Since the government posted the notice, people no longer dared to openly buy talismans. Each village sent one or two representatives, and each street had a shopkeeper.
Although there was no queue, they still sold every single talisman.
Qing He returned from outside, holding an umbrella, complaining, "The vegetables are getting more and more expensive every day. I just bought a few eggplants and it cost me five coins..."
Jin Shanyao as she saw off the last customer, then chuckled, "Don't we still have some in our backyard? Why go out to buy more?"
"I don't expect our own produce to last; we can dry it in the fall, or eat it when we really have no other vegetables..."
Qing He, carrying a vegetable basket, approached Jin Shanyao's side.
"Master... I noticed that Lord Zhu has filled in the potholes in front of our house and added two more constables to patrol. Is he trying to find a new way to keep an eye on us?"
Jin Shanyao chuckled, "Silly girl... He's so busy all day, he doesn't have time to keep an eye on us."
Qing He thought for a moment, "That's true, it's already August... Large-scale crop failures in Qingzhou Prefecture have caused grain prices to skyrocket, it's going to be tough for him..."
After saying this, she slung her basket over her shoulder and returned to the backyard. Jin Shanyao glanced at the sweltering heat outside the shop, then got up and went to the pharmacy...
Seeing her come in, Meng Anzhi quickly said, "Auntie... you've come at the right time, come and see the cooling balm I made."
Jin Shanyao over a chair and sat opposite her. Seeing the greenish lump in the bowl, she asked, "What's this made of???"
"Mint, licorice, honeysuckle... I added borneol to this bowl," she said, scooping out a piece and spreading it on the back of Jin Shanyao, feeling a cool breeze emanating from it.
Jin Shanyao and said, "Not bad, it even has an anti-itch effect."
Meng Anzhi handed her the prescription, "Auntie, how about we make and sell this ointment?"
"Of course you can... but this year's harvest was poor, and people don't have any spare money, so I'm afraid your ointment won't make you any money."
Meng Anzhi stirred the ointment in the bowl, scooped out a piece and applied it to Jin Shanyao's temples. "I'll set the price lower: three copper coins a bottle for the regular kind, and eight copper coins a bottle for the one with borneol."
A few days ago, she went to West Street for a free clinic and found many people sleeping under the shade of the outdoor shelters with large patches of red rashes on the back of their necks. The adults were okay, but the newborns were suffering terribly.
This ointment can relieve the heat somewhat, but the herbs on the mountain have also been affected by the weather, and this year's harvest is not expected to be very good.
Jin Shanyao placed the prescription on the table. "The prescription is fine. Tomorrow, go to the estate and have Wu Yong lead everyone to prepare it..."
Meng Anzhi received approval and smiled, giving a soft "Yes."
evening.
The Jin Shanyao its Spiritual Power, arrived at the mass grave and found three ghosts. "You've done well. Ghost One has already qualified to be reincarnated in the Underworld. Ghost Two and Ghost Three, you'll have to wait a little longer."
After she finished speaking, she looked at Ghost One and asked, "Have you thought it through? When are you going to be reincarnated?"
Ghost Two and Ghost Three looked at her at the same time, thinking, "You'd better leave quickly and leave the chance to accumulate Merit to them." But the next moment, the two ghosts were dumbfounded.
Ghost One gazed at Tang Qiao with deep affection, "Boss... I want to be reincarnated with Tang Qiao."
Jin Shanyao was surprised. Last time, he had kicked the man away, and now, after such a short time, he wanted to go to the Underworld with him. " Ghost One, if you go with Tang Qiao, you can only be reborn as Animal Realm."
"I know... I can wait. I want to follow the boss and scare away bad guys for a few more years, accumulate enough Merit so I can take Tang Qiao with me."
Ghost Two and Ghost Three collapsed to the ground with a thud. You're something else... You're amazing, you've blocked all the ghosts' paths.
Jin Shanyao silently watched her. Ghost One seeing her like this, the ghost's soul floated in the air, spun around, and landed completely charred black.
Even his eyeballs are gone, leaving only a mouthful of big white teeth.
"Master... I don't know how long I've been dead, the days and months have passed, but I can never forget how I died."
My name is Tian Yingying, and I am the village head of Tian Family Village.
The Tian Family Village had been making porcelain for generations. Their skill in this craft caught the eye of the imperial court, and their porcelain became tribute to the emperor. That year, for the Empress Dowager's birthday, the government commissioned Tian Family Village to produce a shimmering, purple ceramic vase.
She seemed to recall something, and a bitter smile appeared on her face. "The tribute porcelain from the folk kilns had a time limit. If they couldn't produce it, the Tian family would be implicated."
Tian Family Village is a large clan; if this matter is handled poorly, more than half the villagers will die.
Ghost One's gaze fell on Tang Qiao. " Tang Qiao is my father's apprentice. We grew up together and were about to get married... But because of this purple ceramic bottle, everything changed."
Ghost One smirked, "That night when I came back from outside, I heard my father and mother crying their hearts out in the house."
My mother said I wouldn't survive and wanted to secretly send me away... My father said there was a method that might be worth trying: sacrificing a living person to the kiln. He was the village head and the head of the clan, so it was only right that he should do it.
The Ghost One suddenly laughed, a soft laugh that sent a chill down one's spine. "That was my father, how could I let him die... But if the porcelain vase can't be fired, hundreds of people in Tian Family Village will have to go to the guillotine."
"Those were my loved ones who cared for me. How could I watch them die? So, when no one was looking, I secretly ran into the kiln during the new furnace offering ceremony and performed the kiln sacrifice."
Tang Qiao walked up to Tian Yingying without anyone noticing, took her hand, and looked at Jin Shanyao.
"I know that reincarnation requires accumulating Merit... People like us who died a violent death have no chance of being reincarnated."
"But I'm willing to work for you with Yingying. If we can be reincarnated, that would be great. If not..." He looked at the Ghost One and smiled, "It would be nice if the two of us could be ghosts together."
When Ghost Two and Ghost Three heard this, they wanted nothing more than to tear them apart on the spot... Everyone was working hard to accumulate Merit, and everything was going well, but then you said you didn't care about Merit points and were willing to work for free with the boss.
Ugh... you two shameless bootlickers...
Jin Shanyao had no idea that the two had this relationship; she only thought that Tang Qiao was the male ghost that Ghost One had found.
How did you die?
Tang Qiao was somewhat embarrassed, "Die for love..."
Jin Shanyao's gaze lingered on the two ghosts. She had always thought that dying for love was just an ancient legend, but she never expected to actually witness it.
Ghost Two and Ghost Three roared inwardly: One sacrificed himself at the kiln, the other committed suicide for love—no wonder they were a couple! Locked in, locked in...
Tang Qiao looked at Ghost One with eyes full of sweetness, "Because I committed suicide for love, Yingying stopped talking to me... Over the years, I went to great lengths to climb into her coffin."
Jin Shanyao suddenly spoke, interrupting their deep gaze, "Has that purple ceramic bottle been fired yet?"
Tang Qiao's heartfelt emotions caught in his throat, his expression freezing instantly. Was this the point??? Wasn't the point our undying love??
He had hoped to move Jin Shanyao with this tragic love story, so that she would send the two of them to be reincarnated together, but Jin Shanyao failed to grasp the key point.
"Boss... don't you think our love story is tragically beautiful?"
Jin Shanyao repeatedly, "So poignant, so poignant... So, did the bottle come out burned?"
Tang Qiao's eyes flashed with speechlessness. "It's fired! A purple ceramic bottle, dazzling under the oil lamp. Not only will the whole village survive, they'll also receive the emperor's reward."
He couldn't bear to recall the years after Yingying's death, his tone bitter.
The villagers were afraid that the imperial court would discover the secret of the bottle, so they lived in constant fear and could not eat or sleep.
The village headman declared that no one could reveal how the porcelain vase was fired. To the outside world, they could only say that Yingying died unexpectedly.
At first, they were grateful to Yingying and agreed to bury her in the village. Gradually, everyone forgot about the kiln sacrifice.
Tian Family Village became famous for firing purple porcelain bottles, and their business grew bigger and bigger, producing more and more porcelain. They built a new kiln... and occupied Yingying's grave.
They fought tooth and nail over the plot of land for her grave, and gradually some people started saying that it was Yingying's ghost causing trouble and that they wanted to move her grave out of the village.
I want to have a ghost marriage with Yingying and move her to my family's ancestral grave. But my parents disagree... They think Yingying is unlucky.
But they forgot that the lives of the entire village were bought with Yingying's death.
Jin Shanyao her head... "I understand. I'll sacrifice myself to save the whole village."
Tang Qiao took Tian Yingying's hand in his and placed it against his heart. " Yingying... no one can separate us."
Jin Shanyao interrupted him again, "And then, did they even make purple ceramic bottles?"
Tang Qiao took a deep breath and looked at Jin Shanyao speechlessly, "Boss... you're a bachelor, aren't you?"
Jin Shanyao a little confused, "What bachelor???" Her branches and leaves were quite lush, weren't they?
Seeing that she wasn't pretending to be naive, Tang Qiao kindly explained, "A bachelor is someone who's single and no one likes them... They can't understand our tragic love story."
"Oh my god... With your IQ, you're still mocking someone?" Jin Shanyao Shan slapped Tang Qiao on the head with a backhand.
"You deserved to die for love."
After speaking, his Spiritual Power vanished in the mass grave.