◎Could her maternal grandfather really have been just a small-town doctor?◎

With both the elder and the younger members of Cishou Hall now incapacitated, Chu Yufu stayed behind to personally care for them.

Cousin Lu Jia’an’s rashes itched badly, and she couldn’t sleep peacefully. While the maids went out to fetch herbs, Chu Yufu asked Lan Zhu to bring some mugwort, sophora root, and burnet from Zhuyu Courtyard. She boiled them together into a decoction and applied it to her cousin’s body to relieve the itching.

Just after finishing with Cousin Lu, a maid reported that she had gone to several places but couldn’t find the mountain ginseng required by Old Madam’s prescription. Chu Yufu said she had some and sent someone with Lan Zhu to retrieve it.

After the maid left, Chu Yufu sat by the couch, took her grandmother’s hand, and frowned: “Grandmother, the ginseng I have isn’t the finest—just inexpensive ginseng roots. They can serve temporarily, but their effect in tonifying qi is far weaker than good ginseng. The servants will still need to continue searching.”

Old Madam Wei clasped her hand in return, her gaze soft and affectionate. “Good child.”

Yang Mama had arranged the meal on the rosewood table and smiled: “Old Madam, Second Miss, come eat before it gets too late—it’s already the evening hour!”

Old Madam Wei shook her head. “I can’t eat right now. We’ll eat later. Chu Yufu must be hungry after working so long; go on and eat.”

On the table were five dishes and one soup: perilla fish, stewed lamb shanks, lotus duck skewers, cucumber salad, stir-fried greens, and a golden-silk tripe soup. Some required skillful preparation, while others were rare winter ‘greenhouse produce’—off-season vegetables grown in a heated garden.

Chu Yufu didn’t hold back and sat down, nodding politely before digging in. “I didn’t feel hungry earlier, but now the smell of the food makes me realize how famished I am!” She smiled sweetly, revealing a small dimple on her right cheek, her entire demeanor soft and endearing.

After finishing, the maids had also prepared the medicinal decoction. Once the two had taken their medicine, Chu Yufu prepared to leave with Lan Zhu. Before she went, Old Madam Wei noticed the chilly night air and asked Yang Mama to fetch a snow-white rabbit-fur cloak for her. She wrapped herself up tightly before going out.

The snow-white rabbit fur piled around her neck, accentuating her already delicate face, making her look even more elegant and well-behaved.

As the snowy figure stepped out of the wing, Old Madam Wei closed her eyes for a moment. With Yang Mama’s help, she moved to the bedside, drew aside the lake-blue bed curtains, and wrung a cold compress herself, bending over to press it against Lu Jia’an’s swollen, red eyelids.

Yang Mama stayed nearby. After the compress warmed, she wrung another one and handed it to Old Madam Wei with a low chuckle: “I didn’t expect normally quiet Second Miss to be so skilled. It was fortunate she was here today.”

The old lady didn’t respond but sighed, saying: “Tomorrow, you must have someone check on Third Young Master Li.”

The topic jumped suddenly. Yang Mama hesitated, then realized what she meant. Her face tightened: “You think…”

Old Madam Wei steadied herself by holding Yang Mama’s hand, stood shakily, and with a serious expression, lightly snorted: “Do you really think Madam Wu is kind-hearted?”

Later, the old lady returned to her main room. Little maids served her food, and Yang Mama took a moment to find Dan Xiang in the anteroom, who was boiling water. Smiling, she handed her a tiny silver coin, saying: “You’re clever—tomorrow you’ll serve in Old Madam’s room.”

Dan Xiang held the silver coin, both surprised and delighted. Serving Old Madam? Did this mean she had been promoted to a second-tier maid? She laughed excitedly, showing eight small white teeth: “Thank you, Old Madam! Thank you, Mama! Thank you, Second Miss!”

“Pfft.” Yang Mama, who had been tense all day, burst out laughing at her.

Chu Yufu and her attendants returned through the snow to Zhuyu Courtyard. Yin Suo and Yun Sui were already waiting—one brought warm water for handwashing, the other helped Chu Yufu remove her cloak.

At that moment, Lan Zhu noticed the food box in her hands and exclaimed: “Ah, Miss, I brought back the yam cakes too!”

Chu Yufu washed her hands, rubbed her temples, and smiled wryly: “With everything in chaos, who could remember snacks? If you hadn’t mentioned it, I’d have forgotten too. Heat them up on the stove and you three can eat.”

“Of course!” Lan Zhu said happily, passing the box to Yin Suo to warm.

Chu Yufu sat at the table, holding the hot tea Yun Sui poured for her, taking a warm sip and exhaling deeply. She felt completely relaxed. The matters she had worried about for over a month were finally resolved, though the process had differed from what the book described. Originally, her cousin was only mildly ill, and her grandmother seriously lacked medicine. Now, her cousin was gravely ill, and after rescuing her, delivering medicine seemed almost trivial.

But as long as the outcome is good, that is enough.

Under the candlelight, the rabbit-fur cloak draped over the screen was pure white, shimmering softly. Chu Yufu rose, ran her hands over the silk-like fur, and naturally moved to the desk to sit down and open a book.

Lan Zhu, crouching by the stove to warm herself, looked on in surprise: “Miss, you still want to read today?” Normally, she might read a little in her free time, but today the Miss had been busy from Shen hour until Xu hour. Isn’t she tired?

Chu Yufu didn’t look up, holding the book closer to the candlelight: “Just a little.”

Recently, she had found among Madam Wan’s belongings a manuscript by her maternal grandfather titled Four Directions Acupuncture Sutra. Unlike the earlier humorous writings she had seen, this manuscript was written with extreme seriousness—every word carefully chosen, every argument meticulous—recording numerous difficult cases he had treated successfully with acupuncture.

Following the Huangdi Neijing principle of “drain when in excess, supplement when deficient,” acupuncture established two main methods: the “draining method” and the “supplementing method,” with seven single techniques in total. Her grandfather, however, also described several composite techniques in the book, named “Mountain Fire,” “Sky Cool,” “Yang within Yin,” and “Yin within Yang.”

An untrained reader might think her grandfather was talking nonsense, but one of Chu Yufu’s former teachers—a master in acupuncture—had mentioned the composite methods, even demonstrating “Sky Cool” in person, and lamented that “Mountain Fire” had not been passed down.

Whether her grandfather learned these methods from someone else or invented them himself, Chu Yufu was certain they were not fabricated. A few days ago, she had experimented with some of the techniques herself and found the results quite effective. She planned to try them on her cousin tomorrow and used today to review the methods.

Half an incense stick later, she closed the book and rehearsed the techniques silently in her mind. Opening her eyes, she couldn’t help but wonder again: could her maternal grandfather really have been just a small-town doctor? With this skill alone, it was impossible he would have remained unknown!

That night, Chu Yufu slept soundly. Upon waking, she looked radiant; even her lips, without any balm, were rosy. After breakfast, she took her acupuncture kit to Cishou Hall. Lu Jia’an had been waiting a long time. In the warm room, wearing only a plain white undergarment, she saw her second sister sit up immediately, reach for her hand, and pout, ready to cry.

Having cried enough yesterday, her eyelids were slightly swollen, and her voice hoarse. Chu Yufu quickly sat on the edge of the bed to tease her: “Sister, you are usually so strong. Why are you like water now? Look at yourself—you’ve cried into a blotchy mess.”

Lu Jia’an remembered yesterday, what Doctor Zhang had said after she fell asleep, and Sang Lu had told her everything, yet she still couldn’t calm her mind. She wanted to hear it from her second sister herself and anxiously asked: “The red patches on my body…”

“Within half a month, they will be completely gone. I guarantee no marks will remain, so don’t worry,” Chu Yufu reassured with a smile.

Hearing this, Lu Jia’an exhaled in relief. Even the strongest people could feel panicked when facing something that might ruin their appearance.

While comforting her, Chu Yufu took out her acupuncture kit. Lu Jia’an’s eyes shied at the shiny silver needles, but upon hearing they would help her recover faster, she bit her lip and allowed her second sister to proceed.

In the past half-month, more and more people in the Ministry of Works had fallen ill. Chu Yufu’s father was busy with official duties and could only glance briefly at his wife and niece when he heard of their illnesses. Two days later, Chu Yufu’s eldest sister caught a cold. Madam Wu, unwilling to go to Cishou Hall anyway, used the excuse to care for her daughter and avoided attending the patients.

In Hefeng Courtyard, Chu Jinhe’s illness was mild. Today she had largely recovered and idly leaned on a low couch, fiddling with a plum branch.

Her little maid, Qing Xian, accompanied her, recounting amusing events from the past two days. Eventually, she mentioned Chu Yufu: “If you ask me, Miss, instead of hiring that outside doctor, you might as well call Second Miss. I heard Cousin Lu’s red rash has mostly disappeared. If she can treat such a serious case, surely your minor cold will be cured in no time!”

Chu Jinhe, who had been responding casually before, did not reply this time. Her face remained calm, but she suddenly snapped the plum branch in her hand into two pieces, her gaze icy.

Seeing this, Qing Xian lowered her head and sensibly changed the subject.