At the third quarter of the mao hour, an unusual fragrance of herbs drifted through Banxian Medical Hall. Su Wanyue had just lifted the lid of the earthen pot used for decocting medicine when she saw Old Mrs. Wang leaning against the doorframe, retching dryly, the corners of her mouth stained with dark brown medicine dregs. "Manager Su, as soon as I take the medicine, I feel nauseous..." Before she could finish, the sturdy fellow Li in the adjacent bed was also rolling around, clutching his stomach, with blue-purple mottled stains seeping through his quilt.
"Don't panic!" Zhang Yifan's abacus beads clattered from the bookkeeping room. The young man rushed toward the back hall clutching a handful of medicine dregs, his abacus bead pouch clinking softly against his waist. "Aconite overdose! Huwa, go to the kitchen and grab three handfuls of mung beans!" He suddenly looked up, saw Su Wanyue's hands trembling, and his tone softened by three parts. "Go calm the patients, I'll test the poison."
Huwa's carving knife clattered onto the medicine cabinet, but he immediately bounced over to grab the mung beans. "Brother Fan! Should I carve 'poison-vomiting ghost faces' on the mung beans?" Zhang Yifan had already squatted down in front of the charcoal stove, poking at the medicine dregs with his abacus beads. "Put away the carving knife for now, you need an abacus this time—" The beads moved rapidly back and forth in his palm. "Three qian of aconite turned to five qian; someone definit…
Chapter 66