Chapter Eleven "The Guest"

  Cao Yin had not been in Hangzhou for long when the Fourth Prince and the Thirteenth Prince set off back to the capital. Cao Kun, although he had intended to get along with the future Yongzheng Emperor and avoid disaster befalling the Cao family, was bedridden with illness and did not even have the opportunity to meet them, let alone curry favor with them. After learning that the two princes had returned to the capital, Cao Kun sighed for half a day, but Cao Yin thought it was just his son feeling grateful for the rescue by the two princes and didn't take it seriously.

  On August 10th, Li received the news and arrived in Hangzhou with a few maids. Although Cao Yin did not want his wife to worry, he was about to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival soon and had many official and family matters to attend to, so he could not stay long in Hangzhou. However, Cao Yun still needed to rest for some time in Hangzhou, so he sent someone back to Jiangning to send a message and bring his wife Li over to take care of their son.

  Although Cao Gong's external injuries had healed, Li was heartbroken for her son and burst into tears again. Cao Yi comforted her carefully and instructed Cao Fang to take good care of the house before leaving for Jiangning.

  Before long, it was August 15th.

  In the Cao family's separate courtyard, although there were only Li Shi, Cao Kun and Liu Ping with a few servants, various fruits and mooncakes were prepared in full. Li Shi had already learned about Liu Ping's background from Cao Kun and was grateful for her rescue of his son, feeling a deep affection for her. Liu Ping was clever and nimble, completely different from the spoiled Cao Yan, and she delighted Li Shi with her charming ways. After only a few days together, the two were not like mother and daughter, but more like mother and daughter.

  Cao Gong had been reading books in his room for half a month when he was carried out to the courtyard by servants, where he joined Li and Liu Ping in admiring the moon.

  The night sky was a deep blue, like the sea, with floating clouds gently moving. The round moon cast down a sheet of cold silver light. Cao Yun had a mooncake in his mouth, but his heart felt a pang of sadness. "Whenever it's a festive occasion, I miss my loved ones even more." He didn't know how his parents and siblings were doing in that other world. He had been under their care for many years, but he hadn't been able to repay them before he sent his life away in a muddle.

  Mr. Li saw that his son was not in a good mood, and there were a few more worries in his eyes. Even Liu Ping, who usually chattered the most, felt something was wrong, looking at Cao Yun and then at Mr. Li, quietly showing a bit of cleverness.

  Cao Gong didn't want the two to worry, suppressing the sadness in his heart, and put on a smiling face. He placed a piece of lotus seed paste mooncake on Li's plate and picked out a double egg yolk one for Liu Ping. The little girl loved eating this flavor of mooncake and had eaten quite a few over the past two days.

  The atmosphere relaxed, Cao Kun was still not fluent in speaking due to his throat injury, but with Liu Ping who loved to talk around, the scene didn't become cold. Li's personality was generous and considerate, thinking that the servants from other courtyards had also been busy all day, so she sent her personal maid to deliver mooncakes to each place. Although they had already been distributed according to their respective shares earlier, those couldn't be compared with these specially customized mooncakes from a century-old shop.

  When the moon was high in the sky, Li felt a bit tired and Liu Ping also started yawning. Cao Guang was greedy for the moonlight and had no sleepiness, so he let Li and Liu Ping go to rest first. Li wanted to stay with his son, but was politely declined by Cao Guang. He couldn't help feeling uneasy, so he left behind his personal maid Xiu Yu to take care of Cao Guang.

  At midnight, the courtyard was quiet, even the embroidered swan was leaning against the corridor, sleeping drowsily. In the following days, the fate of the Cao family made Cao Yun feel a bit heavy, and he unknowingly sank into deep thought for a long time. He stretched his waist, thinking that no matter how much he thought, he still had to wait until his leg was better before he could say anything else.

  Suddenly, there were several barks in the front yard, which was very unusual on a quiet night. Then, a faint noise came over.

  Before long, the night watchman Sun Po came over to report that a thief had entered the front yard and was caught by Cao Fang's men. Although he had seen ancient beggars and vagrants before, he had never seen an "ancient thief" before. Cao Meng felt a little curious and said to the old woman: "Mother, settle down, I'll go take a look!" Because his throat wasn't fully recovered yet, he could only speak in short bursts of one or two words at a time.

  Although Sun Baozi felt it was not proper, since the young master had spoken, there was no reason to disobey. She called two sturdy maidservants to carry Cao Er's sedan chair to the front yard.

  The front yard is brightly lit.

  About a dozen guards held torches and swords in their hands, not daring to slack off. When they saw Cao Fang come out, they all bowed their heads in greeting. Cao Fang saw that it wasn't the madam who came out and was somewhat embarrassed. On the ground lay an old man with a shaved head, wearing a hemp robe stained with dark red blood, his face pale, lips black, on the verge of dying. Cao Fang had brought people to patrol at night and discovered this old man outside the horse stable, looking like he had been injured and poisoned. Afraid that if he died in the mansion during the grand festival it would be unlucky, he originally wanted to report to the madam and send him to the government office, but unexpectedly it was the young master who came out.

  Cao Gong saw the old man and thought of his own miserable situation when he was in trouble, and his heart became more unbearable. Although he had not seen a real example, he had also read similar symptoms in books, furrowed his brow, looked at Cao Fang and asked: "Poisoned?" Seeing Cao Fang nodding, he pointed to the old man: "Lift him up, guest room!"

  Cao Fang originally wanted to advise the young master that one thing was better than nothing, but seeing Cao Gong's serious and solemn expression, he didn't dare say more, and followed orders to carry the old man with two people to the bed in the east wing guest room.

  Cao Guang ordered someone to move the chair to the bedside, and first sent someone to the street to invite a doctor. The doctor who usually took care of Cao Guang had gone out of town for the holiday and would not be able to return until the day after tomorrow. Then, he instructed: "Pancreas, beef milk, water!"

  Fortunately, Sun Po and Xiu Yuan didn't trust Cao Guang, so they brought a few maids to follow and serve him. This way, they were able to quickly go call someone from the backyard to fetch pancreas and beef milk etc.

  Cao Guang hinted to Sun Buzi that she should put the medicine in a bowl and mix it with water, then have someone feed it to the old man. Before long, the old man, who had been unconscious, started making gurgling sounds in his throat. Cao Guang ordered someone to prepare a basin, and the old man began vomiting profusely, spewing out filth that filled half the basin.

  The room was filled with a sour smell, Cao Yun seemed to have not noticed it, and again called for two bowls of soap water to be brought in to feed the old man. Soap is handmade soap. Soap water has an emetic effect, looking at the old man's reaction just now, the effect of this soap water is almost the same.

  In this way, the old man vomited several more times until he could not spit out anything and finally spat out half a mouthful of green bile. Cao Song saw that it was almost done and ordered someone to feed the old man a large bowl of beef milk.

  After half a time, when the doctor arrived, although the old man's face was still pale, there was some blood color on his lips. Cao Guang's tightly strung heart relaxed, and it seemed that soap water should have a detoxifying effect, but he didn't know how serious the old man's injury was.

  The doctor was called up in the middle of the night, and he came with a hint of resentment, but seeing that his attendants were all unusual, the furnishings in the side house and guest room were several times better than those of ordinary wealthy families, he naturally did not dare to be presumptuous. He stroked his beard with his left hand, and placed his right index and middle fingers on the patient's pulse, his face growing increasingly solemn. After finishing the pulse diagnosis, he carefully examined the old man's wound again.

  Cao Fang saw the doctor finish checking and handed over the pen, ink and paper. The doctor did not take it, sighed, and shook his head.

  Cao Guang's heart was anxious, and he opened his mouth: "The poison has been solved, what about it?"

  The doctor saw that the young master in front of him was dressed unusually and unlike others, and knew he was the host. However, he was puzzled as to why such a small child was put in charge. Upon hearing the young master's hoarse voice, he realized his throat was not well, and replied: "Although most of the poison has been eliminated from this old man, the wound on his left rib is too deep and has injured his liver and gallbladder. Even if an immortal came, there would be no cure. We can only use ginseng soup to sustain him, and let him settle his affairs!"

  The patient was covered in poison and injuries, but the doctor didn't have the heart to ask questions. As a doctor, he had seen many patients before, so he knew which ones could be asked about and which ones couldn't, it was all counted in his mind.

  Just now when someone was asked to invite a doctor, Cao Fang had said that he was afraid that the wound was too deep and there was no cure. Cao Song still had a glimmer of hope in his heart, but he didn't expect it to be this outcome.

  When he came into this world and faced death for the first time, it was an old bald man he had never met before. For some reason, Cao Yun felt that there must be a will of heaven in the darkness.

  After the doctor left, Sun Bao sent over half a bowl of ginseng soup. Since there was Cao Guang's illness in the mansion and Li Shi's body was weak, ginseng soup was always available in the kitchen, and it could be used after being heated up, which was also convenient.

  The bald old man was fed half a bowl of ginseng soup, closed his eyes and muttered: "Earthquake..." The voice was low and inaudible, even Cao Yu, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, couldn't hear clearly, so he could only gently lower his head.

  "Earthquake High Ridge", Cao Guang's head buzzed for a moment, could it be that "Earthquake High Ridge"? Cao Guang turned his head and saw that everyone's expression was normal, confirming that only he had heard it, before putting his mind at ease. This isn't something to joke about, waving his hand to dismiss everyone to leave.

  No matter whether it was Sun Pozi and Xiu Yuan, or Cao Fang, they all didn't move for half a day. Although the person on the bed seemed to be breathing out more than in, no one dared to leave Xiao Zhuzi alone in the room, just in case this old man made some reckless movement before his death, everyone would be implicated.

  Cao Gong coldly snorted: "Get out!"

  The three of them had no way out and slowly moved towards the door.

  When only the old man and himself were left in the room, Cao Song finally let out a breath of relief and said in a low voice: "The earthquake was high, the creek water was ancient and beautiful for thousands of years!"

  "The gate faces the vast ocean, and the three rivers flow for ten thousand years!" The old man replied slowly, opening his eyes to see only a young boy in the room, with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

  "What's going on at Honghuating?" Cao Gong saw the old man staring at himself without saying a word, so he had to force himself to speak up.

  The old man heard Cao Guang's voice and was convinced that the sentence "earthquake" was not his own hallucination, but he felt confused about the sentence "red flower", and asked: "What are your parents called, little brother? Did you hear these from their mouths?"

  Cao Cong was taken aback for a moment, and slowly said: "I heard it from my master!"

  "Your master?" The old man's face was solemn, and he reached out to grab Cao Yun's arm, very puzzled and incomprehensible. This child in front of him had no internal strength at all, and looking at his pale and tender skin, it didn't seem like he practiced external family martial arts either.

  "Little brother, what's your master's surname and where is he?" The old man asked.

  "He didn't mention his name, but took me as a disciple and told me to understand the principles of Tiandi. He also said that although I don't know '49', I am considered half a member of the Hong family." Cao Yun spoke nonsense, actually at first he just felt curious, so he used the Tian Di Hui's password from "The Deer and the Cauldron" to say a few words, later seeing the old man full of hopeful expression, really couldn't bear to tell the truth and disappoint him, had no choice but to make things up.

  "You didn't teach me martial arts, yet you say these things to me, shouldn't you?" The old man was perplexed: "What does that person look like? Is he in Hangzhou now?"

  "He's a Taoist, a bit untidy, fond of drinking as if his life depended on it, and he's over 50 or 60 years old, maybe even 70 or 80! He went to Fujian last month, don't know when he'll be back." Cao Mou rubbed his head, feeling a bit embarrassed, the lies were getting more and more numerous. Looking at this old man who was almost gone, what's the point of still deceiving him? Why not just tell the truth, say he's a stranger, ask if he has any last words to leave behind. He called him an old Taoist because in his past life, he had some understanding of the Tiandihui, knew that its origins were in Fujian and Taiwan, and that monks and nuns made up a large part of its members."

  Although Cao Yun's words were unclear, the old man nodded: "It turns out to be a disciple of Brother Su!" Seeing Cao Yun's puzzled face, he explained: "Your master is surnamed Su, named Hongguang, nicknamed 'Drunken Taoist', and is one of the five sects of our Hongmen, the 'Wei Sect', with top-notch internal family skills."

  Cao Gong didn't expect that his casual remark would actually come true, and now he didn't know what else to say.

  The old man's face gradually turned ruddy, and his eyes also brightened a lot. Cao Gong knew that this was a rebound, and he couldn't bear it, so he said in a warm voice: "Who hurt you? Let the master help you take revenge!" But in his heart, he thought that if the person who hurt the old man was a bad guy, then helping him take revenge would be justified.

  The old man listened to Cao Guang's words, understood his intention, and felt relieved. His face showed a few more sad expressions: "Brother Su returned to Fujian, probably like me!" He said this, held Cao Guang's hand, and put an iron ring on it.

  The ring was heavy, with a plum blossom pattern carved on it. Cao Kun felt a sense of foreboding, wondering if this was some kind of token. Just as he was thinking about what to do, the old man spoke up: "I am your master's elder brother, Wan Yunlong, the first generation leader of the Hongmen society. Since our founding in Fuzhou 27 years ago during the Kangxi period, we have grown to a membership of over a million brothers. Our original intention was to help each other out under the oppressive rule of the Qing dynasty, but unexpectedly, some people's ambitions have grown bigger and bigger, even resorting to sacrificing the lives of their fellow brothers for personal gain." He pointed at the ring in Cao Kun's hand: "This is the token of leadership within the Hongmen society. Although the internal strife has caused chaos, the external factions are not under the control of the traitors. I may be old and frail, but those who plotted against me have shaken my very being, leaving only a few stray dogs to fight among themselves, which will amount to nothing in the end."

  Wan Yunlong's face changed, unsure whether it was melancholy or relief. Cao Guang only felt the weight of the ring burning his hand and hastily asked: "Who do you want to give this ring to? Tell me quickly, I'll help you deliver it!"

  Wan Yunlong saw Cao Guang's clear eyes, without a hint of hesitation, and smiled: "Let Pan Zhong help the old man deliver it to Wu Tiancheng, the master of Dahong Mountain. He will naturally understand the deep meaning, this doesn't need to be rushed, wait until you're older it will do." His voice became softer and softer, until it was almost inaudible. When Cao Guang opened his mouth to ask where "Dahong Mountain" was, he found that he had already left.