Chapter 11: Stillbirth

  The Second Master smiled: "You're really funny, this musk isn't wild, apart from the emperor's hunting grounds, I've never heard of anyone raising forest musk at home."

  "Now that you know, you're still asking for ten taels? Don't you feel ashamed?" Zuo Shao Yang said with a red face.

  The Second Master smiled and turned around, pulling out a drawer from a large row of medicine cabinets, taking out several things and slapping them on the counter: "Here, these musk, Young Master Zuo wants to sell all of them for 12 cents each!"

  Zuo Shaoyang was stunned, took a look, and indeed there were several musk on the table. He picked one up to take a closer look, and it was genuine musk. He checked the others, and they were all authentic musk. Stammering, he asked: "Really... twelve cents each?"

  "Hmm! If Young Master Zuo wants to buy in bulk, eleven cents is fine. This is our wholesale price at the pharmacy. To be honest, we usually pay nine cents for musk when we purchase it. We're already giving you a high price among all the pharmacies in the province. Since you, Young Master Zuo, have come here personally to sell it, we'll give you face and offer ten cents. If it were someone else, we'd only offer nine cents!"

  Zuo Shaoyang was stunned, never expecting that musk, which is worth 100,000 RMB in modern society, was only worth 50 pieces of money in the Tang Dynasty!

  He naturally understood that in the Tang Dynasty, there was no problem of protecting wild animals, and due to the sparse population, human activities had a very small impact on nature, so the number of wild animals far exceeded modern society. The girl who cut firewood could even cut down a lin miao (a type of deer), which is enough to show that lin miao was a very common animal in this era, probably no different from wild rabbits. But he couldn't imagine that the prices would differ so much between ancient and modern times. Because he didn't know that except for the fact that wild animals like lin miao were far more numerous in the Tang Dynasty than in modern times, at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty's founding, living materials were scarce, and except for rice prices, all other commodity prices were very low. A piece of musk sold for ten cents was already considered expensive.

  The price was far from what he had imagined, and he didn't even have the heart to haggle. He thought back to when that girl sold him the musk, thinking he had taken advantage of her, but in fact she had just sold it to him at a fair price. She must have sold it for the same price in the city. Since he wanted to buy it, she sold it to him at a fair price. With this confirmation, he knew that although the second shopkeeper of Hui Min Tang was unpleasant to talk to, he hadn't cheated him. Feeling extremely disheartened, he had originally thought that selling the musk would allow him to pay off his parents' debt, but now what should he do?

  Zuo Shaoyang dejectedly stuffed the musk into his bosom and walked out of Huimin Hall, standing at the door, letting the cold wind blow on him, without a single idea in his mind. He had thought that with his advanced knowledge from modern society, he could easily win in the Tang Dynasty, gain fame and fortune, and become rich and honorable, but he didn't expect to lose so badly in the first battle, and lose so shamefully. Only now did he realize that making money in the Tang Dynasty was not as easy as he had imagined, and ancient people were not fools, no stupider than himself.

  Of course, he won't give up because of the failure of the first step, what should be done next?

  What skills do I have that the Tang Dynasty people don't? Making glass? Making cement? Making guns and cannons? Making cars? These are all good things, but I only know what they look like, not how to make any of them! From childhood to adulthood, my only specialty is remembering a bellyful of traditional Chinese medicine from years of hard study in university.

  Traditional Chinese medicine?!!

  With a surge of confidence, although ancient people were also skilled in traditional Chinese medicine, the knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine he possessed was also more than a thousand years ahead of that of the Tang Dynasty. The experiences of various medical masters after the Tang Dynasty, especially the achievements of modern Western and Chinese medicine combined, absolutely surpassed any divine doctor of the Tang Dynasty! With this knowledge, he should be able to create a career.

  This idea filled Zuo Shaoyang's heart with hope, but thinking of the bleak business at Guizhitang, he was at a loss again. He couldn't just drag people around the streets asking if they wanted to see a doctor and telling them that he came from modern society and could cure many diseases that Tang Dynasty doctors couldn't, or else he would be taken for a madman and thrown into prison.

  At that moment, Zuo Shao Yang was standing at the door, lost in thought, sometimes happy and sometimes worried. Suddenly, he heard a commotion of footsteps from afar, and a group of people rushed over, carrying a woman on a board, her belly bulging high, weakly groaning. The man beside her kept comforting her: "Hold on, wife! We're almost at the Hui Min Tang!"

  Zuo Shaoyang hastily stepped aside and watched as the leader of this group, an old man, waved his hands wildly, lifted the door curtain, and shouted repeatedly at the inside: "Make way! Trouble everyone to make way! Doctor! Nai Langzhong! Save my life! Quickly save my daughter-in-law!"

  This group of people entered the main hall, and under the big red lantern hanging high above the gate, Zuo Shao Yang saw a string of dripping blood on the bluestone in front of the door! He couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart, thinking that this parturient woman was likely to have a bad outcome.

  Several colleagues from Huimin Hall hurried over, seven or eight of them helping to carry the woman into the house and sending her into the adjacent wing room. A white-bearded old man hastily came out from inside, followed him in, looking like he should be Nielangzhong.

  Zuo Shaoyang also stepped into the main hall, and the patients waiting for their turn in the outer room were all looking out of the door, but the door was already closed, and they couldn't see what was going on inside. They could only hear the weak moans of the woman and the anxious cries of the man. The patients whispered to each other, and several elderly women shook their heads: "It looks like it's a difficult delivery!"

  "It's not just that, look at all this blood on the ground, I'm afraid it's going to be a bloodbath!"

  "Is he still alive? Tsk tsk, so young and promising, what a pity!"

  "Don't say that, Wei Min Tang's Nie Lang is a highly skilled Chinese medicine doctor, he can definitely save people's lives!"

  "It's said that a doctor can't save someone who is destined to die, but looking at her like this..."

  Inside was noisy, and no one managed him. Zuo Shao Yang went over, stood by the window, wanting to hear the diagnosis of the doctor inside, but these singing women were chattering away, how could he hear clearly? He quickly put his index finger to his lips and hissed: "Everyone, they're saving a life in there, please be quiet, don't disturb the doctor."

  The colleagues of Huimin Hall also bowed repeatedly and said: "Yes, gentlemen, old ladies, don't say anything else, thank you, thank you!"

  The house soon fell silent. Huimin Hall had several resident doctors, and the other doctors continued to see patients. As it quieted down, Zuo Shaoyang could hear the conversation in the house clearly. All he heard was an old voice saying, "Alas! It's too late! The fetus has already died in the womb!"

  "What? My son......!"

  The sound of crying immediately filled the air.

  "That old voice said again: 'Don't cry! Laoxu must think of a way to get rid of the stillbirth, otherwise, I'm afraid it will be one corpse and two lives!'"

  The crying grew louder. They begged the old man to administer the medicine quickly.

  After a while, the old man came out and wrote a prescription at the table. He handed it to his apprentice to grab the medicine and immediately decocted it. The groaning of the woman in the house became weaker and weaker.

  Zuo Shaoyang knew that if the fetus died in the womb, it was necessary to deliver the stillbirth as soon as possible. Otherwise, it would lead to disseminated intravascular coagulation and ultimately harm the mother's life! He couldn't help but feel anxious for them too.

  The medicine was soon decocted and sent into the lying-in chamber. After waiting for a little while, the sound of the night watchman's clapper was heard outside, indicating that the night watches had begun.

  During the Tang Dynasty, it was common practice for shops to close at the start of the night watch. Pharmacies were no exception. Upon hearing the sound of the night watch, patients who had not yet been treated would voluntarily get up and leave. The apprentices began to close the pharmacy door. Apart from the main doors, there was a small side door which was used for emergency cases. According to Tang Dynasty regulations, from the second watch until the fifth watch, the entire city was under curfew, and all people were prohibited from passing through. However, there were a few exceptions, including critically ill patients who needed urgent medical attention, but they had to obtain permission from the night patrol officer first. Pharmacies could still open their doors to treat emergency cases during this time. This small door was used for patients coming in for emergency treatment after curfew.

  The shop assistant smiled and said to Zuo Shao Yang, "Master Zuo, look, we're closing the door. If you have something to do, come back tomorrow, okay?"

  Zuo Shaoyang had no choice but to leave the main hall, standing on the street, he could no longer hear the voices of people talking inside. Zuo Shaoyang shook his head and walked home with his sleeves rolled up and his neck shrunk against the cold wind.