Daily life of farming and supporting a family on the ancient Loess Plateau

They think their own grandson is a precious gem, while other people's children are just cattle and horses.

The most ridiculous thing about Huang Daopo was that it seemed she was the only one angry about this. Many of the dolls' families, even if they knew the truth, remained indifferent.

Because the Guo family would provide a bushel of grain with each child sent home, the children's parents didn't care about the small wounds on their children's arms. On the contrary, they were secretly pleased to receive the grain. Some even hoped that their children could be taken to the Guo family's residence again to "play."

Huang Daopo was both angry and annoyed, feeling that the world was absurd and ridiculous.

She knew that for someone as wealthy and powerful as Madam Guo, if she wanted, she had plenty of ways to get the parents or families of those dolls to willingly sell them to her, just like when her own daughter was sold by her own father.

So now it's just a little bit of blood, and Madam Guo probably thinks she's already been merciful enough.

In ancient times, nobles and sages would not bow down for five pecks of rice; now, ordinary people bow their heads for a peck of grain. Faced with the choice between filling their stomachs and selling their children, many would choose the former.

She understood the principles and the ways of the world, but Huang Daopo couldn't bear it, she simply couldn't bear it!

In her view, Madam Guo used to bring girls into the mansion as concubines, and now she's using the blood of young children to make blood-soaked buns. What will happen in the future? Will she use young boys and girls to make immortality elixirs?

In the eyes of such powerful people, the lives of insignificant people are not even worth mentioning!

In addition, she only learned this time that the person who suggested to Madam Guo that she use the blood of other babies to dip steamed buns to cure her illness was actually Yuan Banxian!

Oh, Master Yuan, it's no wonder you predicted you'd die at the hands of a woman. Even Huang Daopo is somewhat glad she killed Master Yuan.

But even though Master Yuan was already dead, a casual remark he made convinced Madam Guo to continue her evil deeds!

Granny Huang would grind her teeth in anger whenever she thought about it. However, Madam Guo was not someone who easily trusted people, so gaining her trust was not easy, and opportunities to act were few.

Fortunately, fate gave her a chance. So, while she was performing the ritual, she took the opportunity to make Madam Guo drink a bowl of cinnabar talisman water. She didn't do anything else. If she hadn't had the chance, she wouldn't have wanted it!

She didn't agree with the idea that it's better to live a miserable life than to die a good death! On the contrary, she felt that living a miserable life was more torturous and painful than dying a quick death. Being able to die a quick death was a blessing.

She just wanted to watch quietly as Madam Guo's pride and joy, her beauty and power, gradually faded away, her body slowly collapsed, and she lost her dignity as a human being... At that time, she wondered how much pain Madam Guo would suffer.

However, she later met Guo Bilan, the daughter of Madam Guo, again at the Guo residence.

Guo Bilan's condition seemed to be getting worse, and she looked somewhat like Xiuqin when she was kicked out of the embroidery shop. So she couldn't help but suspect that Guo Bilan might also have the same illness as Xiuqin—hypothyroidism.

However, she lacked Ji Yongling's abilities and could not determine whether Guo Bilan actually had this disease.

Originally, Guo Bilan's illness was none of her business. She wasn't a particularly philanthropist, and besides, Guo Bilan was her enemy and the daughter of Madam Guo. Logically, she wouldn't care.

But she encountered some things and came to some realizations. The sins of Madam Guo should not be borne by her family; she should bear the consequences of her own actions, why involve her children?

Moreover, Guo Bilan was also a distressed woman.

Although the plight of noblewomen and poor women is different, when a woman is sick and unable to have children, she is treated the same as a poor woman from a peasant family: she will be looked down upon by her husband's family.

Fortunately, Guo Bilan's family was powerful and could keep her husband's family in check; otherwise, she probably would have been divorced as well.

In addition, Granny Huang had taken in several more people during her trip to Qingzhou Prefecture, which required a considerable amount of money. She thought that if Ji Yongling could cure Guo Bilan's illness, she would also receive some money for her effective introduction.

So after much deliberation, Huang Daopo recommended Ji Yongling to Guo Bilan, suggesting that she seek his medical advice.

Because she knew Ji Yongling's temperament; she was a tough girl with an underlying sense of pride and an unyielding attitude towards powerful figures.

In that girl's eyes, she could give medicine for free to poor girls who were compatible with her temperament, like Xiuqin. But those who were rich and powerful could not get a single pill from her unless they agreed to her harsh conditions.

If you were to ask her to come to Qingzhou Prefecture to treat Guo Bilan, you would have to use your power to pressure her, offer an extremely high price, or agree to her demanding conditions, just like what Zhao the Rich Man did back then. Otherwise, this girl definitely wouldn't come to Qingzhou Prefecture specifically to treat Guo Bilan.

However, in Huang Daopo's opinion, even the most skilled doctors in the entire Qingzhou Prefecture might not be as good as Ji Yongling. She believed that only Ji Yongling could accurately diagnose Guo Bilan's condition.

Therefore, after careful consideration, she suggested to Madam Guo that Guo Bilan go to Ningping County to seek treatment from Ji Yongling.

But upon hearing this, Madam Guo immediately scoffed and refused. In her eyes, there were only people who fawned over her and sent her gifts; she had never seen anyone she needed to fawn over!

A nobody, a young girl with no talent to speak of, yet she puts on quite a show! She, the wife of a high-ranking official, will not tolerate such a person!

Moreover, recently, one of Guo Bilan's uncles, who was a royal physician, happened to come to Qingzhou Prefecture. This man was quite famous in Jiangnan and had some knowledge of women's diseases. So Guo Bilan stopped taking the prescriptions from other doctors and focused solely on her uncle's prescriptions.

Although Madam Guo did not agree to Huang Daopo's suggestion, Huang Daopo still intended to explain to Ji Yongling in person.

She knew that Ji Yongling had a fiery temper, and that recommending someone to treat a noble person without the girl's permission might anger her and cause trouble.

So after returning from Qingzhou Prefecture, she rested for a while and immediately sent someone to Niujiazhuang to invite Ji Yongling over.

Of course, the reason she invited Ji Yongling over this time was indeed to treat someone, namely her second daughter, Cuiling.

She finally found Cuiling, and she had thought that everything would be alright once she found Cuiling. However, reality dealt her a heavy blow.

She never dreamed that her perfectly healthy daughter would turn out like this.