Chapter 39 (Combined Chapter 39)
Seeing that the purple-skinned woman was gripping Lin Xiaoxiao's hand tighter and tighter, Lin Xiaoxiao hesitated to break free because she was an elder. Miaozhen said, "Auntie, come and have a cup of tea too."
The woman smiled and said, "Miss, please don't rush."
Miaozhen got up and handed her the tea before saying, "This is this year's new tea, not much of a good tea, but please do me the honor of accepting it, Auntie."
Seeing that the aunt was starting to show off how much she knew, Miaozhen kept talking to her. Lin Xiaoxiao shook her hand slightly, feeling quite grateful to Miaozhen.
In truth, Lin Xiaoxiao was also in a state of confusion. She had lived in the Lin family for several years. Although she was living under someone else's roof, she was never short of food or clothing. Now that her father was gone, if she went back to her maternal family, she would truly be an orphan.
Her maternal grandmother and aunt were actually quite good to her, but no matter how good they were, they were still not as good as her own parents.
But what can be done? The maternal relatives are always better than the paternal relatives.
She roused herself and waited until the purple-skinned woman finally left. Then she opened a box and gave Miaozhen two paintings and a few fans, saying, "Here's a keepsake for you."
"I don't need them, you can keep them all." Miaozhen shook her head.
Lin Xiaoxiao said, "Not to mention our good relationship, these past few days you have taken care of me and helped me recover, and your mother came to help. This is all thanks to our friendship."
Since she said that, Miaozhen had no choice but to accept it.
After the seventh day after the funeral, Manager Lin was buried. During this time, many people from the Lin family came to persuade Lin Xiaoxiao to stay at their home, and some even tried to take her away. Fortunately, Miaozhen was there and often helped her. She would often stay with her at night and sleep there. Only after the seventh day was over did Lin Xiaoxiao finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Lin's uncle had people carry trunks and baskets to take Lin Xiaoxiao back to Nanjing. Miaozhen prepared a travel package for her, including several kinds of pills she had prepared herself. She also gave her a bottle of pregnancy-preserving pills and fertility-inducing pills at the bottom. In addition to the medicine, there were two new books, two boxes of trendy pastries, and two sets of clothes that she had made last year but had not yet worn.
Lin Xiaoxiao had a lot to say, but she was being urged to leave from outside, so she had to go first.
After seeing Lin Xiaoxiao off, Miaozhen turned back and asked Xu Erpeng about the so-called dowry: "How are those tenants doing? I feel that someone should take charge of managing them."
Xu Erpeng said, "I don't understand these things about Jiaxuan either, but what you said is right. We should send one of our own people to put our minds at ease."
"Therefore, I want someone to watch over the house over there for me, and open a grain, rice, wheat, and bean shop in that storefront. Anyway, there's no rent, so I can sell as much as I can, and store the unsold ones in the cellar. Nothing will go to waste," Miaozhen said with a smile.
She couldn't keep the pharmacy open for the time being, and she didn't want the place to go to waste. She also thought that her little Xi and Xiao Tao were growing up and it was time for them to get engaged. After laying the groundwork for a long time, she finally revealed her intention.
Madam Mei, who was standing nearby, smiled and said, "You'll be getting married next year. The two older girls have been in the Cheng family before, so they'll be better at handling things. We've already found someone for them this year, and we'll arrange their marriages next year when they go with you. You can rest assured."
After Miaozhen agreed, she revealed a few things to Xiaoxi and Xiaotao. Xiaotao was honest and only knew how to work, but Xiaoxi quietly came to Miaozhen and said, "Miss and I grew up together. I think we should wait until you have a firm foothold before going to that family."
“That’s exactly what my mother meant,” Miaozhen said with a smile.
Xiao Xi shook her head: "Miss, I am willing to follow you and do not want to go out. In the future, if you betroth me to a servant of the Xiao family, I will also be your stewardess."
Miaozhen knew that Xiaoxi was different from Xiaotao. Xiaoxi had come to serve her all by herself. Although she was usually cheerful and joking, she was actually most afraid of separation, especially from Miaozhen. So, she agreed, and Xiaoxi was overjoyed.
Someone came over and said that Madam Yao had sent someone to ask for the 'Invincible Powder'. Miaozhen took out a packet from a box and said to the maid, "I was just thinking of having someone send it over tomorrow, but I didn't expect your Madam to come and get it."
This "Invincible Powder" was the one she had introduced to Mrs. Yao last time. It could be used for vomiting blood, vomiting blood, and nosebleeds. Mrs. Yao didn't go to a pharmacy to get it, but instead asked her to make it herself, so Miaozhen made it.
The girl brought a tael of silver, and Miaozhen told Xiaoxi to accept it.
Then, the eldest daughter of the Sun family contracted leprosy, which Western medicine calls lymph node tuberculosis. Miaozhen once said in a medical book called "Surgical Principles" written in the twelfth year of Jiajing's reign, "For sores on the outside, draw them out; for sores on the inside, drain them. Moxibustion is very effective."
She examined the area and found that the patient had leprosy on both sides of her neck. She then thought that this was the path of the Hand Shaoyang Sanjiao Meridian, and Yifengxue was one of the commonly used acupoints of the Hand Shaoyang Sanjiao Meridian. In addition to treating facial paralysis, tinnitus, and cheek swelling, this acupoint could also treat scrofula. So she first selected Yifengxue, then Jianjingxue, which was obviously effective. Next, she selected Tianjingxue, which also had the effect of treating scrofula. Finally, she selected the elbow tip acupoint.
During the Zhengde era, a medical book called "Qixiao Liangfang" recorded that "scrofula can be treated with seven moxibustion cones".
Nowadays, she doesn't just study gynecology; she reads other medical books as well, and she also practices on her own.
So she performed moxibustion on eight acupoints for the young lady Sun, once every other day. After two months, the sores festered and ruptured after the moxibustion. She observed that the shape of the sores resembled that of a rush pith, which meant they were healed.
The Sun family sent twelve taels of silver, but Miaozhen returned half of it, only accepting six taels, saying, "We're all neighbors, there's no need to be so polite."
Feeling bad about it, the Sun family said to their daughter, Miss Sun, "The eldest sister of the Xu family is a kind and righteous sister. She helps me with moxibustion no matter the weather. She also often talks to me about Buddhist scriptures because she knows a lot and is a good person. We shouldn't wrong her."
The Sun family runs a felt and wool trading business, so they sent two pairs of felt socks and two pairs of wool socks. They also sent a shi (a unit of dry measure) of fine flour, a shi of white rice, six dou (a unit of dry measure) of red rice from Jiangxi, two bolts of Songjiang wide-sleeved cloth, two pairs of blue and red woven gold-embroidered shoes, two jin (a unit of weight) of silk thread, and fifteen large twill handkerchiefs.
This actually made Miaozhen feel that there were too few female doctors in the market nowadays, especially skilled female doctors, which is why she was able to receive such respect.
Mrs. Mei was overjoyed to receive these gifts.
In the afternoon, Miaozhen led several maids to do needlework. She was getting married next year, and as a bride, she had to do some needlework. Right now, she was embroidering butterflies and flowers on a pillowcase. After finishing this pair, she would also embroider a pair of mandarin ducks playing in the water.
It wasn't until evening that I slipped on my shoes and went to bed, where I slept soundly until dawn.
Every morning, as usual, she would get up and read medical books for an hour, noting down important notes in her journal, since medicine was her main profession.
After watching for a while, he went to the front hall to have dinner with Madam Mei. Madam Mei smiled and said, "Yesterday, the Sun family sent some fine noodles. Your father had the kitchen cook them and stir-fry them with pickled bamboo shoots and shredded pork. I also had someone cook lotus seed porridge. It's perfect that you're here to eat."
"Dad really knows how to eat. I was just thinking about having steamed buns." Miaozhen said with a smile as she sat down.
The lotus seeds were cooked until they were crumbly, and when paired with the fried noodles, I actually ate my fill.
After the mother and daughter finished using it, they spun thread and did some needlework at home. Miao Zhen took out the embroidery she had done yesterday and said, "Mother, I plan to make a medicinal pillow. There's no need to embroider it. Just choose a satin with a dogwood pattern. I'll make a pair for you and my father, and also a pair for the second mistress of the Xiao family."
“That’s good. A family like the Xiao family can’t easily split up in a short time. Even if they do, they’ll still have contact. In the inner quarters, besides the children, the only other relationship is with the mother-in-law.” Madam Mei understood these social customs very well.
Miaozhen smiled and said, "Father told me that the wife of the eldest son of the Xiao family who married last year is not pregnant, and neither is Sister-in-law Han from the second son's family. He said not to worry about anything and that having a child is better than anything else. I even asked him how he knew so much about women's affairs?"
Madam Mei said, “Your father can’t be ignorant. I gave birth to you back then. When your father was a teacher, he saw a student being lazy and not doing his homework, so he slapped the student’s hands a few times. His parents came over and cursed your father for being a lonely old man.”
"Sigh, actually Xiaoxiao told me that she wasn't very comfortable at her maternal grandparents' house either, but her maternal grandparents' house was nicer than her maternal grandparents' house. You don't know, when I stayed at her house, those people came over under the guise of helping out, but they secretly took away things like silver teapots and porcelain cups. Some people even secretly took away embroidered stools." Miaozhen thought about it and it was actually quite terrifying.
Madam Mei waved her hand: "What you said is nothing. When I was a child, I met a boy who was about my age. His father died and his stepmother remarried. The clan chief coveted his land and locked him up with iron chains. He didn't give him food or water and would beat and scold him at the drop of a hat. Fortunately, the boy ran away later."
Miaozhen was furious: "How can there still be such lawless and wicked people in the world?"
“Even if they’re not bad, they’ll probably turn bad when they see money. Poor people are greedy, but rich people are probably even more greedy. When you go to the Xiao family, don’t be careless with your money. You should keep it safe,” Madam Mei reminded her.
Having money gives one confidence even when remarrying; without it, even if one is as beautiful as a fairy, it may not be enough. Miss Du is a good example. Last year, I wondered why Miss Du seemed to have depression. Later, I heard from others that the Cen family and the Du family had such a past.
Miao Zhen's father was quite open-minded and even said to Miao Zhen, "Throughout history, apart from your father, there haven't been many good men. Don't be fooled by vows of eternal love. There's nothing a man can truly force to do if he doesn't want to. Most of the time, it's his own choice. People in this world have greed, and men's greed is even stronger. There are countless men who are after a woman's power, background, and money. Don't value love too much. Love can be transferred at any time, but money won't."
Miao Zhen seemed to understand what he was saying. She had met Xiao Jingshi before, and he was indeed a rare and handsome man. What was most remarkable was that he was young but did not appear immature. However, even her father felt that it was pointless to talk about love with someone like him.
Miaozhen smiled and said, "Then the men and women in your stories are very much in love?"
“What do you know, girl? It’s precisely because it doesn’t exist in reality that people read what I write. If everyone in real life were so dedicated, honest, and didn’t lock their doors at night, it would all be commonplace. Who would want to read my crime stories?” Xu Erpeng shook his head as he listened.
That's true. Miaozhen thought back to the days in the Cheng family. Did the third wife of the Cheng family really love the third master? Not really. But she wanted a child, a child who could protect the third wife's property.
Even the Ji family was no exception. Despite her status, she still relied on her son to maintain her position and prevent others from coveting it. Neither coveting her position nor her wealth was acceptable.
It's no wonder that feudal society was a cannibalistic society. The people who preyed on you weren't necessarily the people around you; it was the system that tacitly approved of it.
Speaking of Miaozhen's small pharmacy, because of limited tools, she couldn't process many medicines. So she would send the medicines she could prepare herself to the raw medicine shop to have them prepared by herself. Only the medicines that she couldn't prepare herself would be handed over to the cooked medicine shop to make into pills.
It is also said that on the day of Buddha's Birthday, Miaozhen went to Baiyun Nunnery with Mei. The nuns in the nunnery had developed an eye disease. Miaozhen remembered the Zijin Eye Washing Ointment she had seen in the Taiping Huimin Heji Jufang. Although she had not made it, she said, "I have a family recipe that has been passed down from my ancestors. For someone like you with red and ulcerated eyes who is ashamed to see the sun, just use one of those ointments and it will be fine."
The nun said, "If you would like to receive medicine from the young lady, I would be very grateful."
"That thing isn't particularly valuable, it just takes a bit of work. Oh well, Auntie is a sincere person, I'll have someone deliver it when the time comes. But once you're better, you'll have to introduce me to more business," Miaozhen said with a smile.
The nun readily agreed.
After returning home, Miaozhen sent someone to a herbal medicine shop to buy some cinnabar, frankincense, cinnabar, red peony root, angelica, realgar, musk, and coptis. She carefully processed these ingredients and made them into pills.
He then instructed Xiaoxi, "Have her wash in a place without wind, and not in copper or iron utensils. One pill can be used three to five times. After each wash, wait for the water to cool down, leave about three ounces in the basin, and then continue to heat it up."
This remedy cannot be used casually. For example, it should not be used when the eyes are red, swollen, and painful.
She is gradually becoming less focused on gynecology and has also dabbled in and studied other specialties.
The nun recovered quickly after receiving Miaozhen's medicine, and the believers who went to Baiyun Nunnery also developed eye diseases. Through her introduction, they all came to Miaozhen's house.
Miaozhen received three patients early in the morning. She prescribed different medicines for each patient and received a consultation fee of six qian. In the afternoon, four more patients came, all suffering from eye diseases, including a child. In the afternoon, she received a consultation fee of about one liang and three qian. She had almost earned two liang that day.
I originally thought that leaving the Cheng family would definitely reduce my income from tips, but in fact, it was even better after I came back.
At the same time, she also wrote about the origin of her eye disease in the Zhiyin tabloid. She explained that one should not take medicine arbitrarily if one has an eye disease, but must take medicine under the guidance of a doctor. She also drew various shapes of eyes. Some familiar pharmacies came to her door to buy her a copy. Miaozhen sold one copy and got thirteen taels of silver.
If her medical skills were in the Cheng family, it would be normal for her to be recommended to treat the wives of high-ranking officials. However, in Suzhou Prefecture, it would be difficult, since her father was not an official and it would be hard for him to get close to the higher-ups.
Since she couldn't meet the doctor for the time being, she decided to focus on getting better. On the first and fifteenth days of May, she went to provide free medical consultations again, giving away eggs as usual. This time, there were about twenty or thirty people who came, each with different symptoms. This challenged Miaozhen, but it also enriched her experience.
A few days after returning from the free clinic, she repeatedly looked through medical books, only to realize that the sea of knowledge is boundless and that she still had a long way to go.
It is said that Miaozhen's dowry list has been revised to include an acre of land and a house, which Miaozhen is already very satisfied with. However, Miaolian is not so. Her dowry totals two hundred taels, plus forty taels she has saved over the years from weaving and making jewelry. She also wants to buy a dowry field like Miaozhen, but her third uncle refuses. He is only willing to take out one hundred taels from the dowry. Miaolian then uses this one hundred taels and the forty taels she has saved to buy sixteen acres of fertile land.
The Bao family entrusted the land to their elder sister, the Da Bao family, to cultivate. The Da Bao family assured her, "Don't worry, I will definitely treat my niece's land as my own."
"Do you think I don't trust you? I own all the land, it's all for currying favor with my own family." Taking advantage of Miaolian's absence, Madam Bao directly claimed her daughter's dowry as her own.
Knowing what Bao was implying, Madam Bao said, "Those people are all sycophants. Your second branch of the family only knows how to fawn over the powerful and scorn the weak. Why would they remember you? Come to think of it, how is your family any worse than theirs?"
Originally, Madam Bao only harbored five parts resentment, resenting Xu Erpeng and the others for not letting her cultivate the land, thus benefiting outsiders. But now that she heard that Miaozhen had given her an acre of land as part of her dowry, she was eager to take it back.
Her thoughts were not without reason. After Bao Shi entered the Xu family, she reaped all the benefits. She gave birth to a son and even dragged the old man into doing chores. She was practically a tyrant, making the Xu family afraid of her. In the past, the second branch was alright, but since the marriage to the Xiao family, it seemed that the family had completely changed. Her sister's previous methods had also lost their effectiveness, which meant that she could no longer gain any advantage.
Furthermore, Miao Zhen's scorn during Miao Lian's tea ceremony last time made her even more furious.
However, Xu Erpeng would never invite her over, so Da Bao Shi had no choice but to ask Bao Shi to take the lead. Bao Shi was on good terms with several nuns, so she secretly made up the birth dates and times of Xu Erpeng, Mei Shi, and Miao Zhen, and used them to cut off the connection between them.
Miaozhen and the others had no idea about Bao's behavior. To Miaozhen, relatives, whether good or bad, were just people she would see during holidays and festivals, barely exchange a few words, and were not really important.
During the Dragon Boat Festival, Madam Mei and Miaozhen went to the old house to personally deliver the festival gifts. They found Miaolian ironing clothes and learned that it was her brother-in-law from the He family who had invited them out for a trip and had even chartered a boat.
Miaolian laughed and said, "He and his father just finished a job for someone, and after getting paid, he invited us over to have some fun."
"That's a good thing. It's nice for you two to go out and have some fun. To be honest, He Huai has been really good to you," Miao Zhen said.
Miaolian couldn't help but ask, "Didn't the Xiao family invite you over, sister?"
Miaozhen shook her head. Generally speaking, one cannot meet casually after an engagement. Besides, the gifts from the Xiao family were very generous, especially the silk palace fan, sandalwood fan, and green bone fan, which were particularly beautiful. She didn't even have time to admire them.
Seeing Miaozhen like this, Miaolian felt a slight sense of superiority. Although she had married into a poorer and more difficult family like the He family, He Huai genuinely loved her. But her sister Zhenzhen was in a terrible situation—
She thought this way, though she didn't say it aloud, but it showed on her face.
Miaozhen understood as well, and she had nothing to feel ashamed of. After all, she and Xiao Jingshi were practically strangers now, unlike He Huaihe and Miaolian, who had some childhood sweetheart relationship.
Even though they were childhood sweethearts, Cen Yuan still abandoned the Du family girl once he had a better choice.
Sometimes Miaozhen felt that her thoughts were too utilitarian. Perhaps there really is true love in the world. Although Miaolian was showing off in front of her, if they could really grow old together in the future, then she would also wish them well.
After delivering the gifts, Miaozhen and Mei prepared to go home. After Mei got into the carriage, she brought up the matter of the land: "It's good that your father had the foresight to not let relatives touch the land. Miaolian's dowry land, her aunt only gave one qian per mu, and more than ten mu would not even amount to two liang."
"No way? They're relatives? How could they be so heartless?" Miaozhen was speechless.
Madam Mei smiled and said, "Actually, many of the despicable things that are framed are done by relatives or people close to us. How would outsiders know? You should also be more careful and not trust anyone too much."
Miaozhen hugged Mei's arm and said, "Anyway, I like Mother the most."
"This silly child." Although Madam Mei said this, she was actually very happy.
After the mother and son returned, they saw someone carrying a carved red lacquer gift box. Miaozhen looked at the invitation and learned that it was Mrs. Qin. She was very happy and replied with the invitation, inviting her to her home.
Not to mention how the family slaughtered sheep and chickens and prepared meals, because Miaozhen had told Madam Mei about Madam Qin's abilities, and Madam Mei was also looking forward to her coming.
As dusk fell, Madam Qin came to Miaozhen's house. Miaozhen first led her to pay her respects to Madam Mei, and then said, "I really didn't expect that you would still remember me, your friend. Are you doing well?"
“They are just minor quirks common among women. My husband and I came to Suzhou this time to help our third and fourth daughters with their dowries. After we finish here, we will go to Guangzhou and visit the shops along the way. Since we are here, we thought we should see you. You don’t need to keep calling me ‘Madam.’ You are no longer the servant of the Cheng family.” Wei Wan said with a smile.
Miaozhen, understanding the implied meaning, called out, "Sister Wei."
Wei Wan disliked others constantly referring to her husband as her husband, which impressed Miao Zhen. Miao Zhen then asked, "May I ask which families the Third and Fourth Misses have betrothed to?"
"Oh, the third young lady is married to Xu Tanhua, a disciple of Wang Shouren. Although he is currently in mourning at home, he will marry our third young lady after the mourning period ends. As for the fourth young lady, she is betrothed to a scholar surnamed Lu from your Suzhou Prefecture, a poor scholar from a humble background," Wei Wan said with a smile.
Miaozhen knew nothing about Lu Shi'an's affairs, and wondered if that Xu Tanhua might actually be Xu Jie.
If so, it would indeed be a good marriage. Although she was rather vague about the history of the Ming Dynasty, she still knew that this person seemed to have later become the Grand Secretary.
Furthermore, the fourth daughter's betrothal is to a young scholar, which is not bad. People from humble backgrounds have no connections, and they will surely rely on a powerful family like the Cheng family in the future, which is a good thing.
After the group had eaten a couple of rounds, Miaozhen brought it up again, saying, "I'm currently living at home, and I'll be all alone. Sister Wei just gave birth not long ago, so if she feels unwell, just tell me. I don't have any special skills, except for my medical expertise."
Wei Wan entered through the Xu family's main gate and saw that her family lived in the most prosperous area, and their home was well-maintained. Although they weren't extremely wealthy, they were still quite well-off. Despite this, she remained so humble; she was truly a good person. She wasn't one to beat around the bush, so she went straight to the point, "Don't be fooled by my face; my body is covered in sores. It's been almost a year, and it's still not getting better. Walking causes unbearable pain and itching. I don't trust any other doctors; I only trust you."
Fortunately, with the experience of providing free medical consultations over the past six months, Miaozhen is now more than just an expert in gynecology. She smiled slightly and said, "I'll treat you."
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