Chapter 2: Rain Rings (Part 2)
“How does Second Uncle know our family matters so clearly?”
Fine snow swirled outside the eaves. A female voice approached, slightly weak and breathless. Everyone in the hall turned to look towards the approaching group in the courtyard.
Supported by a maidservant, the young woman wore a light blue jacket and a frosty white skirt, her hair styled in three looped buns. A veiled hat obscured her face. Her steps were slow, as if she were ill.
“Ni Su, so you admit it?” Ni Zong lifted his chin, putting on the airs of an elder.
“Admit what?” Ni Su ascended the steps, coughing a few times. The taciturn Cen Shi glanced at the old steward following behind. The steward, standing outside the threshold, dared not enter, his back hunched as he wiped his sweat.
How could he possibly stop the young miss?
“Please forgive me, Second Uncle. I’m unwell and not fit to see guests, afraid of being impolite, so I had to appear like this.” Nanny Qian, beside Cen Shi, helped Ni Su sit down and gestured for a maidservant to bring a bowl of hot tea to warm her hands.
“You wore that veiled hat yesterday too!” Ni Zong’s daughter, Ni Mi Zhi, seeing her father’s glance, stood up and said, “I saw you when I was returning from our family’s estate and passed by Zao Hua Village. Don’t think I wouldn’t recognize you just because you’re wearing a veiled hat. I recognize your coachman and maidservant Xing Zhu!”
Ni Zong looked at Cen Shi, but seeing her silent as a clam, his face darkened. Just as he was about to speak again, the veiled young woman said, “Really? Who can testify?”
“You can’t condemn me based solely on your words. Can the peasant woman and the midwife corroborate your story? You passed by Zao Hua Village on your way back from your family’s estate, and I also pass by there on my way back from ours. I can’t deny having been there, but I won’t admit to anything else.”
“This…” Ni Mi Zhi pursed her lips. “Who would be as shameless as you, associating with those filthy, low-class people?”
She had considered finding witnesses, but the peasant woman had just given birth and was confined to bed, insisting that Ni Su had only stopped by to ask for a drink of water. The midwife, too, echoed the peasant woman’s story, denying that Ni Su had assisted with the delivery.
“By filthy, low-class people, are you referring to the peasant woman or the midwife?” Cen Shi suddenly fixed her gaze on Ni Mi Zhi and spoke coldly. “I don’t know what kind of family we are to utter such words and belittle others. Mi Zhi, when your mother gave birth to you, didn’t your family hire a midwife? Did you find her presence in your home to be filthy as well?”
Everyone in the hall couldn’t help but think of Ni Zong’s elder brother, Ni Zhun.
Five years ago, Ni Zhun, while providing free medical care to nearby villagers, was buried alive in a mudslide on his way back. The county government had sent a plaque inscribed with “Healing the World, Virtue and Purity” to Ni Zhun’s widow, Cen Shi.
Ni Zhun never looked down on poor farmers, and Cen Shi naturally couldn’t tolerate Ni Mi Zhi’s words. Seeing Ni Mi Zhi’s speechless expression, Ni Zong waved for her to sit down and softened his tone. “Sister-in-law, Elder Brother has always been kind-hearted, but kindness can sometimes be a curse. There’s no reason for a woman to inherit the medical profession. When Elder Brother was alive, he forbade Ni Su from studying medicine. Yet, she not only learned in secret but also followed in Ji Ming’s footsteps… I hope Sister-in-law understands my concern. Elder Brother used his life to restore our family’s reputation. Don’t let her foolishly ruin it again!”
Ji Ming was Ni Qinglan’s courtesy name.
Ever since he defied convention at sixteen and treated He Liu Shi for a private ailment, leading to her suicide due to gossip, the Ni family’s medical practice had declined sharply. It wasn’t until after Ni Zhun’s death and the arrival of the government’s plaque that their business improved.
“In a family of doctors, even if forbidden to study, it’s hard to avoid absorbing knowledge through observation. Second Brother, why be so nitpicky and bring up my Lan’er? Lan’er has now abandoned medicine for literature and is a proper scholar. Furthermore, Mi Zhi’s words lack evidence. How can you expect me to believe you?” Cen Shi fingered her prayer beads. “Your family knows that I’m not a doting mother. I’m stricter with A-Xi than you are with Mi Zhi. I know very well whether A-Xi has gone out to flaunt her half-baked medical skills or broken our family rules.”
Cen Shi spoke calmly and unhurriedly, without any sharpness in her tone.
However, Ni Zong’s face became quite unsightly. He could hear the underlying accusation in her seemingly calm words, implying that his family’s upbringing of their daughter was inferior.
She was also reminding him that her son was now a respected scholar in the county, and having gone to Yun Jing for the winter examinations, he might return with an official position.
It was a pity he couldn’t pry open the mouths of the peasant woman and the midwife. Even with money, he couldn’t sway them. He wondered what kind of spell Ni Su had cast on them.
“It’s not easy for Second Brother’s family to come all this way. If you don’t mind my simple fare, please join me for a meal,” Cen Shi said softly.
Ni Zong, who had arrived aggressively, was now filled with suppressed anger. He couldn’t bring himself to eat, so he simply excused himself with “I have matters to attend to at home” and left in a huff. Ni Mi Zhi, also unhappy, glared at the veiled Ni Su and quickly followed. Only Ni Zong’s son, Ni Qingwen, stood up slowly, took a bite of a pastry, his gaze lingering on Xing Zhu beside Ni Su until his mother, Liu Shi, nudged him. Then he hummed a tune and swaggered out.
“Sister-in-law…” Liu Shi didn’t dare linger. She called out to Cen Shi, wanting to speak but hesitating.
“Go back.” Cen Shi’s cold features softened slightly as she nodded to her.
Liu Shi could only bow and hurriedly leave.
The spring snow melted on the threshold, leaving puddles. The hall became much quieter. Cen Shi remained silent. Ni Su lifted her veil, stood up, walked forward a few steps, and knelt before Cen Shi.
Cen Shi looked down at her. “Did you really go yesterday?”
“Yes.” Ni Su lowered her head, her words clear, no longer the weak and breathless girl from before.
Cen Shi’s thin face was etched with fatigue. She struggled to stand but refused Ni Su’s help. Nanny Qian hurried to assist her. Cen Shi didn’t look at Ni Su, simply saying, “Then go kneel in the ancestral hall.”
Since Ni Zhun had forced Ni Qinglan to pursue a scholarly path, the person kneeling in the ancestral hall had changed from him to Ni Su. Sometimes it was because Ni Zhun discovered her secretly reading his medical notes, other times because she had snuck out to identify herbs in the mountains with herbalists.
As she grew older, she became better at hiding things. If Ni Zhun didn’t know, she knelt less often. This was the second time Ni Su had knelt in the ancestral hall since Ni Zhun’s death.
Ni Zhun’s memorial tablet had been added to the ancestral hall, and incense and candles constantly burned on the altar, filling the air with smoke.
“Fortunately, Miss, you saw Miss Mi Zhi’s carriage yesterday and spoke to the peasant woman and midwife beforehand,” Xing Zhu crouched beside Ni Su. “It was a close call. If Second Master had bribed them to change their story, it would have been bad.”
“Second Uncle is usually stingy, but he might have been willing to spend money on this matter. It’s just that those two refused to accept his money,” Ni Su said. Her legs were numb from kneeling for a while. She reached down to massage them, and seeing her frown, Xing Zhu quickly reached out to help.
“Why did they refuse?” Xing Zhu couldn’t understand.
Yesterday, when Ni Su was in that house helping the peasant woman deliver her baby, Xing Zhu hadn’t dared to enter and had waited outside. Looking at the courtyard and the thatched cottage, she thought they seemed extremely poor. How could they not need money?
“I have a good relationship with the midwife, and although I’m not close to the peasant woman, human hearts are made of flesh and blood. If you can see their difficulties, they can naturally see yours.”
Xing Zhu seemed to understand but still pouted. “But I don’t think that Miss Mi Zhi’s heart is made of flesh. She developed headaches after being punished at home. When she fainted in our private school, you kindly gave her acupuncture, but she went home and told on you, saying you were secretly studying medicine. Madam punished you by making you kneel in the ancestral hall that time too.”
Since then, Ni Zong had been constantly watching Ni Su for any transgressions.
“This time, when Madam asked you,” Xing Zhu’s voice lowered, close to Ni Su’s ear, “why did you tell the truth? If you had just brushed it off, you wouldn’t have to kneel in the ancestral hall.”
“I never lie to Mother.” Ni Su shook her head. “In the past, she didn’t ask. If she asks, I must tell the truth.”
Ni Su knelt in the ancestral hall for most of the day. By dusk, her knees were swollen, numb, and painful, making it difficult to walk. The old steward called a few maidservants to help Xing Zhu carry Ni Su back to her room.
Cen Shi didn’t ask or send Nanny Qian with medicine. Xing Zhu had to ask a servant boy to fetch some medicinal oil from the Ni family’s resident physician for Ni Su.
“Miss, it’s cold at night. Go to sleep early,” Xing Zhu said after applying the oil and returning from washing her hands. She saw Ni Su sitting at her desk, wrapped in a robe, her brush constantly moving, and gently urged her to rest.
“Brother will be back soon. I need to organize my findings from the past six months for him to see.” Two candles illuminated Ni Su’s fair and delicate profile. The ink-wet brush tip moved across the paper. “Compared to when he left, I’ve made more progress. I now have a better method for using medicine when the placenta doesn’t descend after childbirth.”
She was so engrossed in writing that she completely lost track of time. Xing Zhu came in, trimmed the candle wicks, and fell asleep on the soft couch. Ni Su got up, took a sip of cold tea, and draped a robe over Xing Zhu.
Later that night, Ni Su fell asleep at her desk. The candles burned until dawn, finally melting into puddles of wax and extinguishing their flames.
“Miss, a letter from Yun Jing!” A clear female voice suddenly came from outside the door.
Ni Su woke up with a start. She stood up, the robe she had been wearing falling to the floor. Xing Zhu, who had been curled up asleep, also woke up and hurried to help Ni Su dress and wash. “Miss, Young Master must have passed!”
If he hadn’t passed, they would have received him in person, not just a letter.
Ni Su, having knelt in the ancestral hall the day before, walked slowly. When she arrived at Cen Shi’s courtyard, she found the servants standing in the courtyard. The old steward’s face was pale as he paced anxiously on the stone steps.
Servant boys led several of the Ni family’s physicians past Ni Su, hurrying into Cen Shi’s room. Supported by Xing Zhu, Ni Su quickly approached. “What’s wrong with Mother?”
“Madam has fainted!” The old steward’s beard trembled, his eyes red-rimmed as he looked at Ni Su. “Miss, our Young Master… he’s missing!”
What? Ni Su’s mind reeled.
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