After being wrongly married, I stabbed my husband to death and became famous throughout the world.

Yao Aning was startled and felt somewhat uneasy.

Lao Quan was a guard of the Ma family and had watched Ma Chengting grow up. Although he was not a servant of the Ma family, he was extremely loyal. He was resourceful and had a wide network of connections. When the marriage was arranged, it was this man who took charge and did a perfect job.

After Yao Aning married into the family, she learned that Ma Chengting rarely asked Lao Quan to take action, and when he did, it was usually for something very important.

But she didn't dare ask any more questions.

“I saw Ali these past two days. Without the torment from that Li family couple, she’s full of energy and even managed to get on good terms with some influential people in the military. People change, and we can’t keep being kind to her forever,” Ma Chengting said, glancing at his wife.

Yao Aning's heart skipped a beat, and she became somewhat nervous: "You mean..."

“Go and discuss with Grandmother about finding the best matchmaker in Ganhe Town,” Ma Chengting added.

Upon hearing this, Yao Aning's face turned pale: "Husband, you..."

"Don't worry, I looked down on her back then, and I still don't look down on her now." Ma Chengting snorted. "They all say I'm arrogant and decide other people's lives, but what if she chose this life herself? Tell the matchmaker to make sure to find her a family with a respectable background. I don't believe that she wouldn't be tempted by such a great benefit."

Yao Aning immediately understood.

The Ma family had many friends, including many wealthy families from Yicheng.

Those families could also find some eligible young men.

On the surface, they are all gentlemen, but in private... well, that's another story.

She breathed a sigh of relief, nodded in agreement, and added, "Ah Li is currently living at her uncle's house. I heard she also has a cousin. If the matchmaker only arranges a marriage for her, I'm afraid her aunt will object. Since we're going to do it anyway, it would be better if both of them were happy."

Ma Chengting glanced at her.

Although Aning is very smart, he felt a little disappointed for some reason.

“You’re right.” Ma Chengting didn’t say anything more.

Yao Aning immediately took action and secretly asked someone for help.

Meanwhile, Li Shu, along with Chen Feiqing, was buying medicinal herbs with Cheng Mian.

The army is known for its generosity, collecting medicinal herbs by the basketful. However, Cheng Mian is very meticulous and knowledgeable about these herbs, so the herbs he receives are undoubtedly of good quality.

Li Shu would always ask about the effects of these medicinal herbs, and if he found any that were suitable, he would buy some.

Cheng Mian brought a considerable number of men with him, leaving some behind in Ganhe Town, so he wasn't worried about any sudden retaliation from bandits.

“You have a good memory. Instead of learning martial arts, you should learn medicine. That way you’ll have a skill.” The longer Cheng Mian spent with Li Shu, the more open he became with her.

"I haven't mastered it," Li Shu refused.

Studying medicine is not easy. Even if you don't have good intentions, you still have to practice on patients. How could she possibly have that kind of patience?

In Cheng Mian's eyes, Li Shu was very smart.

He could remember almost everything he said, and even apply it to other situations. She was quick to react to those herbal medicine merchants, easily figuring out their backgrounds and even finding out a lot of information.

In just a short time outside, Cheng Mian has already been forced to learn about many things from all over the country.

For example, which place experienced a snow disaster in winter, or which place suffered from an earthquake...

She even found out that a Full Moon Cult had emerged in the south...

"Why are you asking so many questions?" Cheng Mian asked, admiring but also puzzled.

"More information is never a bad thing. That traveling merchant just said that the Full Moon Cult is spreading very quickly. In just a few months, it has gained no less than 10,000 followers. With such a large following, it must be very wealthy. Shouldn't we learn from their path to riches?" Li Shu replied earnestly.

"..." Cheng Mian was speechless. "Such evil practices will be eradicated by the imperial court sooner or later."

"Really? If the court were useful, why hasn't there been any action for so long?" Li Shu didn't believe it. "When people realize they can't save themselves, they rely on external things, benefactors, or gods. The fact that this church can develop so quickly proves that those places are rotten to the core. Doctor Cheng, you are from the capital, you must have seen the prosperity of the capital. What is the capital like?"

Cheng Mian was silent for a moment: "It's... a bit worse than here."

Li Shu was somewhat surprised: "No fighting, no bandits, isn't peace and stability a good thing?"

Cheng Mian didn't know what to say.

"The atmosphere is bad." In the end, he simply said that.

After thinking about it, Li Shu understood what he meant.

Cheng Mian comes from a good family; his family must all be officials. But I've heard that the emperor of the Great Zhou is very young, and the empress dowager and the regent ministers are overseeing the country, so things are definitely not very stable.

Such important matters are indeed not something someone like her should care about.

She's only asking these questions for her own safety.

She had very few ways to make money, while these traveling merchants were well-informed, and by listening to their information, she could find something of value in them.

For example, some of these traveling merchants who have sold medicinal herbs and earned money will not choose to leave empty-handed. Instead, they will buy suitable goods locally and transport them to other places to earn the price difference.

After taking the time to observe the situation of various local merchants, Li Shu observed the situation of them.

A less common herb has been discovered, and its price is slowly increasing.

The military did not purchase these medicinal herbs.

She had never seen this before, and it wasn't mentioned in any herbal medicine books. She just wanted to make a profit, so after some consideration, she took out all the silver from her warhorse while the price wasn't too high and used it all to buy this black feather grass and put it into her spatial storage.

She felt that after a few days, when these traveling merchants had sold all their medicinal herbs, the price of the black feather grass might rise a little.

The key is to sell the black feather grass before most of the traveling merchants leave.

Li Shu waited for several days.

Sure enough, after the military's procurement of medicinal herbs ended, the price of black feather grass skyrocketed.

Li Shu thought it would be good if her batch of herbs could increase from 200 taels to 250 taels, but she didn't expect that the price would increase more than three times!

She bought the black feather grass for two hundred taels of silver and eventually sold it for nearly seven hundred taels of silver!

Li Shu was also somewhat shocked and began to wonder what the purpose of this thing was.

When Cheng Mian was less busy, Li Shu brought the item to him.

"This stuff is used by the barbarian bandits outside the Great Wall when they treat illnesses and injuries. It can temporarily numb some pain, but it shouldn't be used too often. We also have this in our border town, but the production is not high, and the herbs used in the army are better than this, so we used it instead," Cheng Mian explained to her without hesitation.

"What if it's used to make medicine? It might make people feel... blissful, like they're in a dream?" Li Shu asked immediately.

She heard a lot about the Full Moon Cult from the traveling merchants, who said that the Full Moon Cult could free people from suffering... Such words were mostly nonsense. If there really was such a method, it was more likely that it used various drugs and spices.

And this black feather grass... could it be one of the raw materials?

That's why prices suddenly increased?

Merchants are profit-driven and will not fixate on one thing for long; they must have something in mind.

Li Shu's feelings were quite complicated. If that was the case, then she had made a lot of dirty money this time. Of course, as a heartless person, she didn't feel too guilty. She just felt that there were quite a few people in the world as immoral as her. In fact, compared with others, she was far inferior!

Li Shu felt the situation was somewhat serious.

Because, not long after she made a profit, the price dropped again, as there was a lot more black feather grass on the market.

But Cheng Mian clearly said that the border town doesn't produce much of this stuff.