Midnight, North City of Beijing, West Slanting Street by the Drum Tower, Sweet Water Alley.
Wei Caiwei still resided in the small building next to the Wang residence, though she no longer needed to pay rent to her fiancé.
A year ago, just as their wedding approached, tragic news arrived: Wang Commander had vanished—neither seen alive nor found dead—leaving him in a state of "disappearance" with little hope of survival. An eighty percent likelihood of observing three years of mourning meant the wedding was postponed indefinitely.
Thus, though Wei Caiwei and Wang Daxia were intimate as husband and wife, they remained formally engaged without the marital title. Caiwei owned a large house by Shichahai, but to conveniently treat the traumatized Wang Daqiu and await Wang Daxia’s return, she stayed put, merely moving all her dowry to the current residence.
After his younger brother Wang Daqiu awoke, Wang Daxia learned their father’s official ship had been attacked by Japanese Pirates. He immediately bid farewell to his fiancée and headed south alone, seeking out the Qi Family Army and Yu Family Army—forces frequently battling Japanese Pirates—to painstakingly trace the raiders who had plundered the official ship.
A full year passed in this pursuit. Wang Daxia occasionally sent letters to the capital assuring his safety and updating his progress, but he never returned to Beijing. His footsteps covered Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, even Nan’ao, and farthest to the Ryukyu Islands, patiently tracking his prey like a hunter, refusing to give up.
Wei Caiwei never anticipated that her meticulously anonymous tip to the Embroidered Uniform Guard, exposing the White Lotus Sect lair ahead of time, would only extend Wang Commander’s life by three years.
In her previous life, he died in a White Lotus Sect explosion; in this one, he fell to Japanese Pirates’ guns—each lifetime ending violently, as if by fate.
When Wang Daxia left her to chase down the culprits, Caiwei agonized to see the light vanish from his eyes.
She knew that beneath his outwardly reckless, carefree facade, he deeply cared for his father. In their past life, witnessing his father severely injured in an explosion, stripped of rank, convicted, his home confiscated, and driven out into a snowstorm to die in agony, the trauma drove Wang Daxia to castrate himself in fury, swearing revenge.
This time, though he didn’t see his father’s gruesome death, the torment of "neither seeing him alive nor finding his body" was even more excruciating.
However, with his father’s latest crisis, Wang Daxia had grown stronger—in spirit, body, and influence. He no longer needed extreme measures like self-castration; he could rely on accumulated merits and connections to hunt the Japanese Pirates who raided the official ship.
Yet that glint of naive mischief, carefree joy, and simple happiness in his eyes was gone. The light Wei Caiwei had protected for three years extinguished by his father’s death. Heartbroken and furious, she yearned to unleash her deadliest poisons and annihilate the Japanese Pirates a hundred times over!
Damn those Japanese Pirates! They killed my father-in-law, destroyed the light in my husband’s eyes, and ruined our wedding!
Before departing, Wang Daxia held her tightly, kissed her lips fiercely, and said, "Wait for me to come back and marry you." Then, without looking back, he spurred his horse into the vast, snowy expanse and disappeared.
On a moonless, stormy night, Wei Caiwei slept deeply, dreaming she was soaking in a hot tub. As the water cooled, she rose to fetch more hot water from the stove. A hand carrying a tin kettle approached. "Step back a bit, careful not to get scalded."
Wei Caiwei gasped in surprise and joy. "You’re back?"Her fiancé Wang Daxia nodded, not only had he returned physically, but the light in his eyes had also returned—he was still the same Wang Daxia from before.
Wang Daxia slowly poured hot water into the bathtub, then undressed and plunged in with a splash, embracing her while whispering in her ear, "Let me see where you've hidden the rose this time..."
"Doctor Wei! Doctor Wei, open the door! Our princess has summoned you!"
The spring dream was interrupted by the knocking. Wei Caiwei opened her eyes.
Wei Caiwei boarded the carriage and hurried to Prince Yu's residence. By then, even Li Jiubao's face had developed translucent pustules, instantly transforming the great beauty into an ugly woman.
Wei Caiwei immediately ordered the courtyard gates closed, confining everyone—including herself—inside. Servants who had previously come and gone were also quarantined in another courtyard.
Wei Caiwei relayed a message to Prince Yu and Princess Yu through the door: "Concubine Li has contracted smallpox. While children commonly get it, adults rarely do, typically during winter and spring. For adults, it usually isn't life-threatening and resolves within half a month, but a one-year-old child is inherently fragile and at greater risk."
"Quickly take the little imperial grandson away from the residence. Do not let him stay here. Any attendants who have had direct or indirect contact with Concubine Li or others in this courtyard must not accompany the little imperial grandson."
The little imperial grandson was the lifeblood of Prince Yu's household—truly the chosen one destined to inherit the imperial throne. Prince Yu and Princess Yu promptly complied, sending the little prince away overnight...
Wei Caiwei had contracted smallpox as a child in Tieling, around the same time as Ding Wu. Her adoptive parents, Wei Nanshan and his wife, carefully nursed them both through it, and they recovered without a single scar.
Once someone has had smallpox, they cannot contract it again. However, if contaminated, they could spread it to those who haven't had it. Thus, Wei Caiwei remained in the courtyard to care for Li Jiubao, wrapping her hands in gauze to prevent her from scratching the pustules out of itchiness and scarring her face.
Li Jiubao was unbearably itchy all over, but her greater fear wasn't the discomfort—it was whether the child in her womb would be affected. Pointing at her belly with her gauze-wrapped hands, she asked, "Doctor Wei, this child has faced countless hardships since conception. With my smallpox now, will it harm the baby?"
Wei Caiwei wasn't certain. In her previous life, confined to the palace, she only knew Li Jiubao's second child was a princess born safely. As for the trials of that pregnancy, Wei Caiwei knew nothing.
In the Forbidden City, the Jiajing Emperor forbade discussion of "two dragons meeting," making all topics about Prince Yu's household taboo. No one dared speak of it, so Wei Caiwei only knew the outcome, not the process.
However, judging from the deaths of Lu Bing and Wang Commander, life and death were difficult to alter. Chen Jingji was saved but at the cost of castration, becoming almost a different person. Thus, the princess should ultimately be born safely in this life as well.
A physician must remain calm and instill confidence in the patient.
Wei Caiwei gently stroked Li Jiubao's belly, her gaze firm. "The road to happiness is strewn with setbacks, but the child will be fine. You must believe in her, and in yourself."Li Jiubao suffered greatly from morning sickness during her pregnancy, eating poorly and sleeping restlessly. Her mood was already somewhat melancholic, and now with bean-sized pox covering almost her entire body, she had lost her greatest asset—her beauty—plunging her into even deeper despondency. The usually strong-willed woman could not help but shed tears:
"It's all my fault. My poor health has made the child suffer along with me. Thankfully, the little imperial grandson has been coughing these past few days and is being cared for by the princess consort. If he had stayed with me... he's only just over a year old, how could he endure such hardship?"
Wei Caiwei comforted her, "This shows that heaven protects the fortunate. The little imperial grandson is born with the luck to turn danger into safety. Since that's the case, why should you worry, side consort? Don't blame yourself. You gave these children their lives, but whether they have good health isn't something you can control. You've already endured enough hardship through pregnancy and childbirth."
Wei Caiwei, with her "silver tongue," dispelled Li Jiubao's sorrows—her words proving more effective than any prescription.
Wei Caiwei prepared a medicinal formula, opting for topical applications over oral medications whenever possible. She created a "Pox-Removing Lotion" (Note 1) by steeping rhubarb, coix seed, giant knotweed, phellodendron, and sanguisorba to apply to the pustules, helping them scab over and fall off quickly while alleviating the pain and itching of the pox.
She also brewed herbal tea from dandelion, honeysuckle, astragalus, and isatis root to replace medications that might harm the fetus.
As Li Jiubao drank the herbal tea and applied the lotion, the "ripened" pox gradually scabbed over and fell off, restoring her delicate skin to its original state. Upon hearing that the little imperial grandson being cared for outside remained unharmed, her anxious heart slowly settled.
However, complete recovery required time. As old pustules healed, new ones emerged, much like the four seasons unfolding on a human body—some just sprouting and blooming, others already grown and bearing fruit, some ripened and falling, while others returned to the earth to nurture new growth.
Wei Caiwei observed Li Jiubao's pox progression. Treating chickenpox was like using a butcher's cleaver to kill a chicken for someone of her medical skills. Had it not been for comforting Li Jiubao during her pregnancy, she would have stripped off all her clothes, burned them in a fire, washed her hair and body with vinegar and atractylodes, put on fresh garments, and returned home.
But when you see someone off, you see them to the very end; when you escort Buddha, you escort him to the Western Heaven—especially since Li Jiubao was her future patron and protector. Wei Caiwei had to stay until the very end.
Confined to the small eastern courtyard all day, Wei Caiwei grew restless and wandered around. She discovered a small Buddhist shrine housing a jade Guanyin statue.
Strange—this hadn't been here during her previous visit to stabilize Li Jiubao's pregnancy.
Upon inquiring with the maid, she learned it was a gift from the inveterate gambler Li Wei.
Wei Caiwei examined the jade Guanyin closely. With the sharp eye cultivated through half a lifetime in the palace, she recognized it as a top-grade piece in both jade quality and craftsmanship, worth a thousand taels of silver.
Where would Li Wei obtain such a valuable item?
Even the barely self-sufficient Prince Yu's household couldn't produce such exquisite jade—even if someone had offered it to Prince Yu, he wouldn't have dared accept it!
Wei Caiwei grew suspicious of the jade Guanyin. Further questioning of the maid revealed that Li Jiubao had met no outsiders recently except Li Wei.
Her suspicions deepened. She recalled Li Jiubao's words—"Thankfully, the little imperial grandson has been coughing these past few days and is being cared for by the princess consort."
The little imperial grandson had been raised by Li Jiubao's side since birth. If he hadn't been coughing... for an infant just over one year old, contracting chickenpox would be extremely dangerous!Wei Caiwei picked up the jade Guanyin statue. The Bodhisattva held a plump baby in her arms, carved from a single piece of warm, flawless white jade. Even under a Western magnifying glass, no cracks or peculiarities could be found.
However, the jade Guanyin rested on a wooden lotus pedestal. When Caiwei tapped the base with the wooden handle of her magnifying glass, it produced a crisp, hollow echo, indicating the pedestal was empty inside.
Clasping her hands together, Caiwei murmured "Forgive my offense" to the statue before dismantling it. Unable to find any hidden mechanism on the box even with the magnifying glass, she resorted to using a hammer and chisel to forcibly break the lowest lotus petal, revealing a concealed compartment in the pedestal.
From this hidden compartment, Caiwei shook out a small pile of substance resembling scab fragments.
Through a glass window, she explained to Prince Yu what it was: "This is pox inoculum, used by pox masters to inoculate healthy children around seven or eight years old. They collect scab fragments from previously inoculated children, then either blow them into a child's nostrils through bamboo tubes or mix them into pill form, shaping them like date stones to insert into nostrils overnight before removal. If inoculation succeeds, the child develops mild fever and pox symptoms. After scabbing, pox masters collect these scabs, storing them in warm, humid conditions to keep the inoculum viable for the next child."
"This cyclical process gradually improves the inoculum quality - the pox toxicity weakens with each generation, resulting in milder symptoms in inoculated children who thereafter never contract chickenpox again."
Prince Yu expressed astonishment: "How have I never heard of such a thing?"
Caiwei explained: "Inoculation doesn't work on all children and carries mortality risks. With imperial heirs being so precious, who would dare inoculate royal children? Noble families with armies of servants rarely use pox prevention. It's mainly commoners with many children who struggle to raise them all. Enlightened parents would hire pox masters to inoculate children while they're healthy and heal well."
"Pox masters always require parents to sign liability waivers beforehand, absolving responsibility if children can't endure the procedure. My adoptive parents also served as pox masters when practicing medicine in Tieling."
Prince Yu deduced: "So you mean if children are healthy, exposure gives them mild symptoms like donning chickenpox armor for permanent protection. But if physically weak, it could be fatal?"
"Exactly," Caiwei confirmed. "Especially infants who can't speak or understand - they only cry endlessly from discomfort until exhausted. Even robust infants struggle to survive high fever and unbearable pox itching. The optimal age is seven to ten years, yet risks remain. Younger than that, pox masters won't proceed even for payment. Your Highness, someone means to harm the imperial grandson."
Author's note: Next chapter, Daxia will make a grand entrance. By mid-Ming Dynasty, physicians had discovered this generational transmission of pox inoculum followed principles of attenuation and inactivation similar to vaccines.
Note 1: "Pox-removing liquid" cited from academic paper "Fifty-Seven Cases of Adult Chickenpox Treated with Internal and External Chinese Medicine"
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