"What wouldn't I dare do? I'm Flying Cat!" the Bamboo-Hat Guest roared. He flung his iron hat forward, and it spun through the air before embedding itself in a wooden post standing inside the tent.
Tang Wen had planted that post in the ground expressly to demonstrate the crossbow's power. He had deliberately set out the teacups on the small tables for the same purpose.
When the time came, he would shoot the post full of holes like a sieve and give Ge Ziyun and his companion a proper fright.
He simply hadn't expected someone else to make use of it before he had a chance to show off.
Still wary of Tang Wen, the Bamboo-Hat Guest picked up a chair and held it across his body as a shield.
The crude short crossbows of the Great Chu dynasty weren't particularly powerful. Tang Wen was still about ten meters away, and if the Bamboo-Hat Guest blocked a shot with a sturdy chair like this one...
At worst, the chair would crack. There was no way the bolt could pass through it and strike the person behind it.
"Go on, shoot! If you can shoot through my hat, I'll take your surname!" Flying Cat declared arrogantly.
Tang Wen smiled faintly, raised his hand, and fired. Thup, thup, thup, thup...
He fired several bolts in succession. Metallic clangs rang out, and the Bamboo-Hat Guest went wide-eyed, frozen like a wooden chicken.
Several holes had been punched through his hat. It could now serve as a sieve.
Tang Wen quickly reloaded and fired another volley. With a series of thudding reports, the hat was riddled until it looked like a honeycomb.
"Don't be angry. I'll pay for your hat." With a clang, Tang Wen tossed a ten-tael gold ingot onto the ground before them.
Then Tang Wen opened his chest again, took out the land deed bearing the government's official seal, and walked up to Ge Ziyun and his companion, who were dumbstruck. "Have a look. Does Su Mei Island belong to my Tang family or not?"
"Alas... Zi Yun was discourteous." Ge Ziyun glanced over it, sighed, and nodded.
"We didn't mean to seize your land. We only came because we heard you could treat illnesses, my lord," Flying Cat said.
"Of course I can. A while ago, a band of robbers broke in to steal our grain, and several of our people were injured. But they're fine now. They've all recovered." Tang Wen put away the deed and returned to his grand armchair. "Have a seat, both of you. Junru, brew us a pot of West Lake Dragon Well."
Zhan Junru came forward, cleared away the broken teacup shards from the ground, then brewed and served the tea.
"My lord, our mistress is ill. If you can cure her, we'll leave as soon as she recovers and never trouble you again," Ge Ziyun said, cupping his hands.
"You must have consulted physicians in Yanling Commandery already," Tang Wen said.
"Yes, we have. But they said there was no hope," Ge Ziyun replied.
"Bring her here and let me examine her first. There are some illnesses I can't promise to cure. After all, there are countless kinds of diseases. I can't deceive you with empty nonsense," Tang Wen said.
"She can no longer walk. She's still bedridden. Could we trouble you to go over there, my lord?" Ge Ziyun asked.
"If she can't walk, carry her here," Tang Wen said.
"It's windy outside. We're afraid her condition will worsen," Ge Ziyun replied.
"Then forget the examination," Tang Wen said flatly. Go onto your turf? Not a chance. I'm not about to let myself be butchered.
"You!" The Bamboo-Hat Guest clenched his fists.
"What do you mean, 'you'? If I didn't have this crossbow, you'd simply drag me over there, wouldn't you?
"Besides, you said earlier that you'd take my surname if I could shoot through your hat.
"From now on, your surname is Tang. What, trying to go back on your word?" After Tang Wen's dressing-down, the Bamboo-Hat Guest flushed and fell silent.
"Very well. I'll have her carried here." Ge Ziyun sighed and left with the Bamboo-Hat Guest.
Two hours later, Ge Ziyun returned.
Several people accompanied him, carrying a door panel with someone bundled tightly beneath quilts on top of it.
"Bring her in," Tang Wen said, standing in the tent where he had set out some basic medical equipment.
Once inside, Ge Ziyun and his companions were startled again by the strange medical instruments.
They had no idea what Master Tang intended to do. What were all these iron stands, iron chairs, and bottles of various sizes for?
Tang Wen lifted the quilt and was deeply disappointed.
Sun Ping and the others had been right. Gu Hanyan really did look ordinary, and she appeared to be an elderly woman well into her fifties.
He took his stethoscope and moved to press it against Gu Hanyan's chest. The Bamboo-Hat Guest thrust out a hand and blocked Tang Wen's wrist. "What are you trying to do?"
"Examine her." Tang Wen raised an eyebrow and looked at him.
"Who examines a patient like that? I think you're trying to take liberties with our mistress!" the Bamboo-Hat Guest said angrily.
"What's wrong with your eyes? With looks like hers, every maid in my Tang household is prettier. And she's so old, too. Do you think I'm blind?" Tang Wen sneered.
"Our mistress may not be much to look at, but you still can't take liberties with her," Ge Ziyun said, somewhat angry himself.
"Ge Ziyun, is it? I hear you're always playing little clever tricks. But as far as I can see, you're stupider than a pig," Tang Wen said.
Standing at the entrance, Zhao Du almost burst out laughing.
"I have studied for twenty years and even passed the provincial examination.
"I may not have five cartloads of learning, but my talent could certainly fill eight bushels.
"For Master Tang to call me as stupid as a pig is an insult to scholarly dignity!" Ge Ziyun was beside himself with anger.
"Fine, your talent fills eight bushels. Tell me, would someone molest a woman in full view of everyone?
"And an old woman, at that.
"Hahaha! What sort of man do you take me for?" Tang Wen mocked.
Ge Ziyun paused. That seemed to make sense. He was instantly left speechless.
"Mr... Mr. Ge, just let him examine me. My looks are as humble as reeds and willows. Why would his lordship take liberties with me?" Tang Wen's laughter had woken Gu Hanyan, and she opened her cracked lips to speak with difficulty.
"At last, someone with sense." Tang Wen snorted and pressed the stethoscope against her.
"You!" Despite what she had just said, Gu Hanyan was startled when something was pressed against her chest. Isn't this still touching me...?
"If you want to recover quickly, you must bear with it. Don't make a fuss over every little thing. Otherwise, I can't treat you," Tang Wen said solemnly.
"Go... go ahead." Tears welled in Gu Hanyan's eyes, and she simply closed them.
Tang Wen checked her pulse, touched her forehead, and finally took out a thermometer.
He addressed the maid standing beside Gu Hanyan. "Put this under your mistress's armpit, with the metal end pointing inward. Have her hold it firmly in place. Count to three hundred silently, then take it out."
The maid slipped her hand beneath the quilt, but since she had never done this before, she apparently had no idea exactly where to put it.
"Master Tang, to the left or the right?"
"Right in the middle," Tang Wen said.
"How do I find the middle? Why don't you all go outside? I'll measure it for my mistress before putting it in, so I don't get it off-center," the maid said.
Tang Wen nearly choked. Still, it was understandable when he thought about it. The maid had no idea what he was trying to do, and she had never seen a thermometer before. Naturally, she didn't dare act carelessly.
"Raise her arm and tuck this underneath. That's all." Tang Wen simply lifted the quilt, took Gu Hanyan's hand, and raised her arm, then pointed to a spot beneath her armpit and poked it. Through her clothes, of course.
Ge Ziyun and the Bamboo-Hat Guest watched, their faces darkening with anger.
First you touch her, then you squeeze her, and now you even want to put something inside...
A few hundred breaths later, Tang Wen checked the thermometer. A high fever-forty degrees.
"Does she alternate between chills and fever?" Tang Wen asked.
"Yes, and sometimes she shivers.
"The physicians in Yanling Commandery said it was a cold, but our mistress has taken dozens of doses of medicine without any improvement.
"Her condition has grown increasingly severe, and she even fainted several times over the past few days.
"Have you found anything, Master Tang? Can you cure her?" Ge Ziyun asked.
"Of course I can." Tang Wen nodded with complete confidence. It was only malaria, an infection transmitted through mosquito bites.
"Thank goodness. Thank goodness." Ge Ziyun immediately breathed a sigh of relief, and the Bamboo-Hat Guest's tense expression relaxed as well.
"Then please write a prescription right away, Master Tang. I'll go to Yanling Commandery to get the medicine," the Bamboo-Hat Guest urged.
"Their medicine can't save your mistress." Tang Wen shook his head.
"What do we do, then?" Both Ge Ziyun's and his companion's faces tightened again.
"Treating her will be very troublesome. It'll also take a large sum of silver." Tang Wen deliberately furrowed his brow.
"How... how much?" Ge Ziyun asked, taken aback.
"Several tens of thousands of taels," Tang Wen said.
"Th-that much..." Ge Ziyun's face immediately fell.
"I'll find a way." The Bamboo-Hat Guest turned to leave.
"You can't go!" Ge Ziyun hurriedly caught hold of him.
"At a time like this? Our mistress is about to die! Brother Ge, my death means nothing, as long as I can save her," the Bamboo-Hat Guest said.
"I heard people from the Six Fan Gate have been spotted in Yanling Commandery. You can't go. You'd be walking to your death," Ge Ziyun said.
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