Mu Fang Ji Decoction

"Auntie, what kind of dishes do you like to eat now?"

Han Jinkai found the old lady's words interesting, so he asked her a question as well.

The old lady squinted at Han Jinkai and said, "Xiao Kai, I'm getting old and my eyesight isn't good anymore. I didn't recognize you even though you've been sitting here for so long."

"Haha. It's been a while since I last visited you."

Han Jinkai said with a smile.

"It's fine!" the old lady asked.

"Okay. Everything's fine."

A few simple words of conversation made Su Ziyang realize one thing: this old woman had a chance of being saved.

Why? The fact that the first person can eat something means they still have some stomach energy.

The stomach is the foundation of postnatal health; with stomach qi, one can live; without stomach qi, one will not recover.

Secondly, judging from the way the old lady was talking to Han Jinkai, she was clear-headed, which shows that her spirit was present.

Where God is, humanity is.

"Auntie, let me take your pulse."

Su Ziyang said with a smile.

"Okay, let's take your pulse. Let's take your pulse."

The old lady moved forward a bit, revealing her wrist.

Su Ziyang lightly tapped three fingers on the old woman's cun-kou (a point on her palm).

The pulse was slightly floating when taking a pulse with three fingers.

When taking deep palpation, only the radial pulse can be felt with a slight root; the rest are not very noticeable.

The same applies to both hands, and the pulse in the right hand is more superficial than that in the left.

Floating pulse, edema...

In the fourteenth chapter of the "Essential Prescriptions of the Golden Cabinet," it states. "For edema with a floating pulse, heaviness of the body, sweating, and aversion to wind, the Fang Ji Huang Qi Decoction is the main treatment."

Although the old lady's aversion to wind was not very obvious, her other symptoms were quite pronounced.

"I have a prescription; write it down for the old lady. Get the medicine according to the prescription."

Su Ziyang asked Liuzi for paper and pen and wrote down the prescription.

5g of Fangji

2g of raw licorice

4g of Atractylodes macrocephala

Huangmin 8g

4g of white peony root

Asarum 2g

Because the old man was very old, Su Ziyang dared not use strong medicine. Another point was...

This prescription isn't actually for drinking the soup directly. Instead, you need to crush the herbs and take only five qian (approximately 15 grams) each time to decoct them into a soup.

Su Ziyang felt that crushing the medicine was too troublesome, and he probably couldn't do it well enough without the patient by his side. So Su Ziyang simply prescribed the medicine, modified the dosage form, and gave it to the patient to take directly.

"Prepare three doses of this prescription first, no more. When decocting the medicine, add four slices of ginger and one jujube. Fresh ginger is fine."

Su Ziyang handed the prescription to Liuzi, told Liuzi to put it away, and then explained the decoction and administration method to Liuzi again before he felt at ease.

"Just three doses of medicine?"

Liuzi looked at the prescription written by Su Ziyang. There were very few ingredients, and each ingredient was only a few grams. He was clearly a little worried.

"Yes. Get three doses first, then take them. After taking this medicine, your legs and lower back might feel cold. When you feel cold, wrap yourself in a blanket. You'll sweat a little while wrapped in the blanket, which is normal."

Su Ziyang then explained all the possible scenarios one by one.

A good doctor should not only be able to predict a patient's condition, but also be aware of every step of the progression after the medication is taken.

"Doctor, what's wrong with me? You know, I'm getting old, and I'm just a burden to my children. I'm useless!"

After Su Ziyang finished giving his instructions, the old lady took Su Ziyang arm and asked him questions as if they were having a casual chat.

"Hey, ma'am. These are all minor ailments. What you're saying is that you caught a chill, you got cold. As you get older, your immunity weakens, and this illness becomes serious."

Su Ziyang patted the old lady's arm to comfort her.

"Oh my god, you know what, it's true. I was perfectly fine a while ago, but one day I got up early and decided to go for a walk. I wasn't dressed warmly enough, and when I got back I had a runny nose, so I took some cold medicine, and here I am."

The old lady recalled her condition before her illness, and Su Ziyang smiled and said, "See? It's alright, ma'am. After taking this medicine, the swelling will go down!"

"Okay. Thank you then, child."

The old lady was finally relieved.

It must be said that Su Ziyang is quite adept at comforting people. After all, he has received professional training and can readily spout all sorts of Confucian virtues such as benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness, as well as gentleness, kindness, respect, frugality, and humility.

The old lady was in a great mood after being coaxed by Su Ziyang. Liuzi was also very happy to see his mother, who had been listless for days, suddenly perk up after just a few words from Su Ziyang.

"Hey, Brother Kai, Brother Song, Doctor Su, I'll cook lunch here, why don't you eat here?"

Liuzi Zi was so eager to keep them from leaving that Han Jinkai and Song Li seemed really craving Liuzi's cooking. Their eyes lit up as soon as Liuzi mentioned cooking.

"Brother Han, Brother Song, you two are practically drooling!"

Su Ziyang chuckled to himself from the side.

"Damn, stop bragging. You'll be able to swing your chopsticks faster than anyone else in a minute."

Song Li ate a pistachio and rolled her eyes at Su Ziyang.

"That's outrageous! I really need to see for myself."

Seeing Han Jinkai nod in agreement, Su Ziyang suddenly realized that this matter was not so simple.

"Doctor Su, do you have any dietary restrictions?"

Liuzi Zi chuckled as he watched the two men praising him, then asked Su Ziyang a question.

"Ah, I don't eat seafood, fish or the like."

Originally, Su Ziyang only didn't eat fish, but later Su Ziyang got too lazy to explain and simply said he didn't eat any aquatic products.

"OK."

Liuzi nodded, got up and went to prepare the meal. "You guys chat with my mom. I'll go cook."

I'll go help you.

The three men were ready to eat what was offered, each cherishing their own daughter, but the old lady couldn't sit still.

"Hey, Mom, don't come any closer, do it yourself." Liuzi took something out of the refrigerator and then shouted.

"Auntie, please sit down and relax. Didn't I just say that old people should behave like old people? You need to give your daughter a chance to show her filial piety. Please sit down!"

Su Ziyang held the old lady's arm and said with a smile.

"Okay."

The old lady sat back down.

Less than half an hour later, Su Ziyang smelled a delicious aroma wafting from the kitchen.

Let's put it this way: Su Ziyang would describe it as having a wonderfully fragrant aroma.

At this moment, Su Ziyang really wanted to borrow a line from Bai Juyi's poem. "Chewing on it seems like heavenly flavor, smelling it like a fragrance from another world."

Although Bai Juyi used this phrase to praise lychees, Su Ziyang felt that there was nothing wrong with using it here, at most it was just a minor flaw.

About an hour later, Liuzi Zi called the others over to have dinner.

Su Ziyang walked over and saw that the tableware and dishes had already been set out.

Six dishes and one soup.

Su Ziyang recognized two of the dishes: Mu Shu Pork and Four Happiness Meatballs.

I don't recognize the rest...

The dishes should be perfect in color, aroma, and taste, and Su Ziyang felt that this was exactly what Liuzi's cooking was all about.

This is absolutely a feast for the eyes, nose, and palate!

"Do it! What are you doing?!"

Liuzi watched as the three grown men stared blankly at the dishes on the table.

The three of them only realized what was happening before they sat down.