Cheng Yuan quickly said, “Mama, that won’t do. Miss Xu’s parents are both alive. Although their family isn’t particularly wealthy, they are at least comfortably well-off. How could they let their daughter become a concubine? She’s not a servant in our household.”
“The Third Young Lady is right. It’s better to choose girls from poorer families—they’ll naturally listen to you and be more manageable. But if they have everything they need, how could they possibly obey you? It might just be inviting trouble,” Zhao Mama said.
Madam Zeng seemed to agree with this reasoning, and Cheng Yuan and Zhao Mama discussed many suggestions in detail.
Fortunately, Madam Zeng was still receptive.
Miaozhen remained unaware of the near disaster she had narrowly escaped, for she fully understood the difference between having a father and not in feudal society, especially when her father was a kind and capable man.
So, she felt quite safe and even deliberately avoided the men of the Cheng family in daily life.
Suddenly, there was a rustling noise outside.
When she went to see, it was Li Yao’e returning.
Although she wore a teal gambeson and looked the same as before, something felt different.
The pale and plain face now carried a faint natural blush, making her look more charming.
“Elder Sister Li,” Miaozhen greeted her.
Li Yao’e smiled, “Xu Sister, the eldest Miss is better now, so I came back. We’ll be neighbors again.”
Miaozhen said, “I think you became prettier after visiting the main house. You’re also more talkative than before. Come, I’ll help you tidy up.”
Li Yao’e shyly touched her own face.
Matters between men and women were strange indeed.
She wasn’t as beautiful as Yu Chujin or as elegant as the Big Mistress, but matters of the heart only needed a glance to understand.
That day, while singing lullabies to the children, Da Ye lifted the curtain and came in.
Their eyes met, and he asked what song she was singing.
Afterwards, they secretly met a few times.
Inside, Li Yao’e handed Miaozhen a sweat towel.
“I know you like pine blossom color. This one is new and unused. You can have it.”
“Thank you, Elder Sister,” Miaozhen smiled.
Afterward, Miaozhen and her two maids helped Li Yao’e tidy up.
It got late, so Li Yao’e had Gu Mama send a table of wine and dishes from the kitchen.
She said, “My brother bought a house outside. Mama also successfully helped the neighbors with childbirth and earned some hard money. Now we’ve established ourselves here in Nanjing.”
Housing prices in the Ming Dynasty weren’t expensive.
The old eight-room house Miaozhen had lived in before cost only fifty taels when newly built.
Thinking that Li Yao’e’s family could buy a house was quite an accomplishment.
Miaozhen said, “Congratulations, Elder Sister Li.”
“Oh, don’t say that. You might laugh at me. Mama is preparing a housewarming banquet. We don’t have many guests, so I want to invite you, Xu Sister,” Li Yao’e said expectantly.
Miaozhen replied, “Alright, but it’s better if it’s at noon. That way, I can return in the evening.”
“Whatever you say,” Li Yao’e said.
After informing Third Mistress, she sent two maids and two young servants along.
Miaozhen had already prepared gifts: two pots of olive wine, a roast duck, two chickens, and tea roll pastries purchased for three taels.
The Li family’s house was about half an acre, costing roughly thirty-five taels.
It was a secondhand property but well maintained. Miaozhen hurried to greet Li Old Lady.
Li Old Lady said upon seeing her, “Miss Xu, you look even better. The red mole between your brows makes you look like a female Bodhisattva.”
She personally took the gifts and thought Xu Sister was a polite young lady.
“You flatter me. I think Elder Sister Li is the truly blessed one. Mama told me those with high foreheads are very fortunate, destined for peace, health, and long life.”
As they talked, Li Old Lady brought out cloud cake and red dates and personally fetched several dishes from the kitchen—chicken, duck, fish, and meat were all there.
During the meal, Miaozhen toasted with Li Old Lady and mentioned something, “Since childhood, I’ve had a handkerchief friend because I lost my mother and was taken in by her maternal family in Jinling. I wanted to ask Aunt if I could send a message for me. Would you be willing?”
Li Old Lady laughed, “Of course, young lady. Don’t worry.”
At the Li family, Miaozhen felt the warmth of a family she hadn’t seen in a long time.
She handed the letter she had written to Li Old Lady along with four fen for carriage fare, then left.
Preoccupied with thoughts of Lin Xiaoxiao, she paid little attention to other matters.
Xiao Xi said, “Miss, the Li Eldest Sister’s family is very wealthy. She used to wear plain clothes but now wears all kinds of fine garments. Behind her are piles of satin. She doesn’t have as many patients as you do, nor do they have the same status, so how did she become so prosperous?”
“You can’t speculate about others,” Miaozhen shook her head.
Not long after returning, a maid from the Second Mistress came to invite her.
The Second Mistress was delighted.
“I didn’t expect I’d really get better. Thank you, Miss Xu.”
She had suffered from a hidden illness that prevented intimacy with her husband and even caused fear after each night together.
Having just come out of mourning, they unexpectedly grew close, and her condition improved.
It was a private matter, so she couldn’t speak openly with Miaozhen.
The Second Mistress had spent five hundred taels praying to gods but found no cure—yet this young lady healed her with just a few clothes in return.
She felt obliged to repay her.
She gave Miaozhen a bundle of jewelry and said, “You should open and see.”
Miaozhen opened it and was startled.
She hurriedly said, “You gave me a silver thread cloud hair bun last time; I don’t need more.”
“These aren’t much. Although I have a daughter, as you know, she can’t wear bright jewelry. Now that you cured my illness, a great burden is lifted from my heart. You’ve kept this secret well, telling others only that I’m weak in qi and blood. That’s perfect,” the Second Mistress said.
The bundle contained a silver-thread hair bun, twelve or thirteen pieces of jewelry, a gold filigree Butterfly Loves Flower Hairpin, four insect grass flower hairpins, two filigree inlaid jade peony hairpins, a gold narcissus flower hair ornament, two Tao Hua Fen Xin pins, and a pair of child holding lotus gold earrings.
Miaozhen touched her head, “I’m not yet at the age to wear hair buns?”
“You’re at the coming-of-age age. Unlike others, you keep it for the future,” the Second Mistress said, looking at the red mole between Miaozhen’s brows, feeling her gift was well worth it.
Miaozhen could only repay with her medical skills.
Besides curing the illness, the Second Mistress also had persistent waist pain.
Using a massage technique from her past life, Miaozhen helped her.
After leaving the Second Mistress’s residence, Miaozhen returned to put her things away.
She hadn’t expected to gain so much.
No wonder people wanted to climb upward—the view from the top was truly different.
Still, she reflected on herself.
It was easy to favor those who paid more and be resentful toward those who paid less, just like in this mansion.
People flocked where the rewards were.
She must keep a normal heart and not be corrupted by money.
Yet at night, secretly checking her small treasury, she was still quite happy.
After inquiring about Lin Xiaoxiao, she received a reply—a letter from Li Da Ge.
The letter said Lin Xiaoxiao was now at her maternal family’s home, doing well though her movements were restricted.
The two might not meet for a while, but knowing she was serving in the Cheng household meant she was successful.
She was urged to continue doing well.
Though feeling a bit lonely not seeing her good friend, Miaozhen knew Lin Xiaoxiao’s life was at least comfortable.
The fine pink stationery she used was proof she wasn’t being shortchanged.
Putting the letter away, Miaozhen studied the Comprehensive Prescriptions for Women and Dan Xi Xin Fa side by side.
Medical books were like this—every read brought new insights.
She copied a few prescriptions and pondered the medicines before setting the books down.
Just then, Yu Chujin and Li Yao’e came over, saying they would assign a few maids to learn how to prepare medicines, so future internal medicines would be brewed and administered within the inner court.
This also separated the tea room from the pharmacy, giving each its own responsibilities, supervised by doctors.
It was a good arrangement.
“I thought we’d leave after curing the patients, but now the Cheng family doesn’t have that many patients for us to see,” Miaozhen said.
Yu Chujin replied, “Nonsense. People eat all sorts of grains; how could they never get sick? With so many people up and down, the Cheng family can afford us. Besides, there are so many ladies in the various branches. How could they not keep us? Don’t worry.”
In Yu Chujin’s impression, once inside, it seemed there was no going out.
Li Yao’e added, “I think those maids are learning from us so that when the young ladies marry, they can go with their dowries.”
Miaozhen nodded, “That makes sense. Well, we’ll follow the host’s wishes.”
Before the Dragon Boat Festival, the three moved to the western Xie Fang Lou, which had corridors all around, five bays wide with a three-bay Summer Embrace in the middle.
Yu Chujin disliked climbing stairs and took the east side.
Miaozhen wanted more privacy and took the upper floor, while Li Yao’e chose the Summer Embrace rooms.
There were also two rooms for the maids’ shared sleeping quarters and a place for cooking medicines.
Three young maids arrived: Dou Kou, Peilan, and Chen Xiang.
They were introduced by Gu Mama, and Miaozhen gave each twenty qian—a fine linen handkerchief as a gift.
Now in the new, spacious home with a terrace for drying clothes, the two other maids also had beds in the side rooms.
The furniture was ordinary timber but lacquered red, making it far more comfortable than before.
Once settled, good news came: the eldest master had taken a new concubine for the main house. It was said the Big Mistress personally arranged it.
The girl could read a few characters and was as beautiful as a flower.
Her father had been a scholar but died; her mother was bedridden, and she had two younger brothers.
Around twenty years old and unable to afford a dowry, Madam Zeng bought her as a concubine.
Though this was none of Miaozhen’s business, they still received some wedding sweets from the main house.
Miaozhen found the sweets flavorless.
She thought the concubine’s family structure was similar to hers, only her father was still alive to hold the family together.
If she were in the same situation, how would she cope?
This thought brought a strange feeling of empathy.
Then she reminded herself that she could heal, had savings, and was literate.
Even if she couldn’t open a clinic, she could teach at a girls’ school.
That made all the difference.
The Big Mistress’s taking a concubine unsettled one person—
Ru Eldest Grandmother Jishi.