“Hot sesame cakes! Freshly baked sesame cakes!”
The street vendor’s loud call reminded Su Ruolang that she hadn’t eaten anything since last night.
Her stomach was so empty it felt like her chest was touching her back.
“How much for these sesame cakes?” she stepped forward to ask.
“Two coins for one, five coins for three.” The vendor looked up and unexpectedly saw such a clear-eyed, pretty girl, stammering a bit with ears slightly reddened, “Miss… miss, how many do you want?”
“One.” Su Ruolang took out two coins.
This was money she earned from selling herbs. Her father, Su Geng, was honest but timid, and the household was always controlled by her stepmother Chen Shi—how would she ever give her money to spend?
Even leaving a bowl of cold rice for her was already considered a generous act.
After buying the sesame cake, she headed toward the pharmacy at the end of the street.
The vendor behind her watched her walk away and couldn’t help quietly asking people nearby: “Which family’s daughter is this? I’ve never seen her before.”
“Isn’t that the fool from Su Hunter’s family?”
“You mean… she’s Su Ruolang?”
“Yes, heard her foolish illness suddenly cleared a few days ago. Never expected that cleaned up, she’d look so lovely…”
Su Ruolang didn’t know how much attention she was attracting.
When she arrived at Deshan Tang, the shopkeeper had been waiting for a long time. Seeing her, he eagerly spoke up: “Miss, do you still have any stock of that wild mountain seven from last time?”
“None for now,” Su Ruolang shook her head, unfolding the packaged wild ginseng on the table, “but I do have some wild ginseng.”
The large ginseng was as thick as a baby’s arm, worth at least twenty silver coins according to market price.
The shopkeeper glanced at it but surprisingly showed little interest: “If there were wild mountain seven, that would be better, preferably a large enough one…”
“Is someone severely injured seeking medicine?” Su Ruolang asked.
The shopkeeper’s eyes flickered slightly, showing some caution: “How did you know, miss?”
Su Ruolang packed up the wild ginseng, calmly saying: “Mountain seven is quite common medicine; normally wild ones aren’t needed. Unless someone is severely injured, ordinary sanqi simply isn’t effective enough.”
She came to Deshan Tang to sell herbs because the prices here were higher than elsewhere.
As for the reason behind it, she never investigated deeply.
Some money earned is just earned; no need to ask too much, as long as it’s not ill-gotten gains.
The shopkeeper hesitated for a moment, then couldn’t help speaking again: “Miss, you seem quite knowledgeable about pharmacology. Do you know why some arrow wounds… some injuries bleed continuously, no matter what herbs are used to stop the bleeding?”
“The patient has a unique constitution, or the wound is poisoned.” Su Ruolang spoke succinctly, sensing the shopkeeper likely encountered a patient wounded by weapons.
Perfect—she was an expert at treating injuries!
The shopkeeper looked at her several more times.
Although this woman seemed calm and composed, and her speech suggested deep knowledge of pharmacology, she was still too young to seem truly skilled in medicine.
But now, other doctors were helpless, so they could only try desperate measures!
After weighing his thoughts internally, he decided to dare a try: “Miss… I have a patient here. Would you be willing to examine him?”
Examining him was naturally possible; Su Ruolang cared about the consultation fee.
Being new here, of course she needed to earn more capital to settle and survive. Otherwise, after the divorce, how could she live comfortably?
After settling on a consultation fee of ten taels of silver, she followed the shopkeeper to the wing room in the rear courtyard of Deshan Tang.
The wing room was elegantly furnished, with a faint scent of sandalwood wafting through the air.
Separated by a thin curtain, the shopkeeper handed Su Ruolang a long thread as fine as a spider's silk. "The esteemed guest cannot show their face. I must trouble you, miss, to diagnose the pulse through the curtain."
Diagnose the pulse through the curtain?
Su Ruolang guessed this must be a lady from some wealthy family, so she took the long thread from the shopkeeper's hand.
Unexpectedly, the person's pulse was beating with remarkable strength—it didn't seem like a lady's pulse at all, but rather like that of a… man.
Moreover, it was someone skilled in martial arts, with abilities undoubtedly surpassing her own.
Almost as if guided by some unseen force, she thought of the group of mysterious assassins from the previous night.
Surely it couldn't be one of them…
Judging by how easily she had incapacitated them with silver needles, their skills couldn't possibly be this profound.
After a moment of contemplation, Su Ruolang spoke up. "This person is injured, and it's a fresh wound. The bleeding won't stop, likely due to poison. May I take a look at the wound?"
"This…" The shopkeeper looked troubled.
"If it's inconvenient, that's fine," Su Ruolang raised an eyebrow. "Bring me paper and a brush. I'll write two prescriptions—one for external application and one for internal use. You should see results within a day."
"You already know what kind of poison it is?" The shopkeeper grew increasingly astonished in secret.
"Most likely aconite," Su Ruolang replied.
Having encountered all sorts of poisons, she could distinguish between them with her eyes closed.
In this remote border town, aconite was an exceptionally rare poison. It was understandable that others hadn't thought of it right away.
…
Behind the curtain, Qin Moqing faintly heard a familiar voice.
He had been lost in an exceptionally long dream, in which the woman was elusive, like a sudden gust of wind…
When he awoke, the wing room was empty and silent. However, on the pearwood table outside the curtain, there was an oil-paper package that had once held flatbread.
"Jing An," he frowned.
The guard Jing An immediately entered from outside. "Your Highness, you're awake?"
"Who was here just now?" Qin Moqing asked.
"It seemed to be a woman selling medicine. The shopkeeper said she was highly knowledgeable in pharmacology, so he invited her in to take your pulse… Oh, and she also wrote two prescriptions. After writing them, she left," Jing An replied respectfully.
As he spoke, Jing An caught sight of the oil-paper package that had held the flatbread and immediately understood. He discreetly hid the package behind his back.
His Highness had always been particular about cleanliness!
"What about the matter I asked you to look into?" Qin Moqing spoke again.
The sword wound on his arm was seeping blood, staining the layers of white gauze crimson. His face, pale as jade from excessive blood loss and overly thin, made him appear even more youthful.
Yet his strikingly deep eyes and brows were like the clear glow of a moonlit night, as lofty as the mist-shrouded mountains.
"Your Highness, Qi Town is located on the border and has seen many wars over the years. According to the county magistrate, there were quite a few orphans in this area over a decade ago. However, there are indeed a few who match your description, and they have all grown up by now," Jing An reported.
Qin Moqing grew serious. "Investigate them one by one. Do not miss anyone."
"Yes, I obey your command," Jing An clasped his hands in acknowledgment.
As a guard, Jing An was not privy to the full details. He only knew that His Highness and Old Madam had come to the border this time to search for a baby girl who had gone missing years ago.
That baby girl's whereabouts had been unknown for many years, yet for some reason, her fate seemed intricately linked to the political situation at court…