The Daily Life of a Down-and-Out Pharmacist Supporting Her Family

The renowned imperial physician, Doctor Xiao, was embroiled in a case of false pregnancy involving a concubine and was executed. Men over the age of twelve were exiled, while the female relatives and young children were granted the benevolence of the Empress Dowager and returned to their ancestral home in Shu. Unexpectedly, the relatives who had been protected by Doctor Xiao turned away a group of women and children, occupying their ancestral property and expelling them from the family. A group of pampered women and children, having nothing to depend on, found Xiao Chunuan, who loved reading and grinding medicine, to be the pillar of the family. She taught her family to wash clothes and cook to survive; she taught her younger sisters to forage for wild vegetables and prepare medicinal herbs; she taught her younger brother to learn business and practice martial arts to strengthen his body, while ensuring that they studied literature and literacy despite three generations not being able to take the imperial exam; she worked hard to earn money and also wanted to help their exiled relatives; her grandmother arranged a marriage for Chunuan, only for the clan leader’s daughter to come knocking and cause trouble. Good people are often bullied, and those who are kind are taken advantage of. Old grudges and new enmities are all accounted for. Xiao Chunuan was never one to go easy on others; she was ready to engage in both literary and martial contests!