Chapter 116 Family Reunion
When Sister Fu heard that her younger brother was leaving, she couldn't help but say, "He's all alone, and he doesn't have a full retinue with him. I'm really worried about him. Why doesn't Master try to persuade him to stay?"
When she first entered the house, it was still Granny Zhao who was in charge. Fu-jie was very careful in everything she did, and she kept observing Granny Zhao. Later, she realized that this person was nothing special; her bottom line was a bit low, so she could often do things that ordinary people wouldn't dare to do. The rest was nothing special.
Gradually, due to her status as the wife of the heir apparent, she often accompanied her mother-in-law to the palace and socialized around. So later she took charge of the household affairs. However, when she took charge of the household affairs, the Marquis allowed them to draw money from Second Madam Zhao. Madam Ming told her that she was still young, and although her status was high enough, the Marquis's mansion could not completely trust her.
Kefu knew that this was actually a balancing act. To Madam Ming, the illegitimate son was no different from an outsider, but to Marquis Yunjian, both the illegitimate and legitimate sons were his own children. Especially when Zhao Rui was exiled and sent out to fight, Second Master Zhao and Second Madam Zhao took good care of their parents-in-law.
As long as the truth remains unclear, Grandma Zhao and her husband can continue to play the victim.
But the truth came out quickly, because the Yen Party had already fallen apart.
“I’ve already advised him against it, but I see that your younger brother is no ordinary person. Most people would be terrified out of their wits at the mention of murder, but he seems quite interested.” Zhao Rui, who had seen countless people, indeed noticed that Zhao Ge’er was very interested in what he heard.
Fu Jie shook her head, rubbing her belly: "Zhao Ge usually spends most of his time studying, and I've never heard of him being interested in solving cases."
Even though the siblings had a good relationship, they lived in separate hospitals after the age of seven. They mostly talked about trivial things. The younger brother was mostly studying, and she was mostly studying medicine, so she really didn't know.
Zhao Rui laughed and said, "Don't worry, I've assigned several capable people to his side."
"Alright, then help me to bed. I'll come over in a couple of days," said Sister Fu. No matter what, having family members from her mother's side in the capital always meant she had something to worry about.
...
The lights in the Prince's courtyard were extinguished, but the lights in Zhao Er's room were still on. Her family was also a noble family, but now it was almost swallowed up by Xiao Shi, who had just entered the family.
When her mother-in-law, Madam Ming, suffered from a cold, she was the one who did the needlework and changed the herbal medicine. When her father-in-law was beaten, she was the one who took care of him.
The Xiao family was even the instigator. Now that she has helped several women in the clan with their medical treatment and has some money to help some poor relatives, some people are speaking up for her, saying that it is better to resolve enmity than to create it.
Indeed, the Xiao family is getting better and better. Xiao's younger brother became the top scholar in the Southern Zhili province at the age of eighteen, and even Madam Ming has considered marrying him to her.
No, she has to think of a way.
"Granny, I remember Seventh Sister is thirteen this year, isn't she?" Second Granny Zhao asked.
The old woman beside her, Qi, laughed and said, "That's right."
Miss Zhao Qi is the legitimate daughter of the Zhao family. She is delicate and beautiful, and has quite a reputation. Most importantly, if she can marry that top scholar, wouldn't the Xiao family be controlled by the Zhao family in the future? She had just seen Xiao's brother from afar. He was young and talented, but inevitably lacked social skills.
"Alright, that's settled then." Grandma Zhao Er made up her mind.
Then Granny Qi added, "The pillows we sent over don't seem to be used there."
Granny Zhao sneered, "It's normal for her to be on guard, but she can only guard against herself. If the people around her are greedy for cheap deals, you'd better watch out." After saying that, she gave Granny Qi another twenty taels of silver.
After leaving, Granny Qi took ten taels of silver and put it in her bosom. She had another ten taels left, which she planned to use to bribe the servants.
They originally planned to use the kitchen very simply, but unexpectedly, the white fungus and lotus seed soup they were preparing to deliver ended up at their own son's place, which startled Grandma Zhao. Her son almost died after eating it.
It is important to know that if pregnant women and children eat croton seeds, they may experience diarrhea and dehydration, which could be life-threatening if left untreated for a long time.
Because of this incident, Granny Zhao was somewhat wary of Madam Xiao and dared not resort to underhanded tricks again.
When Granny Qi returned to her room, she couldn't help but wonder how Xiao Shi, at such a young age, knew so many shady things. Those things were clearly foolproof. If croton oil got stuck on the spout of the teapot, drinking the water would cause diarrhea over time. Xiao Shi smashed the teapot after seeing it only once. She was also extremely cautious about the things sent from the small kitchen. Even when a pillow with smallpox was sent, she had to use the eldest mistress's hand to deliver it, and she didn't use it herself.
This little girl is incredibly cunning and ruthless.
...
Miaozhen was unaware that Fujie was pregnant. After she had prepared all the New Year's goods and gifts, Xiao Jingshi and his son returned, thankfully without any injuries.
"You two are back. Perfect timing, I've already packed all the luggage."
Xiao Jingshi smiled and said, "When I came back, I smelled a delicious fragrance coming from the kitchen. What did you make?"
“I had bamboo tube rice dumplings made, intending to take them on the road to eat,” Miaozhen said.
Xiao Jingshi took off his official hat and asked, puzzled, "Do you still need to make house calls at this time?"
"The Crown Princess of Zhou is unwell and asked me to come and see her. She will send a sedan chair over later." Miaozhen is certainly not short of money now, but she cannot lose her skills. Besides, she always feels most accomplished when she makes money.
Xiao Jingshi took her hand and sat down: "I just got back, and you're already leaving? That's not right."
Miaozhen pressed his eyes shut: "Stop fooling around, I'll be right back. Since you can smell it, why don't you eat some later? It's delicious."
People from Jiangsu and Zhejiang love glutinous rice, which is sweet with a little granulated sugar. It's even better when it's wrapped in bamboo tubes, making it not greasy at all. When Miaozhen was reading at home, she recalled the scene of Pigsy eating bamboo tube rice in Journey to the West, and she was so hungry that she specially asked someone to make it for her.
Xiao Jingshi felt that his wife looked young entirely because of her youthful mindset, unlike others who, once they turned thirty, felt old, refused to use their brains or think about anything, stuck to the rules, and bossed and lectured others.
When the bamboo rice arrived, he personally used a dagger to cut it open, dipped it in granulated sugar, and exclaimed, "It's really delicious!"
The maidservant below laughed and said, "It was all Madam's idea."
Xiao Jingshi thought to himself, why does eating bamboo rice feel like summer again? When he looked up again, he saw Zheng Ge'er carrying bamboo rice in like he was carrying a candied hawthorn. He quickly scolded him, "You're eating like a street thug. How can you eat like that?"
Zheng Ge'er wasn't afraid of his father at all: "I just came here to show you that besides eating with chopsticks, you can eat it like this. It's a pity that my mother said glutinous rice is hard to digest, so she only lets me eat two pieces."
“Your mother is doing this for your own good, letting you eat whatever you want, but everything has to be in moderation, otherwise your stomachs will hurt so much.” Xiao Jingshi patted his son’s head.
Zhengge noticed that his father's hands were covered in glutinous rice, so he moved aside and sat down again, saying, "Father, when do you think we'll meet my brother? If he passes the imperial examination, he'll have to go to another place to serve as an official, and you might have to go to another place to serve as an official. That wouldn't be good."
Xiao Jingshi ignored this and said only, "You should think about when your mother will come back and what delicious food to cook in the kitchen tonight."
Zheng Ge'er pouted.
Miaozhen arrived in a heated sedan chair, which contained a small incense burner, causing her to break out in a light sweat. Upon arriving at the Prince Consort's room, she was overwhelmed by a wave of heat, making her feel hot all over. She took off her cloak and cape, which made her feel much cooler, but she still felt that the fragrance inside was too strong.
Although she also likes fragrance, she doesn't like very strong fragrances. She remembers that when she came here two years ago to treat the young prince of this mansion, there was a light fragrance in the room of the Prince Zhou's wife.
Miaozhen stepped forward and curtsied, then asked the Crown Princess to dismiss her attendants before saying, "You have so much incense burning in your room, is it to cover up some kind of smell?"
The Crown Prince's wife smiled bitterly, "Nothing can be hidden from Madam Xiao. I have a lot of vaginal discharge, and it's been over a year. It's yellowish in color, and there's an unpleasant smell if you get close." Her relationship with the Crown Prince was already so-so, so this made it even more difficult for him to get close to her.
Miaozhen took her pulse and found it slippery and rapid, her tongue red with a yellow, greasy coating, and her genitals damp and itchy. She said, "This is leukorrhea, caused by damp heat in the Ren meridian. The Dai meridian encircles the waist, while the Ren meridian runs vertically, and the two are connected. The Ren meridian leads to the kidneys, but you have heat in your lower abdomen, which causes dampness and heat to combine and turn yellow. I will prescribe medicine for you that can both replenish the deficiency in the Ren meridian and clear the deficiency fire in the kidneys. Then you will be cured."
She prescribed Yi Huang Tang, four doses in total, and instructed the princess's attendants, "Keep the dregs from this decoction for sitz baths; that will be even better."
This illness is not difficult to treat. Generally, the symptoms will lessen after taking these four doses of medicine, and then you can continue to take six more doses to get better.
Hearing Miaozhen say this, the Crown Princess of Zhou felt relieved: "Now that you say so, I'm at ease. I should have seen a doctor sooner."
“Women are very reluctant to seek medical treatment, so I can understand that. If we told others, people would have no idea what to say. Luckily, we have proper female doctors here. Since you have a pharmacy at home, you don’t need to come to me for medicine,” Miaozhen said with a smile.
The Crown Princess of Zhou ordered someone to fetch the medicine, and chatted with Miaozhen for a few more minutes. She learned that Miaozhen's eldest son had already gone to the capital to participate in the imperial examination, and couldn't help but ask, "I wonder if your eldest son is engaged yet?"
"This child said he wanted to get married after passing the imperial examination, so I didn't pay much attention to it. Besides, as you know, our master has been ordered to go to the capital to report on his duties, and we don't know where he will be transferred yet. I'm worried about that now." In fact, Miaozhen still had a few candidates in mind. She didn't particularly care about family background when choosing a daughter-in-law. As long as her daughter-in-law was good-natured and well-educated, that was better than anything else.
However, she couldn't say that to the Crown Prince's wife, because if she said she was in a particular hurry, the other party might offer to introduce her to someone, and refusing would offend them.
Hearing this, the Crown Princess of Zhou knew that they had no intention of finding a daughter-in-law in Henan, so she gave up on the idea. However, the Crown Princess of Zhou brought up a matter: "I have a cousin who married into the capital. We grew up together, but after she married and moved to the capital, we corresponded every year, but this year there has been no letter. When your family returns to the capital to report on their duties, could you please send a letter to her for me?"
“What’s so difficult about that? I’ll just wait a little longer. Why don’t you start writing now?” Miaozhen said.
The Crown Princess of Zhou went inside and wrote for a while. After the ink dried, she put it in an envelope and wrote an address for Miaozhen. Miaozhen put it away and then went home.
Xiao Jingshi took an official ship directly to the capital this time. Because her family had lost Fu Jie'er's dowry and Zhao Ge'er's books, their luggage was much lighter and they were easily moved to the ship.
Miaozhen couldn't help but shake her head: "You're saying it so soon, and I have to go to the capital again. It feels like I've been floating on the water every day for the past few years. There are still so many things I want to take but can't, and I have to give them away. Moving three times is like setting a fire once."
"Wife, don't say that. I'm here with you, aren't I?" Xiao Jingshi felt very unhappy thinking about his wife traveling alone.
Miaozhen also couldn't leave her husband: "Yes, everyone talks about home. What is home? Home is where family members are together."
Xiao Jingshi liked Miaozhen just the way she was. He believed that he and his wife would be together for life. Their children would each have their own path, but the couple would always walk the same road.
Fortunately, Xiao Jingshi is there. He's energetic and skilled in both government and civilian affairs. It's good that Miaozhen and Madam Zhang can go to the capital together. Xiao Jingtang was outside talking about Xiao Jingyan: "He didn't go back then either. I wonder if he's gone back now?"
“Why isn’t he going back? I don’t think he has any interest in an official career.” Xiao Jingshi knew Xiao Jingyan quite well.
Xiao Jingtang whispered, "It's not that I'm gossiping about him, it's just that he's become so good at Taoist arts that he hasn't been paying much attention to clan affairs or the pharmacy these past two years."
Xiao Jingshi frowned: "Wouldn't the Xia family have ended up with nothing?"
If Xiao Jingyan really goes to study Taoism, Xia Xianjie's hard-won marriage will ultimately come to nothing. But what will her uncle and aunt do then?
"Fourth Brother, I have a feeling that something is unusual."
"Alright, stop worrying about these things. I don't even know what position I'll be appointed to when I go to the capital this time. I see that you're much more reliable than before. If I'm appointed to an official position in the capital, I'll probably be a third-rank or fourth-rank official. I'll need you then." Xiao Jingshi encouraged Xiao Jingtang.
He used to look down on everyone; the world was vast, and he could count the number of people he respected on one hand. But as he matured, he came to realize that everyone had their strengths. Xiao Jingtang might not be good at studying, and he lacked perseverance, but he was indeed adept at socializing, which actually surpassed Xiao Jingheng's, who was somewhat too mercenary.
Even Xiao Jingtang was prudent in his actions and was not the ruthless type.
Xiao Jingshi had already planned it out: he would have Xiao Jingtang work for him for a few years, and then recommend him to be a county magistrate or a local official, which would be a way of repaying his brother's kindness.
"Don't worry, Fourth Brother, we're like brothers," Xiao Jingtang said with a smile.
Everyone was in high spirits because they were all going to the capital. Miaozhen and Madam Zhang chatted and laughed together, and the days passed quickly.
The ship would stop in Jining before continuing its journey to the capital, which would usually take about ten days. However, this was under favorable conditions. Unfortunately, when heading north from Jining, it started snowing, so they had to switch to land travel.
Upon arriving at Liuhe Post Station in Hejian Prefecture, Zhengge'er got off the carriage first, then came over to help Miaozhen down. Miaozhen touched his hand and, seeing that it was warm, felt relieved: "Don't ride a horse like the adults, it's very cold."
One family had already arrived at the post station. They were from Shandong and were on their way to the capital to report on their duties. Xiao Jingtang went out to inquire and found out that the two families were related. One of Xiao's aunts had married into the Zhu family in Mingzhou, and this family happened to be from the same branch of the family as his aunt's family.
Miaozhen had also met the women in their family. The Zhu family was a local gentry family in Mingzhou, originally similar to the Xiao family. Most of the family members were engaged in farming and business. However, the Zhu family only had one member who had passed the imperial examination and one who had passed the provincial examination, unlike the Xiao family, which had three members who had passed the imperial examination and three who had passed the provincial examination. They also had several members who had passed the county-level examination.
Mrs. Zhu brought a daughter over, and Miaozhen gave her a pair of silver-plated earrings as a gift. Seeing that the Zhu family's daughter had willow-leaf eyebrows and cherry lips, she was quite beautiful and praised her for her good health. Mrs. Zhu was initially indifferent, but after hearing Miaozhen say that her eldest son, Zhaoge'er, was the top scholar in the provincial examination in Southern Zhili, her attitude changed drastically.
Miaozhen was originally very modest about her eldest son, but when she heard others praising their son for being the top scholar, she couldn't help but show off a little. Little did she know that Mrs. Zhu would be so enthusiastic about it.
Since her son was now being asked to marry, the mother was naturally sensitive, so Miaozhen toned down her tone a bit. Fortunately, both sides were not very familiar with each other and didn't have much in common, so the Zhu family tactfully took their leave first.
Xiao Xi quickly found out the news: "I just asked the servants at the post station about the Zhu family. The Zhu family originally had two unmarried girls, but Madam Zhu only brought one out for a visit."
"The other one isn't her biological son, is he?" Miaozhen smiled.
Xiao Xi nodded: "You guessed right. Another one I heard was the posthumous daughter of the third master of the Zhu family. I heard that the girl's parents died and she does needlework all day long."
"People grow up eating grains and other foods, and they have emotions and desires. It's normal to favor one's own daughter. It's just visiting relatives, there's no need to be like this." Miaozhen had also raised Tingge'er before, and she always brought them along when meeting guests.
Xiao Xi laughed and said, "That's right. I think Madam Zhu became much more enthusiastic as soon as she heard that our young master was the top scholar in the imperial examination. The change was too fast."
"I haven't even seen our young master yet, and he's already acting like this just from hearing his name. I'm afraid I'll have a hard time choosing someone when we go to the capital this time." Miaozhen sighed and rubbed her forehead.
She's the kind of person who can only worry about her own affairs. When it comes to other people's affairs, she gets particularly anxious, especially about major life events.
Xiao Xi, however, thought this was a good thing. It was better than going to those high-born women to ask for their hand in marriage. The Xiao family was already quite good now. Even if her son came from a poor family, he might still be considered for marriage by those who passed the imperial examinations. Let alone now.
After a brief stop at the post station, they continued their journey, this time traveling with the Zhu family for company. Upon arriving at Tongzhou post station, they sent someone on horseback to the capital to pack and freshen up before entering.
Unexpectedly, Zhao Ge'er rode over very early the next day. Miao Zhen really wanted to talk to him about what had happened in the past six months, but Zhao Ge'er said to them, "Brother-in-law said that there were two murders near our house, but my son has been living here for a month without any problems. I was just thinking that now that my parents and brother have all gone to the capital, I can rest assured."
Xiao Jingshi snorted coldly and looked at his eldest son, saying, "Didn't I teach you about the mechanisms in the house? If any thief dares to come in, let him come in upright and leave horizontally."
Zhao Ge'er seemed to lament, "It's a pity no one visits our house..."
Miaozhen found their words terrifying and quickly said, "I don't want bad people coming to our house, but has the Shuntian Prefecture solved the case?"
Zhao Ge'er sighed, "If my old man were the Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, wouldn't it be a piece of cake..."
"Don't talk nonsense, kid."
“That’s right. Father has always been very wise, and with me, the strategist, to help, my younger brother is good at tracking and has excellent martial arts skills, and you also know medicine. It would be a pity if such a family didn’t go out to solve cases.” Zhao Ge’er rubbed shoulders with each other.
The child was originally quite composed, but when it came to solving cases, he became much more lively, leaving Miaozhen dumbfounded.
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