The July days were blazing hot.
Because Ru Shi’s eldest son would be getting married in August, she hardly had time to see patients anymore.
Xu Miaozhen simply hid at home to escape the heat, thinking about Ru Shi’s son’s wedding, and wondering if Tan Yunxian would attend.
She had already studied medicine with Ru Shi for three years, and had mastered the field of gynecology—whether it was vaginal discharge, regulating menstruation, hemorrhage, pregnancy, miscarriage, difficult labor, or postpartum care, she was already quite experienced.
She naturally still wanted to deepen her knowledge in gynecology, but there was a problem—she had no reputation, was still young, unmarried, and lacked anyone powerful to vouch for her, which simply would not do.
The Suzhou Prefecture had summoned female physicians to the palace, and Ru Xiniang was even recommended.
If she hadn’t heard at the last moment that the examiners would be from the imperial household and backed out, she might have been selected.
Yet, even though Ru Xiniang studied medicine with Ru Shi, she wasn’t diligent, and often made mistakes in diagnosis.
But she had Ru Shi, this aunt, spending both money and effort, mobilizing her connections to secure such opportunities.
Xu Miaozhen, however, had no one to plan for her.
Even though she followed Ru Shi to see patients, to truly stand out would still take years of persistence.
Ancient times were different from the present.
Even her own father, she once overheard telling her mother that next year it would be time to pay attention—once a marriage was arranged, it would be hard for her to go out again.
She didn’t necessarily want to become famous, but now, women couldn’t open medical clinics.
Most patients sought out those with renown.
Ru Shi had a reputable family background in medicine, but Xu Miaozhen did not—even if she had skills, patients wouldn’t come to her.
Worse, if you had no reputation and treated someone, they might not trust you, and if something went wrong, they’d blame you for it.
In the future, others might lump her in with ordinary healers or midwives, making it hard to advance.
If she could enter the palace and treat those in the Inner Court, she wouldn’t need to beg for patients—patients would beg her.
Just as she was thinking, Miss Ma Yulan arrived.
She smiled, “I thought you’d gone out these past few days.”
“It’s so hot, of course I’m at home avoiding the heat. By the way, I heard from my mother that you all went to the Li Family. Why did you come back so soon?”
Xu Miaozhen spoke as she asked someone to bring over the honeydew melon cooled in the well water.
Miss Ma Yulan waved her hand at once.
“Don’t get me started, it makes me angry. You know Li Lao Furen loves playing Yezi Pai, and among her card friends, one grabbed my hand and wouldn’t let go, boasting her own grandson to the skies. Her hands were all sweaty. Then she scolded me for being lazy and started lecturing me right there.”
Because the two families were neighbors and close, Miss Ma Yulan often confided her troubles to Xu Miaozhen.
She was a little over a year older than Xu Miaozhen, now thirteen, the age for marriage talks.
Usually, after a betrothal, the family would prepare the dowry for two or three years—it wasn’t that quick to actually get married.
A girl’s life, it seemed, was arranged so quickly by others.
Xu Miaozhen said, “Your mother loves you so much, she’ll surely make good plans for you. But how do you plan to spend your birthday? Why not invite Wang Jiejie and Tong Meimei this year, and we can all chat together?”
“I actually have a good idea. Don’t the adults always have tea gatherings? I’ll ask my mother to host one, and we’ll go with the adults. Then we can close the door and chat freely. If I just invite people over on my own, you and Wang Jiejie are fine, but Tong Meimei probably couldn’t decide for herself.”
Miss Ma Yulan thought aloud.
Xu Miaozhen praised her thoughtfulness, and the two discussed it further.
At the end, Miss Ma Yulan said, “Do you know why Tong Meimei isn’t allowed to come out? It’s all because of the Li Family.”
Xu Miaozhen couldn’t help but say, “The Er Langjun of the Li Family’s father is a Chengyu, an official of the eighth rank, and Tong Meimei’s father is a Fu Jingli, also eighth rank—truly a perfect match. In fact, the Tong Family is even wealthier.”
The Li Family was no longer what it used to be.
Miss Ma Yulan sighed lightly.
“Isn’t that so? The Da Langjun of the Li Family has gone to his aunt’s in Jinling, apparently hoping to use a powerful wife’s family to rise again.”
Xu Miaozhen had met the Da Langjun of the Li Family before, often playing cuju in the alleys outside Changmen Gate.
It seemed men, too, calculated even their marriages for their future—so why should women resign themselves?
Besides, in a way, if you had ability and reputation and developed your career, you’d have more choices in marriage later.
Miss Ma Yulan thought Xu Miaozhen would despise the Da Langjun’s behavior, but instead found her lost in thought, picking up another piece of melon.
“Once it’s settled with Tong Meimei’s family, I’ll let you know.”
“Alright, alright.”
Xu Miaozhen finally came back to herself.
Miss Ma Yulan ate a few pieces of melon, then felt sleepy and napped at Xu Miaozhen’s place before returning home.
Xu Miaozhen had also planned to nap, but couldn’t sleep.
She opened her money box—inside was one five-tael gold ingot and two strings of coins.
That was all her private savings.
Her family had only just paid off their debts at year’s end, and now was the time to save.
Her father said his writing work might be banned at any time, so they needed savings, or else, if the harvest was bad, at least the whole family wouldn’t starve.
Their family had moved to Suzhou and had no land.
Without this livelihood, they’d go hungry, so they had to plan ahead.
Xu Miaozhen was sensible and never asked for much.
Her daily allowance was small, but she spent only on necessities—paper, soap, and silk thread, for example.
The next morning, she told Mei Shi about Miss Ma Yulan’s birthday. Mei Shi readily agreed, “If that’s the case, I’ll accept the invitation for you. You girls have been close since last year, and since Qiu Niangzi left at the end of last year, you hardly see each other.”
“That’s what I was thinking too,” said Xu Miaozhen.
“While you’re young, relax and enjoy yourself.”
Mei Shi’s life was now ten times better than before, but she still hoped her daughter could be carefree.
Xu Miaozhen nodded with a smile.
Then Mei Shi changed the subject, “Zhenzhen, tell me honestly, did you treat Concubine Qiao on purpose? I know you’re careful for your age.”
Hearing her mother bring this up, Xu Miaozhen didn’t hide it.
“Partly for my own medical skills, and partly because Fifth Aunt always bullies you with her words. Even though you were poor, she never gave you a single coin. I kept to my medical ethics, but she still spoke coldly to me, and even mocked you publicly for not being virtuous, for not letting Father take a concubine. Since that’s how she is, let her deal with the concubine who has a child.”
“You child…”
Mei Shi was at a loss for words.
She’d grown up without a mother, her stepmother treated her badly, and her father didn’t care, so she always tried to avoid trouble.
But her daughter was different—so young, yet already shrewd, even retaliating in subtle ways.
Xu Miaozhen added, “Besides, I only helped her treat her illness. Whether she conceives or not isn’t up to me.”
Mei Shi didn’t blame her, only said, “If your aunt finds out, she’ll blame you.”
“That’s her problem. Why should only she be allowed to see a doctor, but not others? Mother, their Qiao Family may be a local big family, but my teacher is Qiu Yushi’s own sister—maybe I’ll have my own connections someday.”
Xu Miaozhen wasn’t afraid at all.
For some reason, Mei Shi thought of those dark days when her family was poor, her stepmother secretly gave rice to her stepsister while making her eat beans, made her get up early to cook, feed pigs, and accused her of stealing.
That was a dark past, but her life was getting better and better—she didn’t want to think about it anymore.
Suddenly, Mei Shi smiled and hugged her daughter.
“You’re right. Mother won’t blame you.”
“Mother, whatever I do, you’re always so good to me.”
Xu Miaozhen thought so too.
Soon after, Wang Taifuren received a reply from Tong Meimei’s family, and they arranged to meet at the Lotus Pond, renting a Hua Fang to tour the lake and pick lotus pods.
Xu Miaozhen and the others took a carriage to the lakeside.
Many people were excited to go boating, but the Hua Fang was still on the opposite shore, so everyone had to take small boats across.
The boat they rode wasn’t rowed by a boatman, but by a Chao Po.
This Chao Po was very talkative, saying she’d been ferrying boats here for over ten years.
“Three hundred sixty days a year, rain or shine, I’m here. Rowing boats feeds my son and daughter—at least they don’t go hungry.”
Mei Shi sighed, “That’s not easy.”
“Isn’t it? My hands have been numb for six years, and I’ve taken all sorts of medicine with no effect.”
As Chao Po spoke, a trace of helplessness appeared on her face.
Although Xu Miaozhen was now learning gynecology, she had studied acupuncture and massage before transmigrating.
Her medicine box was always carried by her maid, so she said, “This is rheumatism. Aijiu will fix it. I’ve studied medicine for three years—if you trust me, I can give it a try.”
She thought Chao Po would refuse, since she was so young, but instead Chao Po saw that Mei Shi and Xu Miaozhen were always accompanied by servants, dressed in fine silk, clearly people of status.
With her keen eyes, she agreed right away.
Mei Shi said, “We’ll be eating lunch at the Nigu An by the shore. Come find us there.”
Chao Po remembered.
Soon after, Chao Po brought them to the Hua Fang.
The classmates met and couldn’t stop talking.
Tong Meimei was still as lively as before, insisting on visiting the Wang Family, but Miss Wang Xie said, “Be careful, don’t say such childish things.”
Among them, Miss Wang Xie was the most gentle, but she had her troubles.
Her problem was that her mother and sister-in-law didn’t get along.
“My sister-in-law seemed so gentle before marriage. Afterward, she turned fierce and turned my brother’s house upside down. My mother is so worried.”
“I think Wang Taifuren is a capable woman, you needn’t worry.”
Everyone comforted her.
Miss Wang Xie shook her head, “Now she’s even interfering with me, scolding chickens and chasing dogs every day, even finding fault with me.”
Xu Miaozhen thought Wang Taifuren was indeed capable—she had disguised herself as a man and sold silk with Wang Laoye when young, and only opened a silk shop in middle age—definitely not an ordinary person.
Those who could stand on their own, even doing small business, were never ordinary.
The Lotus Pond was filled with pink and white lotuses, half-blooming, their leaves sparkling with dew.
Everyone composed poems together, and Miss Ma Yulan commented, “Among us, Xiaoxiao is the most talented—never at a loss, always quick-witted. When we were in school, I used to complain about getting up early, but now I miss it.”
Everyone agreed.
At noon, the Hua Fang stopped near the Nigu An.
Wang Taifuren said, “Behind the temple is a patch of crape myrtle. After lunch, let’s go there and play.”
But as they were eating, it began to rain.
Taking shelter were an old madam and the Chao Po they’d seen that morning.
When Chao Po saw Xu Miaozhen, she said to the old lady, “Miss, take shelter here for now. I’ll ask this young lady to treat me.”
The old lady glanced quickly at Xu Miaozhen.
Xu Miaozhen remained calm and found an empty room to perform moxibustion on eight acupuncture points: two on the Shoulder Yu Point, two on the Quchi Point, two on the Zhigou Point, and two on the Lieque Point.
She was treating the rheumatism.
Shoulder Yu and Quchi were points on the Large Intestine meridian of the hand Yangming; Zhigou was on the Triple Burner meridian of the hand Shaoyang; Lieque was on the Lung meridian of the hand Taiyin.
These four points were all for treating upper limb wind-dampness.
“I’ll do moxibustion for you now, then write a prescription for Cangzhu Decoction, which is especially good for dispelling dampness.”
No one outside had ever seen Xu Miaozhen’s medical skills, but after half an hour, Chao Po came out laughing and crying, “My arm has been numb for years, and now I finally feel something! It’s all thanks to Miss Xu!”
Those who have never been ill cannot understand.
Then the silent old lady looked at Xu Miaozhen.
“How did you treat her just now?”
Xu Miaozhen saw that she was old but energetic, and since it was raining outside and she had nothing to do, she explained her method.
The old lady nodded, “You used the right method.”
“You know about moxibustion?”
Xu Miaozhen asked.
The old lady just smiled.
The maids and servants behind her all looked like they wanted to speak but held back. Xu Miaozhen was clever and didn’t press further, only asking where they were from.
When she heard they were from Wuxi, here for a banquet, she wondered, Could this be Tan Yunxian?
The method she’d just used was from her Nvyi Zayan.
But she would never let a chance slip by. If this was her, they’d meet again at the Tao Family, and she could ask for advice—maybe even become her apprentice.
If not, it was just a fleeting encounter.
So she said, “I’m now studying gynecology with my teacher, but I personally love Zhenjiu. Back in Sun Simiao’s Beiji Qianjin Yaofang, he said that in our Wu and Shu region, with so many rivers and lakes, every visit required two or three moxibustion sessions. Unfortunately, I wasn’t born into a medical family, or I’d love to study moxibustion more deeply.”
The old lady, hearing this, asked what medical books she’d read.
Hearing her answer, she was surprised, “So young, yet you’ve read so many books—remarkable.”
She asked a few more questions, and seeing that Xu Miaozhen answered fluently and had great ambition, she was very impressed and took a liking to her.
This old lady was indeed Tan Yunxian from Wuxi, attending Ru Shi’s son’s wedding.
She was already over seventy.
Her son had died twenty years ago, and her grandson had suffered as well.
Listening to this girl talk about studying medicine, reading books every day, she remembered her own childhood, sitting at her grandmother’s knee, reading medical books…