The prescription to treat the plague was provided by He Zhiran, and no one was clearer about the types of medicinal materials than her.
"I wonder what kind of medicinal materials Mr. Fei is looking for?"
"Now I’m only lacking the medicinal material called huanglian, I’ve been to two county towns but haven’t found any."
Originally I was going to use Prince Qi’s waist card to ask the magistrate here for help, but I just heard that the magistrate’s home was robbed by thieves last night, so I’m thinking of going to the next county town to take a look."
In He Zhiran’s perception, huanglian was not a rare medicinal material at all.
She just didn’t know why it couldn’t be bought around here.
She rolled her eyes and came up with an idea.
He Zhiran wasn’t sure if the attendant by Fei Nanyu’s side could be trusted, so she made a gesture at him: "Mr. Fei, may I have a word?"
Fei Nanyu naturally knew her intention.
"No problem, he can be trusted."
Since Fei Nanyu had said so, He Zhiran no longer needed to be evasive.
"Mr. Fei, I know why there is a shortage of huanglian around here."
Fei Nanyu raised his brows: "Why?"
He Zhiran had a mysterious look.
"I won’t hide it from Mr. Fei. The common folk on the streets say that I was the one who severely injured the magistrate’s son. I wanted to give them a lesson."
"Who would have thought, when I was eavesdropping on their conversation on the roof, I accidentally got a piece of information."
Fei Nanyu asked impatiently: "What information?"
He Zhiran then switched to fabrication mode.
"The magistrate said that the small warehouse in the eastern suburb had already been filled with piles of huanglian. In the past few days, the silver and money collected at the city gate could not even be stored."
"In order to verify the authenticity, I went to the place the magistrate mentioned that night. There really was a small warehouse there. After checking it, there was not only a large amount of huanglian inside, but also several boxes of silver and copper coins."
When Fei Nanyu heard that there was so much huanglian, his eyes lit up instantly.
He didn’t have time to think about why the magistrate would hoard so much huanglian. He urged: "Please lead the way, Madam Mo. If those huanglians can be brought to Dongfeng County, the people of Dongfeng County will be saved."
All of this was fabricated by He Zhiran, so how could she possibly take Fei Nanyu to some magistrate’s warehouse right away?
"Mr. Fei, my husband is seriously injured and waiting for me to buy medicine to take back. What do you think, shall we set a time and I’ll take you there later?"
Hearing that Mo Jiuye was seriously injured, Fei Nanyu suddenly remembered why they were in Pingyang County.
Moreover, he was a tactful person who knew it was improper to ask outright, so he cupped his fist towards He Zhiran.
"Master Mo’s injury is more urgent. See you tonight at the east gate."
"Alright, I’ll be there on time." After He Zhiran finished speaking, she turned around and left.
To save some time, she went to the carriage shop first.
She had thought it would be simple to hire a carriage, but she found that not only were there carts for rent at the carriage shop, but also draft animals for sale to pull the carts.
The Da Shun Dynasty had strict control over horses. Apart from some specially licensed official families, if other people wanted to own a carriage, they had to go to the government to apply for a permit first.
Not only that, the prices of horses were also very expensive. The horses in the carriage shop couldn’t even sell one per month. Over time, the boss was no longer willing to run the horse business, so they only sold oxen, donkeys and mules.
He Zhiran pondered for a while. Hiring a carriage was not as convenient for her and Mo Jiuye to travel alone as walking.
After all, she had secrets, and their identities were also special.
With this in mind, He Zhiran decided to buy a mule, and then asked the boss to help harness it to a cart. This way, she could drive the mule cart herself to catch up with the main unit.
If Peng Wang allowed it, they could also have a means of transportation on the road ahead.
On the contrary, after catching up with the main force, she could sell the mule cart.
He Zhiran was always decisive in doing things. Once she had an idea, she would take action immediately.
She selected a mule that looked quite strong, and also bought a canopy cart.
Altogether it cost ten taels of silver.
The boss helped harness the cart, and He Zhiran drove the mule cart east.
Fortunately, in her previous life, she had followed the army to the countryside to help farm work, and had learned driving skills from the villagers.
Although her mule cart driving skills were a little rusty at first, after a brief period of fumbling, He Zhiran gradually became skilled at it.
Because of what happened to the magistrate, the checks on the commoners entering and leaving the city gate today were extremely strict.
He Zhiran’s makeup helped her pass, although she had to wait in line for a while, she still left the city smoothly.
She drove straight to the eastern suburbs. If she remembered correctly, she saw an abandoned yard there when she passed by. He Zhiran decided to go there and take a look.
Soon, relying on her memory, she drove the mule cart to the yard.
The yard was not big, and the houses looked quite tidy. Perhaps because no one had lived there for a long time, the yard was already overgrown with weeds.
He Zhiran parked the mule cart and walked straight in.
After opening the door of the front house and taking a look around, He Zhiran couldn’t help but marvel at her good fortune.
The room inside was empty, perfect for the warehouse she had spoken of.
She glanced at the space’s big clock, there was still some time before the appointment with Fei Nanyu. He Zhiran instantly flashed into the space.
Mo Jiuye was trying to prepare lunch in the kitchen. Seeing He Zhiran return, he put down the spatula in his hand and walked over.
"What’s the situation outside?"
He Zhiran briefly recounted what the common folk were talking about in Pingyang County, and told him that she had met Fei Nanyu and why Fei Nanyu had appeared in Pingyang County.
"I found an abandoned yard in the eastern suburb. I’m thinking of buying some huanglian and putting it in there, and handing over the silver and copper coins from the magistrate’s house to him as well."
Mo Jiuye didn’t understand why He Zhiran wanted to do this.
"Do you have any purpose for doing this?"
He Zhiran slowly explained her thoughts to him.
"I told Fei Nanyu that these huanglians were privately hoarded by the dog magistrate. Think about it, with Fei Nanyu’s astuteness, he will definitely ponder the purpose of hoarding so much huanglian.
Right now, Nan Qi has been sent by the Emperor to provide disaster relief in Dongfeng County. Once he makes achievements there, he will definitely gain the Emperor’s favor.
Judging from the current situation at court, Nan Heng must be the one who least wants Nan Qi’s disaster relief to succeed. He will definitely secretly create obstacles to hinder Nan Qi’s actions.
If Fei Nanyu goes back and tells Nan Qi about the magistrate hoarding large amounts of huanglian, the first thing Nan Qi will think is that the magistrate was working for Nan Heng, with the purpose of preventing his disaster relief efforts.
Furthermore, Nan Qi might even suspect that the plague in Dongfeng County was man-made, and Nan Heng would undoubtedly be the prime suspect."
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