Peach Blossoms in Chang'an

The drizzle enveloped the Jiangnan water town, and pedestrians hurried on the bluestone road. Wu Tao and Hu Bugui's "Taohua Medical Clinic" was located at the entrance of the village, with white walls and black tiles, antique style, and a faint medicinal fragrance.

"Brother Hu, you see, there are more patients today than yesterday!" Wu Tao said as he skillfully took the patient's pulse.

"That's because Tao'er's medical skills are superb and well-known far and wide!" Hu Bugui said with a smile, handing the prepared medicine to the patient.

"Yes, Doctor Wu's medical skills are amazing. My mother's illness has been treated by many doctors but to no avail. I didn't expect that she would be cured after taking medicine here for a few days!" said a middle-aged man gratefully.

"Yes, Doctor Wu and Doctor Hu are both living Bodhisattvas!" The patients around also echoed.

Wu Tao and Hu Bugui smiled at each other, their hearts filled with happiness and satisfaction.

At this time, a familiar figure appeared at the door of the clinic.

"Master!" Wu Tao exclaimed in surprise.

The person who came was Wu Tao’s master in the palace—the miracle doctor.

"Tao'er, don't come back. Your master is here to see you!" The genius doctor walked in with a smile.

"Master, why are you here?" Wu Tao quickly stood up to greet him.

"Master, I heard that you opened a clinic in Jiangnan and that business is booming, so I came here specially to see you." The genius doctor said, looking at his apprentice and son-in-law with loving eyes.

"Master, please take a seat!" Hu Bugui brought a chair and asked the miracle doctor to sit down.

After a few pleasantries, the three began to talk about medical skills. The genius doctor was knowledgeable and had unique insights into various difficult and complicated diseases. Wu Tao and Hu Bugui listened with great interest and benefited a lot.

"Tao'er, your medical skills have improved a lot!" said the genius doctor admiringly.

"This is all thanks to Master's good teaching." Wu Tao said modestly.

"Not arrogant or impatient, very good." The genius doctor nodded with satisfaction. "I am very pleased that you can carry forward your medical skills and relieve the pain of the people."

As he was speaking, a ragged old man staggered into the clinic, with an expression of anxiety and fear that was hard to conceal on his face.

"Doctor, please save my grandson!" The old man knelt down on the ground, trembling, tears streaming down his face, "He hasn't eaten a single grain of rice for three days..."

Wu Tao hurriedly stepped forward to help the old man up and asked softly, "Old man, please don't be anxious. Tell me slowly. What happened to the child?"

The old man wiped his tears and choked up, "My poor grandson, his parents died early, leaving only the two of us to depend on each other, but a few days ago, he suddenly fell ill, with a high fever that wouldn't go away, and vomited everything he ate..."

Wu Tao comforted the old man while checking the child's pulse, his brows gradually furrowed. The child's pulse was disordered and his breath was weak, obviously he was seriously ill.

"Old man, the child's condition is not optimistic. I need to give him acupuncture treatment immediately." Wu Tao said solemnly.

"Okay, okay, Doctor Wu, please do whatever you want me to do as long as you can save my grandson!" The old man seemed to have grasped the last straw and was so excited that he spoke incoherently.

Wu Tao did not delay any longer, took out the silver needle, and acupunctured the child with skillful technique. Hu Bugui assisted him, decocting medicine and feeding him medicine, and was very busy.

After a night of rescue, the child's condition finally stabilized, but he was still in a coma.

"Doctor, how is my grandson?" the old man asked anxiously.

"Don't worry, old man. The child is no longer in danger of death. He is just still very weak and needs to be nursed back to health for a while," Wu Tao consoled.

"Thank you, doctor, thank you, doctor!" The old man was so excited that his eyes were filled with tears and he thanked repeatedly.

However, when Wu Tao asked about the child's family situation, the old man remained silent. After a long while, he sighed and said, "I am old and can't do any work. There is no food at home..."

Looking at the old man's hunched back and the child's thin body, Wu Tao and Hu Bugui were filled with sympathy and pity.

"Don't worry, old man. The child will stay in the clinic to recuperate. We will cover all the expenses." Wu Tao said without hesitation.

"How can I feel so embarrassed..." The old man was so moved that he didn't know what to do.

"Old man, please don't refuse. The child is also a life. We can't just watch him suffer." Hu Bugui said.

In this way, the child stayed in the clinic, and Wu Tao and Hu Bugui took care of him as if he were their own child. The child gradually became familiar with them and a long-lost smile appeared on his face.

The villagers praised Wu Tao and Hu Bugui as kindhearted people, and their kindness moved many people. Villagers sent food and clothes to help them take care of the children.

As the sun sets, the golden light falls on the courtyard of the Taohua Medical Clinic. Children chase and play in the courtyard, and their laughter is crisp and pleasant. Wu Tao and Hu Bugui look at each other and smile, their eyes full of happiness and satisfaction. Although they gave up wealth and glory, they found something more precious than wealth and glory, that is, love and kindness.

As time passed, Wu Tao's medical skills became more and more sophisticated. Many difficult and complicated diseases could be cured under her treatment. More and more patients came to Taohua Medical Clinic, and many people even came from far away to see her.

That day, there was a sudden sound of horse hooves outside the clinic, and then a man in a black cloak got off his horse and walked straight towards the clinic. The man was tall, and the cloak covered his face, revealing only a pair of deep eyes with an elusive light.

He walked hurriedly into the clinic, glanced around, and finally set his eyes on Wu Tao who was taking the patient's pulse. He walked straight to Wu Tao and said in a low voice: "Doctor Wu, I have heard of your great name for a long time."

Wu Tao was slightly startled, put down the medical book in his hand, looked up at the visitor, and asked politely, "Who are you?"

"My last name is Mo, and I am a traveling doctor." The man in black said calmly, "I heard that Doctor Wu is a skilled doctor, so I came to visit him today, hoping to learn from him."

Wu Tao was puzzled. How could such a mysterious itinerant doctor suddenly appear in this remote village? Moreover, although his tone was polite, his eyes were full of scrutiny and inquiry, as if he had other intentions.

"Doctor Mo, you are too kind. I only know a little bit about medicine, so I am not worthy of the word 'learning from you'." Wu Tao said modestly, "I wonder how Doctor Mo would like to learn from you?"

Doctor Mo smiled slightly, took out an old book from his bosom, and said slowly: "I have a medical book handed down from my ancestors, which records some long-lost medical skills. I would like to ask Doctor Wu to take a look at it. Is that okay?"

Wu Tao's eyes fell on the medical book. The cover of the book was yellowed, obviously it was very old. A few simple seal characters could be vaguely seen on the spine. She suddenly felt something in her mind. Could this be... Wu Tao carefully opened the medical book. A faint scent of ink came to her nose. The pages were slightly yellowed, obviously it was very old. The handwriting on it was beautiful and neat, but it was not any font she was familiar with. Fortunately, there was a note next to it, which should have been written by Doctor Mo, so she could read it smoothly.

Hu Bugui brought a stool and sat next to Wu Tao, watching her quietly. Wu Tao sometimes frowned in thought, sometimes her eyes lit up, and she muttered to herself, as if she was talking to the ancients in the book. When she encountered something difficult to understand, she would explain it to Hu Bugui, and the two would discuss it together. They often argued endlessly over a problem, and finally smiled at each other, and everything was said without words.

This medical book covers everything from common colds and dampness to difficult and complicated diseases, and even some diseases and treatment methods that Wu Tao had never heard of. Wu Tao absorbed the knowledge in the book eagerly, as if she had opened a door to a whole new world. She found that many modern medical theories had already sprouted in ancient times, but were limited by the conditions at the time and could not be fully developed and verified.

As their research deepened, Wu Tao and Hu Bugui were attracted by a disease called "cold poison". This disease is fierce and incurable, and patients will eventually die from organ failure. In ancient times, people regarded this disease as incurable and a punishment from God.

However, this medical book records a method of treating cold poison, which requires an extremely rare medicinal material - snow lotus. Snow lotus grows in extremely cold places and is extremely difficult to pick, so this treatment method only remains in the theoretical stage and no one has ever really tried it.

"If we can find snow lotus, can we cure those suffering from cold poison?" There was a glimmer of hope in Wu Tao's eyes, and there was a hint of excitement and anticipation in his tone.

"The snow lotus has harsh growth conditions and is hard to come by. It is not easy to find it." Although Hu Bugui was also happy about this discovery, his years of rationality kept him calm. "What's more, what is recorded in the book is just a theory. Whether it is really effective needs further verification."

"You're right, I was too impatient." Wu Tao took a deep breath and calmed down his excitement. "But I believe that as long as we persevere, we will be able to find the snow lotus and cure those patients!"

Hu Bugui looked at Wu Tao's determined eyes, and a warm feeling surged in his heart. He knew that no matter how difficult the road ahead was, as long as they walked hand in hand, they would be able to overcome all difficulties. As the days passed, the names of Wu Tao and Hu Bugui gradually spread across the country with their good deeds. At first, only people from nearby villages heard about their excellent medical skills and came to seek medical treatment. Later, the news spread farther and farther, and even patients came from hundreds of miles away.

"Doctor Wu, please save my son!" A ragged woman holding a skinny child knelt in front of Wu Tao, crying, "He has a strange disease, and many doctors have been to no avail. I heard that you have a miraculous hand that can bring him back to health. Please have mercy on me and save my child!"

Wu Tao quickly helped the woman up and carefully examined the child's condition, and found that he had a rare blood disease, which is also very difficult to treat in modern times. But she did not give up, but read medical books, combined with modern medical knowledge, and tried to treat it with Chinese herbal medicine.

Under the careful care of Wu Tao and Hu Bugui, the child's condition gradually improved and he eventually recovered. The news spread like wildfire, and more and more people flocked to this small village just to seek medical treatment.

"Brother Hu, should we expand the scale of the clinic?" Looking at the endless stream of patients, Wu Tao said to Hu Bugui, "Nowadays, many patients don't even have a place to stay. It's too inconvenient."

Hu Bugui nodded. He knew that what Wu Tao said was the truth, so the two of them discussed buying a piece of land at the entrance of the village, building a larger clinic, and setting up special wards to facilitate patients coming from afar.

After the new clinic was built, more patients came to see them, and Wu Tao and Hu Bugui became more famous. They not only had superb medical skills, but also had noble medical ethics. For those patients from poor families, they did not charge a penny, and even paid for their medicine out of their own pockets.

"Doctor Wu, Doctor Hu, you are really living Bodhisattvas!" An old man excitedly held Hu Bugui's hand, tears streaming down his face, "If it weren't for you, I would be dead!"

"Old man, you are too polite. Saving the dying and healing the wounded is our duty as doctors." Hu Bugui smiled faintly and helped him sit down on the chair.

In this way, the story of Wu Tao and Hu Bugui spread widely among the people, and they became legends in people's mouths. However, at this time, an unexpected person came to the village and broke their peaceful life...