Chapter 2

4

The red wedding silks hadn't all been taken down when Cheng Yue brought news of Father's case.

The prefecture agreed to a retrial, but said the sealed sample had grown moldy and could no longer be identified.

Guangyuan Trading House, the supplier, insisted our clinic had inspected the delivery. The medicine bore Father's private seal. Naturally, responsibility lay with him.

“What delivery time is recorded in their inspection ledger?” I asked.

“The ninth day of the twelfth month, during the shen hour.”

“False.”

I rose to fetch an old ledger from the bottom of my dowry chest.

“There was heavy snow in the southern city that afternoon. By shen, the ward gate had closed early because of the drifts. Their cart couldn't have passed.”

“The actual delivery came during chen the next morning. Father found the adulteration and ordered it returned. The driver refused. They argued outside for half an hour. The neighboring shops all saw.”

Xie Tingheng took the ledger.

He didn't immediately send anyone to arrest Guangyuan's manager.

“Witnesses to an argument can only prove the medicine was returned. We still need to establish how it reached the free clinic afterward.”

I nodded.

“If Guangyuan deliberately meant to harm people, they wouldn't adulterate the roots so obviously. Most likely someone in the middle switched them. Once the matter became serious, the manager feared losing the firm's reputation and government contract. He forged another ledger to shift blame to our clinic.”

“My thought too.”

Xie Tingheng circled several places with his brush.

“Guangyuan supplies the government-run Public Welfare Bureau monthly. Proven adulteration means compensation and loss of the contract. The manager was desperate to conceal it, while the transporter had the opportunity. We'll divide the investigation.”

He sent Cheng Yue to find the driver and investigate the original purchasing and cart-dispatch records.

I visited the survivors.

One had vomited until unconscious after the first dose. The remaining medicine still lay at the bottom of a chest; the family considered it unlucky and hadn't touched it.

I brought it back with its wrapping.

Then I asked Jiang Yunrou to invite several reputable older physicians to open and examine it before witnesses.

“Why not inspect it yourself?” Xie Tingheng asked.

“I can identify it. But I'm Sang Jichuan's daughter. Even if I'm right, people can say I'm protecting him. Evidence has to stand up to examination by people who don't believe us.”

He nodded quietly.

“Zhiwei, now I understand why your father trusted you to enter this household alone.”

“He didn't.”

I moved the medicine sieve to the window.

“Before the bridal sedan left, he had a jailer bring word: if the case couldn't be overturned, let it go. I wasn't to trade my whole life for it.”

“Why did you come anyway?”

“Because it concerns his good name and three lives.”

I poured a handful of roots into the sieve and examined them carefully.

“If Father really was wrong, we'll accept the compensation and punishment due. But if someone uses false records to pin deaths on a physician who saves people, I won't accept that.”

After a silence, Xie Tingheng set hot tea beside my hand.

“Don't worry. We'll open the door to the truth. We won't change the answer for anyone.”

The supposed shashen in the packet was mixed with shanglu root.

Once sliced, they looked similar enough for an inexperienced person to confuse.

Shanglu had medicinal uses, but treating it as shashen and drinking a large decoction was another matter. The vomiting, diarrhea, and racing heart came from that.

The symptoms matched Father's patients.

The wrapping still bore the free clinic's distribution mark, which matched the prescription he had left.

Cheng Yue found the driver too.

He owed gambling debts and had secretly sold the good herbs, replacing them with cheap assorted roots to make up the weight.

Father discovered the problem during inspection and rejected them.

Afraid the supplier would hold him responsible, the driver removed an old discarded Sang clinic inspection tag from a medicine basket at Guangyuan.

While Father was out seeing a patient, he delivered the adulterated goods to the free clinic and told a new assistant they had already been checked.

After the deaths, Guangyuan's manager feared losing his government contract.

He paid the driver to leave the capital and bribed a clerk to replace the medicine sample.

Xie Tingheng sealed the statements, dispatch ledger, and examination report signed by the physicians.

Then he personally wrote the petition.

Only when he finished did I notice his writing hand trembling.

He had checked accounts and medicine with me, then forced himself to write late into the night. He was exhausted.

I took away his brush.

“Lie down.”

“Only a few lines left.”

“Cheng Yue can copy it. If you make yourself ill, I won't go to the prefecture tomorrow. I'll stay here and give you acupuncture.”

He tried to argue.

I pointed to the bed.

Seeing no room for negotiation, he lay down resignedly.

“Physician Sang, are all allies so fierce?”

I tucked him in.

“The ones who save lives are.”

He closed his eyes, a small smile still on his lips.

“Then I'm fortunate.”

5

The retrial took time.

Xie Tingheng's health, however, improved day by day.

As the apricot tree outside began to bud, his night sweats stopped, along with the blood in his cough.

Before, he had rested several times on the walk to the main courtyard. Now he could slowly circle the little garden.

Mingzheng drew a flower in the log for every improvement.

Soon, the serious daily record became a chaotic garden.

He criticized her drawing.

She defended it vigorously.

“Sister-in-law said a good mood helps recovery. Complain again and I'll draw a turtle tomorrow.”

“Who taught you that?”

“Sister-in-law.”

He turned to me.

Grinding herbs beneath the covered walkway, I admitted it calmly.

“I only taught her not to let you bully people because you're the patient. The turtle was her own invention.”

He sat beside me and picked stray stalks from the herbs.

“My wife is an excellent teacher.”

I had thought a marquis's heir would never have worked with his hands.

Instead, he was meticulous.

He asked about unfamiliar herbs, remembered them, and sorted each without confusion.

If sitting too long made his back ache, he didn't force himself. At the time I set, he got up and moved.

“What did you do in your room before?” I asked.

“Read. Copy books. Help Father check supply accounts from the Northern Marches.”

He picked up a piece of dried tangerine peel.

“Sometimes correct Mingzheng's work. She dislikes studying and always brings pastries to bribe me.”

“What do you want to do?”

His hand paused.

All these years, everyone had asked where he hurt, what he wanted to eat, whether he needed an imperial physician.

No one had asked what he wanted after recovery.

“Join the Ministry of Works,” he answered.

“Winter grain transport is difficult in the north. When Father held the frontier, heavy snow always trapped army supplies at mountain passes.”

“I've studied many maps of roads and waterways. I want to improve the granaries and transport routes.”

“Then build enough strength to go to work every day.”

“You think I can?”

“If you take the right medicine, walk on schedule, and don't secretly stay up late.”

“If you disobey, I'll personally tell the ministry that a man who falsifies even his own daily log can't be trusted with granaries.”

He laughed.

“I haven't joined yet, and my reputation is already in my wife's hands.”

Spring light filtered through the newly budding grapevine, scattering across his sleeve.

Illness still marked his face.

But his eyes were no longer so still they seemed lonely, as when we first met.

I gradually understood: medicine could stop his coughing and wheezing.

It couldn't reclaim the days illness had stolen.

The man so carefully protected in his room had to plan his own tomorrow.

I folded the prepared herbs into a paper packet.

“One more task this afternoon.”

“What?”

“Go to the front courtyard and look at your father's supply maps. One map, then come back to rest.”

His eyes brightened.

He didn't thank me.

He simply cleaned the tangerine peel beside me more thoroughly.

Later, I found a small wooden box in the medicine cabinet.

Inside lay newly polished silver needles, delicate begonia patterns engraved at their ends.

A note beneath them read: An ally can't keep owing consultation fees forever.

I held the finest needle beneath the lamp for a long time.

Then I put the whole box in the medical chest I used most.

6

As his recovery progressed, the household gradually stopped treating him like porcelain that might break at a touch.

Previously, one cough made Xie Huaiyue call a physician.

Now he could wait beside his son while he steadied his breathing.

Jiang Yunrou reduced the staff at Tingxue Courtyard, keeping only the attentive maid Qinghe and Cheng Yue.

Old Madam Xie restrained her daily tonic soups, occasionally having the kitchen make a light fish broth instead.

These changes were harder than prescribing medicine.

They had guarded him anxiously for too long. Habits couldn't change overnight.

Whenever I used acupuncture or adjusted a prescription, I explained why.

They too learned to let go.

Only one matter still united their enthusiasm.

They wanted us to share a room.

For the first few nights, I had slept on the outer couch to care for him.

Once he could sleep well, I moved to the adjoining little study.

Jiang Yunrou couldn't say it outright, so she sent two new quilts daily.

His grandmother was more direct: paired pillows today, twin-lotus scented pouches tomorrow.

When the pouches nearly covered my dressing table, I took one to him.

“Does your family think my treatment includes producing an heir?”

Practicing calligraphy, he choked.

“I'll speak to them.”

“We'll go together.”

That evening, we went to the main courtyard.

He told his parents plainly that his condition wasn't stable and we had only just met.

We didn't intend to consummate the marriage yet.

Xie Huaiyue frowned.

“Who's rushing you?”

Jiang Yunrou quietly pushed the wedding-wine jar behind her under the table.

Old Madam Xie was frank.

“I was. But if Zhiwei doesn't want to, that's that. Wait until you both do. Anyone who gossips will lose their teeth.”

Smiling, I refilled her tea.

“No need to pull teeth, Grandmother. Tingheng and I are married, and we'll take our life seriously. But feelings can't be hurried. Children certainly shouldn't be used to bring anyone good fortune.”

Jiang Yunrou nodded repeatedly.

“You're right. I won't send any more.”

On the way back, Xie Tingheng was silent.

Moonlight lay on the stone path. His steps were much steadier than when we first met.

Near the courtyard gate, he suddenly stopped.

“Zhiwei, if I recover and your father's case ends, will you still want to stay?”

He asked seriously. I considered seriously too.

“An answer now would be unfair to both of us. I married you to save Father. You married me to reassure your family. Once everything is settled, we'll choose again.”

He lowered his eyes.

After a while, he nodded.

“All right.”

I saw his disappointment.

I didn't soothe it with gentle words.

If I mistook pity for affection, comforting him today would only hurt him later.

As we rounded the corridor, he naturally raised a hand to shield me from a hanging branch.

A fresh white magnolia flower brushed his hand, shedding a petal.

I didn't avoid his hand.

We walked slowly onward, side by side.

There were many days ahead.

We could leave the answer to ourselves when we could choose clearly.

7

After the weather warmed, Xie Tingheng left the residence for the first time.

The prefecture announced the retrial. Father would appear in court.

Before dawn, I packed my medical chest.

At the door, I found Xie Tingheng already beside the carriage.

He wore a bamboo-green round-collared robe and a light cloak.

Still thin, but in good spirits.

“You can't go,” I said at once. “The court will be crowded and stuffy. You'll sit for hours.”

“I won't enter. I'll wait at the teahouse opposite.”

He put a hand warmer into my hands.

“I wrote the petition. Our household guaranteed the witnesses Cheng Yue found. If the authorities need confirmation, being nearby is easier.”

“Besides, when you're busy, you forget to eat.”

“Qinghe will remind me.”

“She's afraid of you. One glare, and she won't dare speak.”

I looked at her.

She stared at her shoes, tacitly admitting it.

He continued.

“My pulse was stable last night. It isn't raining. The teahouse has wide windows. I'll bring medicine and water and won't stay long.”

“Physician Sang, you said patients should take charge of their own lives too.”

He used my own teaching against me.

Unfortunately, every word was reasonable.

“You may go, on conditions. Get up and move if you've sat too long. Come straight home if you're breathless. Cheng Yue will watch you.”

Cheng Yue answered loudly.

The retrial went more smoothly than expected.

The survivor's medicine bore the distribution mark. The broken tag matched the driver's statement.

Gambling debts, cart records, and the physicians' examination report were presented one by one.

At last, the manager admitted forging the inspection ledger.

He hadn't ordered the adulteration.

But after the deaths, he had paid for silence and bribed the clerk to replace the sample.

The prefect withdrew the charge against Father and ordered Guangyuan to compensate the bereaved families.

The manager was imprisoned for concealing evidence and obstructing the investigation.

The driver, whose substitution directly caused the deaths, received a severe sentence under the law.

The clerk was dismissed, interrogated, and punished too.

When Father emerged, his robe hung loosely on him. Much more silver marked his temples.

He inspected me from head to foot first.

Only after confirming I hadn't been mistreated did his eyes redden and he scolded me.

“Who told you to bargain with your marriage?”

“I exchanged my medical skill.”

I supported him.

“They didn't force me. Tingheng didn't use power to pressure the authorities either. We found evidence and overturned the case openly.”

Father was about to speak when a green-robed figure hurried over from the teahouse.

Xie Tingheng had apparently forgotten my instructions.

By the time he arrived, he had to lean on the carriage shaft to catch his breath.

I took his wrist. My face darkened.

“Why were you running?”

“My father-in-law is free. Naturally, I had to greet him.”

“You could have walked slowly.”

“I'll remember next time.”

“You dare plan a next time?”