While Yu Ziye stood lost in thought, a guard who had accompanied him from the Capital City hurried over with an umbrella.
"My lord, Eunuch Chang would like to see you."
Yu Ziye came back to himself and looked at the newcomer.
"Has his illness improved?"
The guard nodded.
"Physician Hu of the Benevolent Aid Hall treated him. After a few doses of medicine, Eunuch Chang is no longer in any serious danger. But he seems afraid to remain in Deng Province and wants to return to the capital immediately."
The eunuch delivering the imperial edict had, of course, been rescued long ago. Unlike the others aboard the Tower Ship, however, the old eunuch had suffered a terrible fright and fallen seriously ill.
Hearing the guard's words, Yu Ziye, who had been busy ever since arriving in Deng Province, suddenly remembered something.
"Do you mean the divine physician Hu Kuangming, who wrote the Treatise on Strange Epidemics?"
The guard gave an embarrassed smile.
"No, my lord. Divine Physician Hu passed away several years ago. This Physician Hu is his son, and his medical skills are also exceptional!"
"Oh."
Yu Ziye nodded, then caught himself.
"Come, let's go see Eunuch Chang!"
The guard hurried to hold the umbrella over Yu Ziye. Only when they reached the covered walkway did he fold it, and the two hastened to the government quarters where the eunuch was temporarily staying.
As the envoy delivering an edict on the emperor's behalf, Chang Benmao naturally received excellent treatment. But apart from those who had accompanied him from the Capital City, the people at the Dengzhou Prefectural Office had little liking for him-at least behind his back.
Even the officials who had previously attended the banquet with him in the lantern tower, exhausting every art of flattery and