Practicing Medicine in the Tang Dynasty

Royal family banquets are naturally not like ordinary people. The dishes are blindly luxurious and extravagant, and the materials used are only rare and expensive.

Among the dazzling array of dishes, the first one is the peony and jelly dishes in the Luoyang banquet, followed by the popular dishes such as vegetarian steamed sound part, concentric raw preserved fruit, etc., and the finale is a special trip to Chang'an The cooks here specially made it, and placed it in the middle of the banquet like a treasure.

On the other side, there are several delicious desserts, such as imperial concubine red, golden bell roast, Yulu group, Zilong cake, baby's breath and other fancy and complicated desserts, which make people move their index fingers. , whet your appetite.

For this banquet, among other things, a single course of pure sheep is exhausted. The method is to put a three-month-old tender goose in the belly of a three-month-old lamb, and then stuff the goose's belly with thin slices of meat. After the glutinous rice is made, the mutton is skimmed and the glutinous rice is taken away, leaving only the sweet, soft and not greasy goose meat, which melts in the mouth and leaves a lasting fragrance.

Wang Fulai, who was beside Empress Wu, took a piece of goose meat for Li Hong, carefully divided it with chopsticks, and then sent it to the gold and silver plate in front of Li Hong.

"This dish was your favorite when you were young. I brought the cook here from Chang'an, so I can try it quickly and see if it still tastes the same."

Wang Fulai secretly winked at Mrs. Pei, Mrs. Pei understood, picked up a small piece with chopsticks, and carefully handed it to Li Hong's lips.

"This is the wish of the queen mother, eat as much as you want." Mrs. Pei knew that he was harboring a grudge, so she just put on a show and whispered, "You know the temper of the queen [1], if you refuse to eat, you will be hurt for nothing. the cook."

The two of them had been together with each other for three years, and Mrs. Pei understood Li Hong's temperament to some extent. Beneath this man's gentle face was a hard bone that could not be broken. Only by threatening the lives of innocent people, could he Ken took a step back.

Li Hong didn't shirk it, he let her take a sip, his tongue used to taking bitter medicine couldn't taste anything, so he swallowed it in one gulp.

Seeing his slightly rolling throat, Wang Fulai finally breathed a sigh of relief, returned to the Empress with a smile on his face, and said to Empress Wu: "It seems that you still know His Highness's taste."

After all, it was a family banquet, and Empress Wu did not wear heavy makeup today, with a few lines of shallow wrinkles hanging on her forehead, she looked much more cordial than usual.

Her concerned eyes fell on Li Hong's slender neck, and there was a bit of pity in her words: "This dish is the most nourishing, if Hong'er likes it, I will let the cook stay in your garden. When it's time to eat, tell me to do it."

"Don't bother mother, I won't eat this dish again in the future."

Li Hongzhan smiled, his smile was faint, like the east wind passing through the hall unintentionally, carrying a three-point chill of early spring, blowing across people's hearts coolly.

Empress Wu looked down at him, her smile was still kind: "Are you tired of eating, don't you like it?"

Li Hong slowly shook his head: "When I was young, I only knew that it tasted delicious, but I didn't know how to make this dish. Now I know that this dish requires a three-month-old lamb and a three-month-old goose. It doesn't hurt the young geese, let alone on the banquet, so I can't bear to eat any more."

Empress Wu's expression froze for a moment, and it only took a moment before it melted into a perfect smile like water breaking through ice: "I even forgot that Hong'er is the most soft-hearted, so naturally he doesn't like this kind of food. Fulai, tell the cook that this dish will be made with adult sheep and geese in the future."

Wang Fulai responded with an "ah", and was about to pull up his legs to speak, when he heard a rather disdainful sneer from under the table.

Everyone subconsciously gathered their eyes and looked at it. The person who laughed was none other than Pei Wang Li Xian, who is now very popular and regarded as the successor of the prince.

He has just turned twenty this year, and he is at the age of high spirits, with a pair of handsome eyebrows and eyes like willows cut by the spring breeze, with a three-point cold sharpness in the wind.

There was a mocking smile on Li Xian's lips, as if Empress Wu's oral instructions were the funniest jokes in the world, which made him lose his usual demeanor in public.

"Xian'er, what are you laughing at?" Empress Wu looked at Li Xian, frowning slightly, warning him not to make trouble.

Piansheng Taiping couldn't hold back his curiosity, so he swallowed a big mouthful of Yulu balls, and before he could swallow his throat, he asked vaguely: "Brother Xian, why are you laughing... hiccup!"

While she was stuffing her food, she was talking, and suddenly a hiccup came out, making the whole room burst into laughter.

Li Xian stepped out of the table, walked quickly to her side, patted her vest and calmed down, then said with a smile: "I'm laughing at my mother who doesn't understand brother Hong's heart."

Only then did Taiping breathe a sigh of relief, and asked curiously, "Then what is Brother Hong's heart?"

"Think about it, who is the saddest when the goslings and lambs are lost?"

Li Xian lowered his head and smiled at Taiping, but his eyes, which were like ink spots, were squinting at Empress Wu, with an imperceptible coldness flashing across them.

Taiping thought for a while: "It must be the mother goose and the mother sheep. They must be very sad to see their children being taken to the dining table."

Thinking of this, she couldn't bear it, she couldn't bear the chopsticks when she faced the fragrant Hunyang Sihu in front of her.

Li Xian rubbed his dejected little head, and comforted him: "Our little sister is the smartest and understands Brother Hong's thoughts best. Although my mother has good intentions, she doesn't understand Brother Hong's real sadness."

As soon as this remark came out, the laughter in the hall suddenly froze into a dead silence as if frozen.

These words clearly satirize Empress Wu's lack of understanding of human relations and family relationships, alluding to her various evil deeds of killing her parents and children.

That day when Li Hong contracted the disease of uploading corpses, although Zhang Qiren had already used Zhang Qiren's life to hide it from the world, he couldn't hide it from the eyes of these royal children who were used to fighting and fighting since childhood. I can't stop, I don't want to sit still.

Starting from Princess Andingsi, which one of her elder sister, her elder brother, her niece, and even her illegitimate son escaped the murderous hands of Empress Wu?If he continues to remain silent at this moment, the next turn will be his second son, Li Xian, who is not a parent.

In the solemnity, only Li Xian still had a cold smile on his lips. He looked up at the emperor and empress high above, as if looking at the zenith above the heavy clouds, and secretly swore in his heart that he must let this The unrighteous woman fell into the clouds, let her also taste the feeling of being in the mud.

After a while, I heard Empress Wu's voice coming from afar, breaking the stiff atmosphere: "Xian'er is still careful. If that's the case, remove this dish and never cook it again."

She followed Li Xian's silent provocation calmly, without any expression of anger. She has seen too many storms and waves in her life of ups and downs in the past few decades, and the childish declaration of war by the young child in front of her is far from enough Offend her impregnable heart.

The mother and son were silently confronting each other, but Wu Yi noticed that something was wrong with Li Hong.

He has been standing upright behind Li Hong, seeing his thin shoulders twitch suddenly, and knowing that he is about to cough, he hastened to hand over a clean white towel, and hastily took out two celadon medicine bottles from his bosom. Holding Baibu pills and a bottle of Yuehua pills, each took one and prepared it on the side, quietly instructing people to quickly mix some warm water with donkey-hide gelatin.

Li Hong was not in a hurry to take the medicine, but first held down his busy hand, as if using him as his walking stick, slowly stood up from his seat, and bowed respectfully to Empress Wu.

"Xianta...cough cough...the words are meaningless, please don't mind my mother, cough cough..."

Seeing this, Li Xian quickly walked over, held his other hand, and hurriedly bowed slightly towards Empress Wu: "I will accompany the Crown Prince to the side hall to rest first."

Empress Wu took a deep look at Li Hong, suppressing the emotion in her heart after all, choked her concerned words in her throat, and finally uttered only two soft words.

"Go."

-

Li Xian and Wu Yi worked together to help Li Hong to the side hall. Someone had already offered warm water boiled with donkey-hide gelatin. Wu Yi half-supported Li Hong's chin and fed him two pills, but a mouthful of warm water hadn't arrived yet. The throat was choked out by a violent cough.

Seeing this, Li Xian hurriedly wiped his lips with his sleeve, and saw a smear of blood on the cuff, knowing that something was wrong, he immediately sent someone to Shen Hanshan.

Shen Hanshan had been waiting in the side hall early, so he didn't use his communication, but he had already arrived after a while when he heard the wind in the hall.

When he saw this situation, his heart suddenly felt as if he was stepping on the void, and after a sudden surprise, he finally settled down, as if the script that should have ended long ago, finally reached the last line, it should be he, the doctor who was originally treating the disease and saving lives, Come to draw a final end to this frail life.

He turned his head quietly, and was about to quietly send someone back to report to Empress Wu, when Li Hong pinched his sleeve with great force: "No...don't go..."

Shen Hanshan couldn't help but look down at the young man who was tossing and turning on the couch, his usually calm and peaceful eyes revealed a three-point pained look, which made him feel unbearable for a while, and he couldn't help but relax his fingers to feel the pulse. Many, as if as long as he exerted force, this thin wrist could be crushed in his own hands.

"... Cough... Dr. Shen, you must not go..." Li Hong grabbed his wrist with his backhand, and he didn't know where the strength came from, even Shen Hanshan couldn't break free.

He pushed away Wu Yi's hand that was about to feed him the medicine, and fought for his last breath with a severe cough: "You... once you go, you will fall into the situation of a mother killing her own child...cough cough..."