Meng Anzhi

Biodata

Background / History

Orphaned Childhood

After their parents died, Meng Anzhi and her younger brother, Meng Anci, remained with Jin Shanyao according to their mother’s wishes. Villagers nevertheless urged Jin Shanyao to surrender them to their paternal clan, despite knowing that the eldest and second branches of the Meng family mistreated them 2.

Their relatives subsequently arranged to sell six-year-old Anzhi to a trafficker, who intended to raise her for a brothel. Meng Anci stood between his sister and the buyer with a pointed wooden fork. Jin Shanyao returned before the children could be taken away, and Anzhi identified the relatives and trafficker responsible 9 10 11.

The siblings also resisted harassment from their neighbors. When Matchmaker Gao and Lady Qin cursed them over the mountain’s mushrooms, Anci threatened to hang himself at the villagers’ homes while Anzhi confronted the crowd with a knife. Together, they forced promises that the abuse would stop 14.

Beginning Her Medical Education

Anzhi first expressed a wish to study medicine after seeing Jin Shanyao’s treatment heal Anci’s forehead wound. She wondered whether medical knowledge could have saved her mother and prevented the family’s suffering. Jin Shanyao agreed to teach her medicinal herbs and began teaching both children to read 13 14.

Anzhi carried the Compendium of Herbs into White Head Mountain to compare its descriptions with living plants. During the same outing, she explained that she wanted to preserve her mother’s clothes and the house her parents had built. Jin Shanyao apologized for overlooking the siblings’ attachment to those belongings and promised to repair their old home rather than replace it 17.

Her subsequent lessons combined literacy with prescriptions, pulse diagnosis, and herb processing. Encountering an impoverished beggar with a festering ankle prompted her to ask specifically for instruction in making wound medicine 32 33 36.

Establishing Herself at Anzhi Hall

Jin Shanyao bought a county-town shop and placed its deed in Anzhi’s name, explaining that she deserved property of her own just as Anci had a house and land. Anzhi began receiving patients there alongside her aunt 47.

Her responsibilities expanded beyond consultations. She helped recruit workers for Lush Mountain, rejected counterfeit medicinal ingredients, and confronted Wang Zhuzi for slacking off and ruining herbs. With Jin Shanyao’s support and Anci’s intervention, she collected sixty wen in compensation from him 91 102 107.

Anzhi gained experience through difficult cases. She corrected a baby’s position during Chunniang’s labor and delivered the child with Jin Shanyao’s help, then rescued the newborn girl when Old Woman Cai tried to suffocate her. Her treatment of Wang Xiaohua’s persistent facial sores subsequently produced visible improvement and an enthusiastic return visit from the patient 125 133 134.

During the plague, she cared for the household day and night. She also took in orphans and regularly visited the estate to teach them medicine, initially planning to continue those lessons even on her birthday 203.

Threats Against the Family

When hired bandits targeted Anzhi Hall, Anzhi negotiated with them to uncover the interests behind the attack and persuaded them to accompany her home. She later outwitted them in a series of money-taking puzzles. Jin Shanyao praised her composure, although Anzhi admitted that she had been frightened throughout the encounter 168 169 170.

Xuanjizi, posing as Fifth Master Dong, later claimed that Jin Shanyao was a monster who had killed Anzhi’s mother. He tried to persuade her to give her aunt talisman water. Anzhi recognized the attempt to sow discord and use her against her family. The confrontation left her with bruising around her neck and a temporary inability to speak; Xuanjizi died, with officials attributing his death to his heart stopping 238 240.

After Anci became the top scholar, the family left Little River Village. The siblings moved their parents’ graves to Lush Mountain, where Anzhi carefully cleaned the gravestone and told them that they were now on the family’s own land, beyond further bullying 370 377.

Coming of Age and Ownership

Anzhi rejected Shiyan’s proposal because she could not forget his childhood bullying of Anci or Madam Shi’s treatment of the family. She also chose not to renew Anzhi Hall’s contract with the Shi Household Escort Agency, a decision Jin Shanyao supported 351.

In the capital, Anzhi treated Shi Chong after he had been surrounded by enemies. His subsequent pursuit escalated into an attempted abduction. She incapacitated his hired thugs, poisoned him, and spent nearly half a month testing medicines on him before he sought Lu Chi’s mediation. The encounters ended after Shi Chong paid one thousand taels, which Lu Chi passed to Anzhi untouched 401 413 414.

On the nineteenth day of the sixth month, Anzhi came of age. Jin Shanyao personally dressed her hair, accompanied her to honor her parents, and handed over the household’s deeds and indentures. From that day, Anzhi Hall and everything it owned were formally entrusted to her 414.

Later, the prospect of a palace selection threatened her wish to remain unmarried. Her relationship with Zhao Zhiyuan became intimate, but she refused his request for a formal status even after they slept together 432 446 450.

Appearance

• Family resemblance: Takes after her mother, with delicate features and a round, chubby face in childhood. She and Anci resemble one another closely enough to look like twins despite their age difference 47.
• Childhood growth: Grows half a head taller after roughly six months of being well fed and cared for by Jin Shanyao 44.
• Clothing: Wears a yellow padded jacket sewn by her aunt; later appears in a fox-fur cloak and plain deerskin shoes 44 55.
• Birthday attire: Wears a red ruqun skirt, an apricot-colored short jacket, and beaded hair flowers for her estate birthday celebration 205.
• Coming-of-age attire: Wears a red dress and a pinned-up hairstyle arranged by Jin Shanyao 414.

Personality

Anzhi is compassionate, particularly toward patients who cannot afford treatment. She wants to prepare medicine for an impoverished beggar, visits poor households on West Street, and offers the abused Yu Jiaonu free follow-up care. Yu Jiaonu’s request for poison deeply unsettles her and reminds her of her own relatives’ attempt to sell her 33 238 388.

She is also disciplined and ambitious. Daily study initially requires effort, but eventually becomes a habit. She values the opportunity because she knows that many girls never receive an education. Her reading includes medical texts, military strategy, and annotated fiction; in one storybook, she criticizes a character for allowing emotion to jeopardize the family business 240 275 298.

Her affection for her family coexists with sharp teasing and a formidable temper. She frequently needles Anci, but reacts fiercely when he risks his life or anyone threatens him. She neither easily forgets mistreatment nor considers herself particularly magnanimous 58 208 351.

Jin Shanyao observes that Anzhi tends to bottle up hurt rather than cry and responds best to gentle coaxing. Beneath her ordinarily soft-spoken manner, she can be ruthless toward aggressors: her response to Shi Chong turns his attempted coercion into prolonged fear of her 413 414 448.

Abilities & Skills

Diagnosis and Treatment

Anzhi learns medicine through sustained practice, written case records, prescriptions, and consultation with Jin Shanyao 32 36 133.

• Pulse diagnosis: Practices taking pulses from childhood and records specific pulse qualities in her diagnostic booklet 32 36 133.
• Prescription development: Researches Wang Xiaohua’s symptoms, drafts several prescriptions, and has Jin Shanyao review her diagnosis before treatment 133.
• Internal and external medicine: Combines oral medicine with facial ointment when treating Xiaohua’s sores 133.
• Injury treatment: Resets Yu Jiaonu’s dislocated ankle and treats her other injuries 388.
• Recognition of limits: Admits that Niu Zhuangzhuang’s illness is difficult to treat rather than promising an easy cure 238.

Childbirth Assistance

• Corrects a malpositioned baby and delivers Chunniang’s daughter with Jin Shanyao’s assistance 125.
• Delivers Chen Maimiao’s son and later warns the household to summon a physician immediately if bleeding occurs 258 260.

Pharmacology and Poison

• Herb identification: Detects counterfeit gastrodia made from steamed four o’clock flower roots, identifying both the substituted plant and the knife-cut imitation features 102.
• Medicine preparation: Studies herb processing and wound medicines under Jin Shanyao 33.
• Detoxification: Saves Xu Zhuo’s poisoned hand by cutting his palm and squeezing out black blood until the blood turns red 367.
• Defensive poison: Uses airborne powder to drop several thugs during Shi Chong’s abduction attempt 413.
• Experimental medicines: Records Shi Chong’s reactions to poisons, needles, and pills. Physicians at his residence fail to cure the effects of one treatment overnight, though he recovers by morning 413 414.

Marksmanship and Self-Defense

• Owns a bow and arrows from childhood and receives direct slingshot instruction from Jin Shanyao 41 58.
• Repeatedly lands arrows in a narrow-mouthed bronze pot at the capital’s lantern market, winning the coiled-dragon lantern king 188.
• Evades attackers while deploying poison rather than relying on physical strength alone 413.
• Reviews combat afterward with Anci, discussing targets, strength requirements, and the use of leverage 420.

Business, Strategy, and Teaching

• Helps register laborers and recruit staff with relevant farming and herb-growing skills 91 149.
• Enforces work standards and demands compensation for damaged medicinal herbs 107.
• Uses negotiation and careful questioning to obtain information from hired bandits 168 170.
• Teaches medicine to the orphans she has taken in 203.
• Plays Go and works out a continuation to an unfinished game with Zhao Zhiyuan 333 335.
• Exercises full authority over Anzhi Hall after coming of age and holds its main seal; Anci holds the secondary seal 414 430.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Compendium of Herbs — Reference book she carries while learning to identify plants in White Head Mountain 17.
• Diagnosis booklet — Contains patient observations, including pulse findings and symptoms 133.
• Medicine chest — Carries her supplies on medical visits 238 367.
• Gold medical instruments — A birthday gift from Jin Shanyao, including an elaborate set of nine pure-gold needles 206.
• Red bow and arrows — Childhood archery equipment 41.
• Slingshot — Given to her by Jin Shanyao, who guides her first successful shot 58.
• Poison pouch — Holds powder she uses to incapacitate would-be abductors 413.
• Necklace — Allows Jin Shanyao to observe the confrontation with Shi Chong 413.
• Anzhi Hall deeds, indentures, and main seal — Documents and authority transferred to her when she comes of age 414 430.

Relationships

• Jin Shanyao — Aunt, guardian, and medical mentor. Her praise helps Anzhi recognize her own intelligence, and her transfer of property is intended to give Anzhi security and independence in a society harsh toward women 36 414.
• Meng Anci — Younger brother. Their constant teasing masks strong mutual protectiveness; he pursues official power to shield their family, while she warns him not to become corrupt 208 367 430.
• Meng Sanlang and Wen Jingshu — Deceased parents. Anzhi treasures their belongings, offers incense to them, and remains closely involved in preserving and relocating their graves 4 17 206 377.
• Lu Chi — A teacher whom she addresses as “Master.” He mediates the settlement with Shi Chong and gives her the entire payment 331 414.
• Qing He — Household attendant and companion who accompanies her during the bandit encounter and helps prepare her birthday outing 168 205.
• Zhao Zhiyuan — Longtime acquaintance, Go partner, and later lover. He seeks marriage or another recognized place at her side, but she refuses to grant formal status 335 450.
• Shiyan — Childhood acquaintance and rejected suitor. She distinguishes friendship and business cooperation from marriage, refusing to join a household that previously bullied her family 351.
• Shi Chong — Former patient turned coercive pursuer. After he tries to abduct her, she subjects him to repeated medicine tests until he obtains a mediated settlement 401 413 414.
• Meng Hongde, Meng Hongyi, and Diao Siniang — Paternal relatives involved in the attempt to sell her. In later years, she refuses even to acknowledge Diao Siniang’s attempt to approach her 9 11 376.

Personal Habits and Preferences

• Dislikes noisy crowds and needs a quiet place when the household receives too many visitors 451.
• Is sensitive to cold; Jin Shanyao records that she needs extra autumn clothing and sun-warmed shoes and socks 448.
• Prefers hot tea in winter 451.
• Is prone to dizziness after waking, prompting instructions that warm congee be kept ready and that she not rise on an empty stomach 451.
• Normally rides out for medical visits 205.
• Gives Jin Shanyao the lantern king she wins as a New Year’s gift 188.

Notable Quotes

“I wasn't used to it at first. I made myself study every day, and after a few years, it became a habit.” 298

“Shiyan, no one would fall for a bully. The Shi Household and the Meng Household can be business partners, eat at the same table, and laugh and chat together, but they'll never become one family.” 351

“Father, Mother... This is our own home. No one will ever dare bully you again.” 377

“Lord Shi... My patience has its limits too. You shouldn't have pestered me again and again, much less tried to imprison me.” 413