[Why is that girl from the Zhao family here? Don’t tell me this lucky opportunity is still destined to belong to her? Could it be that even though I was reborn, I still can’t steal the fortune that was supposed to be hers? Otherwise, why have my brother and I been sitting here waiting for so long without seeing that noble lady?
It’s almost noon already. I remember hearing in my previous life that the incident happened before noon. Could it be that it wasn’t today?
It’s just a shame that in my last life, all I knew was that it happened somewhere along this official road passing through Qingshui Town. I never asked exactly which section of the road it was. I’d only overheard it as gossip. Sigh… if I’d known I’d get the chance to be reborn, I would’ve asked more carefully instead of treating it like idle chatter.
I, Fu Yasong, never did anything wicked in my entire life, yet I still ended up with such a miserable fate. Meanwhile, that Zhao family girl—who knows how much virtue she accumulated in her past life? Not only did everything go smoothly for her, but later she even brought her whole family to settle in the capital.
Sigh! Truly, people can have completely different fates…]
Oh-ho, another new discovery.
So the incident happened before noon. Even though she still didn’t know the exact day, narrowing it down to a general time frame was already valuable information.
And now she also knew this man’s name—Fu Yasong.
She had even learned that in the future, she would move to the capital.
Thinking about it, though, that made perfect sense. People always strive upward, just as water flows downward. As the female lead, it was only natural that she would eventually leave this little mountain village and establish herself in the capital.
By now, Zhao Shiyu had fully accepted the fact that she was the heroine of this world.
In fact, she was rather proud of it.
Clearly, she must have accumulated tremendous merit in her previous life.
In order to convince Madam Jiang to sit here a little longer—and hopefully overhear more useful information from this reborn man—she reluctantly took out a portion of the pastries they had bought earlier, sharing them with Madam Jiang as they drank tea and ate together.
Because he had noticed that Zhao Shiyu was sitting not far away, all of Fu Yasong’s thoughts revolved around her.
[Right, should I prepare something? I heard that noble lady was bitten by a snake. One of her maids knew a little medicine, but she didn’t have the right herbs with her.
By sheer coincidence, the Zhao family girl happened to be carrying medicinal herbs to Qingshui Town to sell, and among them was exactly the kind that could neutralize snake venom. That’s how she struck it rich.
I really was too reckless. I came here completely unprepared. Even if I did run into that noble lady, what good would it do?
Maybe I should ask my brother to come with me to the apothecary later. The problem is, I don’t know what kind of venomous snake bit her, so how would I know which antidote herbs to prepare? Should I just buy a bit of everything?
Sigh… our family is already poor enough. My brother finally brought me to town for one decent meal—where would we get extra money to buy medicine?
Maybe I can ask the apothecary which herbs are used to treat snake venom and then go gather them myself in the mountains… though who knows whether the shop assistant would even tell me…]
Fu Yasong secretly stole glances at Zhao Shiyu, his thoughts running wild.
One moment he was thinking of this, the next of that—sometimes hopeful, sometimes frustrated. His inner monologue was incredibly lively.
But Zhao Shiyu had no interest in his emotional ups and downs.
She focused solely on extracting useful information while mentally sorting through several medicinal herbs capable of neutralizing snake venom.
Her first choice was Paris polyphylla, also known as Chonglou, Seven-Leaf Lotus, or Grass Cart Herb.
Though mildly toxic itself, it was highly effective for treating snake and insect bites. The fresh rhizome could be cleaned, pounded into a paste, and applied externally to neutralize venom.
Then there was Lobelia chinensis, which could also be mashed and applied externally for insect and snake bites.
Oldenlandia diffusa, or White-Flower Snake-Tongue Grass, was another option. Applied as a poultice directly to the wound, it could also treat venomous snake bites.
The entire plant could be used medicinally, though it was best not given to men, since it had suppressive effects on reproductive function.
There was also Viola philippica, whose effectiveness against venomous snake bites was quite good.
However, that herb required internal consumption.
Since the noble lady had supposedly been bitten while traveling on the official road, external-use medicine would obviously be faster and more convenient.
Still…
How could a noble lady, presumably riding inside a carriage on the official road, end up bitten by a venomous snake?
Thinking back to all the melodramatic novels she had read, could it be that someone had deliberately placed the snake inside?
After all, finding venomous snakes in grass or forest undergrowth made sense.
But inside a carriage traveling along an official road?
And for it to bite someone?
That really didn’t sound reasonable.
After considering the current season and the climate and soil conditions of the nearby mountains, Zhao Shiyu concluded that the most suitable herbs to gather would be Paris polyphylla and Oldenlandia diffusa.
And since the injured person was a noble lady, there would be no taboo in using either herb.
In that case, she would keep an eye out for those two plants whenever she went into the mountains.
As for keeping them fresh…
Zhao Shiyu briefly turned her attention inward to inspect her Space.
The ginseng plant she had transplanted there stood lush and vibrant, its branches spread wide and its small red fruits standing upright. Not only had it suffered no ill effects, it looked as though it was growing even better than it had outside.
That meant freshly gathered herbs could probably be transplanted directly into the Space as well.
If so, selling fresh herbs at the apothecary would surely fetch a better price than wilted ones.
At the very least, they would look far more appealing.
The downside was that she’d have to dig up the herbs with the soil around their roots intact to make transplanting easier.
Zhao Shiyu immediately decided that next time she went herb gathering, she would bring a larger shovel.
Using the small one to dig up roots was far too troublesome.
From the inner thoughts of this reborn Fu Yasong, Zhao Shiyu summarized the following key points:
The only question was why she had started over again without retaining those memories.
Based on these six conclusions, Zhao Shiyu finally had a fairly clear understanding of the situation.
After sitting at the tea stall for a while longer, noon eventually passed.
Both of them had rested enough, and the so-called noble lady still hadn’t appeared.
So when Madam Jiang suggested it was time to head home, Zhao Shiyu obediently stood up and followed her.