Chapter 182 – The Despicable Man
Thinking about it, when Yan Xiaosi took a pot of baizhu stewed chicken to Jiren Hall to sell, she made fifty taels of silver in one go. Ms. Zhong then thought that gathering and selling medicinal herbs was definitely more profitable than selling firewood.
Selling herbs could quickly raise a sum of money, which would allow her to rent a storefront for Xiaosi to open a clinic sooner.
Yan Xiaosi stopped drying the books and glanced at her mom from the side.
“Mom, I can teach you to identify herbs, but aren’t you skilled in cooking?” Xiaosi guessed what Ms. Zhong was thinking.
She didn’t want Ms. Zhong to learn herb identification and join her in the mountain gathering herbs.
Herb gathering was only temporary, and not all herbs were valuable. Truly valuable herbs like ginseng, Ganoderma, and Dendrobium were either found in deep forests or growing on cliff faces. Harvesting them was extremely difficult, and many who made their living gathering herbs had fallen to their deaths.
Ms. Zhong never considered her own cooking as being all that good.
“My cooking skills are nothing special, only my four daughters like to eat what I cook.”
She paused, then looked seriously at Yan Xiaosi and asked, “Xiaosi, do you not want me to learn about herbs and go with you to the mountains to gather them?”
Yan Xiaosi nodded without hiding her feelings.
“Mom, the precious herbs on these mountains are likely found on Big Sister Peak and the other two peaks. I’ve almost explored all of Big Sister Peak, and the herbs I’ve seen are quite ordinary. Even if we sell them, they’re not much different from firewood in terms of value. The other two peaks are home to fierce beasts. Even if there are valuable herbs there, we can’t reach them. Mom, learning about herbs with me won’t be very useful.”
Ms. Zhong hesitated, finding Xiaosi’s analysis quite reasonable.
“But if we don’t chop wood, I don’t know what else to do.”
“Mom, have you forgotten? Our family just bought three acres of land. Building a house will only use a little bit of it, leaving more than two acres free. If you stop chopping wood, you can focus on tending to those two acres.”
Ms. Zhong then remembered the three acres of land.
Buying land so suddenly seemed unreal to her, almost like a dream.
Seeing her dazed expression, Yan Xiaosi smiled and continued, “Mom, if you find tending to the land too easy, you still have your cooking skills. You could make some snacks for my elder sisters to sell in Daxing Town. Making snacks is safer than gathering herbs.”
Ms. Zhong was somewhat moved by Xiaosi’s suggestion, looking down at her hands.
“Xiaosi, do Shuxue, Shuqin, and the others really enjoy the food I make that much?”
Yan Shuxue and Yan Shuqin nodded without hesitation.
Yan Xiaosi said, “Mom, if you don’t trust our tastes, you should at least trust General Zhan’s. If your cooking wasn’t good, he wouldn’t have devoured that bowl of wild mushroom and meat stir-fry last night like a starving ghost reincarnated. I only had a few bites, and he finished the rest. General Zhan, who comes from Xijing and has tasted all kinds of delicacies, wouldn’t have finished that dish if your cooking wasn’t excellent.”
…
Achoo!
Long Yu was studying a map of the Four Sisters Mountain in the east wing of the county court when he suddenly let out a loud sneeze.
“It must be because you’ve done too many bad things. Someone must be cursing you behind your back.”
Murong Qinjian sat on a rocking chair with his legs crossed, looking quite pleased with himself.
Long Yu glanced at him, noting how leisurely the military doctor was compared to himself, who was busy selecting a location for the army to camp.
“Murong Little Scoundrel, since you’re so free, go make a pot of tea for me.”
Murong Qinjian put down his legs and sprang up from the chair, angrily retorting, “Long Yu, I am a military doctor you hired, not your maid or servant. Do you really want me to make tea for you, or are you not afraid I might poison you?”
“Well, I’m not worried at all. If you poison me, you won’t live either.”
Unable to outfight or outargue Long Yu, Murong Qinjian felt quite defeated.
“I’ve lived for so long and never met someone as despicable as you. Just wait, I’ll go make that poisoned tea for you right now.”
Long Yu smiled faintly.
“Go ahead, I’ll be waiting for your poisoned tea.”
After waiting for a while, Murong Qinjian’s tea hadn’t arrived, but Long Yi did.
Long Yi stepped forward, looked at Long Yu, and respectfully said, “My lord, Yao Jin has arranged a banquet tonight at the county court and would like to invite you. My lord, will you refuse or attend?”
After a long silence, just when Long Yi thought Long Yu would refuse, he replied with two words: “I’ll attend.”
Murong Qinjian, who came in carrying a teapot, heard the word ‘banquet’ and asked with interest, “Long Yu, who invited you to a banquet?”
Long Yi helped answer, “The county magistrate, Yao Jin.”
“Murong Little Scoundrel, do you want to go? If you do, you can go in my place.”
Murong Qinjian immediately waved his hand, “No thanks. With Yao Jin’s taste, it’s definitely going to be a vulgar banquet. You go yourself. Even if there’s good wine, I won’t attend such a vulgar event.”
At that moment, in the garden of the county court’s backyard, Yan Shujing, now Yao Jin’s adopted daughter and the young lady of the county court, was admiring the flowers in the garden accompanied by two maids.
“Miss, the master instructed not to wander too long. There’s a banquet tonight. He wants you to freshen up and get ready to avoid any embarrassment.”
Yan Shujing, now officially Yao Jin’s adopted daughter, had been brought to the county court by Old Master Yan. Yao Jin had agreed almost immediately to adopt her as his daughter after Old Master Yan explained his intentions.
First, Yan Shujing was indeed beautiful and talented, capable of attracting Long Yu. Second, Yan Bozhang was currently in the jail of the county court, and Yao Jin had many of his secrets in his hands. Even if Yan Shujing really bewitched Long Yu, the Yan family wouldn’t dare betray him.
“Understood, let’s go back now.”
As Yan Shujing turned to leave with the two maids, two tall figures suddenly appeared, blocking her path.
The maids looked up and their expressions changed.
“We greet the young master and second young master.”
The two who appeared were Yao Jin’s sons, Yao Cheng and Yao Jia.
These two brothers’ characters were far from as noble as their names. Over the years, relying on their status as sons of the county magistrate, they had done numerous reprehensible deeds, including forcibly taking local girls.
“The scenery in the garden is so beautiful, why doesn’t little sister Jing stay a while longer? It would be good for us, as your brothers, to accompany you.”
