Chen Chong's illness came out of nowhere. There were no signs at all before, but the onset was extremely rapid, like a thunderbolt passing through his chest and abdomen, leaving people unaware of where he was. The night he returned to Dong Bai, Chen Chong felt nothing strange. However, early the next morning, Chen Chong developed a high fever on the bed and then coughed uncontrollably. Dong Bai invited a doctor to see him. At first, he said it was wind disease, so he A prescription was prescribed, but it was of no use. By noon on the third day, Chen Chong had begun to cough up blood.
Dong Bai had no choice but to send someone to ask for the famous doctor Zhang Zhongjing. After Zhang Zhongjing heard about it, he couldn't help but look troubled. After a long time, he said to Dong Bai that Chen Chong might be suffering from tuberculosis. At this age, tuberculosis is close to a terminal disease. Even Zhang Zhongjing, known as the "Medical Sage", is not sure of the cure at this time. Even among the people, some people who have tuberculosis are lucky enough to recover, often just because they are young and endure it. However, Chen Chong was already over fifty at this time and had many hidden wounds on his body, so his prospects were really not optimistic. Therefore, he implicitly hinted to Dong Bai that all he could do was to do his best and obey fate.
Dong Bai was greatly frightened by this statement. She quickly reported the matter to the palace and asked Liu Bei to send an imperial doctor to consult her doctor. Liu Bei was also shocked when he heard this, and quickly sent more than ten imperial doctors from the palace to see the doctor, but Zhang Zhongjing was unable to deal with the disease, and the rest of them were just messing around. In the end, they only prescribed some tonics and asked Chen Chong to drink some fish soup every day. After several days, Chen Chong's coughing up blood stopped, but he was unconscious for several days. Zhang Zhongjing sighed repeatedly after reading it, and returned to the palace to report to Liu Bei: "I'm afraid the prime minister's deadline is not far away."
At this point, Liu Bei ignored everyone's dissuasion and summoned Guan, Zhang and other brothers that night to visit Chen Chong. At this time, Chen Chong was still unconscious, his whole body was hot, and his face was withered. Liu Bei sat by the couch for a long time, and couldn't help but sigh to Dong Bai: "Not long ago, I was discussing national affairs with Ting Jian, how come it has become like this in a few days?"
Seeing that Dong Bai was silent, he probably guessed that it was because Princess Wannian died of illness, and he couldn't help but shed tears and blamed himself: "Looking back now, it was really useless for me to let Ting Jian marry the princess in order to settle the court dispute. I didn't intend to implicate Ting Jian like this." But the words turned out to be weak. Liu Bei thought about it a little and promised Dong Bai that if something happened to Chen Chong, he would take good care of the rest of the family.
But even if Chen Chong's condition deteriorated to this point, Chen Zhang had no intention of going back to take a look. News of the quarrel between the prime minister and his son gradually spread among the capital. Although Dong Bai was well aware of the cause, he couldn't interfere and could only declare that he was susceptible to tuberculosis and that she was the one who made Chen Zhang die outside.
As for the baby born in the mansion ten thousand years ago, Chen Qun has been helping to take care of it. Due to various reasons, Chen Chong did not even name him before he fell ill. Chen Qun did not dare to overstep his bounds and only gave him a name. His nickname was Pheasant Nu, and his wife, Xun, took him back to the mansion and raised him on his behalf.
A few days later, Zhang Zhongjing came to visit again and whispered to Dong Bai: "I'm afraid Prime Minister's time is running out, so it's better to prepare for the worst and let all the relatives come and take a look."
After Zhang Zhongjing left, Dong Bai sat in the courtyard for a long time, at a loss. It is early spring. In previous years, at this time, flowers of all colors would bloom inside and outside the garden. For example, the walls would be covered with golden osmanthus, and the outside of the walls would be covered with clouds of white apricots. Both sides of the corridor would be blooming like splendid flowers. Du Juan, and in the center of the courtyard, there is a lush peach tree. The flowers and leaves grow together, and soon they will bear small and sweet peaches.
But now Dong Bai has no intention of cleaning up, letting the flowers and weeds grow wildly together in the spring breeze. She thought about the past, and tears fell down at some point. Then she covered her face and cried. Her two daughters heard her and cried together with her. Only then did she wipe away her tears and cheer up. After comforting the two of them, she sent someone to inform Chen Qun and other tribesmen so that they could be prepared to see Chen Chong for the last time.
On this day, Chen Qun, his wife Xun, and a group of family members came to pay homage to Chen Chong. In addition to his eldest son Chen Tai, he also had family members Chen Zuo, Chen Tan, and others, all of whom were rising stars of the Chen family in Yingchuan. Of course, Xun's second son, Pheasant Nu, was also brought here, hoping to see Chen Chong one last time.
At this time, Chen Chong was no longer in a coma, but he was also unconscious. He usually just let others eat and drink like a doll. When Chen Qun entered the room, he found that his face was black and black, his eyes were dark, his cheekbones were sunken, and his whole body was as thin as a stick. . Although his eyes were still open, he was completely lifeless and did not move when someone came into the room. He seemed to be dead.
As people filed in from behind, they all hid their noses and frowned when they smelled the smell of medicine in the room. However, when they thought that the most powerful person in the clan would die soon, they all felt sad, bowed down and cried. But Chen Chong remained unmoved, his blank eyes looking where he didn't know where to look.
But at this time, among the low cries of the crowd, a baby's laughter suddenly came out. This laughter was so clear and sweet, as if a lotus flower burst out of the water. It made everyone quiet for a while, and they couldn't help but look back. It turned out to be the child Zhinu who was laughing. He didn't know why people were crying, nor did he know what the relationship between the old man on the couch and his infant self was. He probably just thought the scene was funny, so he grinned, bit his fingers, and let out an indistinct, immature cry. laughter.
Chen Qun was afraid that Dong Bai would be angry because of this, so he quickly asked Xun to take the pheasant slave out, but was stopped by Dong Bai. Dong Bai stared at the evil offspring born to her love rival, with unspeakable complex emotions that made her frown in a rare way. But she still took the pheasant slave over and gently placed the swaddling clothes next to Chen Chong. She knew that if Chen Chong was still awake, he would definitely like to hear the child's laughter.
The pheasant slave looked at his nominal father curiously. He felt an inexplicable familiarity and instinctively wanted to reach out and touch him, but he was a little afraid. Because this was the first time he had seen a dying person. Even if there was no wisdom, any living being had an instinctive fear of death. At the same time, babies are also intuitive creatures. They unconsciously feel that this is a very important person to them, and they can also distinguish between hostility and love. He felt that the old man in front of him was like a burning flame, blazing and gentle, which made him curiously place his palm on the old man's cheek, but strangely, the cheek was cold. The pheasant slave tilted his head in confusion, and then laughed again.
Mrs. Xun was worried at the side. She stepped forward and said to Dong Bai: "Since we have met the child, there is no need to be here. Don't let him contract tuberculosis again. It's enough for us to guard him here."
Dong Bai was about to agree, but when she looked back at Chen Chong, she noticed something strange. Chen Chong, who was sitting on the couch, originally had eyes wandering and breathless, but now for some unknown reason, his chest was heaving violently and his whole body began to tremble uncontrollably, as if a drowning person was struggling in the water, trying to grasp the life-saving straw. . Dong Bai quickly stepped forward to hold her husband's hand and patted Chen Chong's chest.
A huge force came from nowhere, causing Chen Chong to sit up violently, then turned sideways and coughed violently under the bed. The sound he made was as if he was about to vomit out his soul, which horrified everyone present, but Chen Chong couldn't care less. After a few hollow coughs, his throat felt sweet, and he finally removed a bunch of blood clots from the He retched in his lungs, followed by a pool of blocked blood.
Chen Chong vomited next to the couch for a full two moments. When he finally coughed up bluish-white juice, he lay back on the couch. At this moment, Chen Chong's expression was still sluggish, but to everyone's surprise, his eyes were clear. Chen Chong raised his head and smiled at Dong Bai, then turned to look at the people visiting the patient, and said slowly: "It's a pity that you all came here in vain."
The news of Chen Chong's awakening soon reached the palace. Zhang Zhongjing rushed to the bed to visit him that day. After some inspections, he couldn't help stroking his beard for a long time, and then sighed to Chen Chong: "Unexpectedly, the prime minister can escape from death. I In my whole life of practicing medicine, I have never seen such a miracle. The Prime Minister can be said to be a lucky man. He has God's blessing." Then he said: "Although the Prime Minister has overcome the danger, the root cause of the disease has not been eradicated. I am afraid that he will have to rest for a while before he can take action. As usual." Chen Chong smiled and said, "Mr. trouble, I'm concerned." Although his voice was still hoarse and weak, at least his complexion was much better.
The other tribesmen were naturally very happy and congratulated Chen Chong one after another. Liu Bei naturally sent people to greet him, but Chen Chong managed to cope with it and soon fell asleep due to fatigue.
When he woke up the next day, it was already a bright spring noon. Chen Chong had a slight appetite and actually ate some porridge. Then Dong Bai helped him sit down in the courtyard. Although he was out of breath after walking two steps, he still walked to the peach tree and lay down. The shade of the trees swayed slightly on his face, and bits of sunlight shone through, making Chen Chong squint his eyes slightly. He turned his head and saw his wife's worried eyes.
Chen Chong waved his hand gently, indicating that she didn't have to worry, and then smiled at Dong Bai and said, "I dreamed of your singing."
Dong Bai looked at his pale, old and innocent face, feeling a little angry with pity in her heart. She said slightly angrily: "How can you remember any songs like this?"
Chen Chong's next words really comforted her. Chen Chong said: "Your daughter's farewell song."
In fact, he did not tell the truth. In addition to Dong Bai's singing, he dreamed of many songs in his dream, including his mother's children's songs, folk songs collected among the people, military songs during the march, witch songs for sacrifices in the mountains and forests, and his wife singing with His love songs, even the funeral songs recited by Taoist priests during his funeral, and many many songs he thought he had forgotten but always remembered, eventually turned into the tuneless murmur of a baby. So he felt a joy in the dream, felt countless loves and hates, and countless possibilities. He felt incredible and extremely beautiful. So when he felt a warmth on his face, he used up all the energy in his body. Standing up with strength and desire, I finally saw the smiling face of a child.
Soon after, Chen Chong sent people to Chen Qun's mansion to take the pheasant slave home, named him Chen Xiu, and then adopted him to Dong Bai and raised her as his legitimate son.
