Chapter 29 Maintaining Authority

  Zuo Gui stroked his mustache and looked her up and down before asking, "What's wrong with you?"

  The lame woman said weakly: "Headache, body heat, bone and joint pain."

  "Oh, sweating?"

  The woman shook her head.

  "Are you afraid of the cold?"

  Women quarrel at the gate, nodding their heads: "It's really cold..."

  "Been sick for several days?"

  "It's been about seven or eight days."

  Zuo Gui felt his pulse and found it to be floating and tight. He said, "This is a case of Ma Huang Tang, don't worry, taking one or two doses of medicine will cure you."

  The old woman begged: "My husband is seriously ill and we have no money. Can you help me treat him first? I'll definitely pay you back when I have the money! Is that okay?"

  "Is that so." Zuigui thought for a moment, then said: "Your family is so poor, money doesn't come easily, don't waste it on treating illnesses. Actually, you can treat illnesses without spending any money... - find a bamboo stick and bring a knife over."

  The lame old woman didn't know what Lao Gui wanted to do, and she didn't dare ask more questions. She quickly ordered a big kid sitting on the stone slab to go get it. The kid ran out barefoot and came back soon, holding a bamboo stick and a broken axe.

  Zuo Gui took it over, using a hatchet to split the bamboo into a small bamboo stick. He laboriously sharpened the tip and put down the hatchet, letting the lame-legged woman lift her face up. He carefully inserted the bamboo stick into her nostril, and with his other hand, he lightly flicked it, then pulled out the stick.

  Ouch!

  The woman let out a soft cry, bent her waist, and blood began to flow from her nostrils. She hastily bent over and cried out: "What's... what's going on? I've got a nosebleed! Oh no, Eldest Second Brother, quickly get Mother a rag!"

  Another boy sitting on the ground hastily replied, just as he was about to enter the house, and was stopped by Zuogui: "Don't! Don't worry, let her bleed, until she stops herself. Bleed for a while and the illness will be cured!"

  "What? Nosebleed...... can also cure illness?" The lame-legged woman bowed her head to look at the dripping nosebleed and asked in a flurry.

  Yes.

  The lame-legged woman had a good half bowl of nosebleed, and she finally stopped. After a while, she stretched her arms and exclaimed with joy: "Ah, I feel much better! My heart is no longer anxious and hot, my eyes are bright, and my hands and feet are comfortable! It's really amazing! Nosebleeds can cure illnesses, if only I knew that earlier, I would have cured myself, haha!"

  "Not all nosebleeds can cure diseases, only when one has contracted Taiyang disease and injury cold, that is, fear of cold, fever, headache, no sweating, whole body soreness, floating pulse, seven or eight days of illness are not good, this can be used to prick the nasal cavity with a bamboo needle. The inner Yingxiang hole bleeds, and the disease can be cured."

  Zuo Shaoyang was also surprised, it was his first time seeing this method used to treat a patient with a Taiyang exterior pattern.

  Actually, Taiyang Shanghan disease can sometimes heal on its own. The course of the disease is generally around 7-8 days, during which the patient will break out in a sweat and then recover. However, some patients may not sweat, and the cold evil in the camp division cannot be eliminated. At this time, the patient will have nosebleeds, and once the nosebleed occurs, the cold evil is eliminated from the body along with the blood, and the disease is cured. This is called "using bleeding to replace sweating". But if there is no nosebleed either, the body feels hot and uncomfortable, and the sweat does not come out because of the same origin as blood and sweat, the cold evil can also be eliminated through the blood division. At this time, if the nasal mucosa is pierced to actively cause a nosebleed, it can also achieve the purpose of eliminating the cold evil in the body and relieving the symptoms.

  The onlookers were also shocked, and Zuo Gui's move broadened their horizons, making them think that they should take the opportunity to cure any ailments they had.

  Another family has invited them home, and this family is a bit better off, at least there are stools to sit on and hot water to drink.

  The patient was an old woman, also shivering with fear. When asked, she had the same symptoms of chills and fever, headache and body aches. After Left Guī examined her pulse and tongue, he said: "You also have the symptoms of Mahuang Tang, these days it's been snowing, very cold, many people got wind-cold injury, don't worry, just take two doses of medicine." After asking for the patient's name, he wrote a prescription for Mahuang Tang and handed it to Left Shǎoyáng to prepare the medicine.

  Although the prescription is Ephedra Decoction, the first medicinal flavor is still Cinnamomum cassia. Anyway, there is also Cinnamomum cassia in Ephedra Decoction, but the main medicinal ingredient used is Ephedra, which is the monarch drug in the prescription, while Cinnamomum cassia has a small dosage and serves as a ministerial drug.

  Zuo Shaoyang saw that the old woman's body was very weak, thought for a moment, and said: "Dad, I'll also learn to diagnose and take a look at the illness, can I prescribe medicine?"

  "Hmm, then you just wait and see!" Zuo Gui saw that his son was diligent in his studies and asked good questions, and he couldn't help but feel a liking for him. He stroked his beard with an air of satisfaction and nodded his head.

  Zuo Shaoyang took the old woman's hand, exchanged hands and felt her pulse. He found that the pulse was light and easy to obtain, slightly reduced when pressed harder but not empty, like wood floating on water. Indeed, it was a floating pulse, which is a characteristic pulse of Taiyang disease. Upon closer examination, he also felt that between the floating pulses, there were soft and subtle sunken pulses. He furrowed his brow, realizing that the weak pulse indicated that the patient's yang energy was declining and had little strength to propel blood circulation. This showed that while the patient had exterior symptoms, there was also interior deficiency present. Therefore, he could not use excessive sweating with Ma Huang Tang, lest it damage the body's vital energy.

  Zuo Shaoyang said to Zuo Gui, "His pulse is not only superficial, but also a bit weak."

  "What's wrong with that?" Zuo Gui's face was somewhat gloomy.

  "Pulse weakness represents interior deficiency, if at this time use Mahuang Tang to induce sweating, it may injure the upright Qi, better to use Guizhi Tang..."

  "Do you know what!" Zuo Gui scolded, " 'No sweat use Ephedra, with sweat use Cinnamon twig', he clearly hasn't broken a sweat, how can you use Cinnamon Twig Decoction? I told you to study hard but you refused to listen! Hurry up and fetch the medicine!"

  In general, Ephedra is used for no sweating and Cinnamomum is used for sweating. However, in cases of Taiyang disease with both exterior and interior deficiency, regardless of whether there is sweating or not, Ma Huang Tang should not be used because it is a purely pungent-warm formula that induces excessive sweating, which can easily damage the body's energy when there is interior deficiency, leading to complications. Therefore, Gui Zhi Tang should be used instead, as it has strong tonifying properties and weak diaphoretic effects, eliminating pathogens without damaging the body's energy, nourishing the blood and not retaining pathogens.

  But Zuo Shao Yang couldn't distinguish himself from his father, Zuo Gui, he had to establish his father's authority, because others only believed in Old Master Zuo, and not many people believed that this young doctor's medical skills would be so remarkable. However, he couldn't follow Zuo Gui's method of treatment, or else the condition would take a turn for the worse, so he could only secretly replace it.

  He carried the medicine cabinet on his back, took out the medicine package, gave it to the woman, and explained the usage method and precautions.

  An old woman watching from the crowd scratched her head and said, "Old fellow, my head is full of lice, it's so itchy that I'm going crazy, can you help me get rid of them?"

  A little boy next to him touched his own shaved head and said with a smile: "Just shave it all off! Like me!"

  The old woman made a gesture as if she was going to kick the little guy, and the little guy quickly covered his buttocks and dodged away, causing everyone to burst out laughing.

  Zuo Gui smiled and said, "This is simple. I'll give you a prescription for some medicine. Take it back and decoct it into a soup. Use the medicinal liquid to wash your hair, and after washing, let it air dry without rinsing with clean water. At night, when sleeping, use a towel to wrap up all of your hair. Tomorrow morning, I guarantee that all the lice on your head, including their eggs, will be dead! This medicine is non-toxic, so don't worry."

  The old woman was delighted: "Really? That's very kind of you. How much for the medicine?"

  "We'll be back in a few days, if it's really good, you can just pay again."

  "Alright! Thank you very much!"

  Zuo Gui let Zuo Shao Yang take some Centipeda from the medicine cabinet, wrapped it up and gave it to the old woman. Zuo Shao Yang was quite surprised, he didn't expect that Centipeda could also cure head lice. Although he knew that Centipeda could kill insects, in modern society it's hard to see people with a head full of lice again, so this effect of Centipeda had faded from his mind.

  After finishing the medical treatment, the two were about to leave when an old man came running in a hurry, pointing at several men who were watching and shouting: "Hey! You few, follow me quickly, our young master is ill and needs to be sent to the city! The old master has called you to help lift him, hurry up!"

  These people must be the tenants of that old man, and as soon as they heard this, they hastily agreed and followed the old man to run away.

  Zuo Shaoyang heard this and hastily whispered to Zuo Gui, "Father, let's go take a look!"

  Zuo Gui felt a bit bewildered: "Go do what? They didn't invite us to see a doctor."

  Zuo Shaoyang was so frustrated that he couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time. His father, a cultured man with a strong sense of propriety, was still putting on airs at this critical moment, which made it difficult for him to lose his temper. He hastily said, "Dad! We are doctors, we should be offering our services door-to-door. Besides, going to take a look and see if we can help is nothing to be ashamed of."

  "Well, in that case... Alright." Zu Gui hesitantly agreed.

  Zuoyang hurriedly chased after those people with his medical box on his back, and when he was about to reach the village entrance, he saw a mansion with high walls and green tiles, which had some momentum, but compared to the rich and wealthy families in the city, it was somewhat inferior, presumably this was the courtyard of some local landlord.

  At the door stood a soft couch, with four poles erected at its four feet, supporting a light gauze canopy. At this moment, the gauze curtains on both sides were lifted, and there was no one inside, presumably the patient had not been sent out yet.

  Zuo Shaoyang let out a rough breath, feeling slightly more at ease in his heart. He turned his head to look back and saw that Old Man Zuo Gui was lagging far behind, strolling over with a slow and leisurely pace, which made him feel both annoyed and amused.