Chapter Sixty-six: A New Proposal

  Sun Simiao asked Chen Yi after driving out several disciples: "Ziying, how is the condition of Madame Korea?"

  "The road is long, Mrs. Korea's illness has no obstacles, the fever has receded for several days, and all other symptoms are stable, just need to rest for a few more days, there will be no problem!" Chen Yi replied honestly, he was also wondering why Sun Simiao was so concerned about Wu Shun's condition, according to his understanding, Sun Simiao was not a person who fawned on those in power, towards Wu Shun, a woman of such status and Li Zhi's lover, even if facing her directly, would not be too hypocritical, not seeing her for several days and immediately asking about Wu Shun's condition, it doesn't quite fit his usual character. It seems there must be another deeper purpose."

  Chen Yi's guess was correct, and Sun Simiao asked about Wu Shun's condition with another purpose. He also said it bluntly: "Ziying, my guess is not wrong, your medical skills are indeed superb, the imperial physician in the palace can't do anything about this disease, but you cured it immediately after taking over, with such performance, I'm relieved too, next you will definitely give people more surprises!"

  Sun Simiao's words had already made Chen Yi vaguely guess something, but he didn't ask further and instead explained why Wu Shun was able to recover so quickly: "Sun Daolong, actually, the Korean lady's illness has been treated by the imperial physician in the palace and has had some effect. However, the medicine used wasn't completely effective for her symptoms, and the time it took to administer the medicine was too short, so the efficacy of the medicine didn't fully manifest. Moreover, the imperial physicians didn't take timely measures to lower her body temperature, which is why the Korean lady's illness didn't show any obvious improvement. The medicine I administered later had a cumulative effect with the previous medicine used by the imperial physician, and I also took measures to lower her body temperature. The Korean lady's own immune function...her body's natural resistance slowly began to take effect, and under these combined effects, the result was naturally good! This isn't to say that my medical skills are particularly high, it's just luck. Moreover, the Korean lady didn't have some kind of rare or difficult illness..."

  Isn't it just a case of severe pneumonia? A very common respiratory disease, as long as the doctor makes a careful diagnosis, it's unlikely to be misdiagnosed or mistreated. If antibiotics are used, in ancient times when antibiotic-resistant bacteria were rare, it would definitely be cured quickly. Although he didn't use antibiotics, the several medicines he used had obvious anti-inflammatory effects, and achieving such results was not surprising to him.

  "Ah, you should be humble!" Sun Simiao stroked his beard and chuckled, "The Korean lady's illness was cured by you, the imperial physicians in the palace were helpless, and when the Emperor and Empress found out, they were overjoyed. In two days, a reward will be sent to you, hehe! You didn't disappoint me, today you must tell me in detail about your diagnosis and treatment of the Korean lady's illness, the more detailed the better!"

  Sun Simiao's two polite sentences made Chen Yi even more aware of the old Daoist's thoughts. Thinking about what Sun might ask him to do, his heart trembled with a bit of tension, but he still suppressed his unusual thoughts and replied calmly: "Daozhang Sun, treating lung abscesses is not actually difficult, as long as there is no misdiagnosis, I'm sure Daozhang also has many methods...I don't dare to show off my skills, but since Daozhang asked me to do so, I can only boast a bit. If there's anything wrong, please correct me!"

  Sun Simiao nodded slightly and said, "Go ahead, I'll listen carefully!"

  Chen Yi no longer beat around the bush and detailed his diagnosis and treatment to Sun Simiao, saying at the end: "Sun Daochang, in the medical books I've read, there's a mention of a type of mold called Penicillium that produces penicillin, which has a special effect on treating lung abscesses. This penicillin also has a remarkable effect on many diseases caused by inflammation. Unfortunately, it doesn't exist yet. If we could manufacture or collect it, it would have twice the effect in treating diseases and many stubborn illnesses could be easily cured!"

  "Is it penicillin produced by Aspergillus?" If what Chen Yi said earlier about how to replace Wu Shun's treatment didn't surprise Sun Simiao too much, then the question of penicillin raised by Chen Yi was indeed thought-provoking. He had devoted his life to studying medical principles and developing medicines, and he was interested in every kind of medicine that treated diseases, especially those with "miraculous effects". The "penicillin" mentioned by Chen Yi just now had miraculous effects on many diseases, and Sun Simiao immediately became interested. After repeating the sentence thoughtfully, he asked eagerly, "Ziying, tell me about this medicine!"

  Chen Yi briefly introduced the situation of penicillin and Penicillium: "Penicillium is a common mold in our daily life, which can be seen everywhere. The toxins they secrete are very annoying, and even if attached to clothes, they will produce green spots, yellow spots, and mold spots. These mold spots are the toxins they secrete. This kind of annoying thing is actually a special medicine for treating some diseases, especially the penicillin secreted by Penicillium. The place where Penicillium inhabits, other bacteria basically do not produce. According to medical records, the effect is as I said earlier, and it can be used directly with water to treat diseases after dilution. However, in recent years, most of the time has been spent reading books, and this thing has never been collected, so the real therapeutic effect is unknown!"

  "Ah, if what you saw in that medical book is recorded, then it must be true. Let me think about it when I have time, and let's discuss the production of penicillin by Penicillium together to see if it really has a miraculous effect!" Sun Simiao's eyes sparkled with excitement as he stroked his beard thoughtfully, then turned to Chen Yi and said seriously: "Ziying, although you haven't recovered many memories after your head injury, you remember the medical books you read very clearly. I'm very interested in those medical books you've read, even though you didn't bring them with you to Chang'an. With your intelligence and memory, you must be able to recall a lot of things. Why don't we do this: when you have time, write down the contents of the medical book, and let me study it carefully?"

  "Master Sun, this... is... too... too... much..." Chen Yi was taken aback. Although he didn't dare to claim that he was intelligent, his memory was indeed good. Even though his soul had traveled back in time to ancient times, he still remembered most of the medical knowledge he had learned from later generations. He was familiar with the pathogenesis, symptoms and signs, diagnosis and differential diagnosis, auxiliary examinations, and treatment methods of those common diseases that he knew about, but the amount of knowledge involved in these diseases was staggering - if written down, it would be equivalent to hundreds of millions of characters! To ask him to write all this down with a brush would be easier than killing him outright! However, he couldn't very well refuse Master Sun's proposal, so he hesitated and stammered: "Master Sun, of course I can do this... but the content involved is extremely vast. A single disease might require tens of thousands of words to explain, and if you ask me to record it all... I'm really afraid that I'll let you down!"

  Can't refuse, but must also speak out the worries in heart.

  Sun Simiao seemed to understand Chen Yi's concern, and burst out laughing, "Don't worry, I won't let you do these copying and writing tasks. Let Ning Qing handle it instead. She doesn't have much to do, and she's about the same age as you, so let her take charge of recording. You just need to narrate!"

  "That's great!" Chen Yi let out a sigh of relief, smiling at Sun Simiao, grateful for the old man's thoughtfulness. However, after seeing Sun Simiao's meaningful smile, he hesitated again in his heart, wondering if Sun Simiao had a deeper meaning behind it.

  He said, Ning Qing recorded, and then can't he be with that beautiful little Taoist nun for a long time with a clear conscience?

  Sun Simiao wasn't afraid he would do something to Ning Qing, or even abduct this pretty little girl?