Time Travel: The Best Doctor in Ancient Times

Chapter 110: Chapter 60: Bizarre Gift Giving

Having lived here for so long, she had deliberately ignored the ordinary appearance she remembered having.

With an ordinary face, carrying out her usual frown and smile, who knew her awkwardness?

It turned out that her neglect had caused her discomfort for so long!

The base of this skin was somewhat similar to her past self by fifty percent. Xiao Cui’s words, “beauty comes from within,” rang true; with fifty percent natural looks and thirty percent heart, she managed to resemble her past self by seventy to eighty percent!

“Lady Changsheng, Prince Mu, he…” Xiao Cui, looking down, didn’t know how to continue.

“He? He’s nothing but a lecher!” She had thought her appearance was plain, completely unaware that her transformation had attracted such an evildoer!

Judging by appearances, serving with beauty—she absolutely refused!

“Xiao Cui, why didn’t you remind me…” Gu Changsheng complained, “My looks aren’t bad either. How come along the way, it was always you attracting attention, yet I didn’t even draw the interest of a cockroach?”

Zhou Mu, that evildoer, doesn’t count!

“You have the nerve to say that, who dressed so sloppily, walking all the way without even caring for your hair? Disheveled hair is just the beginning, wearing whatever’s comfortable, totally lacking image!” Xiao Cui had lots of grievances to air. As a maid, it was embarrassing to be more presentable than her own Lady when going out; they felt quite stifled.

“Stop, stop, stop!” Gu Changsheng surrendered and called for a halt, “I’ll pay attention from now on. Damn it, had I known I’d turned out like this, I wouldn’t have felt so uneasy eating the tofu of an evildoer. At least this could be considered a match of talent and beauty, right?”

“Giggle…” Xiao Cui couldn’t help but snicker, “Lady, you’re really something!”

“Alright now, let’s be serious. Once our new residence is built, you won’t need to be so covert anymore. My maids are naturally unparalleled in beauty. Use this medicinal bath, you and Han Qiu, Dong Lei, everyone—beauty should be flaunted arrogantly. I want to see who dares to flirt with my maids.” Gu Changsheng climbed out of the bath barrel, feeling content, “Don’t worry about spending silver. Your lady here is so poor now that all I have left is silver.”

“Yes!” Xiao Cui replied with a smile, bowing respectfully and stepping forward to offer a brocade handkerchief.

After tidying herself up, Gu Changsheng, dressed in a brocade crimson silk robe, reclined on the soft chair set up in the courtyard, looking up at the bright starry sky.

In an ancient time without heavy industrial pollution, the moon shone bright and the stars sparse—an astonishing vastness.

“I lift my head to the bright moon, and lower it thinking of my hometown…” With a glass of clear wine in hand, Gu Changsheng toasted to the moon.

A rare moment of tranquility; she missed home…

“Grandfather, you must stay well…” Don’t feel sad, don’t think of me, she’ll live well, Gu Changsheng silently added in her heart.

The sparse shadows of the parasol trees were mottled, cast upon her side profile, her waist-length hair loosely draped, and under the hazy moonlight, a sense of serene beauty could be discerned.

…

The next morning, Gu Changsheng, who was snuggling in bed, stretched comfortably; without Butcher Wang returning from his illness, there’d be no house calls, rendering the seven-day commitment to free clinics nothing but a sham.

And she enjoyed the laziness of lying in.

“Mom, the sun’s already shining on your butt, and you’re still not up?” The nagging voice of Little Meat Bun came from outside the door.

Gu Changsheng buried her head in the pillow with a headache, burying herself further into the cool blankets like an ostrich. She couldn’t hear anything! She was oblivious to it all!

“Mommy, you were the one who said, ‘Early birds catch the worms.’ I’ve already run around the backyard one, two, three… five times, and you’re still not up…” Little Meat Bun counted clearly, finger by finger.

“I can’t hear, I can’t hear anything!” Gu Changsheng shook her head and decided to stay in bed to the very end.

“Young Master, is the Lady not up yet?” Dong Lei, carrying the washing utensils, came over and asked quietly.

“Not yet, Mommy is still in bed.” Little Meat Bun replied briskly, looking troubled. Continuing to shout towards the tightly closed door, “Mommy, how could you do this? You have Auntie Qiu wake me before dawn to exercise, yet you stay in bed. That’s only allowing… what was it… to set fires…”

“Only the commandery prince may set fires; the commoners mustn’t light lamps.” Dong Lei helpfully whispered.

“Right! Only the commandery prince may set fires; the commoners mustn’t light lamps! Mommy, you also said about practicing in the freezing cold and sweltering heat…” Little Meat Bun went on and on incessantly, and seeing no response, began seriously pounding on the door, “Tap tap… tap tap…”

“Gu Ze!” A bellow came from inside followed by Gu Changsheng, wearing only her nightgown, abruptly pulling the door open.

Little Meat Bun’s raised hand froze midway, instantly revealing a placating smile, his two dimples shining brightly, “Mommy, you’re awake.”

“If I hadn’t woken up, you’d have demolished this room!” Gu Changsheng gave him a look.

“Mommy…” Little Meat Bun, dissatisfied, “Mommy, you actually stayed in bed!”

A naked accusation, with those glaring eyes, Gu Changsheng glanced at her son, touched her nose awkwardly, and forced a chuckle, “Ahem… sleepiness in spring and weariness in autumn, summer naps—it’s all the seasons’ fault!”

“Mommy…” Little Meat Bun grasped a piece of Gu Changsheng’s garment, tugging and swaying, “Mommy, next time you want to stay in bed, tell Auntie Qiu, let me lie in with you, okay?”

Gu Changsheng instantly snapped back to reality, shooing away her son’s hand, “I’m wondering why you banged on the door so desperately. There’s the issue, I already told you—no more lying in bed! Finish your training and go straight to your studies, do you really want to end up uneducated?”

Little Meat Bun looked at his dismissed hand, pouted, and faced up to his mother. Seeing her stern expression and knowing there was no room for negotiation, he shuffled off hesitantly towards the study, looking back three times with each step.

“Tsk tsk, to see him in that aggrieved widow’s guise is truly to pity the heart of all parents under heaven…”

Startled, Dong Lei raised his head. His lady was pitiful? It was the Young Master who was pitiful, okay?

Gu Changsheng glanced at her, “What’s that look for? I’m the birth mother!”

Instantly, Dong Lei looked down. Trying to keep a straight face in front of her lady was truly too difficult!

“The weather is fine, and the air is crisp, another new day…” Gu Changsheng stretched her arms and legs, then suddenly froze.

Dong Lei watched her lady curiously as she felt herself up and down, muttering under her breath.

“The growth plates in my wrists and ankles haven’t completely closed yet, tsk tsk, there’s still hope…”

“Xiao Leizi, I’m going to write a prescription. Have Uncle Song go and get the medicine for me to boil,” said Gu Changsheng, turning around and heading back into the house.

“Prescription? Lady, are you feeling unwell? Shouldn’t you see a doctor?” Dong Lei followed anxiously.

“I am a doctor, what need do I have to see another?” Gu Changsheng took out her brush and ink, grinding and ready to write. “I’m not unwell, I just want to grow a bit taller.”

“Grow taller? Lady, you’re already a mother, can you still grow taller?” Dong Lei asked incredulously.

“Of course, women can sprout up at twenty, and men grow until they’re twenty-three. I, your lady, am only twenty years old, I can still sprout up,” said Gu Changsheng while writing. “If you’re interested, I can also write you a prescription to try out. Do you want it?”

Dong Lei quickly shook her head, murmuring, “Isn’t this just forcing the shoots to grow too soon…”

Gu Changsheng didn’t care about her. She could definitely do it. She could work hard to change back into her former self—with a heavenly one meter seventy stature that took the air out of any shorter person. That was her style!

Gu Changsheng, having just got everything in order, was exercising in the courtyard. Although she started late, she didn’t let her exercise lapse. She had just begun doing waist stretches when a commotion came from the back door. Gu Changsheng’s brows furrowed slightly as she turned to look at Han Qiu beside her, “What’s going on?”

Surely no one without a death wish was coming to pick quarrels again, right?

“I will check,” said Han Qiu, putting down her longsword and heading around the kitchen towards the back door.

She came back moments later with an odd expression on her face.

Gu Changsheng glanced at her and stopped. “What exactly happened?”

“Nothing, my lady needn’t concern herself,” Han Qiu averted her eyes for a moment, picking up her longsword.

“Hold on, I’ll take a look myself.” What on earth was going on that even Han Qiu, with her stoically quiet disposition, found difficult to speak about candidly?

As soon as Gu Changsheng had walked around the kitchen, she was met with several pungent wafts of fragrance powder, prompting her to lift her sleeve to cover and ease the scent.

“Lady Changsheng has arrived.” A keen-eyed one spotted Gu Changsheng, and with a cry of surprise, called out excitedly.

“It really is Lady Changsheng—see if you dare stop us now,” another pushed past Xiao Cui, who was in front of her, stepping briskly towards Gu Changsheng.

Gu Changsheng looked at the several flashy women in front of her, momentarily speechless.

“I am Bean Curd Beauty, selling tofu in the back street.” A woman with a beauty mark at the corner of her mouth seductively curtsied, speaking first.

An attempt at mimicking Xi Shi, no doubt! Gu Changsheng had seen a Beauty Sai, who was also seductive but of the elegant and cold type. This comparison made it clear who was superior.

“Lady Changsheng, I am Li Juhua from Guanmao Street, selling meat buns.” Another woman with a large silk flower in her hair pushed past Bean Curd Beauty, anxious to speak.

“Lady Changsheng, I am Fan Lihua from the ironworks on the west side of the city.”

“Lady Changsheng, I am Wang Ajiao from the Wang Family Textile Village right across from you—we’re neighbors.” A petite woman wriggled her way through from behind them, fully leveraging her small stature as an advantage.

“Stop right there!” Gu Changsheng took a step back with a headache, putting some distance between her and the women whose bodies reeked of cheap fragrance powder. Then, she smoothed the stray hair at her temples and broke into a sly smile, “Ladies, you’ve really brightened up my Gu Family estate by showing up at dawn. The entire garden loses its color to your splendor. However… I’m not quite sure why you’re here?”

“Lady Changsheng, this is my newly made tofu, soft and smooth. I brought it for you to try,” said Bean Curd Beauty, the first to chime in, indeed holding a tender block of tofu in her hands.

As Gu Changsheng looked up from the tofu in her hands, she saw two even more tender mounds about to burst out of their summer blouse, half-hidden, stirring the imagination.

People were actually coming to her door with tofu to offer! Gu Changsheng was astonished!

“Lady Changsheng, here are the meat buns I just steamed…”

And there were those delivering meat buns too! Alright then, you are all quite talented!

“Lady Changsheng, I worked all night to make a nightgown…”

Miss, could you be a little less discreet? Nightgown? How much more straightforward would it be to just take off your clothes and get down to business?

Gu Changsheng almost choked on her frustration, looking up at the self-proclaimed ironworks’ Fan Lihua, and asked pointedly, “What are you offering? Let’s see whether it’s a mule or a horse, bring it out for me to have a look.”