Chapter 329 The Medicine Has a Problem
At night, the moonlight was bright, casting a silvery glow across the ground.
As it approached midnight, everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, and the family banquet ended. They all returned to their respective courtyards.
After bidding farewell to the people from the first and second branches of the family, Gu Jingxi took Meng Jinyao's hand and they walked slowly back to the courtyard, leaving two shadows on the ground.
On the way, the couple talked about Gu Xiuhong passing the imperial examination. Gu Jingxi suddenly brought up her brother-in-law Meng Chengzhang: "Ayao, I remember you said before that Chengzhang would participate in this year's provincial examination."
Meng Jinyao nodded slightly and said slowly, "Yes, not only will Chengzhang participate, but I heard that my third brother Chengxing will also participate. He originally didn't want to participate, but my second sister persuaded him to participate. He was forced into it. My second sister is afraid that if Chengzhang passes the imperial examination, my father will value Chengzhang, who already has a degree, and neglect him, which will lead to a difficult situation for the siblings in the future. She is trying to win back my father's heart."
Gu Jingxi affirmed: "Chengzhang has a solid foundation and his academic knowledge is also quite good. He was able to get into Lingshan Academy. This year's academy exam will not be difficult for him. If there are no unexpected events, he will have no problem passing the county-level exam."
Meng Jinyao smiled. She had a lot of confidence in her younger brother. Fortunately, she was still rational last year and did not touch her father. Otherwise, she would have to observe mourning again, which would have delayed her brother's future. As for the title falling to Meng Chengxing, making this inexperienced and useless boy the new head of the Meng family, she was not willing. It was still necessary for her father to live first.
After a moment, Meng Jinyao said, "By the way, I heard from Chengzhang that Xiuwen is also taking the academy exam this year. You said before that Xiuwen is smart and quick-witted. After he went to Lingshan Academy, he was influenced by the learning atmosphere around him and was completely transformed. He got rid of his laziness, studied hard, and made great progress. It shouldn't be difficult for him to pass the county-level exam this year."
Gu Jingxi smiled with relief: "Xiuwen should have a chance to pass the imperial examination. The younger generation is sensible and promising, so Mother doesn't need to worry about the decline of the Gu family. Before Father passed away, he kept telling Mother to take good care of the Gu family. She is under a lot of pressure."
Upon hearing this, Meng Jinyao thought of her troublesome maternal family. Both were old and prestigious families, but the Yongchang Marquis's Mansion was once on par with the Changxing Marquis's Mansion. Now, the two families were worlds apart, with the Yongchang Marquis's Mansion slowly declining over the past few decades.
My great-grandfather committed a crime that angered the late emperor and was demoted. My ancestor served as the commander of Yongchang Guard, quelled the Liangzhou rebellion, repelled foreign enemies, and made great contributions. He was then enfeoffed as the Marquis of Yongchang. The late emperor probably thought that the Meng family had previously made contributions to the court, so he did not strip them of their title, but only demoted the Marquis of Yongchang to the Earl of Yongchang.
After this ordeal, the Meng family was severely weakened. Fortunately, her grandfather was capable, and the Yongchang Marquis's mansion recovered. Unfortunately, her grandfather died early, and her useless and mediocre father became the head of the family. Her father had no talent and usually just wrote a couple of pretentious poems to appear cultured. He was already quite lucky to be able to hold a sinecure and live off his ancestors' wealth.
The Meng family is also declining rapidly. Once a prominent and wealthy family, it is now almost deserted. Whether the Meng family can rise again depends on her second brother, Chengzhang. It is impossible to rely on Meng Chengxing. Meng Chengxing is no different from her father. They are both incompetent mediocre people and no good at all.
Seeing that she was frowning and deep in thought, Gu Jingxi asked, "Ayao, what are you thinking about?"
Meng Jinyao sighed softly, "I'm thinking that the Meng family will rely on my second brother in the future. He's still young and not the heir yet. He may not realize that the heavy responsibility of making the Meng family rise again has already fallen on him, the only qualified male heir. My third brother is useless. I'll be grateful if he doesn't cause trouble for the family in the future."
Gu Jingxi said gently, “As a scion of a noble family, whether one is born when the family is in decline or in prosperity, one has responsibilities on one’s shoulders. It’s just that the responsibilities are different. Chengzhang knows how to study hard and enter the court through the imperial examination, which proves that he has realized these things.” He paused and then said, “In fact, after the family is divided and each household is separated, Chengzhang will not be affected.”
Meng Jinyao replied, "My great-grandfather committed a crime back then and was almost stripped of his title. The demotion was already a mercy shown by the late emperor. My grandfather also devoted himself to reviving the Meng family, but unfortunately, my father destroyed all the hard work he had put in over the years, bringing us back to square one."
She turned her head to look at Gu Jingxi, lowered her voice, and said in a volume that only the two of them could hear, "We cannot let our ancestors squander the foundation they laid. Since the head of the family is not up to the task, we should find an opportunity to replace him with a new one."
Gu Jingxi paused slightly, seeing his wife's solemn and determined expression, he gently squeezed her hand to comfort her, and said softly, "Ayao, don't rush, it's not the right time yet. A small act of impatience can ruin a great plan."
Meng Jinyao relaxed: "I know that he probably won't be touched for the next ten or eight years."
After a moment, Meng Jinyao changed the subject: "Husband, I have been taking the medicine for several months now, and I have also been taking medicinal baths as prescribed. I can clearly feel that my body is much better. Why don't we find some time to have Physician Wen come over and take my pulse? See how much longer I need to take the medicine."
Gu Jingxi nodded: "Alright, let Physician Wen take my pulse first."
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The next day.
As soon as Gu Jingxi finished his duty, he went to the Imperial Hospital to invite Imperial Physician Wen over. The result was naturally good. After taking medicine for several months and soaking in medicinal baths, Meng Jinyao's cold symptoms improved a lot, and her problem of insufficient qi and blood was basically cured.
Physician Wen modified the prescription, and with continued medication and conditioning for another month, the condition could be completely cured. In addition, the medicinal baths for treating cold symptoms should continue.
Hearing the imperial physician's words, Meng Jinyao was naturally delighted. She was tired of taking medicine every day, whether it was made into pills or decocted into soup; now, even a burp would have a medicinal smell. The good news was that she could stop taking the medicine after another month. As for medicinal baths, she treated them like regular baths and didn't mind them; she was already used to the smell.
Gu Jingxi said gently, "Ayao, I'll go see Physician Wen off."
Meng Jinyao nodded in agreement, then turned to Physician Wen and said, "Thank you for making this trip today, Physician Wen. Please take care."
Once outside the courtyard, Physician Wen couldn't help but ask, "My Lord, how have you been feeling lately?"
Gu Jingxi frowned and asked, "Imperial Physician Wen, is there something wrong with your medicine?"
"Why do you say that, Lord Marquis?" Imperial Physician Wen looked astonished, thinking that he was going to call him a quack doctor again, and immediately defended himself, "Lord Marquis, this prescription has been used to treat other people, and they were all cured. As long as they continue to take the medicine, I am constantly modifying the prescription. The medicine you are taking now is better than the medicine for the previous patients."
Gu Jingxi frowned even more: "I think the problem is that you, this quack doctor, changed the prescription."
Imperial Physician Wen retorted, "Then, Lord Marquis, tell me what the problem is?"
Gu Jingxi glanced at him and said calmly, "I didn't feel any problems when I took this medicine, but after a while, the side effects started to appear. I felt noticeably hot even before the weather got hot, and I felt hot more easily than normal people. I felt uncomfortable all over, and I even had a nosebleed a couple of days ago. I usually eat a light diet, so it can't be a problem with my diet. It can only be that there's something wrong with your medicine."
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