Chapter 27 Third Sister of the Ma Family
Inside the pharmacy, a lady dressed in coarse linen clothes was waiting for her apprentice to dispense her medicine.
Her husband was injured this time; he was slashed in the chest by a Tartar. Fortunately, his veins were not damaged. The doctor has already examined him, and after a few doses of medicine and resting for half a month, the scab will form and he will be fine.
These women who accompanied the army had husbands and sons who were constantly on the brink of death. Every year they experienced many heart-stopping moments, but thankfully they were all safe and sound and still alive.
As long as the person is alive, there is hope for the family. They should hurry and get the medicine before going back. Third Sister's spirits have finally improved a bit in the past few days. Bai Changsui, that filthy eunuch, has finally gotten his just deserts and met his end.
As a mother, all she hopes for is that her child will get better. Lately, he seems to be in better spirits and has even started helping with housework. Seeing him every day brings joy to everyone.
The woman with slightly graying temples leaned against the counter, watching her apprentice skillfully move around in front of the medicine cabinet, grabbing medicinal herbs.
As the apprentice was weighing and packaging, a hurried shout suddenly came from outside the pharmacy: "Sister Liu!! Hurry back, Third Sister tried to kill herself by jumping into the well again, but she has been rescued. My mother is watching over her. You need to hurry back with me."
The sudden news startled the woman, and she ran home like a madwoman, forgetting the medicinal herbs she was gathering.
The young woman, who had been calling for help, hurriedly told the apprentice in the pharmacy, "Please make sure the medicine is ready and then deliver it to the garrison for the second son of the Ma family. Also, please tell him that the third daughter jumped into the well. Once the garrison is finished, please take the eldest son and his father home as soon as possible!"
Seeing their flustered state, the apprentice quickly replied, "I understand, Auntie, you can go back now. I'll go to the garrison to deliver the medicine."
Sister Liu stumbled home, only to find a large crowd gathered at her door. Neighbors had even brought a familiar doctor to the house.
With her eyes red with anger, Sister Liu forcefully pushed aside the neighbors blocking the doorway, her movements both fierce and urgent.
A woman standing to the side, hands on her hips, shoved aside the crowd blocking the doorway: "You're all going to die! What are you doing blocking the door? The mother can't even get in! What are you looking at? Go look in your own house! Get out of the way! Don't you have any sense of propriety?"
Hearing this, the neighbors pushed and shoved their way out of the house and stood outside the courtyard. Sister Liu rushed into the inner room, lifted the curtain, and saw her youngest daughter lying weakly on the bed. Sister Liu, her eyes red, rushed to the bedside: "Third Sister! You're trying to tear out my heart, you're trying to kill me!!"
The woman pulled her youngest daughter into her arms, her body trembling slightly with fear. Her dry, rough fingers, covered in calluses, gently stroked her daughter's cheek.
The girl, who looked to be about thirteen or fourteen years old, was as pale as paper. Her eyes were tightly closed, and her wet hair clung to her cheeks as she lay quietly in the woman's arms. If she weren't still breathing, the woman would probably have thought her daughter was gone.
The woman beside her comforted her, "Sister Liu, Qin's wife and I helped change her clothes. The doctor has already come, and my husband took the medicine back and started brewing it. Your third aunt was lucky. She just fell into the water and happened to be seen by a young soldier. He jumped into the well and rescued her. When she was first pulled out, she was already dead. The young man looked young, and I don't know how, but after spitting out water, he started breathing again."
Another woman comforted her, saying, "That's right. Third Sister has survived this ordeal, she's bound to have good fortune in the future. The doctor said that as long as she doesn't catch a fever tonight, she'll be fine if she takes good care of herself. Don't panic too much."
Ma Liu held her daughter and checked her breathing several times before she felt relieved: "Thank you all for your help. My husband will definitely come to thank you when we get back. Who was the young man who saved Third Sister from the water?"
The women looked at each other, all with blank expressions.
One of the women clapped her hands and said, "Oh, speaking of which, I just remembered. That young man was still injured, but my husband and I didn't think to ask him about it."
Another woman hesitated for a moment and said, "That young man doesn't look very old, and he's quite handsome. I see that the badge he's wearing is that of a captain, so he's probably new here. We know most of the older ones. I noticed that the young man has injuries on him, so he must have just arrived this year. He looks very refined, so he shouldn't be hard to find."
As Ma Liu listened to the description, she had a better understanding of the situation. Her husband had mentioned this young man to her when he came back some time ago. He said that the young man looked weak and unassuming, but he kicked Bai Changsui so hard that he caused internal injuries. Fortunately, the young man was quick-witted and gave her room to maneuver, which allowed him to kill Bai Changsui. After hearing this description today, Ma Liu had a better understanding of the situation and felt even more grateful to Lin Changning.
Thinking this through, Liu felt grateful as she looked at her neighbors: "I really thank all my sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law today."
A group of women waved their hands again to comfort her:
“We’re all neighbors, and our husbands are even comrades-in-arms. It’s only right that we thank you. You’re too kind.”
"That's right, that's right."
"Third Sister is someone we've all watched grow up, so it's only right that I treat her like half a daughter."
Seeing everyone chattering, Qin's wife, whose face already showed signs of fatigue, began to urge everyone to leave: "Alright, we're probably going to be busy today, so let's go back first. Sister, if you need anything, just let us know. We have two sick people at home, so we'll be quite busy. We won't stay any longer."
Zhang nodded in agreement: "Yes, sister, if you need anything, just let us know. The neighbors can hear us. I'll bring you the medicine when it's ready. I'll have my husband take care of the commander these next few days, so don't worry."
Liu's eyes reddened again: "This, I really don't know what to say, sister-in-law, I will always remember your kindness."
After exchanging polite greetings, Sister-in-law Qin helped see the people off. Once most of them had left, Sister-in-law Qin sat back down on the bed, hesitated for a moment, and then reminded them:
"Sister, that young man, despite being injured, went into the water today to save Third Sister. Several of my sisters-in-law, men, and I all saw it. We wanted to tell you, Third Sister has had a hard life. She's fourteen this year, shouldn't she? It's time to think about things. Perhaps, after being betrothed, she'll be more accepting of things..."
Upon hearing this, Liu immediately understood what Qin's sister-in-law meant. Her youngest daughter had been defiled by that eunuch Bai Changsui. Although she tried her best to keep it a secret, most of the families in the border region knew about it. The child's marriage should have been arranged last year, but because of that incident, her third daughter kept trying to kill herself. After being rescued, she was listless. Liu and her husband saw this and felt heartbroken.
Even if they planned to keep the children at home, Da Lang and Er Lang wouldn't have any objections.
Liu hesitated: "Sister-in-law, we all know about Third Sister's situation. That young man saved Third Sister out of kindness. I'm afraid it's not a good idea to do it this way."
Sister-in-law Qin patted the back of Liu's hand:
"I took a liking to this young man because he has a kind heart. I saw it today; the child was passing by your door when he heard the noise and ran in. I just happened to hear the noise when I went out."
It's freezing cold right now, and that child went down into the well without a word to rescue your third aunt. After bringing her up, he saw that she wasn't breathing, and without any regard for propriety between men and women, he snatched her from my arms to save her. It seems he's a person of noble character.
There were a lot of people watching today. That young man is probably new here this year. He probably doesn't know about your third mistress's situation. Taking advantage of this drowning incident, you and the commander should go to his house and see if you can arrange a marriage for your third mistress. Perhaps then she won't try to kill herself again!
Liu hesitated, but looking at her daughter's pale face, she sighed and said, "Then we'll wait for my husband to come and visit."
After saying that, she felt it wasn't appropriate: "No, tomorrow we'll have Da Lang and Er Lang bring gifts to express our gratitude. We can tell her father when we get back."
Sister-in-law Qin beamed with joy: "That's exactly right!"
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