Chapter 254: Pulse
Another piece of news that Chen Lie brought back was that the government office no longer lacked paper. He vaguely guessed that the people who were secretly protecting him and Zeng Ziqian's attention to his studies were probably all related to the papermaking technique. He was touched and worked even harder.
By the end of July, paper could be sold in the shops outside the provincial school. Shen Ning discovered this when she went to settle the bill for the brushes. She was no longer short of money. She was in charge of the general ledger of her own cooperation with various companies in the village, and was also busy with the affairs of the shop. Her sister-in-law gave her a salary every month, and told her to save it all.
Chen Ning immediately asked for a piece of paper and took it back. It was the kind made by her family. The official paper mill in the court made it very finely. The quality of the paper looked better than the one made by her eldest sister-in-law at the time.
Sang Luo was very happy to finally see paper falling into the market. She asked Chen Ning, who held up three fingers and said, "The price of paper is 30% lower than before when there was no serious shortage of paper."
30% off.
Of course, a 30% discount is not cheap, because the original price of paper is very high. Sang Luo, who has made paper herself, knows that this kind of paper cannot be made quickly and is too time-consuming and labor-intensive.
“That’s good too.”
Sang Luo thought about the big backyard now. To get to the backyard, she had to go through three courtyards in front. Not to mention the first and second courtyards, the courtyard behind the west wing and the backyard were usually locked. It was safe enough. She said to Shen Ning, "Go get some more bark, not just the kind we got before, try soaking some mulberry bark or ramie."
As soon as Shen Ning heard this, she knew that her sister-in-law still wanted to continue thinking about the method of papermaking, so she happily agreed, turned around and went out. When she came back soon, she saw Zhao Si and others carrying baskets of wild grapes to their home.
In July, wild grapes gradually ripened. Sang Luo's family planted a lot of wild grapes on the mountain. The seedlings from cuttings did not bear fruit so quickly, but the transplanted ones bore fruit this year. After Zhao Si asked Sang Luo whether the grapes were ready to be picked, his main job in recent days was to pick the ripe wild grapes. The seven children who studied with him in Daxingzhuang also rushed to help after school.
He didn't need to pay any tuition, and he could go to school by just carrying some eggs. His family was grateful and his children also cherished the opportunity. They were very smart in doing such easy work, and no matter whether they were helping the Shen family or other young teachers' families, they would often do some of the light work when they saw it.
The grapes were placed in the second courtyard. The helpers were all conscious, knowing that the master had a lot of business, so apart from the first courtyard at the entrance, they would not enter the courtyards behind the east and west wings and the largest backyard without the master's call, so they only stopped at the second courtyard.
It is naturally better to dry things in the big yard at the end, but this does not prevent Shen Ning from thinking about wine.
It's really delicious, Shen Ning himself likes this one very much.
"Sister-in-law, how are we going to harvest these grapes this year?" He blinked his eyes.
Sang Luo looked at her and shook her head: "Dry the raisins and make snacks later."
Shen Ning's shoulders slumped down, and Sang Luo laughed: "You can make some for yourself, but not too much."
She was quite flamboyant. She could make some snacks like bread, cake, and meat jerky, but making some wine was not possible at the moment. Sang Luo did not want to cause trouble for herself.
She said she could cook something for herself, but she didn’t say what to cook. However, Shen Ning understood immediately.
"Sister-in-law, you are so nice!"
She was so happy that she wanted to hug her sister-in-law's arm and act coquettishly, but when she saw her belly that looked like it had been inflated, she stopped herself. She stared at it for a while and asked in confusion, "Sister-in-law, is your belly bigger than Sister-in-law A Ge's?"
Her sister-in-law has a slim figure and has been very careful about her diet since she became pregnant. She is not particularly greedy, so she hasn't gained much weight. Her belly wasn't big before, at least not as big as Sister-in-law A Ge's. Why did it grow so fast this month?
Chen Ning often went to play with Xiao Ya'er, and she had to remit the accounts between the two families every day. She often went to Chen's house and saw Zhou Ge many times, so she was relatively sensitive to this. However, her sister-in-law had been going out less recently, and she had not seen the two of them together, so she was not so sure.
She has always been the most worried about her sister-in-law, so she stopped drying the grapes and asked her sister-in-law to wait at home while she went to Chen's house.
Zhou Ge was originally making a small coat for the child, using the fine cloth and silk that Sang Luo had given her. The child was too small, and although the silk was soft and smooth, she was reluctant to use it on such a young child, so she planned to wait until the child was older before using it, so she used the fine cloth to make clothes for the child. When Shen Ning came, she asked her if she could stand up for her to see, and then stared at her belly.
"What is Aning looking at?" Before Zhou Ge could ask, Mrs. Chen, who came out of the house, asked with a smile.
Chen Ning looked at them again and again, paying close attention. When she compared the two, it was obvious that her sister-in-law's belly seemed to be a little bigger than that of A Ge's sister-in-law.
She was a little confused. They had gone to the city to see a doctor together. Her sister-in-law was obviously less pregnant than A Ge's sister-in-law. The doctor couldn't clearly tell that she was pregnant at the beginning. How come the belly of her who got pregnant later was getting bigger?
Since Sang Luo became pregnant, Chen Ning has been responsible for the family's daily diet. Therefore, when Nanny Zhong came to tell Sang Luo the first two times, she did not avoid her. On the contrary, Chen Ning asked a lot of questions in detail, so she knew very well that the belly should not be too big in the later stages of pregnancy. If it was too big, her sister-in-law would suffer during childbirth and it might even be dangerous.
Shen Ning was a little flustered, and didn't dare to ask blindly, for fear that saying something bad would be unlucky.
"I just want to see how big Sister A Ge's belly is. My eldest sister-in-law's belly has been growing very fast recently."
Mrs. Chen smiled when she heard this: "It's like this in the next few months. The child grows fast at this time."
Chen Ning nodded, but she still took it to heart. The next day, neither the fifth nor the tenth day, she got up early in the morning and made cake and bread. She kept one for Sang Luo and took the other to the governor's mansion, going the same way as several people who were going to the provincial school.
Sang Luo didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but she was really touched. However, Chen Lie became nervous when he heard Chen Ning say that Sang Luo's belly seemed to be a little bigger than Zhou Ge's, and he was a little distracted when he went to the provincial school.
When Shen Ning went to the governor's mansion, she was told that she was the young lady of the Shen family in Daxingzhuang. Everyone in the mansion knew her, especially Concubine Fan's personal maids and nannies, who all knew her and were invited in with a smile.
She had followed Sang Luo for so many years. Although Sang Luo did not deliberately teach her the rules on a daily basis, she was influenced by it. After studying, she also asked her elder sister-in-law about some common etiquette. She was quite good at the rules. When she met Concubine Fan, she greeted her first and presented the gift she had prepared. After listening to Concubine Fan asking about her elder sister-in-law's situation, she got down to business.
She said she wanted Nanny Zhong to check on her sister-in-law, take her pulse, and see if her diet needed any adjustments.
It was the first time that Concubine Fan saw a thirteen-year-old girl so thoughtful, and she was very happy. "Even if you didn't come, Nanny Zhong should have been gone in the past two days. The baby grows fast in the late pregnancy, so you need to pay more attention to it and go more often. Since you are here, it's just right, let Nanny Zhong go with you now, so as not to let you down for making such delicious snacks for me so early in the morning."
Several personal maids all laughed softly. Shen Ning smiled and squatted to thank Concubine Fan, and successfully took Nanny Zhong back to Daxing Manor.
…
Sang Luo looked well and took good care of her diet. Nanny Zhong originally thought that it was just a routine visit, but it had been more than 20 days, and when she suddenly saw Sang Luo, there was some surprise in her eyes, but she quickly concealed it.
After the greetings, he asked Sang Luo about her diet and daily life, and listened to her pulse again and again, but he couldn't tell anything.
"Everything is fine. You don't need to take any special supplements recently. Just eat the same as usual."
When she returned, she told her master the truth: "Her belly seems to be growing a little too fast. Her diet is normal, her complexion is good, and she is not fat. But her belly is bigger than it looks at this age."
Concubine Fan: "Chen Ning and her second brother Chen An are twins. I heard that families with twins are more likely to have twins. Could A Luo be pregnant with twins?"
Nanny Zhong was not sure: "I thought so too. I listened to the pulse carefully for a long time, but I didn't hear the pulse of twins. But I am not a doctor after all, maybe my skills are not up to par. I didn't see anything today. The belly is a little big, but not too big. I didn't say anything nonsense, and it will save Madam Sang from thinking too much later, which would be bad."
Nanny Zhong said that his skills were not good enough, so the old doctor in Shezhou Medical Clinic was even less qualified. Concubine Fan thought for a while and said, "Let's wait and see. You should go more often these days and go to see him every three to five days."
Nanny Zhong obeys the order.
…
Five days later, Nanny Zhong went to Daxingzhuang again. Sang Luo had never married or had children in modern times, so she didn't know the frequency of prenatal checkups and felt a little strange.
However, Nanny Zhong remained calm and said with a smile that this is how it should be in the later stages of pregnancy. That was Yuan. When she served their wives before, she had to check their pulse every day.
Well, Sang Luo had since dispelled her doubts about the life of ancient nobles, because she really had good food and sleep, and everything was fine. Even the baby in her belly interacted well with her and Shen Lie every day. How could she think too much about it?
She didn't think much about it, but she didn't know that An Qi returned to the capital again in early August.
"Bigger belly?"
This was the first time in his life that the emperor, who was already the father of five children, heard such a problem from his subordinates.
"Yes, the old nanny who is good at obstetrics and gynecology beside Madam Zeng went there twice but couldn't find any problems. Master Zeng took the initiative to inform his subordinates, saying that giving birth is like going through the gates of hell, and if the baby in the belly is too big, it will also be dangerous..."
This sentence made the emperor react.
Yes, his wives and concubines, and now his imperial concubines, if every birth went smoothly, he would have more than five children now, and one of them even lost her mother.
The emperor's back straightened suddenly.
He paced a few steps in the imperial study, then turned around and called Cen Xi: "Go, call Doctor Xu to see me."
After thinking about it, he said, "Don't make any noise."
Cen Xi was stunned. Doctor Xu, isn't he good at gynecology? But he still bowed and agreed, and quickly retreated.
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