In the previous life, perhaps because Wang Daxia had castrated himself with a knife, his body hair was sparse and his calves were straight and smooth, like two chopsticks. So Wei Caiwei had never been “fortunate” enough to witness his leg hair.
So this was what Wang Daxia looked like before castrating himself.
She wondered if there might be a chance to see… Oh my, she mustn’t think such improper thoughts—he was still young.
Wei Caiwei coughed lightly twice, using the coughing to scare away her improper thoughts, and said, “I’ll ask Big Brother Ding tonight—perhaps he’s worried about his father again. This year Yan Shifan knows that Commander Lu puts Ding Rukui’s case file at the very end every year, and at year’s end there will be another review of death sentences. Commander Lu probably can’t use the same old trick again.”
Lu Bing had just resolved Wang Qianhu’s Beijing evaluation problem and preserved the Wang family’s five-generation hereditary title, so Wang Daxia had confidence in Lu Bing. “No need to worry—there’s nothing Commander Lu can’t accomplish. He definitely has a way.”
Wei Caiwei nodded and smiled. “Yes, if Commander Lu doesn’t want Ding Rukui to die, he won’t die.”
But in her heart she thought: In the previous life, Lu Bing died on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth lunar month this year, succumbing to a stroke after a drinking session with Yan Shifan, Yang Fu, and others.
In this life, I’ve treated Lu Bing medically and repeatedly warned him not to drink. Lu Ying is also supervising him. Lu Bing shouldn’t repeat the same mistake this time, right?
Abstaining from alcohol and not staying up late couldn’t cure strokes, but they could effectively delay recurrence and even extend life.
This being the case, might Lu Bing live two more years?
No, I only need half a year. Using my identity as a palace female physician to get close to the future favored consort Shang Shoufi, just like in the previous life, I can use her influence to protect Ding Rukui in the future.
I saved Chen Jingji’s life, changed Wang Qianhu’s tragic death, and preserved Wang Daxia’s manhood. I should also be able to help Lu Bing live another half year.
Wei Caiwei said, “Your Commander Lu is certainly capable, but his health isn’t good. Since you’re now serving in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, you should help Commander Lu keep an eye on Lu Bing—absolutely don’t let him touch alcohol, and don’t stimulate him. Great joy or great sorrow can also easily cause strokes.”
Before Shang Shoufi appeared, Lu Bing was the greatest backing—no one wanted him to fall.
Wang Daxia said, “Commander Lu now goes straight home after leaving the office, but according to Commander Lu Ying, His Majesty often summons Commander Lu to the palace to talk regardless of day or night. After that stroke he disguised as heatstroke, His Majesty showed consideration for Commander Lu and told him to take care of his health, so he stopped summoning Commander Lu in the middle of the night. But when the weather cools down, Commander Lu will probably be exhausted again.”
At this moment, Ding Wu returned carrying the re-salted and reheated chicken and mushroom stew. “Come, taste the saltiness—I just heard you talking about Commander Lu having had a stroke. I’ve recently made some circulation and aperture-opening pills. I’ll go give some to Commander Lu tomorrow.”
The Ding and Lu families were enemies, but Ding Wu also knew that his father’s life was tied to Lu Bing’s.
Moreover, delivering medicine would also give him a chance to see Lu Ying.
“The saltiness is just right—Big Brother Ding has excellent cooking skills.” Wang Daxia took a sip of soup and volunteered, “I’ll help Big Brother Ding deliver the medicine. I have to go to the Embroidered Uniform Guard headquarters tomorrow morning for roll call anyway, so I can take it along. It’s so hot during the dog days—Big Brother Ding shouldn’t have to make a trip under the scorching sun.”
As Wang Daxia spoke, he also used the serving chopsticks to place a chicken leg in Wei Caiwei’s bowl, his face all smiles with an expression that said, “Look how good I am to Big Brother Ding—quickly praise me!”
Who asked for your help!
For the first time, Ding Wu felt that being helpful wasn’t always a good thing—Wang Daxia was truly meddlesome.
Wei Caiwei said, “It’s better for Big Brother Ding to deliver it himself. Whether or not to take it is Commander Lu’s business, but whether or not to deliver it is Big Brother Ding’s goodwill. If Lu Bing likes it, Big Brother Ding might have a chance to visit his father in prison.”
Ding Wu: My dear Banxia sister is so good! Daxia, get lost!
With tomorrow’s trip to the Embroidered Uniform Guard headquarters, Ding Wu was no longer absent-minded and began quietly competing with Wang Daxia for meat.
After dinner, as usual, Wei Caiwei was responsible for washing dishes while Wang Daxia carried the bamboo basket of dirty bowls. The two went to the sweet water well at the end of Tianshui Lane to fetch water and wash dishes.
Wang Daxia used a rope to lower the bucket and draw water. “Big Brother Ding ate quite a lot today.” More than I did, hmph!
Wang Daxia was tattling again.
Wei Caiwei said, “I passed the palace female physician exam—he’s happy for me.”
Wang Daxia lifted the wooden bucket to rinse the bowls. “As one rises, another falls. You have great prospects now, but my family has declined. I’m just an unknown minor soldier. I’ll often come to your house to freeload meals from now on—you can’t turn me away at the door.”
Eating soft rice in the previous life, freeloading meals in this life—truly worthy of you.
Wei Caiwei said, “How could I? You’re the landlord. How would I dare refuse you?”
A starving camel is still bigger than a horse. The Wang family had scattered wealth to avoid disaster, but their farmland and property remained—they weren’t reduced to begging yet.
Wang Daxia smiled. “I won’t eat for free. Next year’s rent is waived—consider it meal money.”
“Don’t—that’s mixing two separate matters.” Wei Caiwei said, “I’ll pay rent to your father. I feel at ease paying money to rent.”
Wang Daxia twisted and fidgeted. “Ah, that’s not good—eating and drinking for free makes it seem like you’re supporting me.”
You weren’t unsupported in the previous life. Wei Caiwei joked, “I’ll support you. I can afford to support you now. Today I went to the Duke of Chengguo’s residence for consultation—there was carriage transport both ways, I received five taels for diagnosis fees, and because I diagnosed a pregnancy, I was given an extra reward of two bolts of cloth. One consultation equals what I used to earn working busily for two or three months. As long as you don’t have Pig Bajie’s appetite, I can still afford to support you.”
A growing boy can eat his wife into poverty. Now that Wei Caiwei had earned money, what was there to fear!
Wang Daxia was absolutely delighted, throwing all thoughts of family decline to the back of his mind.
The next day, Ding Wu changed into a clean bamboo-cloth robe that had been properly washed and starched, groomed himself and wrapped his head cloth, packaged the aperture-opening and circulation pills, and went to the Embroidered Uniform Guard headquarters to give Lu Bing a gift.
Unfortunately (or fortunately from Ding Wu’s perspective), Lu Bing had been summoned to the palace by Emperor Jiajing, so Lu Ying came to see him.
Ding Wu was eloquent, presenting the circulation pills. “Banxia passed the palace female physician exam, thanks largely to Commander Lu’s recommendation. She’s grateful to Commander Lu, but now that she’s considered a famous physician, visiting Commander Lu without cause might make outsiders gossip that Commander Lu’s health is poor. So she asked me to make this trip and deliver these self-made aperture-opening and circulation pills to Commander Lu.”
He then presented a package of cooling plums. “These are plums I made just yesterday—they’re excellent for relieving summer heat. Banxia mentioned that Commander Lu Ying also enjoys eating them, so I brought some.”
Lu Ying accepted everything. “You also understand medical arts?”
Ding Wu said, “I only recognize some medicines and do the manual work of making and preparing medicines according to prescriptions. I don’t have the talent for studying medicine—not like Banxia who understands everything at once. When we were in Tieling, I just assisted them. Later I went to the county office to work as a clerk.”
Ding Wu put away the past, his expression calm, as if talking about someone else’s experiences. The former son of the Minister of War had fallen to being an apprentice and clerk, yet he felt no shame and had always worked hard to support himself with his own hands.
Lu Ying looked at Ding Wu’s refined and composed appearance, unruffled by favor or disgrace. Combined with her constant worry that Yan Shifan might strike at Ding Wu again, she said, “There’s currently a vacancy in the Embroidered Uniform Guard warehouse—the position left empty after Wu Mask’s death. Originally his son would return after handling the funeral to take over, inheriting his father’s position. But his son isn’t interested in guarding the warehouse and wants to work outside with us, so this position became vacant. Since you’ve worked as a clerk in the county office, taking over this work shouldn’t be a problem. I wonder if you’re interested?”
Lu Ying felt it would be safer to keep the weak scholar Ding Wu, who could only kill chickens, under her watchful protection.
What an unexpected joy.
This was a proper job, close to his father, convenient for looking after him.
Ding Wu quickly said, “This commoner thanks Commander Lu for the promotion. I will be loyal to my duties and won’t disappoint Commander Lu.”
Lu Ying was all business, wasting no words and not exchanging pleasantries with Ding Wu. “Go familiarize yourself with the warehouse and the procedures for items going in and out today. Come to work tomorrow.”
Having said this, she had her subordinates take Ding Wu to the warehouse for handover.
Ding Wu had prepared a stomach full of words to find out which member of the Lu family was marrying into Minister Wu Peng’s household, but Lu Ying was swift and decisive, giving him no opportunity. Thinking there would be plenty of time in the future, he took his leave.
Lu Ying still had to help her father handle the mountain of official business and couldn’t spare a moment. She set aside the cooling plums Ding Wu had brought and ate one. Oh my, they seemed more delicious than the ones Wei Caiwei made.
It seemed Wang Daxia was right—he understood the harmony of five flavors and had excellent cooking skills. Even his summer-relief plums were delicious.
Lu Ying ate most of them during the morning.
Lu Bing entered the palace and didn’t return until evening, almost at closing time, his complexion somewhat poor.
Lu Ying quickly dissolved the aperture-opening and circulation pills Ding Wu had brought. After Lu Bing took the medicine, Lu Ying smelled a smoky, fire-roasted odor on her father, like spending an entire day in a winter meat-smoking shed.
Lu Ying immediately understood what her father had done today. “Father accompanied His Majesty in pill refining today?”
Lu Bing drank the medicine and lay back in his armchair. “Mm, His Majesty held a purification ceremony today, and I wrote a blue-green petition to pray to Heaven. Later His Majesty opened a pot of finished refined pills, saying I wrote the petition well this time, and granted me one.”
Blue-green petitions were parallel prose written with vermillion brush on blue-green paper, read at purification ceremonies, then burned.
Emperor Jiajing hadn’t held court for over thirty years. After handling government affairs in the West Garden, he would practice immortality and refine pills. The cabinet ministers catered to his preferences and could all write good blue-green petitions. Most of Grand Secretary Yan Song’s blue-green petitions were ghostwritten by his son Yan Shifan.
Yan Shifan’s deep favor with Emperor Jiajing was inseparable from his excellent blue-green petitions.
Lu Ying immediately felt blood rushing to her head. “Father ate the pill?”
Lu Bing nodded. “What His Majesty grants is imperial grace—how could I refuse? I took the medicine on the spot.”
“Quickly summon Imperial Physician Song!” Lu Ying immediately ordered her confidants and advised her father, “Pills are poisonous and can’t be eaten. Who has ever achieved immortality by eating pills? Ascending to heaven is more like it. His Majesty has been obsessed with this for many years—can’t Father see through it? Moreover, Father has already had a stroke once—how can you randomly eat pills?”
Lu Bing sighed. “Not eating isn’t an option. Years ago, Prince Consort Wu Jinghe refused to write blue-green petitions and wouldn’t eat the immortality pills His Majesty granted, angering the dragon countenance. His Prince Consort title was stripped, he became a commoner, and was even banished back to his hometown. His Majesty only has one elder sister who married Wu Jinghe—such a close relationship, yet he was still banished at will. I can’t follow in Wu Jinghe’s footsteps. If I were banished to my hometown, what would His Majesty do?”
Wu Jinghe was Princess Yongfu’s prince consort and had been the martial champion. The princess and prince consort were deeply in love, and Emperor Jiajing had considerable regard for this brother-in-law. Unfortunately, Princess Yongfu died too early. The couple had no children, and Wu Jinghe, being devoted, never remarried or took concubines to have sons, remaining alone. He had an upright character and couldn’t stand his brother-in-law Emperor Jiajing’s pill refining, actually daring to speak out in opposition, resulting in his dismissal and reduction to commoner status.
Even Wu Jinghe met such a fate—Lu Bing didn’t dare risk angering the dragon countenance and ate the pills like candy.
Author’s Note: Soft rice tastes so good—one lifetime isn’t enough, so here’s another lifetime.
Last time it was Mai Fu, Eunuch Mai. This time characters from my old story “Mu Residence Storm Clouds” are making cameo appearances again. Wu Jinghe is Niu Er, and his deep love with Princess Yongfu was also fated to be short-lived.