Chapter 89

Imperial Physician He showed up at Chen Jue's place three days later. He gave the kid a full once-over, head to toe, then smiled and praised, "He's really something—growing great. Those little fists and legs are flailing around with real energy."

The baby, happy at the compliment, got even more worked up. Imperial Physician He stroked his beard and chuckled, "You can actually understand me? Nice, nice, keep it going."

He turned to Chen Jue and Huo Jilin and told them, "The kid's real healthy. That goat's milk is doing wonders."

And that was saying something—this baby was tougher than a bunch of the little princes in the palace who had wet nurses looking after them.

The scheming and backstabbing in the palace was brutal. Plenty of kids never even made it to birth, and most who did come out were weak and didn't last long.

Ugh.

That's why kids under three, before they were seen as out of the woods, got plain, folksy names to keep them safe.

Kids born to regular folks, even with tough conditions, were genuinely healthy.

When he'd first checked Chen Jue's pulse, Chen Jue had been underfed too. It wasn't until his husband came back that he slowly got his strength up.

And now the kid he'd given birth to was this healthy too—pretty damn impressive.

Chen Jue smiled at Xiao Hua, who was poking her head in from outside, and said, "Goat's milk really is excellent."

Back in later times, goat's milk was the top pick among milk powders. Since goats are super picky eaters, everything they eat is top-notch. And since Xiao Hua lived with Chen Jue and Zhang Yan's crew, she ate whatever she wanted—whatever tasted the best.

Especially those months she tagged along with Chen Jue up the mountain—she'd basically eaten her fill of fancy grub.

So Xiao Hua's milk was seriously good stuff.

When Chen Jue brought the baby out into the yard, Xiao Hua hopped over and craned her neck to peek at the little one wrapped up in swaddling. This was the kid she'd fed, so Chen Jue let her take a look.

Imperial Physician He ended up staying at Huo Jilin's place on and off for close to six months.

Over those six months, he taught Chen Jue acupuncture, and Chen Jue gave back just as much, teaching him a ton of emergency medicine without holding anything back—CPR, the ins and outs of penicillin, and how quick-acting heart-saving pills work.

As for heart bypass surgery, the environment just wasn't right for it, so Chen Jue only walked him through the theory—but even that was enough to blow Imperial Physician He's mind.

In those six months, Chen's Pharmaceutical rolled out everyday meds like Xiao Chai Hu granules, plus penicillin shots, An Na Jin fever and pain pills, quick-acting heart-saving pills, and Liu Wei Di Huang Wan for kidney support.

Except for the dextrin stabilizer, which they couldn't show off, Imperial Physician He got a personal tour of everything else.

That included the Liu Wei Di Huang Wan made just for Wanchun Hall.

You could say Chen's Pharmaceutical had shown him and the Wanchun Hall he spoke for a whole lot of good faith.

Because Imperial Physician He was genuinely kind to Chen Jue, treating him like a real apprentice, he passed on just about everything he knew. At first, he'd only planned to teach acupuncture, but as he got into medical theory with Chen Jue, he slowly realized he had to pull out his whole life's worth of knowledge just to keep up with Chen Jue's know-how.

The medical notes the two of them piled up over those six months could've covered the kang several layers thick.

Good thing Huo Jilin had teamed up with the Tung Oil Paper Mill, or they couldn't have afforded the paper.

But that's a story for another time.

Once Chen Jue got the hang of acupuncture, he didn't need Huo Jilin to volunteer as a guinea pig. Imperial Physician He officially hired him as a consulting doctor at Wanchun Hall. He worked every other day, and patients had to book an appointment to see him.

Chen's Pharmaceutical also officially bought into Wanchun Hall as a partner.

Over those six months, Chen Jue got a full grip on traditional Chinese medicine, and Chen's Pharmaceutical grew by two acres—pretty impressive stuff.

The big highlight: the Tung Oil Paper Mill Huo Jilin had put money into finally cranked out soft, safe toilet paper at a fair price.

Even regular folks could afford it now. Even scholars could pick up writing paper.

But that's a story for another time.

Around this time, New Year rolled around. It was Chen Jue and Huo Jilin's first New Year here, so it was worth marking.

And so much had gone down that year, especially in the royal court.

The Old Emperor didn't make it through the year in the end. He kicked the bucket the day before Little New Year.

The whole country went into mourning, so nobody in Great Liang could ring in the New Year with any kind of celebration.

Just like Huo Jilin had called it, the Crown Prince, who was pushing forty, took the throne. Great Liang ran on Confucian rules, so the eldest legitimate son got the nod.

But the Third Prince—the one who'd let the wolves in and blown his shot at the throne—wasn't put to death. Instead, he got exiled a thousand li to the Bashu area, banned from ever coming back to the capital. Whether the late emperor's edict had ordered that, nobody knew for sure.

Huo Jilin stared at the letter in his hand and figured the new emperor was still too soft. Edict or no edict, the Third Prince should've been killed on the spot—nip it in the bud, root and stem.

Not just because he might try to grab power, but because he deserved to die. Teaming up with outside enemies for the throne was a death sentence, plain and simple.

But Huo Jilin was just venting to himself. He was a nobody now, with zero say in what the royal family did.

Oh, and he planned to take up the Regional Commander post after New Year. The new emperor was tied up with funeral stuff and the coronation. With power shifting like that, Huo Jilin wasn't in any rush to start the job. Right now, he wanted to celebrate the New Year properly with Chen Jue.

This was their first New Year in this place.

There were perks to being out in the sticks, far from the emperor. Their Dongling County was still hopping, and the market before New Year was packed. Huo Jilin and Uncle Liu made trip after trip for supplies. By the time they picked up Chen Jue, the cart was still half full of goods.

Chen Jue, holding an armful of red spring couplets, pastries, and candies, found it both amusing and exasperating. Had Huo Jilin bought a bit too much? But looking at all these things, he could feel the festive spirit of the New Year approaching.

Uncle Liu squeezed up too: "Quick, quick, let's get home. It's snowing—don't want the road to get difficult later."

Chen Jue poked his head out: "It's snowing?"

He quite liked snow, especially in this world where snowflakes were especially large and could pile up thickly without melting on contact. He could imagine that after a full night of such snow, the little mountain village would look beautiful the next morning.

Huo Jilin saw him leaning out the carriage window and knew he liked the snow. He said, "Want to come out and ride a horse?"

It wasn't cold today—snow days weren't cold. The New Year came late this year, with an extra leap month, and they had already weathered the coldest part of winter.

Chen Jue immediately handed his armful of things to Uncle Liu. Uncle Liu leaned out the window and called, "Make sure your cloak is fastened properly!"

Huo Jilin was already retying Chen Jue's cloak straps: "Ride slowly, no rush. It won't fall heavily during the day."

Although there had been a leap month this year, Chen Jue had only been out of confinement for four months at most. While the ancients here observed at most a month of postpartum confinement, Huo Jilin still felt Chen Jue should take extra care.

"I know. Sit tight—we're setting off."

Huo Jilin was to sit on the carriage shaft outside. Once he was settled, Chen Jue stepped lightly into the stirrup and mounted the horse.

His posture was beautiful, like a white crane spreading its wings. Huo Jilin, sitting on the shaft, smiled and admired the sight. These past two months, Chen Jue had ridden to town for work every time—his equestrian skills had grown increasingly refined.

With a tap of his heels and a light flick of the whip, the carriage trotted merrily along the road home.

And at home, Huo Yu was already waiting.

Huo Yu was now three and a half months old and quite capable. He was always trying to turn over, and sucking on his own fist was no longer satisfying. He grabbed at anything and tried to put it in his mouth—a child who needed constant watching.

From inside the house, the little girl's voice kept ringing out: "Oh, Xiaoyu, you can't eat that! Just eat your hands."

"Xiaoyu, you're drooling again. Mother, why does he keep grabbing his feet and chewing on them?"

Zhang Xiuer, who was sewing small shoes nearby, said, "You used to chew on yours the exact same way when you were little. Xiaoyu is at the age for chewing on his feet now. Just wipe his drool for him."

The kang was nice and warm, so Huo Yu wore little clothing, allowing his body to stretch freely. He could just lift his foot right up to his mouth. He even knew to pull his little socks off before chewing, which made everyone laugh.

The little girl went, "No way!"

Zhou Qingzhu entered the room and chuckled, "You used to chew on yours the exact same way when you were little."

Zhou Qingzhu picked up Huo Yu, who was chewing contentedly, and said to Zhang Xiuer, "Sister-in-law, it's snowing outside. Who knows when Dad and the others will get back—hope they don't get stuck on the road."

The New Year was two days away. The pharmacy had paid out wages yesterday and given everyone eight days off.

Zhou Qingzhu had left last with Zhou Qingshan, after cleaning the pharmacy top to bottom. He stopped by on his way to tease Huo Yu: "Xiaoyu, it's snowing! Want me to take you out to play? Snowflakes taste way better than your little toes."

Zhang Xiuer disagreed: "It's snowing outside—don't take him out, he'll catch a cold."

Zhou Qingzhu clicked his tongue lightly: "Sister-in-law, you wouldn't understand this. Kids aren't afraid of the cold—what you can't do is keep switching between hot and cold. In winter, you should crack the windows open every now and then to let in fresh air and let the child experience the outside temperature, helping him adapt."

All those days following Chen Jue around hadn't been for nothing; he'd learned a lot of medical knowledge, including plenty about pediatrics. Huo Yu was clearly healthier and tougher than other kids who were kept indoors all the time.

Zhang Xiuer asked, puzzled, "Really?"

Zhou Qingzhu had already popped a tiger-skin hat on Huo Yu and wrapped him in a cloak: "That's right, Brother Chen often takes him out to bask in the sun. There's no sun right now, but there's no wind either, and it's still pretty warm. Come on, sister-in-law, after we go out, you open the windows for ventilation and stoke the kang—it's too dry inside."

Once outside, Huo Yu's eyes really went wide at the falling snow. Snowflakes landed on his long lashes, and he just kept staring.

When one landed on his face, he stuck out his tongue and licked it, then smacked his lips a few times. Zhou Qingzhu cracked up: "Tasty, right? Better than your little toes, isn't it? Oh, look who's here! Your daddy's back!"

The little girl clapped excitedly: "He's back on the big horse!"

The rider on the horse was Chen Jue, draped in a white cloak and covered in snowflakes, as if cloaked in the sky's snowfall. Zhou Qingzhu's eyes suddenly lit up—if he had ever read fairy tales, he would have described Chen Jue as a 'prince.'

He looked seriously handsome on that horse.

He dismounted in front of the courtyard. He was handsome on the horse, but even more so getting off—his long legs gave him an advantage, making every move look effortless. Today, his cloak sent snowflakes swirling, complete with built-in special effects. Zhou Qingzhu had always stared in awe and pestered Chen Jue to teach him riding.

And today was no exception. As Chen Jue dismounted, Zhou Qingzhu hurried over holding Huo Yu, his eyes on Chen Jue so bright it was almost alarming: "Brother Chen, so handsome! If you keep being this handsome, I'll never find a husband."

Huo Jilin stepped down from the carriage, came forward to take the horse, and corrected Zhou Qingzhu: "Don't talk nonsense. What does you not finding a husband have to do with my man?"

Zhou Qingzhu sighed and said, "I can't find anyone as good-looking as Brother Chen."

"Don't rush, take your time," Chen Jue told him, not meaning there was no one as handsome as himself, but that marriage was something to approach slowly.

He had previously said he'd handle Zhou Qingzhu's marriage arrangements. If Zhou Qingzhu was willing, he also wanted to keep him close, to venture to broader places later—there would be no shortage of good matches.

"Then if I never marry, will you support me for life?" Zhou Qingzhu asked immediately.

Just as Chen Jue was about to agree, Huo Jilin coughed heavily: "You'll definitely find someone. There are plenty of fine men in this world. If all else fails, you can marry in a husband."

Good grief, trying to poach right in front of him.