She's skilled in medicine, martial arts, and even understands animal language—the abandoned dau

"Lord Qingyang, who is he? Why is he making such a grand entrance? He's just passing through Qiufeng Town, why can't people leave the city?" Shen Man asked curiously after hearing what Doctor Yu said.

She remembered that when she was born, her birth mother seemed to have mentioned that her father was some kind of marquis.

She abandoned herself and took a son back to raise in exchange for her own child, so that her child could inherit his marquis title.

She didn't know if this Marquis of Qingyang was the same person as her father.

Doctor Yu knew something about this Marquis Qingyang. When Shen Man asked about it, he immediately told her, "Marquis Qingyang is a famous war god in our Chiyan Kingdom. In recent years, thanks to him guarding the border, those Qi Rong people have not dared to invade."

"What if those Qi Rong people attack again after he leaves?" Shen Man asked with some concern.

Doctor Yu laughed and said, "Don't worry, this time Marquis Qingyang has completely driven them back to their homeland and forced them to sign a ceasefire agreement. We don't know what will happen in the future, but at least for the next three to five years, there should be no more war."

Shen Man nodded, feeling slightly relieved. However, she still found this Marquis Qingyang very mysterious, making her want to explore his story.

At this moment, Lanxiang interjected, "Man'er, you don't know, Marquis Qingyang is a highly respected figure in the Chiyan Kingdom. He not only has outstanding military achievements, but he is also very upright and never uses his status to oppress others. He is very popular among the people."

"I never imagined that Marquis Qingyang was such a remarkable person. I would love to have the chance to meet him," Shen Man said softly, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.

"No, if you see him, it means there's been another war on the border, and who knows how many more people will have died. Let's just forget about it!" Doctor Yu chuckled. "By the way, little girl, you've gathered all the herbs we needed. We're really sorry we didn't come at the agreed time this time!"

"It's alright, Dr. Yu." Shen Man nodded understandingly. "I know you were delayed because of something. I've already prepared those medicinal herbs, I'll go get them now."

With that, Shen Man and her daughter Lanxiang turned and went into the house.

A short while later, a person came out carrying a large bag of medicinal herbs.

Doctor Yu took the herbs, examined them carefully, and nodded in satisfaction: "Excellent, these herbs are all very fresh. Especially this purple salvia miltiorrhiza, both its appearance and age are excellent. There happens to be a stroke patient in the clinic who is waiting for it to save his life. Little one, you've been a great help to me!"

"Haha, I'm so glad I could help you." Shen Man smiled. "Dr. Yu, your medical skills are superb, you will definitely be able to cure him."

“You little rascal… I’m not confident I can cure him either, but I’ll do my best. Shun’er, weigh these herbs and settle the bill for them,” Doctor Yu said gratefully.

Shun'er is the servant who brought Shen Man the herbal medicine list last time.

He deftly retrieved a scale from the carriage, skillfully weighed the items, and counted the results.

"Master, what price should we pay for this purple ginseng?"

Shun'er had never seen such good purple salvia miltiorrhiza before and didn't know what price to offer.

"Let's charge one tael of silver for every five taels!"

"Five taels of silver?!" Lanxiang was so excited upon hearing this that she almost jumped up.

"Yes, this purple ginseng is top-quality. As I said, you won't be shortchanged if the medicinal herbs are good," Doctor Yu nodded and said.

This purple ginseng must weigh at least eight ounces, if not a pound. If we calculate it at five ounces of silver per ounce, this purple ginseng alone could sell for forty or fifty ounces of silver.

You have to understand, forty or fifty taels of silver is a huge sum of money for farmers like Lanxiang who make a living from the soil. It would be enough for her and Shen Man to live a life free from worries about food and clothing for many years.

Shen Man wasn't very familiar with the prices of goods in this era, so she appeared much calmer than Lan Xiang.

Soon, the servant named Shun'er weighed all the medicinal herbs and calculated the payment.

"These medicinal herbs weigh a total of fifty-two catties. According to our clinic's normal purchase price, we need to pay you eighty-five taels of silver. Calculate it and see if it's correct?"

Shen Man knew that Lanxiang was illiterate and couldn't do math. She was still young and didn't want to reveal too much about her unusual side to outsiders.

Therefore, she said to the servant, "I trust Brother Shun'er, you definitely can't have made a mistake."

Upon hearing this, Shun'er smiled and looked at Shen Man, growing even more fond of the little girl.

He took out eight ten-tael silver notes and five taels of loose silver from the money box and handed them to Lanxiang.

"Big sister, count them and see if the number is right." Lanxiang stroked the silver notes repeatedly with her hands, beaming with joy.

"Thank you, Brother Shun. No need to count anymore, it's definitely correct." Shen Man tugged at Lanxiang's sleeve, indicating that she could put the silver notes away.

After the money and goods were exchanged, Doctor Yu had to hurry back to see the patients at his clinic, so he didn't stay in Xiaoyao Village for long. After saying goodbye to Lanxiang and her daughter, he got into his carriage and left.

Back inside, Lanxiang clutched the silver notes tightly, as if afraid they would grow wings and fly away.

"Man'er, pinch your mother quickly, see if she's dreaming!"

"Mother, it's true! We'll never have to live a hard life again!" Shen Man looked at Lanxiang's appearance and felt both amused and heartbroken.

Lanxiang gradually came to her senses. She stuffed the silver notes under her pillow, then cupped Shen Man's face in her hands, looking at her from left to right, tears streaming down her face.

“My Man’er has grown up, become sensible, and is capable... I have lived for so many years and have never seen so much silver…” Lanxiang recalled the hardships of the past and was filled with emotion.

Shen Man raised her hand and gently wiped away Lanxiang's tears, comforting her, "Mother, don't cry. Our lives will get better and better from now on."

Lanxiang nodded repeatedly, her eyes filled with anticipation for the future.

"Mother, there's something I want to discuss with you," Shen Man said to Lanxiang after she had calmed down.

"What is it, Man'er? Tell me!"

"Mother, I think we should keep the money from the purple ginseng. As for the rest, let's give it to Uncle Changsheng and his two brothers!"

"Give them thirty-five taels? Man'er, isn't that a bit too much? Last night, I could have lost all the money our family has saved over the years."

"Then Mother, what do you think is an appropriate amount? They trust us so much, and when other villagers caused trouble, they stood by our side. I don't think we should pay them based on the number of days they work; they've collected far more herbs than the others!"

“Man’er, what you said makes sense. We can’t treat them the same as those villagers. But we can’t give them too much money either, giving them the illusion that these medicinal herbs can be sold for a sky-high price… How about we give them fifteen taels, five taels each, that’s easy to divide!” Lanxiang said after thinking for a moment. “After all, they’ve had a hard life, and they really helped us a lot this time.”

Shen Man nodded in agreement, "Then we'll do as Mother says. After we finish eating, we'll go to the village head's house and give them the money."

After finishing their meal, Shen Man and Lan Xiang went to the village head's house.

The three Changsheng brothers happened to be in the courtyard, working and chatting with the village head. When they saw them coming, they quickly put down their work and went to greet them.

Lanxiang explained her purpose, "Brother Changsheng, today Doctor Yu from the clinic came in person and took away all the herbs we picked. Man'er and I discussed it and decided to pay you according to the weight of the herbs you picked. Here is your fifteen taels of silver."

"How much? Fifteen taels?" Upon hearing this, the three Changsheng brothers were so shocked that their mouths could fit a duck egg.

"Yes, Uncle Changsheng, please accept the money quickly, and buy some good food for Shuan'er later!"

Shuan'er is Changsheng's youngest son, half a year younger than Shen Man, and he likes to follow her around.

"Lanxiang, this is too much! We've only been on the mountain for seven days..."

Shen Man smiled and said, "Uncle Changsheng, please don't refuse. This is what you deserve. Without your help in gathering herbs, we wouldn't have been able to earn this money so easily."

As the saying goes, there are no secrets that stay hidden forever; news travels faster than a bird can fly!

Before long, the news that Lanxiang had sold the herbs and given a large sum of money to the three Changsheng brothers spread throughout Xiaoyao Village.

This commotion made the villagers restless, and they all rushed to the village head's house to ask Lanxiang if she had really distributed money to them.

Changsheng was honest and told everyone that gathering herbs could indeed earn some money, but it was not as exaggerated as the rumors made it out to be.

Well, that's it. The group of people who forced Lanxiang to pay her wages last night were furious when they heard this news.