In the guest room, Chu Feng took up paper and brush and transcribed from memory a passage on Yin-Yang dialectics in the first volume, “Plain questions,” of the 《Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon》.
Once he had finished writing, he tucked it into his robes.
The five taels of silver Eunuch Wei had given him as a consultation fee were still with him. Carrying the silver, he told his Cheap Old Mother he was going out for a stroll, then left the post station alone.
He first went to a bookshop and bought a copy of 《Miscellaneous records of Medicinal Herbs》, browsing through it roughly once.
The book contained no systematic medical theory or prescriptions. It was devoted entirely to describing the properties of medicinal herbs, with each herb accompanied by case records of treatments for common illnesses. They all used a single herb—in other words, treating an illness with just one herb.
At this, Chu Feng finally felt completely at ease.
His next step was to find Director Dong Yunyi of the Imperial Hospital, who was treating the old Emperor, and prove his superb medical skills to him. If he could easily treat any chronic illness that left Director Dong helpless, Director Dong would surely recommend him to enter the palace and treat the Emperor.
Once the old Emperor’s illness was cured, there would be no need to use his heart’s blood to treat the Emperor, and he would be able to escape this deadly calamity.
This strategy was called “removing the firewood from beneath the cauldron.”
However, Director Dong knew the Deposed Crown Prince and surely would not believe that the Crown Prince had any outstanding medical skill. He would have to change his appearance.
That would not be difficult for him.
He went to an apothecary and bought some medicinal materials needed for his disguise.
At the apothecary, he paid a shop assistant to grind the medicinal materials into fine powder and make them into an ointment, which he put in a white porcelain bottle for convenient use at any time.
Afterward, he returned to the Royal Posthouse, shut the doors and windows, dissolved the pills in water, and applied the mixture to his face, neck, hands, and all other exposed skin.
Soon, the Deposed Crown Prince’s fair complexion changed to a wheatish tan, the most common complexion among ordinary people.
Not only that, the contours of his face changed as well. His originally handsome face, with its soft features, became rugged and coarse.
Then he took out another specially made voice-altering pill and held it in his mouth until it slowly dissolved. His clear voice turned deep, carrying a touch of weathered weightiness.
Chu Feng picked up a bronze mirror and examined himself closely. The person in the mirror looked like someone else entirely.
Gone was the frail, aristocratic air of the Deposed Crown Prince, the fair-faced Scholar; in its place was a plain, rugged man.
This disguise could be removed simply by washing with a restoring solution, and his original appearance would soon return. He had prepared that restorative medicine as well.
He wrapped a scarf over most of his face, left the Royal Posthouse, and headed for Dong Yunyi’s home.
Dong Yunyi was the Director of the Imperial Hospital, an Imperial Physician dedicated to treating the Emperor, hailed as the greatest Divine Doctor under heaven.
After asking directions along the way, he soon arrived smoothly at the Dong mansion.
He raised his hand and lightly knocked on the door ring. After a moment, the gatekeeper opened the door and asked, “You are...?”
“My surname is Feng, and my name is Feng Chu. I have come to pay a visit to Director Dong.”
Chu Feng had reversed the order of his name and used a homophone for his surname.
“May I ask what business you have?” the gatekeeper asked.
“It’s like this: by a stroke of opportunity, I came into possession of a fragment of an ancient medical text. I copied a small passage from it and would like to seek Director Dong’s advice and see whether he might be interested in buying it.”
With that, Chu Feng took out the sheet of paper he had written earlier and handed it over.
Medical texts were scarce in the Great Jing Dynasty, so they were treasured goods that doctors competed to buy. Even a top-notch Imperial Physician like Director Dong was eager to obtain them.
Quite a few people had come to the Dong mansion to peddle scattered prescriptions and incomplete medical treatises, so the gatekeeper had long since grown used to it.
The gatekeeper took the manuscript, but his manner was somewhat perfunctory. “Young Master Feng, my Master is busy. I’m afraid he won’t have time to look at your things.”
Chu Feng took the hint and immediately pulled out a small piece of broken silver, respectfully offering it with both hands. “Just a little token. If Director Dong buys my fragment of a medical text and I receive a reward, I’ll thank you with another tael of silver.”
One tael of silver was equivalent to a month’s wages for a gatekeeper, a small unexpected windfall by any measure.
The indifference vanished from the gatekeeper’s face, replaced at once by an eager smile. “Certainly! Please come in, Young Master Feng. I’ll go inform him right away and be sure to speak well of you!”
The gatekeeper led Chu Feng to the waiting hall and poured him a cup of hot tea. Then, clutching Chu Feng’s manuscript, he hurriedly ran toward the inner courtyard.
The Dong mansion’s study.
Director Dong was bent over his desk, writing down his reflections on his medical practice that day.
But after writing for only a short while, he furrowed his brow and sighed, then stopped with a helpless look.
Although he had extensive experience practicing medicine, he lacked the support of systematic theory, so the reflections in his case records always came out dry and lifeless.
What troubled him even more was that he had suffered from stubborn migraines for years. They struck repeatedly and caused unbearable pain.
As the Imperial Physician with the top medical skill in Great Jing, he could not even cure his own headache. If word of this got out, people would surely question his medical skill.
Thus, he could only endure it, never speaking of it publicly, much less seeking medical advice or medicine. He knew all too well that no one in the world today surpassed him in medical skill. If he could not cure himself, others would be even less able to help; all he could do was grit his teeth and bear it.
Just as his head throbbed as if it would split and his thoughts grew agitated, the gatekeeper knocked and entered, bowing as he spoke:
“I report to you, Master: there’s a man outside named Feng Chu. He says he has a fragment of an ancient medical text and wants to sell it to you. This is the passage he copied. I found his appearance sincere; he doesn’t seem like someone trying to make a quick profit. It might really be useful.”
Director Dong accepted the paper handed to him by the gatekeeper with a cold expression. On it, he saw the following:
“Yin and Yang are the way of Heaven and Earth, the guiding principles of all things, the parents of change and transformation, the root and beginning of life and death, and the storehouse of the divine.”
“In treating illness, one must seek its Foundation. Thus, the accumulation of Yang forms Heaven, while the accumulation of Yin forms Earth.”
“Yin is still, while Yang is active. Yang gives life, while Yin nourishes growth. Yang brings death, while Yin stores away.”
He had just finished reading when his headache suddenly felt as if it would split his skull. He casually tossed the paper onto the desk and said, “Empty boasts and utter nonsense. I don’t want it! Tell him to leave!”
The gatekeeper wanted to speak up in persuasion, but Director Dong glared and scolded him. “Why haven’t you Withdrawn?”
Frightened, the gatekeeper quickly bowed and cupped his hands in salute, not daring to say another word. He did not even dare take the paper back, and hurried out of the study.
Massaging his temples, Director Dong forced himself to endure the migraine, picked up the brush, and continued writing his reflections on his medical cases.
Suddenly, inspiration flashed through his mind. The medical-theory problem that had troubled him became clear in an instant. The medical theories that had previously left him completely at a loss suddenly made perfect sense, and even his migraine quietly eased considerably.
He assumed that his dedicated research and study had finally yielded results. Delighted, he wrote in a flowing hand, completing a long passage of profound medical theory in one sitting.
Afterward, he read and appreciated the medical discussion he had written, again and again. It seemed truly brilliant, and he praised it repeatedly in his heart, glad that he had achieved enlightenment and received Heaven’s blessing.
Yet amid his excitement, doubts arose: why had medical theories he had pondered for years without solving suddenly become clear in an instant at this very moment?
As he furrowed his brow and pondered, his gaze fell upon the sheet of paper the gatekeeper had brought, lying on the desk. Subconsciously, he reached out and snatched it up, then focused and read it carefully once more.
In just a few brief lines, every word was a gem. They laid bare the origins of the medical way of Heaven and Earth, opening up a brand new system of medical theory based on treatment through Yin-Yang dialectics!
Doctors in the Great Jing Dynasty treated patients using single herbs according to experience. They had no real medical theory, and no one had ever integrated the way of Yin and Yang in Heaven and Earth into medical practice.
This theory of treatment through Yin-Yang dialectics could be called world-changing and unprecedented.
Director Dong finally came to understand that his sudden enlightenment just now had not come from nowhere. Rather, after reading the discussion of Yin-Yang dialectics on that paper, it had subtly opened his mind, clearing the thoughts that had been blocked for years and opening the door to an entirely new field of medical theory!
Unfortunately, this mere page was limited in length. After only a few lines, it ended abruptly, leaving him unable to see what came next. His heart itched with yearning, as if he had tasted a fine jade-pale wine only to be left with a single sip. The frustration was beyond words.
This theory was undoubtedly a medical treasure. How ridiculous that he had just called it “empty boasts and utter nonsense.” He had truly been blind in both eyes and heart!
Buy it! No matter how much it costs, buy it!
But had that Young Master Feng already been driven away by the gatekeeper?