Chapter 2 Discussion

Just as Brother Li carried Luzhu to the bedside and sat her down, Sister-in-law Li, who had rushed to the door, happened to support Sister-in-law Li, who was heavily pregnant.

It is said that Li Ersao was the eldest granddaughter of Wu Lizheng in Shilipo Village outside Chang'an City. Because Li Erxiong often went to the village outside Chang'an City to buy herbs, he came into contact with her. When she came of age, he asked Li's mother to ask an official matchmaker to propose marriage, and they were betrothed.

Brother Li already has two sons, and this is Sister-in-law Li's third child.

Li San Niang helped Lu Zhu'er straighten the tiger-head hat on her head and said with a smile to Li Er Sao, "Thank you for your help, Er Sao. You're already so far along in your pregnancy, and it's been very inconvenient taking care of Lu Zhu'er all this time. When you give birth, I'll definitely give my nephew a big red envelope."

Li Da Sao helped Li Er Sao to sit on a chair by the door. Li Er Sao gently patted her belly and smiled at Li San Niang, saying, "That's really great! I'm just waiting for my little sister's big red envelope."

After saying that, the two looked at each other and laughed.

Even the eldest sister-in-law joked that she would also give him a big red envelope.

The group chatted about what new merchants from the Western Regions had recently arrived in the West Market and what exotic items they had brought.

No one dared to mention Wang Ziheng again, or his words about taking Lu Zhu'er away, for fear of stirring up Li San Niang's emotions and causing something bad to happen in a moment of excitement.

Whether it was due to the medicine or a system-enhanced buff, Li San Niang felt much better. Her headache was gone, and she had regained her strength. She refused her mother's help, got up from the bed, and led Lu Zhu'er to Li Er Sao's side. She squatted down and instructed Lu Zhu'er, "Lu Zhu'er, be a good girl and stay with your second aunt. Your mother, your grandmother, and your eldest aunt will go cook dinner. Dinner will be ready soon."

The little dewdrop nodded at Li San Niang and obediently leaned against Li Er Sao.

Afterwards, Li's eldest brother went to the front clinic to talk to Li's father and second brother, while Li's mother and the other two went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

Dinner wasn't ready yet, but the children who studied at Qinglian Academy in Siji Hutong had already gone home.

As the sun sets and the sky darkens, the Li family's medical clinic begins to close and put up its signboards.

The Li family is large, so they eat at two separate tables. Little Dewdrop is still young and eats with her mother, Li San Niang, while the other children eat at their own tables.

Brother Li and his wife have two sons, and together with Brother Li and his wife's two sons, the four of them make a perfect table.

Since Emperor Wu ascended the throne, in addition to emphasizing agriculture and sericulture, he also devoted considerable effort to educating the people of the land.

In Chang'an, literacy and etiquette were highly valued, and many families sent their children to academies to learn to read and write.

The Li family sent four young men to study at the academy for several reasons. First, because the family ran a medical clinic, everyone had their own work, and it would be a problem if the young men were left unattended. Second, although children from ordinary families could not be guaranteed official positions, Emperor Wu showed great interest in children from humble backgrounds and did not favor those from aristocratic families. This meant that the young men might have better opportunities in the future, making education and literacy extremely important. Third, the Li family did not need the young men to go out and earn a living for the time being. Father Li always felt that it was good for them to learn more, and that literacy would lay a foundation for them to study medicine or martial arts later on.

That's why there were no servants in the house. After all, with four bookish students who did no work and were most likely to eat, there was no spare money left.

This is why Li Ersao, heavily pregnant and nearing childbirth, also had to help take care of Xiao Luzhu.

After the meal, just as the leftovers were about to be cleared from the table, Li San Niang stood up and looked at Li's father, saying, "Father, I want to discuss with everyone the matter of me taking Lu Zhu'er and returning home after a divorce."

Mr. Li sat in the head seat, stroked his beard, nodded, and said "okay."

The bowls and plates on the children's table were quickly moved to the kitchen by the four children, while the dishes on the adults' table were also quickly tidied up by the eldest sister-in-law and Li San Niang.

Everyone moved to the main hall. Li San Niang took out the dried wild chrysanthemums that Li Er Sao's family had given her last year, brewed a pot of tea, and brought it to the main hall, pouring a cup for each of the adults.

While brewing tea, Li Sanniang was momentarily lost in thought, and that's when history took a turn.

Logically speaking, the Tang Dynasty at this time should not have had plain tea; it should have been brewed with salt, ginger, mint, and other seasonings.

Li Dan should have ascended the throne as Emperor Ruizong of Tang, with Empress Wu taking power.

But history took a turn here.

In Li San Niang's memory, Emperor Wu ascended the throne after she turned seven. Li Dan had nothing to do with it. The country was still called the Great Tang, but the reign title was changed to the first year of Tian Shou.

Judging from the various governing methods of this Emperor Wu, it is highly likely that he was a time traveler.

Because she took the lead in drinking tea and started using beds and chairs, greatly reducing kneeling, and because she was also a powerful ruler with extremely high martial arts skills, rumors in Chang'an said that several assassination attempts inside and outside the palace had failed.

She did not kill any more sons, and Li Dan is alive and well, still active in the court.

However, in Li San Niang's childhood memories, there was a period when every household in Chang'an City was trembling with fear and kept their doors locked. During that time, Li's father was rarely home, and Li's elder brother also rarely came back.

The memory is vivid because Li Erxiong's second son was born at that time. She helped her mother boil water and cook scissors, and only Li Erxiong was at home.

History took a turn, but it's a good thing for Li San Niang now.

Since Emperor Wu ascended the throne, all the edicts he implemented have been beneficial to the people and women.

Just like the edict in the first year of Changshou: If the relationship changes, both men and women can propose a divorce. If the woman divorces and returns home, as long as the man agrees, he can take his mother home to raise her. The mother's father can visit her at any time and pay the divorced woman a certain amount of money for raising his mother.

Why did Li San Niang know this imperial edict so clearly?

That year, Princess Cheng'an entered the palace and tearfully recounted how heartbroken she was because her husband favored his concubines, and how she was too grief-stricken to walk.

Princess Cheng'an wanted to divorce her husband and return to her princess residence to live alone. She also wanted to bring back her only daughter, Princess Huaming.

However, the prince consort and his clan refused, saying that although Princess Huaming was a woman, she was still a member of their family and could not be taken away.

After hearing this, Emperor Wu wrote the decree, allowing Princess Huaming to return to the princess's residence with her mother, Princess Cheng'an, after their divorce.

This matter caused quite a stir at the time, and for more than a month, it was the talk of the town throughout Chang'an, with people from all over the city, both East and West, discussing it in various ways.

Therefore, this edict was made known to everyone.

Sitting at the head of the table, Li's father stirred his teacup as he said to Li San Niang, "San Niang, tell everyone what you think. Don't be afraid. Your eldest brother is a member of the Imperial Guard, and your second brother and father are not fragile glass bottles. Our Li family is not a family that will be bullied at will. Just tell us what you think."

Li San Niang picked up the still-warm teacup, took a sip, put it down, picked up Lu Zhu'er and sat her in her lap. Looking at her parents sitting at the head of the table, her eldest brother and the others sitting below, and the children standing behind them, she composed herself and said resolutely, "I am determined to get a divorce. I have witnessed Wang Ziheng and his cousin's scandalous affair, and I can no longer tolerate their family. Divorce is simple. I remember when my father taught me to read when I was young, he talked about the 'Household and Marriage Law' in the Tang Code. As long as Wang Ziheng agrees, I can get a divorce. I can also get my dowry back."

At this point, Li San Niang hugged Lu Zhu'er.

“The trouble is not about my divorce from Prince Heng, but about my desire to take Luzhu home and raise her. No matter how much Prince Heng doesn’t care about Luzhu, she is still a member of the Wang family. Given the attitude of my elder brother and Prince Heng today, it will be even more difficult for me to take Luzhu home.”

“My sister’s concerns are quite reasonable. I may still have some influence as a member of the Imperial Guard. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to take this opportunity to put pressure on the Wang family.”

“Brother is right. The Wang family mainly deals in pharmacies. We can make a fuss about the shop that Wang Dalang opened in the West Market.”

After listening to her two elder brothers, Li San Niang was deeply moved. In this ancient feudal society, it was Li San Niang's good fortune to have such loving brothers who doted on their married sister.

You can think of things this way, but you can't do them this way.

"My eldest and second brothers have proposed a solution, but I don't think we should do it this way. After all, Lu Zhu'er is of the Wang family bloodline. If we really threaten the Wang family, we might end up hurting ourselves more than the enemy."

The younger sister thought that in the past, Wang's mother-in-law was not very satisfied with me having only one daughter, Luzhu, after three years of marriage. Wang's mother-in-law must have been hoping that Wang Ziheng and I would get a divorce.

Given the previous incident of Princess Cheng'an taking Princess Huaming away with her after the divorce, I think that if our family were to be more assertive and ask the neighborhood head to mediate, it would be feasible to bring Luzhu'er home with us.

Most importantly, if I could get Prince Heng to sign a contract prohibiting him from marrying Lu Zhu'er at will, I'm willing to give up more of my dowry as a deposit with the Ministry of Revenue, just so I can bring Lu Zhu'er home.”

The children standing behind the adults listened to their aunt's words and suddenly realized that the Wang family was no good, how could they bully their little aunt like that.

Little Dewdrop nestled in Li San Niang's arms, completely unaware that everyone was discussing her important matter.

"If it works out, I will go to the government office to register my household. I am willing to pay the deposit set by the government!" Li Sanniang said calmly as she held Luzhu and watched her play with the ribbons on her dress.

Upon hearing what Li San Niang said, the other three women present stared at her with wide, surprised eyes. Although the Empress was currently in power, establishing a female household was no simple matter; the deposit alone was not something an ordinary woman could afford.

"Third Sister, you're speaking too soon. Tomorrow, Father will go to the Fangzheng family to inquire about these matters. You should also inform the main branch about your divorce. Although the Li family only has two branches left, your eldest uncle still has some influence in Chang'an." After saying this, Li's father took another sip of chrysanthemum tea and comforted her.

As Li's father said this, he was thinking to himself, "If Third Sister doesn't want to remarry in the future, I can support her at home. Plus, Lu Zhu'er can also help. At worst, I'll leave her more money before I die."

Thinking of this, he stroked his beard, shook his head at Li's mother, meaning don't worry, I know what I'm doing.

"Don't worry, little sister. Your eldest brother and your second brother will go to the Wang family tomorrow to sound them out. You and Luzhu stay home and take good care of yourselves. Nothing is more important than your health." The eldest brother said, then looked at Father Li. Father Li then told everyone to disperse and rest, and that they could talk about tomorrow's matters tomorrow.

Li San Niang took Lu Zhu'er back to the room she had left home before her marriage. She brushed Lu Zhu'er's teeth with salt, wiped her face, washed her feet, and put her to bed. Holding the little girl, she closed her eyes and lay down on the bed, but her mind was reviewing what had happened that day.

In Li San Niang's memory, Chang'an City was always bustling with activity, especially the East and West Markets, which were exceptionally lively.

But it can be confirmed once again that this Chang'an is not the Chang'an of history, and this Tang Dynasty is not the Tang Dynasty of history. It should be that we have traveled to the Chang'an of the Tang Dynasty in history. It can be said that it is a parallel world that has been changed by the predecessor of the time traveler.

Thinking of this, Li Sanniang opened her eyes, stared at the ties of the bed curtains, and thought about her cheat system. She immersed herself in the virtual screen, clicked on everything she could, and called out "system" several times with her mind. When nothing unusual happened, she was relieved to realize that this system was not the kind of artificial intelligence with human nature described in novels.

Immersed once again in Li San Niang's memories, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the original Li San Niang was actually skilled in pulse diagnosis and prescription!

The Li family had two sons and a daughter. Li's father had also taken care of Li's mother's early education and writing. Because Li San Niang was the youngest daughter, she had grown up following Li's father to the front hall to diagnose and treat patients, carrying medicinal herbs and their properties. She was quite talented and had inherited six or seven parts of Li's father's true teachings. If it weren't for the sage's teaching that daughters must marry by the age of fifteen, Li's father would really be reluctant to marry off his precious daughter.

Li San Niang was overjoyed when she thought about the matter of taking pulses and prescribing medicine!

The original owner knew traditional Chinese medicine, and combined with her own knowledge and experience in Western medicine, wouldn't that be a powerful combination of Chinese and Western medicine?

From now on, in the Tang Dynasty, I will raise my children, continue practicing medicine, and shine brightly!