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墨書 Inktalez
As soon as Qin Yaru arrived at the entrance of Ji Ren Tang, she saw two attendants guarding the door. Upon seeing her, they both smiled widely and said, "Consort Qin, it seems that Elder Ji has come across some treasure today. He is so happy that he wants to take out the fine wine he has treasured for thirty years. You should go take a look."
Indeed, Elder Ji was in high spirits, holding an old medical book with excitement. When he saw Qin Yaru enter, he cheerfully beckoned her over, saying, "Come, come, A Qin, you must take a look at this. This is the Inner Canon written by the renowned physician Bian Que himself; it is priceless."
Qin Yaru chuckled and walked over to examine the book Elder Ji was holding. The book was well-bound, with yellowed pages that exuded an antique charm, truly resembling a valuable relic.
However—"Elder Ji, how much silver did you spend on this?"
Seeing her skepticism, Elder Ji frowned and replied, "I took out everything from my savings; it cost a total of thirty thousand taels of silver. While that's quite a sum, it pales in comparison to the value of this book. This is indeed a priceless treasure. Although I look down on tomb raiders, I must admit that they have allowed this book to see the light of day today!"
Clearly, Elder Ji was utterly convinced of the book's authenticity and even crafted a box made of camphor wood to store it. Qin Yaru took a deep breath and sighed, "Elder Ji, this book is truly authored by the physician Bian Que?"
"That's right." Elder Ji eagerly opened the book to show her the preface. Indeed, it was clearly marked as being written by Bian Que at the end of his life. "It must be the physician's posthumous work."
Elder Ji spoke with certainty, but Qin Yaru couldn't help but sigh as she examined the book closely. The content was indeed logical and quite profound; while an outsider might not discern its value, an expert would certainly recognize it as an exceptional medical work.
After some thought, she decided not to shatter Elder Ji's enthusiasm. Instead, she patiently accompanied him in studying the book for a while and shared a jar of fine wine with him.
After all, Elder Ji was old and not in robust health. Today he had gotten overly excited; after drinking, he felt drowsy and told Qin Yaru not to stand on ceremony. After their meal, he asked her to make herself comfortable while he took his precious book back to his room to rest.
Once he left, Mu Fan, the current shopkeeper of Ji Ren Tang and Elder Ji's disciple, along with two other disciples, Meng Ge and Su Tu, gathered around Qin Yaru.
Mu Fan wore a worried expression. "Consort Qin, do you think our master has made a mistake? He spent all his savings on that medical book. Although Ji Ren Tang has improved somewhat and can manage for now, we can't afford any mishaps..."
Su Tu sighed as well. "The master is rarely home; we don't even have anyone to discuss matters with."
Now Elder Ji had passed Ji Ren Tang on to his second son, Ji Rufeng.
Do not be fooled by how Ji Rufeng appears to outsiders as a playboy lost in a world of tenderness; Elder Ji sees things differently. Elder Ji believes that although his second son has many flaws, he possesses good character, is filial and considerate. Even though he is young and has a tendency to be infatuated with women, he is charming without being lewd. As he matures, these tendencies will likely fade away. In fact, Elder Ji thinks that it is not a bad thing for his son to venture out while he is young, so he does not intervene easily.
“How did Elder Ji acquire this book?” Qin Yaru asked with a frown.
Mu Fan thought for a moment and replied, “The only person who looks like they come from a fallen noble family is the Wife, who was selling an ancestral rare edition at the market. When my master saw it, he was captivated and wrote a note for Su Tu to pull the cart and take the silver to pay for it. That Wife was very cautious; her head and face were covered, so we couldn’t see her clearly.”
Qin Yaru exhaled and bluntly said, “You were deceived.” For such a big transaction, one deal would be enough; it’s likely that once they got the money, they would flee and it wouldn’t be easy to find them.
The few most favored disciples of Elder Ji were stunned and looked at Qin Yaru in surprise. Although they also thought it was unlikely to encounter someone selling treasures right outside, they were still somewhat skeptical. After all, they were doctors and didn’t know much about antique appraisal. However, the medical book was indeed written exceptionally well and looked great; they still had some belief in it.
Qin Yaru shook her head: “Think about it; how could Bian Que possibly write his works on paper?”
The group remained confused, their minds muddled. Qin Yaru sighed: “When the divine doctor Bian Que was alive, there was no paper; everything was written on bamboo slips. Moreover, how could there be such beautiful cursive writing at that time? It resembles the style of Wang Xizhi, a descendant of the Wang Da family, written with at least thirty years of skill.”
Qin Yaru sighed again and said, “The person who wrote this book probably didn’t intend to deceive anyone. As for how this preface came about, it’s unknown. The forgery isn’t particularly sophisticated; anyone with even a little knowledge of antiques wouldn’t fall for it.”
“Ah?”
As soon as Qin Yaru said this, everyone’s expression changed dramatically.
In truth, it wasn’t their fault for not noticing such an obvious flaw; after all, these individuals were all doctors. When a doctor sees the work of the divine doctor Bian Que, how could they think of anything else? If this book had been nonsense, it would have been one thing, but the book was written exceptionally well.
Including Elder Ji, everyone was captivated by the content and couldn’t think of anything else. Moreover, without the internet today, although there are many fraudsters, ordinary people know little about them. Their hearts are pure; when faced with such matters, it’s inevitable that they might overlook details.
“Then why doesn’t Consort Qin tell master?”
Qin Yaru frowned: “Elder Ji is getting old. He was so excited just now; if I suddenly bring this up and he becomes disappointed, his emotions might fluctuate too much, which could be detrimental to his health. It would be better for you all to wait a while before gradually informing him so he can calm down first. However, Elder Ji is not a foolish person; once this excitement passes, he will likely notice the problem immediately.”
In her opinion, this medical book is indeed a good one. Although her own medical skills are not yet profound, let alone that of a divine doctor, she can still recognize the extraordinary nature of this book. Moreover, if it could captivate an old divine doctor who has practiced medicine for decades to the point of obsession, it surely cannot be an ordinary, poorly made book.
Qin Yaru checked her medical encyclopedia but found no information about this book. Some medical theories and prescriptions were even absent from the so-called most comprehensive encyclopedia.
She could only believe that this book was one of those lost works in the long river of history.
As a doctor, its value is indeed priceless, but spending a hundred thousand taels of silver to buy it would likely deter even those who are obsessed with medicine.
The several disciples exchanged glances, and Mu Fan smiled wryly: "Well, it has come to this. What else can we do? We can only keep it from the master for now and hope he can take it lightly later."
In fact, Elder Ji was quite open-minded. After waking up from a nap, he realized he had been deceived, but his mood was only slightly downcast. He quickly cheered up and self-deprecatingly said, "I didn't expect that at my age, I would still fall for such a big trick. However, a good book is still a good book. Even if it wasn't written by Bian Que, it still holds its value."
Qin Yaru couldn't help but smile; Elder Ji's broad-mindedness is truly not something ordinary people can compare to.
Before long, he completely set aside the matter and began discussing the recent influx of disaster victims.
Whenever disasters occur and many victims arrive, wealthy families inevitably organize to provide relief to them. Ji Ren Tang also sends doctors to offer free consultations during such times.
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