Chapter 589 Speculation
Having received a positive answer from the old woman, Li San Niang felt a vague unease in her heart.
Upon arrival, the carriage went directly into the courtyard. Li San Niang and Qiu Xiang got off the carriage and followed the old woman to the backyard.
This place should be the row of houses behind the Jingzhao Prefecture. In modern times, it would be called a "family compound".
As expected, it wasn't as big as the residences of those aristocratic families. After a short while, they arrived at the main hall. The old woman asked Li San Niang and Qiu Xiang to wait at the door while she went in to announce their arrival.
Seeing this, Li San Niang had some thoughts running through her mind.
“I’ve been to the Duke’s mansion. The Gao family, the Qian family, and the Song family are all powerful families with members who have served as officials in the court for generations. When the ladies of those families invited me to their homes for medical consultations, none of them put on airs like the niece-in-law of the Prefect of the Capital.”
However, Li San Niang thought again, "Could it be because the first three children all died young that she is more careful about this fourth child?"
It's not impossible.
After waiting a short while, Li San Niang and Qiu Xiang were invited inside by the old woman.
Upon entering the main hall, Li San Niang saw a heavily pregnant woman sitting at the head of the table. Li San Niang guessed that this must be Madam Zhang.
Sure enough, the moment she spoke, it was confirmed that she was Madam Zhang.
"After hearing from Madam Liu that Doctor Li's medical skills were superb and that she was one of the few female doctors in Chang'an, I invited Doctor Li to come to my door."
I humbly request that Dr. Li give me a thorough examination. This is my fourth pregnancy, and I am already over twenty-five. If I lose this pregnancy, I fear I will have to let my concubine give birth to it.
Li San Niang's eyebrows twitched. Hearing Madam Zhang's words, she didn't say anything first, but looked up at Madam Zhang and carefully observed her expression.
Next, Li San Niang first asked carefully when she conceived, and that she was now more than six months pregnant, and whether she had any unusual symptoms.
Madam Zhang answered all the questions one by one, and Li San Niang found them to be quite proper and without any major problems.
After a few moments of silence, Li Sanniang looked at Madam Zhang seriously: "On my way here, I heard from the old woman that you had given birth to three sons, all of whom died young. Is that true?"
Madam Zhang first glanced at the old woman, who nodded respectfully. Madam Zhang then waved her hand, and all the maids serving in the main hall curtsied and left.
Seeing that Madam Zhang was looking at Qiu Xiang standing behind her, Li San Niang said, "Qiu Xiang is my eldest disciple. I always take her with me when I practice medicine. If there are any private things to say, there is no need to avoid her."
Only then did Madam Zhang begin to speak, telling Li San Niang about the deaths of her first three sons.
"Although I entered the family at the age of sixteen, because my husband's ancestors had passed away, we were married during the mourning period, but we still followed the rules."
It wasn't until three years later, when I was almost twenty, that I became pregnant for the first time. I was overjoyed that I was about to become a mother, but I never expected that when the due date came, I would give birth to a stillborn baby.
That child was a young man, but he wasn't born alive.
Although I am heartbroken, I am also aware that I am young and can have more children in the future.
So, at the age of twenty-two, I gave birth to my second son. Who would have thought that God would treat me like this?
He passed away before his second child was even a month old.
In my grief, I lost all interest in having children.
Madam Zhang stroked her belly, looking up at the sky, as she reminisced about the past and explained to Li San Niang about her three sons who had died young.
"I don't know if it's fate playing tricks on me, or if God is trying to compensate me, but less than a month after my second son passed away, I was diagnosed with another pregnancy!"
The feeling of having something lost and then found again filled me with gratitude; I was truly thankful to God.
As she spoke, Madam Zhang's tone gradually lowered, "But when I was ten months pregnant and about to give birth, I had a difficult labor. It really took a whole day and night before I finally gave birth to a thin little boy near dawn."
I was in so much pain and had no energy left to raise the child, so I found a capable old woman to help take care of him. Little did I know, that winter was so cold, and the old woman's care was inadequate; the child caught a cold and died.
After Mrs. Zhang finished speaking, she didn't say anything more, but instead lowered her head and began to sob.
Li San Niang nodded, though she was actually somewhat skeptical of what Madam Zhang had said.
After all, that's how people are. When something is in their favor, they'll exaggerate it to the extreme, but when it's not, they'll only say one-tenth of it.
Madam Zhang was saying that all three of her sons had various kinds of bad luck, which led to their premature death.
But for a woman, especially an official's wife who gave birth after the age of twenty, to have three children die young is truly unfortunate.
Having asked these questions, Li San Niang had a clear idea of what was going on, but she didn't ask any more questions. She only said that she needed to take Madam Zhang's pulse.
After taking her pulse, Li Sanniang couldn't figure out anything wrong, so she said, "Because I am a woman, I have some advantages over other doctors when examining women, because I can palpate women."
"If you permit, Madam, you may lie down so I can stroke your belly."
Madam Zhang had already learned about Li San Niang's abilities from Liu Ruyi, and upon hearing Li San Niang's question, she naturally nodded in agreement.
Li San Niang followed Madam Zhang from the main hall to the side hall. Madam Zhang's personal maid also called a maid to stand guard at the door of the side hall. After helping Madam Zhang lie down properly, she lifted Madam Zhang's skirt.
Li San Niang washed her hands, rubbed them together to warm them, informed Madam Zhang, and then began to palpate the affected area.
During this palpation process, Li San Niang naturally activated her X-ray vision.
This sight immediately changed the expression of the usually fearless Li San Niang!
Why?
Because Li San Niang actually saw through X-ray vision that the fetus in Madam Zhang's womb was a deformed child!
This child has no arms!
Li San Niang, who was startled by the child without arms, took a closer look and found that the child's head was abnormally large, about 1.5 times the size of a normal child's head.
And his face looked like a child with his eyes set too far apart.
At this point, Li San Niang had a certain guess in her mind, but she still observed the child from different angles over and over again.
When Li San Niang stopped, Madam Zhang, who was helped up by the old woman, sat down and saw Li San Niang's extremely unpleasant expression as she sat opposite her at the round table.
Madam Zhang's heart skipped a beat, and she suddenly sensed something was wrong. She almost stumbled and fell as she stood up, but the old woman caught her in time.
"Madam Zhang, tell me the truth, have you consulted any other doctors?"
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