Chapter 7: 7

Strong medicine

***

　The Zhen family’s carriage finally stopped in front of the Song Manor’s gate midway through the period of the monkey.1 The servants ushered Madam Meng and Jiafu to the corner gate until they ultimately veered towards a reception hall, wherein there was neither tea nor people, only two grannies at the side poised upright, staring at each other with withdrawn and listless eyes. After waiting for a long while, they finally heard a series of approaching footsteps. Madam Song sauntered in, dressed in luxurious clothes with floral patterns and adorned with gold and jade from head to foot, with a group of maids and grannies flocking around her like a myriad of stars surrounding the moon. She took a seat. When Madam Meng prompted Jiafu to greet her with a decorous curtsy, the other remained unspeaking. With eyes like a double-edge fine-toothed comb,2 she appraised Jiafu from top to bottom over and over, not overpassing even the most minute of details. She then pointed to a chair beside her and asked Madam Meng to take a seat. “Womenfolk from the Anyuan Marquis Manor were here just now, and we had a short chat. I’ve made you wait.” She swept a glance around the room and amplified her voice to reproach the grannies for being ignorant of etiquette and for failing to serve tea to the newly arrived guests, asserting that such acts were no different from those in the marketplace. The grannies had clearly been ordered to treat the guests coldly, but arbitrary imputations were now being hurled at them. Not daring to retort, they served two cups of tea in a flurry and asked Madam Meng for forgiveness.

　Madam Meng quickly pardoned them. Madam Song’s lips curled up into a very faint smile. “Your Zhen family is also a great family in Quanzhou. You, mother and daughter, traveled all the way to the capital to come here. Our servants are thoughtless and lack etiquette. We have let you witness a joke”

　The moment Madam Song appeared, Madam Meng could sense the displeasure emanating from her. Those few words just now actually sounded like a case of scolding the locust while pointing at the mulberry.3 With Madam Song lashing out in all directions, how could she not perceive it? She also noticed Ye momo standing beside her, looking askance at them with cold eyes, incongruous with the way she appeared when they parted at the dock this morning.

　With the Song family now wielding great influence and prestige, Madam Song was inflated by her own hubris. Not only was Madam Xin compelled to give her face, but she also intervened in the marriage between her daughter and the Wei Grand Duke Manor’s Heir. Madam Meng thoroughly understood the intricacies in between, so she had been resolved to cultivate a harmonious relationship with them to prevent future trouble. At present, she could not help but feel baffled, unable to determine what went wrong in the middle. For her daughter’s marriage to progress smoothly, she could only endure it and mumble a few perfunctory phrases in agreement.

　Madam Song’s focus was on Jiafu. Without saying even a single word, she waved to Jiafu and motioned for her to step forward. Jiafu paced over in a docile manner, calling her ‘Foster Mother’. Madam Song asked her how old she was and what her daily activities at home were. Jiafu answered one by one, clever in her speech.

　Earlier this morning, Granny Ye had been burning with impatience to hasten back to the Song family, and, upon her arrival, immediately apprised Madam Song of the bellyful of stories she had to stifle in her stomach throughout their journey, garnishing them with some exaggerated embellishments. As she listened, Madam Song had grown very displeased.

　When all was said and done, for a person who was to marry off her daughter to drop by the temple to request for a son-seeking talisman in passing, even as a second wife, was perfectly justified. It was not Madam Song’s turn to care.

　But she was still discontent. From her viewpoint, the Zhen family’s daughter would be recognized as her nominal foster daughter and marry Pei Xiuzhi to fill the empty space her ill-fated daughter had left. This was an enormous leap in status. A sparrow given the opportunity to fly to the golden branch ought to be shedding tears of gratitude. It was a matter of course for her to first inform Madam Song of every important detail regarding her marriage. It was not that she would never permit the Zhen family’s daughter to bear children in the future, but the other had concealed this idea from her. She already harbored such a thought this early, evident that it was a direct threat to her grandson, which to her was absolutely intolerable.

　Given her character, how could she tolerate it? Furthermore, the granny had bombarded her with utterances of how the Zhen family’s daughter had the face of a charming fox, and that as such, she feared that any man could not help but give in to her whims with just a few words of pillow talk. Madam Song felt even more like a cat was scratching in her heart. She was immediately propelled to invite the mother and daughter over to get to the bottom of the matter. In truth, no madam from the Marquis Manor had hindered her just now, but upon learning that the Zhen family’s mother and daughter had arrived, she deliberately suppressed her temper to give them the cold shoulder and delayed her arrival. The first time she laid eyes on the appearance of the Zhen family’s daughter, her heart thumped, realizing that Granny Ye had not exaggerated. She did not know just how much more the other surpassed her own deceased daughter, so she was inwardly embittered. Right this moment, she put on a farce of paltering about mundane family matters while secretly paying mind to her deportment as well as her every word and deed, not leaving out even the emotion in her eyes. The more gentle and clever Jiafu was, the more her suspicions arose. Construing her actions as mere affectations, her resentment multiplied. Ultimately, she directed her attention on the small pouch dangling on her waist, looming under her outer garment, and exposed a sudden smile as she pried, “The embroidery work on this pouch looks charming. Did you make it yourself? Let me have a look.”

　Madam Meng instantaneously remembered the talisman she had requested at the Guanyin Temple that day. She had repeatedly exhorted her daughter to put it away, yet it had also slipped her mind.

　That son-seeking talisman was painted with pomegranate patterns that were recognizable at a glance. If her daughter had placed it in her pouch and fallen into Madam Song’s eyes, she feared that things would turn ugly, so she instantly felt discomfited. She wanted to open her mouth to avert the subject; however, Jiafu had taken off the pouch and proffered it with both hands, bashfully admitting, “I did embroider it myself, but the needlework is not great. Foster Mother overpraised.”

　Madam Song took it, flipped it over in her palm, and uttered a few insincere compliments. As an excuse to inspect the stitching on the inner layer, she tugged at it, and the opening unclosed. She cast it a look and saw that there were two small perfume discs on the bottom of the pouch, and, sure enough, there was also a talisman. On the pretext that she wanted to scrutinize more closely, she turned the whole pouch inside out and poured out the contents, only to find that the talisman was merely ordinary. She darted a glance at Granny Ye.

　Granny Ye had originally been so expectant that her eyes were wide open, waiting to witness the Zhen family’s daughter make a fool of herself. One had to know, for an untouched and unmarried virgin to carry a son-seeking talisman was perceived as something indecent. Unexpectedly, when it was turned over, it was simply an ordinary one. Seeing Madam Song look her way, she turned to her side, desperately trying to raise her eyebrows and give her meaningful looks, insinuating that the Zhen family’s daughter had stowed it away and did not carry it with her.

　Madam Song did not catch her meaning. Without any better option, she blurted a few more words of praise, put the pouch away, and handed it back to Jiafu.

　Jiafu took it and wore it back in place as if nothing happened. Madam Meng on the side heaved a sigh of relief, inwardly branded it a fluke, hastily fished out an envelope, and said with a smile, “My daughter is foolish. Luckily, Madam thinks highly of her and wants to recognize her as a foster daughter. My family’s Old Madam is grateful. Before I left, she especially urged me to bring you some local products. They are not worth much, but they represent a bit of our kind intentions. Everything has just been carried in by the servants. This is the list, Madam. Please look through it.”

　Madam Meng had heard that Madam Song was one to covet wealth and profit, so preparing these generous gifts was a means to curry favor with her. She had claimed that they were local products, but in reality, all the items on the list were of immense value. There were several different ones, and more importantly, these items were of the highest quality.

　Madam Song took it and inspected it, feeling content in her heart. She thought to herself that the Zhen family finally had a bit of a good eye. Once she looked through it, her complexion immediately improved. 

　Madam Meng carefully weighed up the other’s words and observed her countenance. She internally heaved a heavy sigh and mused about Quan-ge’er. Since she was already here, it would be unbecoming of her not to inquire, so she mustered a smile and said, “We just visited the Pei family, thinking we could see Quan-ge’er there, but they told us he is here at Madam’s place. Quan-ge’er is now four, is he not? Our Old Madam especially wants to give Quan-ge’er this ‘hundred blessings’ gold lock. She sought an eminent monk to bless and protect the child, to give him great wealth, prosperity, and a life of a hundred years.” After which, she pulled it out.

　Madam Song also understood that, with the marriage between the Pei and Zhen families having been discussed up to this point, and, having loosened her tongue by offering to recognize her as a nominal foster daughter, she could no longer give any excuse to balk the marriage even if the Zhen family’s daughter now evoked her dissatisfaction. It would be better to have Quan-ge’er called over and seize it as an opportunity to strike, letting the Zhen family’s daughter know of his importance. When she would cross the threshold of that household, Madam Song would find another reason to send her a trusted momo who could watch over her to preclude her from making any big splashes.

　Madam Song had already made up her mind, so she replied, “Old Madam is considerate. Then, I will ask someone to bring the child over so you can also meet him.”

　Madam Meng naturally agreed. Madam Song ordered someone to withdraw. In a short while, the peal of a child’s laughter chimed in from the corridor outside, only for them to see a pretty maid sixteen or seventeen years of age on all fours crawling all the way in with a four or five-year-old boy mounted on her back.

　The said child was Quan-ge’er. He was originally born delicate and pretty, but because he was gluttonous, he grew plump and heavy. He straddled the maid’s back, and in tow were several other maids, weakly supporting him from the side to prevent him from falling down. The maid crawling on the ground was out of breath, perspiration dripping from her face. He had a wicker branch in his grasp, brandishing and thrashing it indiscriminately, and his mouth burst out a “jia” as if riding a horse. With this “jia” sound, he rode the person this way inside.

　Jiafu looked towards him with the edges of her lips curved up into a smile, but her eyes were very cold.

　In the past, after she married into the Pei family, Pei Xiuzhi had been extremely fond of her, and she soon became pregnant. Five months into her pregnancy, she one day accidentally stepped on mung beans and slipped heavily on the ground. The flow of blood could not be staunched, and she consequently lost the fetus. After a long while, she was finally able to leave her sickbed, but it had left behind an incurable illness. Since then, whether it was with Pei Xiuzhi or Xiao Yintang, she was never able to conceive again.

　It was this child who had scattered those mung beans by her feet. Jiafu recalled how enraged Pei Xiuzhi had been that he wanted to grab the child, beat and hang him, but Madam Xin had obstructed him. The next day, Madam Song caught wind of it and charged to their manor to make a fuss, attesting that the child was still young and insensible, and that he might have been wrongly accused. Later on, this matter remained unresolved, and it passed just like that.

　Thinking about it now, having no children in her previous life was also a blessing in disguise for her. But this child in front of her, Jiafu could not, in any way, foster any tender feelings for.

　Madam Meng was stricken dumb, but those from the Song family seemed to be inured to it. Madam Song smiled, her eyes replete with fondness, admonished him for being naughty, and beckoned someone to carry the child over.

　Quan-ge’er liked to ride on people and especially preferred riding on pretty maids, but in the Pei family, he could not dare to play like this. Previously, someone had reported him to the Old Madam, and Old Madam had called Madam Xin over. Since then, Madam Xin had prohibited Quan-ge’er to ride on people. However, the Song family paid no heed to it, so Quan-ge’er preferred running to this place.

　Granny Ye hurried over and carried Quan-ge’er. Madam Song took him and sat him on her lap. As the child squirmed around wanting to go down, she locked him in her arms, raised her eyes to stare at Jiafu, and said, “I only had one daughter who I loved dearly. Now that she’s gone, Quan-ge’er is no different from my own direct grandson. I am a person who pays most attention to the distinction between gratitude and grievance. Treating my Quan-ge’er well is the same as treating me well……”

　She paused for a moment, narrowed her eyes, and accentuated her tone, “Whoever has any ideas about him, even if he loses so much as a strand of hair, once I find out, don’t ever think I’ll let them go.”

　Madam Meng gasped in bewilderment as she listened. Jiafu’s eyes widened, fervently nodding her head as she acceded, “Foster Mother, what you said is very true. Quan-ge’er is precious. Who would dare touch him?”

　Madam Song was unsure whether or not she understood. As she intently eyed Jiafu, the child on her lap also gaped at Jiafu with wide eyes. Suddenly, he “giggled” and stealthily slipped away from her arms, scampered towards Jiafu, craning his neck and pointing at her with arms akimbo, “You, get down! I want to play horsey!”

　Jiafu ambled towards the child, stopped in front of him, bent down with a smile, and said, “You can’t play horsey, but I can carry you and play.”

　Quan-ge’er immediately collapsed to the ground, haphazardly kicking his two legs while tearfully screeching, “Don’t want to be carried! I want to play horsey! I want to play horsey!”

　Madam Meng’s face turned ugly. Madam Song swiftly shot Granny Ye a pointed glance. Granny Ye came forward, picked up Quan-ge’er, and coaxed, “Let’s go out and play horsey again.”

　Quan-ge’er spat at her, knocked her with his fists, and yelled, “She’s pretty! I want to ride!”

　Jiafu stood there, staring coldly at the child making an unreasonable scene on the floor, maintaining the unenthusiastic smile on her lips.

　This time, a trace of shame manifested on Madam Song’s countenance. She coughed once, and several maids simultaneously stepped forward and briskly carried the caterwauling Quan-ge’er outside with Granny Ye. The sound of weeping gradually diminished, and the reception hall finally quieted down.

　Madam Song laughed dryly. “That child isn’t normally like this. He’s just a little rambunctious today.”

　Madam Meng mustered a reluctant smile, sat for a while, then rose to her feet and bid farewell. Granny Ye had also completely pacified Quan-ge’er and returned, saying, “Madam, you saw with your own eyes, right? Look at her fox-like appearance, which man will not fall into her trap? Today, before she even arrived, the Heir ran to the dock to pick her up. Madam, you should have seen how his eyes kept following her without so much as a blink. How could he remember even a bit of the goodness of Quan-ge’er’s mother? As the saying goes, a stepmother makes a stepfather. When she herself gives birth, I fear that Quan-ge will lose his own father! Madam, you must not, by all means, be deceived by her. This girl is two-faced. I’ve lived and journeyed with her the past few months. I cannot be more clear.”

　Madam Song thought of her dead daughter, sadness and helplessness washing over her. She frowned and said, “How can I be satisfied with this Zhen family’s daughter? It’s just that, after listening to your advice, I already agreed to recognize her as my nominal foster daughter. This matter is already cast in stone, so what else can I say now?”

　Granny Ye heavily struck her own mouth. Right this moment, a young maid who had just gone out dashed inside all in a fluster. Granny Ye’s face sank. “Impetuous! You frightened Madam! See if I don’t prick your mouth with a needle!”

　The maid kept gesturing with her hand as she cried out, “It’s Quan-ge’er! There’s something wrong with Ge’er!”

　Madam Song was alarmed. “What’s wrong?”

　The maid blathered on, “Just now, we took Ge’er to play in the courtyard. Ge’er suddenly shouted that there were insects crawling on his body, and he was itching all over. I took a look at him and, good heavens! That face, it was like dough rising, suddenly swelling up……”

　Madam Song’s expression distorted, and she hastened out with great speed. Quan-ge’er had already been carried back into the room and laid onto the bed, howling incessantly. Madam Song scrambled over and saw that his face was rife with red rashes and was so abnormally distended that it appeared as though air had been blown into him. Terribly mortified, she rushed over and embraced him, crying out ‘darling, darling’, while ordering someone to quickly summon an imperial physician. When the imperial physician arrived, Quan-ge’er’s face was as swollen as a hornet’s nest, looking fat in its entirety. Rashes had sprung up on every part of his body, some having appeared because they had been scratched due to the irritation. He lay there whining and wailing ceaselessly.

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　The imperial physician also could not identify the cause and only prescribed a decoction to be boiled and smeared to reduce the swelling. But no matter what they did, the swelling would not disappear. After tossing about all night, his condition had somewhat ameliorated the next day.

　Madam Song originally did not want Madam Xin to find out, but unfortunately, people from the Pei family had come to fetch Quan-ge’er. Madam Song could not conceal it and could only lay out the whole story while also claiming that she felt very aggrieved, that it happened so suddenly without any known cause. When Madam Xin caught wind of the incident, she personally hastened over and took Quan-ge’er away with a sullen face.

　Madam Song felt aggravated as well as anxious for Quan-ge’er. She sent people to the Pei family to make inquiries about Quan-ge’s condition. She found out that Madam Xin had employed the tactic of ‘scolding the locust while pointing at the mulberry’ to the granny she had sent and grew extremely irate. However, this time, the ordeal had occurred on her own side, so she could not flaunt her prestige and was compelled to endure it. Evening the next day, she finally learned that the child’s swelling had almost abated, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

　Granny Ye pondered about how toilsome her work in Quanzhou had been the past few months. She had suffered a lot only for the Zhen family to ultimately hand her twenty taels of silver. Feeling very distressed in her chest, she took it as her responsibility to disrupt this fated marriage. She muttered to Madam Song’s ears that the originally healthy Ge’er contracted this unusual and strange disease when the Zhen family’s daughter first visited their family. Having experienced a lot of sufferings throughout her life, she could easily discern that the other’s Eight Characters4 were incompatible with his and would inflict disorder in their lives.

　One of the things Madam Song was an expert in was venting her anger. Since Granny Ye kept prodding her about it, she could not help but be suspicious of Jiafu. A night later, three days since their visit, the storehouse keeper came to report that among the objects given by the Zhen family the other day, several kinds of jadeite beads and pearls they had stored and originally believed to be valuable were discovered to be of insufficient quality. Even if they were still precious trinkets, they were not among the best, so their value was much lesser than anticipated. He then inquired about where to place them.

　Madam Song recalled Madam Meng’s servile attitude towards herself when she had visited the day before yesterday. It ought to have been expected that the Zhen family would not have the courage to deceive them by substituting shoddy goods, but apparently, this was the extent of the Zhen family’s wealth. Harboring extreme disdain, she spat out in contempt, “And here I thought the Zhen family had so much money. It turns out that it’s just that, and the Pei family is still willing to pursue this kind of marriage. It can clearly be seen how poor they are now!”

　……

　Three days passed in the twinkling of an eye. The 60th birthday of the Wei Grand Duke Manor’s Old Madam Pei was underway.

　Although the Wei Grand Duke Manor was on the wane, their family status was still there. Old Grand Duke Wei had garnered insurmountable merits, and Old Madam Pei had a first-rank title. Her daughter had been the first empress during the reign of Tianxi, but died early because of an epidemic. At that time, the Tianxi Emperor had always expressed that he cherished the memory of the first empress. Thus, Old Madam’s position was extraordinary. For her 60th birthday, eunuchs arrived from the palace early in the morning to present an edict exhibiting the emperor’s kindness, and aristocratic families and influential officials in the capital who had contacts with the Wei Grand Duke Manor also dropped in one after another to offer birthday felicitations. On this day, the Wei Grand Duke Manor’s main entrance was wide open, radiant and lustrous inside and out, giving the impression that some of their past glory and splendor was finally restored.

　After returning from the Song family that day, Jiafu did not take even a single step on the road for several days. Madam Meng heard that Quan-ge’er was ill and had been picked up from the Song family. Despite the child eliciting her disgust, she still dropped him a visit. When she returned, she told Jiafu, “He’s almost well. He only scratched some of his skin, but he’s still causing a fuss.”

　Jiafu pursed her lips and said nothing. Madam Mang was very thoughtful and did not mention the matter again. On today’s birthday, Madam Xin had her hands full and requested Madam Meng to come earlier for some assistance. Madam Meng naturally agreed, called her son over, and prohibited him from going out and frolicking around. She changed into clothes she had prepared beforehand for today’s occasion, and after noon, took her pair of children with her to the Grand Duke Manor.

　The mother and daughter sat together in the carriage. Madam Meng was reticent all the way. Jiafu leaned against her mother and rubbed her arm. “Mother, what are you thinking? You haven’t said a word these past two days.”

　Madam Meng was lost in thought for a moment and replied in a low voice, “Mother only heard that the child was a little naughty, never expecting it to reach this extent. When you enter the household in the future, Mother fears that it will be difficult for you……”

　Jiafu embraced her and said with a giggle, “Mother, in these two days, if by any chance they end up disliking me and I don’t end up marrying Biaoge, will you scold me for being useless?”

　Madam Meng was dumbfounded, a little bewildered that she suddenly uttered such words. She peered at Jiafu. “As long as you’re not hurt, why would I scold you? If it were not for your grandmother, Mother earnestly wishes……”

　She stopped, sighed, and lovingly took her daughter into her arms.

　Jiafu cast aside her smile, nestled her small face in her mother’s embrace, and closed her eyes.

　Everything was going very smoothly, and things were moving step by step towards her anticipated development.

　The strange illness that afflicted Quan-ge’er was also within her expectations.

　This child was the most important key point in her plan to withdraw the engagement.

　Once in her previous life, Quan-ge’er, who had been perfectly well one moment, ran to Madam Xin’s room. Soon after he came out, his head and face were swollen, and his body was covered in rashes, unbearably itchy all over. The topical medicine did not work, but after a few days, he slowly recovered. Unexpectedly, he soon developed the same illness once more. He was tormented over and over and suffered a lot, but the imperial physician could not find the cause of the disease. Madam Xin felt terribly worried. Later on, an attentive granny discovered that he would fall ill like this every time he returned from Madam Xin’s room.

　At first, Madam Xin had believed that her room was haunted. She rushed to ask someone to do some rituals to stave off evil spirits, but the desired effect was still not achieved.

　Later on, it was Jiafu who discovered the root cause of the disease.

　The fault lay in the ambergris smoked in Madam Xin’s room.

　Genuine ambergris had a soft and deep scent. Vivid and refined, its original fragrance was pure and had no other miscellaneous odors, while borneo camphor had a faint and particular woody and mossy scent. It was nearly impossible for ordinary people to distinguish between these two fragrances.

　Jiafu was very familiar with fragrances and recognized that what Madam Xin smoked in her room was not the ambergris she had always used, but borneo camphor. After counting the days, Quan-ge’er had developed the strange disease after she had switched to this box of fragrance, so she tossed the incense away. Sure enough, the disease never again befell Quan-ge’er. Later, the imperial physician explained that Quan-ge was indisposed to this particular fragrance alone. This disease was very rare, and he implored her not to use this incense near him in the future.

　Ambergris was named a ‘divine fragrance’. The fragrance of top-rate ambergris could last for several months. The wealthy and noble families in the capital would use it as long as they could. It was not that they really needed to use ambergris, but that it was one of the indicators of their status.

　Madam Xin had always smoked ambergris. Though she was in short supply, she still refused to change to something else. This box of borneo camphor was offered as a present by one of their estate keepers, who had professed that it was ambergris he had purchased at a high price. Madam Xin had no ability to distinguish between genuine and sham, so when she ran out of the genuine product, she took this box out and used it, never expecting it to be a counterfeit, one that would also harrow Quan-ge’er with a disease. When the truth came to light, she lost her temper.

　At that time, this incident had put the whole Wei Grand Duke Manor into a frenzy and left a deep impression on Jiafu. In this life, she naturally thought of utilizing borneo camphor to assist her in resolving her predicament. This was why she had been using borneo camphor since she returned from Xishan Temple.

　Ordinary people could smell only ambergris whenever they drew closer to her. How could they know that this fragrance was really not a different one?

　For Madam Song to slowly harbor more resentment towards her, this was the medicine inducer.

　Since she lacked an excuse to attack, she might as well pass it to her. To have her use Jiafu and Quan-ge’er’s incompatible fate as an excuse to spoil the marriage, this was the strong medicine Jiafu wanted to cast.

　This method was indeed unkind to the child, but at that time, Jiafu only hesitated for a while before making the decision.

　In her previous life, she was kind to others, conceded in all respects, and was tolerant of everything. As a result, she did not obtain any of that so-called ‘good fruit’.

　Living was extremely difficult. In this life, whoever was good to her, she would be good to them. She would pay them back twice as much if it was within her capacity.

　This was enough. She did not have to think too much about the rest.

　“Mother, Sister, we’ve arrived!”

　The carriage gradually slowed, and her elder brother, Zhen Yaoting’s voice floated in from outside the carriage window.

　“A’Fu, we have arrived. There are many people here today, and Mother will be busy. I’m afraid I cannot look after you. Don’t squeeze in front to avoid colliding with people. Stay in a quiet room at the back. Mother will send someone to call you later.”

　Madam Meng gently patted her daughter’s shoulder.

　Jiafu opened her eyes, gave her mother a sweet smile, and replied with an “mm”.

Footnotes:

1 申时 (shēn shí): 3-5 pm (in the system of two-hour subdivisions used in former times)

2 Looks something like this:

3 指桑骂槐 (zhǐ sāng mà huái): scold the locust while pointing at the mulberry; abuse a person by ostensibly pointing to someone else; curse one thing while pointing to another

4 The Four Pillars of Destiny, Bazi or Eight Characters (in four pairs, including the year, month, day and hour of a person’s birth, each pair consisting of one Heavenly Stem and one Earthly Branch, formerly used in fortune-telling). Source

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