Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

It was already very late and the door of Huimin Pharmacy was closed.

The back door was still open.

There were also three or five guys carrying medicinal materials in and out.

Chen Shao got off the carriage and stopped to look at the cloth shop next to him.

"Manager Fang came to me again the day before yesterday." Quan Shuyu's frightened expression had eased. She looked at the scattered lights in the cloth shop and said slowly, "He came to me earlier and I pointed out several cloth shops to him, asking him to pick two good ones and think about how to merge them. He picked and chose and none of them were good enough. After the Gu, Fan and Qi families were raided, the shops under their names all came to me and asked me to take over quickly. Manager Fang followed this and secretly came to me at the Wen family, saying that he wanted to merge all the cloth shops. He also said that Hongyuan County was not big and one cloth shop was completely enough."

Chen Shao said thoughtfully: "This is a bold idea."

Quan Shuyu smiled, "I knew that you might like it, so I asked him to go back and think about how to do it. After thinking it through, write it down for me, and I will give it to you for your review."

Chen Shao replied "OK", then looked at the cloth shop and asked, "Where are Manager Fang and the shop assistants staying these days?"

Quan Shuyu said: "I live in the Wen family's villa on Tianshui Lane."

Hearing that they had a place to stay, Chen Shao did not ask any more questions and turned to ask about the scattered lights in the cloth shop. A brave clerk nearby stopped carrying medicinal materials and answered, "Seventh Master found ten female apprentices. There was no room for them in this yard, so he arranged for many clerks to live over there. Those lights were lit by them."

Chen Shao raised his foot and followed the clerk's footsteps, walking towards the medicine store while asking, "What kind of herbs are you carrying?"

The waiter replied, "They are some yellow flowered gentian, purple flowered gentian, dog ear, vine and so on."

Chen Shao saw that the herbs in his bamboo basket were all dried and asked, "Where did you buy them from?"

The waiter answered readily, "I didn't buy it. Uncle Liang Zhu had it sent back. A batch is sent back every day at this time."

As he was talking, Chen Shao had already walked to the warehouse where the medicinal materials were stored. Upon hearing the news, Master Qi rushed over and asked directly, "Are you here for those two girls?"

Chen Shao nodded, and after watching the guys move the herbs for a while, he turned around and asked as he walked towards the ward, "How are they?"

"That girl named Xu Chengmei is fine," said Master Qi as he followed her, "but that girl named Wang Su, I'm afraid she won't make it through the night."

Chen Shao paused for a moment: "Is it that serious?"

The Seventh Master's face was serious. "She kept applying a handkerchief, but the fever still didn't go down, and she vomited all the medicine she was given. According to the girl surnamed Xu, the girl named Wang Su hasn't had a meal or a drink of water since she returned home, but she has been beaten and worked almost non-stop every day."

Chan Yi listened and said angrily, "She deserves it. If she had worked hard in the dyeing factory, would her parents dare to beat her?"

Master Qi shook his head and sighed, "People say that every failure makes one wiser. This girl has failed many times, but she finally learned something wiser. It's a pity that she ended up like this."

After a pause, he continued, "I've asked someone to make rice soup. Regardless of whether it's her own fault or not, I can't let her go with an empty stomach."

It was still some distance away from the ward, but the sobbing sounds came over like willow catkins in the autumn wind.

Everyone stopped talking and walked lightly to the door of the ward. Chen Shao stopped and motioned Chan Yi to go in and take a look first.

Chan Yi took two steps forward, lifted the bamboo curtain swiftly and went in.

Quan Shuyu followed her and entered the ward.

It was Xu Chengmei who was crying, facing the wall, covering her face with a quilt, and her crying sounded sad.

"That's enough," Chan Yi said coldly, "There's no point in crying. Hurry up and pack up. Our Master is here."

Xu Chengmei stopped crying immediately, turned over with difficulty, and looked towards the door with shining eyes.

Chan Yi curled her lips and looked at Wang Su lying on the bed next to her.

Wang Su had already woken up, staring at the beams with her eyes open, tears silently rolling down her eyes like beads from a broken string. When she heard Chen Shao coming over, her eyes suddenly shone with amazing light.

Chan Yi didn't know what to say, so she said nothing. After calling out the two female apprentices who were serving them, she went to the door and invited Chen Shao in.

"Please take us in, please give us another chance," Xu Chengmei struggled to lift the quilt and slid off the bed as soon as Chen Shao entered the room, and knelt on the ground, "We already know we were wrong, we will never dare to do it again, please take us in!"

"Get up first." Chen Shao looked at her frail body and didn't want to blame her too much.

Xu Chengmei shook her head, tears falling down her cheeks. "If the Lord refuses to take us in, even if we recover from our injuries, we will still be beaten to death when we return."

"If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have done it in the first place!" Chan Yi took two steps forward angrily, pulled her up, and pushed her back onto the bed. When she was still struggling to get up, she angrily said, "If you don't want to live, get out. Who are you trying to show off to by acting like this?"

Xu Chengmei was shocked by her. After wiping away her tears, she could only lie down obediently.

Chan Yi sneered twice, pulled the quilt over her, and took her pulse again.

Chen Shao did not stop her. After seeing that Xu Chengmei was fine, he walked up to Wang Su and took her pulse. Wang Su's radius was only slightly fractured, and her internal organs were not injured. The fractures of her right hand and right leg had been reset by Chan Yi earlier. She had a high fever all the time, which was due to the fracture for many days, as well as the inflammation and malnutrition caused by not eating or drinking. Letting go of her hand and taking two steps back, Chen Shao instructed Chan Yi: "Give her another acupuncture, and use the method of equal tonification and equal purgation."

Under Li Tianliu's sharp gaze, Chan Yi took off her hairpin without any hesitation, took out the silver needle inside, disinfected it with fire, and then started to give Wang Su acupuncture again according to her instructions.

Wang Su's tears flowed even more violently. He opened his mouth to speak, but a mouthful of blood gushed out first.

Chen Shao said gently: "If you have anything to say, let's talk later. Calm down and keep a good mood, otherwise even the Golden Immortal can't save you."

Wang Su stopped moving when he heard that. He just stared at her, refusing to move even a bit.

Chan Yi patiently and carefully gave her acupuncture, then took her pulse and said in surprise: "Although she is still weak, she is much more stable than before."

Chen Shao said, "Give her another injection tomorrow morning and evening. After that, give her another injection every day for seven days."

Chan Yi glanced at Wang Su and said, "I'll prescribe her a warming and nourishing medicine."

Chen Shao nodded.

Chan Yi wrote out the prescription and handed it to the two female apprentices waiting outside the door. After instructing them to prepare the medicine quickly, she turned back, took out a handkerchief and wiped the blood from the corner of Wang Su's mouth, saying coldly, "Although you have saved your life, you have to take good care of yourself, otherwise you will suffer in the future!"

Wang Su looked through her and at Chen Shao.

Chan Yi curled her lips speechlessly.

Chen Shao knew what they wanted to hear. Although he didn't like many of their previous actions, they had become like this and had learned a lesson. He advised them kindly, "I will put all the money I paid for the acupuncture, the medicine I took, and the rent for living here on your account. When you recover, hurry back to the dyeing workshop and try to pay off the bill as soon as possible."

When Wang Su heard that they were asked to go back to the dyeing workshop, tears welled up in her eyes again, and she finally looked away. Xu Chengmei got out of bed again, and before Chan Yi could scold her, she knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Chen Shao earnestly.

Chan Yi pulled her up again with a cold face: "Don't be too happy too soon. If you continue to behave the same as before after returning to the dyeing workshop, we will still kick you out! Whether you live or die, we will never rescue you again!"

"No." Xu Chengmei assured hurriedly.

"It's not just your words that have the final say!" Chan Yi sneered.

Xu Chengmei opened her mouth and silently lay back on the bed.

"It's getting late, everyone should get some good rest." After leaving these two comforting words, Chen Shao turned around and left the ward.

After getting a little further away from the ward, Master Qi asked, "So, they can all be saved?"

Li Tianliu's judgmental gaze was still fixed on Chen Shao. Chen Shao looked at him vaguely and replied, "She survived, but whether she can be brought back to health depends on herself."

Qi Ye breathed a sigh of relief: "It's good that I can survive."

Chen Shao curled his lips and looked towards the cloth shop: "When will the renovation be completed?"

Qi Ye looked towards the cloth shop with her and said, "The people in the cloth shop have only moved out in the past two days. It will take at least ten days or half a month to get everything ready."

Chen Shao looked back at the wards. "I see there are several wards now, and it seems that every one of them is occupied. Can you handle it?"

"Not bad," the Seventh Master followed her to look at the wards, with a slight smile on his face, "Nowadays, people in and outside the city know that Huimin Pharmacy is cheap for medical treatment. They like to come here for treatment for any illness, whether it's serious or minor. If you say it's not busy, everyone is busy every day. If you say it's busy, it seems that everyone enjoys it and no one feels tired."

At this point, it is inevitable to mention Grandma Chunhua, "Grandma Chunhua went home yesterday. The shop assistants sent them back in a carriage. Grandma Chunhua's illness is almost cured. According to the doctor, as long as she takes medicine on time every day and comes back for a follow-up visit once a month, she will be fine. It is not easy for the two of them, the grandmother and the granddaughter. I have arranged for the shop assistant who sent them back yesterday to deliver medicine to Grandma Chunhua on time and bring her back for a follow-up visit on time."

After a pause, he continued, "There aren't many families like Chunhua and her grandmother, but there are quite a few. Recently, there have been three families who came to Huimin Pharmacy for treatment. I'm thinking, after we get the cloth shop next door ready, we can arrange for doctors to go to each village to treat them."

"It may not be appropriate to go to the village for free clinics now," Chen Shao shook his head and stopped him. "First, Huimin Pharmacy has only been open for less than two months and is already very busy. If we assign doctors to go to the village for free clinics, it will probably be even busier. Second, although most people already know that it is cheap to see a doctor at Huimin Pharmacy, there is still a long way to go to ingrain this concept in every citizen's mind. At this time, assigning doctors to go for free clinics will inevitably make some people think that they will delay seeing a doctor when they are sick and just wait for the doctor to come to their door for free clinics. Third, even if there are many cases like Chunhua and her grandmother, they are not that many. Usually, we can ask a few more questions to the people who come to see the doctor, or mention one or two things to the people who come to see the doctor, and let them report to Huimin Pharmacy in time if they encounter such a situation. Huimin Pharmacy can arrange people to take them in for diagnosis and treatment. It's not that I don't advocate free clinics, but we have to wait until Huimin Pharmacy stabilizes, and it will be fine to come once a year, or at most twice."

The Seventh Master pondered for a moment and nodded, "Your Excellency is right."

Chen Shao smiled and changed the subject, "When I entered the medicine shop just now, I saw many people carrying medicinal materials. I heard from the shop assistant that they were all sent back by Uncle Liang Zhu?"

"He now lives in various villages," said the Seventh Master with a smile. "Some time ago, he found a person from each village to come and learn how to plant and harvest herbs from Master Xu. After a few days of learning, Master Xu thought it was too slow, so he took them back to the villages, guiding them to harvest herbs from the fields and teaching them why those herbs grow in that location. The sun has been good recently, so the herbs they harvested will be enough to be thrown on the ground to dry for a day. It just so happens that the herbs in Fenglong Company have been almost used up, and sending them back can just fill the gap."

Chen Shao asked, "Uncle Liang Zhu said earlier that Doctor Peng from Wanhetang had given him a prescription for treating headaches and fevers. He planned to use this prescription to grind some medicine powder and sell it in other county towns. Has the powder been ground yet?"

"Liang Zhu also mentioned this to me," said the Seventh Master, "but he came back a few days ago and said there was no rush. He would think about this after Huimin Pharmacy was stabilized and the planting of medicinal herbs was arranged. If we want to sell it in other county towns, we must set up a caravan and hire someone to escort the goods. Liang Zhu used to do this. According to him, after everything is stabilized, he will make a few trips in person to greet all the roads and then let others take over."

Chen Shao agreed: "Uncle Liang Zhu is very thoughtful."

Qi Ye followed up with praise: "Liang Zhu is indeed very careful in his work."

Although it was late, Chen Shao still talked with the Seventh Master for a while about all aspects of the pharmacy's affairs before returning to the prefect's mansion.

Li Tianliu didn't say a word along the way.

Just when Chen Shao thought he would not speak, the moment she got off the carriage, he suddenly said, "You know medical skills."

His eyes looked straight at me, not as a question, but as a statement.

Chen Shao got off the carriage, smiled softly, and said as he walked: "General Li, haven't you heard the saying that a long illness makes a good doctor?"

Li Tianliu sneered: "A doctor who has been ill for a long time can be better than Chan Yi in medical skills?"

Chen Shao paused, looked back at him, then at Chan Yi, and said with a half-smile: "It seems that I missed something very important."

Chan Yi didn't react for a while. When she heard Quan Shuyu's chuckle, she was struck by lightning. Her face immediately turned red. She glared at Li Tianliu and said, "What nonsense are you talking about!"

What nonsense was he talking about? Li Tianliu was puzzled.

Seeing his expression, Chan Yi couldn't help but kick him.

Li Tianliu was even more confused.

Chen Shao clicked his tongue twice, turned around and walked away, but after taking only two steps, he stopped again.

Quan Shuyu also stopped and looked in the direction her gaze went: the woman in white appeared again.