Traveling through the mountains and farming

When Lin Wan heard this, she was shocked. She thought it must be the patrol personnel they arranged who sent the signal for the officers to enter the village.

She hurriedly stopped the carriage, opened the curtain and looked towards the village.

Sure enough, there was thick smoke above the patrol area.

Could it be that the police have already entered the village?

The two brothers and sisters in the family should have been obedient and hid in the mountains.

Lin Wan's face turned pale instantly. She took a deep breath and tried her best to calm herself down.

Then she said anxiously to Dr. Zhong:

"Doctor Zhong, I'm so sorry. That was our village's warning signal. I'm afraid something happened in the village. I have to go back quickly. I can't get you the Gastrodia elata today. I'm so sorry!"

At this time, she did not mention to Doctor Zhong that the officials would come to collect the autumn taxes and also force conscription.

As she spoke, she hurriedly took out the eighty taels of silver from her backpack and handed it back to Doctor Zhong.

She thought of the porcelain vase she had seen when she took the silver, and said hastily:

"And those porcelain bottles of medicine, how much do you think they cost in total? I'll pay you now."

Doctor Zhong was surprised when he heard this. Seeing Lin Wan was so anxious, he quickly responded:

"Don't worry, Madam Lin. Take the money and medicine first. I will go with you to the village to get the Gastrodia elata."

The prescription he developed must contain Gastrodia elata in the next two days, otherwise the other prepared medicinal ingredients will become ineffective.

Lin Wan had previously thought of taking Doctor Zhong home first and letting Li Chongle go to the cave to get the Gastrodia elata.

But it is very inconvenient to bring Dr. Zhong with him now, and the road ahead is dangerous.

So Lin Wan immediately rejected Doctor Zhong's request and explained that it would be very dangerous to return to the village now. She planned to sneak over through the mountain road and could not let him take the risk with her.

Doctor Zhong saw this and explained:

"Mrs. Lin, I must follow you into the village. Gastrodia elata is crucial to the medicine I am developing. I have to try it no matter how dangerous it is."

Lin Wan looked embarrassed and advised again: "Doctor Zhong, this is really too dangerous."

Doctor Zhong was still very persistent: "Madam Lin, I have been developing and preparing this new medicine for a long time. Success or failure depends on this one move. I hope you understand."

Lin Wan thought about how Dr. Zhong had persuaded her to sell Gastrodia elata in the pharmacy, and realized that it was useless to persuade her any further, so she gritted her teeth and said:

"Well, Doctor Zhong, since you insist on going, let's sneak over together along the mountain road, but you must be careful."

After saying that, Lin Wan asked the driver to wait for Doctor Zhong here, and if he met Li Changli who had returned, he should tell him that something had happened in the village and told him not to go directly into the village.

Then she and Doctor Zhong hurried toward the mountain road.

Lin Wan chose the extremely hidden mountain road on the other side of the village. There were almost no formed roads there, and they could only shuttle through the woods with difficulty.

She walked in front, looking back from time to time to confirm whether Dr. Zhong was following.

Doctor Zhong followed closely, while paying close attention to the situation around him.

After a difficult journey, they were finally approaching the mountain behind Lin Wan's home.

At this time, you can vaguely hear bursts of noisy voices and some chaotic noises coming from the distance.

Lin Wan took Doctor Zhong to the west side of the valley, but did not take him directly to the grain cave.

Instead, he found a secret cave in the center of the valley that he had accidentally discovered while picking sea buckthorn, and asked Dr. Zhong to hide in it and wait.

She whispered to Dr. Zhong that she would bring him the Gastrodia elata in about a quarter of an hour.

Doctor Zhong agreed and went into the cave. Lin Wan took a deep breath, turned around and quickly ran towards the grain cave.

Along the way, she kept praying in her heart that she could see the two siblings in the cave.

Soon, she arrived at the grain storage cave and saw that the entrance was not damaged, as if no one had been there.

I couldn't help but worry whether the two siblings were already inside.

She walked quickly to the cave entrance and whispered the names of the two siblings.

After hearing the two people's response, she immediately pulled away the vines and branches covering the cave entrance.

When the two siblings in the cave saw Lin Wan, they immediately ran towards her with a smile.

Lin Wan first hugged them tightly, then let go and began to carefully examine their bodies, and asked anxiously:

"Are you okay? Are you injured anywhere?"

Li Chongle heard that his sister-in-law's voice was trembling, so he comforted her:

"Sister-in-law, please put down the backpack first. We are fine. We found the signal and ran here quickly from the back door."

He didn't say that the first thing he did was rush into the kitchen with a kitchen knife.

Only then did Lin Wan realize that she was still carrying the backpack, and she quickly took it off and put it aside.

Seeing that the two siblings were safe and sound, she finally breathed a sigh of relief, "Luckily you guys were smart, I was really worried that something might happen to you."

As he spoke, he gently stroked their heads.

Li Chongle continued, "Don't worry, sister-in-law. We remember all the things you told us before you left."

At this time, Lin Wan remembered that Doctor Zhong was still waiting.

She quickly took out the Gastrodia elata from a small hole in a branch, wrapped it in cloth and prepared to take it out of the cave to Doctor Zhong.

The two siblings quickly grabbed her and stopped her from going out to take risks.

Lin Wan explained that they would not go far and were just in the valley, and that she had already promised Doctor Zhong, and only then did the two siblings let go.

Lin Wan walked out of the cave quickly and covered the entrance.

She hurried along the familiar path, wanting to deliver the Gastrodia elata to Doctor Zhong as soon as possible.

Not long after, she arrived at the entrance of the cave where Dr. Zhong was hiding.

She called out "Dr. Zhong" softly, and saw him come out of the cave immediately.

Then, he took the Gastrodia elata handed to him by Lin Wan, opened the linen and examined it carefully. After confirming that it was the black Gastrodia elata of excellent quality, he carefully hid it in a secret pocket inside his clothes.

Lin Wan told Doctor Zhong to return along the previous path and try to avoid the officers.

Although Doctor Zhong is not a villager and might not be troubled after being caught, Lin Wan is worried about what might happen, so it is better for him to be careful.

Doctor Zhong realized from Lin Wan's words that the incident in the village she mentioned was quite strange.

He then asked Lin Wan what those officers were doing and why they were hiding.

During their time together, Lin Wan felt that Mrs. Zhong was a trustworthy person, and she had already noticed the abnormal situation in the village.

He was informed that the officials were coming to collect the autumn taxes and also to force soldiers into the army.

Doctor Zhong was somewhat shocked when he heard the news, and then he said angrily:

"How can the imperial court do this? Isn't this pushing the people into a dead end?"

Lin Wan shook her head helplessly: "It's not the new court, it's probably because the King of Chu is in a tight spot in the war, so he wants to collect grain and recruit soldiers."

As soon as she finished speaking, she saw Doctor Zhong take out a dagger and a porcelain bottle from his arms and handed them to her.

He also told Lin Wan that the porcelain bottle contained a specially made poison he had made, and that even a fingernail-sized amount was enough to kill a person.

Put it into water to melt, and apply it on a sword to kill with one blow. Use with caution.

When Lin Wan heard this, she was secretly delighted and asked Dr. Zhong if he had any extra ones to sell.

Doctor Zhong looked at her anxious look and explained helplessly that this bottle would be enough for a long time.

And once again reminded her to use it with caution.

He felt that he had a very pleasant chat with the young lady along the way and that she was very much in tune with his personality, otherwise he would not have taken out the medicine.

He has always been like this. He is extremely generous to people he gets along with, but he won't even look at people he doesn't like, let alone give them anything.

Lin Wan happily put away the dagger and poison carefully, and expressed her gratitude to Dr. Zhong again.

Then she sent Doctor Zhong out of the valley and returned to the cave.