Children of Loulan

Chapter 174 Bafu

After Hanguli returned to Cuihua Court, she rested for a while and then took Dal to visit the man she had saved today. They walked through the courtyard and came to a servant's room in the front yard, where they finally saw the man they had saved today.

When the man saw them, he ignored the pain in his body and knelt down to pay his respects: "I pay my respects to the princess and thank you for saving my life!"

Baixi quickly brought a chair over. After Hanguli sat down, she slowly asked, "Who are you? Where are you from? Why did you clash with the people from Yichun Hall?"

The man answered respectfully, "I am Bafu, from a small village in Liaocheng. When I was young, my mother was seriously ill. We couldn't afford doctors or medicine, so I followed the barefoot doctor in the village to learn medicine. Later, my mother passed away, and I lived with my father. However, last year, my father suddenly passed away in an accident. Our family was already poor, and after my father passed away, he only left me a shabby thatched house."

He was seen telling his experience with tears and snot: "Since my father died, I just wanted to study medicine well, become a barefoot doctor in the village, and live a peaceful life. But I never thought that there was a village tyrant in the village. He took a fancy to the land of my family and said that he wanted to build a racecourse for his concubine. So he wanted to buy my thatched house for one or two taels of silver. Although the thatched house was shabby, it was not only my only shelter. It was also left by my father. How could I sell it? Once sold, I would be homeless.

So I resolutely rejected his request. However, I didn't expect that the village tyrant was so vicious. He bribed the government, forcibly occupied my house, and beat me up. I couldn't stand such oppression and injustice, so my master asked me to go to the capital to report them! However, after several months of long journey, I finally arrived in the capital, but I had spent all the money my master had lent me.

Without money and without any acquaintances, I wandered around the capital like a headless fly for three days, starving to the point of dizziness. Later, I accidentally walked to the door of Yichun Hall and saw a sign on the wall that said "recruitment for doctors". I thought to myself, since I have some medical skills, I might as well try my luck and at least I could earn a living."

When he thought of this, Bafu was furious, because he had never expected that he would be stopped by a waiter as soon as he stepped into the door. The waiter looked Bafu up and down and said with disdain: "We only recruit doctors with reputation here. For a poor guy like you, you'd better leave quickly."

Although he was a little unhappy at that time, he still said to him with a smile: "Brother, although I am not a famous doctor, I have read medical books and have some skills. Let me try. If I can't cure the disease, I will leave immediately. Seeing that he looked confident, the clerk let him into the inner hall.

In the inner hall, he met the shopkeeper and two other doctors. The shopkeeper asked Bafu what he could do, and he answered confidently: "I can diagnose, prescribe, and do acupuncture. I also know a little about pharmacology." The shopkeeper nodded and asked him to see a few patients first. The patients he saw were just common typhoid fever, which could be cured with common herbs. So he wrote a few simple prescriptions, each costing only three cents.

However, when he handed the prescription to the shopkeeper, he frowned and asked, "What kind of weeds are these? I've never heard of them."

He quickly explained: "These are some common herbs. Although their names are not well-known, I used them when I was in my hometown. They are very effective. They are also cheap and suitable for ordinary people to use."

The shopkeeper sneered after hearing this: "What do you think our Yichun Hall is? Where is this capital city? Can we use these weeds to treat people? We only use the best medicinal materials. The most common prescriptions cost three or four taels of silver. We don't use these weeds of yours at all."

He was not convinced and said, "Then why did you write 'recruiting doctors'? Isn't it for the purpose of treating the people?"

The shopkeeper said impatiently: "We at Yichuntang serve the common people in the capital, not the people in the remote countryside. The poor naturally have other places to go."

When Bafu heard this, he said angrily, "You are simply cheating the patients of their money!" The shopkeeper responded rudely, "Don't make trouble here, or I'll have someone kick you out."

Bafu was so angry that he was shaking all over and couldn't help but quarrel with the shopkeeper. At this time, the two doctors next to him also joined in. They ridiculed Bafu and even pushed him. Bafu couldn't stand it anymore and started fighting with them. In the end, he was kicked out of the pharmacy!

After hearing this, Hanguli probably guessed what the prescription he wrote was like, so she said, "Although I am the princess, I cannot redress your grievances for you. You need to go to the government office and beat the drum to appeal for justice. But you can recover here, and if you are willing to stay in the capital after your injury is healed, I can arrange a place for you. You can do your best to prescribe the prescription you want and cure the poor people you want to cure!"

After hearing this, Bafu looked at Hanguli with gratitude and kowtowed repeatedly: "Thank you, Princess! I will definitely remember your kindness!"

After thanking him, Bafu still lowered his head and said: "The princess wants me to go to the village to treat the poor."

Hanguli shook her head: "It's not a mountain village, it's the capital, right here in the city!"

Bafu was a little confused: "But, but aren't there only high-ranking officials in this capital? How could they look down upon a commoner's herbal prescription?"

Hanguli sighed, stood up, walked to the door, and looked at the scenery outside: "Alas, wherever there are people, there will be differences between the rich and the poor. In the countryside, the difference between the rich and the poor is just that one family has meat to eat, while the other has no food to eat. But in this most prosperous capital of Loulan, the difference between the rich and the poor is as huge as heaven and earth!"

She turned to Bafu and said, "The place I want you to go is the slums of the capital. There are many poor people like you there. They have no money to see a doctor or take medicine, and even eating is a problem. The prescriptions you are good at are exactly what they need, so I want to open a pharmacy there and use these simple herbs!"

Bafu was a little stunned for a moment. He looked at the princess's determined eyes and asked: "Then, then, does the princess know the medicinal properties of those herbs..."

"I know!" Hanguli interrupted him immediately, "One dose of normal medicinal materials will cure the disease, but with those herbs, three doses will be needed to cure the disease!"

Bafu looked at Hanguli in disbelief: "Princess, you also know those herbs!"

In fact, not only him, but even Bai Xi on the side looked at Hanguli in disbelief, because he remembered Ziya told him that this princess was the lover of the Second Prince, and seemed to be the daughter of a wealthy family in the capital. How could she know all this?

But he was only dazed for a moment and then returned to normal!

Hanguli chuckled: "I understood it by chance!" She paused, "If you don't want to go, I won't force you. When you have dealt with your affairs in your hometown, you can go back!"

Bafu did not give an immediate reply, but kowtowed: "Thank you, Princess. I will consider this matter!"