Li Man'er was startled and immediately reached out to support Huang Yuhe, preventing her from kneeling.
What a joke! They were of the same generation; if Huang Yuhe actually knelt to her, it would look like she was bullying others with her influence!
Huang Yuhe was no match for Li Man'er and was quickly helped up.
"Help your young lady up."
Li Man'er glared at the maidservant following Huang Yuhe. The girl, startled, snapped back to her senses and quickly helped Huang Yuhe up, whispering, "Miss, you are here to ask for help, not to force someone."
Miss Li is the type who yields to gentleness but not to hardness. Don't bring the habits you've cultivated at home out into the world.
Huang Yuhe finally realized her mistake, feeling both ashamed and remorseful. "I, I lost my composure for a moment. Miss Li, please don't blame me."
Sigh.
Li Man'er looked at the quail-like Huang Yuhe and said, "Sit down first, and then tell me what's on your mind."
Perhaps she hadn't expected Li Man'er to be so amiable. Huang Yuhe felt quite flattered.
A young maidservant brought them tea.
"Have some tea to calm your nerves before you speak."
Huang Yuhe nodded repeatedly, took a sip of the fragrant tea, and finally felt her breathing stabilize.
She cursed herself for her foolishness. If she had actually knelt to Miss Li, who knew how many people would speak ill of Miss Li!
"Miss Huang, you didn't send a card to see me just to scare me, did you?"
Huang Yuhe's face turned crimson. "Uh, uh, I, I came here presumptuously because I have something to ask of you."
Li Man'er asked, "Who in your family is ill?"
"How did you know?" Huang Yuhe's mouth formed an 'o' shape. "You are too amazing. Could it be that you can divine the future?"
Lüyi, standing behind Li Man'er, couldn't help but chuckle.
Li Man'er glared at her, then said seriously, "Look at how thin you've become. It must be due to worry and anxiety, causing you to lose your appetite and sleep. I figured you came to me because you've heard I have some skill in treating illnesses. I really can't think of any other reason. Besides, you wouldn't have come to ask me to write poetry, would you?"
Huang Yuhe smiled. "Sister Man'er, you guessed right. I'm here to ask you to see my mother."
Well, now she's calling me 'Sister.' It's true that proximity breeds affection...
No, that doesn't sound right. It feels like I'm scolding myself.
"Your mother is ill? Didn't you invite a doctor to your residence?"
"We did," Huang Yuhe said softly. "However, the doctors we invited all said my mother had no serious ailment, just an overactive liver fire, and a few doses of medicine would cure her. But my mother has been ill for three or four days, suffering from pain all over her body, with no appetite and poor sleep. The medicine has had no effect, and there's no sign of improvement."
Li Man'er frowned. "Then why not change doctors?"
Huang Yuhe simply said, "I am of concubine birth, and my mother is a concubine. Everything in the household is decided by the Madam..."
What does that have to do with changing doctors?
Oh.
Li Man'er quickly understood.
Huang Yuhe felt that her legitimate mother was unreliable and perhaps even responsible for her mother's worsening condition.
She had no other recourse and dared not invite another doctor back home, so she came to find herself.
"This is easy!" Li Man'er said. "I have nothing else to do anyway, so I'll go back with you. Is that convenient?"
Huang Yuhe was stunned. She hadn't expected things to go so smoothly.
"Con-convenient."
Li Man'er smiled. "You really trust me."
Huang Yuhe said earnestly, "I feel that Sister Man'er is different from what people say outside. They always talk about how bad you are, but in my opinion, it's just because they can't stand you being better than them. Or perhaps they provoked you, and you had no choice but to retaliate."
Li Man'er was amused and instructed Lüyi, "Go and get my medicine chest."
Lüyi quickly bowed and went to fetch the medicine chest.
"Sister Man'er, can we not bring the medicine chest?"
"How can I examine a patient without a medicine chest?"
Huang Yuhe said somewhat sheepishly, "I'm afraid our family members will say something careless and upset you. How about we just bring a pulse pillow?"
Li Man'er looked at her round, innocent eyes and, on impulse, agreed.
And so, Li Man'er, carrying a single pulse pillow, took a carriage to the Huang family's residence.
The Deputy Director of the Imperial Observatory was a minor official, and his position wasn't particularly important, so the Huang family's mansion couldn't compare to the Li family's.
Huang Yuhe led Li Man'er in through the back door. As soon as they entered the courtyard, she eagerly took her to Madam Liu's small courtyard.
Madam Liu was Huang Yuhe's birth mother and one of Deputy Director Huang's two concubines. She was originally a dowry maidservant to Madam Zhang, Deputy Director Huang's principal wife. She later became Deputy Director Huang's bed warmer and was only officially taken as a concubine when she became pregnant with Huang Yuhe.
Madam Liu's courtyard was rather secluded and somewhat desolate. It had only two rooms, a maidservant to attend to her, and an old woman to do the chores.
The maidservant's eyes lit up when she saw Huang Yuhe return. "Miss..."
"How is my mother?"
"Auntie is in so much pain that she's fainted. The medicine still has no effect."
Huang Yuhe quickly said, "Sister Man'er, please follow me."
Li Man'er nodded. Since she was here, she wouldn't stand idly by.
As they entered the room, a nauseating smell of decocted medicine wafted out, tasting bitter and astringent. Just by smelling it, Li Man'er could identify rhubarb and Coptis chinensis.
Her eyebrows knitted slightly, but she said nothing, following Huang Yuhe into the inner chamber.
On the bed lay a beautiful middle-aged woman. Although her complexion was poor and she appeared frail, her facial features suggested that she must have been quite attractive in her youth.
Li Man'er took the pulse pillow from Lüyi and began to feel the woman's pulse.
Huang Yuhe waited anxiously by her side.
After a moment, Li Man'er couldn't help but ask, "Did the previous doctors only say she had an overactive liver fire?"
"Yes!"
"Help me take off the madam's clothes."
Huh?
Huang Yuhe froze, her speech stammering. "Take off... take off her clothes?"
"I want to check the madam's sides, to see if there are any blisters."
Huang Yuhe, half-understanding, quickly helped lower the bed curtain and then removed Madam Liu's clothes.
Indeed, on both sides of Madam Liu's ribs, numerous glistening small blisters had appeared, looking red and shiny.
"Why is this happening?" Huang Yuhe had never seen anything like it and was momentarily stunned. Could it be that her mother's severe pain and loss of appetite all this time were due to these blisters?
"This is herpes zoster." It's also known as shingles or the serpent's belt rash, a viral disease that causes excruciating pain.
"Then, how do we treat it?" Huang Yuhe quickly asked the maidservant attending to Madam Liu, "Did my mother have these blisters a few days ago?"
The maidservant thought for a moment and shook her head. "No, she didn't."
"It must have just appeared," Li Man'er said. "Judging by the size of the blisters, they likely appeared within the last day or two."