FH Chapter 45: 看诊
[ Examine]
Xiao LingChuan came out of the dark shadow and raised his hand to give Li Haitang a coat. People who practiced martial arts had bright ears and eyes, and could wake up at the slightest rustle of leaves in the wind.
“You didn’t sleep or just wake up?”
The late autumn night wind was chilly, Li Haitang tightened her coat, she remembered that she still had tickets for the Fuxiang Teahouse private room, Chun Niang’s couldn’t stay away from her husband so she was afraid that she couldn’t listen to the opera with them.
“Awake.”
Xiao LingChuan’s reply was a methodical one, seeing Li Haitang staring at him, his cold hard lines softened a little, “Jin Hu is still sleeping.”
The late autumn sky was high and distant, and the night sky was dotted with stars. Neither of them knew what to say, so they stood under the eaves of the house and blew the cold wind together (damping expectations by discouraging aka realistic words).
Inside the room, frequent sighs came out, Li Haitang finally couldn’t help herself and asked in a small voice, “Chun Niang, I know a bit about medicine, can I come in and take a look at brother-in-law?”
“Sister.”
Footsteps sounded in the room, a few moments later, the door of the room opened, Chun Niang’s face was haggard, the bottom of her eyes were covered in blood, instantly like she had aged ten years, she shook her head, “The doctor said that your brother-in-law’s illness is contagious.”
“Is it tuberculosis?”
Li Haitang tried, if it was consumption, she had to personally check the patient’s pulse. Chinese medicine preaches the combination of the four methods of diagnosis (i.e. observation (望), auscultation and olfaction (闻), interrogation (问), and pulse feeling and palpation (切)) and adjusts the prescription according to the severity of the disease.
She was only a tactless and impulsive person; however, for tuberculosis, it wasn’t like there wasn’t a single thing she could do, at least she wouldn’t let it expand.
“Meizi, how do you know?”
Chun Niang was puzzled, she didn’t seem to have mentioned her husband’s illness, only that he was bedridden.
“By guessing.”
Coughing, coughing up blood, usually caused by inflammation of the lungs, and Chuniang said contagious, rightly so, it should be tuberculosis without a doubt.
“This disease is contagious, I don’t want to …”
Chun Niang basically did not hold much hope, it is said that only the divine doctor in Da Qi can treat all kinds of difficult and miscellaneous diseases, and the rest of it is the imperial doctor in the capital, but that person is not a character that a small commoner like her can access.
“Just make some preparations.”
In Chun Niang’s house, the last thing that was lacking was fabric. Li Haitang used needle and thread and neatly made gloves and masks. She and Xiao Lingchuan entered the inner room together.
From the beginning to the end, Xiao LingChuan was silent and did not question her extra medical skills even a slightest of it.
“Low fever, coughing up blood, there may be pulmonary complications.”
Li Haitang tested the patient’s temperature and checked his pulse, completely different from her usual doings, becoming rigorous, if not mistaken, Chun Niang’s husband had already reached the terminal stage of tuberculosis.
“Haitang, your brother-in-law is still ……”
Chun Niang wiped her tears, since a period ago, her man had been coughing up blood continuously, the bone-setter was at his wits’ end and told her to prepare for the aftermath, for which she had cried her tears dry.
“Haitang, our couple has been in the Border City for more than ten years, and this is the first time I’ve heard that Chun Niang makes a friend.”
Chun Niang’s man was called He Fang, he didn’t mention his own illness, but greeted Li Haitang, he had prepared his heart and had long accepted this fact, the reason why he didn’t simply leave was so that things wouldn’t be too sudden, and Chun Niang would have a mental preparation.
He Fang’s physical strength is not good, say a few words, and then fall into heavy sleep.
Li Haitang withdrew, locking her brows tightly, and never opened her mouth. Currently she was only half sure, mainly, the few herbs needed, not sure if they could be found in this era.
He Fang lives in the main room, usually the room have to be more breathable, keep it dry, the house has to be disinfected with mugwort and other things, change of clothes, must be exposed to the sun, she read the prescription given by the doctor, moderately it was several herbs that clear away heat and detoxify the toxins.
