Chapter 36 (Combined Chapter 36)
After July, the weather got hot, and Miaozhen couldn't sleep well at night. When she woke up in the morning, she had big panda eyes and bloodshot eyes.
She simply brewed tea with chrysanthemum buds, rock sugar, and goji berries in a large teapot, and even gave two cups to her parents.
There were also a few important events in August. Miaozhen's father bought twenty mu of land from the Cen family for a total of 140 taels. In Suzhou, the price of land varied from five to thirty taels per mu. They bought a medium-sized piece of land at seven taels per mu, which was only for their own consumption.
Of these, there were four mu of mulberry fields, ten mu of paddy fields, and six mu designated for orchards. One mu of medium-quality land could yield one shi (a unit of dry measure) per season, with two crops a year, interspersed with a season of wheat or beans, yielding approximately three shi of crops per mu. Ten mu of land would yield thirty shi of grain annually. Not to mention the orchards planned for watermelons, cherries, and apricots; if these fruits, mulberry trees, and hemp were sold, one mu could easily produce over ten taels of silver.
All the land was entrusted to a relative of Feng Niang for management. Xu Erpeng also helped him buy a few rooms in the countryside for five taels of silver and promised to give him five shi of grain every year. Xu Erpeng also paid for all the other expenses, such as fertilizer and seeds.
The money for the land purchase came from the funds of the "Zhiyin Xiaobao" newspaper, and Xu Erpeng did not use the money for the betrothal gifts for the time being.
The phrase "wealthy family" doesn't refer to current earning capacity, but rather to a lack of manpower and resources. Even finding someone to help manage the fields was a long and difficult process.
Just like the Xiao family, who were local landowners with 36 hectares of land, a manor, and their own cemetery, they would never go hungry even if they didn't do business.
The Cen family, unlike other families who, before selling their land, practically plundered it all, didn't touch it. This was also a matter of personal favor; it was said that Young Master Cen had formed a marriage alliance with the Xiao family, making them related by marriage.
The family then had all the fruits brought in, and Madam Mei said with a smile, "Finally, we don't have to buy fruits to give away anymore. We can eat whatever we want from our own produce."
This is also about Mid-Autumn Festival gifts. Watermelons are now one qian of silver per jin in the market. Miaozhen specially asked someone to buy some straw baskets, the most ordinary kind, which cost about fifteen wen each. She also bought some longan and lychee, which cost five fen per jin, and arranged them in the fruit baskets. Some of them were decorated with her own flowers and tied with ribbons, making them especially beautiful.
These fruit baskets were given to the Xiao family and relatives, as well as to her major customers. Each major customer received a fruit basket, a box of mooncakes, and two dishes of citron and bergamot sauce that she made in imitation of the recipe in "Wu's Family Cookbook".
Previously, in order to survive, Miaozhen hardly celebrated any holidays. For her, holidays were nothing more than a matter of whether she could rest for a few days. Now that the whole family is gathered here, the festive atmosphere is very strong.
Besides reading medical books, she also looked at the recipes her father had collected, such as "The Cook's Record" and "The Vegetarian Recipe of Benxinzhai". She understood her father's meaning, because Mrs. Xiao was a Buddhist and sometimes ate vegetarian food, so her daughter-in-law always had to cook a few dishes to show her filial piety.
If it were when I first transmigrated, I would definitely be very resistant. But after living in the Cheng family, even in a family with a very good background and high aspirations like the Ji family, I still had to make a show of paying my respects to the old lady every morning and evening, and often offer her a few dishes.
As the saying goes, "You can make a big show of things in a small space." If you can appease your elders, you can still do what you're supposed to do.
At Mrs. Xiao's place, she was looking at the gifts sent by the families of her two daughters-in-law who were not yet married. The Xu family sent two large fruit baskets, which were displayed very beautifully. In addition, there was a box of water chestnuts, taro and water caltrops, four plates of soup, two boxes of mooncakes, two jars of osmanthus wine, a pot of green bamboo, a pot of crape myrtle, and two gold fans.
The Lou family sent eight boxes of mooncakes, two bolts of Songjiang Sanshu cloth, a box of melons and fruits, and a sandalwood fan.
The gifts from both sides were quite obvious; the Xu family had put thought into them. The four dishes of soup were made by Miss Xu herself, and the fruits in the fruit basket were all plump and beautifully colored. The Lou family, who served as the registrar and managed the county's finances, received a constant stream of gifts from merchants, so they naturally picked out a few items to send, even the mooncake boxes were all different.
Regardless, Madam Xiao thought her three daughters-in-law were all quite good. The eldest daughter-in-law, Han, was kind-hearted and managed the household very well. Xu was beautiful, skilled in needlework, music, calligraphy, painting, and medicine, and was very fortunate in life. Lou was gentle and obedient, with a scholarly air about her.
Compared to Mrs. Xiao's mindset, Madam Bao from the third wife directly delivered the mooncakes and watermelons from Miaozhen's family to her future son-in-law's house, saving her the trouble of buying them herself.
Miaolian shook her head and discussed returning the gift with her father: "It wouldn't be right for Second Uncle and the others to send holiday gifts and we just pretend we don't know. Last time I heard Sister Zhenzhen complaining that Aunt and the others came empty-handed, Second Uncle was very angry."
“That’s true. What do you think we should send?” Uncle Xu began to take his daughter’s opinion seriously.
Miaolian couldn't help but say, "I see that grapes are cheap this year, so why don't we buy two bunches of grapes and a box of pastries? What do you think?"
Uncle Xu agreed, and Miaolian naturally paid for all of this. There was nothing she could do; her father was disgusted by the marriage with the He family. But when asked to help Zhenzhen find a good marriage like her second uncle did, he refused. She probably knew that it was her father who was unwilling to accept it.
But what could she do even if she was unwilling? In the end, He Jia'er was still very good to her, always obedient and kind.
Last time she met the second young master of the Xiao family, such an arrogant and domineering person, Zhenzhen's marriage to someone of high status might be a blessing, even if she swallows needles.
After the Mid-Autumn Festival, Mrs. Ma wanted to go to Tianzhu Temple in Hangzhou to burn incense and planned to visit Mrs. Mei. However, Mrs. Mei thought it was too far and did not go. Mrs. Ma was the most enthusiastic. In order to go on the long trip, she prepared incense, candles, paper horses, and offerings well in advance. She also had someone choose a wine box and hired a boat to go.
Mei said to Miaozhen, "Your Aunt Ma must have gone to pray to Buddha for your sister Yulan. After all, she is getting married at the end of the year, and it can also be considered as taking her out to relax."
Although the two families lived next door, Ma Yulan was getting married and had a lot of needlework to do. She secretly told herself that she dreamed every night that the needle accidentally pricked her hand.
"I don't want to take the boat anymore, I just want to stay at home." Miaozhen has been wandering around the Cheng family for too long and can't wait to spend more time with her family.
Madam Mei smiled and said, "I know, and besides, I don't want to go that far. If you want to go, we can go as a family when your father is less busy."
The Ma family's photo shop business next door is so-so, mainly because they have other businesses, while the Xu family only has this bookstore to make money, so their business can't stop at all.
Her father was writing furiously, while Miaozhen usually practiced medicine at home. Suzhou Prefecture had a population of one million, but there were not many truly reputable female doctors. Miaozhen was somewhat famous, but she was still far behind Ru Shi in terms of reputation.
Furthermore, the prefecture also has many renowned female doctors, such as Madam Sheng, who specializes in treating carbuncles, Nun Ding, who specializes in ophthalmology, Madam Fang, who can set bones, and Madam Liu, who can treat typhoid fever. These people are quite famous in the area and can be considered extremely rare.
In addition to their own medical skills, some of them also have some knowledge of other medical techniques.
Miaozhen, however, had no intention of learning anything else; she would continue to excel in the field of gynecology, regardless of what others said.
"Miss, Mrs. Wei has arrived," the maid said.
Before the Mid-Autumn Festival, the family bought two little girls for Xiaoxi and Xiaotao to teach them manners. One was named Tianjie and the other Mier, both meaning sweetness.
Miaozhen quickly had someone come in. Mrs. Wei had been suffering from long-term weakness after childbirth. She had been prescribed Chaihu Siwu Decoction, moxibustion, and acupuncture, but none of them had worked.
After taking her pulse again, Miaozhen found that it was still deep and floating, and her skin was slightly warm. She said, "Let me prescribe another dose of medicine for you."
“Miss Xu, everyone says you have excellent medical skills, and we came here because of your recommendation. I didn’t expect that after so long, I still haven’t gotten better, and instead, I’ve developed dysentery,” Mrs. Wei couldn’t help but complain.
When Miaozhen heard her complaining, she simply said, "Don't worry, if the medicine I prescribed doesn't work, you can see another doctor. But since you're here with me now, I'll prescribe another medicine for you, and you must avoid the wind for half a day."
She has specifically studied Mrs. Wei's condition and is now trying to prescribe a three-part decoction for her.
Clearly, Mrs. Wei began to distrust Miaozhen after receiving the prescription. Miaozhen didn't say much, as that's how it is with doctors. Some people trust you and won't say anything, while others, if they don't recover after one treatment, will think you're a swindler.
However, treatment is a long-term process. He has been suffering from weakness for almost two or three years, and medication must be taken gradually. It is impossible to achieve results overnight.
A few days later, she sent someone to visit Mrs. Wei. Mrs. Wei seemed much better, but remembering her previous attitude towards Miaozhen, she remained silent.
Many people wanted to buy the second issue of the August issue of "Zhiyin Xiaobao" (a local newsletter), but Xu Erpeng was in no hurry to publish it. He still tried his best to make the newsletter good. People placed orders early on, especially those who were interested in hair loss treatment. They were too embarrassed to come to the newspaper themselves, so they asked others to buy it for them.
When Xu Erpeng got tired of writing, he would go to the front and chat with the guests, pointing to the top of his head and saying, "I used to have a whorl of hair here, and I could grab a handful of it when I woke up in the morning. Now it's almost completely gone. Do you sell medicine? No! My daughter is skilled in medicine, so we treated it ourselves."
The father and daughter had originally discussed whether to collaborate with local businesses, but Miaozhen said, "Since sharing is sharing, we should be sincere."
Xu Erpeng agreed. Although this month's sales were not very high, everyone felt that this was a long-term business and took it very seriously.
By September, sales had stabilized.
Meanwhile, Lu Shi'an returned from the capital that night. He had obviously failed the imperial examination and spent a lot of money on socializing, leaving him with very little money. He came back to collect some travel expenses. After passing the examination, he received land, houses, servants, and money from others who had helped him. He had at least three or four acres of land and one or two hundred taels of silver.
Unfortunately, the trip to the capital was particularly expensive. He also intended to find a wealthy or official woman, so he spent a lot of money on his clothes alone. Not to mention, he spent all of the one hundred taels he brought with him during his literary gatherings in the capital.
Many people in Suzhou Prefecture knew his background, and his aunt often urged him to take his cousin as a wife. What kind of good family's daughter would do that? He had heard that the Xu family had come to inquire about him before they refused, so he planned to go to Jinling to study.
Of course, he was also a smart man. He had not yet made a fortune and knew that the Xu family's daughter was already engaged to the Xiao family. He was no longer someone he could afford to offend, so he had no choice but to sell fifty acres of land and scrape together two or three hundred taels of silver before leaving.
Unfortunately, as soon as he stepped out, he ran into Xiao Jingshi, the second young master of the Xiao family. Xiao Jingshi and his younger brother Xiao Jingtang were on their father's orders to deliver gifts to the eunuch in charge of Nanjing, and he could also visit his mentor in the process.
The Xiao family owned their own boat, and seeing that there was an empty space, they allowed several scholars from humble backgrounds to board.
Lu Shi'an was one of these scholars from humble backgrounds. They, too, possessed the pride of scholars, but they still had to bow before the Xiao family. Xiao Jingshi wasn't deliberately disdainful of others; rather, he had his own worries. His parents had arranged this marriage against his will, which angered him greatly.
But it's not good to direct this fire at any one place.
Because the marriage of the third brother was arranged by the Lou family through the eldest aunt, the third brother was not opposed. Instead, he said to him, "It's better to marry someone you know well than to just marry any official's daughter. Aren't those people marrying down for money? Their backgrounds are unknown. Take that girl from the Rao family that my third aunt introduced, she said she was beautiful and intelligent, well-educated and reasonable, but so what? Uncle Rao was a womanizer. He passed the imperial examination earlier than my third uncle, but he was mediocre and greedy for money and women. He was a tyrant in the village and was impeached. Now he is only a seventh-rank judge of the Dali Temple. And he is only doing this because of the late Grand Secretary Rao."
Xiao Jingshi said, "It's not that I necessarily want to marry into an official's family." It's just that he hates that his future in-laws' methods are dishonest, but he can't tell his third brother about this yet.
Xiao Jingtang laughed and said, "That's settled then. Why do you think so much, Second Brother? Just think about that shrew from the Zhu family. Even if I weren't a man, I wouldn't want to marry a woman like that."
The Zhu family started out selling salt. To improve their image, they married the daughter of a Nanjing official. This Mrs. Zhu would often yell at and beat her husband, and she would also argue with her parents-in-law in the bedroom. Everyone close to them knew about it.
“Zhu Shaoting is no good either. He used to study with us at the academy, but he often went out to visit prostitutes. His legs hurt every day, and I was afraid he had contracted some kind of venereal disease.” Xiao Jingshi felt disgusted just talking about it.
For wealthy families like theirs, having three wives and four concubines is commonplace. But these lustful devils are indiscriminate in their lust for men and women, and if he were a woman, they would be lucky not to strangle him.
Xiao Jingtang laughed and said, "Second brother, how can you talk like that?"
"Am I wrong?" Xiao Jingshi laughed, fanning himself with a folding fan.
The boatmen were all members of the Xiao family, so naturally they had to serve their master well. The two brothers quickly laid out a feast of both land and sea delicacies on their table. After arriving in Zhenjiang, Xiao Jingshi, still possessing basic social skills, invited the impoverished scholars to come up for wine and poetry. Unexpectedly, someone hurriedly delivered a letter.
Xiao Jingshi was speechless when he opened it. They actually wanted to use this trick to force him. He pondered for a moment before saying, "Whether she lives or dies is none of my business. Don't try to tie me up with this."
Xiao Jingtang, standing to the side, knew who it was. When his second brother was fourteen, he saw someone fall into the water and kindly rescued them. Unexpectedly, the woman insisted on marrying him. In fact, this woman came from a very wealthy family in Zhenjiang. She also had an uncle who was an official, and she was beautiful. But over the years, she had used all sorts of tactics, from crying and making a scene to threatening suicide, and now she was even threatening to kill herself, to force his second brother to marry her. Little did he know that his second brother was someone who wouldn't listen to either soft or hard tactics.
That's why Mother felt that the second brother's birth chart showed a clash between the Zi and Wu palaces in his marriage palace, so she specially chose a girl from the Xu family with a good birth chart.
**
At the end of August, Grandma Wu gave birth to a daughter. The daughter was quite healthy, and the wet nurse was ready. However, on the seventh day after Grandma Wu gave birth, she contracted dysentery. The Wu family immediately prepared a sedan chair and horses to pick up Miaozhen. Because it was getting late, Madam Mei accompanied her.
After taking her pulse, Miaozhen was somewhat troubled: "Your current condition is due to postpartum weakness. If you take strong tonics, I'm afraid your dysentery will worsen. I want to regulate your qi and blood, but you are weak right now."
“Miss Xu, you cured my illness last time, so you can’t hesitate this time.” Grandma Wu knew that some doctors were afraid of causing trouble, so they simply didn’t treat me and only prescribed some mild and ineffective medicines.
Miaozhen nodded and prescribed Sheng Hua Tang, but removed the dried ginger and replaced it with costus root and poria.
After the prescription was written, Grandma Wu quickly instructed her servants to prepare tea and food, but Miaozhen hurriedly said, "It's so late, we should go back now, there's really no need."
"This won't do." Grandma Wu insisted on having a banquet delivered to the Xu family.
Miaozhen ate two dumplings and a spring roll and was full, while Xu Erpeng laughed and said, "Finally, we can eat the meal our daughter brought back."
In fact, Xu Erpeng often says he wants to lose weight, but he can't control his eating habits. Just like now, when he sees something delicious, he's still afraid of missing out.
Miaozhen said, "Let me serve you some food. Don't eat too much tonight."
She and her father each took two level spoonfuls of rice, but didn't pick up any of the oily or greasy dishes. They only picked up a few slices of beef and chicken and a small dish of green vegetables.
Mei said, "After the Double Ninth Festival, the He family will come to propose marriage, and we will all have to go there."
“That’s for sure. I haven’t checked on it recently. How much is the betrothal gift for my third brother?” Xu Erpeng asked.
Ms. Mei shrugged: "Why would they tell us about their family affairs?"
Xu Erpeng chewed on a piece of beef and said, "Our family should just mind our own business."
The next day, Miaozhen went for a follow-up visit and was relieved to hear that Grandma Wu's dysentery had stopped.
Grandma Wu was a firm believer in Miaozhen. When she returned, she brought over four taels of silver, twenty large fresh crabs, eight catties of yam, six lotus roots, a carcass of northern lamb, half a pork shoulder, twenty large handkerchiefs, and four bolts of fine silk.
Miaozhen handed the food to Mei, but unexpectedly Bao came over at this time. Seeing that the things were not moved, she hurriedly said, "Mother, have someone put the things away so that we can talk to Third Aunt."
Mei understood and instructed the servants to move the silk to the storeroom, put the large handkerchief in Miaozhen's room, and move all the food to the kitchen for Fengniang and Yuxiang to keep.
After everything was settled, Bao came to borrow clothes from Mei. She originally wanted to buy silk to have clothes made, but a bolt of silk cost one or two taels, and hiring a tailor would cost money. She also only had two or three pieces of jewelry.
Having been sisters-in-law with Bao for many years, Mei naturally knew her sister-in-law's character. She regarded other people's things as her own, and she would not allow others to touch her own things.
But it would be wrong of me not to lend it out, so I borrowed a gold-embroidered plum blossom brocade headband, a magnolia flower hairpin, a pair of saucer-shaped gold pendants, a silver-red cotton blouse, a delicate yellow satin skirt, and a shawl with scattered threads.
Bao felt it was too little; she wanted more hair ornaments and kingfisher feather decorations, but Mei pretended not to hear and ignored her, only willing to lend her these. So she had to go back dejectedly.
To say that Bao Shi alone couldn't cause any big trouble, she had an older sister who was jealous of her younger sister's in-laws' love and her husband's ambition. Now that she saw that Bao Shi had borrowed the clothes so quickly, she said, "Your second sister-in-law wears gold and silver all day long, but she won't even lend you a bun. She's so stingy. I don't have these things, but if I did, I would definitely lend them to you."
Bao said indignantly, "To be honest, my second brother-in-law is a good person, no doubt about it. But my sister-in-law is all sweet on the outside but bitter on the inside. She's extremely stingy. She pushes the responsibility of supporting the elderly onto us, while she bosses us around like servants all day long. What kind of family is this?"
"It's so unfair that her family got such a good marriage. The Xiao family are officials, and they're so rich they have more money than grain. Miao Zhen isn't even as pretty as your Miao Lian." Madam Bao looked very indignant.
Bao seemed to have found a kindred spirit. When she spoke these words to Xu Sanlang, he scolded her instead. Now, her sister had truly spoken to her heart: "Who says otherwise? My second sister-in-law even looks down on us poor relatives. The other day, when the Xiao family came, she only allowed the Mei family to accompany them. We, the family members, were treated like we couldn't be seen in the light of day?"
Then she pouted, "She won't let me go to the front hall. I'll see if she's afraid when I meet that young master Xiao someday."
Da Bao originally wanted to cultivate the land that Xu Erpeng had bought, but Xu Erpeng preferred to give it to Feng Niang's relatives rather than the Bao family, which naturally made Da Bao hate him to the core.
At this point, he and Madam Bao raised the issue and gave the second wife a good talking-to.
Even her own family members were envious, let alone outsiders. Miao Zhen knew this, so she always dressed simply and plainly when she was out, and left as soon as she finished her doctor's appointment without saying much.
She then set up a medicine cabinet and scale in the storage room downstairs in the embroidery building, bought some medicinal herbs, and prepared some simple medicines. For example, now that the seasons are changing and the weather is dry, Miaozhen thought that her father often sits for long periods of time, which is why it is said that nine out of ten men suffer from hemorrhoids. So she prepared some Sophora japonica pills, which can treat external hemorrhoids, internal hemorrhoids, rectal prolapse, and even fistulas.
Then there's Shengjin Pill, which treats all kinds of malaria; then there's Qingjiedu Pill, which treats heat accumulation in the five internal organs of adults or children, upward attack of toxins, red eyes, carbuncles, and pain; and then there's Zaoruo Pingwei Powder, which is a medicine for treating disharmony of the spleen and stomach.
These few items alone took her a lot of effort. Take the Jujube Meat Stomach-Soothing Powder for example; the herbs had to be roasted on a tile over a low fire, and they had to be careful not to burn them.
Strangely enough, those easygoing women didn't go to the clinic; instead, they came to me to buy medicine.
Buy it even if you're not sick!
Mrs. Wang's hemorrhoids were actually quite severe. They would flare up whenever she ate slightly dry food, but she endured it until she came to Miaozhen's house and quickly asked for some Sophora japonica pills. The cost of such a bottle of medicine was not high, but it could be sold for one qian (a unit of currency).
The medicines she prepared herself were sent to the Xiao family as gifts for the Double Ninth Festival. Although the Xiao family owned a pharmacy, it was a raw medicine shop, which only roughly processed medicinal materials. Only the processed medicine shop sold pills, powders, and ointments.
When these bottles of medicine were delivered, Xiao Jingshi was just returning. He had been on a boat for several days and felt that his mouth was bitter and tasteless, his spleen and stomach were upset, he was vomiting and nauseous, and he also had some diarrhea.
Madam Xiao smiled and said, "That's perfect. The Xu family sent holiday gifts today, including several bottles of medicine that Miss Xu made herself. They said it's almost the beginning of autumn, so they're making preparations in advance. Since your stomach isn't feeling well right now, why don't you take a cup of stomach-soothing powder?"
After saying this, she had someone take out two qian (a unit of weight) of water, boil it with two slices of ginger and two dried dates, and boil it down to seven-tenths of its original volume before instructing Xiao Jingshi to drink it. Xiao Jingshi was thinking that if he was not well, he could just find someone to say that their birth charts were incompatible and that the medicine she sent was all incompatible.
Little did he know that after taking the medicine, his diarrhea stopped that very night, and he felt much better instantly. With his hair down and his features exquisite, he looked at the medicine bottle not far away and let out a soft hum.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
