Chapter 097
Chapter 97: Trust You
Old Master Lin laughed: “No wonder that old monster likes you.”
Xia Meng Yan knew the “old monster” meant Divine Physician Luo. She teased: “I am your granddaughter. When you say that, are you praising me, or praising yourself?”
He tapped her forehead with fondness, clearly in a better mood: “No wonder Xia Ping Yuan spoils you. He has good eyes. Now that you are here, your grandmother will be happy too. If you need anything in the residence, go straight to the steward. Do not be shy.” He paused, then thought of the Huo Family: “I will keep men on this matter. You focus on your pregnancy.”
She knew he worried about her health, so she nodded obediently: “I will listen to Maternal Grandfather.”
Grandfather and granddaughter both knew the other would not sit idle, and neither said it aloud.
The welcome feast ended without being eaten because of the Eldest Master’s injury.
Back in her courtyard, Xia Meng Yan looked at Nanny Song before entering. Nanny Song understood and found a reason to send the courtyard servants to the small kitchen.
Song Mo and three others came in and bowed: “My lady.”
The three that Duan Yi Chen had sent now took orders from Song Mo. Usually the four dressed as attendants and guarded the courtyard gate and outside the room.
“Check what happened with Big Uncle’s injury,” Xia Meng Yan said. Song Mo answered at once. He looked at the man beside him, who slipped away without a word.
She added: “For the next few days, leave one person here. The others should go around and learn the layout.”
“All right,” the three said.
The room fell quiet, a faint pressure hanging in the air.
After a while, Xia Meng Yan said: “The Lin Family is not stable. Be careful. You can go.”
Song Mo led the others out.
Chun Yue came in with a bowl of blood swallow. It was brought from the Capital and would be gone in two days: “My lady, the blood swallow from the Capital is almost finished. Should we ask Steward Lin or buy it ourselves?”
Xia Meng Yan looked at the smooth, silk-like blood swallow that melted like a cloud on the tongue and said calmly: “Blood swallow is rare and costly. Switch to Snow Swallow Resin.”
The words were only one character apart in the original, but the price was worlds apart.
Chun Yue nodded and left.
The next morning, after breakfast, Xia Meng Yan went straight to the main house to perform acupuncture for Big Uncle as she had promised.
After last night’s pain, the Eldest Master had fainted. He woke before dawn and learned his leg bone was broken. He made a scene, then finally fell asleep at daybreak. Seeing how much thinner he looked on the bed, Madam Jia’s eyes turned red at once.
Xia Meng Yan took out silver needles, sealed several acupoints, and began to stitch the torn meridians.
The Eldest Master groaned and slowly opened his eyes. He saw a young woman at his bedside and reached up to wave her away, but then heard the soft voice: “Uncle.”
He froze, mind blank for a moment.
Madam Jia, afraid he would struggle and tear the wound, hurried to say: “Meng Yan has a way to set your leg. Father has already sent a letter to Divine Physician Luo. Your leg will soon be fine.”
“Big Uncle, do not worry,” Xia Meng Yan said while working. “With Divine Physician Luo and me, you will be able to walk within half a year.” After seeing the injury, she knew that rebuilding a broken leg was harder than climbing a mountain for most people. But in Divine Physician Luo’s hands, it was like eating a meal.
The Eldest Master cleared his head and looked at her: “I was confused. So it is Meng Yan.”
He had not expected that after years apart, they would meet like this.
Her hands did not stop. Soon she had linked the broken meridians, then she gave him a pill: “Do not move these next few days. Do not get out of bed. After seven days, the meridians will reconnect. As for the broken leg bone, I have looked at it. With Divine Physician Luo’s medical arts, it will not be a problem.”
Before the Eldest Master could speak, Madam Jia’s gloom lifted at once. She said “good” again and again: “As long as his leg can be saved. Meng Yan, you will work hard these days. I still have some first-rate Snow Swallow Resin. I will send it to you later.”
Xia Meng Yan did not refuse. She rose and bowed: “Thank you, Aunt.”
After she left, Madam Jia sat at the bedside and tucked in the quilt: “I did not expect that girl to be so skilled. We are lucky she is here to reconnect your meridians.”
Behind her, Nanny Sun frowned. [A physician’s brain really is simple. Cousin Miss says she can reconnect meridians, and so she can? Is this just wiring.] She could not understand it. Even before marriage, the young miss was favored. Now that she was with child, the Old Master doted on her even more. [The Lin Family truly favors girls over boys.]
When Madam Jia finished settling the Eldest Master, she left the room. Nanny Sun supported her on the way back: “Madam, is Cousin Miss really that powerful? The physicians could not heal him, and she fixed him in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.”
Madam Jia hesitated. Nanny Sun was her trusted woman, but only the Old Master and the Eldest Master knew some Lin Family matters. She had overheard by accident and now had to act as if she knew nothing: “There is no better option right now. We can only try and hope.”
Seeing Madam Jia’s face still worried, Nanny Sun thought she did not truly believe in Xia Meng Yan: “Now that the Eldest Master is injured, his business will be handed out. Madam must be careful.”
“You mean those two outsiders,” Madam Jia said. She did not see why the Old Master had taken in two adopted sons. Now they were growing bold. “Do they dare take it?”
In Man Lin City, everyone knew they were the Lin Family’s adopted sons. Without the Lin Family, they would be ordinary men.
Nanny Sun continued: “Madam is kind, but their hearts are not clean, especially the one from the Qian Family. Second Madam even wants to bring her nephew to propose to Cousin Miss. She should at least see if her mother’s family is worthy.”
Madam Jia snorted. Just thinking of it made her chest tight. The two elders favored their daughter and granddaughter; since they were Lin blood, she endured it, telling herself the Lin Family would one day pass to her own child. But what was the second branch? On one side, they schemed to control the Lin Family’s business. On the other, they tried to take back what had been given away and even talk marriage to tie the families closer, so they could profit inside and out. Their hearts deserved punishment.
Nanny Sun saw Madam Jia’s face grow hard and offered: “We cannot control the younger miss’s dowry, but we cannot let the second branch seize the estates inside the residence. While Eldest Master is hurt, Madam should keep a close watch.”
Madam Jia nodded: “I do not understand business. Even if I want to, I lack the skill.”
“If Madam does not understand, find someone who does. In big families, the mother of the family head never truly manages everything herself.”
Madam Jia thought it over. It sounded right.
“Look for capable people in secret first. If the second and third branches reach out, we will have a plan ready.”
A smile touched Nanny Sun’s face: “I will do as Madam says. I will start at once.”
“See them yourself.”
“Yes.”
When Xia Meng Yan got back to her courtyard, her waist ached. Chun Yue hurried over to massage her lower back. After learning her lady was pregnant, Chun Yue had secretly consulted the residence’s imperial physician so she could help when the months advanced.
“Has the letter to Divine Physician Luo been sent?” Xia Meng Yan asked.
“Song Mo already sent it,” Chun Yue said. “But we left in a rush and did not tell Divine Physician Luo. I do not know if he will be angry.”
Thinking of Luo Jin pointing at her nose and scolding her for having no conscience, Xia Meng Yan’s lips curved. He might indeed be angry: “He is used to scolding me.”
“Divine Physician Luo is actually nice,” Chun Yue said after seeing him a few times, “just a bit odd-tempered. People with real skills are not like others.”
“Next time, praise him to his face. It helps.”
Chun Yue’s eyes lit up: “Helps? Really?”
Xia Meng Yan nodded: “Beauty and Youth Pill.”
“My lady,” Nanny Song rushed in. Seeing only their own people in the room, she lowered her voice: “Second Master Qian and Third Master Zhou fought. They say it is because of the Eldest Master.”
Xia Meng Yan narrowed her eyes. [So impatient.]