Against the Current - Chapter 238
Chapter 238 - Seeking Medical Help
Lin Jinlou suddenly pinched her chin and said, "You..."
Xianglan trembled, her eyes opening wide as she stared at him.
Lin Jinlou released his hand and said, "Never mind, you may go." With that, he turned on his heel and strode out.
Xianglan let out a long breath, her body turning limp as she slumped sideways onto the bed. Turning her head slightly, she caught sight of Huashan peeking in through the doorway and beckoned her to come inside, asking, "How are the eldest mistress and the others?"
Huashan replied, "The eldest mistress and the second mistress are still in the east room. Xueling just went in to serve tea and pastries and hasn't come out yet, likely because she stopped to talk with the madams. The second young mistress just left a moment ago."
Xianglan gathered up her hair, pulled herself together to stand, and said, "Let's go. It wouldn't do to leave them hanging there."
Huashan stammered, "Mistress, your eyes..." Saying this, she brought over the mirror case. Xianglan leaned forward to look, only to find her eyes somewhat red and swollen, a dead giveaway that she had been crying. She hurriedly bade Huashan fetch a pair of silver spoons to chill and press against her eyes for a moment until they felt somewhat better. Then, after wiping her face with a damp towel and reapplying her ointment, she went out to receive her guests, needless to say.
Now, as for Lin Jinlou, once he stepped out of the second inner gate, he first returned to the front study to write a post, which he handed to Xixiang with the instruction, "Take this to the Imperial Hospital first thing tomorrow morning and ask Imperial Physician Zhang Shiyou to come over." Having said that, he placed his writing brush back on the rack of his own accord and let out a deep sigh.
He had eavesdropped on Xianglan's conversation from outside the doorway, hearing every single word clearly. He knew that the woman still harbored resentment, and he too found it rather trying; yet today, Xianglan's words had brought a flash of sudden enlightenment. She had said, "Once she is with child, mother and child are bound by blood, so how could she bear to abort the baby? She must have struggled for a long time before she failed to harden her heart, only to be discovered by her family and thus returned to the Dai household." From this, it stood to reason that if this woman were to conceive a child, her heart would finally settle down. He also found it puzzling: at present, Xianglan was the only one in his inner courtyard, and with them growing closer day by day, he figured good news ought to have arrived long ago, yet there had been no sign of it whatsoever. This Zhang Shiyou from the Imperial Hospital specialized in taking the pulses of and securing pregnancies for the noble ladies of the inner court; his learning was profound and his grasp of medical principles extremely deep. Previously, when he was purchasing an official title for his son, he had used the connections of Zhang's esteemed family patriarch. Inviting him over to diagnose Xianglan and see precisely where the problem lay would also give him peace of mind... Perhaps, once he was done dealing with these matters, he should take Xianglan to Miaofeng Mountain on the outskirts of the capital to pray to the Goddess of Child-Sending?
Lin Jinlou rubbed his chin, intending to have Kang Shiyuan summoned to ask about his schedule for the next couple of days, when unexpectedly, upon pushing open the door, he saw Shuangxi waiting in the doorway. Seeing Lin Jinlou approach, Shuangxi hurriedly said, "First Master, the Second Brother-in-Law drank too heavily and his condition flared up just now. He had a whole urn of hangover soup forced down him, threw it up, and then took some sobering broth. Now he's lying on the heated brick bed. What do you make of this..."
Lin Jinlou hurried over to check. As soon as he entered the room, he was hit by a heavy stench of alcohol to find his second brother-in-law, Tao Hongxun, lying on the bed with a pale face, though his spirits seemed fairly good now that he had vomited. Lin Jinlou offered a few words of comfort and instructed a page to bring him some congee. After resting for a while, Tao Hongxun felt better and insisted on taking his leave. Lin Jinlou pressed him warmly to stay, but Tao Hongxun replied, "I have official duties tomorrow and dare not linger. I shall call again another day to impose upon you." Only then did Lin Jinlou send his guest off, finally having a crate of gifts brought from Jinling loaded up for him to take along.
Once Mr. and Mrs. Lin Dongqi had departed, Lin Dongwan found it awkward to stay any longer and likewise rose to take her leave, returning to Lin Jinxuan's quarters. Upon stepping into the courtyard, she saw Concubine Yin grinding medicine in the shade of a tree, so she stepped forward and said, "Why is Concubine Yin personally doing this when the maids are right here?"
Concubine Yin replied, "This is medicine for your younger brother; I only feel at ease when I grind it with my own hands. He fell slightly ill a few days ago, though fortunately it didn't trigger any major condition, and he is currently taking the Ginseng Yangrong Pill. It's just that he still doesn't sleep soundly at night and constantly suffers from cold sweats. When I had a physician come to examine him today, he said it's a deficiency of Yang and kidney depletion, likely caused by his newly wedded state. I was just telling his wife a moment ago that if worst comes to worst, they should sleep in separate rooms starting these past few days. Can you guess what his wife told me in reply?" Mimicking Tan's expression, she continued, "'This matter troubles Concubine Yin, and although none of the proper elders are currently by his side, I still hold Concubine Yin in respect as an elder. However, no matter what, this is still a private matter between us husband and wife, and I would ask Concubine Yin to trouble herself less with our affairs henceforth.' Just listen to that! She is implying I am not a 'proper elder' and clearly doesn't put me in her eyes at all. Is there any bride in this world so unbridled! Pity me, having lived to this age, thinking I had something to lean on for my later years, only to encounter such a daughter-in-law. My lot is truly bitter!" As she spoke, tears began to fall.
Lin Dongwan remarked, "Given her temperament, Concubine Yin should just bear with her a little. Where in this world is anything completely flawless? The last time I came, didn't you praise the new bride for being sensible and even give her a pair of gold bracelets? I've made the difficult trip back home, yet you don't even ask how I'm doing. My life at my husband's family is also difficult; the great branch is making a fuss about dividing the household property, while the second and fourth branches both have capable people, and the fifth branch enjoys the most favor and gets a greater share. Only our third branch—that hopeless lump of clay that can't be plastered onto a wall—cannot be depended upon at all. He's an utter spineless weakling, easily fooled the moment his brothers whisper sweet nothings into his ears. Last year we bought him an official rank, but he refuses to apply himself properly, and instead takes up with scoundrels who lure him into gambling. Right now, the old master is still holding the fort down, but if the family truly divides, how are we supposed to live... The bitterness in my heart is the real one..." Saying this, she too burst into tears.
Concubine Yin cursed, "It's all that cheap woman Qin making trouble by finding you this match, and Xuan'er's wife must have been her idea too, instigated so that he would marry her. She won't rest until she ruins my happiness!" She then grabbed Lin Dongwan's sleeve and said, "My child, your younger brother is frail and must not be worked up into a rage. Right now, only you can step forward on my behalf and join me in putting Xuan'er's wife in her place. Since she has just crossed the threshold, if we don't rein her in and establish strict rules now, what standing will I have left here in the future? I know you've always been resourceful."
Lin Dongwan was in the middle of wiping her tears when her hand paused, and her heart turned cold. She sneered, "Concubine Yin is always like this, with eyes only for the second brother. I wasn't born from your womb; you only think of me when you're wronged, asking me to fight your battles so I offend the mistress, and now I haven't even the face to open my mouth to my eldest brother to ask for a post for my husband." With that, she stood up and left, snapping the door curtain back as she went into the room. Her personal maid, Qiuye, hurried in after her and saw Lin Dongwan standing by the door wiping her eyes with her hand. Qiuye stepped forward to offer her a handkerchief, saying softly, "Concubine Yin just has that kind of temperament; why must the Third Young Mistress take it to heart?"
Lin Dongwan wiped her tears with the handkerchief and said, "I know, it's just that my heart is bitter. I've made the hard trip home, and not a single word of warmth or concern passed her lips. When she saw the wet nurse carrying little Hui over, she didn't even ask after him. Her heart and eyes are entirely fixed on the second brother, and she even orders me around to play the heavy."
Qiuye didn't dare to offer too much consolation, so she could only say, "Concubine Yin treats you as one of her own, which is why she speaks like that." She then lowered her voice, "Third Young Mistress, don't cry anymore. The Second Master and Second Young Mistress Xuan are right inside the room."
Lin Dongwan dabbed the corners of her eyes again and composed herself. Her temperament had always been to "swallow broken teeth along with blood"—even if she suffered grievances as vast as the heavens, she refused to let the slightest hint show before outsiders. Back when she reached the age for marriage, Lin Changzheng had originally wanted to marry her off to a wealthy local merchant family, but she refused, determined to find a prominent, long-established clan. She understood clearly that no matter how much silver a wealthy merchant possessed, the foundation of a prestigious family could never be piled up with silver alone. She would rather wear old clothes and hold a broken bowl while drinking thin gruel beneath a glorious plaque than wear new clothes and hold a golden bowl while eating rich foods under a mediocre lintel. Although the Lu family maintained nothing more than a respectable facade, a starved camel was still bigger than a horse. She refused to believe that, relying on her own cleverness and competence to spur her husband onward, there would never come a day of resurgence; and when that day arrived, she would return home and make all those people look at her anew!
Yet after marrying and enduring two years of grinding hardships, she realized how naive her thoughts had been. Parents-in-law, sisters-in-law, uncles and husbands—each had a different temperament and disposition, with ten people having nine distinct minds; this was hardly something she could turn around by the sheer force of her single will.
Even so, she refused to admit she had been wrong from the start. The path she had chosen for herself was one she would walk to the end, even if she had to do it on her knees.
Presently, on one hand, she cultivated ties with Chen Xianglan, hoping she would put in a good word for her before Lin Jinlou in the future; while on the other hand, she pinned her hopes on Lin Jinxuan's health improving so that he could sit for the imperial examinations next year, giving her some extra leverage to rely upon.
When Lin Dongwan entered the inner room, Lin Jinxuan was leaning weakly against the bed while Tan was just finishing attending to his medicine. Opening the window to let the medicinal vapors clear, Tan saw Lin Dongwan come in and, still harboring resentment over how she and Lin Dongqi had protected Xianglan earlier and caused her to lose face, flicked the curtain aside and walked right out, only instructing a maid to serve tea.
Tan sat alone in the west chamber for a while, feeling bored and listless. She picked up some needlework to stitch a few stitches, then tossed it aside in irritation. Today she had worked up a bellyful of anger: first suffering grievances over at Xianglan's place, and then upon her return, Concubine Yin had chattered on incessantly, telling her to sleep in separate rooms from Lin Jinxuan. What did this woman take her for! She was the legally wedded principal mistress; even if Concubine Yin was Lin Jinxuan's biological mother, she was still merely a concubine—yet she had the audacity to put on airs of authority right before her! Previously, she had humored and flattered Concubine Yin purely for her husband's sake; if this led them to mistake her for a soft persimmon, they were barking up the wrong tree! Was she really someone easy to push around?
Tan let out a few cold sneers and drained a cup of tea. Every word Concubine Yin had uttered earlier implied that she was a seductive siren who had bewitched Lin Jinxuan and ruined his health. She ought to look at what kind of trash her own son was—a frail reed ready to collapse at the slightest breeze, bearing no resemblance at all to true brothers like Lin Jinlou. At the thought of Lin Jinlou, Tan's face suddenly grew hot. Just a moment ago, she had collided squarely into Lin Jinlou's arms, knowing full well how broad and hard that chest was, how sturdy his arms, and possessing those mesmerizing eyes...
Tan dared not dwell on the thought any further. She spat mentally at herself, used her handkerchief to fan herself and cool the heat on her face, but a second later she couldn't help pondering: "They all say my eldest brother-in-law is a seasoned rake who is well-versed in romantic breezes and moonlit affairs. Now that I've seen him, it truly is so. I never imagined there could be such a man in this world, so different from my own brothers. Men ought to stand tall and indomitable like this. It's only my misfortune; had I been born a high-born noble lady and married him, our matching as husband and wife would have been a tale of deep devotion. As it is, I had to marry Lin Jinxuan—he is indeed warm and considerate, but with this constitution full of ailments... Ah..."