Entering the twelfth month, Seventh Miss had already prepared Yu Qiao’s dowry list. She sent it to Leshan Residence for the Grand Madam to review, then to Qingping Garden for Madam Xu to see, then to Menghua Pavilion for Duke Pingguo to examine. She copied one for Fifth Young Master to check as well. Only at the very end did she summon Yu Qiao to talk.

“In a family like ours, everything has its rules. I inquired around—for families like ours in the capital, this is roughly the amount for a daughter’s dowry.” Seventh Miss smiled and gestured to Yu Qiao. “However, ordinary families usually have more children, unlike our household with just you three young ladies. After consulting Mother and Grandmother, I took the liberty of doubling your dowry.”

For a concubine-born daughter like Yu Qiao to receive a dowry of twenty thousand taels was already an unexpected delight. After all, if Seventh Miss hadn’t entered the main courtyard and had only married into an ordinary family like Third Miss or Fourth Miss, receiving twenty thousand taels would already require thanking heaven and earth.

She paid special attention to Yu Qiao and, seeing no sign of dissatisfaction, felt relieved. She smiled again and handed Yu Qiao a list. “These are all the major items. Small things like clothes and jewelry will be purchased separately for you. Look it over first. If anything’s missing, tell me so we can buy it early—better than buying late.”

She had retained the habit of making itemized lists from her previous life. At the top she wrote the budget of twenty thousand taels, then listed each major dowry item with its cost or approximate market value. As Yu Qiao browsed, Seventh Miss explained, “Though families like ours don’t discuss money, you’ll probably manage a household after marriage, so you can’t be ignorant of these things. Knowing what your dowry is worth will give you peace of mind.”

Yu Qiao thus casually flipped through it a few times before raising her head to smile at Seventh Miss. “Thank you for being so thoughtful, Sixth Sister-in-law.”

Then she casually set the booklet aside, showing no intention of examining it carefully.

Seventh Miss couldn’t help sighing inwardly—Yu Qiao was truly too unenthusiastic about this marriage.

She had a bellyful of things she wanted to tell Yu Qiao, wanting to explain that this match was actually quite good. But looking at that faint stubborn expression on Yu Qiao’s face, the words reached her lips only to be swallowed back down.

Yu Qiao’s status was sensitive after all. Speaking deeply when acquaintance was shallow was a great taboo.

After seeing Yu Qiao out, Lixia brought in another booklet. “This is the five-day report.”

The greatest benefit of requiring everything to be documented was that Seventh Miss didn’t need to personally oversee trivial matters every day. She only needed to review everyone’s compiled reports once every five days. If she had any questions or uncertainties, she would summon the relevant person to explain in person. This way, everyone knew that though she didn’t usually manage small matters, she understood everything in her heart. Naturally, they no longer dared to go too far. Therefore, though Seventh Miss didn’t appear very busy, Xu household affairs still ran in an orderly manner.

With New Year approaching, relatives and friends all sent New Year gifts, and some Xu family members personally came to deliver gifts. The Xu family naturally had to reciprocate appropriately according to the depth of their relationships. Originally, Accountant Zhang’s wife had managed this matter in the residence. Now that Accountant Zhang’s entire family had been sent away, Seventh Miss had Old Matron temporarily handle her work while also assigning Nanny He, whom she’d requested from Fifth Young Madam, to study alongside her. She planned to have Nanny He take charge of this area after the New Year.

Over these many years, Nanny He had possessed ability but, lacking backing and being rather poor at maneuvering, had never been successful. Now given this opportunity, how could she not rally her spirits and work wholeheartedly? Thanks to this, Seventh Miss needed even less thought for social exchanges.

She carefully reviewed Nanny He’s written report and remarked to Lixia with a smile, “Nanny He’s calligraphy has improved considerably.”

Lixia also smiled. “Since Young Madam took charge, haven’t the stewardess matrons all been diligently practicing calligraphy? Some with deeper foresight have already arranged for their children to study characters outside. They say that working under Young Madam in the future, not knowing how to write would be unseemly.”

As the two were talking, Liyuan came in to report. “Master Zhong has entered the residence. He’s currently at Leshan Residence prescribing a peace-preserving formula for the Grand Madam. He’ll probably visit Qingping Garden next. I’ve already sent someone to wait at Qingping Garden. Once Master Zhong comes out, we’ll invite him to take your pulse.”

Seventh Miss consulted with the two maids. “What do you think—is it time?”

Master Zhong had been taking Seventh Miss’s pulse for nearly half a year now. Because of his age, no special precautions were needed, and the two often chatted casually. Though they couldn’t be said to have any particular bond, they were no longer in the unfamiliar state of when Seventh Miss first entered the Xu family. Especially after Seventh Miss took over household affairs and received favors from Consort Xu, Master Zhong’s attitude toward her had become even more courteous.

Lixia thought for a moment and smiled. “If you ask this servant, we should wait until after New Year when Wu Xun’s wife has been dismissed. That would be the right time.”

But Liyuan said, “What Wu Xun’s wife did wrong—only a limited number of people know anyway. If Young Madam is anxious, you could ask now.”

Seventh Miss thought it over and made up her mind. “It’s time to ask. Otherwise, when Divine Physician Quan returns, it wouldn’t be good to keep having two doctors come—if they found out about each other, that would be awkward.”

She instructed Lixia and Liyuan, “Watch what you say later. Act according to circumstances and don’t reveal anything.”

Both maids laughed. “Don’t worry! We’ve rehearsed this privately so many times!”

Seventh Miss shot them a look, then fell into thought again. After a long while, she changed to a smile and went to the west secondary room to wait for Doctor Zhong.

#

After half a shichen, Master Zhong indeed entered Mingde Hall to take Seventh Miss’s pulse.

“Oh, the several ladies of your residence have all improved considerably recently!” Master Zhong looked quite pleased. “When I came a few months ago, even the Grand Madam showed signs of insomnia, depleted energy, and loss of appetite. Coming now, not only has the Grand Madam improved, even Madam’s condition is much better. If this continues, though she still can’t overtax her mind excessively, her daily life can be like an ordinary person’s.”

He examined Seventh Miss’s eyelids, then had her open her mouth to check her tongue coating. He pinched her palm before smiling. “Mm, Young Madam has also improved greatly! Your tongue coating was completely white before—now it’s gradually changing color. Your eyes are more spirited, your expression more vigorous. It seems this tai chi can be practiced more!—Speaking of which, this old man misjudged. I didn’t expect the Heir, who seems so forthright, would be so considerate in private!”

Seventh Miss’s face flushed slightly as she chided Master Zhong. “What are you saying? He’s just fooling around—where’s the consideration in that?”

Master Zhong stroked his beard with a long laugh, saying nothing. He turned to instruct Zhongyuan, “You can bring the ink stone now.”

While contemplating, he wrote prescriptions. “Of the previous formulas, besides the two or three for strengthening fundamentals and nourishing qi that Quan Ziyin prescribed—those can still be taken regularly—the ones this old man prescribed before needn’t be taken anymore. After New Year I’ll take your pulse again. If it’s improved, we’ll modify the prescription further. Your vital energy will be even more abundant. Haven’t you been feeling much more energetic recently?”

Seeing Seventh Miss nod silently, Master Zhong stroked his beard and sighed. “Good. Now that Young Madam has taken over household affairs, you’ll certainly be busier. Not letting it drag down your health is excellent.”

He wrote out two or three prescriptions, noting dosages and timing, then blew them dry and handed them to Zhongyuan before personally packing his medicine box and chatting casually with Seventh Miss. “I hear Quan Ziyin is no longer wandering—he’s on his way back to the capital. Once he returns to the capital, given your relationship with him, inviting him for a consultation shouldn’t be difficult.”

Quan Zhongbai’s medical skills were now renowned throughout the realm. The powerful and wealthy seeking his treatment were countless, yet the imperial family from top to bottom all relied on him for health maintenance. Therefore, when he was in the capital, it was even harder for him to leave the palace. Quan Zhongbai often grew so annoyed he’d escape to his southern suburb villa for peace. Inviting him for treatment required certain connections. Of course, given Seventh Miss’s relationship with Quan Ruiyun as sisters-in-law, inviting Quan Zhongbai wouldn’t be difficult.

Seeing Master Zhong had the intention to rise and take his leave, Seventh Miss hesitated a moment before smiling. “Master Zhong, please wait a moment—I have something else I’d like to ask.”

She lowered her voice. “When Divine Physician Quan took my pulse before, he once said that I have a cold constitution and overthink things, which might make childbearing quite difficult. May I ask, Master—now that my constitution has improved, does that mean regarding childbearing I might also…”

Master Zhong’s expression immediately shifted. He sat back down and placed two fingers on Seventh Miss’s wrist.

“Quan Ziyin is truly a prodigy.” After a long moment, he sighed in defeat, then closed his eyes in contemplation, not speaking for a time.

Seventh Miss wasn’t too anxious. She sat upright at the table, patiently waiting for Master Zhong’s response.

Lixia poked her head in at the doorway. She tiptoed into the room and whispered a few words in Seventh Miss’s ear. “…Ten Complete Tonic Soup…the previous Young Madam’s several maids all…”

At the end, her voice wasn’t suppressed and rose to normal volume. “All locked in the courtyard now, just waiting for you—”

Master Zhong suddenly raised his head, revealing a shocked expression.

Seventh Miss quickly patted Lixia lightly, reproaching her. “Don’t disturb the doctor while he’s writing prescriptions.”

She smiled apologetically at Master Zhong. “Please excuse me for a moment, Master—Liyuan, come serve Master with a pipe.”

She led Lixia into the west third room and closed the door.

As soon as the door closed, Lixia covered her mouth laughing. “I don’t know if this trick will work.”

Seventh Miss was confident. “Don’t worry. Unless Master Zhong knows absolutely nothing, if he knows anything at all, he’ll tell us now.”

As far as she knew, when Madam Xu had investigated the case back then, fearing family scandal, she hadn’t questioned Master Zhong. Of course, with Master Zhong’s status, Madam Xu couldn’t possibly have locked him in a woodshed and tortured him for a confession.

At that time, Fifth Young Madam was still managing the household, and Xu Fengjia was away in Guangzhou on business. Many things—even if Master Zhong had wanted to speak, considering the Xu family’s murky and uncertain situation, it wouldn’t have been appropriate to speak up.

Now things were different. Xu Fengjia had returned to the capital and was clearly gaining more and more favor with the Emperor. Seventh Miss held power in the residence. The sixth household’s success was visible to Master Zhong every time he came to take pulses. And Seventh Miss’s determination to investigate Fifth Miss’s case—Master Zhong couldn’t be unaware…

If he knew something, now was the best time to speak up voluntarily. Otherwise, when Seventh Miss’s investigation reached him, it would be very awkward for Master Zhong to speak then—even somewhat suspicious.

With Master Zhong’s experience navigating among powerful families for so many years, he couldn’t fail to understand these twists and turns.

Seventh Miss rested in the west third room for a while before returning to the west secondary room and apologizing to Master Zhong. “Please forgive me, Doctor. With the New Year approaching, there are so many household matters—not like before when I didn’t manage things and could stay leisurely uninvolved.”

Master Zhong had just finished smoking a pipe. He put on a smile, waved his hand, and blew a smoke ring. For a moment, surrounded by swirling smoke, he truly had an immortal air about him. “Not at all—Young Madam being a bit busier is actually better.”

Master Zhong’s words were laden with meaning.

Seventh Miss looked at Master Zhong with a smile and said softly, “Fifth Sister’s greatest regret was never taking over household affairs to honor her parents. Now that I’ve taken over this burden at home, I can only rally my spirits and do it properly.”

Mentioning Fifth Miss, she naturally revealed a trace of remembrance.

“Young Madam’s sisterly devotion is truly admirable.” Master Zhong stroked his beard and narrowed his eyes. “Regarding childbearing, you needn’t worry too much. Just take these prescriptions first. As long as you take good care of yourself, what should come will come…”

He paused, then continued, “To be honest, this old man’s pulse-reading skills are limited. I truly don’t know how Ziyin divined from your pulse those four words about difficulty bearing children. I’m quite ashamed. But generally speaking, since your originally cold constitution is gradually recovering, as long as you don’t overtax your mind, you needn’t worry too much about such things. If you’re still uneasy, when Quan Ziyin returns to the capital, consult him—that would be more appropriate than asking this old man.”

In literature there’s no first place, in martial arts no second. That Master Zhong could so frankly admit he was inferior to Quan Zhongbai showed considerable magnanimity.

Seventh Miss smiled and offered a few polite words, then smilingly instructed Liyuan to bring fresh tea, indicating she was seeing him out.

“Master, year in and year out we trouble you constantly—we truly feel terrible about it…” As Seventh Miss spoke, she signaled Liyuan with her eyes. Liyuan hurriedly opened a cabinet and took out a gift list, handing it to Seventh Miss. “This is a small token of our appreciation. Please don’t be polite, Master.”

Every year during the festival season, the Xu family would naturally settle the year’s medical fees with Master Zhong. Money wouldn’t pass through hands. The items on this gift list were all the Xu family’s gratitude for Master Zhong’s care—in plain terms, given for free. By convention, Master Zhong needn’t reciprocate anything—only receiving, not giving. This was medical etiquette.

Master Zhong impassively took the gift list and, without even looking, tucked it into his sleeve. He glanced at Liyuan, then stroked his beard again.

“Earlier I heard your maid mention that matter about the previous Young Madam…”

Seventh Miss’s expression immediately changed. She signaled Liyuan with her eyes, and Liyuan quietly withdrew from the room.

“Speaking of it, it’s not that I didn’t want to ask you, Master—” As she spoke, she closely observed Master Zhong’s expression.

Master Zhong smiled faintly. “Young Madam is a clever person. Some words—even if this old man wanted to say them, I’d have to choose the right person to tell, wouldn’t I?”

Their eyes met, both carrying traces of understanding: only now that Seventh Miss had secured her position as household mistress would Master Zhong reveal what was in his heart. Or put another way, that Master Zhong was willing to expose the doubts about this matter already counted as him being upright.

Seventh Miss said without hesitation, “Master’s difficulties—I understand completely. If there’s anything you can enlighten me about—”

Only then did Master Zhong slowly exhale and adopt a tone of remembrance.

“The second day after Young Madam gave birth, this old man entered the birthing room to take her pulse and prescribe medicine. Though Young Madam had a good foundation, during that year in the Xu household she’d developed some ailments, especially overworking herself during pregnancy. If she didn’t recuperate properly during confinement, she could easily develop chronic conditions.”

A trace of regret suddenly appeared on Master Zhong’s face.

“Don’t laugh at this old man, but I’m a solitary person with only a few worthless disciples to care for me in old age. What I love most are those spirited, innocent young people. That year when I came to take the previous Young Madam’s pulse, seeing her laugh and speak freely with a frank personality, we formed a bit of a bond. When prescribing medicine, this old man instructed Young Madam to definitely follow the prescription and not be lazy. One thing led to another, and we started chatting. Young Madam was radiant, picked up the prescription to look at it, then asked me, ‘I hear that after childbirth, to promote blood flow and milk production, one should take Yongquan Powder. I wanted to nurse the baby myself for a few days, but my milk just won’t come. Old Master, why don’t you prescribe this medicine for me?'”

“This old man was immediately alarmed upon hearing this. I urgently warned Young Madam that with her constitution, taking Yongquan Powder—once the Wang Buliuxing took effect—could very likely cause postpartum hemorrhage. Moreover, all medicinal ingredients with blood-activating and qi-promoting effects shouldn’t touch her lips. For instance, safflower, Wang Buliuxing, and such things—all required extreme caution. She couldn’t even use them topically.” Master Zhong suddenly paused, a trace of guilt and regret flashing across his face. “When I spoke then, I didn’t think too much about it. I was only concerned that given Young Madam’s status—having just delivered twin boys in one birth—I feared within the residence…”

He paused, seeing Seventh Miss already showing comprehension, and skipped this topic to continue. “However, after the words left my mouth, this old man already regretted it—birthing rooms can’t have windows open, so they’re inevitably stuffy. To let out the smell of blood, the door wasn’t closed, only a curtain hung to block drafts. If someone outside heard these words and spread them around, it might actually harm the previous Young Madam. However, seeing the previous Young Madam’s confident, radiant appearance, this old man thought it was just groundless worry.”

“But when leaving, this old man also ran into several people. Within two or three days after that, such a thing happened. Though I wanted to do something for the previous Young Madam, these words had no corroboration and couldn’t withstand scrutiny. The person managing the household was… So these words could only be buried deep in my heart. Now that Young Madam is determined to investigate and uncover the truth, this old man will—” Master Zhong showed guilt again. “Speaking of it, I’m truly ashamed. As a physician, lacking medical ethics, to have buried this matter for these two or three years—”

Seventh Miss quickly rose and solemnly bowed to Master Zhong. “Your concerns—I understand completely. That you’re willing to reveal this matter is already a great kindness.”

She performed a full curtsy to thank Master Zhong properly before returning to her seat to ask carefully. “May I ask, Master, do you still remember who was outside the door at that time?”

Master Zhong pondered briefly before sighing. “This old man is getting on in years after all. At the time, I didn’t take this matter to heart. Besides, the residence has many people. With just a glance, I didn’t recognize who it was. However, I do remember that the residence’s Fifth Miss was about to enter and did exchange a glance with this old man face to face.”

Seventh Miss contemplated for a moment before breaking into a smile. “Thank you so much for your guidance, Master Zhong!”

She personally rose and escorted Master Zhong out of Mingde Hall.