Chapter 22 (2/2): Two chapters in one

She was excited when seeing everyone.

With the Big Mistress well again, Madam Zeng wanted to speak privately with her daughter and sent Miaozhen away.

“Yuan, what happened? How did you fall in?” 

Madam Zeng asked.

“Nothing,” Cheng Yuan answered, surprised to be alive again.

Indeed, she was reborn.

In her previous life, due to family discord, she and her mother had been marginalized. 

She had specially chosen Lu Shi’an, a handsome, broad-minded scholar from a humble family in Suzhou, who was talented and humble. 

Cheng Yuan’s heart belonged to him.

After marriage, Lu Shi’an passed the imperial exam and rose in officialdom, helped by the Cheng Family’s support. 

Unexpectedly, he later got involved with the Yan Family, whose daughter favored him. 

When Cheng Yuan was giving birth, despite the proper fetal position and midwives’ approval, she had a difficult labor and died.

Only as a wandering spirit did she realize it was all Lu Shi’an’s scheme.

“Mother, how are you?” Cheng Yuan asked.

Madam Zeng touched her forehead. 

“I’m fine. What nonsense are you talking about?”

Cheng Yuan looked at her mother, who was straightforward but disliked by her mother-in-law. 

Without influence among the in-laws, she was like a ghost in the mansion, ignored by all, yet she loved her two daughters deeply.

“Rest now. I’ll send someone to report to the Old Madam and have Xu Nuyi come tonight,” Madam Zeng said, seeing her daughter distracted.

That evening, Miaozhen heard from Li Yao’e that Third Miss was a painting fanatic who lost herself in sketching and accidentally fell into the lake. 

The servants saved her in time. 

The Big Mistress fined the servants and said there weren’t enough people by the lake, accusing Third Mistress of neglect.

“Wouldn’t that offend the Second Branch? Xiao Ruanshi is the eldest daughter-in-law there and also Second Mistress’s niece,” Li Yao’e said.

“I don’t know if it’s offense or not. Just be careful,” Miaozhen warned.

Before she finished, Madam Zhao, the Big Mistress’s attendant, came to fetch her. October nights were chilly. 

Miaozhen wore a cloak and brought Xiaotao along.

After taking the pulse, there was no reward. 

The Big Mistress said, “If my daughter falls ill tomorrow, come find us.”

When Miaozhen left, Xiaotao whispered, “The Big Mistress is something else.”

“She’s always like that. Last time she was afraid of being seen and didn’t call me during the day. She sent for me at night and made me work all night,” Miaozhen muttered.

Those who worked knew: it didn’t matter if one was the main wife or a concubine, legitimate or illegitimate. 

If you treated servants well, they’d help you. 

If not, no one would say a good word.

A street vendor outside could make twenty taels a year selling baked cakes. 

Doctors like them trained for many years to achieve what they had. 

To not be respected was one thing; to be threatened with rods was absurd.

Unexpectedly, Cheng Yuan recognized Miaozhen’s face but didn’t ask at the time. 

After they left, she asked a maid, “Who was that female physician just now?”

“That’s the female doctor invited by our family to treat the ladies. She’s very skilled—she cured the Big Mistress’s old ailment, who rewarded her with two sets of clothes.”

“Where is she from?”

“Suzhou Prefecture, a disciple of the famous physician Tan Shi.”

Cheng Yuan thought hard but couldn’t recall.

The next day, Miaozhen visited the Third Branch. 

The senior maid, Banxia, was ill. 

Miaozhen saw her forehead was dark, body hot, and she was frequently urinating but couldn’t control it.

She took the pulse carefully and said slowly, “Kidney meridian deficiency heat moving upward. Strange.”

Maids usually did no heavy work. 

Banxia even had two maids to help her. 

Miaozhen suspected excessive sexual activity caused kidney deficiency and blood stasis.

She quietly asked Banxia, who blushed but admitted it. 

“I have no choice. The Third Branch has no heirs. The Third Mistress feels guilty.”

“You need to restrain yourself. I’ll treat you now, but if you don’t moderate, you won’t get better,” Miaozhen said.

She sent someone to buy wolfberry root, then crushed the herbs herself and administered the medicine with strong wine.

Banxia felt guilty. 

“Why do you personally crush the medicine?”

“This medicine must be freshly prepared. I’ll have someone brew the Si Ling Decoction in our room. It’s cheaper this way. Take it after meals for several doses, and you’ll improve,” Miaozhen reassured her.

The teahouse was prone to mixing up medicines or not following instructions—some herbs required frying, others needed exact measurements. 

This could cause problems, so Miaozhen told Aunt Gu to get a small pot and stove.

Whenever she had time, she’d help brew medicine. 

Otherwise, she wouldn’t trust the teahouse’s brewing. 

If the medicine was off, they’d have to blame her.

Banxia was very grateful and tried to pay. 

Miaozhen said, “No need. If you insist, pay after you recover.”

The three—mistress and two maids—brewed medicine in their room. 

Miaozhen smiled, “When we leave the Cheng Family, we’ll be able to brew and diagnose. Maybe I can open a women’s clinic, and you two will be my right hands.”

After dinner, she personally delivered medicine and had Xiaotao burn incense to mask the medicinal smell.

After half a month, Banxia recovered. 

She wrapped two sweat-absorbing handkerchiefs and a set of lotus-silk long jacket with a matching cloak, a string of pearls, and a jade hairpin in a cloth.

Miaozhen was shocked. 

“You gave me too much.”

“Every time the Third Master visits, I save some gifts. Besides, the Third Mistress won’t let me marry out, nor favor me as a concubine—only as a bedwarmer maid. I have to get some good things. When I fell ill, everyone disliked me, but you personally brewed my medicine and cured me. This means little. You’re a good family’s daughter; whether as a dowry or personal wear, I just hope you remember me,” Banxia said.

Miaozhen felt Banxia was loyal. 

Their relationship grew, and when free, Banxia would come sit with her.

Today, Banxia came while Miaozhen heard Yu Zhoujin quarrelling with the teahouse maids, complaining about medicine mistakes and the Big Mistress having an adverse reaction.

“What happened?”

“The teahouse often makes mistakes in brewing. I thought of a stupid solution—brewing it myself in my room. But Yu sister probably still lets the teahouse brew.”

Banxia entered and said, “That shouldn’t happen. The maid Yu scolded is no ordinary person—she’s the Big Mistress’s chambermaid’s daughter.”

“I see,” Miaozhen thought the big household had many complications.

After chatting, Miaozhen asked, “Yu Miss is a family cousin. Why is she working as a female doctor like us?”

Banxia said, “The eldest branch’s great miss, raised by the Old Madam and her favorite. She’s very capable but very close to the Big Mistress, who only has one daughter and no concubines. I guess Yu’s family is ruined, so she can’t be a main wife but might be a good concubine. Besides, she’s very pretty.”

Miaozhen thought of Yu Zhoujin’s behavior and doubted this would come to pass.

Better to save money and marry a good man—being a concubine was not easy. 

Banxia had recovered, yet the Third Master continued seeing others.

Just then, someone came to say Qin Biaoguniang’s cough worsened, asking Miaozhen to come for moxibustion. 

Yu Zhoujin had been treating her but no longer wanted to go at night, so Miaozhen hurried over.

She performed moxibustion on the Hegu, Fei Shu, Tanzhong, and Zhongwan points, about a quarter hour each, taking half an hour total. She was somewhat exhausted.

Afterward, she met Cheng Yuan arriving to visit. Cheng Yuan stopped and asked her name and family.

Miaozhen answered and left. Cheng Yuan was surprised to have encountered the Xu family members Lu Shi’an had scorned as poor and unworthy.

Lu Shi’an had said that the bookshop owner from the Xu family liked his scholar status and wanted to marry her daughter to him. 

But an official interrupted, and the Xu family, showing snobbery, married their daughter elsewhere.

Cheng Yuan often said the Xus had no vision, even mocking them in the capital and getting shunned by official wives.

After Lu Shi’an passed the imperial exam and joined the Hanlin Academy, the story became a joke praising the Cheng family’s foresight and ridiculing the Xu family.

Only after her death did Cheng Yuan learn the Xu family had truly been discerning.