Eight-year-old Lu Chengyu was sent to Qingshui Town by his mother and Nanny Zhou.
It was early autumn. The rain in Jiangnan had drizzled on and on for half a month, leaving the official road muddy and difficult to travel. The carriage became stuck in the mud three times. The last time, the axle broke. With no other choice, the guards traveling with them chopped down bamboo and made a stretcher, carrying Lu Chengyu through the rain.
Lu Chengyu was burning so badly that he had lost consciousness. His small face was flushed crimson, yet his lips were frighteningly pale. Physician Wu had accompanied them the entire way, pouring different medicines into him as he changed the prescriptions, but the fever simply would not go down.
Lu Chengyu had been frail since childhood. In the capital, he had practically grown up immersed in medicine. Whenever the seasons changed, he would suffer a serious illness. In winter, the slightest chill would leave him coughing and wheezing without end. The imperial physicians of the Imperial Medical Academy had examined him one after another, all saying that it was a weakness he had been born with—something that could only be managed, never cured at the root.
This year, as soon as autumn arrived, the temperature in the capital suddenly dropped, and Lu Chengyu fell ill again. This time, it was worse than ever. Not only was he coughing and wheezing, but his fever also refused to subside. The imperial physicians exhausted every method they knew. The fever would recede for two days, only to flare up again. This continued for more than half a month, and the child’s body visibly grew weaker by the day.
The Chief Imperial Physician said to Madam Lu in private, “Madam, the Young Master’s body truly cannot endure the cold of the north any longer. Jiangnan is a land of waterways, with a warm and humid climate. With gradual recuperation, the Young Master’s health may slowly recover.”
Only after hearing those words from the Chief Imperial Physician did Lord Lu finally make up his mind. He had Madam Lu take Lu Chengyu south to the Lu Family Ancestral Residence in Qingshui Town.
Who could have expected that after all the hardship of the journey, just as they were about to reach Qingshui Town, the Young Master’s fever would rise again?
Physician Wu had worked for the Lu family for twenty years and was most skilled in treating children. At that moment, he was so anxious that sores had broken out around his mouth. Every half an hour, he checked Lu Chengyu’s pulse, and each time he finished, his expression grew a little grimmer.
Madam Lu followed beside the stretcher, her silk skirts splashed all over with muddy water. She did not notice it at all, urging them again and again, “Faster! Faster!”
Nanny Zhou supported Madam Lu from the side, her face equally anxious as she muttered incessantly, “The Young Master is blessed and has a great destiny. He’ll certainly be fine. Madam, don’t let yourself become ill from worrying…”
Through the curtain of rain, Qingshui Town finally appeared faintly in the distance.
The steward of the Lu Family Ancestral Residence had long since brought a group of servants to wait at the northern end of the town. The moment Madam Lu saw the steward and the others, she did not even have time for formalities before urgently saying, “Quickly, carry the Young Master inside! Then go and invite every best doctor in town!”
Lu Chengyu was carried into Qingyuan Pavilion and placed on a rosewood canopy bed. He was feverishly delirious, muttering nonsense without pause. One moment he called for “Mother,” and the next he pleaded, “Don’t go…”
Madam Lu remained beside the bed, holding his hand as tears streamed uncontrollably down her face. “Yan’er, Mother is here. Mother isn’t leaving…”
Physician Wu had no time to rest and began administering acupuncture again. One needle went in, then another. Lu Chengyu’s brows furrowed slightly, but his fever still did not abate.
The doctors from town were summoned one after another. First came Doctor Hu of Jiren Hall, a man in his sixties with a goatee. It was said that he had practiced medicine for forty years and saved countless lives. He examined the case together with Physician Wu. They took Lu Chengyu’s pulse, examined his tongue coating, and lifted his eyelids. Then they exchanged a glance and both fell silent.
Madam Lu could not wait any longer. “How is he?”
Doctor Hu hesitated and did not speak. Physician Wu knelt first. “Madam, the Young Master’s illness… this subordinate is incompetent.”
Doctor Hu hurriedly knelt as well. “Madam, the Young Master’s pulse is chaotic as tangled thread. This old man… this old man does not dare make any rash promise of treatment.”
Madam Lu swayed and collapsed straight backward. The maids hastily caught her. Some pinched her philtrum while others poured ginseng decoction into her mouth, and the room descended into chaos.
Nanny Zhou knelt beside Madam Lu and cried out, “Madam! Madam, wake up! The Young Master is still counting on you!”
Madam Lu regained consciousness. Ignoring her own condition, she repeatedly said, “Go and invite them! Go and invite more! Are there any other doctors in town?”
Physician Wu gritted his teeth. “There is also a Doctor Chen, but he has an eccentric temperament and stopped making house calls long ago…”
“Take my calling card!” Madam Lu said, each word distinct. “Tell him that the Lu family of the capital begs him to come.”
Within the time it took an incense stick to burn, Doctor Chen arrived. After taking Lu Chengyu’s pulse, he also shook his head.
A day passed. Every doctor in town with any reputation had come. Some prescribed medicines, some administered acupuncture, and some performed massage. Every method was tried. Lu Chengyu’s fever would subside for half an hour, only to rise again. It continued to fluctuate, with no sign of improvement.
On the third day, Doctor Hu whispered to Physician Wu, “Old Wu, it isn’t that we haven’t done our best. It’s just that… the Young Master’s frailty was present from birth, and his foundation is too weak. All this travel has exhausted the last bit of vitality in him.”
Physician Wu remained silent for a long time before saying hoarsely, “I know.”
After night fell, the rain stopped. Madam Lu sat beside her son’s bed and once again remained awake through the entire night.
Nanny Zhou urged her to rest, but she shook her head. She urged her to drink some ginseng decoction, but Madam Lu shook her head again. No matter what Nanny Zhou urged her to do, she only shook her head, her eyes fixed unwaveringly on the son lying on the bed.
Physician Wu came to check Lu Chengyu’s pulse once every hour. Each time, he finished in silence and withdrew without saying a word.
At dawn on the fourth day, Nanny Zhou’s eyes were red from exhaustion. She went to the entrance of the town to buy some fresh food, hoping to persuade Madam Lu to eat at least a little. But just as she reached a tea stall at the town entrance, she heard several idlers gathered around an old Daoist priest.
The Daoist wore a blue cloth robe and had white hair and a white beard. He held a horsetail whisk in his hand, and his lean face made it impossible to tell his age. At that moment, he was holding a bowl of tea and drinking it unhurriedly.
One of the idlers teased him, “Old Daoist, you’ve been wandering around town for days, claiming you can treat illnesses. How come we haven’t seen you cure a single person?”
Another laughed. “When people invite doctors, they invite physicians who sit in clinics. Who would invite a wandering one?”
The old Daoist was not annoyed. He set down his tea bowl and sighed. “A doctor may cure the body, but not fate. Some illnesses cannot be treated with medicine. This poor Daoist is waiting for someone with whom fate has brought him together.”
Nanny Zhou halted. For some reason, she stopped to listen to one more sentence.
The idler asked again, “What kind of illness cannot be treated with medicine?”
The old Daoist rose to his feet. With a flick of his horsetail whisk, he gazed toward the direction of the Lu Family Ancestral Residence in the eastern part of town and slowly said, “This child has an unusual destiny. He possesses a Pure Yang Body and should naturally be strong and healthy. Unfortunately, when yang reaches its extreme, it declines; when prosperity reaches its height, it begins to diminish. His yang fire is too vigorous, and it is burning away his own foundation.”
Nanny Zhou’s heart gave a violent leap. She no longer had any thought of going to the tea stall. Turning around, she ran back.
Madam Lu had not slept all night and was dozing against the bed when Nanny Zhou’s urgent footsteps startled her awake.
“Madam! Madam!” Nanny Zhou panted. “A Daoist has come to the town entrance. He speaks very strangely, saying things like ‘when yang reaches its extreme, it declines; when prosperity reaches its height, it begins to diminish.’ Listening to him, I felt he was talking about our Young Master!”
Madam Lu shot to her feet. “Invite him at once!”
Physician Wu frowned beside her, wanting to say something. But when he saw the state Madam Lu was in, he swallowed the words.
Over the past few days, every doctor in town had been summoned. Every method that could be tried had been tried, yet Lu Chengyu continued to grow weaker by the day. Physician Wu understood in his heart that if there were no change soon, then perhaps…
The Daoist was invited into Qingyuan Pavilion. He stood beside the bed and looked down at the unconscious Lu Chengyu for the length of a full tea-brewing.
Madam Lu held her breath, not daring to make a sound.
Physician Wu stood to one side. His gaze held scrutiny, yet also a trace of hope even he could not explain.
At last, the Daoist straightened and sighed.
Madam Lu’s heart sank to the bottom.
The Daoist turned toward her and slowly began, “Your son possesses a Pure Yang destiny. His yang fire is too vigorous, and instead it scorches his own body. It is like an oil lamp: when the wick is too thick and the flame burns too fiercely, the oil is consumed and the lamp dies far sooner than others. On top of that, this journey has nearly exhausted the last of his vitality.”
Madam Lu’s legs gave way, and she fell to her knees. “I beg you, Daoist Priest, save my son’s life! The Lu family will surely reward you generously!”
“Madam, please rise. Since fate has allowed us to meet, this poor Daoist will naturally do everything he can.” The Daoist reached out and helped Madam Lu to her feet. Then he took a talisman from his sleeve, had someone bring clean water, dissolved the talisman in it, and fed the water to Lu Chengyu.
Physician Wu could not help taking a step forward. He stared at the bowl of talisman water, wanting to say something, but in the end, he did not speak up to stop him.
Strangely enough, as soon as the talisman water entered Lu Chengyu’s mouth, his breathing gradually steadied, and the flush on his face receded somewhat.
Madam Lu wept tears of joy.