In the end, Tang Mingfan still did not eat at home. Under Tang Zhuyun's worried gaze, he staggered off to the yamen.
Tang Zhuyun lay on the bed, staring at the sky-blue bed curtains and cursing. What kind of rotten mess had she picked up?
After a few complaints, she still had to face it.
The most urgent task now was to make the three men in the family change their opinions of her without giving herself away. Otherwise, if they discovered she had taken over the original owner's body, wouldn't they treat her as a demon or a monster?
She also had to find a way to pay off the loan sharks quickly. If things went badly, it could affect her father's and brother's official careers.
Poor her. In the modern world, she had refused even to use a credit card, yet after returning to ancient times, she owed money to loan sharks. Was there no justice in the world?
Since she was here, Tang Zhuyun would make the best of it. She had already settled into the original owner's role.
As for the Prince of Jin and that Ruan Xinruo, who was asking for a lesson, she had long since pushed them to the back of her mind.
First she would wipe her own backside clean. Then, once her hands were free, she would settle every grudge and pay back every wrong.
No sooner said than done, Tang Zhuyun called Xiu'er over and began sorting through her old belongings.
With the interest piling up, she probably owed around 120 taels. She would have to sell or pawn everything she had acquired over the years to scrape the silver together as quickly as possible.
But when she saw what Xiu'er brought out, Tang Zhuyun could only curse.
What kind of junk did the original owner buy? These things had cost five or six hundred taels, but she would be lucky to get half that.
Tang Zhuyun fought down her anger and picked out the jewelry and winter furs.
"Miss, wh-what are you going to do?" Xiu'er stammered in fright. "You aren't thinking of eloping with the Prince of Jin, are you?"
Tang Zhuyun said, "...I might like to, but would he come with me?"
Was the Prince of Jin deaf or blind? Had he never heard of her reputation, or had he never seen what she looked like?
"Then who are you going to elope with?"
Tang Zhuyun wanted to throw something. Why must I be eloping?
As she recalled, Xiu'er was utterly loyal, but her head was so full of water that a shake could pour out half a bowl.
"Help your mother cook at home. I'm going out!" Tang Zhuyun snatched up the bundle and spoke irritably.
"No, no, miss, I won't let you go! What will I do if you leave?"
"I'm not leaving. I'm just going out to sell some things. Otherwise, when the loan sharks come knocking, I'll hand you over to them as payment," Tang Zhuyun said fiercely.
Xiu'er trembled with fright. "Miss, please don't..."
"Then let go and help your mother with her work. I'll be back soon!"
Only then did Xiu'er release her and watch Tang Zhuyun leave, her eyes brimming with tears.
Tang Zhuyun went to a pawnshop. Hearing the clerk inside ask down his nose, "Redeemable or outright?" she gritted her teeth and said, "Outright."
The shopkeeper inside then ran a few beads along his abacus and called out in a singsong voice, "Three shabby fur coats, thirteen pieces of shabby jewelry, outright pawn, 100 taels!"
What? They were actually this crooked!
"No, my jewelry is all real gold, silver, fine jade and gemstones, and my squirrel-fur coat alone cost 50 taels when I bought it..."
"Take it or leave it. If you won't pawn them, get lost."
Tang Zhuyun was speechless with anger.
The pawnshop counter was very high, and the people behind it stood on stools, looking down at the customers outside. Who came to a pawnshop unless they had no other choice? So these people were accustomed to looting a burning house.
There was nothing she could do. The tears she shed now were all the water that had filled her head when she was squandering money.
Tang Zhuyun steeled herself and haggled, but a somewhat aged hand reached out from inside and pushed her things straight back. "Go look elsewhere!"
Tang Zhuyun grabbed the hand.
The pawnshop owner froze. In all his years as a pawnbroker, this was the first time he had been "molested"!
While he was stunned, Tang Zhuyun had already slid her fingers along his hand to feel his pulse.
Tang Zhuyun rejoiced inwardly. It was just as she had thought.
Before the shopkeeper could get angry, she said crisply, "Shopkeeper, is your body stiff when you get up in the morning? Do your joints often swell and hurt unbearably?"
She had noticed the shopkeeper's deformed fingers just now and had a vague suspicion, which was why she had dared to check his pulse.
The shopkeeper froze, surprise showing in his eyes. "How does a young girl like you know that? You must have heard it from someone, right? Plenty of people know about this old ailment of mine. If you're trying to bargain, forget it!"
As expected of a man in business. He was suspicious.
Tang Zhuyun said calmly, "Come closer, and I'll tell you something no one else knows."
The shopkeeper bent his head, skeptical.
Tang Zhuyun whispered something in his ear. The shopkeeper's face turned red, and his gaze grew more probing and serious as he looked at her.
"My ancestors were renowned physicians, masters of medicine," Tang Zhuyun made up on the spot. "Your pulse is weak and floating, and your blood is stagnant and congealed. You must have taken quite a lot of medicine."
"I have taken a lot, but none of it worked."
"You could try my prescription," Tang Zhuyun said confidently.
"You..." The shopkeeper was clearly somewhat skeptical. "Can you really treat illnesses, or are you just putting on a show?"
Tang Zhuyun smiled. "You can take the prescription I give you to other doctors. If they don't say it's good, then count it as me cheating you!"
The young clerk said from the side, "Shopkeeper, why not give it a try? You suffer so much when your illness flares up!"
The shopkeeper slapped him on the head. "Get out of the way!"
Tang Zhuyun knew he did not want to let her get the upper hand, so she pretended not to notice and waited for him to speak first.
Sure enough, the shopkeeper said, "How about this? Write the prescription, and if it really works, I'll give you ten taels of silver as a consultation fee! As for the pawned goods, their price stays the same."
"Twenty taels." Tang Zhuyun did not even raise her eyelids. "That's my final price. I'll collect it only after it works."
The shopkeeper gritted his teeth. "Fine! Someone, prepare the four treasures of the study!"
When his ailment flared up, the pain was so bad he wished he were dead. If it could really be cured, never mind twenty taels, he would gladly pay fifty or even a hundred.
"I'll dictate, and you write," Tang Zhuyun said.
It was embarrassing to admit, but her predecessor had known very few characters, and her handwriting looked even more like a dog's scratching. Tang Zhuyun had only just arrived and did not recognize the seal-script-like characters here either, so it was a little awkward.
The shopkeeper assumed she did not want to leave a sample of her handwriting, so he took up the brush himself.
"Two qian each of epimedium, danshen, rehmannia, and qingfengteng..." Tang Zhuyun dictated slowly and composedly.
After giving him the prescription, Tang Zhuyun took the 100-tael silver note from the pawn and said, "As a show of sincerity, I'll come back for my consultation fee in ten days."
The shopkeeper said, "Let's write up an agreement..."
"No need," Tang Zhuyun said as she walked out. "I trust you."
Mainly, her handwriting was too ugly. Besides, ten days would only be enough to relieve his symptoms. His subsequent treatment would require a different prescription, and he would still have to rely on her, so she was not afraid he would refuse to pay.
"Wait!" The shopkeeper chased after her, pulled two taels of silver from his sleeve, and handed them to her. "This is a deposit. Since you trust me, miss, I trust you too."
Tang Zhuyun smiled faintly and accepted the silver with composure.
It seemed the shopkeeper believed her to some extent and wanted to establish a good relationship for the future, which was why he had done this.
After she left, the young clerk sidled up to the shopkeeper. "Shopkeeper, what did that young lady whisper to you?"
The shopkeeper's old face reddened. "Get lost, get lost! Stop prying!"
Could he tell anyone else about matters in the bedchamber? As for that young lady, he did not know whether she was a blind cat that had stumbled upon a dead mouse or whether she really had some skill. He would wait and see.