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After about a quarter of an hour, Lu Man felt a few more movements in her abdomen.
“It’s moving, it’s moving again!” Lu Man exclaimed in delight.
Xing asked beside her, “Third Young Madam, what’s moving?”
“It’s the baby, my baby is moving.” Lu Man replied with a smile.
Seeing Lu Man’s joy, Xing and Tao also shared in the excitement.
Lu Man waited for a while longer but didn’t feel another fetal movement.
Disappointed, she sighed and thought back to the records in that notebook.
He Cheng was a meticulous and kind child. He had transcribed all the medical books, including those with messy handwriting. Lu Man wasn’t accustomed to traditional characters and disliked deciphering messy handwriting, finding it reminiscent of cryptic symbols. However, He Cheng’s transcriptions were neat, elegant, and refined, prompting Lu Man to finally read those notebooks she had neglected.
Surprisingly, she made a new discovery.
One of the notebooks contained records from the ancestral master of the He family, He Hong. He mentioned hearing from his master, Sun Wa, about a flower called the Night Yellow Flower. It bloomed in the evening and closed in the morning, with large, beautiful blossoms, simultaneously displaying two flowers. Its flowering season was at the end of May and the beginning of June. The flowers could be processed to produce a medicine called Huang Ke Lai, a potent remedy for various diseases like tuberculosis and had remarkable healing effects on wounds. However, Huang Ke Lai was toxic, especially harmful to the digestive system, with the leaves of the flower serving as an antidote…
Despite Sun Wa’s extensive search across the region, he never found this medicine. If discovered and cultivated, it could be a boon for humanity, potentially saving countless lives in times of peril.
In the previous life, the savior against tuberculosis was penicillin, which also had remarkable anti-inflammatory effects on wounds. Lu Man believed this medicine resembled the efficacy of penicillin from her past life. This reinforced her belief that Sun Wa was indeed a time traveler, but from a different era, not her previous life’s timeline. In Sun Wa’s previous timeline, they likely had the Night Yellow Flower, a fact he couldn’t directly state, hence tracing back to ancient times.
In Lu Man’s previous timeline, there was undoubtedly no Night Yellow Flower, and if it existed, it probably grew in remote, inaccessible areas like deep mountain cliffs or the African continent, its remarkable effects undiscovered by humanity.
And in this world, if Sun Wa had tirelessly searched but found nothing, it was likely extinct.
The description provided by the He family ancestor regarding the Night Yellow Flower was quite detailed. It blossomed in the evening and closed in the morning, boasting large, beautiful flowers that bloomed in pairs, typically in late May to early June. Judging by its name, it was likely yellow. Lu Man recalled that Night-Blooming Jasmine, Water Lilies, and Crinum Lilies all bloomed at night but didn’t match the characteristics of the Night Yellow Flower.
If a flower equivalent to penicillin could be found, it would indeed be a blessing for the people.
She vaguely remembered the extraction process for soil penicillin but lacked purity. Additionally, she had no way to address the issues with needleheads and plastic tubing for IV infusion.
Suddenly, two bowl-sized tender yellow flowers appeared in her mind, their five petals gently swaying in the night breeze. These were memories of the previous Lu Man, who had seen these flowers while abandoned in the mountains, and with Jiang Zhanwei. By morning, the flowers disappeared, leaving only two tightly wrapped green buds at the tip of the stem.
The younger Lu Man was abandoned around the end of May… could that flower be the Night Yellow Flower?
Excited, Lu Man needed to find a way to locate that plant. If it truly was the Night Yellow Flower, it would be incredibly beneficial. If not, there would be no loss.
Next month, in May, with the fetus in her belly more stable, she planned to ask Zheng Qiang to help search. Conveniently, her family estate was located in the village where Zheng Qiang resided on the northwest slope. She intended to take the siblings and her mother and brother for a vacation…
After being confined to the courtyard for so long, she truly yearned to step out, breathe in the fresh air of nature, and liberate herself. Moreover, this month, she had already planted a hundred mu of ginger rehmannia, which should be flourishing. Although ginger rehmannia wouldn’t bloom until next year, every part of the plant was valuable for medicinal use, with the leaves before flowering being the most beneficial…
Lost in thought, she heard the sound of wooden clogs in the courtyard. Peering out the window, she saw He Cheng walking past the side building with an oiled paper umbrella.
The young man was dressed in a long robe with colors reminiscent of the post-rain sky, a green belt around his waist, a blue square scarf on his head, and the ginger-yellow oiled paper umbrella above him, creating a picturesque scene.
Since he had finished transcribing the medical books, he only spent half a day in Donghui Court. He spent an hour learning from the master, followed by half an hour of acupuncture lessons with Lu Man. If he had no other obligations, he would diligently practice medicine at home, treat patients, and occasionally visit Tongren Hall.
This younger brother was truly responsible and dependable. His presence now signaled that something was afoot.
Smiling, Lu Man exited the study, and He Cheng entered the main hall.
He Cheng approached Lu Man and bowed slightly, saying, “Sister,” before helping her to sit down.
In a playful tone, Lu Man quipped, “How many young ladies pretending to be ill went to see my brother for treatment today?”
He Cheng blushed slightly.
Jokingly, Lu Man continued, “Oh, feeling shy around your sister, is there a young lady you’re interested in?”
Upon hearing Lu Man’s teasing, He Cheng blushed even more, feeling a bit awkward.
Lu Man quickly reassured him, “Alright, alright, I won’t tease you anymore. Now, what’s the matter?”
He Cheng then sought advice on the topic of “Accumulations of Symptoms” or accumulations of tumors or cysts on the body. Medical books typically suggested blood-activating and stasis-resolving medicines, as well as acupuncture for this condition. The “Record of Revival” also mentioned surgical removal of accumulations, but the details were scarce, with only a few sentences, and the subsequent information likely lost.
The procedure typically involved administering a numbing agent before surgery but lacked crucial details on post-operative infection prevention and inflammation management.
Lu Man then pondered the use of Night Yellow Flower for inflammation post-surgery. She also recalled Sun Wa’s successful operation on a high-ranking general before his unfortunate demise due to political motives, leading to Sun Wa’s execution.
Despite the controversy surrounding Sun Wa’s death, his surgical skills were undoubtedly remarkable. Perhaps he had already secured the necessary anesthesia and anti-inflammatory medications, even possibly having access to the Night Yellow Flower before surgery.
With Sun Wa’s passing, this became an eternal mystery. The numbing agent mentioned in the records consisted of several ingredients, but as He Hong’s ancestral records specified, two crucial ingredients known only to Sun Wa and a few of his closest disciples were missing. While He Hong was Sun Wa’s student, he wasn’t a direct disciple, and the knowledge was primarily passed down to his own students.
Without proper anesthesia and anti-inflammatory medication, Lu Man hesitated to undertake major surgeries like tumor removal.