Fields of Gold

At first, General Fang and his wife didn’t think Royal Prince Yang was the best match for their daughter. However, Royal Prince Yang soon showed that his behavior had changed and always treated their daughter well. Now, they were willing to let nature take its course. As for the Yu Family, they seemed to approve of Royal Prince Yang more and more as time went on. 

However, Xichun still approved of what her two fellow maidservants did today. Prior to Xiaocao getting engaged, they absolutely needed to guard their young miss’s innocence. They could not allow Royal Prince Yang get a single advantage off of her.

After she entered the building on the farmstead, Yu Xiaocao answered a few questions that, in her mind, were all things she had taught Xichun long ago. Although she had some doubts in her heart, she didn’t inquire further.

Everything on the farmstead was going as usual. Even if she didn’t come over for a dozen days to check on things, it would still be smooth sailing. Winter had begun and it had already snowed twice. This meant that the winter wheat next year would definitely have a good harvest. The greenhouse pavilions were warmed perfectly by the heated walls, so the vegetables growing inside weren’t the least bit influenced by the dropping temperatures outside. It absolutely wouldn’t be a problem for them to supply more than half of the capital’s needs for the New Year’s Eve family dinner.

On the day after she got back from the farmstead, Xiaocao had been invited to go to the grand princess royal’s residence. He Wanning had long been waiting by the second gate for her. With her was the somewhat shy wife of the heir, who was also there to receive the guest.

The two of them politely exchanged a few greetings before He Wanning linked arms with Xiaocao. She looked at Wutong, who was behind Xiaocao holding a familiar gift box, and the smile on her face became more brilliant, “Younger Sister Xiaocao, we made you work hard again. Only someone like you would be willing to bring cherry tomatoes as a greeting gift! They are valuable without being too ostentatious!”

The term ‘little or small tomatoes’ didn’t seem very elegant, so they were given a more pleasing name now and were considered ‘cherry tomatoes’. He Wanning wasn’t wrong. People who sent cherry tomatoes as gifts to others only did so to the people they had relatively good relationships with.

Yu Xiaocao revealed a smile, “Yesterday I went to the farmstead and picked a few while I was there. I know you like to eat fruits, so I not only brought some cherry tomatoes over but also picked a few watermelons and cantaloupes as well.”

“You personally picked these? Younger Sister Xiaocao, you told me a while ago that you would bring me and Older Sister Yuan to the farmstead to pick tomatoes. However, ever since winter started, you haven’t said a word. You don’t keep your promises! Tell me, how should I punish you?” He Wanning had long wanted to personally experience picking her own melons and tomatoes in the greenhouse pavilions at the farmstead. However, Xiaocao had been busy since winter started, and she wasn’t shameless enough to bother the other person.

Yu Xiaocao pondered this question and then replied, “Punish me by making me help you grow some cherry tomatoes and strawberries in your family’s greenhouse then. By the start of spring, they should be ready to eat. What do you think of that?”

“Okay ah, okay ah! I like this type of punishment!” If her own family had their own cherry tomato and strawberry plants, that naturally meant that she could pick them whenever she wanted to eat some. He Wanning applauded this idea with both hands.

He Wanning’s eldest sister-in-law quietly watched these two young maidens talk to each other. She was quite gratified that the two of them had a good relationship. If her younger sister-in-law had a good relationship with Godly Doctor Yu, then that naturally meant that Miss Yu would do her best to diagnose and treat her. Wouldn’t that mean that, before long, she would also be able to have a cute and precocious son or daughter?

Yu Xiaocao first stopped by the main courtyard to greet the grand princess royal. The grand princess royal looked a bit similar to the emperor emeritus but appeared somewhat younger. She was the youngest sister of the emperor emeritus and the two of them had an age gap of around eight to nine years!

The grand princess royal treated Yu Xiaocao in a kindly manner that also seemed to have a hint of intimacy entwined in. It was as if she was interacting with one of her own direct descendents. This made Yu Xiaocao relax quite a bit. He Wanning’s mother, Marchioness Anning, on the other hand, was a bit more speculative as she inspected Xiaocao.

After spending some time conversing idly with the two elders, Yu Xiaocao was then invited to the wife of the heir’s courtyard. The lady warmly welcomed Xiaocao.

After exchanging courteous pleasantries, the lady finally couldn’t beat around the bush anymore and she stated in a somewhat embarrassed manner, “My issue...Wanning has already told you, right?”

Yu Xiaocao slowly nodded her head and said, “Please relieve your worries, milady. With my relationship with Older Sister He, I will do my best. I also mentioned that, in terms of infertility, there are many possible reasons. Some are caused from birth while others are from other reasons. The other issues tend to be easier to fix. With our current medical knowledge, the issues from birth are probably very hard to treat.”

When the wife of the heir heard this, her eyes dimmed a bit and she sighed, “I already know all of this. So many years had passed and I had already decided to accept fate. However, when I heard what had happened with Lady Fang, a sliver of hope appeared in me again. Miss Yu, don’t worry. If you are able to fix this problem, then the He Household will all be grateful towards you. If you can’t, then that is just fate…”

Yu Xiaocao couldn’t bear to look at her dispirited expression that had a hint of despair in it. She suggested that she feel the woman’s pulse. The lady easily handed her wrist over and before Xiaocao had even started, the multi-colored stone on her wrist subtly flickered and the little divine stone’s voice appeared in her head, [There’s no need to check. Her body is perfectly fine! No illness!!]  

Yu Xiaocao’s hand paused for a second but she continued to take the woman’s pulse. It was just as the little divine stone said. The wife of the heir had a body that was more healthy than the vast majority of people, so she actually shouldn’t be having problems with infertility. Then...did that mean that there was an issue with Heir Anning instead?

“How is it?” The lady had a worried look in her eyes. It was clear that she desperately wanted to know but was also afraid of Xiaocao’s answer, which all showed on her face.

“Your body has no problems, milady. There’s nothing stopping you from having children.” Yu Xiaocao stated the truth.

The wife of the heir revealed a disappointed expression and lightly shook her head, “All of those other doctors, famous ones and imperial physicians, said the same thing as Miss Yu. However, so many years have passed but there’s been no quickening in my belly…”

 Yu Xiaocao hesitated for a moment and then softly asked, “You must know that infertility may not always be caused by an issue in the woman…”

The wife of the heir smiled bitterly and said, “I understand what you’re trying to get at. It’s been so many years and there’s been no news from my abdomen. I’ve seen many doctors and they all told me I have no problems. Someone also once mentioned that perhaps my lord husband had an issue instead. For the sake of his future heirs, my lord husband restrained his displeasure and also had the imperial physicians take his pulse——everything was normal! Not surprising, after all, as my lord husband has a concubine-born daughter now. How could he have an issue with his body? Sometimes I can’t help but think, did I commit too many sins in my past life so in this life I’m getting retribution and can’t have children…” 

“Eldest Sister-in-law! You absolutely cannot think along those lines! Xiaocao also said that having children depends on fate and timing. Perhaps, you and my little nephew haven’t reached the right timing yet. Look at Lady Fang, she’s older than you by a dozen years but didn’t she manage to birth Lin’er without any issues at her age?” He Wanning had a good relationship with this gentle and sweet eldest sister-in-law of hers, so she couldn’t help but try to comfort the other woman.   

As for Yu Xiaocao, she had fallen into deep thought. Both husband and wife had no problems with their bodies yet they didn’t have any children together. In her past life, she also knew of a couple who were like the heir and his wife. They had been married for a dozen years but had no children. They had gone to see doctors all over the place but everyone told them the same thing: their bodies had no problems. Despite that, they still weren’t able to have children. Later on, the couple was unable to endure the pressure and ended up divorcing. They both got remarried and had children from those second marriages. It was as if there was something wrong when the two of them were together as if they were unable to have children together for some reason. Perhaps, the heir and his wife were also like that other couple?

That couldn’t be right either! After all, the heir had taken in five to six concubines after his wife was unable to become pregnant but he still was lacking in heirs. Why did he only have one concubine-born daughter despite all these concubines?

“Forget it, Younger Sister. There’s no need for you to comfort me. Fate and destiny rules over all and we can’t change it no matter how hard we try. Right now, all my hopes are on the concubines in this residence. If one of them is able to bear a son for my lord husband, I will be happy. At that time, I can take the child under my name and then the family will have a legitimate heir too!” The wife of the heir had a resigned look on her face yet her eyes still flickered with sadness and grief.

The heir and his wife were childhood sweethearts and they naturally had deep rooted feelings for each other. In his youth, the heir had once promised to ‘have only her in his life’. However, because she was unable to become pregnant, she personally destroyed that beautiful dream. She sent one of her personal maidservants to her lord husband’s bed to become his concubine. At that time, her husband’s eyes had a complicated look in them: disappointment, pity, and helplessness. 

Following that, concubines entered the residence one after another and she had slowly become numb to all of this. She could never return to the bliss and sweetness she had before with her husband. Perhaps even the deepest love could be slowly worn away by the realities of life and time…

“Milady, Concubine Wen asks to be seen!” The clear and crisp sound of a young maidservant’s voice could be heard outside of the door.

She lightly frowned and asked, “Why is she coming over now? Is Fu’er not feeling well again? Dingxiang, I currently have guests over and it’s not convenient to see her. Please ask her specifically what she needs.”

“Yes!” The little maidservant had a voice full of respect. Before long, the curtain to the door was lifted up again and the maidservant politely came in and stated, “Concubine Wen said that Eldest Young Miss’s cough has gotten worse again. The cough syrup in the residence has been all used up and she wanted to ask if you had any left.”

“It’s very hard to get a bottle of Tongren Medicine Hall’s cough syrup. That bottle was the last one the residence had. Tell the outer servants to go to Tongren Medicine Hall to try their luck and see if the shop has any in stock!” The wife of the heir was quite careful when it came to her lord husband’s only descendant.

After she sent the young maidservant away, the wife of the heir looked at Yu Xiaocao and smiled weakly, “I let you see a farce. Fu’er has been weak since she was born and especially sickly during the winter. She gets sick almost every two to three days and often has a cough. Poor thing, at such a young age she takes more medicine every day than she eats food. Luckily, Tongren Medicine Hall’s cough syrup is quite effective for her. Unfortunately, the cough syrup and pills from the shop are all extremely hard to get even when you have money, so we have to try our luck.” 

There were very few people in the capital who knew that Xiaocao was the one behind Tongren Medicine Hall’s new cough syrup and pills. She also didn’t want more people to find out as it would be hard to fend against other people’s jealousy. She smiled and said, “The medications from Tongren Medicine Hall are very popular, especially during the winter. Everytime new stock gets in, it barely hits the shelves before they’re all sold out. I’m pretty sure the servants will come back empty-handed. My family bought a few bottles of the cough syrup and still has some left. Yingchun, go back to the residence and bring the remaining bottles of cough syrup here.”  

“How could you possibly bear to…” The wife of the heir also knew how hard it was to find some cough syrup. How could she shamelessly take someone else's?

“It’s important to take care of children immediately, milady, so there’s no need to be so polite!” Yu Xiaocao had a ready supply of the medications that other people found difficult to find. The cough syrup at home as well as the other pills were all personally made by her. Naturally, their effects were better than the ones sold at Tongren Medicine Hall.