Chapter 856: Settling Down
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Liu’er combed Yu Youyao’s hair into a swallow’s tail hairstyle. Her hair was piled on top of her head, and a bun that resembled a swallow’s tail was tied at the back of her head. Tasseled pearls and jade fell from the back of her hair, and there was a silver crown on her head.
As the saying went, girls would wear a flower crown and dress with big sleeves and a round collar.
This way, it would look good.
After Yu Youyao was conferred the title of princess, she became more particular about her daily makeup and clothes.
For example, the single conch and the Feixian buns were only worn when she was in her room. Most of the time, her hair was combed into a solid bun. She also wore a small crown to show her solemnity and dignity.
However, only married women in the Great Zhou Dynasty would tie their hair into a tight bun. Therefore, she left a swallow’s tail bun behind her head to show her unmarried status.
As she was mourning, her jewelry still consisted mainly of silver, jade, pearls, and so on.
The people of the North were open-minded, so she rarely wore clothes that were too light. She still mainly wore dark clothes.
Chun Xiao helped Yu Youyao to the reception pavilion.
Uncle Sun was still drinking his tea calmly.
Butler Wen was neither thin nor fat, but his hair was white and his face was old. However, in fact, this old man who had accompanied the main family and experienced many difficulties was only in his early fifties.
Seeing Yu Youyao come over, Butler Wen quickly stood up and bowed.
Yu Youyao hurriedly stepped forward and helped him up. “Butler Wen, there’s no need to be so polite. The accompanying maidservants in front of me have all been in the capital since they were young. When they came to Xiangping City, they were also unfamiliar with the place. I’ll have to trouble you to help manage all the matters in the Yu Residence.”
There were deep wrinkles at the corners of the butler’s eyes, but he was very easy-going. “Princess, you’re too polite. His Highness misses you, so he specially instructed me not to let you down. In the past, His Highness relied on you to take care of him in the capital to recover. Now that you’re in the North, it’s his turn to take care of you.”
Looking at the bright and elegant Yu Youyao, who was a bright woman that was hard to come across like the old princess consort, he couldn’t help but feel relieved.
He only hoped that His Highness could marry the Little Princess Consort as soon as possible.
Yu Youyao blushed at these words.
Butler Wen’s smile deepened, and he asked Uncle Sun to take Yu Youyao’s pulse.
Uncle Sun rubbed his fingers and closed his eyes. As he stroked his long beard, he said after a while, “Your qi and blood are a little insufficient. It’s mostly caused by fatigue and worry. It’s not a big problem. In the future, use more food to nourish your qi and blood. Relax and recuperate for a while.”
It was still thanks to the prescription she had previously obtained from Imperial Physician Hu in the capital. However, after recuperating for a while, her illness had mostly recovered.
Yu Youyao nodded. “Thank you, Uncle Sun.”
Uncle Sun glanced at her. “If there’s discord in your qi and blood, it will cause all kinds of illnesses.” He put down his teacup. “Although it’s bitterly cold in the North, the Feng Shui in your residence was personally set up by Little Yin and is compatible with the Xie family’s yin and yang. The Xie family is kind to others. It’s a family with accumulated goodwill and there’s plenty of good fortune. When the two are intertwined, the vitality will be long-lasting and is meant to nourish your lives. As long as you don’t poke your nose into the business for others and stay here for long, you’ll have the benefit of recuperating.”
Neo-Daoism and Feng Shui emphasized the interaction of essence, qi, and spirit, which corresponded to the human heart, body, and mind respectively. One had to cultivate the heart, nourish their nature, and enhance the spirit.
One had to relax, achieve harmony in their body, and have a calm mind.
If she stayed in such a good residence for a long time, she would be able to achieve the effect of recuperation and would naturally be able to settle down.
Therefore, all three were indispensable.
Yin Huaixi had spent a lot of effort on renovating this courtyard. He had even meticulously arranged every flower, tree, mountain, and river.
Yu Youyao was a little surprised. “No wonder as soon as I entered the courtyard, I felt that this place was vast and open, making me feel relaxed, as if I was unrestrained. I didn’t expect him to be so proficient in this.”
Uncle Sun rolled his eyes. “Hmph, he’s not good at this. He’s asked me for advice on the layout of the flowers and trees inside.”
“This is already very impressive.” Yu Youyao spoke quickly and habitually defended Yin Huaixi. Seeing Uncle Sun blowing his beard and glaring at her, she quickly pretended to be shocked. “Uncle Sun, do you actually know feng shui?”
Uncle Sun immediately sat up straight and stroked his beard with one hand, pretending to be unfathomable. “The Sun family is the descendant of the King of Medicine. The King of Medicine advocates Daoism, and what he has learned includes Daoist medicine, and Daoist medicine also includes Feng Shui. As a descendant, I can’t help but dabble in it.”
Plants were formed by vitality. Every plant had its own unique function. Only by placing them in a suitable position could they grow lushly and unleash other characteristics.
Take elm wood for example!
In Feng Shui, it was believed that elm trees tended towards the yang. They were yang trees that could guard the residence, ward off evil spirits, and allow one to settle down.
In pharmacology, elm wood had four purposes, namely for medicine, food, reward, and play. It had the effect of turning sunlight into moisture and calming the mind and soul. Living in a place with lush elm wood could help one sleep and calm the mind. It was a longevity tree.
From the perspective of a scholar, elm trees appealed to all and portrayed an image of determination.
Different cultures achieved a subtle harmony with regards to elm wood. It was beneficial to humans and harmless. Living on the elm wood was naturally beneficial to the body.
Therefore, it was auspicious.
Yu Youyao looked at him with admiration. “You’re amazing!”
A true Daoist doctor had knowledge from dozens or even hundreds of fields, such as medicinal herbs, alchemy, physiognomy, astronomical phenomena, feng shui, fate, and so on.
Meanwhile, Daoist doctors pursued learning, prudence, discernment, and observantness. They were completely opposite to those people who only had half-baked knowledge and were blindly superstitious.
Uncle Sun had painstakingly studied the inheritance left behind by the King of Medicine. He did not spend much effort on treating illnesses and saving people.
Some people felt that Uncle Bo learned a lot of medical skills for nothing, and he did not want to save anyone. It was against the path of a doctor.
However, Uncle Sun said earnestly, “Someone has to study the good things left behind by our ancestors. Now, each generation is worse than the last. If the inheritance is gone and good things are lost, it’s inevitable that future generations will think of them as dregs when they are mentioned again. Everyone thinks that only good things are worth passing on. If the inheritance of the Daoist doctors is broken, does that mean that what our ancestors have isn’t good? However, they’re clearly good.”
Uncle Sun cleared his throat and glanced at Yu Youyao. “I’ve set up a pharmaceutical school in Xiangping City. I teach for two hours every three days. As long as you’re interested in medicine, anyone can come to class. Those who are listening only need to personally go up the mountain every time and pick a medicinal herb to cultivate. If you have anything in the future, look for me at the pharmaceutical school.”
Yu Youyao understood immediately. “Are you going to choose a successor?”
With such a wide net, there would definitely be many people who would come to listen to the class. However, as time passed, the people who could really persevere and learn were good students who were really interested in medicine, and were determined and talented.
Regardless of whether she could learn everything that Uncle Sun had learned, even if she could inherit one thing, it was already very impressive.
Early on, learning medicine required memorizing soup recipes, distinguishing medicine, and recognizing medicinal properties. Even if one couldn’t read, they could still learn.
Students who were illiterate also had a chance to come into contact with literacy.
Currently, there were more than 2,300 medicinal herbs with medicinal effects recorded in the Medicine Manual. One only needed to remember the names of each medicinal herb and put in more effort. One could copy and read more in class. When one finished learning the Medicine Manual, they would be able to recognize all the words they needed to.