Chapter 434 - 377: Returning
Chapter 434: Chapter 377: Returning
Sun Jingzu watched them, his heart filled with surprise. He had meticulously gathered all the details about Mo Amu’s family situation from Shaoyao. ’Are these two vibrant, dark-haired, middle-aged people really the elderly Mo couple? Weren’t they supposed to be in their sixties, and wasn’t Amu’s wife blind? This doesn’t add up!’
Sun Jingzu and his wife repeatedly glanced at Sister-in-law Sun, but she was just as baffled. With so many guests at the banquet, it wasn’t the right time to ask questions directly. They could only hold their curiosity in check, deciding to wait until the meal was over before bringing up the purpose of their visit to the hosts.
In his youth, Sun Renxin served as an Imperial Physician. The health and beauty balms he developed were deeply favored by Empress Dowager Xi. His acupuncture skills were nothing short of miraculous; whenever the Empress Dowager felt the slightest discomfort, Imperial Doctor Sun could immediately alleviate it with a single treatment. Naturally, Empress Dowager Xi was unwilling to let such a capable man go free. But how could the young Imperial Doctor Sun resign himself to being confined within the deep palace? He found an opportunity to escape and fled South, treating the sick and dispensing medicine along the way. With his miraculous healing touch, he made many connections and accumulated a considerable fortune, allowing him to purchase properties and open pharmacies in various places. He traveled all the way to Wancheng in G Province. The area was mountainous and densely forested, and the Royal Family was in a state of decline, its power weakening and its reach no longer extending so far. Thus, Sun Renxin was able to settle down in peace and establish a new home.
When the imperial system in Huaxia was overthrown and a new era began, Sun Renxin returned to the North. The name of Imperial Doctor Sun became famous throughout the country. From then on, his direct-line descendants were settled in their ancestral home in the North, while the businesses in other regions were managed by collateral branches of the family. He himself would periodically travel between the North and South with his sons and nephews, teaching them his medical skills while also inspecting and managing the Sun Family’s medical businesses.
As the eldest grandson of the direct line, Sun Jingzong had also visited Wancheng a few times. However, he had never met Mo Youmu. Mo Youmu didn’t often travel to Wancheng to sell medicinal herbs; he usually came only once every six to eight months after accumulating enough. Meanwhile, Sun Jingzong couldn’t quite acclimate to the southern climate and would leave Wancheng after three or four months at most. Thus, the two were fated to miss each other.
In the late 1950s, Imperial Doctor Sun detected signs that the political situation in the country was about to change drastically. He acted decisively. He did everything in his power to secretly send the descendants from the two direct-line branches and their wives out of the country. They went to the Southern Ocean to seek refuge with his younger cousin, another renowned doctor in the Sun Family. Sun Jingzong’s departure would last for more than twenty years.
Shortly after sending his direct descendants away, Imperial Doctor Sun gathered the remaining family members and quickly retreated to Southern G Province. At the time, he hadn’t anticipated that the ensuing chaos would last for over a decade. He also couldn’t bear to let the precious medical books passed down from their ancestors end up overseas, which is why he didn’t have his direct descendants take them.
The large family lived in seclusion in Wancheng. Their ability to remain there in relative peace for over a decade without major incident was not only due to Imperial Doctor Sun’s extreme caution but also because he had nearly exhausted the lifetime of connections and resources he had built. He had always cautiously guarded the ancestral medical books and secret manuals, refusing to entrust them to the collateral branches because he had long seen through their character. But he never expected that, just before his death, he would meet the young Mo Xiaoman and entrust the ancestral medical books and secret manuals directly to her!
When Sun Jingzong eventually learned of this, he was also quite shocked. He thought his grandfather had taken a final, youngest disciple in his old age and passed the ancestral medical books to her. It wasn’t until he returned to the country and found Shaoyao that he learned his grandfather hadn’t taken a disciple. Instead, he had been thinking of his direct-line descendants. He had Mo Youmu and his granddaughter, who would attract no attention, take the medical books to keep the collateral branches from coveting them.
Furthermore, his grandfather had left a final command: He instructed him to form a marriage alliance with Mo Youmu’s family. Mo Xiaoman was to choose a husband from among the direct-line great-grandsons!
Sun Jingzu would never disobey his grandfather’s arrangements. Today, he had brought two of his sons with him. Besides retrieving the ancestral medical books that Mo Xiaoman had been temporarily safeguarding, he was also here to follow his grandfather’s wishes and propose a marriage to the Mo family.
After the meal, Grandpa and Grandma invited the Sun family to sit in the main hall. Xinghua brought in the freshly brewed, fragrant tea and quickly excused herself. Seeing this, the others knew that important matters were to be discussed and didn’t go in to watch or eavesdrop.
Xiao Man went to her room and returned a moment later. She carried Mr. Sun’s black wood box, placed it before Sun Jingzu, opened it, and said with a small smile, "This is what Mr. Sun entrusted to me several years ago. At the time, I wanted to study medicine with him so that I could learn to treat my grandma’s eyes. Mr. Sun told me he was too old to take on a disciple, but he was willing to lend me the complete set of his ancestral medical books. He said I could study them on my own, and for anything I didn’t understand, I should find ways to ask other traditional Chinese medicine doctors. Ultimately, how much I could comprehend and learn would be up to my own ability and fortune. He also said I could use all the secret manuals and secret recipes in these Sun’s Medical Books without any hesitation! Finally, Mr. Sun instructed me that on the day the Sun Family’s direct-line eldest grandson returned, I must return this set of ancestral medical books to the Sun Family. I am incredibly grateful for Mr. Sun’s generosity. To be honest, I have benefited immensely from these books. My family and relatives have all been practicing Sun-style Tai Chi for their health. I have also used the Golden Needle that represents Imperial Doctor Sun’s name. But one cannot be too greedy. I know when to stop. I have not looked at the priceless secret recipes contained within Sun’s Medical Books. Even for the more common formulas, I only familiarized myself with them and have never used them for profit. I have been accepted into Beijing Medical University, where I am studying both traditional Chinese and Western medicine. Barring any surprises, I will become a doctor after I graduate. The prescriptions I write will, as much as possible, avoid overlapping with Sun’s Traditional Chinese Medicine, so as not to cause the unique characteristics of the Sun Family’s medicine to be diluted outside of the family... Today, I am returning the treasure to its rightful owner! Please, Uncle Sun, take a close look. Everything should be here."