Second Aunt’s courtyard was much simpler than Madam Xu’s. There were no separate inner and outer chambers. Through the main door, one found a small round table, and to the right stood a large canopy bed that reached nearly from floor to ceiling.
Parting the gauze curtains, Song Zhiwei saw three people standing beside the bed inside the room. One was Gu Chunran, a younger cousin she had met a few times. Another was Xiaoliu, Second Aunt’s personal maid who had come with her as part of her dowry. The third was Gu Chunran’s maid, a round-faced girl named Xiya.
Led in by Liu’er, the senior maid who had come to fetch her, Song Zhiwei entered and paid her respects first. “Greetings, Second Aunt. May you be blessed with good fortune.”
Second Aunt, Madam Wang, struggled to raise a hand, signaling for Song Zhiwei to rise.
Liu’er brought over a small stool and placed it beside the bed for Song Zhiwei to sit on. Just as Song Zhiwei was about to place her fingers on Madam Wang’s wrist to take her pulse, Gu Chunran coldly interrupted: “I don’t care whether you’re putting on an act or whether you truly have some skill. But if you dare prescribe medicine recklessly for my mother, I won’t let you off!”
Song Zhiwei immediately withdrew her hand. She did not even glance at Gu Chunran. Instead, she looked at Madam Wang seriously. “Please forgive me, Second Aunt. If a patient does not trust the physician, refuses to take the prescribed medicine, and will not follow the physician’s instructions, then the illness cannot be cured.” She rose to her feet.
Only then did Gu Chunran realize that this cousin she had always looked down upon was actually quite tall, standing a full head taller than herself.
“If there is no trust between doctor and patient, even the finest medicine will lose much of its effectiveness. I do not wish to waste Second Aunt’s time in seeking a capable physician.”
She paused, then said calmly: “In that case, it would be best to leave the matter here and forget about it.”
Song Zhiwei gave Second Aunt a polite bow and turned to leave.
Why should she force her kindness on someone who responded with coldness? She had already earned her grandmother’s trust. Was she really worried that she would have no patients in the future?
In any era, truly good doctors were always in demand. She was confident in her abilities. If she could make a living through her skills in the fiercely competitive modern world, there was no reason she would go hungry in an ancient age where doctors and medicine were in short supply.
Seeing that Song Zhiwei genuinely intended to leave and was not merely bluffing, Gu Chunran panicked.
Good physicians were not easy to find, even more so when it came to women’s illnesses. Frequently inviting male doctors into a lady’s private quarters would inevitably give people something to gossip about. Besides, several male physicians had already examined her mother. She had taken their prescriptions for over a year without any improvement. New doctors were hard to find, which is why they had summoned this Cousin Song after hearing the servants talk about her. How had she driven the woman away so quickly?
Gu Chunran opened her mouth to say something, but her pride wouldn’t allow it. She stamped her foot anxiously when her mother finally spoke. “Wei girl, come back.”
Song Zhiwei immediately stopped and turned around.
Madam Wang looked at her with gentle eyes, admiration evident in her expression. “Come here. Don’t argue with that child. Just examine me. No one will dare say anything against you.”
Given the chance to back down gracefully, Song Zhiwei did so at once. She returned to her seat and placed her fingers on Madam Wang’s wrist to take her pulse. After a while, she switched to the other wrist and examined that pulse as well. Her pulse was thin and weak, and her tongue was pale and tender.
Song Zhiwei asked gently, “Second Aunt, your body feels weak and depleted. Do you also suffer from palpitations, soreness and weakness in the lower back and knees, dizziness, and ringing in the ears?”
As soon as those words were spoken, the indignation still lingering on Gu Chunran’s face vanished. She looked at Madam Wang in disbelief.
Madam Wang silently nodded, confirming Song Zhiwei’s assessment.
The room fell silent.
This was why Song Zhiwei chose not to ask questions first, but instead state the symptoms directly. If she didn’t demonstrate genuine ability, her appearance alone made it far too easy for others to doubt her. It also made her miss, more than ever since her transmigration, the thinning hairline she had possessed in her previous life. How authoritative that had made her look!
Under Song Zhiwei’s careful questioning, Madam Wang weakly but clearly explained her condition. Ever since giving birth to her son, Gu Xiaozhou, she had frequently suffered from prolonged uterine bleeding and menstrual periods that dragged on without end. This episode was the most severe yet. Her menstrual bleeding had already continued for a full two months, alternating between heavy hemorrhaging and persistent spotting. When the heavy bleeding occurred, blood clots would be expelled from her body. She would be unable to get out of bed, and any movement would cause the bleeding to increase. Yet even while resting in bed, she still had to relieve herself and occasionally shift or turn her body.
Over these past days, Madam Wang’s complexion had grown paler and paler. She had swallowed countless bowls of bitter medicine, yet none of them had done any good. Even the maids and old serving women in the household knew she likely didn’t have much time left. They had already begun speaking to her cautiously about how her belongings, estates, and shops should be distributed after her passing. But how could she accept that? She was only thirty-six years old. She was not ready to die.
Madam Wang looked at Song Zhiwei with a mixture of anxiety and exhaustion, waiting for her to speak.
The room fell silent.
Song Zhiwei lowered her head and pondered for a long time.
Perhaps this was too much to ask of the girl. No matter how intelligent she was, no matter how dutifully she had attended the sick and tested medicines on behalf of her mother, she was still just a child. How absurd of her to burden someone so young with such a responsibility.
A relieved smile appeared on Madam Wang’s face. She gently patted Song Zhiwei’s hand, about to say something when Song Zhiwei suddenly spoke, her expression serious and focused.
“Second Aunt’s condition stems from a decline in kidney qi, instability of the Chong and Ren meridians, and deficiencies of both qi and blood. Treatment should nourish kidney yin, warm kidney yang, regulate the Chong and Ren channels, and replenish qi and blood.”
She rose and turned calmly toward the others. “Is there brush and ink available?”
Liu’er had already prepared them in advance. Hearing the question, she quickly replied, “Yes, there is!”
Song Zhiwei had already decided on a treatment plan. She would base it on Erxian Decoction and combine it with Wuzi Yanzong Pills, removing the plantain seed ingredient. This way, the formula should address Madam Wang’s simultaneous deficiencies in both kidney yin and kidney yang.
The elegant running script she wrote had been taught to her by her grandmother when she was young. Her handwriting was neat, upright, and refined, reflecting the lesson she had always been taught: conduct oneself and one’s affairs with steadiness, never impatience or rashness.
Such handwriting would never have appeared in a modern hospital. It wasn’t because people had become impatient, but because everything had become digitized.
Now that she had returned to the traditional process of practicing Chinese medicine, Song Zhiwei adapted to it with ease.
“Dong quai, two qian; astragalus, four qian; curculigo rhizome, three qian; epimedium; morinda root… schisandra fruit…”
As she wrote the prescription, Song Zhiwei instructed Liu’er to prepare the medicines.
Naturally, Liu’er readily agreed. Taking the prescription, she hurried out to find someone to fill it.
When the herbs were delivered, the physician unexpectedly returned with his apprentice. He had come specifically to discuss the prescription with Song Zhiwei once again.
This physician was not employed by the Marquis Manor. Rather, he was the resident senior doctor of Shouchun Hall, the largest medical clinic in the neighborhood surrounding the Marquis Dingyuan Manor.
The Marquis Manor members had dealt with this physician for many years. This time, when someone brought him the prescription and asked for his opinion, he studied the formula and immediately wanted to know more about the patient’s condition.
Because the matter involved the household mistress’s private affairs, Liu’er did not dare reveal any details. She could only invite the physician into the manor so he could inquire directly and report back after obtaining the family’s permission.
After discussing the patient’s condition with Song Zhiwei again, the physician nodded repeatedly. Unable to hide his admiration, he asked sincerely, “May I ask under which master you studied?”
Song Zhiwei replied, “I have learned from the strengths of many schools and teachers. My instructors have been too numerous to name in any particular order.”
The old physician immediately felt respect.
Since there were no issues with the prescription, Madam Wang’s bleeding lessened significantly after taking three doses.
When Song Zhiwei returned for a follow-up examination two days later, she removed agrimony from the formula, added donkey-hide gelatin and mugwort leaf, and also prescribed Dingkun Pills, instructing Madam Wang to continue for another three doses.
By the time of the third consultation, Madam Wang’s menstrual bleeding had stopped completely and was no longer lingering without end.