In her previous life, her parents died in an accident and her brother was left disabled, making Zhou Zhi live a wretched existence. Starting over in this life, with both her parents alive and her b...
After the guard recounted the whole story in detail, Ning was finally relieved. Knowing that Bai Mi had prescribed medicine to help with the pregnancy and that Gao Qing would stay with Xu Yao, Ning felt even more at ease. While pondering what kind of thank-you gift to give Chen Zhaoci, she headed towards the Old Madam's courtyard.
The New Year's Eve dinner had already begun. When Chen Zhaoci saw Ning Shi enter with a happy expression, he knew that Gao Qing had brought good news, and his heart, which had been pounding, was finally at ease.
Even after the meal was over, the Marquis instructed the steward to be careful when setting off firecrackers later, to set off fewer than others. The Marquis told the steward to set off the same number of firecrackers as others. The matter between the Sixth Prince and Wang Xiuyuan had been keeping Emperor Liang Cheng in a bad mood. The Marquis was going to the palace with Lady Wu early the next morning to celebrate the New Year with Emperor Liang Cheng. So, it was not a good time to go looking for trouble.
When everyone returned to their respective courtyards, Ning told Chen Zhaoci the news that Gao Qing had been brought over. Chen Zhaoci knew that Xu Yao was no longer in danger and was finally relieved. She frowned and said, "How could your mother-in-law be so muddle-headed, Fourth Sister?"
Ning snorted and said, "They've had too many good days and are getting carried away. Their family had a tough time in the past. It was only because our fourth son-in-law was ambitious that he not only got back the family property that was stolen from the clan, but also studied and practiced martial arts. He passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations). The Lin family didn't dare to mess with the fourth son-in-law. That's why they thought of starting with the fourth daughter's mother-in-law. The fourth daughter is also stubborn. She knows it's wrong, but she still insists on listening to her mother-in-law. Now she's suffered a great loss."
Thinking about the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, Chen Zhaoci advised, "I guess Fourth Sister is also considering Fourth Son-in-law's feelings. After all, she is Fourth Son-in-law's own mother. It wouldn't be good to just embarrass her mother-in-law like that. But once we find out the truth, we'll know how to deal with things in the future. The most important thing right now is to help Fourth Sister get better. We can make other plans after she gives birth."
Ning held Chen Zhaoci's hand and said, "Third sister-in-law, I need to trouble you with something."
Chen Zhaoci smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, why are you being so polite with me? Just tell me if you need anything, and I'll do whatever it takes to help you."
Ning said with a smile, "I knew you were a good person, Third Sister-in-law. This is what I was thinking: shouldn't we train some more women who know how to care for the body and deliver babies? Who knows if our daughters will marry into good or bad families? If we encounter a muddle-headed woman like Fourth Sister's mother-in-law, we have our own people. Why would we need them to find someone? Some of the women we trained are too old, and some have been taken away by other families. There aren't many left in our household."
After Xu Gao went to Liaodong, Chen Zhaoci trained a group of such talents. However, later, many families in the capital knew about the abilities of the Third Mistress of the Yongning Marquis's Mansion. Families with close ties to the family came to ask for one or two capable nannies. Gradually, the number of nannies in the Yongning Marquis's Mansion who knew gynecology and midwifery decreased significantly, and a talent gap had emerged.
Chen Zhaoci thought for a moment and quickly said, "Oh dear, that's really true. It's my fault, sister-in-law. How about this, I think we shouldn't just look for those older women. Let's look for younger ones, girls in their teens or early twenties. They learn quickly. If we train them well, will we have to worry about them not learning excellent medical skills in the future? As for childbirth, it's not just about knowing how to deliver babies. There are many unpredictable situations that can occur when a woman gives birth. If we know medicine, will we have to worry about not being able to handle these situations?"
After thinking for a moment, Ning said, "How about we find some clever and quick-witted children among the servants in the family to learn from?"
Chen Zhaoci then had the idea of starting a school specifically to teach women medical skills and nursing. When women are sick, it is not easy to see a doctor, especially for gynecological diseases. Diagnosis requires observation, listening, questioning and palpation. There are some private things that women cannot talk to male doctors about. What if the doctor is a woman?
The more Chen Zhaoci thought about it, the more anxious she became. Over the years, she had made many preparations, including compiling a lot of teaching materials. Chen Zhaoci shared her ideas with Ning Shi, who was very interested. She had heard that Chen Zhaoci had run a military medical training class for the garrison at Yanmen Pass when she was in Hexi, and had trained many highly skilled military doctors. What if she opened a school specifically to teach women medicine?
Ning was a decisive person. She said to Chen Zhaoci, "Third sister-in-law, don't worry, I will definitely support you. I will find a courtyard in our backyard and select some girls around ten years old from the servants to send over for you to choose from. Just tell me what you want, and I will definitely do it for you."
Chen Zhaoci laughed and said, "My dear sister-in-law, this is not something that can be done so easily. After the New Year, we will go and discuss it with Father and see what his plan is. We must not let these things bring trouble to the family."
Ning said nonchalantly, "You're doing a great thing. We're too busy supporting you to worry about anything. It's not a disaster at all. Third sister-in-law, your Chen family's medical skills have been passed down for so many years. Everyone knows how profound your skills are. If you can train some skilled female doctors, remember that everyone gets sick sometimes. You should listen to your sister-in-law. I'll be there for you no matter what happens."
Back in his courtyard, Chen Zhaoci explained his plans to Xu Rao in detail. Xu Rao listened and pondered for a long time before saying, "Zhaoci, your idea is good, but it can only be implemented in our family right now. The court is still quite chaotic, so we shouldn't let people use this as a target to attack our family."
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