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Chapter 46: Medicinal Plaster
Qinghe County, outside Chunfeng Restaurant. The Lu family’s carriage came to a stop.

Lu Bainian stepped out of the carriage. A servant recognized him and quickly came forward to greet him.

“Second Master Lu, it’s been a while since we’ve seen you.”

Lu Bainian nodded. There was no need to explain anything to the servant—he simply reported the private room he’d reserved.

The servant led him to the private room, where a few people had already arrived.

Old friends greeted him with a smile: “Old Lu the Second is here!”

Lu Bainian’s return to the countryside to farm for Liu Suqing had become the talk of the town among the wealthy.

Some admired his devotion, while others mocked his foolishness.

In the past, Lu Baining might have bragged a little, but now he seemed more settled—more like a real man.

A few of his close friends, who had already married in their mid-twenties, noticed the change in him and joked, “Looks like rolling around in the fields made a man out of you!”

Lu Bainian smiled. “I still haven’t repaid the money I owe you. I’ll have someone seal up the silver and send it to your homes another day.”

Now, he worked at his family’s shop, got regular days off, and was even paid a salary by the family.

He also oversaw the rent collection from the countryside. On good months, he made seven or eight taels of silver. He hadn’t borrowed much in the first place, so he could repay it all within a year.

One friend teased, “No need for that! Sure, you borrowed the money, but that person ended up with Zheng Qiao. We’ll collect the debt from Zheng, not you!”

“Still talking about repayment? He’s not even one of us anymore,” another friend chimed in while pouring wine.

“What do you mean?” Lu Bainian asked curiously.

His friend said, “Something happened with your younger brother the other day.” Referring to Lu Jinnian getting involved with a young male performer, a topic they didn’t want to bring up in front of Lu Bainian.

Lu Bainian had already heard about his younger brother’s shameful antics—he was both angry and embarrassed.

Though such things weren’t uncommon, they were still disgraceful.

His friend, noticing Lu Bainian’s awkward expression, quickly changed the topic. “There’s another story about Zheng Qiao. A while back, there was a young performer from Lihua Alley named Nong Yue. One of his friends, Wen Xiao, was a matchmaker for male performers and similar in nature to Zheng Qiao. Zheng tried to steal Nong Yue from him, and Wen Xiao found out.”

“That Wen Xiao wasn’t someone easy to mess with. He had connections to some local thugs and got a few of them to give Zheng Qiao a beating behind the scenes.”

Someone asked, “Doesn’t Zheng Qiao have powerful friends? Would he just take the hit?”

“What good are powerful friends now? His reputation is ruined—he’s no longer welcome in brothels. No one wants to stick their neck out for him. After all, he was just a paper effigy seller.”

“And then?”

“Word is, he’s now turned over a new leaf—staying at home and living a quiet life with Liu Suqing.”

When Liu Suqing’s name came up, everyone looked toward Lu Bainian, worried he might still be hung up on her and spoil the mood.

Seeing his calm expression, they relaxed.

After some small talk, the rest of the guests arrived.

The friends raised their glasses to celebrate Lu Bainian’s emotional recovery and return to the right path.

After the gathering, Lu Bainian got back into his carriage to return home. On the way, he passed by the Zheng residence. The main gate was tightly shut.

Le’er, noticing Lu Bainian’s lingering gaze, couldn’t help asking her master, “We redeemed Miss Liu’s freedom for five hundred taels of silver. Are we just going to let that go?”

Lu Baining replied, “Even if we tried to get it back from him, we wouldn’t. I redeemed Suqing because I wanted her to have a good life. From the moment I bought her freedom, she was no longer bound. Since she chose to leave, I had no reason to stop her. May we both be well.”

“If I were to demand that money back, and it caused strife between her and Zheng, wouldn’t she be the one to suffer? We had something real once—wasn’t that worth five hundred taels?”

“Besides, she gave me her true feelings. Even if she settles down in life, just not with me, I would’ve still given her a dowry. That money—consider it her dowry now.”

Le’er fell silent after hearing this.

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Later that afternoon, Wen Ruyu chatted for a while with the temple abbot. Her family was then invited to a vegetarian meal.

After the meal and a short rest, they began their journey home.

All went smoothly until they neared home, when Wen Ruyu suddenly heard someone outside calling, “Da Ya!”

The name was called several times.

Drawn by the voice, she summoned Qingxue and asked, “Who’s yelling outside?”

Qingxue replied, “It’s nothing, madam. Just an old man calling his daughter.”

Wen Ruyu stopped asking, but something still felt off. Regular folks usually avoided offending landowners and gentry—who would dare shout so boldly outside a noble household?

That evening, she summoned Chuntao and Xiazhu to investigate. That’s when she learned the shouting man was Qingxue’s father, and he had used her old name.

Wen Ruyu called Qingxue to question her.

Only then did she learn that Qingxue’s family, upon learning she worked for the Lu matron, had inquired about her wages.

Since then, they had latched onto her—asking for money for every little thing.

At first, it was just food and clothes, and Qingxue helped.

Now, her younger brother was of age for military service, but her family wanted him to study instead. Her father, getting older, didn’t want to serve and came to her for money.

Qingxue actually gave them the money.

And now they came again, saying her brother’s study fees weren’t enough, demanding another 200 wen.

Wen Ruyu grew irritated hearing this. Her tone turned sharp: “Can’t even come up with 200 wen and still dreaming about exams? Better stop being delusional.”

Qingxue didn’t dare speak, seeing her mistress upset.

Wen Ruyu, still mindful that Qingxue was her personal maid, didn’t criticize her family further. She only said, “You signed a death contract when we bought you. That means you’re no longer connected to your family. If your father shows up again, say I said this: if he keeps asking you for money, I’ll report him for harassing my maid. If he wants to go to court, our Lu family will face him head-on.”

Having become part of the landed class after transmigrating, Wen Ruyu enjoyed the benefits of the system and wouldn’t pretend to be entirely uncorrupted.

But she still felt uneasy about severing a person’s ties to their family over a few taels of silver.

So usually, she didn’t mind if non-born servants kept in touch with their families.

But after hearing Qingxue’s story, it sounded more like a family sucking someone dry.

This was the first time she strictly forbade further contact.

“Yes, madam.” Qingxue replied, eyes reddened.

She had risen to the role of chief maid thanks to her sharp mind. How could she not understand that her mistress was being cold outwardly, but was protecting her behind the scenes?

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Time passed, and by the end of June, the summer heat intensified.

With earlier sunrises, the household ate breakfast and lunch earlier, too. Most chores were done in the morning or afternoon. During the hottest midday hours, no one wanted to move.

That morning, the Lu family was distributing porridge to the poor, and things were lively outside.

Tiechui, who was to accompany Lu Songnian and Lu Ke to the provincial exam in early July, was spending these few days packing.

He only had a few coarse outfits, so it didn’t take long.

With time to spare, he played with his daughter and some of the other courtyard children.

After breakfast, his wife said, “Don’t forget to buy five or six patches of that medicinal plaster I told you about yesterday. Then deliver them to my brother.”

Tiechui frowned. “Wouldn’t it be better for him to see a real doctor? Why bother with some random plaster? If it doesn’t help, it might make things worse.”

His wife, tidying up, replied, “My brother said it felt much better after using two patches. Who knows better than the patient himself? If it works, why waste money on a doctor? Unless you’re paying for one?”

Tiechui saw he couldn’t win the argument, so he stopped talking.

After playing with his daughter for a bit, he took her out to join the bustle.

After a short walk, they came upon a street vendor—an old, skinny man in his fifties or sixties, seated on a stool.

The stall was just a cloth on the ground, with various plasters on display.

A signboard read “Cures All Illnesses.” Tiechui couldn’t read, but remembered his wife’s description.

He figured this was the right vendor and stepped forward to ask, “What do these plasters cure?”

The old man tapped the board and answered mysteriously, “Cure, All, Illnesses!”

“Hemorrhoids too?”

“I said all illnesses, didn’t I?”

“Is it effective?”

“If it doesn’t work, don’t pay. These plasters come from a real Daoist temple—how could they not work? Even someone on death’s door can be saved with two applications!”

Tiechui shifted his weight, skeptical. “That powerful? What’s in it?”

The old man smiled slyly, “If I told you, wouldn’t you just make it and sell it yourself?”

Tiechui was stumped by that.

But since he wasn’t buying it for himself, even if it was a scam, he wouldn’t be the one losing out.

“How much per patch?”

“Ten wen each. Buy five, I’ll give them to you for forty-five.”

“That expensive? How do you use them?” Tiechui picked up a patch and examined it.

The old man snatched it back. “Where it hurts, stick it there. It’s a plaster—don’t tell me you’ve never used one?”

“And hemorrhoids?”

The old man paused awkwardly. “Stick it there, too. Are you buying or not?”

After a moment, Tiechui decided, “Fine, I’ll take five.”

Money changed hands, and Tiechui left with the plasters.

On the way home, his daughter pestered him for a candied hawthorn skewer. He gave in and bought her a huge one for five more wen.

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