Embroidered Phoenix Chronicle

Ruihong returned quickly, and the doctor and Master Liu arrived one after the other.

Fengxian lowered his head and remained silent, while Liulian calmly recounted what had happened. The doctor picked up the medicine bowl, sniffed it, frowned, and his face darkened. Everyone's hearts sank. Liulian said, "There's still medicine decocting in the pot at the back. Please go and take a look, sir, is there anything wrong with the medicine?" As she spoke, she walked out first. Ruihong, unable to comfort his wife, followed her out, leaving only Cuicui with Fengxian in the room.

The seal on the door of the annex was still intact.

"I smelled something amiss with the medicine, so I ordered my maid to invite the madam from Grandma's room over. I sealed the medicine pot and the door in front of her, right, Zhao Mama, Li Mama?"

“Yes, that’s right! We don’t know anything about this medicine, but since Miss Qi said there was something wrong with it, we couldn’t just ignore it, and we couldn’t wrong the maid either. Miss Qi did seal the medicine pot and the door in front of us, which is an extremely safe method!” Zhao Ma and Li Ma exchanged a glance and nodded. Li Ma added, “Cui Cui called someone to watch over Xiang Mei, and the two of us accompanied Miss Qi to seal the medicine pot. The fire was already dying down but hadn’t gone out yet. Then we came out to seal the door. Look, it’s Xiang Mei’s room. Miss Qi didn’t go in; she just sealed it off!” The house had four rooms in total, two rooms with one door. The east side was the small kitchen, and the west side was Xiang Mei and Yu Mei’s bedroom. Both doors were sealed.

Master Liu nodded to Ruihong, who went up to tear off the seal and push open the door. The room wasn't large, but it was neatly arranged. The fire on the small mud stove had gone out. Ruihong looked at the seal, tore it off, and opened the lid. The doctor took the chopsticks beside him and forced out the medicine. He used the chopsticks to examine the medicine pot; actually, he didn't need to look, he could smell the turmeric and achyranthes. Liulian handed over a large white plate, and the doctor poured the dregs into it, using the chopsticks to move the turmeric and achyranthes aside. "My prescription definitely doesn't contain these two herbs. Do you still have the prescription, young master?"

"Could it be that the pharmacy made a mistake?" Qingxing'er, who was always on good terms with Xiangmei, wanted to defend her. Liangjie'er glared at her fiercely, and Qingxing'er quickly shut up and left.

"Impossible. This kind of blood-activating and stasis-removing medicine would never be placed together with things like mulberry mistletoe, Sichuan teasel root, dodder seed, or eucommia bark. The worst that could happen is that the wrong medicine was dispensed. Besides, they look different. It's 99% unlikely that the pharmacy made the mistake!"

"Here are two more packets of medicine. Sir, please take a look and see if there's anything wrong?" The old lady pointed with her cane to the cupboard on the east side, where two packets of medicine were placed. The doctor picked up the packets and examined them closely, then nodded. "These were packaged by the pharmacy; they should be unopened. Mr. Liu, look, the creases are still neat. If they were unpacked and repackaged, they wouldn't be like this. And this is the pharmacy's packaging method. Young Master, do you see if the color of this paper packet is correct?" Ruihong glanced at it and nodded. The doctor opened the packets, examined them carefully, and breathed a sigh of relief. "This packet contains the same medicine as my prescription; those two ingredients are missing! You can also have someone else check it. I'll have to trouble you, Young Master, to find the prescription."

"No need, it's just ordinary medicine to prevent miscarriage. Every doctor knows it. Please come to the main courtyard for tea, sir! Eldest brother, please sit with the doctor for a while. Please have a seat, sir, I'll be right back!" With that, everyone withdrew. Ruihong accompanied the doctor to the front.

Master Liu glanced at the remaining people and said to Liang'er, "You can go back now, there's nothing else here." He then said to Madam Xu, "Go and put five taels of silver in a purse, and bring back half a catty of good tea." After the maids helped the two away, Master Liu's face turned cold, and he said to the two maids, "Search!"

The two women dared not delay and tore off the seal to enter the room. On the west side of the kang (a heated brick bed), there was a kang table in the middle, with a bedding set on each side. Near the east side were several large rattan trunks. The two women asked, "Sir, which side should we search?"

Search everything!

Soon, two packets of medicine were found, along with a small cloth doll covered in needles, bearing the birth date of Fengxian. Another doll, bearing the birth date of Ruihong, was pulled from a pillow; its eyes were covered by red gauze and filled with mugwort. The old lady ordered the two maids to stuff the dolls into the stove hole and burn them. Staring blankly at the flames for a long time, the old lady said, "I'm tired. I'll go back and rest. You take care of things yourself!" She then turned and left without looking back. The two old maids hurriedly followed, supporting her.

Master Liu stood in the front courtyard, unable to lift his foot to walk into the house. The house was quiet; the person at the center of the turmoil was even asleep. Madam Xu brought over the things Master Liu had requested, intending to ask him something, but Master Liu didn't want to hear her speak. He impatiently waved his hand, and Madam Xu tactfully took her leave.

Master Liu went inside, exchanged a few polite words with the doctor, handed him the purse and tea, and thanked him repeatedly. The doctor, being perceptive, understood that he could no longer do business with the Liu family and that Master Liu didn't want to publicize his family's shame. He readily agreed, "Master Liu, you're too kind. When we visit, we only take pulses; we don't listen to or see anything else. Otherwise, the women wouldn't come to me, right, Master Liu?" With that, he rose to take his leave. The Liu father and son escorted him to the gate.

Master Liu glanced at his son, said nothing, and went to the back.

Master Liu and his mother sat facing each other for a while. The old lady sighed and said, "Seventh Miss, what a pity! I wonder which young man will get the good fortune! We are not blessed with such a girl!"

Master Liu did not respond to his mother's words.

"What do you plan to do?" the old lady asked her son. Looking at her tall and strong son, who was not yet fifty, but whose hair and beard were half white, she couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache.

"What else can we do! Let the eldest daughter-in-law handle the people! And that Yu Mei, she can't be kept around, otherwise, trouble will break out sooner or later! That idiot, she's still a relative, we can't make things too ugly for her. Let her go to Madam Xu's room, she can be a maid if she wants, or a young lady if she wants! Among the new ones, let the eldest daughter-in-law choose two herself. Is that alright, Mother?"

“Give her three maids, as a way of showing we understand her grievances and comforting her. We can’t let her handle Xiangmei. Xiangmei aborted her child; even sending her to a brothel wouldn’t be enough for her; she’d want to skin her alive! She’ll definitely not have a good ending, and it’s too conspicuous. What about our family’s reputation? Our third son is about to get married! So, if Bangchui still wants her, we’ll kick them both out and never let them set foot in our house again! If Bangchui breaks off the engagement, we’ll marry Xiangmei off far away, out of sight, out of mind! We can’t let Fengxian act on her whims; our reputation is important!”

"Yes, we'll do as Mother says."