After being reborn as a man, the woman improved her family's fortunes through education.

I originally thought I was following a great scholar who was powerless, but now I realize that he is a divine person who can bring peace to the world with his pen and conquer the world on horseback.

No wonder the Emperor is still not giving up and sends lavish gifts every year during festivals.

Jiang Xiaoqi's initial judgment was correct; Ouyang Zheng did indeed have an internal ailment, a lingering illness from his campaigns in the previous dynasty.

That man, a civil official who fought on all fronts, exhausted his life's blood, yet still couldn't stop the collapse of the empire.

The previous dynasty was besieged on all sides and its fate was sealed. After the establishment of the new dynasty, Yunqing Mountain became its final resting place.

The once carefree and unrestrained person has grown old in the fleeting years spent in the mountains.

As summer turns to autumn, the fallen leaves in the bamboo forest carpet the ground, making a "crunching" sound every time you walk by.

"Afei, what are you up to now?"

Now, Li Haisheng and Jiang Xiaoqi have become extremely familiar with each other through thick and thin, and their address has changed from "Junior Brother" to "Afei".

"I just picked these herbs and processed them. I'm still missing two ingredients for the medicine I prepared for Master. I'd like to go somewhere far away in a couple of days. Would you like to come with me, Senior Brother?"

"Hey, hey, hey, you're not going to sneak into the mountains again, are you? Have you forgotten how furious Master was last time? I dare not go, and you're not allowed to go either!"

"If you dare to go, I'll go tell Master right now!"

"Senior brother, I should have known better than to tell you. I would have gone by myself anyway, since you couldn't have stopped me."

"Hey, you kid!"

Li Haisheng was also helpless. This kid had only been practicing his master's unique lightness skill for a short time, yet he had made faster progress than Li Haisheng, who had been practicing for several years.

At first, his junior brother was chasing him, but now it's the other way around—it's outrageous!

"Alright, I was just kidding. I'm not going. If it really doesn't work out, let Wenbin and the others drive the bus, and we'll go to the county town."

"Even in our county town, they might not have it. We'd have to go to bigger places. There are only two pharmacies in the county town, and if it's a rare and precious medicinal herb, they basically won't send it to such a remote area."

After all, there are few wealthy people here, so even if you have good medicine, there's not much of a market for it.

"Then, in your opinion, where should we go?"

"Unless we go to the prefectural city, there is a pharmacy there that is a branch of the largest pharmacy in the capital. The chances are probably higher there."

"Alright, but it will take quite a while to go and come back. We should ask Master's opinion first."

"Yes, of course. But we've both been doing quite well with our studies lately, so Master probably won't stop us from going out on this trip."

Li Haisheng said this because his junior brother had brought him and his master far too many shocks.

I originally intended to start by teaching him horse stance, but I never expected that this guy would be proficient in all kinds of martial arts, including swordsmanship, knife skills, and fist techniques.

Fine, I'll skip that step and learn Master's unique lightness skill with my senior brother who's twice my age.

It would have been better if he hadn't studied it at all, but once he did, he discovered that this person's learning ability was terrifyingly strong, and his physical foundation was also excellent. What others take three or four years to fully comprehend, this kid can do in three or four months.

How infuriating! Absolutely infuriating!

If it weren't for all that delicious food, Li Haisheng felt he might have actually become jealous, but for now, he'll just have to hold back!

The two arrived at their master's room together, and just as they were about to knock, the door opened from the inside.

"Want to go to the prefectural city?"

"Uh!" Jiang Xiaoqi suspected that his master also had super hearing, otherwise how could his master have heard him and his senior brother talking in the kitchen?

"If you want to go, you can, but I will go with you."

"Master, you're coming with us to the prefectural city? Am I hallucinating? Master, you never leave the town, do you?"

Li Haisheng was extremely surprised. He had been a disciple for five or six years, following his master since he was less than ten years old. Now he was almost fourteen, and he had never seen his master go to a place farther than the town.

"Enough with the nonsense! Let's go tomorrow morning, borrow Mingfei's carriage, and go together!"

"Oh, yes, the student will go down the mountain now and have Wenbin and the others bring the car to the foot of the mountain. We'll set off directly tomorrow morning."

As Jiang Xiaoqi left the room, she didn't forget to drag her still-stunned senior brother out as well.

"Senior brother, will you come down the mountain with me?"

"Huh? Oh, down, down the mountain."

After Jiang Xiaoqi and Li Haisheng descended the mountain, they informed their three subordinates that they would be going to the prefectural city together the next day, so that the three could make preparations.

After all, the journey is not short, and it would take seven or eight days to go round trip if everything goes smoothly. Since the three of them are going together, they definitely need to bring a change of clothes.

The three were delighted to hear this. It had been a long time since they had gone out with their young master, and they were naturally happy to be able to spend seven or eight days with him.

Seeing Jiang Xiaoqi interacting with his servants and attendants in this way, Li Haisheng's opinion of wealthy young masters changed once again.

To have such sincere followers, one must treat subordinates extremely well.

The next morning, Jiang Xiaoqi and Wen Bin rode in the same car, with Li Mo driving.

Ouyang Zheng and his apprentice rode together in one carriage, driven by A Niu.

The two cars set off from the foot of Yunqing Mountain, one after the other.

While Jiang Xiaoqi inquired about Wenbin and Li Mo's recent situation, Li Haisheng occasionally stole glances at his master, who rarely came out of the mountains.

The journey indeed took three days, which shows how remote Yunqing Mountain is.

Upon arriving in the prefectural city, Li Haisheng was dazzled by the towering city walls and the exquisitely decorated shops and restaurants.

Jiang Xiaoqi and her three servants didn't find it particularly novel, after all, they had already traveled through many prosperous cities, both large and small.

For them, this prefecture was not much different from the previous Jiangzhou, Yunzhou, and Puzhou, except that it was closer to the sea.

The air here is more humid, and surprisingly, many of the street vendors in the prefectural city still sell seafood.

Looking at the lively shrimp and crabs, Jiang Xiaoqi had already come up with a whole page of recipes in her mind.

Deep-fried shrimp, salt-baked shrimp, Longjing shrimp, crystal shrimp dumplings, spicy crab, steamed crab, seafood in dipping sauce, garlic scallops, grilled oysters...

Li Haisheng wasn't particularly interested in seafood, since he lived right by the sea and never lacked fresh fish and shrimp.

Even in years of famine when there is no food or water, one can still find some seafood in the sea to stave off hunger. Although poor, no one will starve to death.

Ouyang Zheng had A Niu stop the carriage in front of an inn so that the group could rest for a while, but he himself left the inn and disappeared without a trace.

"Master is very strange."

"Oh? Why do you say that, Senior Brother?" Jiang Xiaoqi asked knowingly.

Li Haisheng knew that his junior brother was pretending to be stupid again, but he wasn't angry: "You're asking a question you already know the answer to. I don't believe you didn't realize that this isn't the first time Master has come to the prefectural city!"

"Oh, so what?"

Master has his own reasons for coming to the city. Since Master doesn't want to say, he must have his concerns. Senior brother, wouldn't it be better if we just pretend we don't know?

"Isn't it tiring to ask every question so thoroughly?"

Jiang Xiaoqi yawned widely, went back to the room she had just booked, and didn't come out again.

"Wenbin, you pretend to be me and lie down on the bed. Li Mo, you and A Niu guard the door. Don't open the door for anyone. Just say I'm sleeping."

"Young Master, are you going out?"

"Okay, don't worry, I'll be back as soon as possible!"

After saying that, she changed into a light and inconspicuous outfit, and then styled her hair into a bun, wrapped in a cloth, which was neat and convenient.

He pushed open the window on the side of the room, jumped down, and landed in the dark alley.