Chapter 106 Lang Xu
When Li Sanniang woke up, it was already early afternoon. People shouldn't stay up all night and sleep during the day. Although Li Sanniang was not old and didn't feel any discomfort after staying up all night, the feeling of fatigue and lack of full energy after catching up on sleep was really very obvious.
Li San Niang then thought of her trip to Shi Hua Lou under the cover of night to treat the women, which had troubled more than half of her family.
Li's mother was worried that Li San Niang had gone with her, while Li's father was worried about Li's mother at home;
Li Dalang went to protect himself and his mother, so Li Daxiong and Li Dasao must be at home worrying about their son.
Before dawn, Brother Li was already waiting at the back gate with a lantern, looking anything but at ease.
Thinking about all this, Li Sanniang felt that this was really not a good solution.
After getting up, Li San Niang went to check on her mother first. She was genuinely worried that her elderly mother might feel unwell from staying up all night with her, which would truly be a grave mistake on her part.
"Mother, did you sleep well after you came back? Did you feel better?"
Li's mother sat down, letting Li San Niang behind her comb her hair with a wooden comb.
"It's true that one has to admit to getting old. Even though I stayed up most of the night, I still feel a bit tired now. Your father even told me that after decades of being a married couple, it's really hard to get used to not sleeping in the same bed together at night. He got up at four in the morning and stayed up until five in the morning before putting on his cloak and waiting for me to come back in the courtyard."
Li San Niang naturally saw through her mother's "showing off." Although her mother had remarried and brought a husband with her, her father had loved her dearly for thirty years. Moreover, her father possessed a rare quality that many men at that time did not have.
Mr. Li never looked down on any woman. He loved and respected Mrs. Li. When she was young, he encouraged her to leave the backyard and taught her how to be a qualified midwife. Even though Mrs. Li could not do housework, and even though she delivered babies for a few red-dyed chickens, she usually earned a dozen to several dozen copper coins, and sometimes only a small amount of silver.
But Mr. Li still felt that the joy of Mrs. Li welcoming the new life and the smile of her love for her profession were what he most wanted to see on her face.
This belief that a daughter is no less capable than her husband was also passed on to Li San Niang. Li San Niang's early literacy was taught by her father, who took her to the front yard to help him see patients when she was three or four years old. As she grew a little older, he taught her to identify medicinal herbs. By the time she was seven or eight, Li San Niang was quite skilled at pulse diagnosis. Li's father was overjoyed, as he was already very happy to have a daughter late in life, and he loved Li San Niang even more.
"Mother, Father is just worried about you. He misses you terribly after just a few hours without seeing you."
Li's mother smiled, feeling that Li's father was very considerate and a rare great man in this day and age.
Mother Li turned around, took Li San Niang's hand, and gently helped her sit on a stool nearby. She asked in a hopeful tone, "So, looking at me and your father, you really don't want to leave home again?"
Li San Niang was wondering if her mother was going to talk to her about something private, but she never expected that her mother would ask her again if she was willing to remarry.
“Mother, didn’t I say I wasn’t interested in that? Why are you asking me again? Of course I’m happy about Father and Mother’s relationship, but just because Mother has Father doesn’t mean I can find a husband like Father.”
Mother Li rolled her eyes at Li San Niang, "Stop talking like a child. You're not even twenty yet. You have at least forty or fifty years of good life ahead of you. Why aren't you thinking about finding a husband?"
As Li's mother spoke, she leaned closer to Li San Niang and whispered, "Tell your mother honestly, did Xu San Lang Jun, who accompanied Fang Lang Jun to our house last time, have feelings for you?"
Li San Niang's eyes widened, her mouth slightly agape, truly astonished by her mother's question.
Li San Niang raised her voice in surprise, "Mother, how could you say that? Where did you hear this rumor?"
Judging from Li San Niang's expression and her increasingly loud voice, Li's mother knew that Li San Niang did not regard Xu San Lang, one of the most handsome men in Chang'an, as her beloved.
This is indeed strange, after all, how could Li Sanniang not like Xu Sanlang's good looks?
To put it dramatically, Xu Jingzhen, being the third son of the Duke of Yingguo's family and the second son of the legitimate wife, was not only the eldest son but also exempt from the responsibilities of the eldest son. Furthermore, due to his handsome appearance, which was even listed among the beauties of Chang'an, there were at least a hundred or a thousand young women in Chang'an who wanted to marry him.
"That Xu Sanlang is a famous handsome young man in Chang'an, didn't you even fancy him?"
"Haha, haha, haha." Li Sanniang laughed a few times before catching her breath and saying to her mother, "Mother, I do love to look at beautiful women, and Xu Sanlang is indeed very handsome, but there are different kinds of beautiful women. Beautiful women can be approached and touched, but handsome men cannot be approached in the same way. It is enough to admire them from afar."
Mother Li raised her hand and lightly slapped Li San Niang's arm. "You're always causing trouble! What's with all this talk about near and far? Even if you like beautiful women, they can't stay with you forever!"
"Mother, why can't I spend my whole life with you? You are truly the one most suitable to spend my whole life with you!"
Hearing Li San Niang's outrageous words, Li's mother raised her hand to hit her. Seeing that her mother was serious, Li San Niang suppressed a laugh and earnestly explained to her mother, "Mother, Xu San Lang is just a man I met by chance. He is handsome, but his temperament is hard to describe. I have only met him four or five times, but he is sincere. Even if I were to find another husband, it would definitely not be him."
"Why? What's wrong with Xu Sanlang?"
Li San Niang took Li's mother's hand and gently massaged her acupoints, continuing to say as she did so: "It's not that Xu San Lang Jun is bad, but he and I are really not suitable for each other."
Firstly, although he wasn't the eldest son of the Duke of Yingguo's family, his elder brother was the current Duke of Yingguo, and their family was also of illustrious lineage. Naturally, I felt that my father's profession as a physician was something my son could be proud of his entire life. Our Li family couldn't yet be considered a family of physicians, but my father's actions were already quite well-known in Chang'an. However, in the eyes of others, this was simply an incompatibility.
Secondly, from our previous interactions, I learned that Xu Sanlang was sent to a Taoist temple in Wudang Mountain to be raised because of his unique destiny from a young age, and he was only allowed to come home after he turned sixteen. Mother, your son, I, Li Sanniang, have received teachings from a Taoist nun, and I will dedicate the rest of my life to spreading these teachings throughout the world. How can I possibly have anything to do with someone with such a special destiny? I am afraid.
Thirdly, oh Mother, everyone loves this handsome young man. There are probably countless women in and around Chang'an who adore Xu Sanlang. The line of women wanting to marry him would stretch from the Duke of Ying's mansion to Mingde Gate, and probably circle Chang'an three or four times over. Even if I did have romantic feelings for Xu Sanlang, just thinking about it is exhausting enough; I've already given up.
But wouldn't it be better to treat him as a handsome young man I know and have had some contact with, like a friend?
Little did Li's mother know that she only wanted to use this as an excuse to persuade Li San Niang to remarry and to find an opportunity to ask Li San Niang and Xu San Lang if they had any mutual feelings for each other. As a result, Li San Niang rattled off such a long list of points to her.
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