Chapter 46: Three Invitations

  Zhen Shining smiled and said, “...I was just worried that I couldn’t gather all eight kinds of rice.”

  "Li's wife has arrived." The magpie had already put away the broom and was smiling as she came out to greet her, helping Li Qiu's wife brush off the snow from her body.

  Li Qizhen's wife put down the basin and saw the rice bowl on the kang, so she took off her gloves and reached out to dig in, "What kind of rice have you all prepared?"

  "White rice, millet, red dates, green beans, lotus seeds..." Ji Kuai pointed to the freshly peeled broad beans on the ground, "Adding these freshly peeled broad beans, we've managed to gather six kinds. Qiu Ju is outside exchanging lotus seeds right now." Opening the basin brought by Li Qi's wife, there was half a basin of Job's tears with a small basin of peanuts on top. Looking at the pink peanuts, Ji Kuai's eyes sparkled, "Wen Ge and Wu Ge have good stuff again!" Wen Ge and Wu Ge had eaten peanuts at Li Qi's house last time and grumbled for half a month, saying that peanuts were even better than melon seeds. "If I knew you could bring this, I wouldn't have let Qiu Ju go out."

  "It's all here." Li Qizhen's wife said with a smile, "Hurry up and call the child back, don't let them freeze in this heavy snow."

  The magpie turned around and went into the closet to look for a scarf.

  "You just stay in the house." Zhen Shi Niang glanced at her high and prominent belly, "It's been more than half a time since they went out, they should be back by now." She pointed to the freshly shelled broad beans and said to Li Qi's wife, "The broad beans I planted this year are particularly good, plump and full, do you want to take some back to make Laba congee?"

  "I'm also short on it." Li Qizhen's wife nodded, "You bring me some more lotus seeds again."

  The magpie then took the glutinous rice and peanuts brought by Li Qizhen's wife and put them in another basin, and turned around to fill her with broad beans and lotus seeds.

  "Li Shuo sat..." Zhen Shi Niang pushed the rice bowl into the kang and turned around to fetch water.

  "Stop fussing about, I just have a few words to say and then I'll leave." Li Qizhen's wife pressed down on her.

  Seeing her serious expression, Zhen Shi Nang withdrew her hand, "What's going on?"

  "It's still about the same thing..." Li Qizhen's wife sighed, "That Gu Mai Ban came again, this time he said something very serious. His family's madam got a strange illness last year, at first it was just headaches, they thought it was just wind and cold, but the hospital doctors didn't diagnose it well, and then they found some folk doctors who also couldn't diagnose it well. Now the old lady's memory is getting worse and worse, her headaches are getting more and more severe, her face is pale, and even the pain-relieving soup prescribed by the imperial doctor doesn't work anymore. She's been begging people to take an axe and split open her head to take a look, it's unbearable to see her like this until the end of the year."

  Headache splitting, face pale purple?

  What disease is this?

  Zhen Shi Ni frowned, "...... Didn't you go find Doctor Zhong in Liu Lin Town?"

  "Once in the autumn, I had already examined her and didn't find anything wrong. After taking her pulse, I said that the old lady's internal organs were all fine..." Li Qi's wife shook her head, "That day, Gu Mai Bang saw your medical skills and went back to recommend you to his master. His master heard that you're a female doctor and shook his head, worrying that you're young and only know how to be greedy for merit, without knowing what's important or not. In this critical place in the capital, if an epidemic breaks out, who knows... That's why they specially sent a royal physician to investigate." She leaned in close to Zhen Shi Niang's ear and whispered mysteriously, "We don't know, but Gu Mai Bang said that thirty miles away from here, there's a huge military camp called Fenggu, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers stationed inside. If an epidemic really breaks out, it would be disastrous... That's why the imperial court is so afraid."

  "So that's how it is." Zhen Shi'niang suddenly realized, "In that case, his master's official rank must not be low either."

  "Gu Mai Ban also acknowledged that his master was indeed a high-ranking official." Li Qi's wife nodded and continued, "It was Wen Taiyi who heard about the cases you diagnosed and strongly recommended you. His master then sent him to invite you. When he heard that you were unwell, his master didn't intend to force it, but the old lady had a severe headache and was on the verge of collapse, so they sought out Wen Taiyi again... He recommended you once more..." She looked at Zhen Shi Ni seriously, "I think he's genuinely seeking your help. Why don't you go take a look?" Sighing, "People with power and status, when afflicted by illness, have no choice but to humble themselves."

  Zhen Shining sighed, "On a snowy day like today..."

  "Mom, mom......" Just then, a loud and clear voice came from outside the courtyard, "...eating sugar gourd!"

  As soon as she heard the children's voices, Zhen Shiniang was about to get up and open the door when the outer room door creaked open and Jian Wu and Jian Wen rushed in with a gust of cold air. Each of them held two or three strings of candied hawthorns in their hands. "Mother, mother, eat candied hawthorns!" Their small gloves were covered with sticky sugar.

  "Brother Wen, Brother Wu, slow down... be careful..." Qiuju followed behind them into the house, carrying a basin covered with an oilcloth, closing the door while calling out to Jianwu and Jianwen.

  "Auntie Li is well!" Before she could hear more, Jian Wu and Jian Wen rushed into the house, just about to jump into Zhen Shi Niang's arms. Seeing Li Qi's wife standing there, they asked if everything was alright. Jian Wen looked at the candied hawthorn in his hand and reluctantly handed it over, "Auntie Li, have some candied hawthorn." Li Qi's wife couldn't eat that, so she smiled and patted Jian Wen's rosy cheeks, "Good boy, Wu Ge, you eat it yourself..."

  "I'm Wen Ge!" He was mistaken again, and Jianwen was very unhappy.

  The two brothers look too alike, let alone outsiders, even Xi Que and Autumn Chrysanthemum sometimes get them mixed up.

  "Wen Ge's credit was stolen, and he wasn't happy about it......" Seeing Li Qizhen's wife blush, Zhen Shiniang smiled and mediated, making the adults in the room burst out laughing.

  Only two children inexplicably, spinning their shiny eyes, swept the crowd in a circle, and pounced on Zhen Shiniang's arms, scrambling to hand over the sugar gourd, "Mother eats sugar gourd!"

  Zhen Shining smiled and took the sugar gourds from the two men, handing them to Jixiao to hold. At the same time, she helped them take off their hats and gloves, brushing off the snow on their bodies. "Why did you buy so many?" She asked Wengong and Wugong, but her eyes were looking at Qiujie who had just entered the room.

  Qiu Ju was even more petty than her. Even if Wen Ge and Wu Ge were clamoring to eat, she would only buy one portion for the two of them to share, which was already the limit.

  “……which one is bought?” Qiuju put down the basin, “It's Ma Shu's family making sugar gourds, seeing us and giving each of us a string, Wu Ge clenched his fists and refused to eat, Ma Shu asked him if it was not delicious, Wu Ge said he would take it back home for his mother to eat, Ma Shu praised him for being filial, and insisted on letting you and Xi Yue bring back a few strings……” Thinking of the gift, Jianwu took it with his hands, as if he had never seen it before, Qiuju's face turned bright red, “……Miss made delicious sausage, tomorrow I will send some to Ma Shu.” Shen Zhongshuo sent too much pork, and Zhen Shimao chopped it up into convenient-to-store sausages.

  Jian saw Qiujie's face turn red, and Jiyue didn't need to guess to know the awkward situation at that time. Afraid of being scolded by Zhen Shiniang, he hastily changed the subject and said, "...... What kind of rice did you all exchange?"