Chapter 13: A Small Profit

  "Chu Qi, come out quickly."

  "Ah, here it comes!"

  With a clear response, a dark and thin young man with a square scarf on his head and a green cross-collared straight robe ran out of the pharmacy warehouse of Hui Chun Tang and made his way to the front medicine hall in a winding path.

  Needless to say, this man was Xia Chuqi who had jumped out of the postal station's dog hole.

  She escaped from the cage in the middle of the night, knowing that the king would not let her off easily, so she did not dare to return to Lian Nian Village again. Without an official road pass, she couldn't go to other places either. She thought that the more dangerous a place was, the safer it would be, so she decided to stay in Qinggang County City.

  Staying was easy, but living was hard. Fortunately, she had medical skills to rely on. At that time, Chun Tang was recruiting a medicine apprentice, and the requirements were not high, only needing to identify Chinese medicine. For Qi Qi, this was just basic traditional Chinese medicine skills. She casually showed off her skills again, eliminating the other candidates, and smoothly got the job.

  The Hui Chun Tang was not large, and the old master's surname was Gu. His wife had passed away early, leaving behind only one daughter, whose name was Gu A'jiao. Usually, Old Master Gu would sit in the main hall, while Gu A'jiao would assist him, taking care of all matters inside and out. However, Gu A'jiao was a beauty, as delicate as a young peach blossom. As she approached marriageable age, Hui Chun Tang's business suddenly boomed, and Xia Chuqi found himself with a place to settle down.

  In the blink of an eye, several days have passed.

  These days, she made her face look even darker and uglier, wore a set of men's clothes, and put on a large square scarf that covered her eyebrows. Nothing happened, but in her heart, she was also anxious, not knowing whether the prince would be angry with the fool or whether the small golden tiger buried under the wall tiles was hidden safely.

  But worry about returning, she also knew that not going back was the best for a fool.

  Although she was busy from dawn till dusk at Hui Chun Tang, she could still learn some common sense of life in this era while being provided with food and accommodation. She thought to herself that once the despicable Wang Ye returned to the capital, she would gain her freedom and then manage a medical clinic, earn money, buy a house, and raise Little White Face, which was truly a wonderful thing in life.

  The medicine room had been tidied up by Gu Ajiao early on, the sound of pounding medicine echoed, the fragrance of medicine wafted through the air, a row of small wooden medicine cabinets, and the names of Chinese medicines written in regular script... all this made Xia Chuyi feel content.

  "Chu Qi, how did you come to know so much?"

  Gu A'jiao was chopping medicine with a "ka ka" sound, and raised her bright red little face to ask.

  Didn't I say so? I didn't come back in front of Chun Tang either, and I used to be a pharmacy assistant.

  "I don't believe it." Gu A'jiao was a bit temperamental and had sensitive thoughts. She couldn't help but notice that Chu Qi was different from others, "Chu Qi, I've discovered that you're not like ordinary people. You used to work in a pharmacy and yet you know so much more than me? I've followed my father for all these years, why haven't I understood the properties of medicine as well as you do? You even know things that my father doesn't!"

  She let out a light cough, and Xia Chuyi blinked at her.

  "Do you understand talent?"

  "Chu Qi, tell me, I won't tell anyone else?"

  "Miss... your white peony is sliced too thin! The effect is much worse after processing."

  Reminded by Xia Chuyi, Gu Ajiao finally reacted. Thinking that her family's pharmacy had been making such small mistakes for so many years, her face turned even redder. Before the two of them could finish their conversation, a stout old man with a mustache and a goatee walked into the pharmacy, supporting his chin.

  "The old shopkeeper."

  As soon as he saw her, Xia Chuqi's heart skipped a beat.

  Who is this? None other than Old Sun, the doctor from Qingling Riverbank.

  He's not here for the first time today, he came to grab medicine two days ago. The Jin Wangye's Golden Guard Army is on its way back this time, and there are no shortage of wounded soldiers in the camp. The imperial court's supply of medicinal materials can't be guaranteed, and it's understandable that the army only cares about convenience when they're on the move. But today, this old man came again, if he didn't think he couldn't see through himself, Xia Chuyi would really find it strange.

  "Come, young one, according to this prescription, get two packets of medicine for old me."

  Xia Chuqi looked up and saw that the old man was stiffening his neck, his mouth crooked.

  She took the prescription and glanced at it with her head down, "Apricot kernel, chrysanthemum, gardenia, honeysuckle, peppermint..." Most of the flavors were medicinal materials for clearing heat and relieving the surface, obviously for treating fever. She secretly observed his complexion several times, Xia Chuqi dodged his gaze, picked up the medicine while holding back a rough voice and asked casually.

  "Is this prescription for the old gentleman's personal use?"

  Lao Sun glanced at her and sat down at his desk, waiting for her.

  "Isn't it? I woke up early this morning, and my neck was so stiff that my mouth couldn't stop twitching and ended up like this. It's clearly a case of hemiplegia." He said with some sighs, but his tone was confident, obviously very sure about his own condition.

  At the beginning of summer, after picking and wrapping up the medicine, she handed it over to him, and her big eyes narrowed into small eyes.

  "This is quite a coincidence, the young man's mother had also obtained this certificate, and got a folk prescription..."

  Old Sun turned his neck, in the "hiss" sound, was more or less irritated by his crooked mouth and stiff neck's "slanted speech", looked over eagerly, "What's the prescription? Speak quickly, young one."

  At the beginning of summer, he was so poor that his pockets were empty, but I knew he was a wealthy man, how could I not ask him for some money?

  "Five taels of silver."

  "Five ounces?"

  In this era when ten taels of silver can buy a wife to warm the bed, a prescription costing five taels is indeed somewhat excessive. Fortunately, Old Sun was originally a clerk in the Imperial Hospital and had received a generous stipend for following Prince Jin on his military campaign, so after hesitating for a moment, he nodded heavily.

  "Alright, you tell me, young one."

  Xia Zhiqiu smiled secretly in her heart and walked out from behind the counter.

  In these few days, she has earned a lot of silver with some clever and ingenious small prescriptions. Because her prescription treatment cycle is short and effective, almost no patient will choose to disagree. And after the fact, she divides the silver obtained into six parts for the landlord, and only gets four parts for herself, and Old Gu also happily closes one eye and opens the other, letting her fleece the goose.

  "Guizhi 1 liang 16 zhu, Shaoyao 1 liang, Mahuang 1 liang (remove nodes), Shengjiang 1 liang, Dazao 4 pieces (crushed), Xingren 24 pieces (peeled and tipped), the above seven flavors, with water 5 dou, first boil Mahuang for 1-2 boils, remove foam, add other herbs, boil to get 1.8 dou, remove sediment, warm drink 0.6 dou."

  Lao Sun was an expert and exclaimed in surprise, "Young man, is this Mahuang Gui Zhi Tang with equal proportions?"

  "Right."

  Look at his worried appearance, Xia Chuyi knew he was not very convinced.

  His prescription belongs to the wind-heat therapy for early facial paralysis, while hers is a treatment plan for symptoms belonging to wind-cold. In fact, after observing his complexion on the seventh day and inquiring about his condition, I had already determined that he was suffering from nothing more than a combination of wind, cold, and dampness affecting the face, far less severe than facial paralysis. This old man used a wind-heat treatment for a wind-cold illness, and the result of this mismatch may be that he will have to endure even more suffering.

  Even the best doctor can't cure himself, and the old Chinese doctor actually made a mistake with his prescription!

  Of course, for those five taels of silver, she still had to throw in an extra one.

  "Old master, mother's prescription still needs to be combined with massage——"

  "Massage?" Old Sun's chubby face was full of surprise.

  "It's just massage. Come and give you a good rubdown, don't worry!"

  He pulled him to sit on the stool handed over by Gu Ajiao, Xia Chuyi pressed his shoulder joint, familiarly found several sore spots, rubbed, pinched, pointed, and patted, and finally held his neck.

  "Relax—"

  Only two words were spoken when suddenly a cracking sound was heard.

  "After the meridians are unblocked, they can help repair injuries and stop pain. Old sir, move around a bit."

  Old Sun's mouth twitched a few times, and he shook his neck, obviously feeling less stiff than before. He then supported his cheek with his hand, and a hint of joy appeared on his face. "Young man, you're really something! Your technique is truly impressive."

  Xia Qi's eyes sparkled as she walked into the counter, picked out the medicine according to the prescription, wrapped it up and handed it over.

  "Old sir, five taels of silver."

  After paying the money, Old Sun was so happy that he couldn't close his mouth, and he walked to the door with a swagger, carrying the bundle of medicine. Suddenly, as if thinking of something, he turned around and stared at Xia Chuzi, his eyes making people's hair stand on end.

  "Little one, my old man has been troubled with worries and a poor appetite for the past few days. His body is not feeling too comfortable either. Seeing that you have some skill in massage, why don't you follow me on a visit? The reward won't be just five taels of silver..."

  Xia Zhong Qi was startled and didn't dare to accept this move.

  "No, I'm still busy in Xiaoye Medicine Hall, you go ahead, sir."

  Old Sun stretched out his finger and drew an "eight" character.

  "So many, aren't you going?"

  Xia shook her head on the seventh day of summer vacation, "Eight ounces? Not going."

  "Eighty taels." Old Sun hummed, his face filled with disdain for her ignorance. "Don't let this opportunity slip away, young one. Do you know who my master is? He's the very master who has been staying at the post station these days. Ordinary people can hardly get a glimpse of him, and this is your good fortune."

  Before the seventh of July, Gu's shopkeeper's face had already turned unpleasant.

  She didn't care about the Duke of Jin, but he cared deeply. Although he opened a pharmacy, his life was still very difficult. If he could enter the duke's house once and diagnose his illness, who would dare to look down on him again when he returned to Huichuntang? That signboard would be worth an extra layer of gold.

  "Chu Qi, taking on worries for Your Highness is our good fortune. Let alone eighty taels, even if it's just one cent of silver, we must go."

  Without waiting for Xia Chuyi to object again, he directly gave Gu Ajiao a look.

  "A Jiao, pack up some of the nourishing medicinal materials in the store and go with Old Sun."

  The cold sweat on his forehead finally dripped down on the seventh day of summer.

  Digression

  That character is a disease name, "mouth and tongue deviation", the second mouth and tongue are combined into one character. However, the system blocks that character, so I had to write it separately, please forgive me.

  Additionally, "The Medical Consort" has been renamed, if it affects everyone, please forgive!