Thinking of this, a sense of vigilance rose in Lu Yunxiao's heart. Sure enough, he heard Mu Yun say with a wry smile, "Master, don't listen to him. How could he be paving the way for me? He's just pointing at this servant to be the scapegoat." After saying this, he spoke seriously, "For the past few days, I've noticed you haven't been eating well, Master. I figured you didn't like the blandness of Jiangnan cuisine, so I thought I'd stroll through the streets to see if I could find a restaurant from our North to get you some fresh dishes. That's why I went out early this morning. Who would have thought that even after searching all the way to the city gate, I wouldn't find such a place? Instead, I happened to run into someone..."
When Mu Yun reached this point, he glanced at Lu Yunxiao with trepidation, secretly thinking that since his Master was already so angry just from thinking about the Eldest Madam earlier, if he were to say it directly now, wouldn't he be kicked out the door? Hmm, or should he let the Master guess? No, no, that would end even worse.
"You ran into someone? Was it your Eldest Madam?" Lu Yunxiao looked at Mu Yun's nervous expression and sighed in his heart, secretly thinking that this honest person must have been put up to this by Zhao Yun; otherwise, how would he bring up such annoying and unpleasant matters?
Thinking this, most of his temper dissipated. Seeing Mu Yun nod, he said coldly, "Seeing her is just seeing her. With the Jiangnan flood disaster, thanks to His Majesty's wisdom, disaster relief was timely. This place has always been prosperous, so I imagine this disaster won't shake the foundation of the common people. Since she is now practicing medicine everywhere, it is normal for her to come here. What is there to be surprised about? It's just that that woman has nothing to do with me or the Marquis's Estate anymore. So what if you saw her? Is that worth reporting to me specifically?"
Mu Yun shrank his head and glanced at Zhao Yun. At least that guy hadn't completely lost his conscience to the dogs. Hearing Lu Yunxiao speak this way, he leaned forward and whispered with a smile, "Master, don't you want to know what idea that Old Fox of the Jiang Family is brewing? I've thought about it. As the common saying goes, a strong dragon does not suppress the local snake. No matter how prestigious you are in the Capital City, Master, you are unfamiliar with the place here. Isn't it true that you have to listen to whatever they say? You can imagine, can those doctors be on our side? Miss Sang wants to help you, Master, and we servants understand that in our hearts, but unfortunately, her medical skills are not refined, so there's nothing to be done. Now that the Eldest Madam has arrived, I thought, why don't you find a way, Master, to have the Eldest Madam examine that Old Fox? Then wouldn't we be able to know the truth?"
Lu Yunxiao took a light sip of tea. Although he didn't say anything, his heart stirred. However, after thinking for a moment, he shook his head and gave a cold snort, "That woman is the most unreasonable, arrogant, and jealous person. She hates me to the bone now; would she still help me do things? I'm afraid that in order to ruin my plans, she would even be willing to distort the truth. At that time, if we believe her, wouldn't we ruin the big picture?"
Zhao Yun quickly said, "Master is right. In the past, the Eldest Madam did indeed have that temperament. But look at the last time at the Zhou Family, didn't she change her nature? I spoke a few words with Bai Kou and Bai Wei and learned from them that the Madam's current conduct is actually very steady and calm. Therefore, I thought that even if the Eldest Madam hates you, Master, knowing the importance of this matter, she might not necessarily be unable to see the big picture because of that resentment. Anyway, we can't get any definite news from these Jiangnan doctors, so it might be better to trust the Eldest Madam once."
Lu Yunxiao's temperament was proud, but this pride was merely a confident aura, not the kind of arrogant and cold-hearted stubbornness that ignores reality. One could see from how he interacted with his servants that at times, he was still very gentle. This gentleness was not just a superficial act, but a gentlemanly demeanor like jade from the inside out. Since she could be steady and calm, she could naturally be open to good advice.
Therefore, when he heard that Zhao Yun actually wanted him to seek help from the woman he loathed most in this life, although his first reaction was to kick this scoundrel a hundred thousand miles away, he didn't actually kick Zhao Yun. Instead, he calmly suppressed the anger in his heart and then slowly pondered Zhao Yun's suggestion.
"See the big picture?"
He gently turned his teacup, his brows slightly locked, carefully recalling the events that happened that night at the Zhou Family, Xia Qingyu's demeanor, language, and capability. Although it stirred up unpleasant feelings, he had to admit that what Zhao Yun said made sense. Looking at this matter alone, that woman was indeed very different from before. Could it be that a person's words are good when they are near death? Did she almost die, and thus become enlightened after waking up?
These questions just flashed through his mind; Lu Yunxiao did not want to find any answers. He raised his head and said calmly to Zhao Yun, "What you said makes sense, but we cannot completely trust her because of this. Since Mu Yun saw them enter the city today, he must have followed them for a while. I will leave this matter to you. Report to me after you have results, and then I will make a decision."
This sounded a bit aimless—what matter? What to report? But Zhao Yun had followed his Master for so many years and naturally understood his meaning. He quickly smiled and said, "Rest assured, Master. This servant will definitely not let the Eldest Madam notice and will watch her secretly for a few days. This matter is of great importance to you, Master, so this servant will not be careless."
Lu Yunxiao nodded. Although Zhao Yun was lazy and slippery, he was clever and sharp. Having him by his side was truly handy. Furthermore, sending him to do these things was more detailed and keen than Mu Yun's observations, and he never made mistakes in major matters. That was why he could tolerate this lazy guy by his side for so many years.
Waving his hand to let Zhao Yun and Mu Yun withdraw, Lu Yunxiao stood up and walked to the window, silently watching the lush trees in the courtyard. Several clusters of peonies were blooming in the corners. Having left the Capital City for more than a month, it was already late spring in Jiangnan.
When he first arrived at the Jiang Family, Jiang Hai acted as if he knew nothing about his identity. However, after that, the girls of the Jiang Family created accidental encounters with him under various excuses and tried to attract his attention through various conversations and actions. Looking at it this way, he should have known his identity long ago. However, for such a powerful tycoon, even if the daughters of the clan didn't know the rules, would they really lower themselves to this extent? Isn't this a bit counterproductive? Jiang Hai didn't look like someone who didn't control his family members. Or was it that he intentionally used such ambiguous actions to make him unable to guess his thoughts, pretending to be unfathomable to bind his hands and feet, and making him feel wary of him or the entire Land Speculation Group?
And what was the purpose of this Land Speculation Group? They were originally a powerful clan in Jiangnan, with many descendants serving as officials in various places or the Capital City, holding countless fertile lands. Why did they still buy farmland at high prices? Could it be that human greed is truly endless? If that were the case, would just a few tens of thousands of hectares of land satisfy their greed? If they still had plans, what were they planning? Could it be that, as the Emperor secretly warned, these powerful clans were all colluding with sea bandits? But even if they were colluding with sea bandits, it would only be for the huge profits of maritime trade. What did that have to do with hoarding land?
Lu Yunxiao really couldn't understand, so he simply stopped thinking about it. He reached his hand out of the window, and the soft east wind brushed past. His eyes narrowed slightly: at this season, the sea bandits would not come yet. Generally speaking, they would only come ashore to plunder after late summer and early autumn. Before that, could he prepare to resist the sea bandits according to the Emperor's requirements?
Taking a deep breath, the heavy burden on his shoulders seemed to become heavier, but Lu Yunxiao's eyes did not dim or show fatigue. Instead, a stunning brilliance emerged on his face: the more impossible the task seemed, the greater the challenge, the more exciting it was to do. Isn't that right?
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There were not many pharmacies in Zhoushan City, but perhaps because the common people were often ill after the flood, or perhaps because many common people had become cost-conscious due to this disaster, the medical booth Xia Qingyu set up on the east side of the vegetable market was doing quite well. Two days passed, and most of the medicinal herbs they had collected along the way were sold. Calculating carefully, they had actually earned nearly two taels of silver in these two days.
Two taels of silver was just the monthly allowance for a head maid in the Marquis's Estate, but this was earned in less than two days, so Xia Qingyu, Bai Kou, and Bai Wei all had reason to believe: the future is bright, and the prospects are beautiful. What's more, they still had a foundation of nearly eight hundred taels of silver. Although under normal circumstances, they were not prepared to touch that money—that was the capital for opening their own pharmacy in the future—but with this money as a base, and earning quite a bit now, this life looked vibrant, didn't it?
"I've calculated that buying medicine from these pharmacies in the city and then selling it to the common people is really not cost-effective. We almost don't need to make a price difference. If we make a price difference, why would the common people see a doctor here? They would just go to those big medical clinics and pharmacies. So I think, why don't we go to the countryside tomorrow to see if we can collect some common medicinal herbs? That would be much cheaper than the prices of the herbs in these pharmacies in the city..."
That evening, after closing the booth and returning to the inn, Xia Qingyu was discussing the next plan with Bai Wei in the narrow room. Her tone was full of excitement. She really didn't expect that a medical booth set up so casually would have such a large income. It hadn't even been two days, and the medicinal herbs she had hoarded along the way were almost empty. If she opened a pharmacy in big cities like Hangzhou or Suzhou in the future, as long as she did business honestly and added her medical experience from more than two thousand years ahead, slowly building up her reputation, would she be afraid of not earning a lot of money daily? Then she could slowly look for some suitable things to prepare for simple surgical operations. Although traditional Chinese medicine was a weak point for anti-inflammatory drugs, it was not completely incomparable to Western medicine. As long as she had money and found a few like-minded talents to slowly impart the knowledge in her mind, perhaps in the near future, they would become the only medical clinic in the Great Chen Empire that could perform surgical operations. Then, perhaps many people would come to learn from her. Whether it was Western medicine or Western surgical operations, they would gradually become popular. The medical knowledge that had not yet appeared at this time but was basic common sense in modern times could also be spread. The medical skills of this time and space could get the greatest progress and development. Perhaps before she died, she could see many miracles in medicine. What a beautiful future this was.
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Phew, starting today, I will resume three thousand words a day. Continuing to ask for recommendation tickets and collections, howl!
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