He originally intended to surrender to Wei, so why did he end up restoring Han?

Chapter 83 Playing the Fool on Liu Bei

"Second brother! Wenyuan! You've both worked so hard. Come, I've prepared a feast, just waiting for your return."

"Brother, you've really gone to great lengths. Our army didn't achieve much this time, so I'm truly ashamed and don't deserve such praise."

When Guan Yu saw the grand welcoming ceremony held for them by Liu Bei, although he said it was too troublesome, the corners of his mouth still turned up slightly.

Lu Wan also replied from the side: "My lord is too kind. The success of this operation is all thanks to the soldiers. I was just the one who came up with ideas from behind the scenes—" Lu Guan suddenly shut his mouth, realizing that he had looked down on all the strategists.

However, Liu Bei didn't care about this slip of the tongue. He grabbed Lu Wan's wrist with one hand and patted his shoulder with the other: "Don't say that. If it weren't for Wen Yuan, it would be a question whether our army could even stay in Xuzhou now."

Lu Wan touched her head, feeling a warm glow inside. To hide her expression, she quickly asked, "How are the other routes? Is the advance going smoothly?"

"Fortunately, everything went as planned. It's just that a few days ago, Zilong suddenly wrote to say that Yuanlong was sick and has now been sent back to Guangling City to recuperate."

Lu Wan immediately grasped the key information and hurriedly asked, "Sick? What happened to Yuan Long?"

Liu Bei shook his head, his expression immediately turning serious. He said with some worry, "The doctor said he ate too much raw fish and has worms in his stomach. But I've consulted many doctors in Xuzhou and the surrounding counties, and they all say they can't cure it. I don't know what to do now."

Upon hearing this news, Lu Wan began to ponder.

Oh dear, was this the time when Chen Deng first fell ill in history?

Lu Wan certainly couldn't sit idly by and do nothing about this. Putting aside the personal factors such as the close relationship between the two, just to protect Chen Deng, the master of defensive warfare, Lu Wan had to find a way to help Chen Deng get medical treatment.

However, Chen Deng's illness was indeed difficult to cure. Historical records say that after Chen Deng fell ill, Hua Tuo came to induce vomiting in him, and the worms that came out were "red-headed and wriggling".

Based on Lu Wan's deduction, this is most likely the Chinese fluke, commonly known as the liver fluke.

This thing is very common in places where people like to eat raw freshwater fish in later generations. Lu Wan once saw a news report that some people had more than 20,000 adult worms detected in their bodies. She really didn't know how he managed to endure that state before going to the hospital.

Adult worms typically live in the bile ducts. The eggs they excrete are mixed with bile and enter the digestive tract, eventually being expelled from the human body into the water along with feces. They then infect small aquatic organisms such as snails, and gradually enter the bodies of fish, waiting for the next human to be infected.

This thing can develop from a larva into an adult in just one month, but it can live for decades. In other words, once you get infected with this thing, it will accompany you for a good part of your life if you don't get treatment.

Another troublesome aspect of this parasite is its severe damage to the liver, potentially leading to cirrhosis in later stages of infection.

It can cause various diseases such as cholangitis, and in severe cases, it can even lead to liver cancer.

Now Lu Wan understood why Chen Deng's complexion had always been sallow; it turned out his liver was damaged.

This disease is easy to treat in later generations; it can be cured by taking some praziquantel or albendazole (readers should not try to take it on their own; if you feel unwell, go to the doctor).

With current technology and medical capabilities, it's practically impossible to cure the disease. The best we can do is, like Hua Tuo in history, control the condition to prevent it from worsening.

Lu Wan also used a term from historical records to explain: "Yuanlong's illness is mostly caused by worms, which are not easy to treat."

"Does Wen Yuan know what kind of parasite Yuan Long has?" Liu Bei couldn't help but be surprised. He had never known that his strategist was not only good at planning and development, but also at treating illnesses.

"Yes, back when I was in Jiujiang—"

Lu Wan was completely unafraid of their suspicions and shared her knowledge about the parasite. Whenever anyone asked, Lu Wan would say that she had seen people with the disease in Jiujiang before, and that this knowledge was something she had summarized back then.

After listening to Lu Wan's explanation, Liu Bei and Guan Yu both turned green. They felt extremely uncomfortable, as if insects were actually crawling inside their bodies.

Seeing their faces scrunched up, Lu Wan became intrigued and suddenly decided to play a joke on them to scare them.

"This is nothing. These insects only have a significant impact on people when there are many of them. Some insects can even be life-threatening once infected."

"Alright, alright, Wen Yuan, please stop talking, I can't take it anymore." Liu Bei kept waving his hands, hoping that Lu Wan would stop talking. Just the thought of liver flukes alone would take him a lifetime to forget.

But Lu Wan's interest had already been piqued, how could she give up so easily? Besides, this was also for the purpose of popularizing scientific knowledge, and its positive impact on the youth of the Han Dynasty was immeasurable.

"There is a type of worm in pigs' bodies. When you cut open the meat of a pig infected with this worm, you can see small white spots inside. If a person eats this pork, the worm eggs will hatch into small worms in the intestines. These small worms will enter the bloodstream and travel through the blood vessels to all the internal organs. At that point, these worms can grow anywhere on the body."

"If it burrows into your eye, you'll go blind. If it burrows into your head, you'll go insane, and after going insane, you'll die—"

"Alright!!! Wen Yuan, let's talk about this later."

Liu Bei had now covered his ears, refusing to listen to a single word. Guan Yu, on the other hand, closed his eyes, completely shutting down his senses.

Lu Wan knew when to stop, lest she really anger her lord. She then smiled and cupped her hands in a gesture of respect, saying no more.

Although Liu Bei wore a helpless expression, he was secretly overjoyed. Lu Wan was now daring to joke with him, which meant that their relationship had reached a new level.

Soon the welcoming banquet began, but the people at the banquet were very puzzled. This banquet was quite good, with all kinds of delicious food. Why were the lord and General Guan just drinking and not eating meat?

Among them, Mi Zhu, who was most eager to improve and whose seat was very close to Liu Bei, came over first to ask, "My lord, are you just drinking today? Is something troubling you?"

"Of course I'm scared—" Liu Bei was feeling annoyed when he saw someone approaching and was about to raise his cup in response. Suddenly, he realized that the person was his good brother, Mi Zhu.

Liu Bei suddenly became interested as well. Such advanced knowledge about parasites should not be known only to him and his second brother; everyone should know and understand the dangers.

Don't blame me for scaring you, bro; you delivered this to my doorstep yourself.