Zhao Chunheng’s handsome face broke into a smile: “There are several wintersweet trees in the backyard that you like, and they’re in full bloom right now.”

Lu Jia’an’s cheeks flushed slightly, her eyelashes fluttering as she lowered her head and walked over to the brazier. “My cousin didn’t say how long it would take,” she said.

Zhao Hanyun glanced at her, then at her second brother, unable to suppress a slight curl of her lips. Just as she was about to say something, a shout suddenly came from around the corner.

“Eldest Young Master! Eldest Young Master—please slow down!”

The three under the corridor turned in unison to see a slightly plump young man in yellow running toward them. Two maids clutching cloaks and hand warmers chased after him. The man skidded to a halt beside them, breathing heavily, and offered a simple, silly grin.

“Second Brother, Fifth Sister! What are you all doing here?”

Zhao Hanyun reached out and patted his back, urging him to breathe slowly. She took the cloak from the maid and draped it over his shoulders: “Eldest Brother, you should walk slowly, not run. The path is covered in frost—what if you slip and fall?”

Zhao Chunheng also asked: “Why did Eldest Brother come here?”

The man in yellow blinked and whispered: “I… I came to see.” The maid behind him explained: “Replying to the Heir, the Eldest Young Master heard that the old lady wasn’t feeling well and wanted to come check on her.”

Zhao Chunheng pulled him to sit down: “The physician is treating Grandmother inside. We’ll go in later.”

The man thought for a moment, then grinned at him: “Okay!”

Zhao Hanyun offered Lu Jia’an an apologetic smile and whispered: “This is my eldest brother, Zhao Tingqi. He fell ill when he was six years old, and since then, his mind hasn’t been quite clear.”

Lu Jia’an was startled and looked up, studying the Zhao family’s eldest brother more carefully.

Zhao Tingqi had a round face and fair skin. His eyebrows and eyes were strikingly similar to Zhao Chunheng’s, but his gaze carried a naive innocence. At first glance, he didn’t seem different, but when he spoke, it became clear that he was not quite like others.

Zhao Tingqi was restless by nature. Though he had just agreed to sit outside for a while before going in to see his grandmother, he changed his mind within moments. Finding it boring to sit outside, he insisted on entering the warming room.

So Lu Jia’an stepped out of the corridor, crouched down, and gathered a pile of snow. With deft hands, she shaped it into a snow pear and held it out to him: “How about we play with snowballs? I can not only make pears but also peaches and even snowmen.”

Only then did Zhao Tingqi notice her. Without caring whether he knew her or not, he immediately jumped up and ran toward her with a smile: “Okay!”

Not far away, outside Lintao Courtyard, the wife of Marquis Mingxuan, having heard that her mother-in-law had taken ill, was walking in their direction. As she listened to her chief maid’s report, she frowned upon hearing that Chu Yufu and Lu Jia’an were currently in the warming room: “The Lu family young lady—is she the one Yun’er mentioned a few days ago?”

“Yes, it’s her. She is the niece of the Ministry of Works official, Chu Changru. The Second Young Master invited Miss Chu to come and treat the old lady, so Miss Lu came along as well.”

The Marquess said nothing more and stepped through the courtyard gate toward the warming room. As she approached, she suddenly noticed two figures standing in the snow in front of the corridor: one was her eldest son, and the other was a young woman she had never seen before. The woman gathered a handful of snow, quickly shaped it into a ball, then picked up a dry twig from the ground, stuck it into the ball, and handed it to her simple-minded son with a smile.

“Second Brother, look quick—doesn’t this look like an apple?” Her simple son took the snowball, trotted a few steps closer to the corridor.

“It does,” the second son replied with a smile.

“Jia’an, are your hands cold? Come warm them by the fire,” the fifth daughter said.

Then she watched as the young woman took more snow, shaped it into a square, and handed it to her eldest son with a smile. The eldest son took the snowball and laughed heartily, cradling it carefully in his hands before placing it far away from the charcoal brazier.

The chief maid beside the Marquess, Su Zhi, first exclaimed softly, “On such a cold day, why is the young master playing with snow?” Then she added hesitantly, “It’s been so long since I’ve seen the young master this happy.”

The Marquess stared at her eldest son’s smiling face for a long time before turning her head and whispering, “Is that the Lu family young lady?”

Su Zhi took a closer look and replied, “Yes, Madam.”

The Marquess paused for a long moment but ultimately did not approach. Listening to the laughter under the corridor, she relaxed her brow and quietly retreated from Lintao Courtyard. She instructed, “Tell the servants to treat the two young ladies well. Send some warm tea to the corridor to ward off the cold—don’t let them freeze. The young master doesn’t know how to gauge temperature when he’s happy, so pay extra attention to his shoes and socks. If they get wet, change them immediately.”

“Oh, and have someone keep an eye on Mother-in-law. If anything seems off, report to me promptly.”

Su Zhi responded, “Yes.”

· 

Inside the warming room, once the quarter-hour had passed, Chu Yufu stepped forward to rotate the needles. As she did so, she asked, “Madam, what do you feel when I rotate the needles?”

Old Lady Jiang replied, “A slight soreness and numbness, like something moving up and down my leg.”

“If we divide the pain level into ten parts, with ten being the worst before treatment and zero being no pain at all, how would you rate your pain now?”

The old lady pondered for a moment: “Five or six?”

This was almost exactly what Chu Yufu had estimated. She nodded in acknowledgment and advised, “It’s possible to control the waist pain and stop it from hurting, but it’s not possible to realign the misaligned bones. Even after this treatment, Madam must take extra care to avoid cold and injury, and protect your waist.”

Nanny Hong memorized each of these points. After another quarter-hour, Chu Yufu stepped forward to remove the needles and return them to the needle pouch. Nanny Hong then asked, “Miss, can we continue using the medicinal packs prescribed by Physician Yuan?”

Since both external applications and internal treatments for arthralgia syndrome aim to promote qi and blood circulation, she thought for a moment and said, “You can use them together. It won’t interfere.”

The entire acupuncture session, from start to finish, took less than half an hour. After scheduling the next session, Chu Yufu stood up to leave. As soon as she stepped out, Zhao Hanyun greeted her, and the group walked together toward the backyard. As they walked, they eagerly asked Chu Yufu about the treatment and how their grandmother’s injury was progressing.

Inside the room, Nanny Hong tucked the blanket securely around Old Lady Jiang and asked softly, “Madam, regarding Miss Chu this time… should we prepare a red envelope?”

As the saying goes, ‘First officials, second clerks, third monks, fourth Daoists, fifth physicians, sixth craftsmen, eighth prostitutes, ninth scholars.’ Physicians hold a relatively low status, just above craftsmen. Normally, one should pay a consultation fee when a physician visits, but Miss Chu is not a physician—she is a proper official’s daughter.

Old Lady Jiang, with her eyes slightly closed, said, “A red envelope won’t be necessary… Fetch a bracelet from the treasury and give it to Miss Chu when she leaves.”

As the numbness and pain in her waist and legs eased, a wave of drowsiness washed over her. By the time Nanny Hong finished adjusting the bed curtains, she had almost instantly fallen asleep.