Lang Jiuchuan suddenly stepped forward — slight and frail, a single figure standing before the nine-foot-tall and powerfully built Ning Dashun, much like an ant before a great elephant.
Her voice was cold as ice and snow. Having expended great amounts of energy on her earlier techniques, she lacked her usual strength of breath, yet every word she spoke carried with perfect clarity.
Ning Dashun had practiced martial arts for many years and possessed a robust physique — he was the one who heard her most clearly of all. He looked at this slight young woman before him, one who seemed she could not even withstand a single slap from him, and asked in his blunt, gruff way, “And who are you?”
Ou Luozhong stepped forward at once. “Affinal kinsman, this is the ninth young lady of the Marquis Kaiping’s manor. It was she who saved Qionger and the child.”
Ning Dashun was taken aback. Recalling what the people in his daughter’s courtyard had said, his copper-bell eyes went wide. He pushed aside that old-fool of an in-law and lowered his voice, asking, “You were the one who helped my child through the birth?”
Ou Luozhong heard his own lower back give another audible crack and let out a pained grunt. Then, hearing Ning Dashun suddenly shift to that restrained, gentle tone, he twitched the corner of his mouth and inwardly cursed — crude and boorish martial man, where did all that ferocious bluster go all of a sudden?
Lang Jiuchuan nodded. “It was me.”
“Ah, young lady, such immense grace and virtue — please accept this old man’s bow!” Ning Dashun swept aside his robe and bent into a deep cupped-hand bow toward Lang Jiuchuan.
Lang Jiuchuan noticed he was still wearing a light military armor robe and said, “Old General, you are too generous. I dare not accept.”
She stepped slightly aside, gave a small incline of her head, and walked on inside.
Ning Dashun saw this and hurried after her. “What you said just now — is it true? Truly, this old Ou fool has no sense — a woman’s labor is no small thing. This old man has but one daughter, and if the Ou family cannot care for them properly, my General’s Manor can certainly keep mother and child well-fed and contented, without any grievance on their part.”
He even shot a glare at Ou Luozhong as he said it.
Ou Luozhong thought: “…”
Ou Furen steadied him with a hand. Indignant as she was, knowing she was in the wrong, she dared not show her anger, and could only smile awkwardly in apology.
Lang Jiuchuan said, “I don’t involve myself in other people’s family affairs. If you wish to argue or come to blows, please feel free. My concern is with the new mother.”
Ning Dashun let out a short sound, momentarily at a loss. This young woman — cold and distant, she really didn’t seem easy to talk to.
The Ou family’s second daughter-in-law was the beloved daughter of the Zhenyuan Grand General, Ning Qiong. Her courtyard had already been tidied and set in order. Though Ou Luozhong and his wife had not been present, the eldest daughter-in-law Zheng Shi had been by Ning Qiong’s side all along, and now came personally to greet them at the entrance as she saw the in-laws and her own father-in-law arrive at the door.
The household had fallen into chaos today. Ou Luozhong had gone to fetch Lang Jiuchuan; meanwhile, his youngest daughter and Ning Qiong had both been in crisis — and it was Zheng Shi and her mother-in-law who each managed one situation. As a result, both had been struck by the malevolent yin energy.
Now Zheng Shi’s complexion was an ashen green-white. Having only recently recovered, she was still fighting through her discomfort to manage the household — showing the full bearing of a principal eldest daughter-in-law.
The most severely weakened, Ning Qiong, lay unconscious on the bed. A physician had already been called and she had been given a little herbal medicine to take. The Ou family’s eldest son had gone to summon an imperial physician to be safe.
Meanwhile, the military physician Ning Dashun had brought with him was inside, taking Ning Qiong’s pulse, brows knitting together.
Her vitality and blood were depleted to a devastating degree. It was only because the young lady had practiced martial arts since childhood and had built a strong constitution that she had managed to pull through. Any other woman in this condition, even with someone to save her, likely would not have survived the aftermath of childbirth.
“Old Qiao, how is Qionger?” Ning Dashun had received word and ridden here at full gallop from his encampment, bringing his military physician. He hadn’t even had a cup of tea since arriving — the physician had barely managed to take her pulse before Ning Dashun heard Ou Luozhong and the others arrive and, without even waiting for the physician, rushed out to roar at Ou Luozhong first.
Now, seeing the physician’s brow furrow, his own heart trembled with it.
“Her blood and vitality are both severely depleted. She failed to rest and recover properly after delivery. During her confinement, she requires careful recuperation — otherwise, she risks carrying the after-effects of this labor for the rest of her life.” Physician Qiao said, “Furthermore, the young lady’s pulse is weak, and her body temperature is low. I fear there may be blood stagnation in her body that has not yet dispersed. If this stagnation is not cleared, it will create many obstacles to her recovery going forward.”
Ning Dashun’s fury rose again at this, and he cast a cold, sharp look at Ou Luozhong.
Ou Luozhong’s scalp went numb. He looked at Lang Jiuchuan and said, “Ninth young lady, perhaps you could take a look?”
Physician Qiao glanced at Lang Jiuchuan with a slight furrow of his brow. This girl looked far too frail herself.
When Lang Jiuchuan walked up and lifted the young lady’s hand, he immediately widened his eyes. “Is this young lady a physician as well?”
“No.” Lang Jiuchuan had only touched the pulse for a moment, but when she felt the body temperature and then looked at Ning Qiong’s complexion — yin energy rising up her face, her color dreadful beyond description — she saw at once that this yin energy was laced with malevolent grievance energy. During labor, with the birth passage wide open, the yin poison had entered her body. That she was still holding on at all was owed to her previously robust constitution.
But no matter how strong one’s constitution, once yin poison had taken hold and was not expelled, the result could only be a lifetime of cold and dread, and an early death.
“Yin poison has entered her body.” Lang Jiuchuan withdrew her hand. “First use the Thunder-Fire Needles to draw out the poison, then take some pomelo leaves and combine them with a yin-dispelling talisman and blood-warming, constitution-strengthening medicine to prepare a decoction for bathing, and that should suffice.”
“Bathing — she has just given birth. How can a new mother bathe? She’s already been exposed to drafts and has cold energy in her body. If she bathes now, won’t that only worsen the cold?” Physician Qiao frowned and protested. “Young miss, do you know what you’re talking about? Don’t pretend to knowledge you don’t have.”
Ning Dashun didn’t understand the details, but he knew that women needed to observe confinement after birth and should not bathe or wash their hair until the full period was complete. Being sensible enough, however, he said nothing, and only looked toward Ou Luozhong.
You’re the one who brought her here. You answer. You can take the scolding too, you old fool.
Ou Luozhong felt contempt for his in-law’s shameless scheming, but dared not refuse his role, and so asked, “Can a new mother truly bathe immediately after delivery?”
“Seal the bath chamber, close all the doors and windows, and light several basins of charcoal — that will be sufficient. After the Thunder-Fire Needles draw out the poison, bathing in the specially prepared decoction will allow the remaining poison to be expelled more easily and aid in a better recovery. Dress her warmly immediately after.” Lang Jiuchuan said evenly, “Without a diamond drill, don’t take on porcelain work. Since I am willing to say there is a solution, naturally it is out of consideration for the new mother’s wellbeing — not to harm her.”
Physician Qiao’s face went green.
Ou Furen turned to Ning Dashun. “What does the affinal kinsman think — shall the needles be used or not?”
Lang Jiuchuan’s brow furrowed faintly, but she said nothing.
Ning Dashun was silent for a moment, then said, “If it is for my child’s sake, of course the needles must be used. But, young lady, do you know how to administer needles?”
It was not that he looked down on Lang Jiuchuan — it was simply that she truly did appear weak and frail, her complexion very pale. He had even noticed that both her hands were trembling faintly.
With needle-wielding hands that shook, even if she knew what she was doing, he could not bring himself to feel at ease.
Lang Jiuchuan said, “I know how. Go and prepare the acupuncture needles.”
Having said that, she turned and went to look at the newborn. He was swaddled in his wrappings, a tiny little bundle, wrinkled and crumpled like a small monkey — but his forehead was broad and full, his nose bridge high and straight. He was just a little frail, and at this moment he was awake, wailing in a sharp and piercing voice, clearly extremely unsettled. The wet nurse tending him was perspiring at the brow from anxiety.
He was far too difficult to manage. He would not take the milk, and could not be soothed to sleep. She was at her wit’s end.
Lang Jiuchuan took out her jade-bone talisman brush and drew a few strokes on his forehead. Remarkably, he stopped crying at once, gave a tiny yawn, tilted his little head, and drifted off to sleep.
She turned to face the stunned expressions of Ning Dashun, Ou Luozhong, and the others, and said, “This child — in time, he may follow the General to train his body through martial arts. The General’s birth characters carry great fortune, and his body carries the righteous energy of a warrior’s ferocity, which can shelter this child and keep him safe from the intrusion and fright of yin malevolence. Once he grows up safely, he will prove to be of great use.”