Qiu Tingxuan tidied up the papers and said: "You've worked hard these days, go back and rest well. If there's anything else, I'll send someone to notify you."

  The man in grey stood up and said: "To serve the young master, how dare I say it's hard work!" He bowed his hands and bid farewell, leaving the study.

  Qiu Tingxuan sat for a while, sorting out his thoughts, before getting up and leaving the house to see his father. Qiu Wenpu, the master of Xiangtong Academy, did not live in the academy itself but rather in a separate small courtyard behind it. Qiu Tingxuan walked around the pond, exited through the back door, and arrived at the small courtyard where Qiu Wenpu lived.

  In a small courtyard, there was a large jujube tree. Under the tree, an old servant squatted down, with a small stove in front of him, and a fire burning inside, he was decocting medicine.

  Qiu Tingxuan was taken aback, walked forward, bent down and asked in a low voice: "Cai Shu, why are you decocting medicine? Didn't Father say that a minor cold is nothing to worry about?"

  The old servant's name was Qiu Cai, who had been following Qiu Wenpu for many years and treated him like a family member. He looked up at Qiu Tingxuan and said, "Tingxuan, you're not studying in the academy, what are you doing here? Hmm, Master's illness isn't severe, but it's uncomfortable, so I've made some Guizhi Tang to help him recover quickly."

  Qiu Tingxuan hummed, not hurrying to enter the house. He stood under the tree and watched Lao Biao brew medicine, saying softly: "Medicine is inferior to food, food is inferior to rest, Father has never liked taking medicine, but today he let Cai Shu brew it, it seems that this cold is quite severe."

  "I'm getting old, can't hold on anymore, no major illnesses, but minor ones keep coming!" said Uncle Cai in a soft voice.

  Qiu Tingxuan sighed and stopped talking, afraid that Qiu Wenpu in the house would hear. After a while, the Guizhi Tang was cooked, he personally poured it into a bowl, blew it, and waited for the temperature of the medicine to be drinkable before entering the house with it.

  Qiu Wenpu's room is similar to Wang Ping'an's, also filled with books, but Qiu Shan's books are more numerous, row upon row of bookshelves, holding about 50,000 to 60,000 volumes, and many of them are rare handwritten copies, extremely precious.

  In the center of the room was a platform, on which lay a bed, and in front of it stood a huge desk, not much smaller than the bed. Qiu Wenpu sat behind the desk, eyes closed, resting his mind.

  Qiu Wenpu was over 70 years old, but his hair and beard didn't have a single white strand, and there were few wrinkles on his face. Judging by appearance alone, he looked several years younger than Wang Youcai. In his youth, Qiu Wenpu wore a green robe and traveled all over the world, intending to enter the imperial court as an official and serve the country. However, when he was young, he didn't catch up with the good times, and at that time, the threshold was high, and there was no way to take the imperial examination to become an official. He was considered to have no way to serve his country.

  When Emperor Wen of Sui opened the imperial examination, Qiuwen Pu entered the capital to take the exam and passed with ease. However, on the day the results were announced, he left Daxing City (the capital of the Sui Dynasty, which is now Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty) and returned to Xuzhou, where he founded a school and established his own teaching style. He thought that being an official was not as good as teaching and educating people, for in the future, his students would flourish everywhere, and his reputation would spread naturally, which was much more enjoyable than being an official.

  The academy has been open for many years, and the students he taught have become officials in the imperial court. After becoming officials, they naturally repay their teacher, so Qiu Wenpu is not rich enough to rival a country, but his family's wealth is also considerable. Although he holds no official position, when he says something, his disciples will run errands for him without fail. Qiu Wenpu lives a carefree life with both fame and fortune. In the past, countless people laughed at him for being foolish enough to give up his official post, but now those who laugh at others are not better than others. Who dares to laugh at him again will only bring trouble upon themselves!

  "Father, the Guizhi decoction is ready, you can take it now!" He lowered his head and glanced at the desk, where a book was open, which was Zhang Zhongjing's "Shang Han Lun", and the page that was turned to was about Guizhi decoction.

  Qiu Tingxuan thought to himself: "Although I told others that my father is well-versed in medicine, and it's just a son praising his father, but indeed he has studied many medical books. It's just a minor cold, how could my father not be able to cure it? Why does he need to look up books and formulas? Is there something special about this cold that's got him stumped?"

  Qiu Wen hummed, slowly opened his eyes, saw that his son had arrived, and didn't say a word. He took the medicine bowl and drank it down. Qiu Tingxuan then gave him some clear water to rinse his mouth.

  Qiu Wupu wiped his mouth with a handkerchief and asked, "Xuan'er, I'll give you a question. If the imperial court wants to dredge the Grand Canal, how many years do you think it will take? And if you were to write an essay on this topic, how long would you need to complete it?"

  Qiu Tingxuan understood in his heart that his father had received the news. Since he could think it through, his father would be able to as well. He replied, "The Crown Prince will ascend to the throne after several years, and the canal will need to be dredged well after several years too. My son's strategy also needs to be done well after several years!"

  Qiu asked calmly for a while, then asked: "Then what books did you read before taking the imperial examination?"

  Qiu Tingxuan said: "Agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery, land tax!"

  "Alright, Xuan'er understands. When your father enlightened you before, he told you the secret of the imperial examination, it has been over twenty years now, do you still remember?"

  Qiu Tingxuan knelt down in front of his father and replied, "On the day I was enlightened, Father taught me seven characters. After my three characters, there were four characters that meant 'guessing the meaning'. I was young and ignorant at the time and didn't understand what they meant, but now I completely understand!"

  Qiu Wenpu nodded and said, "You just remember that. To be a good official, you must first become an official, and after becoming an official, you must act like a high-ranking official. Only by understanding the superior's intention can you become a high-ranking official. The higher your position, the heavier your power, and the more things you can do for the people, only then can you be a good official!"

  Qiu Tingxuan listened quietly to his father's words, and after a long while, he suddenly said: "Father's words are naturally correct, but I fear that if we ponder the meaning for too long, we will lose our original nature and gradually stop thinking about the people, only thinking about our own official positions and families."

  It was a long time later, Qiu Wenpu let out a long sigh: "Everything is easy to talk about, but hard to do. How many people in the world are not moved by fame and fortune? If that day really comes, you can learn from your father and go home to teach books."

  "The son is only afraid that he cannot live up to his father's determination back then..." Qiu Tingxuan was referring to the fact that his father had resolutely given up on his official career.

  Suddenly, Qiu Tingxuan saw blood flowing from Qiu Wenpu's nose. He was frightened and exclaimed: "Father, you're bleeding from the nose!"

  Wu Li Village. Wang Ping'an closed his eyes, his fingers pressed on the wrist of an old man with a face full of wrinkles, after a moment, he opened his eyes and said: "Recently, your urination has not been smooth, right? Come, let me press your waist."

  The old man said: "What did Master Wang say?" He raised his arm and let Wang Ping'an press his waist. When he pressed the left side, he gritted his teeth and said: "It hurts, it hurts here!"

  Wang Ping'an pressed again and said: "Urine is just pee, I'm asking you if it's not smooth when you pee?"

  The old man said: "So urination is urinating. Yes, I have had blood in my urine recently, and it feels like there's something blocking it."

  "What kind of pain is it in your waist, is it like being pricked by a needle or is it like being strangled by a rope? Hmm, do you feel like the pulley on a well, with the rope wrapping around and around?" Wang Ping'an's description was more vivid this time.

  The old man pressed his waist with his hand and said: "It doesn't feel like a needle prick, it's all sore here. What is this feeling of a cartwheel? I don't know!"

  Wang Ping'an nodded and said: "Open your mouth and let me take a look. What's the feeling in your mouth usually?" Suddenly thinking of this, he thought that Lao Han might not be able to answer, so he asked again: "What taste is there?"

  "Bitter, I always feel bitter in my mouth." The old man answered accurately this time.

  Wang Ping'an saw the old man's tongue coating was yellow and greasy, his tongue tip extremely red. After thinking for a moment, he said: "Your pulse is smooth and rapid... Alright, do you have urine? Go urinate some, then bring it back to me to take a look.

  The old man felt embarrassed and said: "Young Master Wang, you are a noble person, looking at an old man's urine is too..."

  "It's nothing, we have to figure out the cause of your illness anyway! Go ahead." Wang Ping had a kind attitude and always kept a smile. He understood that his attitude would affect the patient's psychology, and a good or bad attitude was related to a doctor's most basic professional ethics. Although he didn't hang up a signboard or collect a diagnosis fee from patients, he did everything a doctor should do.

  An old man had just left his seat when a middle-aged man rushed over and said, "Peaceful Divine Doctor, the medicine you prescribed for my wife yesterday, I went home and decocted it for her. She only took one dose and recovered from her illness today!" He held up a basket in his hand, which was filled with eggs, saying, "Peaceful Divine Doctor, keep these eggs to eat!"

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  Sydney Rabbit Meat Soup

  Prescription: rabbit meat 500g, snow pear 400g, plantain leaf 15g.

  Method: Pear juice, Plantago decoction 100ml, rabbit meat cooked and added with pear juice, Plantago juice and agar, stewed into a gelatinous soup, refrigerated before serving.

  Efficacy: Clearing heat and phlegm, relieving dampness and reducing fat.

  Usage: Can be used as a snack.