Chapter 19 Xuandu Temple

After Li San Niang and Li Da Sao entered the house, Li's mother asked, "What were you saying outside? You've been delayed for so long."

Li San Niang then relayed what Zhao Da Niang had said at the end of the street. Li's mother nodded and said, "Sigh, that's normal. There are always jealous people everywhere who can't stand seeing others doing well."

In her family, the eldest child was a girl. She was of average appearance, and even less popular because of her dark skin. She eventually managed to marry into a family in the countryside.

The second son, a young man, also took after her; he's almost twenty and still unmarried.

"Mother, let's not talk about this anymore. Here, I bought a pot of wine. We'll drink it together when my eldest brother and the others come back tonight."

"Okay, let's put it in the well to cool it down first, so it'll be cooler at night."

When evening came, the four little ones came home from school, and half an hour later, Brother Li also came home from work. Only then did the Li family begin this wonderful meal.

Two roast geese, a pot of wine, plus mixed eggplant, steamed green beans, and a pot of mung bean soup, all served with steamed buns made from a mixture of wheat, water, and soybean flour. Everyone ate until their bellies were bulging.

Little Dewdrop was given a goose leg again this time, and she even knew to share it with Mother Li. Mother Li symbolically tore off a piece of meat and ate it, and only then did Little Dewdrop concentrate on gnawing on it.

Having eaten too much for dinner, Li Erxiong took out hawthorn pills, gave each of them two pills, and ate them with hawthorn water.

At this point, Li's mother suggested that the four children should take a day off tomorrow. One day they should go to Li's eldest sister-in-law's parents' house, and the other day they should go to Li's second sister-in-law's parents' house. Li's eldest brother still had to work, and Li's second brother was going to the countryside the day after tomorrow. So it would be best if they went to Xuandu Temple tomorrow.

Brother Li nodded and said it was a good idea; it would be perfect to go to the temple to ask for a name for Xiao Wulang.

With an excited heart and trembling hands, after coaxing Little Dewdrop to sleep, Li San Niang lay in bed and summoned the system in her consciousness space to receive the reward for the third mission, "Cesarean Section Delivery Kit." This reward, like the second reward, "One Use of a Sterile Operating Room," was one that was unlikely to be used in the short term. It was estimated that it could only be used in the future, so it could only be placed in her 100-slot backpack.

Actually, what Li San Niang wanted most was the superpowers she read in modern novels, such as superhuman strength, the ability to generate electricity, or at the very least, a space—not to mention a spring or an acre of land, even just a simple space with only storage functions would be fine.

The result is that these rewards, which are only related to obstetrics and gynecology, are still not available for us to use.

Moreover, this useless hundred-compartment backpack can only hold items produced by the system. Li San Niang once tried to take out the maternity bag she received as her first reward and put silver into it, but it was rejected and couldn't be put in at all.

After receiving the reward, Task Four appeared: "Please complete the opening of your medical practice. The reward is a complete set of obstetrics and gynecology medical books."

Li San Niang frowned as she looked at Task Four, thinking to herself that this was going to be very difficult.

Nowadays, most of those who want to open their own medical practice are men. Women are not absent; the Imperial Medical Bureau in the Daming Palace had female doctors who served the women of the harem. However, at that time, female doctors were subordinate to male doctors. This was because feudal emperors wanted to ensure the correctness of the bloodline, but they also had to provide humane treatment for the women of the harem. Therefore, female doctors were the hands of male doctors, helping with observation, auscultation, inquiry, palpation, acupuncture, massage, and decoction. Moreover, female doctors who mainly treated women who gave birth were also under the guidance of male doctors.

In short, female doctors had no status and were not qualified to practice medicine.

Although the Imperial Medical Academy has no explicit regulations prohibiting female doctors from practicing medicine, at least for now, there is no record of any medical clinic in Chang'an with a female doctor practicing there.

After all, before Emperor Wu ascended the throne, there were very few women who could read and write. Apart from young ladies from noble families who could learn some women's precepts, where else could women read and write?

Not to mention that pulse diagnosis and prescription writing are skills that can make a living, mostly passed down from father to son. Those who entered the Imperial Medical Bureau were all men, and the few women were subordinate to and served the female relatives in the harem.

It's truly rare to find someone like Li San Niang, who comes from a family with a strong academic tradition, whose father didn't mind her status as a woman and even taught her his family's skills.

If ordinary people at the bottom of society are sick, they either have to endure it or go to the village doctor who knows a little about medicine and take a few doses of medicine. People in the city will come to see a doctor, but women rarely do.

This is because even though the Tang Dynasty was relatively open-minded, it was not as open-minded as it is in modern times. If a woman had an illness, she would usually tell her symptoms, and her family would go to the doctor to talk to her and get some medicine. If the medicine was effective, that was good luck; if it wasn't, she would just have to tough it out with her own immunity.

Not to mention that midwives were responsible for the childbirth of married women. For example, Li's mother was a well-known midwife in the neighborhood and even in Chang'an City. In addition to delivering babies, she also knew some folk remedies for headaches, fever, and diarrhea. The young women and children in the backyard often sought out midwives for medical treatment.

Therefore, Task Four is really difficult.

It would be difficult for Li San Niang to open her own clinic. Even if she succeeded, who would dare to treat her?

Li San Niang thought that she would have a good talk with her father and second brother later and then look for an opportunity.

The next day, although it did not rain, dark clouds filled the sky, making it look like a torrential downpour was about to begin.

Li Da Sao stayed home to take care of Li Er Sao, who was still in confinement after childbirth, Xiao Wu Lang, and Xiao Lu Zhu Er, who was not suitable to be taken out. Li's father, mother, second brother, and third sister-in-law hailed a donkey cart at the door and headed to Xuandu Temple.

Little Dewdrop was still holding Little Yellow and waving to Li San Niang at the door.

As they were leaving, Sister-in-law Li handed each of them an oil-paper umbrella, just in case it rained on the way back.

They didn't provide wooden clogs. The main roads in Chang'an were all paved with stone slabs that weren't afraid of rain, and there were drainage ditches on both sides of the roads, so they weren't afraid of rain, not even heavy rain.

Furthermore, since they would be traveling by donkey cart, there was even less need to bring wooden clogs.

But if you're going to the countryside, you absolutely must bring wooden clogs in this kind of weather, otherwise the muddy dirt roads after the rain are really impassable.

Xuandu Temple is located in Chongye Ward, but it is a bit far from the Li family's residence.

At this time, religions flourished in the Tang Dynasty, mainly Buddhism and Taoism. After Emperor Wu ascended the throne, he adopted a laissez-faire approach to religion, allowing people to believe whatever they wanted, as long as they didn't all become Taoist priests or Buddhist monks and refuse to pay taxes.

Although Taoist priests in Taoist temples and monks in Buddhist monasteries are exempt from taxes, their numbers are strictly limited. Individuals are exempt from taxes, but they are also not allowed to own land.

Taoist temples or Buddhist temples as a whole pay taxes. If they don't, sorry, Emperor Wu said that not paying taxes means they are not suitable to live on Chinese soil and they must all leave China. Otherwise, the Imperial Guards will teach them a lesson.

That's how domineering an emperor can be when he has direct control over the military.

Yes, Emperor Wu directly changed the regulations that exempted Taoist temples and Buddhist monasteries from paying taxes on their land. Some monks opposed this and mobilized their followers to force Emperor Wu to rescind the imperial edict.

Then, the disobedient monk disappeared in Chang'an. Many of the believers who were either genuinely fooled or simply looking to cause trouble also disappeared. This was a warning to others, and the rest became much more obedient.

However, the money donated by believers to Taoist temples or Buddhist temples for incense oil and religious ceremonies is not taxed and is considered the private property of the temples or temples.

Although Xuandu Temple is not small, it is most famous among literati for its ten-mile stretch of peach blossoms that bloom every April, attracting many scholars and writers to compose poems and write articles about it.

But in reality, including the abbot and the young Taoist boys adopted by the temple, there were only about forty or fifty people in total. The rest were mostly ordinary people who did odd jobs or worked on the temple's fields.

Of course, as a religious site, the temple also offers activities such as blessing believers, performing rituals, and answering their questions.

Upon arrival, three stone archways came into view, featuring a dougong (bracket set) design. Above the main gate were the three large characters "Xuandu Temple." Li San Niang's family wasn't the first to arrive; quite a few people had already entered through the gate.

Once inside, young Taoist boys offer incense for free; those with money can also bring their own incense and candles.

The Li family members accepted the incense offered by the young Taoist priest and casually donated some money for incense oil to the donation box next to them. It wasn't much, but it was definitely worth more than the incense and candles they had received, so the Taoist temple was still making a profit.

Then each person followed the example of others, facing the statue of the deity in the Sanqing Hall, holding incense with both hands, and bowing in respect.

Li San Niang silently prayed, "May the Three Pure Ones be above me, for I am a disciple of your esteemed treasury. May you bless me with the luck of winning the lottery every time! I'll add a little more incense money to your offerings!"

Li's mother then devoutly murmured, "Your faith, Zhao Dani, respectfully offers this prayer. I am willing to make offerings to the Lord every day, only asking that the Lord bless my daughter with peace and good fortune."

The people of this continent of China have always been very resilient. Regardless of whether it's useful or not, let's just offer our prayers first. Offering prayers is never wrong. If it doesn't work, we won't offer prayers next time and will try another place.

The four of them offered incense and then sought out a Taoist priest nearby to inquire about how to invite a deity statue home for worship. While Li's mother and second brother were busy with this matter, Li's father and third sister-in-law followed the young Taoist boy to the backyard to queue up and wait for the abbot to answer their questions.

In Li San Niang's view, spending five taels of silver to ask the abbot to answer her questions for a quarter of an hour was similar to paying a psychologist in modern times to help her sort out her feelings.

After queuing for quite a while, it was almost noon when the young Taoist priest, being quite perceptive, brought us hot tea and vegetarian food.

After waiting a while, Li San Niang and Li's father followed the young Taoist boy into the room where the abbot was.

The abbot was quite young, looking no more than forty years old. He wore a Taoist topknot, a neatly trimmed beard, and a spotless Taoist robe. He sat cross-legged on a prayer mat, looking every bit the enlightened master.

Father Li and Third Sister Li first paid their respects to the abbot before kneeling on the prayer mat with his permission.

Li's father probably believed it to some extent, because he really told the abbot about the huge lie that Li San Niang had told before!

However, the story of Li San Niang being taught by a Taoist nun was omitted, as was the story of how Li San Niang was able to cure a foreign object blocking her throat after being taught. It was only mentioned that in a certain year, Li San Niang took in a Taoist nun during a heavy rain and talked with her about some things she couldn't remember. She would remember some scenes, but she didn't know why.

The abbot remained calm upon hearing this, showing no surprise whatsoever. He was indeed a man of great experience. After a short while, stroking his beard and slightly opening his eyes, the abbot took a few more glances at Li San Niang's face. He then nodded slightly and slowly said, "Your daughter has an affinity with my Taoist school. I observe that your wife is beautiful and kind. If she doesn't remember, there's no need to pursue it too much. When she does remember, she will naturally remember. Just go with the flow."

After saying this, the abbot fell silent.

Li's father and Li San Niang rose, bowed, thanked the abbot, and were about to leave when the abbot spoke again, saying, "Madam, doing good deeds will naturally bring you merit. Accumulating virtue and merit, and having a compassionate heart towards all things, is a great virtue."

Li's father probably felt that the abbot's final words of guidance were more valuable than five taels of silver, so he went out and donated another five taels of silver.