Shen Qiyin's eyes suddenly flashed.
So fast?!
She remembered that in her previous life, Shen Cang was only released a few days after the Mid-Autumn Festival.
I was born early in this life, and I even made it to a family reunion dinner.
The maid who answered had no idea what Shen Qiyin was thinking, and continued excitedly, "Master is currently talking with the old lady in Zhuijin Hall. Several young masters and ladies are also there. Second Miss, you should go and take a look too."
"Um."
She gave a faint reply and headed straight for Zhuizhui Jintang.
As she approached the door, she heard a sobbing sound coming from inside the house, a mournful wail.
Entering through the curtain, the room was so crowded it was hard to breathe.
Madam Shen's room wasn't particularly large to begin with, and with all the furnishings and decorations crammed in, and now it was packed with people, it felt even more cramped.
Shen Qiyin shook her head inwardly, thinking, "It's a shallow pond with many turtles."
She entered without disturbing anyone; everyone was busy comforting the weeping old lady.
Her cries were filled with grief; those who knew her were overjoyed that her son had returned, but those who didn't might have thought he was dead in prison.
His mother was crying her eyes out, and Shen Cang, being a very filial son, could only comfort her: "Mother, please stop crying and take care of yourself. Your son is back now."
"You're back, but how did you lose your official position?"
"..."
When his shortcomings were exposed in public, Shen Cang's face immediately darkened.
Thinking of his children, he forced a smile and explained, "Mother, you misunderstand. I only said that I would no longer be a royal physician, but I was not dismissed... I was just reassigned as a physician..."
Shen Xiyin wanted to laugh when she heard this.
She was clearly demoted, but she insisted on saying she was "reassigned." She thinks she's like an old lady, so good at pretending!
She had overheard her master mention that the Imperial Medical Academy of the Great Zhou Dynasty had six ranks of officials.
Except for female physicians of the same rank as palace maids, the rest were respectively appointed as the head of the Imperial Medical Academy of the fourth rank, the right physician of the fifth rank, the left physician of the fifth rank, the imperial physician of the sixth rank, the clerk of the eighth rank, and the physician of the eighth rank.
Different official positions meant different patients, and consequently, vastly different salaries and rewards.
Shen Cang was a royal physician before, with an annual salary of sixty taels of silver. Although it was not very high, he was fortunate to be in contact with noble ladies and concubines every day, and he would receive some rewards every time he consulted a doctor.
Moreover, there were no doctors appointed for palace servants. If the palace maids and eunuchs fell ill, they could only pay money to be treated by the imperial physicians.
Therefore, although the position of imperial physician may seem to have a low status, it is actually quite lucrative.
Now, Shen Cang has been demoted to a physician, and is in charge of document work. His main responsibility is to study the identification and characteristics of medicinal materials for the reference of the imperial physicians.
This is purely a case of doing someone else's bidding.
Not only will there be no hope for promotion, but the salary will also be greatly reduced.
Madam Shen always gets to the point perfectly, asking directly, "How much is a physician's salary?"
Shen Cang was speechless, stammering, "...To be able to serve His Majesty is something many people would rather die for. Salary...is not the most important thing. What matters is that my abilities have been recognized..."
"Salary isn't important? If salary isn't important, what will this family eat? They'll starve!"
"I don't care about whether it's certain or not, I just want to know how much silver you have?" When it comes to money, the old lady is not easily fooled.
Seeing that he could no longer hide it, Shen Cang had no choice but to answer truthfully: "Twenty taels."
Upon hearing this, Madam Shen's eyes lit up instantly: "So many?!" She was so excited that she even stopped crying.
"A lot? A lot?"
"Twenty taels a month isn't enough?!" The old lady looked at her as if to say, "Why aren't you satisfied? Don't forget, you used to only get five taels of silver a month."
"..."
Shen Cang's expression changed several times before he finally forced himself to say, "...Mother, those twenty taels are... are my annual salary."
Twenty taels a month? How could she even dream of that?
He can identify herbs and diagnose medicinal properties, but he's not an alchemist!
"Annual salary?" Old Madam Shen looked incredulous. "Only twenty taels of silver a year?!"
She still clung to a sliver of hope, unwilling to give up.
Only after seeing Shen Cang nod heavily with her own eyes did she lose all her last hope and immediately burst into tears: "Oh dear, I can't live like this anymore!"
“Your father died early, and I was both your father and mother. I raised you with great care and love. I finally hoped that you would become successful, but now I have nothing left.”
"It's less than two taels of silver a month, how can anyone live on that!"
...
As Madam Shen cried and muttered, she disturbed everyone's peace.
Only Shen Qiyin sat calmly, a faint smile in her eyes, and upon closer inspection, one could even detect a hint of excitement in her.
This mansion hasn't been this "lively" in a long time; she loves to watch!
Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned.
Shen Cang quickly lost his temper and, abandoning his usual filial piety, roared angrily, "Enough!"
Madam Shen was startled by him, and the fat on her face trembled three times.
At this moment, a plump and beautiful woman with a face like a silver plate spoke up: "Master, don't worry. The old lady is just worried and confused. She feels sorry that you have worked hard but achieved nothing. She just wants to stand up for you."
Shen Qiyin looked over upon hearing the sound and saw that it was Aunt Zhou, Shen Guangzong's birth mother.
She spoke to Shen Cang, but offered the tea in her hand to Old Madam Shen.
After hearing his words, the former regained some of his composure and tried his best to suppress his temper.
The latter accepted her tea, and his crying gradually subsided.
She smiled slightly and said softly, "My lord, you don't know how anxious the old lady was when you were still in prison. She spent a lot of money trying to find a way to get you out."
"She takes care of this large family, which is a heavy responsibility, so naturally she has to think a lot."
Upon hearing this, Shen Cang frowned and asked, "What silver?"
Madam Shen said angrily, "It's all because of your good daughter-in-law, who said she had connections to save you, and you wasted three thousand taels of silver!"
"And what happened? Not even a sound!"
"Three thousand taels?!" Shen Cang's voice cracked.
Aunt Zhou hurriedly said, "Master, please don't be angry. Madam meant well... but she did something wrong..."
As she spoke, she suddenly looked at Shen Qiyin: "Qiyin, please explain this to Madam."
As soon as she finished speaking, everyone looked in the direction Aunt Zhou was looking, wondering when Chen Xiyin had entered.
Chen Xiyin took a sip of tea, about to drink it but not yet.
Okay, okay.
She was watching them having so much fun and was thinking of joining in when Aunt Zhou extended an olive branch to her—it was like someone offering her a pillow just when she was about to doze off.
Based on her keen insight, Shen Qiyin decided to stab her first!
With a flick of the finger, the lid fell back onto the cup with a crisp "click".
She looked up, her smile replaced by surprise: "What did you call me, Aunt?"
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