The eldest sister-in-law became rich by farming in the mountains

Facts have proved that Xu Yingtao's educational policy is very effective.

Not only did Xie Bai take extra care of her during her menstrual period, he also went into the kitchen at this time.

Although there is no outdated rule of "gentlemen stay away from the kitchen" in the family, Xie Bai has been deprived of the right to enter the kitchen since Xiaohua and Jiang Daya joined the family.

Of course, if he insisted on going in, his family would not stop him.

A moment later, he came out with a bowl of steaming reddish-brown soup.

Xu Yingtao thought it was brown sugar fermented glutinous rice water as usual, but when she took the bowl of soup, which was not too hot at all, she immediately realized something was wrong.

How could there be a faint medicinal fragrance?

Xie Bai explained at the right time: "This is the Siwu Decoction that Doctor Wen prescribed when I went to town last month. It is made with Chinese angelica, white peony root, Chuanxiong, and Rehmannia root. It is said to be able to replenish blood and regulate menstruation, and relieve women's dysmenorrhea."

When he talked about this, he looked natural and there was no embarrassment at all.

Xu Yingtao scooped a spoonful and tasted it. It was slightly bitter but then sweet, and it indeed had a strong flavor of angelica.

So she picked up the bowl without hesitation and drank it in one gulp.

Just as she put down the bowl, Xie Bai opened his palm again and handed her a piece of maltose wrapped in oil paper.

Xu Yingtao couldn't help laughing: "This isn't bitter."

But she still took it, peeled off the oil paper, and put the maltose into her mouth.

Xu Yingtao couldn't help teasing him: "When you went to the clinic to prescribe this Siwu Decoction, did Manager Luo and Doctor Wen make fun of you?"

Xie Bai shook his head with a normal expression.

Xu Yingtao suddenly felt that the fun was gone and continued to lie on the recliner with her eyes closed to rest.

At the same time, I couldn't help but complain in my heart that Xie Bai is becoming less and less fun as he gets older. He's so boring.

This child will be seventeen years old next year. Maybe he has become stupid from studying too much in this year. He always has a stern face and acts like a big shot.

To put it in a positive way, it's like remaining calm even when the sky is falling, but to put it in a negative way, it's like becoming a person with facial paralysis.

Xu Yingtao suspected that he had reached his rebellious teenage period and was now suffering from the second-year syndrome.

After all, she is an experienced person. When she was in high school, she also disliked everyone.

Xie Bai didn't know what she was thinking. He just lowered his eyes to look at her, then quickly looked away. A smile flashed across his eyes, and then he put the medicine bowl into the kitchen.

The Siwu Decoction was indeed effective. In less than an hour, Xu Yingtao became full of energy again.

Even the boy with expressionless face began to look much better to me.

At the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, Xu Yingtao packed up and prepared to welcome the influx of people who would be paying New Year's greetings, but she never expected that the first thing she would receive was bad news.

A family in a neighboring county ate her hot sauce and died.

There were five people in the family, and four died.

The only survivor escaped the disaster because he had a toothache and did not eat hot sauce that day.

"Mr. Xu, please save my master. I will agree to any conditions you offer!" A noble lady in a silk dress and a gold hairpin on her head knelt on the ground and cried bitterly.

Xu Yingtao recognized this woman; she was Ms. Qiu, the wife of Zhu Shan, a dealer from the neighboring county.

Last year, the couple brought their children to the village to celebrate the New Year with her.

Zhu Shan was originally a wealthy businessman in Ruian County. Since establishing a cooperative relationship with Xu Yingtao, his family's assets have doubled.

At that time, the couple were full of ambition and high spirits, but now one is in prison and the other is crying bitterly, as if they had aged twenty years in an instant.

Xu Yingtao quickly helped Qiu up and asked, "Mrs. Qiu, don't cry first. Tell me, has the county coroner gone to perform an autopsy? Is it really because of the hot sauce?"

Qiu shook her head and choked up as she answered, "Mr. Xu, I don't know anything else. My house is surrounded by soldiers and I was lucky that I was quick to react and escaped from the back door yesterday. Please save my master!"

Because she was in too much of a hurry and was afraid of alerting the enemy, she couldn't even bring her children out. She was extremely anxious at this moment.

Although she had some resentment towards Xu Yingtao in her heart, after all, the hot sauce was imported from Nanxi Village, but at this moment, she had no choice but to ask Xu Yingtao for help.

Xu Yingtao made a prompt decision and decided to let Chun Sanniang accompany her to the neighboring county, while Zhang Haonu would stay behind to protect Jiang and others.

For some reason, Xu Yingtao felt a strong sense of uneasiness in her heart.

She is extremely confident in her products and the problem is definitely not with the hot sauce.

If it was really the hot sauce that was the problem, then it must have been poisoned.

However, it would be fine if someone carried out targeted poisoning, but the most worrying thing is that someone carried out indiscriminate poisoning, in which case the number of casualties could be even greater.

By then, although the government would not dare to embarrass her easily, the relatives of the deceased or the families of cooperative merchants like Qiu would probably come to the village to cause trouble.

She feels more at ease leaving someone who can fight at home.

Before leaving, she explained some matters to Jiang, such as not letting outsiders into the village before she came back, and no matter whether they came to pay New Year's greetings or not, they would be stopped outside the village.

She also asked Xie Bai to write a letter to inform her junior master uncle to be ready to rescue her at any time. If she couldn't clear the suspicion of the hot sauce, she might end up in jail.

Finally, Xu Yingtao patted Xie Bai on the shoulder and told him, "You have grown up. You must protect your mother and aunt. It's best if nothing happens. If something happens, don't panic and calm the emotions of the villagers."

Xie Bai's expressionless face rarely showed worry, but in order to reassure his sister-in-law, he nodded and said, "Don't worry, I'm at home."

After finishing her instructions, Xu Yingtao jumped into the carriage.

The group set out early in the morning and did not arrive in Rui'an County until dark when the city gates were closed.

After seeing the county lady's token she held, the guards at the city gate exchanged glances and let her pass, but they still quickly went to report to the county magistrate.

The magistrate of Rui'an County was named He, and at the moment he was troubled by the tragic murder that had occurred in the county.

On the one hand, he was eager to solve the case, but Zhu Shan firmly denied that there was anything wrong with the hot sauce he sold, and the coroner's autopsy results did not find any toxins for the time being.

However, the family of the deceased insisted that it was the hot sauce that was the problem. He claimed that apart from the hot sauce, his diet that day was exactly the same as that of other people in the family, and he was even willing to die to prove it.

On the other hand, County Magistrate He knew very well that if this case was really related to the hot sauce, it would definitely involve Mr. Xu.

The power behind her was so strong that a mere county magistrate like him could never afford to provoke them.

Therefore, he was caught in a dilemma: if it was really found out that the hot sauce was the problem, should he go to Nanxi Village to arrest the person, or help Xu Xiangjun cover it up?

These questions weighed on his heart like mountains, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.

Just then, a yamen runner came hurriedly to report that Xu Xiangjun had entered the city.

When County Magistrate He heard this, he was both surprised and delighted, and immediately prepared to go look for the person.

However, as soon as he walked out of the county government gate, he saw two carriages parked at the door.

Immediately afterwards, Mr. Xu jumped off the carriage by himself.