The splendor of the Red Chamber, the power that reigns supreme.

Chapter 33 Wu Dalang Gets Married

Meanwhile, the Zhang family's house was in a state of utter desolation.

Madam Yu was standing guard by the bedside, looking at Zhang Da Hu's ashen face. Her chest heaved violently, and her throat felt like it was being pulled by a broken bellows. She could barely breathe, and it took her a long time to move.

Mrs. Yu was anxious and hurriedly took two soft pillows to elevate his body, hoping that he could catch his breath.

She held Zhang's cold hand, tears streaming down her face, and silently prayed, "God, God, as long as you can get through this, I will never scold you again, and we will live a good life together... If you want to take wives and concubines, I will let you have them and will never stop you!"

Just as he was pleading and begging in sorrow, he suddenly heard footsteps outside the door.

Madam Yu was overjoyed, thinking that the doctor she had summoned had finally arrived. She quickly wiped away her tears with her sleeve and called out, "Is the doctor here? Please come in..."

Before he could finish speaking, a servant led a man in nervously.

Upon closer inspection, Madam Yu realized it was no doctor at all!
The newcomer was short and stocky, with a large head and short neck. He was wearing new clothes and carrying several steamed buns in his hand. It was none other than Wu Dalang, the steamed bun seller!
He was rubbing his hands together, his face beaming with smiles.

Beside her hair bun, a fresh red velvet flower was deliberately pinned up, looking rather comical.

Madam Yu was taken aback, then her anger flared. What was this guy doing here at a time like this? She deliberately asked, annoyed, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

Wu Dalang said with a forced smile, "Madam, I've come to marry Jinlian."

Yu sneered and was about to kick Wu Dalang out when another name flashed into her mind in a flash!
Although Wu Da is a good-for-nothing, he still has Wu Er!
That's quite a character. I heard he killed a giant tiger with his bare hands on Jingyang Ridge and became the head constable of Yanggu County. He's a ruthless killer who doesn't blink an eye!
Thinking of this, a plan suddenly arose in Yu's originally anxious and desperate heart.

The anxiety on her face vanished instantly, replaced by a half-smile, tinged with sympathy.

She looked the uneasy Wu Dalang up and down, and slowly said, "Oh... I remember now, you are Wu Dalang. My master was kind-hearted and pitied your loneliness and lack of wife and children. He did say that he would give you that maid Pan Jinlian as a wife. You have seen that girl. She is so beautiful. She is a perfect match for you... Hehe, it is truly a blessing you have accumulated over a hundred lifetimes."

Upon hearing this, Wu Dalang forced a smile that was both pleased and embarrassed onto his dark, sallow face, and nodded and bowed repeatedly: "Yes, yes, thank you, Master Zhang, thank you for your kindness, Madam! I... I just wanted to come today..."

"What a pity..." Before he could finish speaking, Madam Yu suddenly drew out her voice, let out a heavy sigh, and showed a look of resentment and helplessness on her face, "You've come at the wrong time! Your fiancée has just been forcibly taken away by someone!"

"Huh?" Wu Dalang was struck dumb, his smile instantly freezing on his face. He gaped in astonishment, "Robbed...robbed? Who robbed me?"

"Who else could it be!" Madam Yu pretended to grit her teeth. "It's Ximen Qing, the big master Ximen who runs a herbal medicine shop on Lion Street! He relies on his money and power to bully the villagers. When he saw that Jinlian was pretty, he didn't care and just snatched her away from my house!"

"Although I am just a woman, I know that taking another man's wife and daughter is like digging up his ancestral grave! Cutting off his lineage is like urinating on your Wu family's ancestral grave! Drinking your first soup will make your Wu family line end, so that you will wear a green hat while alive and have no face to meet your ancestors when you die!"

“But Ximen Qing is so powerful, and my master is now... and so ill. What can I, a woman, do?” she said, wiping her eyes with a handkerchief as if she had suffered a great injustice.

Upon hearing this, Wu Dalang was so enraged that he was as if two Buddhas had been born and ascended to heaven!

He stomped his foot, jumped up, pointed at the door and cursed, "Ximen Qing! You son of a bitch! You dog! How dare you bully people like this! I...I..." He stammered for a long time, but couldn't come up with anything.

He felt utterly defeated, and could only stand there rubbing his hands and stamping his feet in anger, pacing around in circles, muttering repeatedly, "I'm so angry! I'm so angry!"

Yu looked at his "softening out" appearance with disdain.

On the surface, he pretended to share the same hatred, and added fuel to the fire in a low voice: "Alas! Poor thing! If I were you... if I had a brother like you, Master Wu, who can fight tigers and is a captain, backing me up, how could I allow people to bully me like this? I would have made him beat Ximen Qing to a pulp, so that he would know how many eyes Master Ma really has!"

"Even if you don't cause trouble, you should at least snatch your own wife back from under someone else's crotch. You don't know, when Ximen Qing took Jinlian away, she cried and screamed, calling your name!"

"Call my name?" Wu Dalang suddenly stopped in his tracks, overjoyed!
After the initial surprise, a single sentence from Ms. Yu brought me to my senses! Yes!
He also has a heroic brother, Wu Song, who fought a tiger! Since he can't do anything to Ximen Qing, his brother will surely be able to avenge him!
He suddenly felt like he'd grabbed a lifeline. Forgetting all his cursing, he hastily bowed to Madam Yu, then staggered away, muttering to himself, "Yes! Go find my brother! Find my brother..."

Yu sneered as she watched him run out.

They repeatedly called for someone to urge the doctor again.

Fortunately, just as Wu Dalang left, an old doctor came in.

After exchanging pleasantries, he took the patient's pulse for a moment, then examined his eyelids and tongue coating, before shaking his head repeatedly.

Madam Yu asked anxiously, "Sir, what are my master's symptoms...?"

The old doctor stroked his sparse beard, pondered for a long time, and then slowly said, "Sir, this is a critical condition of sudden loss of vital energy and phlegm obstructing the mind. The pulse is weak and rootless, like a shrimp swimming or a fish darting about; this is a sign of the complete depletion of the true energy of the five internal organs..."

"Alas, it is not that I am unwilling to do my best, but rather... I am exhausted and beyond saving. The only plan now is to first decoct the finest old ginseng into a strong brew and drink it frequently, and then hold slices in my mouth to try to keep my life force alive for a while. As for whether I can recover, that depends entirely on fate."

This couldn't be clearer: ginseng is simply doing its best, leaving the rest to fate, and preparing for its demise.

Upon hearing the word "ginseng," Madam Yu grasped at it like a lifeline and hurriedly said, "Yes! Yes! Top-quality old wild ginseng! It was just bought from the shop a few days ago. They said it was a top-grade product from Liaodong, and the price was not low!" As she spoke, she ordered her maid to quickly fetch it.

Before long, a ginseng root, tied with a red velvet thread and appearing thick and plump, was presented before them. Madam Yu, disregarding everything else, personally watched as the maid quickly sliced ​​the ginseng, placed it in a pot, added water, and simmered it over high heat. Soon, the ginseng soup was ready, a thick bowl of it, which she helped Zhang the Master to sit up and forced him to drink.

To everyone's surprise, after drinking the bowl of ginseng soup, not only did it not improve the situation, but the phlegm in Zhang's throat became even more pronounced. His body suddenly stiffened, and with a "whoosh," he spat out a mouthful of dark red blood, splattering it all over the brocade quilt. He then collapsed again, his breath growing weaker and weaker, and it seemed that his last thread of life was about to end.

"Master! Master!" Madam Yu was terrified and cried out, shaking Master Zhang, but there was no response.

She turned her head sharply to look at the old doctor, her voice trembling: "Sir! What... what's wrong? This ginseng soup..."

(End of this chapter)