Chapter 180 Carrying on the Family Line
After listening to Guo Wuniang's story, Li Sanniang couldn't help but sigh, thinking how difficult this woman's life must have been.
In modern society, even if a woman is unable to have children, she still has the opportunity to find a man who loves her and is willing to build a family with her. She can choose to be childless or adopt a child and still live a good life.
Even without a partner, one can support oneself well.
Furthermore, there are women who choose to remain single; they focus more on themselves and can live very well and happily.
However, in the Tang Dynasty today, if a woman is unable to conceive, it is possible for someone like Guo Wu Niang, whose family is powerful, to adopt a child. But this depends on whether the husband's family can agree.
If a woman falls into the hands of a poor family, just like Chen Qiuniang before her, no matter whose fault it is, if she cannot have a child, she will be degraded to the dust.
Just like the original form of Li San Niang, who only gave birth to one little girl, Lu Zhu'er, she was disliked by Wang's old woman.
This limitation of the times has not been completely eliminated even after two thousand years, and it even seems to be getting worse.
However, things can be unpredictable at times.
Like Guo Wuniang, she had the desire to have children, but she could not conceive. Moreover, she suffered miscarriages after becoming pregnant, which was a tragic and harmful situation for her.
It would be better to be like Shen Qiu Niang, who never conceived.
"Please come in, madam, so I can take a look."
Guo Wuniang wasn't shy at all, probably because they were all women, so there was nothing to be embarrassed about.
Li Sanniang rubbed her hands together to warm them, then percussed Guo Wuniang's abdomen and examined the secretions on Guo Wuniang's underwear.
Afterwards, Li San Niang inquired again in detail about the specific months and times of Guo Wu Niang's miscarriages during each pregnancy.
"Because we need to rule out some situations, I have some private questions I would like to ask Lady Guo. I hope you will answer me truthfully."
Judging from Li San Niang's actions of touching, tapping, and asking detailed questions, Guo Wu Niang felt that this female doctor seemed to have some ability, and was slightly different from the male doctors who could only ask general questions and take pulses.
So Guo Wu Niang nodded and said, "Please ask whatever you wish, female doctor."
"Has Jiang Erlang had relations with other women? If so, have those women ever been pregnant?"
You know, even wealthy merchants have maids to warm their beds, let alone those aristocratic families.
Therefore, according to what Guo Wuniang said, the Jiang family was a minor official family with someone in the family holding a government position, and they were not burdened by money. So, before Jiang Erlang and Guo Wuniang got married, the Jiang family must have arranged for a maid to warm their bed.
From her examination of Guo Wuniang's pulse, palpation, and questioning, Li Sanniang discovered that while she could not rule out the possibility that Guo Wuniang's repeated miscarriages were caused by problems with her uterus or hormonal imbalances, she also had to consider the possibility of problems with Jiang Erlang.
In modern times, when it comes to childbirth, both husband and wife must be present and undergo examinations in order to accurately determine whose problem it is and to address the issue.
However, just like the case of Shen Qiu Niang before, and Shun Zi and Ying Niang who came to Li San Niang for treatment before, sometimes it may be the man's problem that causes the woman to suffer.
However, in the current environment, these kinds of questions are rarely attributed to men.
Guo Wuniang was truly surprised that Li Sanniang would ask such a question.
However, she exchanged a glance with the old woman behind her, hesitated for a moment, and then whispered to Li San Niang, "There was a woman who had taken care of him since he was a child, and he had a relationship with her before he married me. However, by the time I married into the family, that woman had already been sent to the estate and married off. I don't know if that woman was ever pregnant."
Li San Niang was thinking to herself how to say this in a way that would be a better explanation to Guo Wu Niang.
“Mrs. Guo, my diagnosis is no different from the doctor you saw before. Due to your repeated miscarriages, you have suffered from spleen and kidney deficiency and qi and blood deficiency. You should first regulate and nourish yourself. After you have achieved the effect of warming and tonifying your spleen and kidneys and replenishing your qi and blood, then you can consider the issue of having children.”
After Li San Niang finished speaking, she picked up a pen and wrote down a prescription. "This prescription is similar to the one prescribed by the previous doctors. Fifth Sister, you can decide for yourself which one you took and go to that doctor next time."
Guo Wuniang took the prescription and looked at it. The first thing that caught her eye was Li Mingfang's signature at the end.
Then Li San Niang said, "It would be best if both the husband and the bride came to see me about this issue of offspring. I haven't examined Jiang Erlangjun's pulse, so I can't say for sure which of you two has a bigger problem. If you, Fifth Sister, are willing to come to me for treatment in the future, I hope you will bring Jiang Erlangjun with you next time you come."
Guo Wuniang, the old woman, the little maid, and Qiu Xiang were all somewhat surprised that Li Sanniang actually wanted to have Jiang Erlang come for a consultation as well.
In particular, when Guo Wuniang heard what Li Sanniang said, the look of astonishment on her face was something that even her upbringing couldn't hide. Her mouth was agape, showing utter surprise.
"Doctor Li mean that my son Langxu is also coming for a checkup?"
"Of course you should come. Only when a man and a woman unite can they have offspring. People seeking children should come to the clinic together."
Guo Wuniang naturally understood Li Sanniang's unspoken message: the reason she couldn't have children might not just be her own problem, but Jiang Erlang might also have some issues.
But over the years, Guo Wuniang, Jiang Erlang, and their relatives never considered that it was a problem with the man; they all thought it was mostly Guo Wuniang's own fault.
Suddenly, Guo Wuniang remembered that when she had been unable to conceive for three years, her mother invited a well-known doctor from the countryside to examine her. At that time, the doctor mentioned wanting to see Jiang Erlang.
However, at that time, Jiang Erlang had gone outside the city, and Guo Wuniang didn't think it had anything to do with Jiang Erlang, so the trip didn't happen.
Four years later, when Guo Wuniang heard a doctor suggest that Jiang Erlang should also come to see patients, she remembered what the doctor had said.
"This... Dr. Li, why didn't the doctors I saw before ask Erlang to come as well?"
Li San Niang was in a state of embarrassment; how should she answer this?
"Regarding the matter of offspring, unless both husband and wife have examined it, no one can be certain whose problem it is. When I told Fifth Sister to have Second Master Jiang examine it, it didn't mean that we were certain that Second Master Jiang was the problem."
However, this is a problem that should indeed be examined by both of them together.
As for other doctors, they did not require this; everyone has their own way of practicing medicine.
Furthermore, when Wu Niangzi consulted other doctors, did she explicitly state that she wanted to conceive, or did she say she wanted to treat a miscarriage? These are different needs, and the treatment methods will differ accordingly.
I wonder if Guo Wuniang will accept Li Sanniang's compensation offer?
Finally, after taking the prescription, Guo Wuniang stood up, bowed, and left with her servants and maid. She then grabbed the medicine from the counter.
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