Chapter Sixty-Three: The Monstrous Infant

An Yi heard the man in black call the youth in purple "Little Lord," and assumed he was a young master from some prominent house in the capital. But after hearing Dr. Lu's introduction, she realized the boy belonged to the martial world. The youth in purple was Gong Yanqu Qiu, the seventh master of the Sacred Garment Sect, and the man in black addressed him not as "Little Lord," but "Little Gong."

The enchanting Little Gong did not recognize An Yi, but his attendant did, quickly whispering in his ear, "She’s the girl who extorted silver in the street yesterday." An Yi, lacking martial skills and extraordinary hearing, did not catch this infuriating remark. Little Gong’s expression remained unchanged; his gaze brushed over An Yi—a delicate, pretty girl, nothing remarkable—before moving on to the distance.

Only now did An Yi realize that Dr. Lu, who appeared to be an ordinary village doctor, was anything but. He was a renowned miracle physician in the martial world. Shocked, she blurted out, "Master, how high is your martial skill?"

"Who says those who roam the martial world must possess martial arts?" Dr. Lu shot her a look.

An Yi nodded, enlightened. "I understand now, Master relies on medicine to walk the martial path."

"Xier, Master needs to travel far; I’ll leave the Hundred Herb Garden to you." Dr. Lu handed her a string of keys.

"All right," An Yi replied, not asking how long he’d be gone, knowing Dr. Lu himself could not predict his return.

That afternoon, Dr. Lu and Madam Zhang packed their belongings and left Jingtang Village, where they had lived in seclusion for nearly forty years. The red-robed sect leader of the Sacred Garment Sect was gravely ill, and Little Gong had come personally to invite Dr. Lu to treat him.

Without Dr. Lu’s supervision, An Yi set aside the "Compendium of Prescriptions," "Basic Questions," "Spiritual Pivot," "Pulse Classic," and other books, focusing wholeheartedly on researching herbal cultivation and pest control.

On the evening of July twenty-second, Luo Xia Mei gave birth to a daughter.

The next day, Madam Zhou gathered a pile of things and followed her son-in-law, who brought news of the birth, to visit her daughter and granddaughter.

On the third day after the birth, Luo Chun Li drove the carriage, taking Mrs. Yang and others to the house. Luo Xia Mei’s mother-in-law, Madam Li, greeted them with a beaming smile, took the gifts from the Luo family, and ushered them into the main hall.

Inside, an offering table was already set, adorned with a dozen clay gods, an incense burner filled with millet, and underneath, paper money and ingots intended for the deities.

Luo Xia Mei’s two sisters-in-law were cooking noodles in the kitchen. After exchanging a few pleasantries with Madam Li, the Luo family entered to see Luo Xia Mei and the child.

Madam Zhou kept her daughter company in the room. Luo Xia Mei, her head wrapped in a towel, held the baby in her arms, breastfeeding. Seeing her family enter, she greeted them with a radiant smile.

An Yi noticed two deity figurines placed by the bed, with oil cakes piled in front of them.

"Has the child been named?" Mrs. Yang asked with a smile as she looked at the baby.

"Yes, her grandmother named her Duo’er, after a flower blossom," Luo Xia Mei replied with a smile.

Hearing the name, the Luo family realized the Fang family hadn’t neglected or slighted the child for being a girl, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"First the flower, then the fruit. Little Duo’er is the eldest, she’ll need to help her mother care for her younger brothers in the future," Madam Fang joked.

An Yi peered at little Duo’er. Her skin was tender and pink, her features unremarkable but safe, resembling Fang San Lang. There was no trace of Luo Xia Mei in her brow or eyes; Fang San Lang’s genes were simply too dominant.

After sitting for a while, they went out to eat the "third-day noodles." The midwife, commonly called the birth granny, finished her noodles and washed her hands.

Madam Li lit incense and bowed.

The birth granny followed with three bows.

Madam Zhou brought in a copper basin filled with water boiled from locust branches and mugwort leaves. The midwife took little Duo’er from Mrs. Yang.

Those attending the ceremony, according to their rank and age, each added a ladle of clean water to the basin, along with copper coins, red dates, longan, and other fruits of blessing.

As they added water, the birth granny said, "Long flowing water, may she be smart and clever."

When adding the fruits, she said, "May she bear sons early, may noble sons follow, may she win first place thrice," and other auspicious phrases.

The words and ritual of the third-day bath were fixed. The others, having attended many times, found nothing novel, but for An Yi, it was her first, and she watched with keen interest.

After everyone had added to the basin, the birth granny stirred it with a pestle, chanting, "One stir, two stirs, three stirs—brothers lead their siblings to run. Seventieth, eightieth, messy-haired, mischievous, all come along with a racket!"

The birth granny unwrapped the swaddling and bathed little Duo’er. As soon as she touched the water, the child began to cry. During the third-day bath, the louder the baby cried, the better the omen, and everyone laughed heartily.

The birth granny washed as she chanted, "The Fang family has a little darling, three days old, now bathed, washing her head and feet, washing away the five poisons and all illness."

Next, she lit a ball of mugwort, placed a slice of ginger as a base on little Duo’er’s forehead, symbolically giving her a moxibustion; then took a small wooden comb to brush her newborn hair. She accepted the bright red new swaddling prepared by the maternal family, wrapped little Duo’er securely, and took the scallion offered by Fang San Lang, lightly tapping it three times on the baby, reciting more blessings. Fang San Lang tossed the scallion onto the roof.

The birth granny then picked up a scale weight, a copper lock, and a small mirror, and gestured them over little Duo’er’s body, thus completing the ritual. She handed the red-faced, crying little Duo’er back to Madam Zhou, who carried her to Luo Xia Mei.

With the ceremony over, the families dispersed.

Two days later, a woman married to Shangtang Village came to tell Madam Luo some news: An You Nian’s third daughter-in-law, Madam Cui, had given birth.

"Why did no one send word to me? Was it a boy or a girl?" Madam Luo asked, surprised.

The woman glanced at An Yi, who was sitting by the window embroidering, and lowered her voice, "How could they send word? She gave birth to a monster, neither boy nor girl."

"A monster?" Madam Luo’s eyes widened in disbelief. "How could that be?"

"Believe it or not, I saw it myself. The head was misshapen, the appearance was terrifying, and what’s more, down there was a huge split, and inside, something so long, nothing like a little bird, with some black hairs growing on top. Tell me, isn’t that a monster?"

An Yi frowned deeply. Madam Cui’s child was not a monster, but a malformed twin due to complications in pregnancy.

"What happened to the... child now?" Madam Luo asked.

"What else could happen? Her mother-in-law put the monster in a chamber pot and drowned it, wrapped it in a bamboo mat, and buried it at the foot of the mountain," the woman replied.

"Drowned?" Madam Luo gasped. "Didn’t Madam Cui try to stop it?"

"She was terrified at the sight, didn’t dare look, just lay in bed, crying day and night."

Madam Luo sighed. "Still, it was flesh and blood, how could she bear it?"

"What else could she do? Raise the monster? Honestly, if she weren’t Madam Zhu’s niece, she’d have been sent back to her parents like Madam Yu from Xiaotang Village. She’s young still; after overcoming this ordeal, she can have more children."

An Yi’s heart sank. This wasn’t simply a developmental issue, but the result of close kin marriage. An Zhi Jin and Madam Cui were cousins, as were Luo Xia He and Young Madam Zhou—equally close in blood.

The woman chatted idly for a while, asked Madam Luo for a flower pattern, and then left.

Madam Luo saw An Yi sitting dazedly, hurried over, embraced her, and gently patted her back. "Xier, don’t be afraid."

An Yi came back to herself, forcing a smile. "Mother, I’m not afraid."

"If I’d known she’d mention this, I wouldn’t have let you stay in the room," Madam Luo regretted.

"Mother, I’m not afraid. I study medicine, and cases like this are recorded in books. What Madam Cui gave birth to wasn’t a monster, but a child who didn’t develop properly."

"Medical books record this?"

"It’s a case, so of course."

"Normally it’s ten months’ pregnancy, one day to birth. Yet some people carry for twelve or thirteen months. If Madam Cui’s child had stayed in the womb for twelve or thirteen months, it would’ve developed fine. The poor child was born early, became a monster, and was drowned by its own grandmother."

An Yi sighed inwardly. Even if Madam Cui had carried the child for twenty or thirty months, it would not have developed properly.

Though the An family hadn’t sent word, Madam Luo, now aware, could not feign ignorance. The next day, she brought two chickens and twenty eggs to visit Madam Cui in Shangtang Village.

An Yi went to check Young Madam Zhou’s pulse. Seeing her four months pregnant, her belly slightly rounded, An Yi worried. Without precise instruments, there was no way to know how the child was developing in the womb. If Young Madam Zhou also gave birth to a malformed child, what would they do?

"Xier, what’s wrong? Is there a problem?" Young Madam Zhou asked, noticing the pulse-taking lasted longer than before.

"No problem," An Yi withdrew her hand, smiling. "The child is growing, so it takes longer to check the pulse."

Young Madam Zhou was reassured and her worries vanished.

As mid-autumn approached, the heat persisted, but the rice in the fields was already sprouting. In a few days, they’d harvest the late crop.

While An Yi fretted over Young Madam Zhou’s child, another troubling matter arose. One evening, as she watered the herbs, she found the leaves of angelica turning red and yellow. Flipping them over, she saw countless small red insects.

An Yi frowned at the spider mites sucking the sap. There were many pesticides that could kill them—such as abamectin, trichloromethyl, dimethoate, etc.—but where could she buy them?

"Sister, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" An Jian asked, seeing An Yi crouched on the ground.

"I’m fine, but the angelica is infested," An Yi replied.

"Is it cutworms again?" An Jian set down his wooden ladle and walked over.

"No, it’s spider mites." An Yi plucked a leaf and showed him the underside. "They breed rapidly; if not dealt with quickly, all the leaves will dry up, and the flowers and young fruit will suffer too."

"Dr. Lu isn’t here, neither is Brother Song Yan. How can we get rid of these spider mites?" An Jian scratched his head in frustration.

An Yi propped her chin on her hands, staring at the mass of mites. Why were there pests again?

During dinner, An Yi was still pondering how to eliminate them.

"Sister, sister, sister!" An Kang called louder each time, but An Yi didn’t respond.

"Xier, Xier," Madam Luo nudged her. "Xier."

An Yi came to herself. "Mother, what is it?"

"What is it? You’ve been staring at your bowl forever and haven’t eaten. What are you thinking?"

"I’m thinking about how to get rid of the pests," An Yi said, taking a bite.

"Don’t let it affect your meal. Eat first, then think," Madam Luo said, adding a dish to her bowl.

"Sister, Dr. Lu’s house is full of medical books. Tomorrow you should look for a solution. Second Brother and I will pick off the diseased leaves and burn the pests," An Kang suggested.

An Yi nodded.

The next morning, the three siblings split up. An Yi went to Dr. Lu’s house and spent the day searching medical books, but found no usable method. However, she did find some pharmaceutical tools and a box of black pills with unknown purpose.

After dinner, An Kang said, "Sister, tomorrow let’s ask Uncle Chen in town. Maybe he knows."

"Uncle Chen is the pharmacy manager. He knows how to protect processed herbs, but may not know about fresh ones," An Yi replied, resting her chin in her hand, brows furrowed. "Big Brother, we should ask someone who grows herbs."

An Kang frowned. "But no one around here grows medicinal herbs."

In this era, grain was the main crop; no one would devote large plots to herbs. Most herbalists dug wild herbs to sell to pharmacies. A few grew small quantities—honeysuckle, mint, chrysanthemum—on field edges.

An Yi slumped onto the table, discouraged. Growing herbs for profit was too difficult; pest control alone was headache enough.

"Sister, the Han family has a herb garden; Uncle Chen probably knows how to control pests. We promised not to sell herbs to Ji Huai Hall, but didn’t promise to cut ties. I’ll ask Uncle Chen tomorrow; it doesn’t violate your promise," An Kang said, trying to comfort her.

An Yi pressed her lips together, staring at the table’s grain, silent for a long time. "All right, Big Brother, go ask tomorrow."

Seeing her agreement, An Kang smiled.

Near mid-autumn, the next day Madam Luo and An Kang went to town, An Jian continued watering and removing pests in the Hundred Herb Garden. Once all three had left, An Yi dug out the wooden box she’d hidden at the bottom of her clothing chest, took out the toxic formulas she’d transcribed, and went to Dr. Lu’s house.

An Yi hadn’t planned to rely on the Han family. Last time, she’d wanted to make a plant-based pesticide, but refrained due to Dr. Lu and Han Song Yan. Now, with both gone, she could demonstrate her pharmaceutical skills.

Qu Pí Teng extract combined with neem extract could make a pesticide. An Yi recalled her botany professor’s words: Qu Pí Teng’s root and stem bark contain multiple potent insecticides, collectively termed Qu Pí Teng extract; neem is globally recognized as an ideal insecticidal plant, with neem extract being a highly oxidized limonoid. From neem seeds, seven active compounds—az-a to az-g—have been identified, with a as the primary insecticidal component.

Qu Pí Teng grew on the mountain, but neem was still in its native India.

Without neem, could she find a substitute? Without a substitute, could Qu Pí Teng alone kill spider mites?

An Yi fetched "Qiao’s Herbal Classic" and "Essentials of Herbal Medicine," carefully searching through them.

—Author’s note—

Note: I received a notification that chapters 1, 2, 6, 8, 11, 13, and 17 of this work contain prohibited content and must be revised. I’ve wasted too much time trying to find problematic sections and haven’t had time to check the new chapter. Today I can only update four thousand characters. Please forgive me; I must continue searching for problematic content.