When Eldest Sister-in-law saw He Zhiran had a thoughtful look, she said, "Ninth younger sister-in-law, Sixth younger sister-in-law may have really caught a cold."
Ever since I married into the Mo family, whenever I catch a cold, it's much more severe than before, and I've had experiences of fainting like Sixth younger sister-in-law.
Second Sister-in-law also said, "Listening to Eldest sister-in-law's words, it seems to be the case. After I married into the Mo family, I also caught a cold once. Although I didn't faint, it was more severe than any previous colds I've had."
Their words made He Zhiran realize a problem first.
That is, both sisters-in-law said that after marrying into the Mo family, catching a cold would be more severe than before.
This reminded He Zhiran of something Nan Heng had confessed.
The Queen bribed servants of the Mo family that Liu Auntie would slip something into the tea of any new daughter-in-law who entered, which was to make the Mo family daughters-in-law unable to get pregnant.
In other words, it was adding contraceptive medicine into the tea.
He Zhiran frowned in thought.
Could the unusually severe cold Sisters-in-law had be related to the contraceptives they had taken?
This was only her initial suspicion. To further confirm, she would need to draw blood for testing, as that would allow a more accurate diagnosis.
With so many people gathered outside Sixth Sister-in-law's tent now, it was not convenient to immediately draw her blood.
So He Zhiran wanted to take this opportunity to first check the condition of the other Sisters-in-law.
She held Eldest Sister-in-law's wrist first to feel her pulse.
Although Eldest Sister-in-law did not have a cold, the slight abnormality in her pulse let He Zhiran confirm that her pulse was similar to Sixth Sister-in-law's.
Second Sister-in-law did not know why Ninth younger sister-in-law wanted to check Eldest Sister-in-law's pulse. Thinking she was making some comparison, Second Sister-in-law took the initiative to offer her own wrist.
Sure enough, the abnormal condition in all three Sisters-in-laws pulses were similar.
If she had not heard from Nan Heng that medicine had been given to the Sisters-in-law, she might not have noticed such subtle abnormalities.
This could also explain why no one in the Mo family had discovered the crux of why they were infertile.
Since this matter was not trivial, He Zhiran did not plan to speak openly before fully confirming it.
Seeing her check the pulse without saying anything afterwards, Second Sister-in-law asked,
"Ninth younger sister-in-law, is there something wrong with our health?"
"Don't worry, Second Sister-in-law. You and Eldest Sister-in-law are very healthy. I was just comparing your pulses with Sixth Sister-in-law's."
Second Sister-in-law was relieved to hear this.
"Oh, that's how it is. I thought there was also something wrong with our health."
Sixth Sister-in-law's cold was not difficult to deal with for He Zhiran. Eating some medicine from her space would be able to alleviate it.
What was most important now was to first draw Sixth Sister-in-law's blood for testing.
"Eldest Sister-in-law and Second Sister-in-law, I want to give Sixth Sister-in-law acupuncture. Sixth Sister-in-law has caught a cold and is afraid of wind. Please stand guard outside and don't let anyone come and go around during my treatment."
The two sisters-in-law did not doubt He Zhiran's words at all and went out of the tent after acknowledging.
He Zhiran quickly took out silver needles.
In fact, it was not definitely necessary to treat Sixth Sister-in-law's cold with acupuncture. She wanted to use acupuncture as a cover to draw some of Sixth Sister-in-law's blood for testing.
"Sixth Sister-in-law, let me give you acupuncture first. It might hurt a little, please bear with it."
Sixth Sister-in-law nodded slightly. "It's hard on Ninth younger sister-in-law. Sixth Sister-in-law is not afraid of pain."
He Zhiran needled a few acupoints, and when she saw Sixth Sister-in-law start to become drowsy, she took out the blood draw equipment from her space and drew a tube of blood.
After dealing with this, He Zhiran removed the needles and Sixth Sister-in-law gradually awoke.
He Zhiran stood up, "Sixth Sister-in-law, your body is weak. Just rest in the tent and I'll go prepare medicine."
Seeing He Zhiran come out, the Mo family's women all gathered around to ask about Sixth Sister-in-law's condition.
He Zhiran told everyone that Sixth Sister-in-law had likely caught a chill from staying up late making dolls last night, which led to today's cold.
No one objected to this. It was indeed a bit cold when they were surrounding the fire making dolls last night.
Considering Sixth Sister-in-law's originally weak constitution, it was not surprising she caught a cold.
Knowing that Sixth Sister-in-law had suddenly fainted not because of any major illness, everyone felt somewhat more at ease.
After explaining Sixth Sister-in-law's condition clearly, He Zhiran went into her own tent to prepare medicine.
The herbs gathered on the road could indeed be made into medicine to treat colds, but compared to Western medicine, the efficacy would be slower.
Right now Sixth Sister-in-law had a high fever. The first priority was to lower her temperature.
So she took out fever reducers, anti-inflammatories and cold medicine from her space.
After changing all the medicine into oil paper packaging, she returned to Sixth Sister-in-law's tent.
Eldest Sister-in-law brought a bowl of water. He Zhiran propped up Sixth Sister-in-law to sit up and take the medicine.
"Sixth Sister-in-law, these medicines were all gifted by a master to me. They are very effective in treating colds. Please take this one first."
The first medicine He Zhiran gave Sixth Sister-in-law was the fever reducer. As for the other two, they needed to be taken at intervals.
Hearing that these oddly shaped pills were made by a master's hands, they must be precious indeed. Sixth Sister-in-law hesitated a bit.
"Ninth younger sister-in-law, this is too precious."
He Zhiran smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry Sixth Sister-in-law. I've already learned how to make these pills. As long as there are medicinal ingredients, I can produce them. So you don't need to feel burdened."
Hearing her say this, Sixth Sister-in-law indeed felt less burdened.
She followed He Zhiran's instructions, putting the pill in her mouth and washing it down with a big gulp of water.
Mo Hanyue stared at the pills in He Zhiran's hands, increasingly intrigued.
When she walked out of the tent, Mo Hanyue squeezed over.
"Ninth sister-in-law, I've been following you to gather herbs recently and can now recognize many types. Could you teach me to produce these pills too? If I succeed, I can also earn some silver for the family."
He Zhiran had noticed for a while that this girl was very interested in medicine.
But learning medicine was not something that could be accomplished overnight.
Besides, in her past life she had specialized in Western surgery, and was not the most proficient in Chinese medicine.
She was able to check pulses and perform acupuncture for others after learning the basics from the old director at the military hospital.
Although her level in Chinese medicine had not reached mastery, she was quite familiar with pharmacology. And she also had prescriptions for many Chinese patent medicines.
Rather than slowly teaching Mo Hanyue Chinese medicine theory, it would be better to teach her how to produce Chinese patent medicine.
Being able to produce effective Chinese patent medicines in this era would definitely be a lucrative business.
Thinking of this, He Zhiran patted Mo Hanyue's head. "If Hanyue likes learning medicine, let's start with pharmacology! I'll find a book on Chinese materia medica for you later. Get familiar with the medicinal properties of various Chinese medicines first."
Mo Hanyue nodded excitedly. "Alright, Hanyue will study diligently!"
He Zhiran was anxious to distribute wages for making the dolls and also concerned about testing Sixth Sister-in-law's blood sample. After saying a few words to Mo Hanyue, she gathered the women on the open grounds.
The women were all aware that He Zhiran gathering them was probably to distribute wages. The excitement in their eyes could not be concealed.
