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Hua Borén treated the daughter of Yang Tiancheng, a temple keeper at Renxiao Temple. While playing in the temple at dusk, she saw a deity wearing yellow robes, felt her heart palpitate, and dreamed of intercourse with him that night. Her abdomen gradually enlarged as if pregnant. His mother invited Hua to consult a physician. Hua diagnosed it as: this is a ghost fetus (Guǐ tāi, a condition resembling pregnancy caused by supernatural or psychological factors). After his mother explained the circumstances, he prescribed blood-breaking and placenta-expelling medicines. Approximately two sheng (a traditional unit of volume) of substances resembling tadpoles and fish eyes were discharged, and the patient recovered.

Xue Lizhai treated a woman whose menstruation had ceased for eight months, with her abdomen gradually enlarging. Her complexion was sometimes blue-green and sometimes yellow. Medications for treating pregnancy symptoms were ineffective. Upon diagnosis, Xue stated: A blue-green complexion with a choppy pulse, alternating cold and heat, indicates Blood disease of the Liver channel (Gān jīng xuè bìng). A yellow complexion, abdominal distension, poor appetite, and physical fatigue indicate Blood disease of the Spleen channel (Pí jīng xuè bìng). This is a syndrome of depression injuring the Spleen and Liver, not pregnancy. The patient did not believe this and continued using medications like Taipai San (Placenta-Dispelling Powder), which proved ineffective. Xue then administered Jiawei Guipi Tang (Modified Restore the Spleen Decoction) and Xiaoyao San (Free and Easy Wanderer Powder), each for over twenty doses, after which various symptoms improved slightly. Impatient for rapid results, the patient took Tongjing Wan (Menstruation-Unblocking Pills) separately. After one dose, she experienced vaginal bleeding, confusion, spontaneous sweating, aversion to cold, coldness of the hands and feet, vomiting, and inability to eat. Xue prescribed Renshen (Radix Ginseng) and Paoshengjiang (Prepared Ginger Rhizome). After two doses, she gradually improved. Subsequently, Shiquan Dabu Tang (Complete Great Tonifying Decoction) was administered for over fifty doses until she stabilized. (This case is selected from *Furen Liangfang* [Good Prescriptions for Women], Chapter on Ghost Fetus.)

The wife of Mr. Ma in Dongbaima had been pregnant for fourteen months without delivering. She was emaciated and dark-complexioned. Zhou Hanqing from Songyang diagnosed her pulse and said: This is not pregnancy; it is an invasion by demonic influences. After administering medicine, an object resembling a golden fish was expelled, and the illness immediately resolved.

Xue Lizhai treated a frail woman who had a ghost fetus mass and amenorrhea. He diagnosed: This is a disease, not pregnancy. He ordered her to take Siwu Tang (Four Substances Decoction) added with Yuanhuagen (Radix Genkwa), after which the mass gradually diminished. He then instructed her to use Wuzhuyu (Fructus Evodiae), Chuanxiong (Rhizoma Ligustici Chuanxiong), Chaihu (Radix Bupleuri), Jiangcan (Bombyx Batryticatus), Bajitian (Radix Morindae Officinalis), Badou (Fructus Crotonis Tiglii, unrefined oil), and Yanhua (Flos Genkwa, vinegar-processed). These were ground into powder and made into pills the size of paulownia seeds with refined honey. Each time, seven pills were taken with honey wine, resulting in the immediate expulsion of foul matter and recovery. Later, Bazhen Tang (Eight Treasures Decoction) was used for conditioning until she stabilized.

Qian Guobin stated: When I was in Taicang, there was an elderly man named Wu Shan. His wife had been pregnant for eighteen months, with the fetal shape gradually enlarging. Due to poverty and difficulty in treatment, Wu Shan lived in constant fear of life and death and requested a consultation. Her pulse varied in floating/sinking, long/short, and rhythm, indicating Phlegm (Tán) rather than pregnancy. I recalled a record in the chapter on Phlegm-Fire Asthma: whenever a woman is startled during her menstrual period, Phlegm flows from the Pericardium channel (Xinbaoluò) into the Sea of Blood (Xuèhǎi), resembling pregnancy. Menstruation ceases, the abdomen enlarges, yet movement feels comfortable. This is a false pregnancy (Jiǎ tāi). Using a mild formula to clear Phlegm and invigorate Blood, consisting of Chuanxiong, Danggui (Radix Angelicae Sinensis), Dihuang (Radix Rehmanniae), Shaoyao (Radix Paeoniae Alba), Beimu (Fritillariae Bulbus), Tiandong (Radix Asparagi), Banxia (Rhizoma Pinelliae), Xiangfu (Cyperii Rhizoma), Baijiezi (Semen Sinapis Albae), Fuling (Poria), Chenpi (Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae), and Zhike (Fructus Aurantii), each at 1 qian (approx. 3.7g), decocted and taken orally, she recovered after several months.

The wife of Zhu Yanzhi, a farmer at Liuhe Pagoda, was generally healthy but taciturn. Whenever she felt angry, she suppressed it, indicating long-standing stagnation of Liver Fire (Gānhuǒ). In the second year of Tianqi (1622 AD), after her menstruation ended, her abdomen gradually enlarged. Her daily routine and diet remained normal. At ten months, she did not deliver; at another ten months, still no delivery. Her family was deeply worried, and physicians could not determine the cause. Qian also examined her, finding floating and drum-like pulses in all six positions, and dared not make a definitive diagnosis. Five months later, she passed gas continuously for two months, after which the "fetus" dissipated. Because anger during menstruation injured the Liver, and long-standing stagnation rushed into the Sea of Blood, it resembled pregnancy but lacked form. This is called Qi Fetus (Qì tāi). It is recorded here to broaden knowledge. (Xiong's Note: Normal pregnancies can also exceed ten months before delivery. I have personally seen Scholar Xu Peizhi, his younger sister, and his younger brother, all delivering after more than one year or even two years.)