The First Volume of Qinghe County

  It was Wu Dalang who heard the news on the street and hurried back, just in time to hear Pan Jinlian's words at the entrance of the tea house. In a flurry, he threw his pancake stall at the entrance of the tea house, rolled up his sleeves, and strode in with a dark face: "You want to go? You go yourself! You shameless woman, do you still want to drag me to Ximen Qing's mansion to lose face? Every day thinking about stealing people, my hat on my head is almost green with envy!"

  Wang Po saw it was Wu Dalang returning and said with a smile: "So it's Dalang who has come back."

  Pan Jinlian saw Wu Dalang return, and without distinguishing between right and wrong, she scolded him first. In her heart, she was extremely unhappy, and on the surface, she wasn't polite either: "You three-inch-high good-for-nothing, just now when I was looking for you, I couldn't find you, and now you're back, what's the use of that!"

  Wu Dalang, being short and dark-skinned, was often called "Three Inches of Dried Tree Bark" by the people on the main street of Qinghe County. He didn't dare to retort back; but now hearing Pan Jinlian mock him in this tone, he felt a pain in his heart, got furious and jumped up like thunder, without saying another word, turned around and went to the door, pulled out a carrying pole from the load, came back three steps, rushed forward and held the pole high, shouting: "You thieving wife, still dare to insult me like this? See if I won't beat you to death today!"

  Wu Dalang held up the carrying pole and moved forward, while Wang Po suddenly grabbed the pole from the front and gave a signal to Xue Pinggui. Xue Pinggui had no choice but to hold him from behind, trying to persuade him while telling Pan Jinlian to temporarily step aside.

  But Pan Jinlian didn't dodge, instead she let out a cold laugh, thrusting out her tall and plump chest, causing Xue Pinggui to swallow his saliva again: "I'm standing right here, see if you dare hit me! Only knowing how to bully your wife, what kind of skill is that? Outside they all say you're three inches of wood, but I don't see you using a stick to hit them!"

  "You thieving wife!" Wu Dalang was originally not very strong, and now with Wang Po and Ximen Qing holding him back, he exerted himself several times, but couldn't even move his body, let alone hit anyone. He had no choice but to drop his carrying pole, free up his hands to point at Pan Jinlian and scold her loudly: "Just wait till my elder brother comes back, see how you'll be so arrogant then! At that time, a divorce paper will be issued, and my brother will have you two adulterers bound naked and paraded through the streets!"

  As soon as the name Wu Song was mentioned, Pan Jinlian's face changed slightly, but a hint of mockery still appeared at the corner of her mouth: "Will you have a backbone when your son returns? Others respect him as a tiger-beating hero and are afraid of his power. I, Sixth Lady, don't do anything shameful. When the time comes, things will be clear. I'm a bit tired, you can take care of yourself!" After finishing speaking, she covered her pretty face with a handkerchief and slowly went to the back, as the tea house behind Wang Po's was connected to her own small courtyard, and she could return through the back door.

  Wu Dalang ate this meal and said, getting angry and stamping his foot, loudly scolding her. The scolding went on and on without anything new, just those two sentences: "A wife who steals another's husband!" "Shameless!"

  Wang Po and Xun Ge saw Pan Jinlian leave, so they couldn't fight anymore, and let go of Wu Dalang. Wu Dalang scolded them until his mouth was foamy, then he sat down on a bench, panting heavily with anger.

  Yuan Ge comforted him on the side: "Second Brother, don't be angry, just tolerate it for a few more days, wait until Second Brother returns, and then we'll settle the score."

  Wu Dalang had not yet responded, when Wang Po couldn't help but say: "Don't blame me for being a chatty old woman, just now it was Sixth Lady who accidentally dropped the door bar and hit Ximen Dajie. Who would have thought that he had an old illness? This is all my idea, and you're blaming Sixth Lady instead. And another thing, your scolding is really too much to bear. Sixth Lady is a woman with a thin face, how can she stand it? A couple's quarrel is nothing, but holding a grudge is not worth it."

  Wu Dalang panted heavily and replied, "Among all these pedestrians on the street, why did she hit Ximen Qing? Isn't this intentional? She must have seen that Ximen Qing has a fair complexion and deliberately threw down the carrying pole to make an excuse to flirt with him! You're not a good thing either, old woman! Ma Po Liu, you're just helping people hook up in secret!" He then turned his face to ask Yu'erge, "Brother, do you think it's like this?"

  Wang Po listened to his unpleasant words, considering Pan Jinlian's face, it wasn't good to scold him back, so she just shook her head and went to the back. Yuange heard this and nodded, neither shaking his head nor agreeing, but only advised: "Big brother should calm down, don't take it to heart." Thinking to himself that he still hadn't found a buyer for his basket of snow pears, he picked up the basket and said: "Big brother, I haven't sold out this basket of snow pears yet. Why not go to the street together to sell them? You sell pancakes and I'll sell pears, how about it?"

  Wu Dalang shook his head and said, "Brother, at this time, I don't have the heart to sell pancakes on the street. Are you drinking or not? I have something to ask for your help."

  "Brother says what's on his mind, if there's something to say, just say it straightforwardly, why spend money in that tavern." Yu Ge heard this and put the basket down again.

  Wu Dalang looked around and glanced at Wang Po's teahouse, sighed and said: "This kind of dirty place can't discuss things, it's better to go to the front street to find a small wine shop, and have a good chat with my brother. When my brother who is doing business comes back, if I don't break that Ximen Qing's arms and legs, I'm not surnamed Wu!"

  "Achoo! Achoo!" Ximen Qing suddenly let out several loud sneezes in the sedan chair, and couldn't help but think to himself: "Who's talking behind my back?"

  Fu Zhanggui followed closely beside the sedan chair. Hearing the clear sounds of sneezing, he hastily asked through the window: "Is Master Dong's body still well?"

  Ximen Qing composed himself and lifted the window of his sedan chair, saying: "I've just caught a chill, it hasn't affected my body, nothing to worry about."

  Fu Zhanggui nodded: "In that case, Master Dong has also ordered the sedan window to be closed, in order to prevent evil spirits."

  Although Ximen Qing had this physique and memory, sitting in such a small sedan always felt a bit uncomfortable. He shook his head slightly and said, "It's always a bit stuffy. Why not open the window and chat with Manager Fu for a while?"

  Fu Zhanggui didn't insist anymore and just said: "Of course, riding a sedan chair can't compare to riding a horse, but since the master has fallen ill again, it's better to be cautious."

  Ximen Qing suddenly remembered something and asked, "Master Fu just smelled the bowl of Anshen soup and knew the composition and quality of the medicine in it. Such a good skill is rare in the world, and he can be considered a famous doctor!"

  Fu Zhanggong shook his head and said, "Master Dong, I'm just a humble person, how can I become a famous doctor? When I was young, I traveled around the world and followed a famous doctor to study for several years. Unfortunately, I didn't get the essence of it, but only learned some superficial knowledge. After all these years, I still have some experience in selecting medicine and processing medicinal materials. That famous doctor also knew that I wasn't cut out for this line of work, so I ended up running a pharmacy."

  Ximen Qing laughed and said: "I have Fu Zhanggui managing the medicine shop, how can I not get rich? But I don't know what this famous doctor's surname is or where he comes from."

  Fu said, "This man's surname is An and his name is Daoquan. He is from Jiankang Prefecture and has inherited the skills of internal and external medicine from his ancestors. His reputation as a divine doctor has spread far and wide." Suddenly realizing something, he added, "Since Master East has such an old illness, why not go invite Doctor An to take a look?"

  An Daoquan!

  Ximen Qing had also read Water Margin several times before crossing over, although he couldn't say that he knew it like the back of his hand. He still remembered many of the plotlines and character names, and he knew that under this person's skilled hands, Song Jiang's festering wound was cured in just ten short days, saving Song Jiang's life. It was clear that he was a great divine doctor. If Song Jiang had died from that illness, who knows what would have happened to the brothers at Liangshan Marsh? Although Ximen Qing himself knew that he didn't actually have any old illnesses, as a medical student, being able to chat with a legendary divine doctor and discuss traditional Chinese medicine was still a wonderful thing.

  "Oh, since there is such a divine doctor, of course, we must invite him, but I don't know how to invite him? How much does he charge for diagnosis?" Ximen Qing asked with a slight nod.

  Fu Zhanggui smiled and said, "I have an old relationship with An Shen Yi, I just need to write a letter, arrange two apprentices, bring 100 taels of silver, and go to Jiankang Fu to invite An Shen Yi. It's just that the journey is long, and it will take more than a month for the round trip."

  "It doesn't matter, this old headache of mine won't easily recur, Master Fu just needs to go down to the account room and fetch the diagnostic gold." Ximen Qing replied without hesitation.

  For just one hundred taels, you can have the divine doctor come to your doorstep for a consultation, and the round-trip travel expenses and accommodation are all included, what a great deal! If you were to go back to your own world, finding a famous doctor to make a house call wouldn't be that easy.

  "The master said so, and I will go to write a letter immediately, looking for two partners to go to Jiankang Prefecture as soon as possible." Fu Zhanggui nodded.

  It's still a good world, Ximen Qing took two breaths of absolutely non-polluted Song Dynasty's high-quality air, and was looking forward to his future happy life. The sedan chair suddenly stopped, Ximen Qing couldn't help but lean forward, almost falling over. He looked up with some annoyance, only to see that a government official dressed in formal attire had blocked the sedan chair on horseback, waving his whip and shouting: "Is it Master Ximen inside the sedan? Stop for a moment!"

  The two little servants who led the way in front shouted: "You are an official from which place, do you know that it is our master Ximen Old Master's house, and still dare to block the sedan chair?"

  The official dismounted and came forward, ignoring the two servants, and recognized Ximen Qing. He bowed his hands and said: "Master Ximen, I am Niu Doutou, an official in the yamen. The magistrate has told me that a royal physician has arrived and instructed me to invite Master Ximen to attend a banquet at Haomen Tower."

  Unexpectedly, he had just crossed over and was busy for a whole morning. Ximen Qing felt a little hungry in his stomach and nodded: "Alright, you go back and report to County Magistrate, I'll be right there."

  No matter in the world before crossing, or in this wonderful world now, it is always 200% correct to get along well with Zhi County. Moreover, after having enough food and drink, some entertainment projects can be arranged, such as Bai Hua Lou, which sounds pretty good!

  Ximen Qing's thoughts became lively again, and he gave Fu Zhuangzhu a signal with his eyes. Fu Zhuangzhu was also an understanding person, so he went forward and exchanged a few pleasantries with Niu Daliu, secretly passing him some copper coins in the sleeve. Niu Daliu accepted them calmly and took his leave.

  Fu Zhanggui nodded: "I reckon it's the new imperial physician coming to Qinghe County, and the county official is inviting Dongjia to a banquet, definitely to help introduce the business of the Sheng medicine shop."

  Ximen Qing was mentally fantasizing about the Hundred Flowers Pavilion and various flower girls, and didn't really listen to what Fu Zhuanggui was saying, just randomly nodding his head. Fu Zhuanggui waved his hand, and the sedan chair headed towards the Haomen Building.