Chapter 88: Chapter 61 Visiting Fan Mansion_1
Time flies swiftly, and before you know it, ten more days have passed.
On Luoyue Bridge, girls have begun to come out in their single-layered dresses morning and evening to sell jasmine flowers. The fragrance of jasmine is fresh, elegant, and pleasant. Medical books record that using jasmine to steam oil and extract its liquid to make face cream and hair oil can both moisturize dry hair and deeply fragrance the skin.
In the residence of the Judicial Commissioner from the Trial Court in Capital City, inside the bedroom, Lady Fan from the Zhao clan was sitting in front of a mirror, allowing the maiden behind her to gently apply the newly bought jasmine hair oil to the ends of her hair.
Once the hair oil touched the hair ends, her originally fluffy black hair immediately lay smooth and became even more delicate like satin. Lady Zhao looked at her reflection in the mirror, and the beautiful woman’s face was like a peach blossom, her eyebrows like willow leaves, extremely luscious and captivating.
However, she slightly furrowed her brow, scrutinizing her face from left to right, and then reached out to touch her waist, asking the maid behind her, "Cui’er, have I put on weight recently?"
The maid answered with a smile, "Madam, you have a flower-like face and a charming slim figure."
Lady Zhao shook her head, "No, I have certainly become plumper lately."
These days, Fan Zhenglian had been leaving early and returning late. When Lady Zhao attended to his meals and daily life, she would often see him looking distracted. Lady Zhao had already been worried that with Fan Zhenglian’s success in his career, his thoughts would gradually drift toward other distractions. Now that he was acting out of the ordinary, she naturally had her suspicions.
Yet, her people had secretly inquired and found no trace of any extramarital affair, and after much thought, Lady Zhao could only suspect that Fan Zhenglian was growing tired of her.
She looked out the window at the sun and sighed with irritation.
The weather was getting hotter, and the women’s clothes were getting lighter and thinner. She had already switched to Golden Silk Gauze, which had a glittering sheen, and moved with an appealing ripple like sunlight on water as she walked.
But although it was appealing, such thin garments, if not worn on a naturally slim body, tended to look unflattering and bulky.
Lady Zhao, who was voluptuous, found that she could conceal her figure somewhat with heavy clothing in cold weather, but as soon as she wore thin fabrics in the heat, she became increasingly dissatisfied with her figure.
Indeed, Lady Zhao was particularly sensitive about her figure.
Perhaps it was because her parents had named her "Fei Yan" when she was young, a name that suggested grace and elegance. Moreover, the historically notorious beauty who shared the name was famous for being so slender she could dance in the palm of a hand. From her youth to adulthood, that name hung over her like a beautiful curse, binding her heart.
Lady Zhao was very beautiful, yet, for reasons unknown, as if fate were mocking her, she had grown increasingly plump with age. This in itself did not detract from her reputation as a beauty, but when contrasted with her given name, it seemed somewhat mocking.
Lady Zhao also found it vexing. She wanted to "live up to her name," to possess a waist that could "flutter delicately through the palace," but alas, one’s hair and skin are the gifts of one’s parents, and some things are strangely difficult to control. No matter how little she ate or how many remedies she tried, she could never become as slender and delicate as the ladies depicted in paintings, just as a peony could never transform into a lily.
It was her misfortune that her husband, Fan Zhenglian, having had his fill of peonies, seemed now to be interested in lilies.
Lady Zhao coldly thought to herself, this world always demands more from women.
Her mind aimlessly drifted as she suddenly remembered something and called over her maid, "Right, I asked someone to buy ’Xianxian’ from Renxin Medical Hall before, why haven’t we got it yet?"
The last time Lady Dong from the Minister of Imperial Treasury’s household came over for a visit, she mentioned in passing a type of medicinal tea that was newly available in Capital City with extremely good effects, claiming that even a butcher could be transformed into a Pan An after using it.
This was clearly an exaggerated claim, but Lady Dong spoke with such certainty that she did not seem to be lying. Additionally, with Lady Zhao having some free time recently, she indeed sent someone to East City Temple Entrance to make inquiries and found out that indeed, there was a vigorous young man there selling meat.
The story about the butcher who turned into a Pan An turned out to be true.
Therefore, Lady Zhao was greatly intrigued and immediately sent a servant to purchase it.
The maid answered, "The buyers from our mansion said that the Resident Doctor at the medical hall kept saying they were out of stock. The buyer has gone back and forth four or five times in the past ten days, but they have returned empty-handed every time."
Lady Zhao paused in her movement, "They’ve been there four or five times?"
The maid nodded.
"This medical hall sure puts on airs," Lady Zhao felt a bit displeased in her heart, "Having visited once, they should know our mansion has need of it, and any sensible person would have rushed to deliver the goods. Instead, they dare to make those from our household plead repeatedly; such lack of appreciation for their betters."
After a moment, Lady Zhao asked again, "Does this medical hall have anyone backing it up?"
The maid shook her head, "I have already inquired, the owner of the medical hall is an ordinary merchant, and the Resident Doctor is a lone girl from outside the capital. The entire medical hall consists of only four people, and the other two are apprentices who do the chores."