The next day, the fourteenth day of the twelfth lunar month. The sky was actually pouring rain. Accompanied by the howling north wind, that chill really blew into the bones.
With this kind of weather, Li Deshun certainly could not get on the road, he could only wait for another day. However, it was this kind of weather for two consecutive days. On the fifteenth, it started to snow.
It could not really be called snow. It was all fine icy grains, falling densely on the roof, in the yard, making a rustling sound. It fell steadily for a whole day.
Because there was no sun, and the temperature was low, the icy grains formed a thick layer of ice as soon as they fell to the ground. Under the eaves and tree branches, there were icicles like cones everywhere.
The little boys in the family were naughty. When they got up early to go to school in the morning, each took an icicle in his hand to play with, and they were not afraid of freezing their hands.
In this situation, not to mention travelling far, even walking a few more steps in the yard had to be taken carefully.
Even worse, worse news came from the Capital City: the heavy rains of the previous two days had triggered massive landslides. The official road connecting Lingzhou Prefecture to the Capital City was blocked.
Now it was extremely cold, and the blocked section was too long. Even if more people were dispatched, it would probably take until after the New Year to fully clear it.
Jiang Wenyuan jokingly said to Li Deshun, "When it rains, guests stay. Stay with me! Look, even the Old Man in Heaven is keeping guests. Grandfather-in-law, why don't you just stay at my humble home for now until after the new year when the ice melts and you can set off again.
Besides, His Majesty has always been benevolent. He certainly won't blame you for being delayed a few days."
When you hear the melody, you know the meaning.
Li Deshun knew Jiang Wenyuan was giving him a way out. Anyway things had already happened this way, so he might as well take the easy way and stay at the Jiang's for the New Year. It was definitely better than staying in a cold inn in the prefecture city.
So Li Deshun stayed with the Jiang Family.
The Jiang Family was simple and honest. Apart from some initial unfamiliarity, they soon got along well with him.
He was two years younger than Old Jiang, so Old Jiang called him Brother Li. Jiang's sons and daughters-in-law called him Uncle Li. Jiang's grandchildren called him Grandpa Li.
Every day they called him to eat together and he ate whatever the Jiang Family ate.
Knowing that he had bad legs and couldn't stand the damp cold of the south, Jiang Wenyuan went to An Hall after work to invite a doctor to come and cook herbal pots to soak Li Deshun's legs.
Without flattery or fawning, they treated him completely like another elder of their own family.
Old Jiang was worried that Li Deshun would get bored, so he came over from time to time to chat with him. Whether it was strange news from Qingzhou, or some trivial matters from the village and around, Old Jiang would talk about it all.
For example, whose son was a compulsive gambler and lost all the family fortune, angering his old mother to death. Or which sow gave birth to eleven piglets in one litter.
Or who in which family beat his wife, and the wife's brothers came to teach him a lesson. And so on and so forth.
It was rare for Old Jiang to speak so happily. Li Deshun also found it refreshing to listen.
Afterwards, he would also tell Old Jiang some capital city stories, such as the prosperity of the capital, the grand scenes when Foreign Countries came to pay tribute, or the scandals in the mansions of the capital city nobles.
Listening to these, Old Jiang was constantly exclaiming in wonder, greatly broadening his horizons.
In short, these two old fellows from completely different backgrounds, education levels, and social classes, could strangely converse on the same wavelength. It was really remarkable.
Therefore, after his initial discomfort, Li Deshun actually soon came to like the Jiang Family very much, and became fond of the Jiangs' warm family atmosphere.
On the nineteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, after breakfast Li Deshun returned to his room and sat at the desk reading. The little eunuch attending him sat on a small stool next to him, massaging his knees.
Although prestigious in public, his life was worthless.
From the day he entered the palace to serve, he had been kneeling until now. His knees and legs were already scarred all over.
Now in this damp cold weather, his knees really ached terribly, and he couldn't sleep. Reading could distract him a little.
Suddenly there was a "knock knock knock" at the door, then it squeaked open a crack. Then a little head poked in through the gap.
The little head didn't say anything, just tilted sideways, staring at him with big grape-like eyes, its whole face seeming to say "Can I come in?"
Li Deshun recognized her as the Jiangs' only little daughter, who was very spoiled.
Because she was so young, she didn't speak too clearly yet. But this little girl who couldn't even talk properly had somehow won the favor of the Crown Prince. He had gone out of his way to send something to her through Li Deshun.
In his many years in the palace, although Li Deshun was cold-hearted, he was still willing to be a little more patient with such a cute child. So he beckoned to her, "Come on in!"
Getting approval, Jiang Yuqing skillfully climbed onto the threshold with both hands, lifted up her arms to pull up one leg, flipped over half her body, then brought over the other leg, like a clumsy little penguin trying to escape.
Finally, the clumsy little penguin landed safely.
After successfully climbing over the threshold, Jiang Yuqing tidied her clothes importantly, and brushed off the dust. No matter how high this threshold was, she could still climb over it.
While complaining to herself that the threshold at home was too unfriendly to her, she trotted over to Li Deshun with a "pit pat pit pat" sound.
The reason she had come here was first out of curiosity about the eunuch. Second, she wanted to gain some goodwill for her family. She didn't expect him to say nice things about her to the Emperor when he returned, but at least hoped he wouldn't speak badly.
Li Deshun was curious about her purpose here. "Little girl, what are you doing here? I don't have any candy for you to eat."
The little dumpling shook her head. "Don't want candy. Look, book book!"
Then she ran over to the bookshelf by herself, stood on tiptoes, and took out a book from the bottom shelf. She ran back to him, standing on tiptoes and holding up her little hand to place the book on the desk. Then she went to push the chair.
The solid wood chair was really too heavy for the little dumpling. She pushed with great difficulty, almost using her baby strength, but still only moved it a tiny bit, turning her little face red.
Having no alternative, she had to seek help from the little eunuch. "Brother, chair, sit." Little brother, could you please move the chair!
The little eunuch didn't dare to move, and looked to Li Deshun. Seeing Li Deshun nod, he moved the chair next to him in parallel, then lifted the little girl up into the chair.
This chair was much higher than the threshold. The little thing had struggled just climbing over the threshold, so she definitely couldn't get onto such a high chair alone.
After moving the chair, the little eunuch sat back down to continue massaging Li Deshun's legs.
Jiang Yuqing saw that Li Deshun's face was a little pale. Recalling how he had limped going to the front hall to eat, and considering his occupation, she deduced that there was a big problem with his knees.
"Leg, hurt hurt?" The little dumpling looked at his leg worriedly, then back at him.
She thought, I should get him some medicine. If something happens to this old eunuch, her family couldn't afford it.
Thinking this, she nimbly jumped off the chair, and firmly pressed his knee with her fingers. Her soft touch showed that his knee had swollen.
But because Jiang Yuqing was so little, her strength was also little, so Li Deshun didn't feel much.
This was Li Deshun's first time meeting such an interesting child, so he didn't mind her rudeness. On the contrary, he felt like teasing her a little. "Oh, little girl, you can even treat illnesses?"
The little dumpling didn't speak, tilted her head looking at him, then trotted out again with a "pit pat pit pat" sound.
This left Li Deshun completely puzzled. He felt rather helpless, thinking to himself that children really are children, coming and going like the wind without any patience. So he shook his head and continued reading.
But soon there was another "pit pat pit pat" sound from outside the door, gradually getting closer.
The same knock, the same threshold-climbing posture, the same trotting footsteps.
Sure enough, the little girl ran back, this time with a bulging little tiger head bag on her back.
She ran to Li Deshun's side, and started rummaging in her bag. A thick stack, about the size of half a palm, with a strong medicinal smell, some strange layered patches, and a small porcelain bottle.
Jiang Yuqing popped open the bottle, poured out five brownish strange pills, indicating for him to quickly eat them. "Take medicine, leg leg, no pain!"
Li Deshun understood. The little girl had seen his legs were hurting, and specially went back to find medicine for him.
In an instant, a ray of sunlight suddenly shone into the cold, hard, bottomless grayness of Li Deshun's frozen heart.
So rare, so warm. His eyes were a little misty from the warmth. When he lowered his head again, his gaze towards her was much gentler.
Touching as it was, medicine couldn't be taken recklessly.
Especially for such a young child, it was likely stolen from one of the elders in his family, not knowing what illness it treated, and brought to him.
Jiang Yuqing saw that he was unwilling to take the medicine, and suddenly realized she had made a mistake.
The other party was afraid that she had randomly taken medicine from her family to give him. In fact, if you thought about it, such a tiny child would not dare eat medicine given so casually, no matter how ill she was.
Thinking this, she ran out again with a "patter patter", and soon pulled her father back.
Jiang Wenyuan took one look at the medicine on the table and understood what was going on. He couldn't help but wryly smile to himself, this precious daughter of his really knew how to make trouble for him.
Just as he was thinking about how to cleverly smooth this situation over, the little dumpling spoke: "Master, here, take medicine. Leg, no pain." The medicine my master gave me, if I take it my leg won't hurt.
Jiang Wenyuan was well aware of the origins of these medicine pills his daughter had, it was no exaggeration to say they could cure any illness.
Furthermore, his daughter had paved the way for him wholeheartedly, he could not continue to waver. If he built a good relationship with Li Deshun, in the future he could gain another ally in the imperial court.
Once he thought this through, he acted a little embarrassed and said: "My young daughter does not understand matters, disturbing the gentleman's tranquility, please do not blame her. If..."
"Sir, please speak frankly, our family is not unreasonable people."
Jiang Wenyuan hesitated for a while, before finally making up his mind: "Although my daughter is young, she has had some fortune. At the age of one she was taken by an otherworldly master as a personal disciple.
Because she was too young, it was inconvenient to keep her by his side, so he would only come back once in a while to teach her some medical principles, and leave some medicine behind.
The medicine in this jade bottle is called 'Muscle Relaxing and Blood Activating Pellets', it is said to have the effects of relaxing muscles, activating collaterals, promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis. It can be used for bone injuries and pain, bruises and sprains, bone bi, rheumatism and more.
These are the original words of her master, and our family has not had such illnesses, so no one has taken it before, therefore I do not know if the medicine is really as effective as that master claimed.
As for those medicated patches, they are called Dampness Relieving and Pain Stopping Ointment. It is said to have similar effects as the Muscle Relaxing and Blood Activating Pellets, just one is taken internally and the other used externally."
Li Deshun just said: "Oh," and didn't say anything else. He clasped his hands into his sleeves, not knowing what he was thinking.
He wasn't doubting the truth of the claim that the Jiang family's little daughter had an otherworldly master as her teacher.
After all, adults can lie, but children cannot, especially such a tiny tot who couldn't even speak clearly yet, even less so.
What he was concerned about was, although this was medicine given by an otherworldly master, Jiang Wenyuan also said that their family had not personally used it before, so they were also uncertain whether the medicine really had the effects that the master claimed.
Seeing that he did not believe, Jiang Wenyuan added: "Although my family and I have not used these two medicines, when I went to the capital for the imperial examinations, I brought some medicine for wind-cold fever and gold wound powder that the master had left behind.
I personally tried the medicine for wind-cold fever, just swallowing a few tiny pills with water, and was better after two days. Later I also used the gold wound powder to save a heavily injured daoist priest who was bleeding a lot."
"Was it the daoist priest who gave you the sweet potato seeds?"
"Exactly."
Li Deshun nodded, lowered his head to ponder for a good while before saying: "Alright, in any case for my leg the imperial doctors at the Imperial Medical Bureau don't have any good solutions.
It's just trying one more medicine, I can take it, just giving myself a chance. If there really is improvement, it will be fortune for our family."
Jiang Wenyuan said: "The gentleman is magnanimous." He squatted down again to ask his daughter: "How is this medicine taken?"
"Eat meal, take medicine. Five pills!" She held out one small palm. Three times a day, five pills each time.
"What about this?" Jiang Wenyuan picked up a medicated patch to ask his daughter.
The little dumpling tugged Li Deshun's pant leg and pulled it up a bit, gesturing for him to roll up his pant leg: "Pants, roll up. Stick on leg."
Li Deshun understood, he should roll up his pants and stick it directly on the injured area. The little eunuch rolled up both pant legs, revealing his knees, which were indeed red and swollen, already somewhat deformed.
Rheumatoid arthritis of this degree could not be cured even in modern society with advanced medicine, it could only be controlled to try to minimize flare ups.
A glimpse of compassion flashed in Jiang Yuqing's eyes.
Eunuchs really did not have it easy. Kneeling to serve others for a lifetime, without family or kin, and contracting all kinds of illnesses when old.
In the future when they could no longer work and left the palace, those with substantial savings could spend a relatively peaceful period in their remaining years, but the final outcome for most eunuchs was extremely miserable.
Eunuchs were the most inhumane and twisted product of the feudal society.
