Chapter 19: Mafeisan

Old Lady Wang retorted with her hands on her hips, "Your grandson took his mother away with him, so how is he not a debt collector? My eight children died after they were born, but they didn't take their mother with them; they were filial sons..."

Fuming, Mother Jinniu tried to step forward to hit her, but Wang Dazhu quickly and forcefully ushered his mother away.

Jiang Jinniu wiped away her tears and pleaded, "Sister Chuchen, in the future, when you go to Qingwei Marsh, please recite sutras for those poor children too. I hope they can be born smoothly in their next lives and live in peace."

Such children who died young were considered inauspicious and were not buried in the ancestral graves. Those who loved their children would find a good place to bury them, while those who didn't would leave them in the mass graves.

Because of Midwife Feng, even though Qingwei Marsh was a mass grave, it was the one with the best feng shui. Not only the local villagers, but even people from distant places would bury their deceased children there.

The Jiang family had buried the deceased child in Qingwei Marsh last night. Jinniu's wife's body, however, had been placed in a coffin to stay for three days before being buried in the ancestral grave.

Ever since the original owner began learning the Shangyin Divine Needle, her eldest aunt would always take her along whenever she went to Qingwei Marsh to sweep the graves, burn incense, and recite rebirth sutras for the remains buried there.

Feng Chuchen agreed, "Alright."

Everyone sighed, "Now that Midwife Feng is dead, there will be even more deceased children buried there."

Banxia and Shaoyao rushed home just as midday approached.

Two of the herbs were added to Feng Buji's medicine, while the other four were herbs that did not exist in their previous life.

Upon seeing the actual items, the first two herbs simply had different names, but the other two were truly non-existent in their previous life.

One of them was called Shahu, a crucial ingredient in Mafeisan (anesthesia powder).

Indeed, this world possessed Mafeisan and even simple surgical procedures. For example, removing nasal polyps, incising and draining abscesses, removing moles, corns, or subcutaneous lumps, and suturing external wounds.

The original owner had rarely read about these matters and did not know the details very well.

However, she did know that consuming an appropriate amount of Mafeisan would induce general anesthesia, but an overdose would lead directly to death.

The names of all the ingredients used to make Mafeisan were not public; only the Imperial Academy of Medicine could produce it. Medical clinics could purchase small amounts, but individual purchases were strictly prohibited.

Feng Chuchen felt a surge of excitement. In her previous life, she had performed several small surgeries and assisted in several large ones.

She wondered if she would have the chance to perform surgery again in this life.

In the future, she would buy some books on dermatology and surgical instruments from this era.

Dermatology was what was known as surgery in her previous life.

Shaoyao begged Banxia to help her cut fabric so she could sew it herself.

Banxia said, "I'm not good at cutting. Wait until Auntie Wang comes back to help you."

Shaoyao couldn't wait. "Oh, good sister, just help me cut my outer garment first; I'm in a hurry to wear it. When Auntie Wang comes back, she can cut the undergarment."

"Don't blame me if it doesn't turn out well."

"I won't, I won't! Another day, I'll go up the mountain to pick sweet fruit for you."

Shaoyao worked during the day and sewed at night. Seeing how busy she was, Banxia helped her make shoes whenever she was free.

Shaoyao spent three days leveling the uneven dirt paths around the courtyard and three nights sewing her new clothes. The stitches were coarse and uneven, yet they were incredibly beautiful.

Being able to wear new clothes and eat full meals every day made Shaoyao so happy she felt like she could fly. However, feeling guilty for not listening to her father and for failing the host family, she sought out work to do, working with extraordinary effort. Aside from sleeping, she was never idle for a moment.

Seeing her scrubbing laundry with too much force, Banxia resolutely refused to let her continue.

"Clothes that should last three years won't even last a month if you scrub them like that."

Fearing she would waste the host family's money, Banxia even snatched Shaoyao's clothes away to wash them herself.

Shaoyao had no choice but to find physically demanding chores to do, acting as if she had endless energy.

The Feng family no longer needed Wang Sizhu and his wife to deliver firewood.

Shaoyao even walked through Baima Village brandishing a large club.

She wanted the Feng clan members to see that she was now the servant of the Feng siblings. If anyone dared to bully her masters, they would have to step over her first.

Shaoyao was tall, dark, and sturdy. Hunter Guo's prowess was famous far and wide, so even if the Feng family's adolescents were still resentful, they endured and did not dare to provoke her.

While treating Feng Buji, Feng Chuchen studied medical books during the day and read the notes left by her eldest aunt at night. She organized the insights and difficulties from the notes and wrote them down, combining them with her knowledge from her previous life to explore further.

She truly benefited immensely.

Her aunt's prescribing skills were average, but certain needle techniques were eye-opening for Feng Chuchen.

Particularly regarding certain pediatric and gynecological cases, some difficulties that Feng Chuchen had struggled to understand in her previous life began to become clear. She felt that combining the bloodletting point-pricking method from the Shui family of her previous life with her aunt's acupuncture methods would yield even better results.

One of her aunt's major explorations startled Feng Chuchen.

Her aunt had been constantly optimizing the Shangyin Divine Needle, believing it could treat certain newborn infants. She felt that if improved properly, it should also be able to treat certain diseases in children and even adults.

She had even named it the "Taiyin Divine Needle."

Her aunt had explored this for over a decade and felt the technique was mature, yet when attempting to treat an emergency with a youth, she could not ignite the *Cisheng Incense*.

She believed the issue wasn't with the technique, but rather that she had not found the "providential opportunity" to administer the divine needle to children and adults.

As for what that opportunity was, Feng Chuchen could find not even a hint of it in the notes.

Because of this, Feng Chuchen felt an uneasy restlessness in her heart, like a cat scratching.

If she did not find the opportunity to ignite the *Cisheng Incense* and could not administer the Shangyin Divine Needle, the world's highest level of medical skill would cease to exist.

Regarding the mysterious *Cisheng Incense* and the Shangyin Divine Needle, Feng Chuchen could roughly guess what illnesses they could treat.

It certainly included neonatal asphyxia, omphalitis, pneumonia, kernicterus, severe malnutrition, and more.

If a newborn's illness was caused by the incomplete development of certain vital organs, it could not be saved regardless.

Because the Shangyin Divine Needle could not instantly make severely underdeveloped organs fully functional.

If it could treat such conditions in adults, many people who died suddenly could be brought back to life.

Unfortunately, even her aunt lacked this opportunity, let alone herself.

The treatment of Feng Buji also yielded certain results; the little guy's constitution was slightly better than before...

Big Head still left early and returned late, but starting from the fourth day after Feng Chuchen returned home, he no longer showed much hostility toward her and even let her stroke his fur.

Feng Chuchen snatched up the "privilege" of feeding him.

On the afternoon of the first day of the eighth lunar month, Banxia, who had gone to the river to wash clothes, brought back news.

"I just heard people saying that Old Man Feng and two clansmen went to see the Great Magistrate this morning with a joint petition signed by five elders. They claimed that Old Lady Fan was wicked, and that Midwife Feng was not a virgin despite being unmarried, making her unvirtuous and unchaste.

"They said the girl she raised, Feng Chuchen, was unfilial, and that the household was corrupt from the top down. They claimed Midwife Feng should not only be honored but that her true face should be exposed so the world would know her evil...

"Lord Li was furious. He said that Midwife Feng not being a virgin was not her fault, but rather because she had served as a 'luck-bringing bride' and her husband died early. Since she did not remarry, she was a virtuous and chaste woman.

"He said that her saving countless mothers and infants made her a model for the people of Great Yan, and she would not tolerate slander... Not only did he reprimand Old Man Feng and sentence him to twenty cane strokes, but he also gave the other two clansmen ten strokes each.

"Since Old Man Feng is elderly, the other two clansmen took the punishment for him. He also sent bailiffs to the village to proclaim all the good deeds of the eldest aunt, and summoned Village Head Zhao and Village Head Liu of Hekou Village to the county magistrate's office for reprimand. I heard Village Head Zhao and Village Head Liu were so angry they were jumping up and down..."

Both Feng Chuchen and Feng Buji laughed and said the same word in unison.

"Serves him right."

Even the County Magistrate was glad to have a Midwife Feng in his jurisdiction; for Old Man Feng to actually dare to lead people to cause trouble was truly wicked, stupid, and greedy.