Mythical Version of Three Kingdom

Chen Xi directly summoned his capable subordinate, Chen Dao, to lead a group of a hundred city guards to escort the high-ranking civil officials of Fenggao to the medical examination, whether they were willing or not. The annual physical check-up was mandatory.

Speaking of which, Zhao Yun and Hua Xiong were Chen Xi’s true trusted generals, but unfortunately, both of them had been taken by Liu Bei to organize the military today. After all, Chen Xi had always instilled in Liu Bei the importance of never relinquishing military control, a principle Liu Bei adhered to rigorously.

However, since Hua Xiong was also responsible for Chen Xi’s personal safety, he had recommended Chen Dao to step in during his absence. When Chen Xi first heard of Chen Dao from Hua Xiong, he was surprised, but upon confirming that this was indeed the historical figure who trained the elite Baiyi soldiers in Xuzhou, Chen Xi became very interested.

These were the super soldiers who, even after Liu Bei’s great defeat at Yiling, had managed to hold off the Wu forces and retreat safely. Although the Wu Kingdom’s infantry was often seen as a stepping stone for Wei generals to gain experience, this didn’t detract from the fact that commanding them required skill, especially under Sun Quan or Lu Xun.

Given Chen Dao’s prowess, Chen Xi didn’t hesitate to write a recommendation letter to Liu Bei, which led to Chen Dao being promoted to military officer in charge of a unit of five hundred to a thousand soldiers—far beyond the nominal position he had held under Hua Xiong.

Despite the officials’ reluctance, Chen Xi herded them towards the storage area of Fenggao, where Hua Tuo had established a clinic—one that Chen Xi had initially set up before Hua Tuo took over.

When Chen Xi’s group arrived, they found only a few patients, and Hua Tuo, as Liu Yan had mentioned, was nowhere to be seen.

“Where is Physician Hua?” Liu Yan asked in confusion. “Has he gone out on a house call?” After questioning a guard, they learned that Hua Tuo was in the warehouse, organizing the medical herbs.

“Let’s go see how our strategic reserves are doing,” Chen Xi waved his hand, and the group followed him to the warehouse. Although these officials typically stayed in one place, given that they were already here, it was only right to pay a visit to the physician whom Chen Xi considered so important.

As they pushed open the warehouse doors, a strong scent of herbs, mixed with a faint mustiness, filled the air. Looking at the piles of herbs, Chen Xi felt a headache coming on. When they had been gathering these herbs, people had even brought entire baskets of ginseng, let alone the other miscellaneous herbs, until the warehouse was completely full.Chen Xi stared at Hua Tuo’s back as he organized the herbs, feeling a sense of familiarity. He scratched his head—had they met before?

“Physician Hua, we’re here to see you,” Liu Yan called out as soon as he saw Hua Tuo’s busy figure.

Hua Tuo turned to see a large group of people blocking the way and couldn’t help feeling a bit irritated. When Liu Yan had mentioned that he could use Qingzhou’s strategic reserves, he hadn’t fully understood what that meant until two days ago. After discovering that he was running low on supplies during a treatment, he had brought the document Liu Yan had given him to the warehouse, where he was shocked by the sheer quantity of stored herbs. He had immediately set to work sorting them out, fearing that if they continued to be stored this way, many would lose their potency.

“Old master, we meet again,” Chen Xi said with a smile when Hua Tuo turned around. Suddenly, Chen Xi remembered where they had met before—Hua Tuo was the physician who had treated him without revealing his name, to whom Chen Xi had given a horse in gratitude. No wonder the treatment had been so effective—it had been a stroke of luck!

“You are…” Hua Tuo frowned, finding Chen Xi’s face familiar, but unable to recall where he had seen him. As a physician who treated people every day, Hua Tuo often struggled to remember past patients.

“My Qingzong horse is still doing well, I hope?” Chen Xi said with a grin.

“Oh, now I remember—you’re that scholar from Yingchuan,” Hua Tuo said, recalling the horse that had been a great help to him.

“Yes, that’s me. I never expected we’d meet again. So, how do you find Qingzhou’s strategic reserves?” Chen Xi asked proudly.

“Such wastefulness!” Hua Tuo spat out the words.

“Is that really necessary?” Chen Xi replied, displeased. “I gathered all these herbs precisely because I was concerned about the possibility of an epidemic. If that happens, we need to have medicine ready immediately. If we wait until the epidemic strikes to gather herbs, countless lives could be lost. And yet you call this wastefulness?”

“You must be Chen Zichuan. In that case, your reasoning makes sense,” Hua Tuo said, slightly taken aback. “But unfortunately, herbs and grain aren’t preserved the same way. You’ve collected three large warehouses of various herbs. If they retain half their potency, it would be a blessing. You didn’t even process them properly.”

“Oh, then please, Master Hua, teach me,” Chen Xi said, humbling himself.

“I’m working on it,” Hua Tuo sighed. “But the quantity is too large for me to handle alone.”

“That’s easy. Just tell me how each type of herb should be stored, and I’ll print instructions for the soldiers. You can oversee the process. It took us three months to gather all these herbs—hundreds of men can sort them in ten days,” Chen Xi replied casually, somewhat exasperated by Hua Tuo’s stubbornness.

Hua Tuo was stunned. He had always gathered, prepared, and administered medicine on his own, never considering that he could enlist help.

“There’s strength in numbers, Master Hua,” Chen Xi continued. “On your own, you can only save hundreds, maybe a thousand people. But individual power has its limits. You should focus on writing books, passing on your medical knowledge, and documenting treatments for various symptoms. That way, you can save more lives instead of wasting time on tasks that others can do.”

Hua Tuo was struck by these words. The vast quantities of herbs in these warehouses had already amazed him—gathering so many in a lifetime seemed impossible, and he would never use them all. But now, Chen Xi’s words made him realize what he should be doing.

“You make a good point,” Hua Tuo acknowledged, “but we physicians are often lumped together with shamans and witch doctors, and people are naturally averse to seeing doctors.”

Chen Xi glanced around at the officials, noting their awkward expressions—Hua Tuo’s words hit close to home.

“Then prove that those who oppose you are wrong,” Chen Xi replied nonchalantly. “If you can demonstrate that you’re right, why worry that others won’t believe you? Put those who doubt you on a pillar of shame, and ensure your own legacy. Found a school of medicine that rivals Bian Que—isn’t that a legacy worth striving for?”