Yu Xiaojie sat on a scented mat, and hearing Miaozhen had left, she smiled and said to Lingdang, “If I hadn’t had that scene with the teahouse last time, would they be so willing? Besides, I wasn’t idle.”
Lingdang looked up and immediately sent the next visitor to Li Yaoyue, who bit her lip and said nothing.
But when Li Yaoyue and Miaozhen returned from their visits and met at the door, both were tired and cold, secretly resenting Yu Xiaojie.
Yu Xiaojie did not know that when dinner came and they invited her to play leaf cards, Miaozhen smiled and waved her off: “No, I need to organize medical records first. Sister, find someone else.”
They hadn’t had a falling out, but for the next three nights, Miaozhen refused outside visits.
“I’ve been out three nights in a row until late. Why do they keep coming? There are others as well.”
Though Li Yaoyue didn’t inform Miaozhen, she pretended to sleep.
Cuiyu, a clever maid, pointed to the far east side and said, “That one never goes out and is conserving energy. You should ask her.”
Seeing neither of them get up, Yu Xiaojie, being smart, knew she’d offended everyone and slowly moved on.
Soon, the end of the year came. Miaozhen picked a day to visit the First Mistress’s Fourth Miss to tell her to start taking medicine for seven days and then reevaluate.
Strangely, there was a New Year’s gift this time.
Zhao Mama brought a Blue Foreign Silk Crane Cloak, slightly used but worth at least seven or eight taels new.
Given its condition, pawning it would barely fetch a tael or two.
If charged normally, ten visits would amount to two taels, so it was no wonder everyone was willing to run errands for the Second Household.
As a servant, Miaozhen finally understood the feelings of those below.
After Zhao Mama left, someone from the Third Miss’s side brought a pair of Golden Lantern earrings and a pair of Golden Fish-shaped walking sticks.
Xiao Xi said, “Miss Third is pretty decent. Last time I sent something, she stayed to talk and said she admired you very much.”
“I understand,” Miaozhen nodded slightly.
After eating Laba porridge, Miaozhen tried to finish all patients before night to avoid falling ill herself from late-night visits.
Previously, Yu Xiaojie kept pushing patients to her and Li Yaoyue, but later, almost everyone from the First and Second Mistresses came only to Miaozhen.
The First Mistress might give a gift after thirty or forty visits, but the Second Mistress was very generous.
Miaozhen’s reputation in the mansion soared.
Even Xiao Nuan Shi, the housekeeper granny, had heard of Miaozhen.
When unwell, she came to Miaozhen instead of Li Yaoyue.
Xiao Nuan Shi was very beautiful, radiant, and slender as a lamp.
She told Miaozhen, “I have a mass in my lower abdomen. I’ve tried many medicines—Ganqi Wan, Moyao Wan, Shuifu Dan—but for three years, it hasn’t improved.”
“Let me feel your lump first,” Miaozhen said.
Xiao Nuan Shi was unashamed before the young girl.
After lying down, Miaozhen pressed the mass and asked, “Does this hurt?”
“Sometimes it swells and hurts a lot when pressed.”
Xiao Nuan Shi managed the entire household but was physically weak, hiding it well.
The mass felt hard.
Miaozhen checked her pulse—deep and rough—and her tongue coating was thick and purplish.
“Madam, do you often have dry mouth and tongue?”
Xiao Nuan Shi quickly nodded, “Often.”
Miaozhen asked about her period.
It was frequently delayed.
She said, “This is blood stasis accumulating inside. You need internal and external treatment.”
She continued, “I’ll have to perform moxibustion on five acupoints, fourteen moxa cones each. One point takes almost two hours. All five points will take about ten hours. When do you have time for me to come?”
Xiao Nuan Shi sighed, “The festival season is busy.”
She wanted to cure the illness quickly because Miaozhen didn’t chatter but gave clear diagnoses.
Miaozhen didn’t say much.
Xiao Nuan Shi said, “Let’s start on the tenth day. We’ll begin early. You don’t need to go home at night.”
“All right. I must remind you: after moxibustion, you can’t expose yourself to wind, bathe, or eat cold foods. Eat breakfast at least half an hour before treatment,” Miaozhen cautioned.
Xiao Nuan Shi smiled, “No problem. You come to my place early, eat first, then start.”
After agreeing, Miaozhen also prescribed Xiangsha Tiaozhong Tang and Zhishi Wan.
On the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, she collected moxa wool from the pharmacy and diligently rolled moxa sticks until the vine box was full.
She had never thought her medical skills were extraordinary, but now, with thorough diagnosis and full dedication, she believed herself quite capable.
If the Cheng family helped her make a name, even though she was young, she could become a famous doctor and gain better treatment.
Early on the eleventh day, Miaozhen arrived.
Cheng Junxian was also there, so she waited in the next room until he left before going in.
Invited to eat breakfast was courtesy, so Miaozhen first ate some pastries.
When Xiao Nuan Shi called her to eat, Miaozhen declined.
Xiao Nuan Shi hurried to finish her meal as people kept arriving outside.
She said, “The ones for the capital have already been sent.”
When she was almost done, Miaozhen reminded, “Madam, we can begin.”
To understand a patient’s condition, it’s good to ask about their usual mood, but beyond that, don’t pry into private life.
Familiarity can lead to loose talk, which is disliked.
Especially when there is a social gap, caution is best.
“I’ll start moxibustion at the Shangwan acupoint. Tell me if you feel unwell,” Miaozhen said.
Perhaps because Xiao Nuan Shi’s body was very cold, she found it comfortable.
Watching Miaozhen work intently, sweat beading on her forehead, the edges of her silver-red brocade vest began to fray without her noticing.
When asked, Xiao Nuan Shi revealed she had studied female education.
“A few years. My teacher is the wife of Master Chou, the sister of the current Sichuan Canzheng Chou Daren,” Miaozhen smiled.
Xiao Nuan Shi said, “Why didn’t you say earlier? Our family had dealings with the Chou family.”
Miaozhen acted very simple.
Seeing how deft and low-profile she was, Xiao Nuan Shi suddenly liked her more.
They did two acupoints in the morning, ate, rested, then continued.
Moxibustion was exhausting for both patient and doctor, but Miaozhen endured, determined to earn her wages.
Xiao Nuan Shi complained about the treatment, but Miaozhen explained repeatedly.
Finally, after the last point at Xinglong, night had fallen.
Xiao Nuan Shi was hungry, tired, and sweating profusely.
Grimacing through it, after midnight, she managed to stand and lie down in her maid’s room.
Initially unable to sleep, she finally rested for two hours before dawn and then left with Miaozhen.
Back home, she fell asleep immediately, only waking at noon.
After about ten days, Xiao Nuan Shi sent twenty taels of silver and wrapped several pieces of clothing: a Red Gu Velvet Sable Cloak, a Red Feather Satin Jacket, a White Cotton Jacket, a Jin Bijia vest, and a Nijin Qunzi skirt.
The New Year gifts were more substantial than at winter solstice.
She only then realized that the solstice gifts were just a token—two bolts of Jian Silk, two bolts of Leizhou Ramie, one bolt of Qingsha, a pair of Jin Yin Kezi earrings, and two food boxes.
Miaozhen sorted her small treasure trove: fourteen taels of monthly salary, twenty taels from Xiao Nuan Shi, the gold-and-silver earrings—adding up to over forty taels—and valuable clothing and jewelry.
She knew the importance of reciprocal gifts and personally copied Buddhist sutras and made handicrafts to present to the elder ladies of the households.
For New Year, everyone planned to pay respects to the masters of the mansion.
Li Yaoyue donned a pomegranate-red grey sable cloak, and Miaozhen wore the lotus-red velvet Yuzhou grey sable cloak from the Second Mistress.
Only Yu Zhoujin still flaunted the pink satin cloak gifted by the First Mistress’s chief maid.
Seeing them all dressed up, Yu Zhoujin thought they were like poor folk suddenly rich.
Unaware, when they went to pay respects, many people stopped to speak with Li Yaoyue and Miaozhen, but Yu Zhoujin, who rarely visited patients and was irritable, was ignored.
“You all just wait,” Yu Zhoujin secretly swore.
But after the New Year, one by one, she was left far behind.