Chapter 47 (combined with another chapter)
Xiao Tao, dressed as a woman, said with a smile, "This year's grain harvest was timely. After renting out the land this season, we started hiring people to pound rice and put up a rice shop sign. We only sell top-quality white and yellow rice. You instructed us to buy a small boat and a cart, and we deliver goods by water and land on weekdays. I didn't expect business to be so good."
“In our Fengmen area, most people are engaged in fishing, so rice production is naturally lacking. Fengmen is also where the moat and the Grand Canal meet. Although some grain is transported here to sell, many ships also come to resupply. Anyway, our family's capital is all our own, so we can take it slow,” Miaozhen said.
Xiao Tao nodded again: "You're right. We'll definitely do our best and send the money over when it's ready, so the young lady can manage things better." She had also worked in the Cheng family before, and she knew that you had to pay people for everything, and if you paid too little, people would gossip about you behind your back.
Miaozhen waved her hand: "No rush. By the way, I mentioned last time that some of the village heads down there are quite tyrannical, forcibly taking the daughters of their tenants. If we have any, just kick them out."
Xiao Tao replied, "Don't worry, the few Lin family members who stayed behind are all very well-behaved, afraid of being kicked out by us."
"Hmm, that's good." Miaozhen gave a few more instructions and rewarded Xiaotao with a bolt of blue cloth and a bolt of cyan cloth.
Xiao Tao brought two forkfuls of white flour from her own wheat mill, a jar of sesame oil, a forkful of millet, a forkful of white rice, and 120 catties of cotton. Miao Zhen instructed someone to put these upstairs, and then took some millet to have the kitchen cook porridge and send it to Xiao Jingshi.
Miaozhen sent some grain from her field, but Lou Qiongyu's family sent even more. Her field was much better than Miaozhen's, and it produced more grain. The fields were almost completely full.
The steward, Madam Han, felt very dejected. Although her brother was now a commander of a thousand men, half of the soldiers in the garrison had deserted, and he still had to deal with errands every day. Her sister-in-law had given birth to many children and still had to maintain a respectable appearance, so she was the one who had to help out.
She manages the household and takes care of daily expenses. Food and clothing are not a problem, but she has to send more than six taels of silver home every month, which makes her somewhat unable to make ends meet.
Just like when her two younger siblings came to visit in February, she had to give them a gift. However, her sister-in-law, Xia, was having a funeral, which angered her. She didn't even mention that there were still relatives who wanted to freeload.
Han said to Cui Die, "Just tell her I'm resting in my room and send her away."
Cui Die thought to herself that the Second Master paid twenty or thirty taels of silver to each prostitute he hired outside. Although she also gave things to the Second Madam to keep, she would be questioned about any expenses. Originally, Madam Han's life was not bad, but she also had to help the Han family live a good life and manage such a large household, which made her financially strapped.
Especially during the Qingming Festival and Dragon Boat Festival outings, it's time for the women to compete in beauty, and the Second Madam has to spend money to buy some clothes and jewelry.
Meanwhile, Miao Zhen was doing needlework in her room. She needed to finish making the needlework for the Dragon Boat Festival in advance, including the Five Poison Sachets and the Five-Colored Silk Threads.
The five poisonous creatures sachet had to be embroidered with scorpions, snakes, spiders, and lizards, and filled with realgar and mugwort. She wanted to put some other sachets in it, but incense was expensive, so she naturally couldn't bear to.
When it comes to needlework, Lou Qiongyu is quite skilled; her embroidery techniques are excellent, yet she remains very modest.
Miaozhen laughed and said, "My skills are no longer presentable here."
Lou Qiongyu replied, "I'm just a dabbler."
As the two were talking, a woman named Aunt Qing came to their door. It is said that the Xiao family had a wealthy second branch, as well as a woman like Aunt Qing. The husband was useless, and the children were often hungry. The second branch was always able to help out, but now that her son needed to go to school, she couldn't help but come to their door to beg for money.
As soon as she came in, she said, "It's alright for us adults to go hungry, but I can't bear to see the children go hungry while they're studying."
Miaozhen and Lou Qiongyu offered a few words of comfort. Knowing that her son had to pay 80 catties of wheat a year for the village school, they said to Lou Qiongyu, "My maidservant gave me two bags of flour. I'll keep one bag for our Fourth Master, and I'll give the other to Aunt Qing. Or you could send one bag too, so we can make up the difference for Aunt Qing. What do you say?"
Lou Qiongyu naturally agreed without hesitation, took the key and gave it to the maid, then had the servant bring it over.
Miaozhen gave her another box of pastries: "Auntie, take these back and give them to the children to sweeten their mouths."
Aunt Qing was so happy that she almost kowtowed: "You two grandmothers are such kind people. I will definitely make sure my child is very filial in the future."
Miaozhen and Lou Qiongyu had their maid help her up, both saying, "Auntie, you absolutely mustn't."
Meanwhile, Han Shi learned that Miao Zhen and Lou Qiongyu had each sent sixty catties of wheat and forty catties of high-quality white flour. She rubbed her face and thought to herself, "I'm still in charge of the household, yet I'm not as generous as my two newly married sisters-in-law."
At the end of April, Xia Xianjie and Xiao Jingyan returned from Yangzhou, both of them having lost weight. Chao said to Xia Xianjie, "According to the 'Great Ming Code,' married daughters are required to wear the third-degree 'Great Merit' mourning garment and observe nine months of mourning. You should observe mourning for your father in the backyard, while Yan'er can move to the front yard. In this way, the mourning will be complete."
"What?" Sister Xia was shocked.
Madam Chao glanced at her and said, "You are also a wife. Your husband is a scholar who passed the imperial examination. Although he is currently studying medicine, he will become an official in the future. You must also observe proper etiquette."
Even though Xia Xianjie was usually flamboyant, she could only swallow her anger now, her face turning yellow with rage. She returned to her room fuming. Originally, she was travel-worn and her father had passed away, leaving her with a thousand worries. She fell ill as soon as she got back.
Although Xiao Jingyan was also a doctor, Madam Chao asked Miaozhen to come and treat her. At that time, Miaozhen was having lunch with Xiao Jingshi. When she heard that Madam Chao had sent someone over, she said, "I will go and take a look after I finish eating."
Although Xiao Jingshi was often in the study, he was a know-it-all. He just smiled and said, "You can cure her physical illness, but you may not be able to cure her heartache."
Miaozhen naturally knew the reason, but what Chao said made sense. As the saying goes, etiquette doesn't apply to commoners, but if one isn't a commoner, one must follow etiquette. After she finished her meal, she went to the main room. Xia Xian's room was quite luxurious, but she herself seemed listless. Miaozhen didn't say much. Firstly, she wasn't very familiar with her, and secondly, too much talk leads to mistakes. If she offered too much comfort, Xia Xian would often come to her in the future, forming cliques, and it wouldn't be good whether she responded or not.
In the workplace, the worst thing you can do is get yourself involved in trouble; the same applies to family life.
Therefore, she simply said, "I think my sister-in-law was just rushing on the road, and the wind-related symptoms caused her headache and dizziness. I'll prescribe some Xiaofeng San (a traditional Chinese medicine for relieving wind-related symptoms), to be taken three times a day with some tea."
Xia Xianjie saw that although Miaozhen was not particularly beautiful, her complexion had improved a lot. When she married into the family in February, she had pimples on her chin, but now her face was as smooth as spring water, and she looked like a ripe peach just sprouting.
She couldn't help but say, "It's clear that Fourth Sister-in-law and Fourth Brother have a very good relationship now?"
Miaozhen was unfazed by her questions. Such questions would be commonplace in modern times, but in ancient times, asking them suddenly seemed to lack a sense of boundaries. Miaozhen replied, "It is normal for husband and wife to treat each other with respect. I will give the prescription to my sister-in-law's maid and also report it to my aunt. I will go now."
After saying that, he went straight out to sit with Madam Chao for a while and told her about Xia Xian's illness and the prescription. Madam Chao said, "Thank you for your hard work, good child."
“We’re all family, please don’t speak like that,” Miaozhen said with a smile.
Madam Chao continued, "Last time I came, I heard from Aunt Qing in the clan that you and Lao Liu's wife both gave her gifts. You are kind and righteous, which is very good. A family that accumulates good deeds will surely have abundant blessings."
“It’s nothing. When I was at home, my father often taught me Zhu Xi’s family precepts, such as ‘Even if your descendants are foolish, you must read the classics.’ And ‘When you see poor relatives and neighbors, you should show them kindness and compassion.’ If I were a clay Bodhisattva crossing the river, it would be fine, but my servants brought rice and grain. If I gave her half, I would have plenty to spare. Aunt, please don’t praise me.” Miaozhen said.
Seeing that she quoted classical texts in her speech, Madam Chao liked her even more.
When I returned, it was already dusk. Walking in the garden, I felt a sudden sadness. It turns out that people's moods really can be affected by the weather.
Xiao Jingshi had just washed his hair and was letting it down while watering the plants. Seeing that Miaozhen looked unwell, he handed the watering can to the maid and stepped forward, asking, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing much? I just looked at the sunset when I came back, and suddenly I felt down, as if I were in a dream," Miaozhen said.
Xiao Jingshi could understand this feeling very well. Anyone who is good at poetry and painting can understand the changes in nature. He took her hand and came in: "Zhenzhen, come in and let's talk."
He used to call himself "wife," but after hearing his parents call her by her name last time, he started calling her that too.
Miao Zhen went in with him. The two didn't really say anything, they just leaned against each other. Xiao Jingshi saw her exquisite figure under her thin clothes and had a thought. He carried her to the inner room, not to mention how warm it was inside the red-clothed room.
As it grew late, the two of them lazily washed and dressed. Miaozhen took a book from the west study to read, and Xiao Jingshi also took a book to read in his room. For some reason, both of them felt a sense of satisfaction.
He thought everyone wanted something from him. His mother hoped he would rise above others and surpass the third and first wives in the future. His father hoped he would become an official and, ideally, posthumously honor his family for three generations. But the woman he married, he thought her family used underhanded tactics before the marriage, but after the marriage, she didn't make any demands on him.
Sister-in-law Xia felt uncomfortable living separately from her elder brother and even fell ill from anger. Miaozhen, on the other hand, was extremely busy during the days she was away.
Miaozhen was certainly busy; not only was she busy, but she also wanted to achieve something significant.
Her mother wanted her to get pregnant early, which was naturally for her own good. She couldn't judge the thoughts of a woman in the Ming Dynasty, but she also had her own ideas. No matter how well she did in terms of womanly virtues, once she lost her value, no matter how beautiful or fertile she was, she would not escape the fate of being abandoned in the future.
Rather than that, she still pinned her hopes on a breakthrough in medical skills, reaching the highest level of understanding, so that she could become a renowned doctor in the future.
Therefore, she doesn't do anything deliberately; she lets everything take its natural course.
Fortunately, her name has already been submitted. Whether she will be selected depends on what the higher-ups say, and that's not her problem. Just like modern award ceremonies, being nominated is one thing, but whether you win the award is another.
It was also said that Xia Xianjie had been depressed for a few days, but finally recovered. Although Madam Chao made her observe nine months of mourning and not sleep in the same room, she did not isolate herself in the room all day long, so she was still able to go out and move around.
She went to the Han family first. When Han's mother came over, Ren invited the old lady to stay. The old lady stayed at the Banana Garden with her daughter.
Old Mrs. Han was a kind and gentle person. She brought Han's favorite hazelnut and pine nut rice porridge. The mother and daughter were chatting happily when Old Mrs. Han said, "I don't want the maids to pick it out. I peeled it all myself. I'm just afraid that some crumbs will get in and hurt your teeth. Your brother wanted to ask for a bowl, but I hit his hand."
“Mother, my brother is quite pitiful too,” Madam Han said with a smile.
Her mother doted on her since she was little, often saying that she was better than ten sons. However, her mother had no choice but to rely on her brother to support her in her old age. Although she could bring her mother over to visit, she couldn't let her mother stay at her house all the time.
When Xia Xianjie came in, she saw that the mother and daughter were close. She also had a mother, but her mother had passed away. Her stepmother had taken her things back to her parents' home, and she was all alone.
Han Yueyao was very welcoming to her, saying, "Sister-in-law, please come in and sit down. Let's talk together."
Xia Xianjie immediately waved her hand, saying that she was going to Miaozhen's place, so Han Yueyao couldn't keep her there. However, when Xia Xianjie came to Miaozhen's place, Miaozhen had just returned from a house call. Today, she had treated the wife of the owner of an inn in Wu County. Unexpectedly, the person was very generous and gave her three taels of silver as a consultation fee.
Miaozhen followed the prevailing medical practice rules, charging more for the wealthy and less or nothing for the poor. She put the money into her money box, and having just changed her clothes, she heard that Sister Xia Xian was coming, so she quickly invited her in.
"Sister-in-law has arrived, please have a seat." Miaozhen greeted her in the main hall.
Sister Xia smiled and said, "Thanks to your medicine, I'm all better now, and I was just about to thank you."
“Look at what you’re saying, sister-in-law, that’s too formal,” Miaozhen said.
The two didn't know each other well, and after exchanging a few perfunctory words, Sister Xia Xian asked, "Does Fourth Sister-in-law know that Second Sister-in-law's mother has arrived?"
Miaozhen shook her head: "I heard it from my mother-in-law yesterday, but I don't know much about it."
"When I arrived, her mother had brought her some porridge, and they were having a lively conversation. Is your mother coming?" Xia Xianjie felt that one had to be very serious when talking to Miaozhen. This person seemed to be a very serious person, and also quite boring.
Miaozhen nodded: "I've already told my mother that I'll come over the day before the Dragon Boat Festival, so we can go together then."
Xia Xianjie found her answers rather dull and went next door to talk to Lou Qiongyu. Lou Qiongyu knew that her mother-in-law was a Buddhist, and she thought that since her parents had gone to great lengths to let her marry into the family, she naturally had to please her mother-in-law. Her second sister-in-law was good at managing the household, and her fourth sister-in-law was skilled in medicine, so she had to learn more from Buddhist scriptures so that she could get along well with her mother-in-law in the future.
Moreover, Ding Jiaoyu's daughter was originally her cousin. Xia Xianjie stole her marriage, and although she didn't show it on her face, she was still resentful towards Xia Xianjie, so she was naturally very perfunctory.
Xia Xianjie ran into a wall again. When she returned to the main house, she complained to her confidante Linglong: "The wives in the second house are all like blocks of wood."
If Linglong weren't Xia Xianjie's confidante, she would have been very good at comforting people: "These people are nothing to worry about. Speaking of family background, the three of them combined don't even have as much as your dowry."
“Speaking of dowry, I also need to go and see the houses that came with my dowry. Renting them all out won’t earn me much money. I might as well find one to rent out.” She was true to her word. She lied to Madam Chao, saying that she had to go and see the land issue from last time, and Madam Chao told her to go and handle it first.
As she went out and wandered around, she unexpectedly ran into Xiao Jingheng coming out of the outer courtyard. After asking around, she found out that this was Xiao Jingheng's mistress, not a prostitute.
What a proper scholar's daughter! She wore a red pipa-style jacket with a front opening, a white, smooth, embroidered skirt, and her small, bound feet were partially hidden within. She was quite a beautiful girl.
Although her relationship with Han Yueyao might not be genuinely good, the fact that such a person had risen to power reminded her of how her family had also been elevated to power by her stepmother, who came from an official family. On the surface, they were a scholarly family, but in reality, they were illicit and promiscuous.
After returning home, she told Han Yueyao about it. Han Yueyao naturally had a vague idea of what was going on, but as long as the man didn't bring him back, she pretended not to know.
Now that Xia Xian had exposed her, she looked away and said, "Perhaps you saw it wrong?"
"How could I be mistaken? I saw it clearly, my dear sister-in-law. The man living there is a good man, he speaks politely, he is beautiful, but he is not someone to be trifled with. If there were another man or woman with him, where would you even stand?" Sister Xia boasted that she had a good eye for people.
But Han Yueyao still refused: "Even if someone enters the door, they can't get past me."
Xia Xianjie said, "She's wearing a skirt that costs eight taels a piece, and her hair ornaments that cost fifty or sixty taels a piece. Her courtyard is three or four courtyards in size. She's younger and smarter than you. If you don't make the first move, what else can you do? Every time your mother pretends to be nice to you, isn't it just to ask you for money? Your brother is open about it, but she's secretive. You can still help her now, but what will you do in the future? You don't have two younger brothers and sisters who have already lost their land."
Although Xia Xianjie was telling the truth, the truth is often unpleasant to hear, and Han Yueyao felt that her shame had been exposed to her sister-in-law, so she cried in private.
Seeing that she was quite useless, Sister Xia secretly told her a method. As the saying goes, cats have their ways and dogs have theirs. Sister Xia took Han Yueyao to see the girl again, and immediately alarm bells went off. She was at a loss.
Xia Xianjie, however, had a plan. She deliberately sent a disheveled man out of the courtyard the next day, and had people beat drums and gongs so that the neighbors would know that the woman was having an affair.
Although Xiao Jingheng liked the woman because he was attracted to her purity, he never expected that she would use his money to support a man, so he simply sent him away.
Logically speaking, Han Yueyao should be very grateful to Sister Xia Xian, but for some reason, she felt uncomfortable.
Miao Zhen was unaware of Han and Xia's scheme. She had a lot of patients this month and had just finished moxibustion on a patient with a small inguinal hernia. The patient was experiencing severe pain from her lower abdomen to her navel and was also unable to control her urination. Miao Zhen first performed moxibustion on her Da Dun Xue point three times.
After the moxibustion, she continued by sedan chair to a family suffering from morning sickness, vomiting phlegm. She then prescribed ginseng and tangerine peel soup.
He saw two patients in one day and earned 1.8 taels of silver. On his way home, he bought 1 mace of Yangzhou ham rice dumplings, which Xiao Jingshi loved to eat. He heard that this family's rice dumplings contained a large piece of ham, which was cooked for a day and a night and mixed with glutinous rice. It was very salty, fragrant and soft.
Xiao Jingshi didn't have a big appetite, and he only ate one and refused to eat any more. Miaozhen had no choice but to say, "Yesterday I heard you say you wanted to eat it, so I went out of my way to buy it. But when I got back, you only ate one."
"Just leave it there, I'll eat it later," Xiao Jingshi said.
Miaozhen knew he was willful, so she didn't say anything to him. She kept one zongzi for herself and gave the other two large meat zongzi to the servants. Each one cost about twenty-five coins, and everyone ate well.
To be fair, Xiao Jingshi was quite the actor. He was usually very casual around her, but when Madam Mei came, he became very obedient. At lunch, the couple accompanied Madam Mei and her two younger brothers. Jian Ge'er seemed to have a very clumsy hand; he would suddenly drop his chopsticks or knock over something. Miao Zhen, of course, had to scold him.
"You're not a child anymore. It's not good to be so reckless. It's fine when you're with family, but what if you're with outsiders?"
Mei didn't dare to interrupt, but Xiao Jingshi took the initiative to call people in to clean up, and said to Miaozhen, "It's normal to make mistakes, don't get angry."
Miaozhen muttered, "I didn't get angry, I was just saying it."
Xiao Jingshi then helped Mei Shi serve the dishes, looking quite obedient, which made Miaozhen glance at her sideways.
After lunch, Jian Ge'er and Kun Ge'er played in the yard, while Xiao Jingshi went to the front study to read. Miao Zhenzhen pulled Mei Shi aside and said, "I am so happy that you could come."
Seeing the lavish furnishings of her daughter's home and the courtyard that resembled a fairyland, not to mention that her son-in-law had been obedient to her daughter and that her daughter dared to speak loudly in someone else's house, Madam Mei felt reassured.
Miaozhen was confident because she earned a total of thirty-five taels of silver in consultation fees and medicine money in April. If she didn't bribe her servants, she probably would only earn that much in a month. Money is what gives people confidence.
Just as the mother and daughter were about to speak, Madam Ren invited them both to come over and talk. Miaozhen told the two maids to take good care of Jian'er and Kun'er, and then went out with Madam Mei. They happened to meet Lou Qiongyu and her mother, the wife of the Registrar Lou, at the door, and they greeted each other again.
Lou Qiongyu was a typical lady with a gentle nature, but her mother looked like the shrewd and assertive wife of a minor official. Her temperament was somewhat similar to that of Mrs. Tong.
The two mothers walked ahead, chatting about everyday matters. Miaozhen and Lou Qiongyu walked side by side. Seeing that she looked a little downcast, they quickly asked, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
"It's nothing, I just ate too much at noon." As soon as Lou Qiongyu's mother came over, she talked about her belly, urging her to get pregnant quickly so that she would have a higher status in the Xiao family than everyone else. She even taught her what position to use to conceive, which made Lou Qiongyu very annoyed.
Xiao Jingtang went to the academy less than a month after his marriage, not to mention that even after he returned, he was constantly entertaining guests, and she couldn't control what he did outside.
As soon as she thought about it, she felt dizzy and disoriented. Luckily, Miaozhen helped her up and tapped her wrist slightly. She then smiled and said to Mrs. Lou in front of her, "Auntie, my sixth sister-in-law is pregnant. I took her pulse, and it's a happy pulse. She's been pregnant for two months. Congratulations!"
Lou Qiongyu was surprised to find herself pregnant. Mrs. Lou was overjoyed and glanced at Madam Mei, momentarily forgetting herself: "I was just talking about this. Fourth sister-in-law, you are a doctor. From now on, we can entrust our Qiongyu to your care. You must take good care of your nephew."
Madam Mei thought to herself, "What is this Mrs. Lou saying? Does she think her daughter is some kind of maid, or does she think her daughter can't have children?"
Unexpectedly, Miaozhen said, "I would like to, but I am pregnant, though it's still early in the pregnancy, so it's not appropriate to tell anyone."
Madam Mei was surprised that Miaozhen was pregnant. She immediately walked over with a joyful expression and said to Madam Lou, "That's true. We can't have one happy event with another."
The idea of "two pregnant women clashing" is a superstitious belief. Generally speaking, it's said that two pregnant women shouldn't sit or sleep together, for fear of the other's bad luck affecting them, or even causing a miscarriage.
Miaozhen kept quiet because she was afraid of making a fuss, but she also couldn't bear to see her mother, who had come all this way, so forlorn. So she revealed it herself, just like how her parents always gave her what others had when she was little, and she was returning the favor.
Regardless of what Mrs. Mei and Mrs. Lou were like, the person who was happiest was Mrs. Ren.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
