coobybook Chapter 72 Medicinal Relief
Chapter 72 Medicinal Relief
After listening to the conversation between the Duchess and Lady Liu, her mind became much clearer.
It turns out that the Duchess wanted Lady Liu to have a child in order to secure her father's military power.
If that's the case, then it wasn't Prince Jing who caused the child's death; the child shouldn't have been kept in the first place, but Lady Liu took advantage of the situation.
It seems that Jiang Luan learned her love of infidelity from her mother; they're the same kind of people.
Next, the person she needs to deal with is Prince Jing, Gu Yuan.
In his past life, Gu Yuan did not only focus on military power; his ambitions went far beyond that.
Jiang Zhi recalled the accounts of Junkangtang. When Gu Liang returned home late last time and said there were matters in the court, she guessed that it might be Gu Yuan who was behind it, as he was a very greedy person.
Thinking of this, I pushed open the door and went in at noon.
Jiang Zhi looked up and instructed, "At noon, we should go and fetch Jiu Xia to return to the manor."
At noon, they understood immediately, nodding and smiling.
After bringing Jiuxia back, Jiang Zhi took her to Junkang Hall.
I arrived at Junkangtang, but my cousin was nowhere to be seen.
Jiang Zhi's eyes darkened. "Shopkeeper, where is my cousin?"
"Master and Second Master are busy in the backyard distributing medicine and relief supplies outside the city."
Jiang Zhi frowned slightly, "Relief?"
“Yes,” the shopkeeper said. “Jun Kang Tang provides free medicine and relief services periodically.”
Jiang Zhi nodded and walked towards the backyard.
In the backyard, Lu Nianqiu sat on a low stool, grabbed a handful of herbs, wrapped a hemp rope around his waist a few times, tied a knot skillfully, and placed it beside his feet.
Lu Nianqiu looked up and saw Jiang Zhi arrive. She stood up and went to greet him, "Zhi Zhi, you're here."
Her gaze fell on Jiu Xia. "And who is this?"
Just as Jiang Zhi was about to speak, Jiu Xia stood in front of her and spoke first.
“My name is Jiuxia. She—” Jiuxia glanced at Jiang Zhi and smiled, “is the doctor she specially invited to the manor to treat my illness.”
Jiang Zhi sneered, "Yes, she's right."
Lu Nianqiu smiled and said, "Since Zhizhi invited us, we should welcome you as guests."
Jiang Zhi gestured towards Wu Shi, "Um, Doctor Jiu, we still have a lot of things that haven't been sorted out yet. Could you help us sort them out?"
At noon, he pulled Jiuxia away.
Jiang Zhi looked at Lu Nianqiu and whispered, "Cousin, how's the account of Junkangtang that I asked Shuyao to keep an eye on last time?"
“Oh right, recently there’s been a shortage of wound medicine from other places. It seems like someone got wind of this and is intentionally hoarding it,” Lu Nianqiu said.
"When did it appear?" Jiang Zhi asked.
“Just in the last two months,” Lu Nianqiu said, “our pharmacy's accounts show that the purchase price of medicines for external injuries has increased by 20% compared to usual.”
"What kind of medicinal herb is it?"
Lu Nianqiu glanced around and leaned closer to Jiang Zhi, saying, "I asked the shopkeeper to inquire about Panax notoginseng, Angelica sinensis, and other medicinal herbs. It turns out that people from other places are buying up large quantities of Panax notoginseng and Angelica sinensis, which is why the prices of these herbs are constantly rising."
Jiang Zhi pondered for a moment, "Cousin, please make sure they hold onto the medicine for external injuries for now, don't rush to ship it out."
Lu Nianqiu nodded in agreement.
The group then got to work, with large frames next to each of them, neatly stacked bundles of herbs.
The pharmacist looked apologetic. "My two masters, please don't bother. I'll do it with the apprentice."
"It's alright," Lu Nianqiu said.
Jiang Zhi smiled slightly.
While tying up herbs at noon, he asked, "Pharmacist, is this small bundle of herbs useful if I just boil it in water?"
“That’s enough,” the pharmacist replied. “We’ve already set up a shed outside the city to boil the medicine. Anyone who comes can get a bowl, and those who can’t come can take it back with them. Some people might not know the dosage, so this small bundle can relieve the symptoms without overdosing.”
The group chatted and laughed as they cleaned up the herbs one by one.
The pharmacist called for someone to load several bundles of herbs onto the cart and said to Jiang Zhi, "Master, we're off now."
“Okay, I’ll go take a look later,” Jiang Zhi said.
She let her cousin and the others go ahead, and went back to the accounting office to settle the accounts. After thinking it over, she took Wu Shi and boarded the carriage to go there.
Upon arriving at the city gate, a bamboo shed for distributing porridge and medicine had been set up early on the road outside. Some wealthy families decorated it with colorful flags, making it particularly eye-catching.
“That’s the Wen family’s soup kitchen.” Wu Shi went to check it out first and then told Jiang Zhi about it. “I heard it’s run by a wealthy merchant from the capital. They’re giving us big meat buns, and they smell really good.”
Jiang Zhi smiled.
"Our medicine shed is over there." Wu Shi led Jiang Zhi to the other end of the main road.
“Your Highness, I just passed by another clinic’s stall. They don’t charge for consultations, but they charge for medicine. The astragalus and other medicines they brought out looked very ordinary, like old, damp goods, but they weren’t cheap.”
Jiang Zhi's face darkened. "Everyone who comes here is poor. How could they afford to buy medicine? Their shed will close down sooner or later."
“What if someone is desperate and tries anything?” Wu Shi said. “I’ve seen people take jewelry to get their medicine.”
"Then we'll tell them we're going to Junkangtang's pharmacy."
Running a charity shed is not a business, and selling inferior goods is even more despicable. Besides, these refugees are dressed in rags, so how could they possibly have any spare money?
As they talked, before they even reached the medicine shed, they heard someone shouting loudly, "Hey, what do you mean?"
Someone chimed in, "That's right, they're just providing free medical consultations, why say we can't do it?"
"You're just making excuses!"
"I never imagined that Junkangtang had fallen to this state."
"You're clearly using the guise of a free clinic to try and charge us for our medicine!"
"Your medicine is all moldy, and you still want to make excuses!"
The two groups huddled together, blaming each other.
Among the group of disaster victims, she spotted Lu Nianqiu at a glance. Seeing her helpless expression, she quickly went over to her.
Before I even stepped inside, I heard a scream.
She looked up and saw Jiu Xia standing in the middle of the road, while the people who had caused trouble earlier were lying on the ground, groaning in pain.
Jiang Zhi smiled.
He is indeed the person she likes.
She put her hands on her hips, looking domineering, and said, "What's all the noise about? If you keep making noise, I'll take you to the authorities!"
Lu Nianqiu chimed in, "That's right! I've been fed up with your shabby clinic for a long time. We're going to sue you for selling counterfeit medicine!"
"What makes you say that?" the people on the ground cried out in protest. "How could we possibly sell fake medicine?"
Lu Nianqiu snorted, "Someone just bought your Magnolia officinalis. I just looked at it and it's clearly Qinpi. It looks very similar to Magnolia officinalis, but Qinpi is somewhat toxic. If you don't take it carefully, you may get poisoned."
"This, how is this possible!"
Lu Nianqiu tilted her head back and said, "If you can't even recognize this, your clinic should close down as soon as possible."
Lu Nianqiu has been providing free medical consultations outside the area and has received high praise, so no one dares to contradict her. However, she is a bit lacking when it comes to cooking.
"Haha, Doctor Lu, it must be that the apothecary made a mistake when preparing the medicine. We'll go back and prepare it right away."
They got up from the ground with forced smiles, disregarding their image, and quickly ran away, pushing aside the onlookers.
Lu Nianqiu and Jiu Xia exchanged a smile and bumped fists.
"You guys are really domineering," Jiang Zhi said with a laugh.
As we chatted and laughed, a voice that was both unfamiliar and familiar came from behind us.
"Miss Lu's medical skills are truly admirable."