The aroma of cooking filled the house: I sent my eldest brother to become the Grand Secretary.

Seeing that Shen Yu'an had invited the people into Wan'an Hall, the shopkeeper thought that he probably wouldn't be able to do business today, so he closed the door of Wan'an Hall.

In the lobby, Shen Cao surveyed the layout of Wan'an Hall. In the center was a black counter, behind which was a brownish-red Chinese medicine cabinet. The strong smell of Chinese medicine filled the air as soon as she entered. This Chinese medicine cabinet was not unfamiliar to Shen Cao; it was not much different from the pharmacies in her previous life.

On the left side of the lobby, there was a consultation table, which was presumably the area where the resident doctor would conduct consultations. It was separated by a large screen, creating a relatively private area.

There is a small door on each side of the medicine cabinet, behind which is the backyard, which should be the area used for making medicine, decocting medicine, and living.

The interior of Wan'an Hall is not as bustling as it appears from the outside; instead, it exudes a rustic charm.

Shen Yu'an walked up to Shen Cao and bowed again to express his gratitude. "Thank you for your help today, young lady, which allowed Wan'an Hall to preserve its reputation. I thank you again!" His attitude was not dismissive because of Shen Cao's young age and plain clothes; on the contrary, he was very respectful.

Shen Cao looked Shen Yu'an over carefully again. Dressed in white, with a handsome face and holding a jade fan, he was a dashing young man. "You're too kind. It was just a small favor."

"By the way, I am so grateful for your help, yet I still do not know your name. I apologize for my rudeness."

Shen Cao looked at her father, and seeing him nod, she then said her name, "Shen Cao. The grass from the plains."

"I never expected it to be a relative. I wonder where they come from."

“We’re from here.” Before Shen Cao could answer, Shen’s father spoke first, “Our ancestors have lived in Xin’an County for generations.” Shen’s father added.

Didn't her family move here later? Her father was lying. Shen Cao looked at her father suspiciously, but didn't say anything.

"Oh," Shen Yu'an said regretfully.

Zhang Dayong, sitting in the corner, was very nervous. He didn't know why the young master of the Shen family had kept him there. The matter had already been exposed, but the young master of the Shen family hadn't sent him to the authorities. He was afraid that the young master of the Shen family would punish him even more severely than by going to the authorities.

Shen Yu'an walked up to Zhang Dayong, and the shopkeeper immediately brought him a chair. Shen Yu'an dusted off imaginary dust and sat down.

Zhang Dayong saw Shen Yu'an stop in front of him, and before Shen Yu'an could speak, he was so frightened that he knelt down in front of Shen Yu'an.

"Young Master Shen, spare my life!"

Shen Yu'an flung his jade-bone fan aside and fanned himself with it. "Tell me, who instructed you to do this today?"

After listening to Shen Yu'an's words, Zhang Dayong recounted the whole story.

It turns out that today's events were a setup by the manager of Huichuntang.

The manager of Huichuntang gave him one hundred taels of silver and told him to cause trouble at Wan'antang.

That day, his father passed away, and he originally planned to give his father a proper funeral and burial. However, he did not expect that when the manager of Huichuntang, who happened to be passing by, heard that his father had been drinking medicine bought from Wan'antang for the past few days, he gave him one hundred taels of silver and told him to come here and make a scene.

Several times today, it was the manager of Huichuntang who came up with the idea to deliberately provoke everyone's emotions in order to completely ruin Wan'antang's reputation.

It turns out that Wan'antang only opened a branch in Xin'an County this year. Not only is it located on the most bustling street in Xin'an County, but it also occupies a larger area than Huichuntang.

When Wan'antang arrived, it became the largest pharmacy in the area, taking the top spot that Huichuntang had previously held, which made Huichuntang eye on it.

Later, because Wan'antang sold medicine of good quality and low price, people were willing to buy medicine there, which caused Huichuntang's business to plummet, leading to what happened today.

"Alright, shopkeeper, did you hear me? Take him to the government office." Shen Yu'an turned around and gave the shopkeeper the order.

"This..." Before Zhang Dayong could react, he had already been carried out by the servants, without any chance to refute.

"Pfft!" Shen Cao laughed. "Zhang Dayong thought you would let him go."

"Releasing such an unfilial person would only tarnish my reputation," Shen Yu'an said, shaking his jade-bone fan again.

"I forgot to ask earlier, what brings you two to Wan'an Hall today?"

Shen Cao patted his head. "Right, how could I forget the important thing?"

"My father and I came to Wan'an Hall today to sell medicinal herbs, but we don't know if Wan'an Hall is still doing business now?"

"Selling medicinal herbs?"

Shen Cao quickly took out the ginseng she had picked.

Shen Yu'an was surprised to find that the two were there to sell medicinal herbs. He stared at Shen Cao and watched as she carefully took out a package and peeled off the layers of wrapping. A plump, white ginseng root was revealed, which truly startled him.

Although he often saw precious medicinal herbs, this was the first time he had ever seen ginseng that could be described as robust.

"Miss Shen Cao's gift is actually a ginseng that's over a hundred years old." Shen Yu'an was also very happy; now his grandmother's birthday gift was secured.

"Hundreds of years? I thought it would be fifty years at most."

"Sigh! Such a thick one is only fifty years old, it can probably only be Codonopsis pilosula."

“This century-old ginseng is already rare, and yours is of such good quality. If it were in the capital, it would probably be worth at least a thousand taels of silver.”

Upon hearing Shen Yu'an's words, Shen Cao knew that he hadn't finished speaking, so he said, "Young Master Shen, we are currently in Xin'an County, which is a long way from the capital. Let's set the price according to the local prices."

Shen Yu'an was pleasantly surprised, "You're a straightforward girl, so I'll give you three hundred taels of silver for this ginseng."

"Deal!" It was much more than Shen Cao had expected. The price Shen Yu'an gave her was already very good compared to the previous two pharmacies.

Good things need a good market to sell at a good price, and having a good market requires connections. Otherwise, even if you have a century-old ginseng, you can only sell it for the price of a herb.

The two pharmacies in front of her took advantage of Shen Cao, a peasant girl, because she didn't understand the market and had no opportunity to access good markets. That's why they gave her a low price. They thought that even if Shen Cao had good products, she definitely wouldn't be able to sell them and would eventually have to go back to their pharmacies to sell them.

Seeing that Shen Cao accepted his offer without any haggling, Shen Yu'an couldn't help but look at Shen Cao with new respect. This girl was not only smart enough, but also very good at judging the situation.

"Miss Shen, if you have any good medicinal herbs to sell at Wan'an Hall in the future, my Shen family will definitely give you a good price," Shen Yu'an promised.

"Okay." This is probably the first and last time I'll come to Wan'an Hall to sell medicinal herbs.

Shen Cao wasn't good at medicine, and now that she had money, her goal was to make money through cooking. She would deal with the medicinal herbs later if she came across them.

Without offering further explanation, she took the silver note and went with her father to the money exchange, where they withdrew fifty taels of silver.