Chapter 15 - Both Manna and Meteors Fall From the Heavens (1)

Former chapter name: Meat Pie Crushes People To Death (1)

With furrowed brow, Madam Yan’s voice turned ice cold, “Dress yourself properly before speaking!”

The prostitute trembled faintly with a mix of fearfulness towards Madam Yan and embarrassment. She hastily tried to tidy up her appearance, but was so nervous that her hands constantly shook, leaving her unable to tie her robe up even after a long while.

Ran Yan looked upon this exchange with curiousity. She now couldn’t help but develop a thread of interest in Madam Yan. One would normally expect a pimp to hurry to the scene after hearing that there had been a death in their brothel. Madam Yan, however, seemed to care more about maintaining the appearances of her young ladies.

Madam Yan took advantage of the pause to turn around and calmly address Ran Yan, “There’s been some trouble in the brothel, I must beg your pardon for the moment. Please excuse me.”

Ran Yan lightly assented, “Understood. I will begin treating Zi Xu-xiaojie[1] first.”

During the early Tang Dynasty, the term “xiaojie” was usually used to address professional female companions, particularly types like prestigious dancers, music courtesans and qingguan[2]. Daughters from good families were only ever called “Miss[3]”. Those like Ran Yan, after adding their surname and position, were addressed as Seventeenth Miss Ran[4].

Madam Yan smiled apologetically and bowed slightly before gesturing to a few maidservants to lead them inside.

For a sheltered woman[5] like Ran Yan to be so unperturbed after hearing that someone had died… Madam Yan, at least, had never heard of such a thing. She could not help but glance repeatedly at the blurred figure behind the veil and feel wary.

After entering the building, Ran Yan slowed her steps to stealthily remain near enough to the doorway to faintly hear Madam Yan’s voice, “What happened?”

The prostitute quickly replied, “Young Master[6] Han came over to look for me today. We drank two cups and were about to lie down, but before we could, Fourth Master[7] Qin kicked down the door and pulled me away. I fell on the ground and when I got up Young Master Han was foaming at the mouth. Blood was eve…where below …s body…”

Since the voices had grown too distant to hear any more, Ran Yan’s focus finally returned to her immediate surroundings whereupon she began to carefully inspect the interior of the building.

The building was extremely spacious, featuring low tables with bamboo curtains hanging between a few dark brown pillars to act as a partition. Through the gaps in the bamboo curtains, she could vaguely see the furnishing of the inner room: a four-part ebony screen covered the bed with a dressing table placed below the window on south wall.

The four men carried Zi Xu behind the screen, but were hesitant to transfer her to the bed.

Zi Xu’s condition was obviously second stage syphilis, which meant that it had progressed to a serious stage. At this time, the disease was at its most virulent and might sometimes spread through indirect contact. Ran Yan did not dare be complacent, instructing the maidservants who guided her in, “Go and fetch clean clothes to wrap around the hands of the guards.”

One of the girls assented and exited. Those left behind all looked at each other. To them, Ran Yan’s request served as proof that their worries were not unfounded, causing the two people closest to Zi Xu quietly shift half a step back.

Seeing this, Qing Dai felt a sense of righteous indignation and stepped forward, “No need to look for cloth. If they are unwilling to lift her, I’ll do it!”

“Stop!” Ran Yan halted her movement with a cold voice, “Do you think that I am joking?! Anyone who shared the use of anything with Zi Xu xiaojie best be called here for a check up, especially those that shared the same man!”

The building went dead silent. Wan Lu was more surprised than anyone, leaving her in a momentary daze. She could not understand her mistress at all. How could she have the nerve to say such words? The person standing in front of her was not the mistress she was familiar with, but a stranger.

The maidservant returned quickly with a bolt of rough cloth. Ran Yan ordered them all to tear it and wrap the guards’ hands, then carry Zi Xu to the bed.

“If you are still worried, go back and wash your hands with vinegar.” Said Ran Yan while also wrapping her hands. She then began to thoroughly examine Zi Xu’s body.

Hearing Ran Yan’s words, the guards, who had already completed their duty at this point, quickly exited.

Using her hand, Ran Yan pressed gently on Zi Xu’s temporal (side of head) and occipitals (back of head) regions. Lightly grabbing a strand of hair at the root, she observed that the boundary was unclear, resembling patchy “moth eaten” alopecia[8] (hair loss). It was definitely syphilis.

According to historical records, it was only during the Wanli[9] period of the Ming Dynasty that merchants from the west brought over “syphilis”. However it was currently the Zhengguan[10] period of the Tang Dynasty! Why would such a difficult disease be here now? Had history gone haywire[11]?

Ran Yan sighed. She had always felt that the heavens would not freely drop meat pies[12]. And even if they did, those meat pies could very well be big enough to crush you to death. One needed strength to convert this opportunity into a boon, else it would become a bane! From the beginning she had prepared herself for a grim prognosis, and sure enough Zi Xu’s condition was not something she could view optimistically. Those twenty taels would be well earned.

Ran Yan felt a little regretful, she should have asked for two thousand taels.

“How is it?” Qing Dai straightened her body and anxiously asked. She had never seen anyone diagnosing without taking a pulse. But now, other than Ran Yan, there was no one else that could help them. Qing Dai was placing all her hopes on Ran Yan.

“Her condition is poor. However, I can guarantee that she will be alright for the moment.” Ran Yan knew many ancient methods to treat sexually transmitted diseases, but they were ineffective for those who were as seriously ill as Zi Xu. Unless… she was could extract penicillin G…

Penicillin G was a natural antibiotic for syphilis. It was able to cure gonorrhoea within a few hours and cure syphilis within a few days. In addition, it had good antibacterial effects on Strep infections like haemolytic Streptococcus and Streptococcus pneumoniae, or certain Staph infections like non-penicillinase[13]-producing Staphylococcus. In simple terms, if she was able to successfully extract penicillin, then illnesses that were practically a death sentence in ancient times, like puerperal fever and pneumonia, could all be easily treated. At the same time, she would change the course of medical history…

These thoughts, which began racing though Ran Yan’s mind, grew uninhibited. The dormant passion she felt towards her job, that she had not felt since transmigrating, was instantly ignited.

“Great Doctor, Great Doctor!”

Ran Yan came back to herself when she heard Qing Dai anxiously call to her. The corners of her lips twitched slightly, “Call me ‘Doctor Yan’ or ‘Yan Seventeenth’, either is acceptable. There is no need to continue calling me ‘Great Doctor’.

“Suzhou City had enough Great Doctors, they didn’t need to add Ran Yan to their ranks. Moreover, Ran Yan had never considered herself a doctor who cured illnesses and saved lives. In actuality, she had rarely used her medical skills to save people. By the time she saw a “patient”, they were usually long dead.

“Doctor Yan, my meimei…” Qing Dai looked at Ran Yan, filled with hope. Her makeup was streaked with tears which, rather than making her look sloppy, created a feeling of pitifulness and empathy.

Ran Yan judged that Qing Dai was not that young anymore, perhaps 27-28 years old. In ancient times, that was halfway to becoming a xu’niang[14]. However, Qing Dai’s charms were comparable to those of well-maintained women from her previous world. Indeed, a rare sight.

“First, I will give two prescriptions. One to be taken orally, one to be applied topically.” Ran Yan said.

Qing Dai, immediately delighted, ordered the maidservants to bring a brush and ink.

Within the <The Secret Book of Great Doctor Hua Tuo> there were about fifteen methods to treat Hua Lou Hou disease. However, these prescriptions failed to account for the fact that there were many types of sexually transmitted diseases leaving their effect on syphilis therefore obvious. If they ever truly worked, there would never be those that “turned pale at the mention of syphilis”[15] later on!

“Instruct everyone in the courtyard that they are not allowed to come in contact with this place.” Ran Yan said evenly. She chose to not elaborate on the rest since prattling on would just cause more panic. She believed that even this instruction would cause considerable waves, but Ran Yan knew that Madam Yan had the ability to settle them.

In the end, necessary warnings still needed to be given.

Relatedly, Ran Yan also felt incredibly glad that she had followed them here today. If she hadn’t, once syphilis started spreading, the consequences would be extremely frightening. It could even cause Zhenguan’s reign to collapse. In this situation, Ran Yan absolutely could not stand idly by.

She needed to immediately extract penicillin! However, that was simpler said than done. If she had a laboratory, extracting penicillin would only take a matter of minutes, but this was currently the Tang Dynasty, there was nothing at all like that available.

The only thing worth giving thanks for was that it was summer now, finding enough Penicillum[16] would not be difficult.

***

Editor: alliterativeart

Edited: 4/03/18

Re-edited: 21/10/18

***

[1] 小姐 (xiǎo jiě): miss/young lady. I will continue to use the word “xiaojie” to avoid confusion with 娘 (niang).

[2]清倌 （qīng guān): courtesans who only sell their skills and not their bodies.

[3] 娘 (níang): miss/lady. Can also mean mother.

[4] 冉十七娘 （rǎn shí qī niang): the seventeenth daughter of the Ran family.

[5] 闺阁女 （guī gé nǚ): gui ge means boudoir/place where women stay and nu just means female. I’m guessing this refers to women from good families who are usually confined to their quarters.

[6] 郎君 （láng jūn): form of address for young men, particularly rich playboys, commonly used by prostitutes to address their customers. May also mean my husband or son-in-law.

[7] 郎 (láng): form of address for young men without the connotations of the previous one.

[8] link to article regarding hair loss in sexually transmitted diseases, in particular syphilis.

[9] 万历 (wàn lì): the title of Shenzong’s reign in the Ming Dynasty (1673-1619).

[10] 贞观 (zhēn guàn): the title of Taizong’s reign during the Tang Dynasty (627-649)

[11] 偏轨 (piān guǐ): as far as I can tell, it’s like taking the evil path?

[12] 掉馅饼: getting something without any effort.

[13] penicillinase: an enzyme which can inactivate penicillin, produced by certain bacteria

[14] 徐娘 (xú niáng): an elderly woman whose beauty is fading.

[15] 谈梅色变 (tán méi sè biàn): probably a play on the idiom to turn pale at the mention of a tiger (谈虎色变). Meaning that in the future, people were deathly afraid of syphilis.

[16] Penicillum: fungi that produces penicillin.