An Lingrong's Rebirth: The Lock of Qingqiu

However, Manager Xiao was still worried about An Lingrong, and told her to use the medicine produced by Tongjitang. An Lingrong explained that this was a special case. Wu Lanyi was a gynecologist, and she happened to have such a secret recipe for having a child. As long as a woman was pregnant, if she wanted a boy, she would have a boy, and if she wanted a girl, she would have a girl. Manager Xiao did not believe what An Lingrong said, and chuckled a few times before walking away.

An Lingrong received three hundred taels of silver a month, which was equivalent to ten taels of silver a day. Manager Xiao knew that An Lingrong was short of money, so he showed her some extra favor and paid her on a daily basis. On her first day at work, An Lingrong received ten taels of silver. After half a month of work, she received one hundred and fifty taels of silver. Seeing her gradually bulging purse, she felt more at ease.

In half a month, there were quite a lot of patients coming in and out of Tongjitang. People started lining up at daybreak, and there were still endless patients to be seen at sunset. There were few difficult and complicated diseases, but common ones included rheumatism, sore throat, etc. Patients were willing to spend money for minor illnesses and wanted to see the best doctors in Tongjitang.

An Lingrong was a female doctor, and visually she looked inferior to others. In addition, she was young and thin, so the patients who came to see the doctor squeezed in with all their might. An Lingrong was sitting at the outermost seat, and the seats behind her were all male doctors. The patients kept squeezing in, all passing by An Lingrong. There were only six or seven people around her every day, while the male doctors behind her saw more than thirty people on average every day, and were so busy that they didn't even have time to take a break and have a cup of tea.

The emperor took Xia Jianlei to Yangliu Lake to fish every day, and then took the fish and turtles they caught to the market to sell.

At dinner time, An Lingrong prepared a pot of delicious carp soup and added some vegetarian dishes. The emperor came back with Xia Kua, looking very excited. Xia Kua was holding a wooden box in her hands. The emperor took the box and handed it to An Lingrong, saying with a smile, "Rong'er, let me show you something. Open it and have a look."

An Lingrong was opening the box and wanted to ask him what was inside. When she opened the lid, something yellow appeared inside. It was not silver, but a gold bar!

An Lingrong was startled and closed the lid of the box with a snap. She asked, "Fourth Master, where did this come from?"

The emperor sat down and smelled the aroma of the fish soup and said, "Rong'er, I exchanged it with a customer when I was selling fish at the market!"

An Lingrong asked worriedly, "Fourth Master, were you recognized by someone you know? Do you know that person? Did they give it to you?"

The emperor shook his head and said, "I don't know. Lord Xia and I were selling fish at the market. Perhaps someone saw how hard we were working, and a fat middle-aged man of medium build said he would come again tomorrow. Today, he bought all our fish and turtles by himself."

An Lingrong advised, "Fourth Master, we came out to experience life. Although we don't know who is secretly helping you, his actions will damage your personal experience! You should pay him the market price of fish and turtles, and you cannot accept any extra money. What do you think?"

The emperor nodded and said, "Rong'er is right. When we go to the market tomorrow, we will ask Lord Xia to return the gold to him!"

An Lingrong warned, "Fourth Master, you can't sell all the fish and turtles to him. You have to treat them equally like they were in the palace! Let the people of Jiangnan have the happiness to taste the fish and turtles that Fourth Master personally caught."

The emperor nodded solemnly, and suddenly realized: "Look, it's a good thing that Rong'er reminded me, otherwise he would have taken all the bargains. When we sell them tomorrow, each person can only buy two."

The three of them ate happily and shared what they had seen and heard that day. For An Lingrong, it was indeed much more interesting than when she was in the palace.

Half a month later, Wu Lanyi, who had come to see the gynecologist last time, came back. She couldn't hide her excitement in her eyes. As soon as she came in, she whispered, "Doctor, I have been taking the medicine according to your prescription for half a month, and it seems that I am pregnant. Please take my pulse again to confirm it."

Wu Lanyi originally had some uterine coldness. An Lingrong not only gave her medicine to regulate the coldness, but also gave her medicine to regulate the pH of her body fluids. Getting pregnant was completely within her expectations. If her guess was correct, Wu Lanyi would definitely be carrying a baby boy.

An Lingrong gently felt Wu Lanyi's pulse, and after feeling it for a while, she smiled and said, "Congratulations, it's twin boys. Remember to take good care of yourself when you go back. Kneel down at the head of the bed every day to prevent miscarriage. By the way, after you give birth, I will probably still be working here. Come to Tongji Hall every month and let me feel your pulse."

Wu Lanyi went back happily. The next day, she sent someone to deliver a bright red silk banner with the words "Miraculous Doctor" written on it. The signature below was not Wu Lanyi's name, but her own words - "Guan Hongju".

Everyone within a ten-mile radius knew about Guan Hongju's existence. They were one of the richest families in the area. Her family had eight daughters, which was just enough for two mahjong tables. It was also said that none of her eight daughters would marry out of the family because she had no sons. Some of the eight daughters wanted to find sons-in-law to marry into their family.

An Lingrong proudly hung the banner on the wall next to her seat. Manager Xiao came over with a smile and asked An Lingrong about the prescription she had prepared for Wu Lanyi. However, this was a prescription she had researched exclusively, and Wu Lanyi was a special case. How could An Lingrong easily reveal her prescription to Manager Xiao?

Manager Xiao was an old hand and it was clear to him, but since Tongjitang opened, such a great medical master had sent a banner. This honor belonged to An Lingrong, as An Lingrong had won the recognition of a big client on behalf of Tongjitang. Manager Xiao's expression changed quickly and he served tea and water to An Lingrong very diligently.

An Lingrong spent another day in a leisurely manner. The next day, the patients who came to her clinic heard of An Lingrong's name and said that she had helped women who could not conceive to have a pair of magical fetuses. If they wanted a boy, they would have a boy, and if they wanted a girl, they would have a girl. Word spread from one to ten, and from ten to a hundred. Now there was an endless stream of women coming to see her for pregnancy, and they all specified that An Lingrong should treat them. Seeing that Manager Xiao was very happy, she gave An Lingrong a commission and asked her to work overtime to see her.

The sun set in the afternoon and it was getting dark, but there were still many patients at Tongjitang, all of them coming for An Lingrong. An Lingrong didn't have much special medicine on hand, and if she needed more, she could only go to Tongjitang and use Tongjitang's medicines to make pills. However, the formula she developed on her own could not be leaked to Tongjitang.

A month later, An Lingrong was so busy that there were too many people coming to see her for medical treatment. At dark in the afternoon, the Emperor and Xia Qie sat on the flower bed under a tree outside Tongji Hall, blinking their eyes and waiting for her to come home and cook for the two grown men.

An Lingrong returned to the small courtyard and made fresh fish soup with the fish that the emperor had fished in Yangliu Lake during the day. After feeding the emperor and Xia Jue, she began to tinker with her medicinal herbs and prepare her special medicine.

The climate in the south of the Yangtze River is warm, but there are many people with uterine cold. She prepared pills that are different from those used by the Imperial Pharmacy in the capital according to the climate here. If her expectations are met, these women will recover faster after taking the pills.

I didn't expect so many people to come here to pray for children! Why do so many women here want to have daughters?

"Rong'er, I'm sleepy. When can you come to bed and sleep with me?" The emperor said sleepily, squinting his eyes as he looked at An Lingrong who was very awake.

An Lingrong was stunned. She was so focused on making medicine that she forgot about the emperor who was waiting for her in bed.

She couldn't help but smile: "I'll be right there after I wash my hands, please be patient, Fourth Master."

"Rong'er, can you please hurry up and warm the bed? I can't sleep!"

"Okay, okay, I'll be there soon. Fourth Master, do some sit-ups on the bed first."

"Wait for Rong'er to come, and we'll practice together."

"..."