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Xuanbao looked at Madam Zhuang, who appeared as if she had rolled out of a hearth, and gasped with her little mouth agape.
What had she done to deserve this?
Had the heavens actually bestowed such a severe punishment upon her?
Doctor Fang was also startled. Who under the bright sky had been struck by lightning?
Madam Zhuang quickly got up, ignoring the pain, pointed at Ruo Xuan's nose, and scolded, "Stop spouting nonsense! These herbs are freshly purchased, how could they possibly be infested with insects?"
Doctor Fang: "..."
Ruo Xuan's delicate brows furrowed, "I'm not spouting nonsense. They are indeed worm-eaten and moldy. Moldy herbs can't cure sickness; they'll kill people instead. Serves you right to be struck by lightning!"
She found that when humans lie, they love to say such stupid things as "Stop spouting nonsense!"
Isn't this just exposing one's guilt?
Madam Zhuang's face changed color. "Shut up! Spouting nonsense! You haven't even seen the herbs, how do you know they're infested?"
Ruo Shan quickly made his way to the medicine cabinet.
Madam Zhuang, startled, rushed forward, attempting to take away those packages of herbs.
Doctor Fang dashed in before her, "You stay right there!"
Madam Zhuang felt a sudden chill in her heart, "Dad, do you actually believe a girl's words over mine?"
It's over!
She had seen the herbs at half the price, just infested, but not poisonous; their medicinal properties were still intact, so she bought them, hoping to make a little extra money for herself.
She had planned to sneak them into the inventory while the old man was out, inconspicuously.
Even if the old man later found out, it would be Ruo Shan's fault, and she would have a pretext to drive Ruo Shan away.
It was all ruined by this fool and her family showing up out of the blue.
Doctor Fang, as if deaf to her, examined the herbs packet by packet, his expression growing increasingly grim.
She explained in a hurry, "Dad, could there really be something wrong with these herbs? Oh heavens! I must have been deceived by the merchant, Dad, you have to believe me, I was tricked too!"
"So fake, who would believe that? It's not like we don't have brains." She didn't believe a word of it.
Selling worm-eaten and moldy herbs, this could cost people their lives, particularly the moldy ones.
No wonder Divine Lord Xuanyuan said one must not harm others, as good deeds will be rewarded and evil will be met with retribution. Heavenly Dao surely enacts punishment.
The punishment of the Heavenly Dao truly lived up to its reputation!
Too frightening!
Doctor Fang was furious, shaking with rage as he pointed at Madam Zhuang, "You're trying to kill people, and ruin the century-old reputation of Fang's Medical Clinic in an instant!"
This eldest daughter-in-law, from the Apricot Forest Household herself, had been expected to support the eldest son in the future and to further enhance the prestige of Fang's Medical Clinic. Who would have thought she would do such a thing?
The worst fear for a doctor is to lack virtue!
Madam Zhuang stubbornly retorted, "Dad, I really didn't know!"
Doctor Fang, growing more disappointed, didn't bother with her excuses. "Go kneel in the ancestral hall!"
She can stand up only when she realizes her mistake.
This time she must be taught a harsh lesson.
Madam Zhuang: "Dad, …"
Seeing she still wanted to argue, Doctor Fang roared, "Aren't you going yet?"
His tone was fierce!
Where had Madam Zhuang ever seen Doctor Fang so angry?
She was so scared that she didn't dare utter another word and glared fiercely at Ruo Xuan and Ruo Shan.
One day, she would drive away Ruo Shan, this ungrateful wretch!
Madam Zhuang left, enduring her pain.
She had been struck by lightning and was covered in burns that had yet to be treated!
She touched the top of her severely painful head, only to feel ash flaking down in torrents, leaving a smooth patch on top of her head in an instant!
"Ah!" Thinking of something, Madam Zhuang screamed and ran off!
Xuanbao watched Madam Zhuang, with her now bald patch, and touched her own little hair bun. Lightning was terrifying indeed; she must never get struck by it!
Doctor Fang had no heart to care about her; the moldy herbs still hadn't been dealt with.
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He said to Ruo Shan, "Burn all these herbs; they can't be used. Any medicine cabinet that these herbs were added to, empty it and don't use its contents. Herbs are for curing diseases and saving lives. Infested and moldy herbs can affect the effectiveness of the medicine and may even cause stomach problems. We absolutely cannot use them in our clinic!"
"Yes," Ruo Shan responded and quickly dealt with the infested herbs. Madame Zhuang had just added a few herbs to the medicine cabinet.
If they were not dealt with in time, the bugs could spread to the other cabinets, which would be troublesome.
Family disgrace should not be publicized, so Ruo Xuan timely excused himself.
Doctor Fang nodded, "You've all seen an embarrassing side of us, thank you Xuanbao for the warning. Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable. A tarnished reputation for the clinic is a minor issue; losing lives is a major one."
Ruo Xuan hurriedly said, "It was the right thing to do; fortunately, the problem was discovered in time before the herbs were sold. I admire Doctor Fang for his kind heart and skilled medicine! Everyone feels safe coming to the Fang Family's clinic for treatment."
Ruo Xuan looked seriously at Doctor Fang's face and reminded him, "Grandfather Fang, you must be careful with the use of the medicine! A tiny ant hole can collapse a great dike; small evils accumulated can destroy oneself."
Doctor Fang had not expected Ruo Xuan to say something so serious; he probably remembered it from listening to adults. But the fact that he remembered was astonishing enough, and he praised, "Xuanbao is really smart. Grandfather Fang will certainly be careful."
Having practised medicine for decades, Doctor Fang naturally knew the importance of using the right herbs.
This time it was Madame Zhuang who had made the mistake; it was the first time something like this had happened at Fang Family's clinic.
He had originally planned to let Madame Zhuang gain some experience by handling the herb procurement, but now he saw that would not do. He decided to punish her by making her kneel in the ancestral hall for two more days, and she was not to interfere with the procurement of herbs anymore.
Being struck by lightning did not cause Madame Zhuang to faint, but the news that the authority over herb procurement was taken away from her and her financial avenues were cut off, she fainted from anger!
*
After leaving the clinic, Ruo Xuan went to the Cloth Store, planning to buy some cotton for his daughter's cotton-padded clothes. When he found that fresh cotton was not available, he gave up and went on to purchase a jin of pork belly and a jin of large bones before pushing the cart out of the city.
Ruo Xuan sat in the pushcart, basking in the sun while watching Madam Liu count the remaining copper coins.
Entering the city cost two wen, and eating wontons took ten wen; buying candied haws amounted to five wen; spending on groceries came to a hundred and six wen; buying pork and bones totaled thirty wen. The consultation fee for visiting the doctor plus the money paid for his uncle and third uncle's medicine came to a total of one thousand five hundred and ten wen, where ten wen was for the consultation fee, and this was already cheap because the medicine was charged only at the procurement cost.
After counting, Madam Liu happily said, "We spent a total of one thousand six hundred and sixty-three wen, and there are seventy-two wen left. Tomorrow's persimmons might also fetch a tael of silver."
Ruo Xuan nodded, "Keep the silver we get tomorrow for buying new cotton."
Shaxi County is in the south, where cotton cannot be grown; it's transported from the north and is especially expensive.
Now that autumn has arrived, there are plenty of wild fruits on the mountains, and there is also more game. He planned to hunt in the mountains more often to earn more silver, enough to make new cotton clothes for his wife and mother.
Ruo Xuan suddenly understood why her real father was reluctant to eat wontons.
Silver is hard to come by, and they cannot afford luxuries!
It costs so much silver to treat an illness; it would be better for her to focus on her cultivation and heal her uncle and others! But the Divine Monarch said that even when saving people with medicine, one cannot directly use Immortal Technique; one must disguise it with herbs.
Ruo Xuan quietly infused a trace of spiritual energy into a few bags of herbs and sniffed several other packages before asking, "Dad, Mom, why don't we go up the mountain to gather herbs since they are so expensive?"
She could smell from the earthy scent emitted by the herbs themselves that most of these herbs were available on the mountain!
Moreover, the nearby mountain close to the village had them.
Only two or three kinds of herbs had the strong scent of ice and snow, which were not local herbs, but those which could only be found in the cold lands of the north.
Madam Liu laughed and said, "Although there are herbs in the mountains, not everyone knows what they are, especially since the herbs procured from the clinic are chopped up, making them unrecognizable. Only those who have been attendants in the clinic would know, like your fifth uncle, but he is still apprenticing and doesn't have the time to go into the mountains to gather herbs."
The reason herbs are expensive is mainly that few people are knowledgeable about them and there are not many herb gatherers. Besides, not all mountains are covered with herbs, and there are risks in going deep into the mountains, which contribute to the high cost.
Therefore, those herb merchants who know how to grow herbs are making a fortune!
Upon hearing this, Ruo Xuan immediately said, "I recognize the herbs! Dad, Mom, let's go up the mountain now and gather herbs! We can also catch some rabbits and goats to eat on the way back!"
Plants understand plants; why else had she survived a hundred years on the barren Ruoshui Riverbank? It was because she understood the properties of various plants, knew how to produce their toxins to protect herself; otherwise, she would have long been gnawed to nothing by rabbit spirits.
Ruo Xuan's gaze fell on the big mountain beside the official road, and she thought, this whole mountain is full of silver~!
Faced with his daughter's hopeful eyes, Ruo Shui thought she just wanted to eat some meat and did not realize she recognized the herbs. After all, his precious daughter had asked more than once for rabbit meat and lamb.
Ruo Shui glanced at the sky; it was still early enough to go into the mountains. If he could catch two or three game animals, he could even bring them to the city to sell the next day.
"Alright, let's go up the mountain to catch rabbits!"
Ruo Shui pushed the cart back home.
At this time in the afternoon, except for Granny Lei, who was sitting in the yard weaving baskets, everyone else was out.
Seeing her precious granddaughter come back, Granny Lei immediately put down the bamboo strips and stood up, "Xuanbao is back! Granny will hug you!"
He set down the pushcart and said to Granny Lei, "Mom, Wenyu and I are taking Xuanbao up the mountain to catch rabbits. When I come back, I'll store the grains properly."
Ruo Xuan said, "Granny, Xuanbao is going to catch rabbits to make a meal for you!"
Madam Liu said, "Mom, we still have time. I'm going up the mountain to pick some wild vegetables, I'll cook dinner when I return."
With that, the couple hurriedly grabbed their tools and headed for the mountains.
Granny Lei only had time to remind them to "take good care of Xuanbao" before the couple disappeared from sight.