He couldn’t see them himself, so he invited the visitors into the house, where Gu Youyou provided consultation from behind a curtain.
After a busy day, she could finally rest in the evening.
Gu Youyou changed into her own clothes, gently wiped away the beads of sweat, and prepared to return to her own small courtyard.
Qin Changlin called out to her from the backyard.
Gu Youyou turned around and saw Qin Changlin holding a box in his hands, his face haggard!
"Sister Youyou, this is what Master left for you," he said.
Gu Youyou was taken aback, not expecting Doctor Zhou to leave anything for her, and quickly took the box to examine it.
The box was made of high-quality zitan wood, a rare and valuable material that seemed excessive for a doctor from a small clinic like Xiaoqingshui Town to possess.
She suspected that some of the answers to her questions might lie within this box.
Holding the box, she went back inside the house and used the key hanging on the side to unlock the delicate copper lock.
Inside, several medical texts lay quietly; the first was the Inner Canon of Huangdi, the second was Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases, and the third was Notes by the Zhou family. It seemed that the third book was his own writing, containing some of his unique insights into medicine.
The fourth... there was no fourth book. The fourth book’s yellowed cover bore no title, and inside were the words Doctor Zhou had left in a letter.
At first glance, the writing was chaotic, and an ordinary person would likely have difficulty deciphering it. Only someone like Gu Youyou, who was professionally trained in medicine, could understand it. It was written in the same way modern doctors write prescriptions.
Gu Youyou smiled wryly. Was it coincidence, or coincidence? She just happened to be able to read it; otherwise, she would have had to find a professional to interpret it.
However, the content within was somewhat puzzling.
(I knew you were coming. I didn’t expect that you would come, alive!)
The first page contained just these few disjointed sentences which confused Gu Youyou. She turned to the second page.
(From the moment I agreed to do this task, my conscience has constantly tormented me. As a healer, I have treated every one of my patients with the intention of healing the world, using my life’s knowledge to save countless people. I do not seek fame for eternity, but only to live a life worthy of my master and the noble name of healer. Yet I did not anticipate, in my later years and after I had already submitted my resignation to the Imperial Medical Bureau, that I would encounter something that would destroy my reputation and lead to the death of my whole family!)
Perhaps some will say I fear death, others may say I seek fame and fortune. However, I refuse to die without a cause, and that’s why I have survived. But the price... made me truly betray what it means to be a healer.
A simple peasant girl unknown to me, I don’t understand why they wanted me to stay here, providing her family with a special medicine each month. While the herbs were exceedingly precious, they only cost a trivial amount of silver tael. Through my years of research, I understood what that medicine was and eventually concocted a prescription that could suppress the cold poison.
This girl had been taking the medicine for years with no cure in sight, only hoping that my prescription could extend her life, at least to avoid the bone-chilling agony when the poison took effect.
One day, when I saw a recipe for an excellent detoxifying remedy, I knew that the young girl had finally come forth. I don’t know where she got her prescription from, but it was much better than what I had developed over many years. I knew then that perhaps there was hope for her.
I intentionally inquired about the girl from Lotus Village who was always locked in the house, knowing she had come to Jisheng Hall, whether by intention or accident. No matter what her purpose was, I dared not meet her, could not meet her—that was the agreement I had with that person. To avoid her as much as possible, I began making constant house calls. I didn’t know how long I could delay, just taking it one day at a time. Perhaps when the day comes that I can no longer delay, it will be the day I die...)