Chapter 178: Let

Wang Zongsheng finally relaxed, "Child, thank you!"

"You're welcome, shall I go back now?"

Qiao Mai said her farewells, spent half an hour, and returned to Tianshui Town; the round trip took ten days.

Yuan Jiaqi hasn't gone to the Academy yet; classes will resume in mid‑March, and during this period he has been staying home learning from Old Master Wang.

Mid‑March? There are only a few days left until the imperial examination.

The weather remains very cold; during the day the snow melts a little, but at night it's still below zero.

But that's also fine—a sudden warm spell will melt all that snow, surely causing floods.

In mid‑February of previous years, people were already tilling fields and weeding, but now they stay cooped up at home for the winter, not even a chance to dig up wild vegetables.

The townsfolk under Tianshui Town's jurisdiction are somewhat better off; relief grain and firewood have arrived, there are few casualties and no one has starved to death.

As for other towns and villages, it's unknown, but anyway many more beggars have come to Tianshui Town.

After thinking, he immediately wore a stern expression, ordered the workers to work overtime, and his household also needed to prepare a few more.

Maybe it's because of Ruxin, but Qiao Mai doesn't take it to heart; when others are kind to her, she repays them tenfold or a hundredfold.

On March 21, the children of the Qin and Lu families had a grand wedding, and Lu San‑niang invited the entire Qiao family to attend.

Although they dressed up, they attended the Qin side of the ceremony; as for the Lu family's bridal gifts, she didn't go there.

Only now do I remember how carefree he was when he had a former wife; after hearing that Ruxin's business was thriving, he went to the shop many times but never saw her.

In the end, the younger sister is more shrewd than the elder, knows how to conduct herself; whenever she comes, as long as she's present, she offers earnest advice.

As long as nothing's wrong at home, she feels at ease; returning home, she hugged Ling'er and went to her room to rest.

Whether it's a newly married beautiful wife or a concubine, he finds them all unsightly.

Moreover, knowing she is capable, the Medical Hall has also turned to her, hoping Madam Qiao can procure some medicinal herbs for them.

After hearing this, Qiao Mai made no comment, pretended not to know, and never asked Lu San‑niang about it.

He also ordered several boats from the Carpenter's Puzi, each capable of holding ten people; when the Qin Family heard, they found it laughable.

Unconsciously, the distance between the two families seems to be widening.

"It will get better."

After sending one, it hurt her heart, and she doesn't want to send any more.

After thinking, she decided against it; even her small shop has drawn envy, and now with Deer Antler and Musk, it only fuels more jealousy and hatred.

Later, he shamelessly waited for her at the Lu family's doorway, sometimes at the southern town archway.

According to Shopkeeper Niu, during her absence these days, the Qiao and Yuan families have started to show off again.

After Qiao Mai returned from Ruxin to the Lu family, she never went over once; Lu the shopkeeper also visited the Qiao family less often, and the amount of embroidery work Qiao Mai gave her decreased.

Qiao Mai gave him enough silver taels for his use and let him take them away.

"When Ru'er gives birth, are you going?"

She asks herself, as long as Qiao Mai can be worthy of the Lu family, that's enough.

When Yuan Jiaqi left, he packed his luggage, took all the equipment with him, saying that since the exam doesn't require a delivery, he can go himself.

So up to now, the four shops in the south remain unrented, their doors kept closed.

When Qiao Mai returned, she immediately got busy; she hired people to build several very sturdy high‑altitude storage rooms in the house, storing all the grain up there.

Qiao Mai had a Zhou Peng set up outside, serving porridge from dawn until night; it was thickened with vegetables and salt, very thoughtful, and occasionally she ordered a batch of mantou from the Mantou Puzi to support their business.

This year there are simply too many patients; the medicine they have on hand is nowhere near enough.

As for Musk, it must be harvested in August, so it's not time yet; however, the original three Fragrant Antelopes have become five now.

In mid‑March, Yuan Jiaqi went to Fucheng.

Qiao Mai is contemplating whether to open a shop that sells medicine exclusively.

"Don't go; let his mother go instead. We're old now and can't endure such long treks."

"Little Prince said so; his father and the emperor are actually brothers, so this should be true."

At this rate, there will be two more each year, and soon Deer Antler and Musk will become abundant.

Because they're close, the old gentleman and old lady also joined the fun and went together.

The reason is that they received relief grain, learned it was ordered by Qiao Mai, and every household got a share; they thought Qiao Mai had softened her heart, so during her absence they bragged everywhere, saying Qiao Mai had changed her mind and wanted to acknowledge them.

If he dares to cause trouble, others will dare to call the officials.

One is just putting on a show, having silver but not spending it; the other is a betrothal gift arranged with the whole family's effort—can you say they're the same?

"Then I won't go either; hand the items to Madam Wang and let her take them over."

Ruyi makes them better than her sister; when the season changes, she always delivers two outfits on time, all made by her own hands.

However, some rare items that are inconvenient to take out were all put on the Platform for sale; she will use all the silver earned to benefit the locals here.

The Qiao Family's plum‑blossom deer are about to shed antlers; they started with one male and two females, and after more than a year of breeding now have five—three have antlers, two are still immature.

As long as Lu San‑niang doesn't do anything to harm her in the future, she will continue to treat her well as before.

After Mayor Qian learned of this, he sent several guards to patrol the town; they would beat him on sight, and after a few attempts they stopped coming.

Qiao Mai had them write a list of the missing medicinal herbs; she rushed out on a carriage twice and got the herbs supplied to the Medical Hall.

After the Qin Family heard she gave her daughter's dowry, they gritted their teeth and forced together a betrothal gift of a thousand taels of silver.

When the Lu shopkeeper entered March, he became busy; although Ruyi married into a modest household, he felt at ease only because this dowry was exactly like Ruxin's, balanced and preventing the daughter from feeling uneasy.

She has always spent the silver earned from selling hair ornaments; none of the goods from those few families she swept through have been used at all.

Qiao Mai prepared two sets of gifts, one of her own, and one from the Wang Family.

She slept for a full day and night; upon waking, she went to the old lady and gave a brief account of the affairs in Jingcheng.

Not making money when you have it makes you a scoundrel; after receiving the deposit, she delivered it to the Medical Hall cart by cart, which now eased their pressure.

"Alas, if it could be good, that would be best; if not, it's another catastrophe."

Her Double-sided Embroidery is a bit stronger than Ruxin's, and sometimes she even comes over to ask her for pointers.

"Is the Emperor really ill?"

They doubled the drainage areas around the house, both inside and outside, to be ready for any need.

Being away from home, even with good food and comfortable lodging, you still carry a heavy heart; nowhere feels as free as home.

I heard Ruxin's business is booming, bringing in a lot of silver each month; Feng Yinshi, that kid, has been self‑destructive ever since his leg was broken.

The Qin Family's Betrothal Gifts may differ from the Feng Family's; although the amount is the same, you can tell at a glance whether there's sincerity.

Forget it, forget it; I was planning to teach Liu Hai a craft, but with this weather she really can't guarantee anything—first giving him a prescription, then Heaven not cooperating—so let's pause for now.

Now everyone knows the Qiao Family has another livelihood; the Town's Yiguan has already made a contract with her, and the Deer Antler purchase price next year will be much higher, hoping Qiao Niang will keep them for them,

Not only are they all gathered, but the medicinal material quality is top‑notch, so even other towns have come to her.

Only Deer Antlers from three deer were harvested; because there were few, they were sold to the Town's medicine shop at a price below the county's.

It was just as he was taking the exam that the court issued a decree, the Ming Emperor Imperial Court exempted the whole nation from grain tax for a year.

Now the common folk were overjoyed, all cheering, and Qiao Mai's face also broke into a smile.

The snow in the north didn't fully melt until mid‑March; the seeds sown before the year never sprouted and had long since frozen to death.

So this year the people of Beifang can only plant one season of grain, and it's still unknown whether Heaven will cause any trouble.

(End of Chapter)