book and never got to see that day.
In this life, because of the events in Shan Yu Jian, he had visited countless towns plagued by water epidemics over the years.
But in this era, the practice of dissection was never understood.
Not to mention cooperating with his experiments, even when he finally came up with a prescription, few dared to use it.
Wen Qingci saved many people, but as Xie Bufeng said, he had never been properly thanked.
Instead, he was left with the rumor of being a “Immortal-faced demon.”
As a young man, Wen Qingci had been unwilling and even a bit sad.
But later, he had unconsciously gotten used to it, becoming numb and indifferent.
Until now, finally, someone had quietly sent him a gift behind his back.
…How could the people of Lianhe County carve out his hand just from memory?
Only Xie Bufeng could do it.
Growing up amidst malice, he was particularly sensitive to all this.
And he knew exactly what Wen Qingci needed.
“Physician, please wait a moment!” After saying that, the carpenter seemed to realize something and turned to go inside the house.
After a long while, he finally retrieved the silver wrapped in cloth from before.
Xie Bufeng was very generous; this bag of silver was more than enough to buy three wooden carvings.
It could even support the carpenter’s family for several years.
“I really shouldn’t accept this silver,” the carpenter’s voice came from the main room, “Please return this silver to that lord—”
But when he walked out of the main room, Wen Qingci, who had been sitting there, was already gone.
Only an empty chair remained, quietly placed in the center of the room.
“Jiaxi, where did that Physician go?” the carpenter anxiously asked the little girl.
“He, he just left,” Jiaxi said, wiping her tears, “When he left, he left a hairpin, saying he wanted to buy those two wooden carvings.”
The carpenter looked in the direction the little girl pointed—on a small unfinished table, a jade hairpin lay quietly.
“Oh! This won’t do!” The carpenter immediately picked up the item on the table and ran out the door.
But by then, the long street was already empty, with no one in sight.
*
“…Cough, cough, this smell is really choking, it could kill not just rats but even people.” Outside Lianhe City, a young imperial physician stood beside Wen Qingci, his words full of admiration.
Before this, he had never heard of using sulfur to kill rats.
He had to admit, this wandering Physician was quite capable.
A gust of hot wind brought a strong smell of sulfur, and he covered his mouth and nose with a thick white cloth.
“It is indeed dangerous, it’s better to stay away.” After saying this, Wen Qingci led the imperial physician away from the area.
He had casually mentioned using sulfur fumigation to kill rats, and a few days later, Xie Bufeng had actually transported the materials over.
—Although obtaining natural sulfur wasn’t difficult, Lianhe was tens of thousands of miles away from the sulfur-producing area.
Mining and transporting it in a short time was no easy task.
Thinking of this, Wen Qingci couldn’t help but look back at the empty space: “I didn’t expect the sulfur to arrive so quickly.”
“Of course,” hearing Wen Qingci’s words, the young imperial physician’s voice was filled with pride, “Just look at who our… uh, our patrol inspector is.”
Damn it!
The imperial physician felt a chill down his spine, he almost let it slip.
To ease the awkwardness, the imperial physician walked with Wen Qingci towards the city, saying, “The matters in Lianhe County are almost over. When it’s done, why don’t you two come back to Yongdu with us?”
In his professional field, he truly admired this wandering Physician.
And he felt it was a waste for someone of his caliber to stay in the wilderness.
Wen Qingci paused: “I…”
Afraid that Wen Qingci would refuse, the imperial physician quickly said, “I’m sure the patrol inspector will agree. Besides, there have been wandering Physicians in the imperial physician’s office before.”
It was obvious that the “wandering Physician” he mentioned was himself.
Wen Qingci nodded casually.
After spending a few days together, the young imperial physician had noticed that although the person beside him always wore a veil and dressed oddly, he was actually the same age as him and very easy to talk to outside of professional matters.
As they became more familiar, the imperial physician couldn’t help but share stories about Yongdu.
After looking around to make sure no one else was there, he lowered his voice and asked, “Have you heard about the current emperor and a former imperial physician named Wen?”
Then, with genuine emotion, he said, “Our emperor was really good to Imperial Physician Wen.”
“……”
“Of course I’ve heard. By the way…” Wen Qingci, feeling awkward, looked back at the empty space and suddenly sped up his speech, “You go back to the yamen office first, I just remembered I have something to do here.”
“Ah? Alright then, but don’t stay here too long.” The imperial physician, disappointed that he couldn’t share his stories, quickly left the area, unable to stand the smell.
Our emperor was really good to Imperial Physician Wen.
—This sentence, like the thick smoke in the empty space, enveloped Wen Qingci, refusing to dissipate.
It made his heart pound heavily, one beat after another.
Standing alone in the empty space, Wen Qingci paused, finally opening the wooden box in his sleeve once again.
His movements were careful.
In terms of craftsmanship, the two half-finished wooden carvings in the box were indeed crude.
But every knife mark on the carvings was filled with seriousness and patience.
Wen Qingci’s fingers slowly brushed over the wooden carvings, and he couldn’t help but smile gently.
As he placed them back into the box, Wen Qingci softly said, “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
Even through the thick white cloth, one could hear the endless tenderness in his words at that moment.
Dewy on BLPSG Chapter 86: The Emperor’s old illness: “I want QingCi to give this little wolf a big slap after healing him -__-” Oct 23, 13:18
