The Tang Dynasty’s Female Forensic Doctor

T/N: In case people get confused: Dowager Lu = Old Madam Cui

“Somewhat.” Ran Yan muttered lightly. She was not used to lying. Admittedly, making up a story would divert inquiry for a time, but silence was preferable. "Loose lips sink ships" after all.

Seeing Ran Yan was not willing to elaborate, Ran Yunsheng did not press her further. Instead he merely said, “I don’t really have any particular business. When we reach the city, I’ll find a restaurant and wait for you there.”

Having reached an agreement, they mounted the carriage.

The two patients Ran Yan needed to see today were from prestigeous families[1]. While their status in Suzhou City could not compare to the Qi, Ran and Yan families, they had enough strength that even these three preeminent families did not dare to easily offend.

Ran Yan remained terse, not taking the initiative to bring up conversation topics unless needed. During the whole journey, only Ran Yunsheng talked while she minimally contributed a few sentences to go along with him.

Ran Yunsheng also noticed that this younger sister of his was vastly different from before. While her words had been few in the past as well, she had always followed behind him weakly and delicately, seeking support with utmost effort. Using the phrase “little bird relying on people[2]” to describe her could not be more suitable. Whereas now, with the coldness and indifference that could not be dispersed from her eyes and her faint detachment, she seemed to have turned into a completely different person.

This type of change made Ran Yunsheng"s heart ache dully. In his eyes, his younger sister must have suffered greatly for her personality to have slowly change into this. Thus, for the whole journey he kept telling jokes to amuse her.

Reaching the East city, Ran Yan dropped off Ran Yunsheng at a restaurant called Heavenly Fragrance Tower[3] before proceeding to the Lu family residence, which was situated further beyond.

The Lu family of Suzhou was supposedly a side branch from the Lu clan of Fanyang. In the early Sui dynasty, the main Lu clan had earned the nickname “One Door, Three Princesses” and were not inferior to the Zheng clan of Xingyang. The imperial clan wished to form ties with the Lu clan of Fanyang by sending their own sons and daughters over while also bringing over Lu daughters as imperial consorts[4]. Even as a side branch, they were already very impressive.

The patient this time was the Lu family’s Dowager[5]. Yesterday, when Ran Yan had listened to the steward describe the symptoms, she was able to determine where the problem basically lay and could have just prescribed the medicine to treat it. However, the patient was the daughter of the direct line of descent from the Cui clan of Qinghe. Compared to the main clan, the local Lu family actually had a closer relationship with her ancestral Cui clan. She was the link between the two families. Before they could marry in another Miss from the Cui clan, absolutely nothing could be allowed to happen to her. In order to express sufficient respect, Ran Yan had to personally visit their home before making a diagnosis.

Although they all had weird illnesses, none of the patients she was going to treat today were moribund yet the Lu family were already in a mess. It was such a dire situation to them that it had been the master of the house, Lu Hongchao, who personally came to invite her yesterday. If she did not treat her first, she reckoned that the Lu clan would all hate her.

As

Ran Yan’s carriage stopped in front of the Lu family’s main entrance, someone immediately came to greet them, “Is it Seventeenth Miss Ran?”

Through the black muslin cloth Ran Yan was wearing, she saw the steward of the Lu residence that had visited the estate yesterday.

“It is.” Ran Yan replied with a slight nod.

Steward Lu"s somewhat fretful expression relaxed, saying delightedly, “Miss must be tired from the journey. Please, come in and rest for a…”

“No need.” Ran Yan firmly interrupted his pleasantries, but then remembered Miss Xing’s thousands of warnings and ten thousands of exhortations for her to be gentle, before adding, “Dowager Lu’s illness is important.”

Because Ran Yan had tactfully declined for someone to pick her up, the steward had started keeping watch by the main entrance since before the sky had turned light. The wait had made him both was both fretful and unhappy. However, Ran Yan’s alacrity helped him develop a favourable impression of her. He quickly said his thanks and led Ran Yan past the entrance.

Inside, a sedan chair had long been waiting. The steward invited Ran Yan to sit on the sedan chair.

As raised chairs and benches[6] were still uncommon during the Tang Dynasty, the sedan chair was also different from those in later periods. It was short and low, its inside could only accommodate one person sitting cross legged or sitting knelt[7]. It was Ran Yan’s first time sitting in this type of sedan chair, thus she was a little unaccustomed to it. She thought to herself that this Lu family was rather good at putting on airs, one still had to sit on a sedan even in the home.

However, after traveling for a while, Ran Yan began to understand why she needed to ride the sedan. With the whole clan living together, the Lu family’s property was extremely big. The compound was split into quite a few large interlinked courtyards. The courtyard belonging to the mother of the Lu clan"s head, Dowager Lu, was located at the very back of all the courtyards. On foot, it would have taken her at least a quarter of an hour.

The porters carrying the sedan moved at a flying speed, yet Ran Yan was very secure seated inside.

When Ran Yan arrived at Dowager Lu’s courtyard, everyone from the Lu family had already gathered together. The large hall was completely packed with about 30-40 people. This group seemingly only consisted of descendants from the direct line, goodness knows how many would have packed in otherwise.

When the crowd saw the veiled Ran Yan entering, they each got up to greet her.

Seeing this huge family, Ran Yan really had no interest in greeting them one by one. After paying her respects to the family head, she immediately said, “We should see to the illness first. Dowager Lu’s body is important.”

The Eldest Madam[8] of the Lu family had an expression that was neither warm nor cold. Hearing Ran Yan’s words, she said with neutral face, “Miss, follow me.” 

This Eldest Madam had the n.o.ble blooded background of being the legitimate daughter of the Qi clan and being Sixth Miss Qi’s blood related paternal aunt[9]. With Ran Yan’s recently ascendant reputation supressing Sixth Miss Qi"s, it was natural that she was unhappy and even looked down on Ran Yan. Wasn"t this little upstart merely imitating Sixth Miss Qi’s cold temperament? Sixth Miss Qi’s reputation as a cold beauty had stood the test of time, it was a distinct temperament emitting from her very bones. How could it be something that just anyone could imitate!?

As for her supposed medical skills, Madam Qi disdained the thought even more.

more. With her young age, it must have been the luck of the devil[10] for her to save two people. Could that actually be called excellent medical skills? If her medical skills were really so outstanding, how had there not been even the slightest word about them previously?

All told, Madam Qi had already decided that Ran Yan, not content to be neglected by the Ran family, was angling for fame in order to attract the Ran clan’s attention. 

Lu Hongchao was not satisfied with his wife’s att.i.tude, but could not express his anger because she had an enormous clan behind her!

In practice, Madam Qi merely displayed a luke warm att.i.tude while also not engaging in any excessive actions, thus Ran Yan did not take it too seriously and followed them to Dowager Lu’s bedroom.

Only a few influential family members[11] and their official wives could enter this small bedroom.

The room was pervaded with a faint sour stink mixed with the smell of medicine and sandalwood, making one feel increasingly unable to bear it. A few Madams were holding their breaths, looking towards Ran Yan out of the corner of their eyes. 

Ran Yan could even bear the potent smell of a rotting corpse, so this type of trace odour was naturally nothing to her. Even her pupils did not waver the slightest.

“Please detail the situation again.” Ran Yan said.

Lu Hongchao immediately answered. “Mother has already been continuously vomiting for almost a month, her abdomen often aches, and she has diarrhoea. When a fever rises, it only recedes with medicine. Once the medicine is stopped, the fever will return within a few days. Acupuncture, moxibustion and medicine all have been unable to stop the vomiting and diarrhoea. The day before yesterday, her eyes suddenly bled and turned blood red."

Ran Yan nodded and said, “I will go have a look at Dowager Lu.”

Lu Hongchao was happy to proceed, however Ran Yan was an unmarried Miss so he could not accompany her in. Instead he gave a meaningful look to Madam Qi.

Whether if it was because Madam Qi was repulsed by Ran Yan or the unpleasant smell of the inner room, her elegant eyebrows furrowed slightly. However, she still drew open the curtains. Clutching to her words like they were gold, she begrudgingly uttered, “Please.”

Ran Yan preceded Madam Qi and a few womenfolk into the inner room.

Ran Yan took off her veil and handed it to the maidservant beside her. Then, as if no one else was there, she knelt down by the bed.

Old Madam Cui’s complexion had no colour, her appearance haggard, her hair silver. Even though she was still awake, she looked wan. Seeing that people had entered, she only moved her eyelids slightly before half-closing her bloodshot eyes.

From the moment Ran Yan had taken off her veil, Madam Qi had continued to scrutinise her. As she inspected her up and down a few times she briefly felt awestruck[12]. Madam Qi had listened to Tenth Miss Qi"s impression of Ran Yan, saying that she imitated Sixth Miss’s cold arrogance, but now seeing for herself, it was actually not so. They both gave one a cold icy feeling, but Sixth Miss Qi was like a G.o.ddess high up that could not be blasphemed, whereas Ran Yan was like a dark night that enveloped people. One could not say who was higher or lower.

While feeling the elderly woman’s pulse, Ran Yan instructed, “Go, prepare hot water and cloth.”

Madam Qi raised her hands slightly, indicating for the servants behind her to prepare them.

“Dowager Lu, I will give you treatment that will alleviate your symptoms of vomiting and stomach pain

stomach pain shortly, but I will need to remove your clothes. Please forgive me.” Ran Yan sought Old Madam Cui’s approval in advance.

Old Madam Cui lifted her eyelids weakly, within her dark pupils a trace of hope emerged. If not for her husband’s last wishes[13], she would have long ago asked for poison to end her life. Even a young person with a robust physique would not be able to bear drawing things out for almost a month like this, let alone an old woman!

Seeing the emotion in Old Madam Cui’s eyes, Ran Yan reached out to knead a few acupuncture points with an appropriate amount of strength.

When the hot water prepared by the maidservant arrived, Ran Yan rolled up her sleeves and wet the cloth in the hot water. After that, she wrung it dry and placed it on Old Madam Cui’s eyes, saying slowly, “This can bring relief to your eye sickness. Rest for now.”

Ran Yan instructed a maidservant to constantly change the cloth for the time being. Using this time, she asked for a brush and paper, wrote down two prescriptions and pa.s.sed it to Madam Qi, “Dowager Lu’s natural strength[14]is insufficient[15], her body’s const.i.tution suffers from deficiency of the spleen and she has a weak pancreas and digestive functions. If she is a little inattentive with her diet, it will trigger vomiting and diarrhoea. For the next two days, stop eating solid food and only eat liquids. For example, rice water, lotus root starch, almond tea[16]. Eat these 6-7 times a day. Do not eat any food that contains a lot of fat. Avoid meat[17] and do not eat food that is too sour or too sweet until the diarrhoea stops.”

Madam Qi was somewhat amazed. When most doctors saw patients, they readily spouted a mountain of professional jargon. After listening for a long time, one still would not know what illness they had. Ran Yan spoke in a plain and simple manner that was easily understood.

Everyone outside the curtains also clearly heard Ran Yan’s words. Because Lu Hongchao could not see the situation inside, he could not help asking aloud, “Is there a prescription?”

No one from the inner room answered, instead a maidservant came out to pa.s.s shortly with Ran Yan’s prescription.

Lu Hongchao had some medical knowledge. At first glance, he felt that although he had never seen these two prescriptions before, they could not be more ordinary. The natures of the ingredients were mild and without much potency. He could not help hesitating. Could this really work?

As if Ran Yan knew about his worries, she spoke aloud and said, “Dowager Lu’s body is too weak. In a moment, I will use the Guasha technique[18] to help alleviate the vomiting and diarrhoea, before using a fever reducer. After that, I will use the two prescriptions for her recuperation.”

“Guasha?”

The crowd looked at each other blankly, they had never heard of this term before. However, every doctor would have secret prescriptions and treatment methods that could not be divulged to outsiders, thus it was inconvenient for them to question further.

Lu Hongchao asked again, “What about her eye sickness?”

“Excessive vomiting caused the conjunctiva of her eyes to bleed. Generally, it will recover on its own and using a hot compress would relieve its symptoms. If it still has not recovered after the vomiting stops, I will prescribe another medication.” Ran Yan knew that traditional Chinese medicine doctors often spoke incomprehensible jargon when they saw patients. Thus, even if others did not understand her words regarding “the conjunctiva of her eyes bleeding”, as long as there were no large obstructions to their understanding, they wouldunderstanding, they would not ask too much.  

As expected, no one raised any objections. 

Ran Yan started to prepare to treat Dowager Lu with Guasha. As it required her to remove her clothes, only Madam Qi remained. The other people all withdrew behind the curtains.

As two maidservants attended to Dowager Lu and removed her clothes, Ran Yan took out oil from her medicinal case. Just as she was preparing to get up, a Madam from outside the curtains said in a low voice, “This is Seventeenth Miss Ran? How is it that I don’t see the resemblance? When I was at my maiden home, I often saw Fourth Miss Yin and her play together. At that time, her personality was not like this.”

That voice was very soft, but it was extremely quiet right now and Ran Yan had a very good sense of hearing. Though she couldn"t tell who spoke them, these words fell into her ears word for word.

Fourth Miss Yin, Yin Wanwan?

T/N: RY, RY... you can"t just prescribe medicine just based on what a third party says without even seeing the patient... moreover the Guasha treatment required you to meet the patient personally anyway, so you couldn"t have just gave them a prescription. 

Sorry for the long wait! Had exams and a.s.signments due sigh. Also this chapter was a little difficult to translate and I had to get help from my editor alliterativeartT_T shoutout to them for being an absolute angel and fielding all my questions. On the bright side you get a fully edited chapter instead of my usual grammatical mess. 

[1]有头有脸: lit. have head, have face. 

[2]小鸟依人: fig. cute and helpless-looking

[3]天香楼: lit. sky fragrant storied-building

[4]There is no plural in Chinese, so I cant tell if it was only one daughter, or multiple daughters of the Lu clan that were sought after to be imperial consorts. 

[5]太夫人: Tai Furen, t.i.tle for the mother of a n.o.ble or an official. The word "Tai" is a prefix used for elders, and "Furen" means Madam. 

[6]带腿儿的椅、凳: lit. chairs and benches carrying the thigh. Never heard of this term before, but am a.s.suming it means chairs that have legs (because they support your thighs and allow your legs to hang down? or something like that...). Correct me if I"m wrong. 

[7]里面只能容纳一人盘膝而坐活跽坐: Am a.s.suming that this is a typo and 活 is actually supposed to be 或, otherwise the sentence doesn"t make sense at all. Kneeling here refers to a sitting position similar to the j.a.panese "seiza". 

[8]大夫人: lit. big madam. Probably referring to the fact that she is the main wife of the eldest son/head of the family

[9]姑姑: paternal aunt

[10]瞎猫碰死耗子: lit. blind cat catching a dead mouse 

[11]掌权者: referring to the family members who hold power in the Lu family

[12]惊艳: more accurate translation would be to be taken aback by someone’s beauty. 

[13]嘱托: to entrust someone with a task

[14]禀赋: natural endowment/gift

[15]I think she’s saying that Old Lady is born with a weak body

[16] See pictures below. 

Rice water 米汤 (thick liquid that floats on the surface of rice gruel): Tonify the kidney, strengthen the spleen, induce diuresis and treat stranguria.

Lotus root starch 藕粉: Tonify blood, stop bleeding, regulate the spleen and stomach, stimulate the appet.i.te.

Almond tea 杏仁霜: Relieve cough and dyspnea, moisten intestines for relaxing bowels. (It is weird that she recommends this because Old Lady already has diarrhoea, relaxing her bowels will just make the diarrhoea worse) (also almonds can be a little toxic so you shouldn"t overdose on them either)

[17]荤: non-vegetarian food. Also refers to strong smelling vegetables eg garlic, onion, leek, shallot, coriander (Buddhist monks abstain from eating food that are too flavourful, including these vegetables)

[18]刮痧: Guasha aka sc.r.a.ping. See Wikipedia link