The Lucky Farmgirl

Madam Tang sent a servant from the Liu family to deliver a message. Upon receiving it, Manbao got up and said, "I’ll take Liru and leave first. You all continue to have fun."

Liu Huan was just a little sober, and at this moment, he was pinching his nose to drink a very unpleasant sobering soup. Hearing this, he looked up at her and said, "Leaving so early? Aren’t you staying for dinner before you go? Aren’t you heading directly back to the imperial villa tonight?"

Manbao waved her hand and said, "I have a patient to see, no time for dinner. You all enjoy yourselves."

Liu Huan could only be disappointed, "Alright then."

Bai Shan escorted Manbao to the door, "Are you two going alone?"

"We’ll swing by home and pick up Sanniang. According to Madam Tang, Sanniang has seen her before, but it wasn’t very effective. This time we’ll bring her along."

Bai Shan nodded and escorted her to the courtyard where the carriages and horses were parked.

Madam Tang was already waiting in the carriage. Seeing Bai Shan approaching, she smiled and said, "You’ve specially come to see her off? What, are you afraid I’ll abduct her?"

Bai Shan smiled and saluted, "I must trouble scholarly sister-in-law to send her home later. There are some things at home she needs to take."

This was to avoid delaying Zhou Man’s schedule too much, preventing her from returning to the imperial villa on time.

Madam Tang agreed with a smile, "Rest assured, I’ll return her to you in one piece."

Madam Tang had previously sent someone to notify Assistant Doctor Liu, so when the Tang family carriage arrived at the side gate of the Zhou Residence, Liu Sanniang quickly came out with her medicine box when the door was knocked.

Manbao asked her, "Isn’t today a rest day?"

"No, but I only had one lesson at the Imperial Medical Office today. After it ended, I didn’t return to the palace. I just went straight home."

Today was a Liu family banquet day. Although it wasn’t a rest day, there were quite a few people absent from work or taking leave to drink. With so many gone, the palace felt a bit deserted. I had no duties, so I went home first.

Manbao nodded, glanced at her medicine box, and asked, "Did you bring everything?"

"Yes, everything’s here."

Manbao leaned against the side of the carriage and asked, "Since you’ve seen the patient, tell me about her condition."

Liu Sanniang hesitated and looked at Madam Tang, feeling a bit awkward.

Manbao turned to look at Madam Tang as well, then leaned in after a moment and asked Liu Sanniang, "Is there any privacy?"

Liu Sanniang, feeling helpless, whispered, "Master, this is a confidential illness by nature, so..."

Madam Tang smiled slightly and said, "I know. My sister has told me everything."

She turned to Manbao, "I’ve already discussed this with Manbao. It’s postpartum lochia that hasn’t stopped. It was cured, but it didn’t come for two or three months. She thought she was pregnant again, but after consulting doctors, they couldn’t confirm it. An old doctor prescribed medication to promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis, but taking it made the situation worse, like hemorrhaging. Though subsequent medication reduced it, it dripped continuously, as if all the blood in her body was draining out."

Prior to this, Manbao had only heard it was persistent lochia and didn’t know she had taken such medication. Her first instinct was to ask Liu Sanniang, "Did she have a miscarriage?"

"No," Liu Sanniang said softly, "I examined carefully. It’s unlikely she was pregnant. I also reviewed the prescriptions and pulse records from the previous old doctor and found no issues there. It seems her body was damaged during an earlier miscarriage, so..."

Liu Sanniang paused and softly added, "Master, she must have had no fewer than three miscarriages."

Both Manbao and Madam Tang were taken aback, and Madam Tang’s voice cracked, "What?"

Liu Sanniang said nothing further.

Madam Tang’s face changed with anger as she asked Liu Sanniang, "Is this what she said?"

Liu Sanniang replied, "That’s what Madam and her attendant said: three times, but I believe there were more."

She said to Manbao, "I asked her carefully, but she can’t remember what happened a few years ago. Her attendant remembered that six years ago, when her period came, she bled more than usual. But they said Madam Wang’s periods have always been irregular, sometimes more, sometimes less, so they didn’t think much of it."

Manbao asked, "Does she have any children?"

"Yes," Liu Sanniang said. "A son, seven years old this year."

Manbao sighed in relief, realizing it wasn’t habitual miscarriage from the beginning and believed there must be external causes.

Liu Sanniang, however, lowered her eyes and said nothing further.

But Madam Tang, with her sharp eyes, wasn’t easy to fool. She sharply turned to Liu Sanniang and asked, "Assistant Doctor Liu, is there more to this?"

Assistant Doctor Liu chuckled and said, "Madam Tang, the rest is a patient’s privacy. If you wish to know, you’ll have to ask the patient."

She was able to mention the three miscarriages because this matter would eventually be known and recorded into the pulse record.

Because she believes the multiple miscarriages are crucial to the patient’s current condition.

Madam Tang pulled a smile and nodded, "Of course, thank you, Assistant Doctor Liu."

Upon reaching the Tang Residence, Madam Tang excused herself to give space to the master-disciple trio. She knew Assistant Doctor Liu surely had important matters left unsaid.

Indeed, after Madam Tang left, Liu Sanniang quietly said to Manbao, "Though she won’t admit it if asked, I discovered some old wounds on her body; some bones appeared to have been broken. They looked like internal injuries caused by being kicked and struck."

Manbao’s face darkened, "Did you inquire about it?"

"I did, but neither she nor her maids acknowledged it. They insist she fell a few times due to slippery roads in the snow. However, I’ve carefully examined it, and some of her injuries simply couldn’t be caused by falling."

Liu Sanniang also reminded, "Master, she has two aunts and two maids constantly watching me, yet her two dowry maids want to have some alone time with me but never had the opportunity."

Manbao let out a cold huff, "They must be digging their own grave, playing such tricks in the Tang Residence."

Manbao instructed the two, "Once we’re inside, keep your expressions composed as if you know nothing."

Liu Sanniang and Zhou Liru agreed, then both looked at Manbao’s expression and asked, "Master, aren’t you going to restrain yourself?"

Manbao, with a stern face, replied, "Why should I restrain? This is called imposing an official demeanor, don’t you know? Look at the senior officials in the court, how many of them have smiling faces? This is what they call authority!"

After saying that, she approached Madam Wang with a cold expression. As soon as she entered the courtyard, the several servants who came out to greet her were startled, moving more cautiously. Just as they were about to curtsy, Manbao asked, "Where is the patient? Where is Scholarly Sister-in-law Tang?"

"Here I am," a cheerful Madam Tang came in after collecting herself, taking Manbao’s hand. "I wanted to give you and your disciples some time to chat and was considering inviting you to the main hall for tea. But here you are already. Those little wenches leading you showed no regard. I’ll discipline them later for being negligent with you."

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