Chapter 13: An Urgent Fraternal Feud

The Imperial Medicine Hall was originally named the Jade Medicine Workshop. Through the management of several generations of the Chu family, by the time it passed to Chu Mingxi’s grandfather, it was already one of the largest medicine halls in the Eastern Radiance Kingdom. As Chu Mingxi’s father gained fame for his “Three Secret Formulas a Year,” the Chu family’s Jade Medicine Workshop was selected to supply medicinal tribute. When Chu Mingxi was five, the excellent formula her father presented, combined with the efforts of the Imperial Physicians, helped to fully treat the Grand Empress Dowager’s wind-related illness. The Late Emperor was greatly pleased and formally bestowed the name Imperial Medicine Hall upon the Jade Medicine Workshop.

Chu Mingxi rushed back to the Capital City just before the Little New Year. Having rested briefly at a courier station outside the city, she entered the city early that day, sending servants on horseback ahead to report her arrival.

Upon learning the Eldest Young Miss was returning home today, the entire household bustled with joy. Chu Mingyu would constantly send people to check the front door. Had her sister’s carriage arrived at the main street yet? Qi Xiaolong teased her for being childish. She just gave a simple, charming smile and went to wash her hands before returning to her copy of the painting The Three Friends of Winter.

She had barely painted a few strokes when cries from outside came one after another: “The Eldest Young Miss has returned!” Chu Mingyu threw down her brush, lifted her skirt, and ran out. A smile surfaced on Qi Xiaolong’s face. Not long after, she indeed saw the two sisters walk in arm in arm.

After a separation of nearly half a year, Chu Mingyu clung to her sister’s hand, chattering nonstop. Seasonal pastries were brought from the small kitchen. Chu Mingxi picked up a slice of cloud cake and stuffed it into her sister’s mouth, which finally managed to stop her flow of words.

“So noisy. When we start arranging your betrothal, we’ll see who can handle you then,” Qi Xiaolong scolded with a laugh.

Having eaten the pastry, Chu Mingyu turned to find water to drink, but still said: “I don’t want to arrange a betrothal. I want to go with Sister to manage medicinal herbs!”

Qi Xiaolong frowned upon hearing this. After the New Year, in the first month, the Chu family’s eldest daughter would be nineteen.

Chu Mingxi sidestepped the topic, giving her a sidelong glance with a hint of a smile: “You? Manage medicinal herbs? Father took you to the medicine workshop before. Could you even sit still for the time it takes to burn an incense stick?”

“I—” Chu Mingyu sat on the drum-shaped stool, tilting her head up and pouting, “Sister, you’re making fun of me.”

Chu Mingxi nodded: “Yes. I am making fun of you.”

“And I’ve always been helping you!!” Chu Mingyu huffed, raising her ‘claws’.

“Oh? And how exactly have you been helping me?”

At her question, Chu Mingyu was suddenly speechless. She turned her head to look at her mother. Qi Xiaolong knew the two sisters were close and undoubtedly had private matters to discuss. She waved her hand: “Go on, go on. Your noise is giving me a headache.”

Chu Mingyu grinned, stood up, and pulled her sister along. Chu Mingxi had no choice but to follow her toward the side room.

The winter wind was strong, the plants and trees withered in the courtyard, and even the koi fish beneath the small bridge had hidden deep within the lotus pond.

The side room was only a few dozen steps from the main house. The maids offered soft cloaks, but Chu Mingyu found it too much trouble and just strode off. However, once inside the room, she covered her face and sneezed.

Chu Mingxi helplessly poured her a cup of hot tea. After she had hastily sipped a couple of mouthfuls, Chu Mingxi asked leisurely: “What’s the matter? Has the second branch of the family come to cause trouble again?”

“It’s not Second Uncle. Grand Uncle keeps him in check, and recently Grand Uncle has been leaning towards you. Would he still dare to come and pick a fight with us?” Chu Mingyu put down her teacup, cupped her face in her hands, and asked: “Why did you go to Minzhou this time and stay away for so long?”

“The medicinal herb fields there suffered a severe crop failure last year. I was worried the herb farmers’ morale would be unstable, so I had to go and see for myself. But that was a mistake. Going only led to frustration.”

The Imperial Medicine Hall consumed a huge amount of medicinal herbs each year. Besides collecting rare herbs from all over, its most important source was its own managed medicinal fields, planted and harvested across different regions according to the seasons.

Chu Mingyu had never taken much interest in the affairs of the medicine workshop, and given her young age, she leaned in after a few sentences and said mischievously: “I thought you went to Minzhou to hide from someone.”

“Hide from someone?” Chu Mingxi raised an eyebrow. “Who would I be hiding from exactly?”

“I don’t know. Perhaps it’s the Li family’s Third Young Master…” Chu Mingyu glanced at her sister, then shifted the topic. “Or perhaps, it’s the Little Heir from the Grand General’s Mansion.”

“Don’t talk nonsense,” Chu Mingxi made as if to pinch her face. “We already settled both those matters with them. Why are you still spouting such nonsense now?”

“You may have settled things, but people might not necessarily see it that way,” Chu Mingyu protected her face with both hands, her big eyes blinking rapidly. “Only a few days after you left, the Grand General’s Mansion sent people again. They said the Old Titled Lady sent them. They brought gifts big and small. Mother refused them without another word. I didn’t even get to see them.”

“Refused is refused. What else was there to see?”

“True. Just sending two old women, what was that about?” Chu Mingyu nodded. Observing her sister’s calm composure, she purposely leaned in and drawled meaningfully: “But… the very next day after they returned, the General’s Mansion sent someone again. Guess who it was, Sister?”

“Sent someone again?” Chu Mingxi showed a trace of puzzlement. “Do they have nothing better to do?”

“Pfft!” Chu Mingyu broke into laughter. Luckily, she wasn’t holding a teacup. She looked up to see her sister was still utterly serious. She leaned against her sister and shook her hand: “I knew you wouldn’t guess. The person who came this time was the Marquis Mansion’s Heir Apparent himself.”

“Him?” Chu Mingxi blinked slowly. “What was he doing here?”

“To see you, naturally.” Chu Mingyu pulled her sister down to sit by the tea table, contriving a sage-like, earnest manner: “You think you’ve settled things clearly with them, but look at them—they’ve sent three delegations in total. Sister, even Zhuge Liang would have come out of his thatched cottage by now.”

Chu Mingxi shot her a glare and asked directly: “Since you know so clearly, you must have met this third group. Earlier in Mother’s room, you said you’d been helping me. Let me guess… you refused them for me again?”

“Of course!”

“Hmm. Good. Then this matter need not be mentioned again.”

Having said this, Chu Mingxi rose to leave, intending to return to her own room. But Chu Mingyu stopped her again: “This Heir asked me to relay a message to you. Aren’t you curious?”

“No.”

“Sister!!”

Pestered beyond endurance, Chu Mingxi had no choice but to sit back down on the drum stool. “Fine, I’m curious. Tell me.”

“He said…” It had been many days. Chu Mingyu tilted her head, thinking for a moment before clapping her hands. “Right, he said: ‘I am an old acquaintance from the Northern Region.'”

An old acquaintance from the Northern Region?

Chu Mingxi paused, slightly startled. The Chu family’s ancestral home was in the south of the Eastern Radiance Kingdom. The main branch had moved to the Capital City three or four generations ago. Where would an old acquaintance from the Northern Region come from? She concentrated for a good while before it suddenly dawned upon her, recalling that child she had “picked up” outside the town of Seven-Mile Town.

Years had passed, and she had encountered and saved ever more illnesses and patients. The memory had long since faded. When she occasionally thought of it, it was merely one of countless incidents in her medical practice. But tonight, her sister mentioning the Northern Region made her recall those blurry details. The child had been wearing Crossing Light Gauze. That fabric cost a hundred gold coins per bolt, surely not something an ordinary household could afford. Could it be…

She shook her head. How could it be such a coincidence?

If it truly were that child, would she not have hidden as far away as possible, knowing her secret had been exposed? How could she dare to brazenly come forward, using the title of Heir Apparent despite being female—to propose marriage to the Chu family?!

The next day, the Little New Year.

Following tradition, the Chu Manor hosted a grand banquet for the managers of all its branch stores.

In earlier years, the Imperial Medicine Hall’s business had expanded greatly. By the time Chu Mingxi took over, branch stores had even been established in the Secondary Capital and the neighboring Yun City to convince the public. By this year, Chu Mingxi had centralized power, shutting down three branch outlets that used inferior herbs and passed them off as superior quality. She investigated and punished several managers who had embezzled funds, according to the severity of their misdeeds. The worst offenders were handed over to the authorities, and even the least guilty were expelled from the Imperial Medicine Hall, never to be hired again.

On the other hand, many regular shop assistants were retained. The best were sent to nearby branches to continue their service, while the others were, at the very least, given money and cloth to start new livelihoods.

This combination of lenience and severity left the Imperial Medicine Hall’s veteran managers both shocked and delighted. Shocked that this nineteen-year-old woman possessed such thunderous methods. Delighted that with such an owner, the Imperial Medicine Hall’s future prosperity and glory seemed just around the corner.

At that year’s Harvest Feast, no one dared to underestimate Chu Family Eldest Miss anymore. By the end of the banquet, though Chu Mingxi had drunk a fair amount of wine, her eyes were even clearer and more compellingly sharp.

Chu Zhong and Chu Kang saw the guests out on behalf of the Eldest Young Miss. Only the Chu family clan chief, Chu Changbin, stayed until the very end. Chu Mingxi knew he had something to say, so she had someone prepare the nearby tea room and invited Chu Changbin to do her the honor.

Chu Changbin was over sixty years old, the clan chief of the Chu family’s current generation. When Chu Mingxi first took over the Imperial Medicine Hall, the path hadn’t been smooth. In particular, her direct uncle, from the second branch of the Chu family, had fought for the family property, citing that she, as a woman, would eventually marry out. Chu Changbin and several other elders in the clan had sided with the main branch, so the second branch hadn’t succeeded.

One could say that Chu Changbin had done her a favor.

“Grand Uncle, please have some tea,” Chu Mingxi said, personally brewing tea and handing it to him.

Chu Changbin took the teacup, squinted, sipped, then casually set it down on the corner table.

“Xi’er…” He began slowly, drawing out his words, “After the New Year, what are your plans?”

“Preparation for the Opening Ceremony is already underway…”

“I wasn’t asking about the Opening Ceremony.” Chu Changbin lifted his eyes to look at her. “And I wasn’t asking about the Imperial Medicine Hall. You manage the Imperial Medicine Hall very well. I am quite reassured.”

It was rather ridiculous. The Imperial Medicine Hall, passed down generation after generation from Chu Mingxi’s great-great-great-grandfather, had always been inherited by the direct lineage. The clan merely took their share of the dividends, yet they constantly acted as if the main family was being condescended to.

Capable members of the collateral branches were assigned to manage some medicinal herb fields or handle specific trades. But the accounts and the main shops were never allowed into their hands, to avoid the difficulty of punishing those with merits and the arrogance of rewarding those without.

Yet there were always those insatiably greedy, always thinking of scooping up another ladleful.

Chu Mingxi smiled faintly. “Your grandniece is dull. I beg Grand Uncle to speak plainly.”

Chu Changbin nodded. When he spoke again, it was clear he had come prepared: “What I wish to speak of is your marriage. This is, strictly speaking, a family matter. But since your father is gone, and Yu’er and you have grown up before my eyes, I treat you as my own granddaughters. Last year you were jilted, causing a citywide scandal. Your Grand Aunt fretted over this until she lost her appetite. Later, we heard the Marquis of Jingyuan’s Mansion proposed marriage, but your mother didn’t agree. It’s just as well you didn’t agree. A noble Marquis’s Mansion like that, we don’t need to climb up to.”

“Grand Uncle is quite right,” Chu Mingxi replied, unsure of his true intent and merely playing along.

“But this marriage, it still needs to happen,” he continued. “After the New Year, you will be nineteen in real years. And you’re constantly busy with the Imperial Medicine Hall, spending half the year away from home. In the blink of an eye, you’ll be twenty. Finding a good family then will be even harder.”

“Grand Uncle’s meaning is clear to me. Are you asking me to leave the Imperial Medicine Hall?” Chu Mingxi asked, standing beneath the lamp and candlelight, light as a breeze and calm as a cloud.