Xu Dalang’s friend spoke quite persuasively, promising to recommend him for any vacancy that might arise in Jinling. Filled with hope, he was met with disagreement from Huang Shi, who believed their family was settled in Suzhou, with relatives and friends all around. Even if she stopped working as an embroiderer for the Vice Military Officer’s household, she could still manage at her uncle’s silk and cotton shop.
She earnestly advised, “You often carry yourself with lofty pride and lack skill in social niceties. Wouldn’t it be better to find a position as a lecturer at a local academy? It’s not impossible, right? The household can’t always rely on me alone to support it, can it?”
Such words wounded Xu Dalang’s pride: “Yes, you earn the money. The household depends entirely on you.”
“I never claimed to be that capable. I know you find me ugly, that I’m not good enough for you, and you just want to shake me off to go to Jinling and play the dashing gentleman…” Huang Shi, already insecure about her appearance, now feared that Xu Dalang might truly leave and thrive without her.
Arguments breed harsh words. Fortunately, Xu Dalang valued his reputation and feared being laughed at by his younger brother, so he reluctantly backed down.
Though young, Miaoyun understood the need to conceal her parents’ disputes. Aware that their quarrels were improper, she focused on her needlework at Miaozhen’s place, avoiding any mention of other matters.
Just then, Ma Yulan from next door arrived. Miaozhen hurriedly asked for tea to be served and brought out dried persimmons and goose oil spring cakes, saying, “Sister Ma, please sit. Let’s chat together.”
“Zhen’er, my mother would like you to examine Old Lady Li’s illness,” Ma Yulan said.
Miaozhen shook her head. “I’m not yet at the stage where I can prescribe treatments or administer needles independently. If you ask me about mild tonic soups for daily use, I can share recipes, but now is not the time for this.”
As a physician, compassion was essential, but Miaozhen felt she hadn’t completed her training and shouldn’t treat patients yet—a form of self-protection.
After Ma Yulan urged her a few more times, she finally said, “Alright, I’ll tell my mother.”
After Ma Yulan left, Miaoyun thought it was a pity. If Miaozhen could treat Old Lady Li, she might gain the Li family’s favor. With her second uncle’s household improving, she might even marry into it someday.
Though young, Miaoyun was precocious.
Thus, she didn’t understand: “Zhenzhen, why won’t you go? That Old Lady Li is someone of status. It would be good for you too.”
“I still have a long way to go,” Miaozhen shook her head.
As the two sisters talked, Xu Siniang shuffled upstairs in her slippers and immediately spotted two pairs of silk flowers, a carved comb, and several hair ties on Miaozhen’s dressing table. She averted her eyes, then noticed the gold necklace with a gemstone around Miaoyun’s neck and couldn’t help saying, “Yun’er, that necklace must be very expensive.”
Miaoyun replied, “It was a gift from the Thousand-Household Commander’s wife. I don’t know how much it cost.”
“Zhenzhen, why don’t you ask your parents to buy you one?” Xu Siniang, envious herself, tried to stir trouble.
Miaozhen didn’t take the bait: “Auntie, you should ask Grandfather and Grandmother to buy you one too. I already have a silver necklace and don’t need another.”
Xu Siniang pursed her lips and, seeing them bent over their needlework, went straight to the front hall.
After finishing their needlework, Miaozhen usually rested her eyes and napped at noon, so Miaoyun went home first.
A couple of days later, as the rain was letting up, Miaozhen was reading a medical book when Xu Siniang came clattering upstairs like a thief and said, “Zhenzhen, guess what I just saw? I saw Miaoyun talking to a man from the Li family.”
No sooner had she finished speaking than Miaoyun came upstairs: “I was helping Second Aunt deliver preserved greens to the Ma family when I happened to meet the eldest son of the Li family. She merely complimented Second Aunt’s preserved greens, just a few words, and yet you’ve been making up stories about me behind my back. I think it’s you who stole Zhenzhen’s pouch, intending to pass it off as your own to give to the Li family’s young master. When I discovered it, you started this…”
“Auntie, you stole my things?” Miaozhen hadn’t expected Xu Siniang to do such a thing.
Xu Siniang mumbled a few times, then turned to see Miaoyun glaring at her, but she stubbornly refused to admit it.
Miaozhen told Mei Shi about these incidents. Mei Shi said, “Being shallow-minded is one thing, but having improper intentions is another. The rain is about to stop; once the sun comes out, we’ll send her back.”
Her own daughter went to the Ma family every day but never behaved like this. Xu Siniang’s parents hadn’t taught her properly, and she was truly making a spectacle of herself here.
Even Ma Taitai next door remarked, “The Xu family’s Zhenzhen is a good one, very upright. It’s just a pity that her aunts and sisters have no sense of propriety.”
Fortunately, the sky cleared the next day, and Suzhou City returned to calm. Da Fang ultimately didn’t buy a house; Huang Shi asked her uncle to rent a residence near Xumen instead. Xu Siniang was quickly sent back, still wearing a set of clothes given to her by Mei Shi.
People in the courtyard were sweeping away the rotten leaves and broken branches brought by the rain—likely remnants of the continuous heavy downpours in recent days. The family’s bookstore had reopened, and the steps were covered in moss, making the ground feel uncomfortably damp.
Xiao Xi went out to hang the laundry to dry. As for the pillow Xu Siniang had slept on, because she had lice in her hair, Miaozhen directly ordered it thrown away, fearing she might get infested too.
Miaozhen opened the windows here, and sunlight streamed in, seemingly carrying away the damp darkness from the corners. She then went as usual to Ru Shi’s to study medicine.
Today’s patient was an elderly woman in her sixties or seventies who had already undergone menopause but suddenly started menstruating again, with purple blood clots. Ru Shi earnestly explained to Miaozhen, “Generally, women after forty-nine have their menses dry up and don’t menstruate like young women. This condition is due to the liver failing to store blood and the spleen failing to regulate it, so we must use An Lao Tang.”
Miaozhen noted down the prescription for An Lao Tang and pondered the differences between metrorrhagia in the elderly due to sexual activity and resumed menstruation in advanced age. She had previously found syndrome differentiation too difficult but was gradually beginning to grasp the basics.
For several easily confused conditions, she had to keep her own records.
Ru Shi also taught her several methods of syndrome differentiation, which prescriptions to use, and how to use them. After finishing, she said, “Zhenzhen, is your teacher at the Girls’ School surnamed Chou?”
“Yes, do you know her, madam?” Miaozhen asked curiously.
Ru Shi smiled and said, “I heard her brother has been reinstated as the Surveillance Commissioner of Zhejiang and is planning to bring her back.”
Miaozhen only knew that Chou Niangzi had previously been widowed and become a nun. She had wondered why, after the nunnery was gone, she didn’t return to her family. So now someone was coming to fetch her.
Unsure when Chou Niangzi would leave, Miaozhen felt she should send her some gifts.
Upon returning, she discussed it with her parents. Xu Erpeng gave her one tael of silver and said, “She’s your own teacher. Decide what you need to prepare and do it; we mustn’t be stingy.”
“Yes, daughter understands,” Miaozhen replied, placing the tael in her pouch.
Unexpectedly, Chou Niangzi mentioned she would teach them until the end of the year before closing the school. With over four months left, there was plenty of time.
The group of female classmates hadn’t seen each other for over a month, so their reunion felt particularly warm. Many things had happened to everyone during this time – for instance, the youngest among them, Tong Pan’er, had gotten engaged. Wang Xie, who was closest to her, teased: “You had such happy news, yet you didn’t tell us.”
Miaozhen asked which family it was, and Wang Xie whispered in her ear: “It’s the Li family’s second young master.”
This was indeed a good match. Miaozhen offered her congratulations again, making even the usually straightforward Tong Pan’er blush. Everyone considerately changed the subject.
Chou Niangzi’s smile had changed noticeably. According to Ma Taitai, Chou’s parents were very strict about etiquette and rather old-fashioned, believing that once a daughter married, she belonged to her husband’s family and naturally shouldn’t be taken back. It was only after their parents passed away that Censor Chou learned of his sister’s whereabouts and proposed bringing her back to the clan. He even wrote an article praising his sister’s talents.
Fortunately, Chou Niangzi didn’t become perfunctory despite her impending departure. She remained dedicated, teaching them composition, painting, zither, needlework, and cooking – even stricter than before.
Though Miaozhen occasionally complained, her growth was undeniable. During the Double Ninth Festival when the Xu family went mountain climbing together, she knew to prepare chestnut cakes and chrysanthemum wine. She even made the chestnut cakes herself.
She bought fresh chestnuts, steamed them, mashed them into paste, and sifted them for use. Then she mixed glutinous rice flour and sugar in proportion, combined them with the chestnut paste, sprinkled pine nuts and melon seeds on top, steamed them in a steamer, cut them into diamond-shaped pieces after steaming, and arranged them in a food box.
After preparation, the four of them first went to Third Uncle’s house at Maple Bridge. Originally, Third Uncle was supposed to work today, but his wife Bao Shi had grown jealous of a female assistant at the shop who was skilled at making flower cakes, forcing her to leave. With business declining sharply, Third Uncle also wanted to go out to relax.
When they arrived at Maple Bridge, it took another half hour before Da Fang’s family finally showed up.
Huang Shi had gotten along well with Mei Shi during her last stay with Er Fang’s family, so she immediately went to chat with her. She mentioned that the tutor at the Vice Military Officer’s household could only work until year’s end. Mei Shi responded: “Our Zhenzhen will also study only until year’s end before her teacher returns home.”
After saying this, she explained the female teacher’s background, adding with some pride: “When our Zhenzhen goes out in the future, being known as Disciple of the Talented Lady Chou will bring her honor too.”
Huang Shi listened casually, but Miaoyun glanced at Miaozhen with envy.
Meanwhile, Xu Laotai pulled Xu Erpeng aside to talk: “Your sister is getting older, and we don’t know many people. You should start worrying about her marriage prospects.”
“Isn’t Third Sister-in-law the one who loves matchmaking? Instead of asking her, you come to me.” Xu Erpeng spread his hands.
Xu Laotai asked on her daughter’s behalf: “I heard there’s some Young Master Li near your place…”
Upon hearing this, Xu Erpeng immediately understood and chuckled: “Mother, you’re quite ambitious. The Li family’s youngest son is engaged to Recorder Tong’s daughter. Even so, I heard the Li family isn’t very satisfied, and Recorder Tong is at least a proper eighth-rank official.”
Hearing this, Xu Laotai became somewhat discouraged.
But Xu Siniang’s marriage couldn’t be delayed indefinitely – she would be fourteen by next year. Both Huang Shi and Mei Shi, whom Xu Laotai had enlisted for help, had found potential matches, though none were very suitable.
By the beginning of the eleventh month, Huang Shi had found a weaver’s family. The man worked at the Suzhou Weaving and Dyeing Bureau, with two sons and two daughters in the family. The proposed match was with the younger son.
Xu Siniang grew anxious herself. Hearing that the Weaving and Dyeing Bureau was also government-run, and learning she was to marry the youngest son, she recalled how her own parents had favored her third uncle—so she agreed.
But then a problem arose: Xu Laoguan suddenly demanded 150 strings of cash as betrothal gifts. The groom’s family haggled for a long time before agreeing, though they made one stipulation: the bride’s dowry must also amount to 150 strings.
Ever since handing the rice shop over to his youngest son, Xu Laoguan had been short on funds. Fond of playing leaf cards and cutting a fine figure, he now saw a legitimate chance to claim this betrothal money. As for the dowry, he left it to his sons to raise.
Fearing they might refuse if told in advance, he decided to act first and explain later—accepting the marriage proposal, pocketing the betrothal gifts himself, and leaving his sons to scrape together the dowry.