13. Failing to Recognize True Worth

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During the New Year celebrations, the entire Xu family spent the holiday at Miaozhen’s home. When they learned that her cousin Miaolian was still attending school, they were somewhat astonished. After all, Third Aunt was famously frugal. The previous year, when they had gone to her house for the New Year’s Eve feast, the meal had run a little late. Afraid of wasting candles, she had simply blown them all out, leaving the whole family to converse in complete darkness.

Before long, Madam Bao revealed the truth herself. “Our Zhenzhen has stopped studying, but our Lian’er must continue. After all, she is being taught by a proper licentiate.”

So she wanted to compare herself with them. Miaozhen remembered that Madam Bao had once refused to let Miaolian attend school, complaining that it wasted money. Now she thought nothing of having her daughter study under Madam Qiu, while dismissing Miaozhen and the others as engaged in foolish nonsense. One could not discuss winter with a summer insect, and Miaozhen naturally had no wish to pay her any attention.

Third Uncle, however, still began discussing Fourth Aunt’s dowry with Miaozhen’s father.

“Second Brother, even I have taken out twenty strings of cash. How can you stand by and watch your own sister marry without a dowry?”

Xu Erpeng was not one to be trifled with. He replied bluntly, “There are only two major occasions in a household—joy and mourning. When Grandfather passed away, I contributed thirty taels, and I never asked you for a single coin. I also helped Fourth Sister purchase a spinning machine worth fifty or sixty taels. Was that not money spent for the sake of the family? One should wear a hat suited to the size of one’s head. If you cannot afford a dowry, then break off the engagement or let her remain unmarried, as you please. You drove our elder brother away, and now you have come to pressure us as well? I simply cannot understand why you are all so vain.”

At these words, Miaozhen could not help applauding her father inwardly. When it came to speaking, no one in the family could match him.

Sure enough, the others soon fell silent.

Madam Mei hurriedly tried to smooth things over. “Come, eat your meal. The dishes are already going cold, and they will not taste good once they do.”

Old Madam Xu and Old Master Xu rarely ate such fine food either. They stuffed their cheeks until they bulged, while little Zhang devoured the huge prawns one after another. Even Miaolian drank bowl after bowl of sweet soup. They ate as though swept forward by a gale.

Miaozhen could not help wondering: Her Third Uncle had earned so much money, and it was not as though the family could not afford meat. Why were they eating as if they had never seen food before?

What she did not know was that in the household of the Xu family’s third branch, meals were prepared simply by boiling the food until it was cooked. The second branch, by contrast, had hired a maid specifically to manage the kitchen, while Madam Mei was both meticulous and capable. Even plain white cabbage tasted better when she stir-fried it than when anyone else did.

That night, everyone from the third branch stayed behind to keep watch for the New Year. They had eaten until their stomachs were round and had no strength left even to drink tea.

The matter of Fourth Aunt’s dowry was no longer mentioned. In fact, it had been settled with remarkable simplicity. Miaozhen thought that for the sake of such a matter, her eldest uncle’s family had been prepared to move all the way to Jinling. It hardly seemed worth it.

This incident also taught her something: so long as one was unwilling to do something, no one could truly force one to do it.

As long as one faced difficulties head-on, they ceased to be difficult.

On the second day of the New Year, they returned to the Mei family home. The Mei residence lay outside the city. Though its roofs were thatched, the foundations were built of stone, and within the walls stood craggy artificial mountains surrounded by dense plum groves. The thatched outer structures concealed tiled rooms within, whose walls were white and smooth as polished jade.

Madam Mei’s quarters even contained a screen made of huanghuali wood. Several maids stood in attendance. She was Madam Mei’s stepmother and Aunt Qiao’s mother, and she had sent seven or eight servants out to welcome Aunt Qiao.

Aunt Qiao entered in the same grand fashion as always, surrounded by attendants and treated like the moon among stars. Nothing about her had changed, and even her daughters were fawned over. On occasions such as this, Madam Mei and Miaozhen merely watched in silence and ate in silence.

After the Lantern Festival, however, Miaozhen accompanied Madam Ru on a house call. Their destination was the Qiao residence.

When their eyes met, Miaozhen pretended not to recognize Aunt Qiao. Madam Ru asked, “Madam Qiao, what has happened to you?”

Aunt Qiao had originally intended to summon the female physician who usually treated her, but that woman had returned to the countryside. Thus she had invited Madam Ru instead. She had never expected to encounter her own niece—the daughter of the elder sister she had always looked down upon.

She felt as though she had lost every shred of dignity.

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“Our mistress was extremely agitated that day. In her anger, she began bleeding and miscarried. Her lower abdomen is still painful,” said one of the older servants beside Aunt Qiao.

Madam Ru intended to train Miaozhen, so she said, “Take her pulse first, then tell me how you would diagnose the condition.”

Miaozhen did not call Aunt Qiao “Aunt.” Instead, she said, “Please extend your hand. I shall examine you first.”

Seeing how calm and composed the girl was, Aunt Qiao held out her hand. After taking her pulse, Miaozhen spoke slowly.

“From my observation, this is not simply a matter of lingering liver fire, but of blood failing to follow its proper pathways. As the saying goes, the uterine vessels are connected to the kidneys, and the womb, heart, and kidneys are all linked. Earlier, this lady’s sudden rage injured the liver, causing the qi and blood to fall into disorder. When the qi rebels and the blood stagnates, the connection between the heart, kidneys, and uterine vessels is easily obstructed, resulting in miscarriage. Now that the miscarriage has occurred, she still suffers abdominal pain because the obstruction between the heart, kidneys, and uterine vessels remains. Where there is no free flow, there is pain. The qi and blood must be regulated, the blood guided back to its proper channels, and the liver nourished with sufficient blood. Only then will the illness be cured.”

“Very good,” Madam Ru added. “However, it is not enough merely to guide the blood back to the liver. The liver fire must also be calmed, so that the qi and blood within the liver do not become disordered again.”

“Since that is the case, Master, how would you prescribe the medicine?” Miaozhen asked.

“Five qian of white peony root, which nourishes the blood, softens the liver, and relieves pain; five qian of angelica root, which replenishes the qi and invigorates the blood; three qian of atractylodes, whose ability to strengthen the spleen and replenish the qi needs no explanation; one qian of licorice to harmonize the properties of the other medicines; and three qian of black schizonepeta, which also helps astringe and stop bleeding. As for ophiopogon and tree peony bark, both nourish yin and clear heat…”

Miaozhen listened and committed every word to memory. She then summarized the prescription. The medicines were intended to nourish the blood, soften the liver, soothe the liver, and strengthen the spleen. With cyperus and turmeric added to soothe the liver and clear heat, it was indeed an excellent formula.

Madam Ru handed the prescription to one of Aunt Qiao’s servants and instructed the Qiao family to decoct it in water and drink it as directed. Only then did they take their leave. The Qiao family paid two qian for the consultation and sent them home in a sedan chair.

The matter involved the patient’s privacy, so Miaozhen did not even tell Madam Mei.

She no longer needed to attend the girls’ school. Every day she left the Tao household early and returned late. Sometimes she spent half a day inserting needles into patients and ended up hungry, but whatever the hardship, she was genuinely learning.

The moment she opened her eyes each morning, she was occupied with treating patients and had no time to concern herself with anything else.

Now she had to study not only women’s medicine but also every kind of medical text, prescriptions, and records of her own experience. It was as though one person had to do the work of two.

All she knew was that her father had contributed ten strings of cash, Third Uncle had provided twenty strings toward Fourth Aunt’s dowry, and Old Master Xu had taken out the seventy-five strings left unused from before. They had barely managed to gather one hundred strings in cash, or one hundred and fifty once the spinning machine was counted.

At the beginning of the year, Miaozhen turned eleven. Her family’s debts had finally been paid off, and she could feel that the pressure on her father had eased. Normally he buried himself in his study writing books, but now he was sometimes able to come out and exchange a few words with them.

During the Flower Festival, Aunt Qiao invited them to the Qiao family garden to admire the blossoms. Madam Mei said to her daughter, “You spend every day handling medicinal herbs. You should go and smell some flowers for a change. A single day of relaxation will dispel all your fatigue.”

“Very well. I shall go with you, Mother,” Miaozhen replied with a smile.

Mother and daughter traveled by carriage to the Qiao residence. In the short month and a half since their previous meeting, Aunt Qiao seemed to have recovered her strength. Still, Grand Aunt Mei said to her, “Although you are much better now, you must continue to take good care of yourself.”

Madam Mei could not help asking, “What happened to my younger sister?”

Aunt Qiao assumed that Madam Mei was being sarcastic and glanced at Miaozhen. “You did not tell your mother?”

“That is a patient’s private matter,” Miaozhen replied. “How could I casually tell anyone else? Aunt, you are underestimating me.”

Aunt Qiao had always been slightly wary of Miaozhen. The girl almost never appeared during the liveliest celebrations of the year. No matter how many red envelopes she received or how splendid the banquets were, she simply went about her own affairs. When one did not need to ask others for anything, one’s bearing naturally became lofty; when one did not need to seek favors, one’s conduct became bold. That was precisely the principle at work.

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To put it plainly, no matter how wealthy Aunt Qiao was, she would not give them so much as a single coin.

Aunt Qiao had nothing to say. Several of the Qiao family’s concubines came out to greet the guests, and Miaozhen followed her mother in exchanging pleasantries. Grand Aunt Mei remarked to her, “I think Zhenzhen is rather shy around strangers. She has an introverted temperament.”

Miaozhen interacted with others perfectly normally. She knew that Grand Aunt Mei was helping Aunt Qiao belittle her, so she smiled and said, “Aunt, what makes you say that? I am quite capable of ordinary socializing. This is the first time I have ever heard anyone describe me that way.”

Madam Mei also spoke up for her daughter. “Our Zhenzhen is the very soul of propriety. Whether it is the great scholar Madam Qiu or Madam Ru, they all think highly of her. Wherever she goes, people praise her.”

With her parents to vouch for her, Miaozhen naturally feared nothing. Besides, she only spoke when there was something to speak about; she was not someone who attacked others without reason.

Some people even admired Miaozhen’s temperament. They thought it remarkable that a girl so young could possess such ability. Fifth Concubine Qiao was one of them. Taking advantage of a free moment, she summoned Miaozhen and explained that she often suffered from aching in her lower back, pain and fullness in her chest and lower abdomen, constant drowsiness, and an inability to conceive.

“I previously asked a physician to examine me. He said that my kidneys were weak and my qi and blood deficient. I have taken more kidney-tonifying medicines than I can count, but nothing has helped.” Fifth Concubine Qiao had come merely to try her luck, like a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse.

After all, female physicians were rare.

As Miaozhen took her pulse, she also pressed gently on the woman’s abdomen. “Your problem does not stem from deficient kidney qi. You have a mass—in other words, a lump. And from your pulse, this does not appear to be a kidney disorder either. Rather, your conception and governing vessels are weakened.”

“A lump? Miss Xu—no, Doctor Xu, I am not going to die, am I?” Fifth Concubine Qiao was startled.

Male physicians usually took a woman’s pulse through a curtain, which was precisely where a female physician had an advantage: she could examine and press the abdomen directly. Seeing the woman’s alarm, Miaozhen quickly smiled. “No, no. It is not so serious.”

Fifth Concubine Qiao let out a breath of relief and hurriedly pleaded, “You must help cure me.”

“I am willing to try. However, my aunt is the principal wife of your household, so I shall prescribe the medicine only on the condition that you do not say I was the one who wrote it. Take thirty doses first. If the qi in your conception and governing vessels begins to flow freely, take another thirty doses. If you agree, swear an oath.”

Miaozhen had begun learning to write prescriptions herself. For at least the past month, she had been prescribing medicines independently, and now she wanted to put her skills to the test.

Fifth Concubine Qiao swore a solemn oath, after which Miaozhen prescribed Shengdai Decoction.

When she returned home, Miaozhen told Madam Mei what had happened and then sought Madam Ru’s confirmation.

Madam Ru said, “You are far too cautious. You have studied for three years already. There is absolutely nothing wrong with prescribing this formula for such a condition.”

Even so, as Miaozhen continued leaving the Tao household early and returning late, she worried day and night. On the one hand, she feared that someone might tamper with the medicine and that she would somehow be blamed. On the other, she was afraid that the medicine might prove ineffective.

As for Fifth Concubine Qiao, she had always been favored. She sent a maid out to obtain the medicine and took thirty doses. She truly felt that her qi and blood had become much fuller. After taking another thirty doses, she stopped the medicine and resumed relations with her husband. A little over a month later, she discovered that she was pregnant.

When Fifth Concubine Qiao conceived, Aunt Qiao was naturally furious. On the surface, she instructed people to care for the woman and congratulated her on her good fortune, but inwardly she was consumed by hatred.

Fifth Concubine Qiao said to one of her trusted attendants, “That woman is a fool who cannot recognize gold even when it is set in jade.”

She then deliberately sent a maid to deliver a five-tael gold ingot to Miaozhen, saying that she had become pregnant and had come especially to thank her.

Only after seeing the gold ingot did Miaozhen finally breathe a sigh of relief. Little by little, she began to gain confidence in herself.

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