“Help, someone fainted! Get the doctor!”
They weren’t too far from the tent where the incident had happened, so Captain Guo led He Changdi and the others to the area.
After they finally managed to squeeze past the crowd, Captain Guo squatted down by one of the unconscious soldiers and sternly asked, “What happened here?”
“Replying to Captain, Zhao Qi seems to be having a bad fever!”
Captain Guo reached out to touch the forehead of the soldier, and it was indeed feverish to the touch.
The soldier seemed dazed from the fever; he started to rave like a madman.
The crowd waited for a moment, but the doctor still hadn’t arrived. Captain Guo’s brows furrowed tightly together. He was about to shout the order again when the soldier who had gone off to get the doctor returned in a panic. Without wasting any more time, the soldier said, “Captain, the doctor already departed for the left wing; he’s not in camp right now.”
What! Captain Guo punched the ground in frustration, causing a dull thud to ring out from the muddy earth.
Captain Guo was part of the army’s right wing, and though the majority of the right wing were members of the cavalry, he was a member of the vanguard. Out here in the border camps, he was at loggerheads with Captain Gao Zhangwei of the army’s left wing.
He Changdi saw that the soldier’s face was already flushed red from the fever and couldn’t help but notice how pitiful he looked. He stepped forward and said to the angry Captain Guo, “Captain, let me take a look.”
He Changdi had read a few medical books before. In his previous life, when he had been wandering across the plains, he had learned some folk remedies from Ah Ma, the barbarian woman. Currently, he had with him some of the commonly used Chinese medicines that Chu Lian had sent over. They could probably be used to ease some of the soldier’s pain, at least for now.
He knelt by the soldier’s side and first checked his pulse before opening his eyelids and checking his tongue. Following that, He Changdi pulled a small, finely detailed pouch out of his clothes. He took out a honey-coloured pill and fed it to the soldier, but the soldier’s mouth was too dry so he couldn’t swallow the pill. He Changdi then took out a small gourd from his waist, and when he opened it, a special aroma began to drift out: the dry, sweet smell of alcohol.
As the aroma of alcohol filled the air, some of the old alcoholics amongst the troops deeply inhaled, sinking into the thick and sweet smell of the wine.
He Changdi didn’t care about the others’ expressions. He only tipped a small mouthful into the soldier’s mouth. Next, he quickly stoppered up the gourd and hung it back at his waist.
Under the fading light of the setting sun, the soldiers saw He Changdi feed the feverish soldier some thick, light purple liquid. The swig of wine was finally able to wash down the pill in the soldier’s mouth.
After doing all this, He Changdi turned to a few soldiers near him and said, “He should be fine now. Take him back to his tent; he should recover after a good night’s rest.”
Captain Guo patted He Changdi’s shoulder. “I didn’t think that Zixiang would know how to diagnose illnesses. That soldier has you to thank for today. However… What wine did you feed him just now? Someone ill shouldn’t be drinking alcohol.”
He Changdi stood up and made a slight bow to Captain Guo. “The soldier just now was merely a bit feverish due to a cold. The pill I gave him was some medicine from a store in the capital. As for the wine, it wasn’t a very strong one- just some grape wine that was sent to me.”
Grape wine had antibacterial properties that could fight the bacteria from the cold. Although He Changdi didn’t know anything about the science behind it, he had seen an old travelling doctor use it as a remedy in his past life. Thus, he had given the soldier a mouthful of grape wine just as he had seen the doctor do back then.
“Well, well, well. You little brat, you’ve kept all sorts of good things from us!”
Before Captain Guo could think of a way to get the grape wine from He Changdi, a deep, loud voice boomed, “Grape wine?! Who here has the grape wine? Hand it over immediately!”
Captain Guo froze. Upon regaining his senses, he quickly got up to welcome their unexpected guest. “General! What business has brought you here?”
The guest was dressed in silver armour. He had a white beard and looked a little skinny, but he was full of vigour from head to toe. His eyes were especially bright and full of life.
