Chapter 3: Visiting the Sick and Meeting

  Dinner was served in her own house, and during the days when Yao Fengge was ill, she had already added a small kitchen. The cooks were all sent by Yao Yuan early on, fearing that his daughter would not be used to the food cooked by the chefs of the capital city, so he specially sent cooks from Jiangnan.

  Mrs. Lu unexpectedly had two dishes sent to Yao Yanyu, and the person who brought the dishes said: "The lady's words, originally wanted to set up a banquet to invite the girl over, but one is that Guo Xiao is here, our family is not like other families, can't do things with a double face; secondly, San Niangzi is also ill, and I think San Niangzi also hopes that Er Niang will stay by her side more often. So, Er Niang doesn't need to come over for the next few days, just take care of San Niangzi. The lady also said, please don't be polite, if there's anything you're not used to, just say so. If there are any servants who don't listen or are lazy, just drive them out."

  The implicit meaning is very clear, you are not the mistress, not our family's daughter-in-law, morning and evening inquiries are not your business, you are here to accompany your sister, just stay by your sister's side. There is another layer of meaning, although it was said in a hidden way, Yao Yan still understood: Guo Xiao is still there, don't be rude, don't make any unpleasant things happen.

  Yao Yan stood up to listen to the girl finish speaking, and after responding with a "yes", she turned her head to glance at Cui Wei. Cui Wei hastily took out a purse and went forward to hand it over to the girl.

  The girl didn't hesitate either, took the purse and gave a slight bow to Yaoyan: "Slave thanks Miss for the reward." Then she retreated.

  Yao Yanru gazed at the falling door curtain, slowly turned around and leaned on the couch, secretly pondering in her heart. Since she didn't need to go to the main house to pay respects for a few days, she might as well plan carefully what to do next.

  She would not do such a thing as to be Su Yuxiang's second wife. After making an agreement with him, where the well water does not offend the river water, he would hold his beautiful concubine and spend his days, while she stood alone in her position as the proper wife? This was impossible.

  To say nothing of the rest, just from the child alone it's not worth mentioning. The eldest son has not been born, no matter whether he is a concubine or a concubine, after spending the night with his husband, he must drink an avoidance soup, which is a rule written into the law by the Great Cloud Dynasty.

  If any family were to create such a situation, the consequences would be severe: at best, their future prospects would be ruined; at worst, they would be accused of "favoring concubines and harming wives" and face imprisonment. If the wife's family was powerful, it could even lead to disaster behind bars.

  So Yan Yu knew that if she wanted to get away with something like "occupying the toilet without doing anything", it was simply impossible. Neither the Su nor the Yao families would let her off, and even after seven years of not producing an heir, she could be divorced and sent out the door, at which point the dowry and other things would probably have to be left for the next wife in line. Besides, she couldn't wait that long anyway.

  Cui Wei sent the maid back to her room and saw her mistress sitting alone on the couch, looking worried. She went forward and asked in a low voice: "Miss, it's getting late, do you want to go see Third Madame? I just heard the maid say that Third Madame spat out the medicine again."

  Yao Yan couldn't help but frown: "What's wrong with her anyway! Eldest sister was always in good health when she was at home..."

  "Miss..." Yao Yanyu's words were cut off by Cui Wei's headshake, and Cui Wei took two steps forward to whisper in Yao Yanyu's ear: "This is not something that can be said casually, it will lead to misunderstandings."

  Also. Yao Yan smiled helplessly and nodded, this yard wasn't just people she brought, there were also people from the Hou Manor.

  Cui Wei supported Yao Yanyu's arm and slowly pulled her up, softly advising: "Miss, let's go see Third Madame. If Third Madame's illness can be cured, that would be great." Cui Wei looked at Yao Yanyu's slightly furrowed brow, thinking to herself that the young lady of their household hadn't smiled since she found out she was going to enter the Marquis' residence as a concubine for Master Su.

  Yao Yan's words suddenly lit up in her mind. Ah, if Yao Fengge hadn't died, wouldn't she be able to avoid marrying Su Yuxiang?

  The daughter of the Governor's Mansion, even if she was born out of wedlock, shouldn't be given to someone as a concubine. This was something she had personally heard from her clever father when she was young. If she could use Yao Fengge's illness as leverage, would she be able to exchange it for her own freedom?

  I have already entered the Hou Mansion, and my dowry has been brought. I shouldn't be returning to the Yao Mansion again. If not as a second wife, then I would be a noble concubine. As long as I am a concubine, it's up to Yao Fengge to decide. If I can persuade Yao Fengge to let me leave the mansion and live a free life in a quiet villa, wouldn't that be great?

  Yao Yan's words were resolute and firm, dispelling the depression that had been lingering for days, and her heart felt much more relieved.

  Carrying Qingwei into Yaofeng's bedroom, Li Nian'er was watching as Dabao gave Yaofeng a facial massage. Yaoyanyu stepped forward lightly and said, "Let me do it."

  Coral hastily turned around to greet Yao Yanyu, who took the handkerchief from her hand, rewound it in warm water, and went forward to sit on the bedside to carefully wipe Yao Fengge's face. Then she took her hand again, wiping each finger one by one, while pressing the other hand on her pulse to listen attentively.

  Yao Yanru is a western medicine specialist and has a Ph.D. in cardiovascular surgery.

  After crossing over, she was a six-year-old little girl who usually had nothing to do and flipped through the books collected at home. The Yao family was not a big family, and their ancestors were merchants three generations ago. When they reached the generation of Yao Yuan's grandfather, they felt that they had made enough money and admired people who could read books and become officials, so they widely bought land, abandoned business, and turned to farming, letting their children focus on reading books.

  Yao Yuan's father was a product of the imperial examination system and worked diligently to become the Minister of Revenue. The old man followed his ancestors' teachings, respected teachers and valued morality, expanded the private school, taught his children well, Yao Yuan also came from the imperial examination system, with better brains and methods than his grandfather, now he is the Governor-General of the Two Rivers.

  It was because of an ancestor who loved reading that the Yaos' large study had a lot of books, and they were very miscellaneous. Yao Yanyu happened to stumble upon a long-lost medical book one day, and quietly took it back to her own room to study.

  With the medical book by her side, Yao Yan's life in the boudoir, which was confined to not leaving the second gate, had something to pass the time. Anyway, she didn't like needlework or playing chess, calligraphy and painting, nor did she care about cooking skills. The only thing she was willing to spend her mind on was this medical book.

  In ancient times, there was no Western medicine and no surgical knives. They relied on traditional Chinese herbal medicine and silver needles. For Yao Yanyu, a surgeon, this is a great regret. Her only wish now is to have a decent set of surgical knives, even if it's just for playing around when she has nothing else to do.

  In order to put theory into practice, she raised many cats and dogs in the yard, as well as all sorts of medicinal herbs that could be foraged or planted. Of course, her true intentions behind doing these things would never be spoken aloud, lest she expose her own rebellious nature and end up being burned at the stake as a witch.

  The servants in the Yao family all said that the second young lady liked rare flowers and grasses, liked to raise cats and dogs, and was a kind-hearted person. The old lady and the madam upstairs didn't care, anyway raising these things wasn't out of line, and it wouldn't cost much money, so they just let her do it.

  Thus, in ten years, she mastered the exquisite medical skills described in the medical book.

  At this time, Yao Yan took advantage of wiping Yao Feng's hand to secretly take her pulse. After taking the pulse, she was puzzled in her heart.

  From Yao Fengge's pulse, she is just a case of qi and blood deficiency, liver depression and heart knot, kidney water deficiency and lung fire prosperity, so she will cough, sleep poorly, lack spirit, and be irritable. These symptoms are almost universal among women in large households. Who can avoid having worries when scheming against each other all day? But no matter how heavy the worries, it's not enough to take her life after just three years, is it?

  Yao Yan put Yao Feng's hand into the quilt and looked at her drowsy appearance, then turned to ask Li Nian: "Where is sister's medicine?"

  Li's wife sighed and said, "Just after drinking two mouthfuls, she vomited. The old slave didn't dare to let the master drink again, now the master vomits as soon as he smells the medicine..." After drinking for so long, this illness has not been cured, and the person is already like this, what's the point of suffering that torture again.

  Yao Yan nodded: "Is there anything else? Bring it over and let me take a look."

  Mrs. Li thought that Yao Yanyu wanted to feed the medicine to her sister, so she didn't say much, just tilted her head and glanced over with a silent look. A maid next to her brought up a bowl of medicinal soup and handed it to Cuiwei. Cuiwei handed it over to Yao Yanyu, but instead of feeding it to Yao Fengge, Yao Yanyu brought the medicine bowl to her nose and sniffed it lightly, then took a shallow sip.

  "Second Miss?" Li Mama found it strange, what was Second Miss going to do?

  Yao Yan didn't bother to respond to Li's words, and after taking a sip of the medicine, she handed the bowl back to Cui Wei. She then slightly furrowed her brow and glanced at Yao Fengge, who was lying in bed in a daze, before saying: "Sister's situation is truly heartbreaking." Anyway, she would play the emotional card first and see how things go. After all, she hadn't had any conflicts with Yao Fengge before, so it wouldn't hurt to pretend to be close sisters.

  "Who says it isn't?" Old Lady Li's eyes reddened as soon as she heard this.

  Yao Yan let out a soft sigh and instructed: "This house doesn't open windows, nor does it ventilate. Let's remove the incense first."

  Old Lady Li hadn't said anything, when the maid who had just brought in the medicine bowl replied: "But Master has always disliked the smell of medicine and hasn't been sleeping well. This is a special calming incense that Madame had someone bring over..."

  Yao Yan's gaze shifted slightly to the side, and only then did she realize that this maid was not Coral, Yao Fengge's personal maid, nor any of the maids the Yao family had given to Yao Fengge as part of her dowry. This maid belonged to the Dinghou Estate.

  "Miss, forgive me, I've spoken out of turn." The maid hastily lowered her head and bowed her body as she retreated several steps back.

  Old Lady Li was just about to explain something when the sound of the door curtain and a servant girl's voice came from the entrance: "Third Master is back."

  Yao Yanyu hastily got up from the bed, while Li Niangniang led a few maidservants to hurry out and greet him. Su Yuxiang had already entered with a flutter, and Yao Yanyu slightly bowed: "Yanyu has seen Third Master, Third Master is well."

  Su Yuxiang was taken aback when he saw Yao Yanyu, and smiled slightly: "I said there were a few unfamiliar girls outside, it turns out that my sister is here."

  "I'll go take a look at sister, I heard she spat out the medicine soup for tonight." Yao Yan's words were spoken with her head slightly lowered, avoiding Su Yu Xiang's inquiring gaze.

  "Alas, your sister's illness..." Su Yuxiang let out a deep sigh, his face filled with sorrow. He turned away from Yao Yanru and walked to the bedside, slowly sat down, pulled up the thin quilt, and covered Yao Fengge more tightly.

  Do you want to suffocate her? In June, the windows are closed and the quilt is covered so tightly? Yao Yanyu cursed in her heart.

  Su Yuxiang stood up after sitting for a while and walked to Yao Yanyu, saying politely: "You've come, your sister should be able to rest assured. There are many maidservants here, but they're all useless, now that you're here I can also feel at ease, you sisters have a deep relationship, since your sister has reached this point, please take care of her more."

  Yao Yan lowered her head, leaving only a dark and solemn bun for Su Yu Xiang: "Third Master can rest assured, Yan will definitely take good care of sister."

  Su Yuxiang nodded and smiled slightly: "It's getting late, go to bed early. Your sister's illness isn't something that can be cured in a day or two, you need to take care of yourself too."

  "Thank you, Third Master, for your consideration." Yao Yan thought to herself: You made me worry a lot earlier, and now you're making me go to bed early, what contradictory words!