The next day, at the crack of dawn, Jin Shanyao escorted Meng Anci to the academy, and then took Meng Anzhi to the Second Estate.
The door knocker clicked, and after a short while, Wu Yong opened the door from the inside. "Master, you've arrived."
Jin Shanyao tossed him the ox rope, saying, "Remove the wooden saddle and let the ox roam freely."
Wu Yong responded, and although he didn't understand the way the master raised cattle, he still did it.
Jin Shanyao her gaze around the courtyard; it was clean and tidy, without even a fallen leaf.
Looking at the row of servants standing under the eaves, he couldn't help but laugh. "Let's go, I'll take you all to see Hat Mountain."
Last night, Qing He gave them a general overview of the family situation. They were very curious about their new mistress—what kind of woman could raise two children on her own and still build up this family business?
Jin Shanyao didn't care about their stares; stepping out of the back gate of the manor led to Hat Mountain.
"This is our mountain. You should plant medicinal herbs at the foot of the mountain, but remember not to go deep into the mountains, lest you lose your way and lose your life."
The crowd agreed!
At the Hat Mountain, angelica dahurica, atractylodes macrocephala, poria cocos, etc., are grown...
Grown halfway up the mountain, it contains Schisandra chinensis, licorice, Fritillaria cirrhosa, etc...
As for precious medicinal herbs such as Ganoderma lucidum, ginseng, and Phellinus linteus, they are all planted on the mountaintop and managed by Xie Chao.
Not only that, Jin Shanyao also had Xie Chao cultivate various precious mushrooms such as monkey head mushrooms and matsutake mushrooms.
Xie Chao felt he was being bullied by his colleagues and wanted to fight back, but he was not strong enough.
He lived on Hat Mountain for a hundred years, leading a life of working from dawn till dusk!
After Jin Shanyao led everyone to familiarize themselves with the environment, Meng Anzhi provided hands-on instruction, teaching them to identify medicinal herbs, dig them up, and then bring them to the estate to dry...
Time flies, and autumn is growing stronger.
The people on the estate were already well-versed in all kinds of medicinal herbs, and since they didn't live with their masters and had no worries about food and drink, they had all gained some weight.
That day, as soon as Anzhi Hall opened its doors, four or five little beggars blocked the entrance, and a slightly older boy mustered up his courage and went forward.
His eyes were timid, and his tone was pleading, "Life God, please save my sister, she's dying."
Jin Shanyao her head and thought the child was fine, but her eyesight wasn't very good. She was a Daoist immortal, how could she look like a Bodhisattva?
What happened to your sister?
The boy quickly turned around and pointed to the other side of the street, where a seven or eight-year-old girl was lying, and next to her was a blind old woman.
The boy nervously clutched the hem of his clothes, looking up at the Jin Shanyao with his dirty little face, "Everyone says Anzhi Hall is offering free medical consultations on the first day of the tenth lunar month, and today... today... it happens to be the first day of the tenth lunar month."
Jin Shanyao and said, "Yes, the date is correct! Wait for me a moment." Hearing her say that, the boy was first relieved, but then worried that she wouldn't come out.
His gaze followed the Jin Shanyao into the shop, and soon a girl in red came out carrying a medicine box. The boy stared at her, completely mesmerized.
The disparity in clothing, appearance, and mannerisms among his peers created a strong sense of oppression, making him feel extremely uncomfortable and lacking even the courage to glance at them.
The boy instinctively tried to cover the hole in his clothes and hide his shoes with exposed toes behind him, but both shoes were torn and couldn't be hidden at all, making him blush with embarrassment.
Meng Anzhi, "Let's go... take me to see it."
The boy looked shocked. "You're a doctor?!"
Meng Anzhi scrutinized him carefully. "Are you from out of town?"
She treated all the beggars in Qingzhou Prefecture and would always greet them warmly when they met on the road, but this boy just didn't recognize her.
The boy pursed his lips. "I fled from the south."
Meng Anzhi nodded, picked up her medicine box, and came to the girl. The blind old woman heard someone approaching and took her granddaughter's hand.
He asked anxiously, "Is he a doctor? Is he a doctor?"
"Don't be nervous, I'm a doctor..." The blind old woman was filled with anxiety upon hearing a child's voice, but she only felt at ease when a clear female voice rang out.
"How about it?"
Meng Anzhi withdrew her hand and Jin Shanyao for a while. "Two ailments: one is a cold, and the other is weakness caused by hunger."
After the follow-up examination, Jin Shanyao nodded, "The diagnosis is correct. Take a look at him too."
When the boy heard that he was being mentioned, he instinctively hid his dirty hands behind his back. "I'm fine, you don't need to look."
"Let's take a look anyway," Meng Anzhi gestured for the boy to hold out his hand.
The boy hesitated for a long time before finally giving up; he felt utterly terrible.
I should have washed myself more thoroughly before coming; I look terrible now.
After carefully taking her pulse, Meng Anzhi Jin Shanyao, "Indigestion; she probably hasn't had a bowel movement for several days."
Boom! The boy was so ashamed he wanted to disappear into the ground.
What did you eat?
After receiving no response for a long time, Meng Anzhi's tone became slightly harsher, "If you don't tell me, your stomach might rot."
Upon hearing about the rotten stomach, the blind old woman shouted into the air, "Speak! What have you been eating these past two days... cough cough cough!" Overwhelmed with emotion, the blind old woman couldn't stop coughing.
"I... I ate tree roots and clay..." The boy finished speaking... and there was a moment of silence.
The blind old woman burst into tears, crying, "It's my fault, I've dragged you all down!"
Jin Shanyao, " Anzhi, go to the kitchen and bring back the leftover porridge and steamed buns from this morning. Also, have Qing He cook a bowl of medicine to relieve constipation and replenish Qi and Blood."
Meng Anzhi responded and left with her medicine box.
When she came out with the food a moment later, she saw her aunt sitting cross-legged opposite the blind woman, the two of them chatting about something.
"Auntie," she said, placing the tray on the ground and helping the girl up while feeding her the porridge little by little.
The boy offered to help, but Meng Anzhi stopped him, saying, "Drink the medicine when it's ready, then find a latrine to squat in... you'll be fine in an hour."
The warm porridge went down into her stomach, and the girl regained some strength, weakly thanking him.
Meng Anzhi smiled but didn't say anything. She stuffed the bun into the blind old woman's mouth. The blind old woman said thank you and then couldn't wait to stuff the bun into her mouth.
The boy standing nearby couldn't help but swallow hard.
Meng Anzhi, "I'll give it to you when your stomach is empty."
The boy blushed and remained silent.
The blind old woman had just finished eating her steamed bun when another one appeared in her hand. She didn't eat it, but instead stuffed it into her bosom.
Jin Shanyao all the buns from the plate into the blind old woman's hands.
"Your son was wrongfully imprisoned, is nobody going to do anything about it?"
The blind old woman cursed angrily and continued the previous topic, "The county government couldn't catch the bandits, so they convicted my son and confiscated all my houses and land."
My son taught his whole life, but he couldn't bear this injustice and hanged himself in jail that very day. My daughter-in-law...
The blind old woman choked back tears for a long time, "After my daughter-in-law finished collecting the body, she also went to the afterlife. My family of three, the old and the young, begged our way to Qingzhou Prefecture to seek refuge with my nephew, but my nephew had already moved away from Qingzhou Prefecture and disappeared without a trace."
Qing He came over carrying two bowls of medicine. "Master, the medicine is ready. The one on the left is for the girl."
Jin Shanyao up the left side of the medicine and fed it to the girl little by little, while urging the boy to drink the medicine quickly!
Meng Anzhi squatted down beside the blind old woman and took her pulse. The three women had similar symptoms, but the blind old woman had a weak heart and needed to be more careful.
Qing He put away the medicine bowl and, as she left, heard the blind old woman say, "My family and I had nowhere to go, so we huddled in a street corner begging."