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The fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month.
The first and fifteenth of each lunar month were rest days, so today Wei Ruo didn’t have to attend the school.
Wei Ruo planned to spend the entire day at the estate, arranging all the things that needed to be taken care of before the New Year. After that, she might not have time.
Just as she was about to head out, someone arrived at the residence—Old Madam Xu, the mother of Assistant Magistrate Lord Xu, had come and specifically requested to see Wei Ruo.
Yun Shi was puzzled. In recent days, her second daughter, Wanwan, had been attending lessons at the Xu residence, so she would logically have had more opportunities to meet Old Madam Xu. Yet her elder daughter Ruo’er had almost no interaction with the Xu family. Why had Old Madam Xu come and asked to see the elder daughter?
The Xu family was one of the well-known aristocratic families in Taizhou Prefecture. Although their influence wasn’t as vast and far-reaching as the Yuan family’s, their current influence in court far surpassed that of the Wei family.
Old Madam Xu was an elder in her household and highly respected.
For such a senior figure to personally visit and ask to see a junior—it left Yun Shi completely confused.
Curious, she asked Old Madam Xu, “How does Madam Xu know my daughter Ruo’er?”
Old Madam Xu smiled and said, “My husband has had a chronic cough for some time now. He’s taken many medicines, but nothing’s really helped. This year, the weather turned cold earlier and more sharply than usual. The cold air irritates his throat and makes him cough badly.”
Yun Shi still didn’t quite understand why Old Madam Xu was bringing up her husband’s illness—what did this have to do with their family?
Old Madam Xu went on, “A few days ago, I visited the old Madam of the Yuan family’s third household. She had recently caught a chill and couldn’t stop coughing. While I was there, I saw a wonderful remedy—some loquat syrup that her darling granddaughters had gotten for her. After taking it for three days, her cough had almost completely gone away. She had plenty of breath while talking, her voice was clear, and the coughing had subsided significantly.”
Yun Shi didn’t interrupt and patiently listened.
Then Old Madam Xu got to the point, “Later, my old friend helped me ask her three granddaughters about it. They said it came from a classmate—a friend of theirs—who personally made the loquat syrup and gifted it to them. They received three jars in total. Two were given to my old friend, and one was given to the mother of the Ninth Lady.”
At this point, Yun Shi began to understand.
Recently, there had been three young ladies from the Yuan family around the same age as her two daughters who had been attending lessons together with her elder daughter Ruo’er at Tianqin Garden. The person who had given the loquat syrup was most likely her daughter Ruo’er, which would explain why Old Madam Xu had come calling today.
After figuring out roughly what was going on, Yun Shi smiled and replied,“As for the loquat syrup that Madam Xu mentioned, I’m not too sure about it either. Since today is a rest day and Ruo’er is at home, I’ll have someone bring her over and ask her. If she still has some, I’ll ask her to give you another jar.”
Seeing that Yun Shi had instructed the maid beside her to call for someone, Old Madam Xu didn’t stop her.
After sending the maid off, Yun Shi said to Madam Xu,“However, that loquat syrup may not necessarily be effective for Madam Xu’s illness. When it comes to treatment, it’s still best to consult a physician.”
Yun Shi remained skeptical about Wei Ruo’s loquat syrup treating a cough. The fact that the Madam of the Yuan family’s third household got better might have just been a coincidence—like a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse.
If it didn’t work for Old Madam Xu, Yun Shi was afraid the Xu family might be displeased, so she decided to make her disclaimer in advance.
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There's nothing with putting a disclaimer in advance when it comes to things like this. But Yun Shi knows little to nothing about Wei Ruo's medicinal skills, so she can't discredit her so quickly. It'll make her look ignorant and lacking as a mother.