The morning sun of Banxian Medical Hall had just climbed over the flying eaves when Huwa scrambled up the lintel with his carving knife, loudly declaring that he would carve "Imperial Physician Ghost-Face" onto the plaque of "Universal Benevolence" — saying it would cheer up the retired Imperial Physician Wang and help him keep three parts of his mind on the pulse-taking. Just as Su Wanyue swung out her riding crop, an eight-bearer warm sedan chair stopped at the entrance, its curtains embroidered with the Imperial Medical Academy's golden gourd pattern. The sight startled Huwa so much that his carving knife clattered down onto the bluestone pavement.
"Master Zhang has quite an imposing style," a cold sneer came from inside the sedan. "You invite a retired resident benefactor of the Imperial Medical Academy to sit in the hall, yet you send a Traveling Physician wandering through the streets. Are you using nobles' silver to fill poor people's medicine pots?" The curtain was lifted, and Imperial Physician Chen, wearing a seventh-rank official robe, twisted his goatee. His gaze swept over the ghost-face wood carvings on the door pillars. "Such crooked pieces of junk, and they dare to be called the medical path?"
Zhang Yifan stepped forward with a smiling face, his abacus beads bouncing like butterflies at his fingertips. "Your Honor has misunderstood. Although Imperial Physician Wang's consultation fee is high, it allows the Traveling Physician to carry ten more doses of medic…
Chapter 60