The old man placed his hand on Chen Deng's pulse, closed the door and pondered, and after a long time he said, "It has not been completely eliminated yet."
"Continue taking your medication."
Chen Deng listened and said with a bitter face: "I have vomited several pots of worms in the past few days. When will it end?"
The old man glared and said, "How should I know? Who told you to eat fish sashimi as a meal?"
The old man who treated the patient was Hua Tuo, whom Chen Deng had been looking for for half a year and had finally invited.
Chen Deng saw that Hua Tuo looked unhappy, so he asked tentatively, "Mr. Yuanhua, can my disease be cured?"
Hua Tuo pondered for a moment. In fact, he was not sure. Chen Deng had eaten too much fish sashimi. Judging from the way he vomited out several pots of insects, he was afraid that there were quite a few in his lungs.
He stroked his beard and said, "I will prescribe you some more medicine. After you take it, come back to see me in three years."
After hearing this, Chen Deng asked, "Will the worms in the internal organs break out?"
Hua Tuo's face froze, "Who told you?"
Chen Deng said honestly: "It was Yuan Xianyi, the second son of the Yuan family. When he saw my appearance, he instructed me to invite the master."
After hearing this, Hua Tuo was very surprised. It took him several days to diagnose Chen Deng's condition. How could Yuan Xi be able to see it at a glance?
And how did he know that he could cure Chen Deng's illness?
But Hua Tuo really had no good way to treat Chen Deng's illness. Did he have to open his stomach and take out the worms in his internal organs?
He shook his head. This was all his imagination. Not to mention whether he could endure the pain, even the bleeding from the cut was difficult to stop.
Thinking of this, he decided to get away quickly to avoid ruining his reputation.
Chen Deng saw Hua Tuo hesitated and said, "Sir, if you can cure this stubborn disease, I will reward you handsomely."
"Besides, there are wars everywhere in Xuzhou now, so it's not easy for you to return home."
Hua Tuo thought so too. It didn't matter where he stayed. Since someone was providing meals, he might as well stay there and slowly think of a solution.
He said, "Can I meet the young master of the Yuan family you mentioned?"
Chen Deng listened and smiled bitterly, "He may be in Youzhou or Yecheng now. Deng can send someone to deliver the letter, but it is hard to say whether he can come."
After hearing this, Hua Tuo lost interest and thought that since there was no destiny, then forget it.
A special guest arrived at Yuan Xi's mansion.
He saw the name on the business card and said to Sun Li, "Come out with me."
The two walked one after the other to the gate of the mansion, and saw Liu He, dressed as a scholar, waiting outside. Yuan Xi walked up quickly and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Minister."
Liu He didn't see Yuan Xi come out in person, and was stunned for a moment before returning the greeting: "Greetings, Master Xian Yi."
"I have never found a chance to thank you in person for saving my life the other day. Now I heard that you have returned to Yecheng, so I came to visit you."
He then smiled bitterly and said, "Young Master, you can just call me Liu He. Now I am no longer a scholar and I am no longer a minister."
Liu He, a native of Tancheng, Donghai County, was a minister of the Han Dynasty royal family and the son of Liu Yu, the governor of Youzhou.
This Tancheng is the current seat of Xuzhou where Liu Bei is located, located in Xia Pi.
Liu He's experience was also quite tortuous. He was originally appointed as a minister and returned to Youzhou with a secret decree from Emperor Xian of Han, asking Liu Yu to lead troops to welcome the emperor.
Liu He was still an honest man at that time. When he passed through Yuan Shu's territory, he told Yuan Shu the truth. After Yuan Shu knew it, he detained Liu He instead and used him to threaten Liu Yu.
After Gongsun Zan learned about this, he did not want Liu Yu to help Yuan Shu, and because of this he had a dispute with Liu Yu, so he privately sent his cousin Gongsun Yue to meet Yuan Shu.
As a result, when the two sides met, Gongsun Zan formed an alliance with Yuan Shu and detained Liu Yu's troops, and from then on became enemies with Liu Yu.
Not long after, Liu He looked for an opportunity to escape from Yuan Shu. When he passed through Jizhou, he was detained by Yuan Shao, who also wanted to take the opportunity to negotiate terms with Liu Yu.
I can only say that the Yuan brothers sometimes have similar train of thought.
But it was too late. Liu Yu led an army to attack Gongsun Zan and was defeated and killed. He had no time to take care of Liu He. Yuan Shao ended up being the bad guy in vain.
After Liu Yu's death, Liu He defected to Yuan Shao in order to avenge Gongsun Zan. He went north to Youzhou and joined forces with Yan Rou and others to deal with Gongsun Zan, but his whereabouts were unknown during the last attack on Yijing.
It was not until the Battle of Yijing that he was rescued by Yuan Xi.
Yuan Xi looked at Liu Hexian's mature face and had no idea what he was thinking. He thought that after so many things happened, his true thoughts were probably buried deep in his heart.
Yuan Xi thought that if he were Liu He, he would probably have extremely complicated feelings towards the Yuan family, which would be mixed with a lot of resentment, right?
It is said that the Hou mother and son and Liu He whom he rescued will be useful in the future expansion of Youzhou, but if he fails to handle them properly, it will be tantamount to playing with fire and getting burned.
Thinking of this, Yuan Xi said to Liu He with a humbly face: "I dare not. I have always admired Lord Liu very much. If you are grateful for not abandoning me, I will call you brother."
After some courtesy, Yuan Xi welcomed Liu He in.
Yuan Xi brought Liu He into the guest room, dismissed everyone, and said to Liu He, "Brother, do you have any advice for me this time?"
Seeing that Yuan Xi spoke directly without beating around the bush, Liu He sat up straight and said, "To be honest, I came here this time because I really have something to ask of you, young master."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi smiled and said, "That's great. I have something to ask you, brother."
Liu He listened and asked in confusion, "Sir, are you so sure that I can help you? Why don't you even ask me what I want?"
Yuan Xi asked, "Brother, do you want to return to Youzhou or Hanting?"
Liu He was stunned and his face became serious.
It was late at night in Beixin City.
In a small room in the City Lord's Mansion, Mrs. Hou had just coaxed the child in her arms to sleep when she heard a slight noise outside the room.
She held her breath, listened attentively, and vaguely made out that it was the sound of footsteps!
She suddenly became nervous, picked up a pair of scissors and put them in her sleeve.
Not long after, the door was pushed, but was blocked by the bolt, and then there was a gentle knock.
Hou became nervous, thinking that she had bolted the door in advance. She picked up the oil lamp, walked behind the door, and whispered, "Who is it?"
The man outside hesitated for a moment before speaking, "But is it General Gongsun's wife?"
Hou's heart skipped a beat and she asked, "Who are you?"
The man outside breathed a sigh of relief and said hastily, "Madam, I am an old subordinate of the general!"
"The general died, and I was unable to save him. I regret it deeply."
"I have learned that my wife and young son are trapped by Yuan family, so I have come to rescue them!"
"Madam, please follow us and leave quickly. We will rescue you and escape from the city. In the future, we will serve the general's young son as our leader, start an uprising to avenge the general, reoccupy Youzhou, and drive out the Yuan family!"
After hearing this, Mrs. Hou bit her lip and said, "The child is only a few years old, what's the use of him?"
"Moreover, most of Youzhou has risen up against my husband. Where is there any place for us to stay?"
"We, an orphan and a widow, are a burden to you. You should leave as soon as possible."
Another voice said angrily: "Madam, don't you want to avenge the general?"
"No wonder you didn't die with the general. I'm afraid your wife has already become Yuan's concubine, right?"
Hou's face was pale, her lips were trembling and she couldn't speak, but she heard shouting all around.
Someone outside exclaimed, "Oh no! We've been ambushed!"
Another person cursed: "This bitch actually used herself as bait to lure us, damn it!"
With a "whoosh", a sharp knife pierced through the door, with the tip of the knife sticking out several inches. Hou was so frightened that her face turned pale and she fell to the ground.
Then another man shouted, "Why are you stabbing the door? Cut off the bolt!"
"If we capture the mother and child as hostages, we can still escape!"
The other man woke up as if from a dream, inserted a knife into the crack of the door, and pressed down. The bolt broke immediately where the blade passed.
Hou was so scared that she ran back to the bed, picked up the baby in the cradle and retreated to the corner of the room, while her other hand took out a pair of scissors from her sleeve.
With a bang, the door was kicked open and two masked men rushed in with knives in hand.
At this moment, there was a loud shout, and behind the two men, Qu Yi, holding a ring-handled broadsword, chopped down on their heads!
The two men had no time to rush in, so they had to turn around and fight back. The three long swords collided with each other, splashing sparks in the dark night.
The two men were obviously good at martial arts. They were able to hold on under Qu Yi's powerful attack and even wait for opportunities to counterattack.
The three of them tumbled and fought for dozens of moves. Qu Yi faced the two of them, and his fierce attack failed to defeat them. At this time, he felt a little exhausted. Seeing this, the two of them took the opportunity to attack, and their swords went straight to Qu Yi's vital points.
Qu Yi had no choice but to fight and retreat at the same time. The two men looked at each other and were about to flee separately.
At this moment, something unexpected happened. A person jumped down from the roof and landed right behind the two of them.
Hou recognized that this was Tian Yu, a former subordinate of Gongsun Zan. He saw him holding a wooden stick and hitting the two men's knees hard. The two men had already consumed a lot of physical strength due to Qu Yi, and now they wanted to dodge, but their reaction was a beat too slow and they were knocked to the ground.
The surrounding soldiers rushed over and trapped the two men tightly amidst their shouts and curses.
Qu Yi cursed: "It's really troublesome to capture you alive, otherwise I would have hacked you to death long ago!"
Tian Yu went up, pulled off the veils of the two people, and after identifying their faces, he said, "It is indeed you."
He recognized the two men; they were indeed Gongsun Zan's generals.
One person shouted, "Tian Yu, you are a traitor who sells out his master for fame!"
"Yuan killed the general, and you are still serving as a slave under him!"
Tian Yu's face turned cold and he shouted, "Don't think I don't know what you are thinking!"
"You are just using your wives and children as a cover to gather the remnants of the generals and establish your own territory!"
"If you really care, why didn't you show up during the siege of Yijing?"
The two were speechless for a moment. Qu Yi sneered and said, "Why waste time talking to them? Those who are willing to take the bait will be taken. As many as possible will come." After saying that, he took the soldiers and took them away.
Tian Yu turned around and said to the frightened Hou: "I was on the roof just now, and I heard everything the madam said."
"Madam is right. These people do have bad intentions."
Hou showed a self-deprecating look on her face. "No matter what, I was used as bait to lure them over, wasn't I?"
"I thought you were so kind, but in the end, you were just using me for your benefit."
Tian Yu turned around and said, "Madam, you can ask these questions to the young master in person."
"But I think that not everyone can step on the plank and rescue the lady."
Hou looked at Tian Yu's departing back with mixed feelings.