“I am also quite curious about exactly how this blood extraction to extend life works. Since it benefits Minister Qin’s health, you might as well perform it freely. Trading the lives of traitorous rebels for the improved health of my Great Tang’s pillar general is still worthwhile. What does it matter if I bear this ill reputation?”
Li Er walked in leisurely from outside with his hands behind his back. Everyone in the room instantly became a head shorter. With a wave of Li Er’s hand, the complicated etiquette became simple. Qin Qiong was about to scold the steward but was stopped by Li Er.
“I came today merely to see how Minister Qin’s illness fares, so I came directly to the rear hall. Such minor formalities can be dispensed with!” He spoke as if it were nothing—as if coming directly to your family’s rear hall was giving you face. Yun Ye secretly grumbled to himself.
“This old minister’s humble body has only a slight ailment. How dare I trouble Your Majesty to personally visit? This truly mortifies this old minister.” Qin Qiong’s words had not half a backbone.
“My beloved minister risked life and limb for my Great Tang, your body bearing a hundred wounds. It’s only that your beloved minister’s body cannot tolerate wine, otherwise I would certainly emulate the old precedent of Sun Quan—one wound, one cup of wine to reward your beloved minister’s achievements.” These words made Qin Qiong’s eyes redden, and the four dukes beside him also sighed with emotion.
This won their hearts? Yun Ye felt these old brothers had emotional intelligence that was too low. One sentence that cost nothing made them so grateful they were moved to tears. Look at Old Yuchi the fool getting so excited he wanted to hug an explosive pack right now and blow up enemy fortifications.
In Yun Ye’s view, given Old Qin’s achievements, he should at least get tens of thousands of strings of cash, several beauties should be sent, and several mansions should be provided—and they must be within the first ring road. Only that would be worth getting moved about. Everything else was nonsense.
“I have brought ten death row prisoners, all of them thoroughly evil. Minister Yun, tell me, is this enough?” Having spoken, he pointed outside. Everyone saw ten death row prisoners kneeling outside the door with black cloth bags over their heads, shivering in the cold wind.
Yun Ye’s heart was as cold as this frigid wind. These were people, Han Chinese people. He couldn’t commit beastly acts like Matsui Iwane. Drawing a little blood wouldn’t kill anyone—Yun Ye knew this, but everyone else in the room didn’t know, those death row prisoners didn’t know, Li Er didn’t know. They thought drawing blood was equivalent to drawing life—extracting one person’s life and transferring it to another. It was borrowing life! This wasn’t like borrowing ten taels of silver from you—borrowed today, returned tomorrow. Did those whose life was borrowed still have a life waiting for you to return it? Li Er’s face was hard to read. Li Jing stared at Yun Ye without blinking. Li Ji smiled cheerfully. Cheng Yaojin’s expression was indecipherable. Yuchi Gong looked expectant. Qin Qiong seemed to be struggling internally. All were waiting for Yun Ye to speak.
“Minister Yun, why do you still not begin the procedure? Could it be that these ten people’s blood is unusable? There are more in the prison. Shall I have them send more?”
Yun Ye knew Li Er wouldn’t let him off. Until he witnessed the blood transfusion with his own eyes, he wouldn’t believe such a thing existed.
“Reporting to Your Majesty, as long as we verify through testing, we’ll know that Duke Yiguo’s body indeed needs a blood transfusion. His blood type is Type A, which is a very common blood type. It’s very easy to find a match. Among these ten people, there’s an eighty percent chance someone has Type A blood.”
“Oh? Then why don’t you hurry up and test?”
“No need to test. Whether those ten people’s blood types match or not, this subject doesn’t know. But there is one person whose blood type is definitely suitable.” Yun Ye said with his head lowered.
“Who is this person?” Li Er’s tone carried some pressure.
“To avoid everyone’s concern, this subject will first explain what blood transfusion is all about. It’s not as miraculous as legend claims—it’s merely a simple treatment method. Last time Zhuang Santing lost too much blood and went into shock, but his injuries weren’t sufficient to be fatal. As long as blood was replenished in time, he would recover. There’s nothing strange about this. Duke Yiguo’s blood production function has declined, his body has insufficient blood, and the poor quality is inadequate to nourish his entire body. This causes weakness and frequent illness. Blood transfusion will change his constitution in the shortest time and will be an effective treatment method. As far as this subject knows, there are five blood types in total. Types A, B, C, and D are very common—almost all of us are one of these four types. The fifth type is Type E blood, extremely rare—only a few cases per million people. Because parents have different blood types, offspring will differ. Sometimes father and son having different blood types is not strange. It’s laughable that people in the world actually use blood drops to recognize kin—how ignorant! A person’s total blood volume is less than ten percent of body weight. Normally giving someone a little blood won’t cause death; rather, it will stimulate the body to produce more blood. Last time that barbarian was scared to death, not bled to death.”
“Is this truly so?” Li Er’s face was full of questions. Everyone in the room also looked at each other, half-believing and half-doubting.
“To verify that what this subject says is true, this subject will give Duke Yiguo a blood transfusion. Very coincidentally, this subject’s blood type is the same as the Duke’s—both Type A.”
“Absolutely not!” Old Cheng flatly refused.
“Absolutely not!” Qin Qiong also disagreed.
Cheng Chumo blocked Yun Ye, not letting him go transfuse blood. “If we’re going to transfuse, use theirs.” He pointed at the hooded death row prisoners outside.
Gratefully hugging Cheng Chumo, he pushed him aside and came before the Emperor to bow: “Your Majesty, this subject has explained the principle of blood transfusion. I will begin now. Please grant your permission, Your Majesty.”
Li Er was somewhat confused, looking at Yun Ye, then at the death row prisoners outside. “Why are you unwilling to use the death row prisoners’ blood and willing to use your own blood as substitute?”
“Since this subject began studying after coming of age, my master first taught me to write the character for ‘person.’ One stroke represents benevolence and righteousness, the other represents loyalty and trust. Between one stroke and another, standing upright between heaven and earth. If I used death row prisoners’ blood today, it would cause this humble subject to lose the foundation of being human. This small subject will not take it. Furthermore, the court’s legal system is strict. Death row prisoners have their own reasons for death. Even if beheaded or dismembered by axe, it is punishment according to law. This humble subject cannot use private matters to damage the law.”
“Are you accusing me of corrupting the law?” Li Er’s face was obviously red. Being accused by a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy was somewhat embarrassing.
“How do you explain your conduct in Longyou? Are barbarians not people?”
“This subject’s compassion is only for the people of my Great Tang. As for enemies, this subject truly has not regarded them as people. My master and a friend once slaughtered three hundred horse bandits in one night beyond the border, then returned to drink heartily while this small subject held cups beside them urging them to drink. I did not feel there was anything improper.”
His master’s image grew tall again. The disciple of a sage—how could he not have witnessed a few blood-stirring events?
“Good, good! I grant permission. Today I shall watch how you draw your own blood to give to Duke Yiguo. If successful, I permit you to enter the imperial palace to study together with the various princes.”
Good heavens! Yun Ye screamed internally. I never had any plans to study at your place! Your whole family is full of psychopaths—if this old man goes in there, can anything good come of it? Is this a reward or punishment? Digging a pit to bury himself! Everyone in the room was incredibly envious, especially Li Ji who was somewhat jealous.
Just as he asked Qin Qiong to lie down and finished disinfecting with alcohol, planning to disinfect his own arm, he heard a death row prisoner outside kowtowing so hard it made banging sounds. Li Er ordered the removal of the hemp seed from the death row prisoner’s mouth to let him speak.
“This guilty prisoner is willing to have blood drawn, this guilty prisoner is willing to have blood drawn. Please give this guilty prisoner a chance to make amends.” After speaking, he began kowtowing again, even breaking open his forehead.
“Yun Ye, he volunteered—presumably this doesn’t contradict your principles. Test his blood, and if it’s usable, use his. If it can be used, I will spare his life.”
Of course Yun Ye didn’t want to use his own blood—that would hurt! Moreover, being able to give this fellow a chance to live—why not? Saving one life is better than building a seven-story pagoda! After two trips to temples, Yun Ye felt he had become much kinder. Hopefully this fellow had the same blood type as Old Qin.
After testing the blood, this brother was very lucky—Type O, the same blood type as Old Qin. He patted his shoulder: “You’re in luck! Just drawing one jin of blood can exchange for a life. That’s quite a deal.”
This fellow was also recklessly bold. He actually grinned and even said to Yun Ye: “My lord doesn’t know—this humble one killed someone on the street and was also slashed twice by others. Blood flowed all over the ground but I didn’t die, so I dared to beg the officials for a chance to live. Thank you, my lord. From now on, if you need blood, just find this humble one. As long as you don’t drain me to death, draw however much you want.” This bastard was even making it a business! This made Li Er not know whether to laugh or cry, and the tense atmosphere in the room also relaxed.
It went very smoothly. The reckless fellow’s blood quality was very good, smoothly entering Old Qin’s blood vessels. The two lay at the same height. Their blood pressures were obviously different—the reckless fellow’s normal blood pressure naturally flowed into Old Qin’s low blood pressure body. After a quarter hour, Yun Ye finished the blood transfusion process. Old Qin’s breathing became smooth, no noise could be heard in his lungs, and he had actually fallen asleep. Beside him, the imperial physician brought by Li Er felt Old Qin’s pulse and nodded repeatedly, occasionally turning back to look at Yun Ye, extremely amazed by the blood transfusion’s effectiveness.
“How is Minister Qin’s body?” Li Er asked the imperial physician urgently.
“Reporting to Your Majesty, Duke Yiguo’s pulse is strong, his breathing is long and steady—he has already fallen asleep.”
Old Qin, tormented by illness, didn’t have enough breath. Every night his sleep was extremely light. The time he could truly sleep each night was very short. Now that he relaxed and was no longer short of breath, the exhaustion of many days naturally surged like a tide. His snoring resounded like thunder.
Li Er instructed Madam Qin to care for him well, then brought everyone to the front courtyard. The reckless fellow was also brought along. This guy, having had over one jin of blood drawn, aside from a pale complexion, acted like nothing had happened. When Old Yuchi the fool knocked on his body making thumping sounds, he even raised both arms in a show of strength.
“It seems blood transfusion won’t kill people, and blood transfusion can save people. The affairs of the world are truly miraculous. I was being presumptuous. Once you’ve settled your family affairs, come to the palace to study!” Having said this, he departed to return to the palace.
Yun Ye didn’t even have a chance to refuse. The head of the imperial guards even gave him a waist token, saying it was credentials for entering the palace. Holding Yun Ye’s hand, he said: “In the future, us brothers should exchange insights on blood drawing.”
Old Cheng was satisfied. Li Jing was satisfied. Li Ji was very surprised. Old Yuchi the fool was very dissatisfied, saying he only saw life extension but didn’t see blood extraction—he wanted to witness it again. He enjoyed watching others bleed—this pervert.
Qin Huaiyu’s eyes were full of stars, shining frighteningly. In front of everyone he kept calling “Brother Yun, Brother Yun” incessantly, even though he was older than Yun Ye. Just as he was feeling triumphant, his collar was grabbed again. That familiar body odor—to avoid being tucked under the armpit again, he quickly called a halt.
“This boy was worried about Uncle Qin’s health just now and disrupted the uncles’ gathering, preventing you all from enjoying yourselves. This truly deserves ten thousand deaths. Please allow this boy to personally cook a few dishes and ask the uncles to honor me by tasting them—how about it?”
His collar loosened. The several dukes assumed an expression of giving face to a junior and sat behind the low tables drinking tea, waiting for Yun Ye to make them food.