Chapter 568: Qing Dynasty Spirit Spring System (19)

She had the guards scoop out the remaining ginger tea from the bottom of the pot, then poured in the chicken soup, filled it with clean snow water, and once the water boiled, she took out a bottle of Chili Sauce, scooped a few spoonfuls into the diluted chicken soup, added a bit of Level One Spirit Spring when no one was looking, and topped it off with a few more spoonfuls of Salt.

As the spicy chicken soup boiled again, a fragrance that made one's taste buds stir filled the medical tent.

"Everyone have a bowl, and eat some snacks to pad your stomachs."

"Many thanks, Da Gege!"

"Many thanks, Junior Martial Sister!"

"In this weather, drinking a bowl of spicy chicken soup really makes the stomach feel comfortable."

"If only we had rice or flour to add to the chicken soup, wouldn't that make delicious chicken soup porridge or chicken soup noodles?"

No sooner had the words been spoken than the guard who had delivered the chicken soup to Xie Yang earlier ran over again, his head covered in cold sweat from fright: "Forgive me, Da Gege! This subordinate missed sending one item just now."

He had left the other food box prepared by Si Fujin on the carriage.

He had only realized it when he went to serve Si Ye, who was sitting down to have some snacks, and he had nearly peed himself in fear.

Xie Yang saw that the food box delivered later contained soaked mushrooms, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, and fried tofu puffs; crucially, there was also a box of softened rice noodles, clearly intended for her to cook with the chicken soup.

They were afraid the food would get cold or clump together on the way if cooked beforehand, so they thought of this method, assuming there would be a fire at the campsite.

Xie Yang was delighted: the chicken soup noodles everyone wanted were here!

Taking advantage of the half-pot of soup remaining, she put the ingredients in, and after it boiled, everyone scooped a few mouthfuls with their chopsticks to taste; they all felt it tasted much better than ordinary chicken soup noodles.

After finishing a bowl, they were so warm they were sweating.

A few who had colds and stuffy noses recovered without even needing medicine.

Xie Yang had a guard take a bottle of Chili Sauce back so her cheap father could have a taste too.

Regardless of whether one could handle spice or not, in the middle of winter, a bowl of hot, spicy soup was the best way to keep warm.

【Congratulations to the Host for completing Daily Task 2—at least sixty people praised the food cooked with the Spirit Spring; reward: 6L of Spirit Spring. Quack!】

Following this was the sound of the Spirit Spring gushing, signifying the reward had arrived.

Xie Yang felt surprised.

By her count, only thirty or forty people had drunk the spicy chicken soup with the Spirit Spring added; where did the other twenty or thirty come from?

【Host, the Chili Sauce you sent to your father was half-snatched by Shisanye, who then contributed it to cook a pot of spicy soup while sitting around the campfire with the disaster relief soldiers.】

The Main System, which was busy gossiping everywhere, cleared up her confusion.

Oh right, her Chili Sauce was made from chilies grown with the Spirit Spring; although the concentration of the Spirit Spring wasn't high, and one might not taste the difference with a table full of delicacies at home, in the dead of winter outdoors with a lack of ingredients, drinking a steaming bowl of spicy soup around a campfire would undoubtedly amplify the soup's deliciousness.

Just like that, thanks to Shisanye, she received a 6-liter jug of Level One Spirit Spring. Not bad, not bad!

After eating and drinking their fill, they continued the medical examinations.

They were busy until dusk.

Except for a few patients with severe injuries who needed care from medical staff, patients with minor symptoms were given pills or herbal decoctions and taken to the temporary shelter to rest.

After consulting, the members of the Taiyi Shu left two young imperial physicians in their thirties on duty, while the rest headed home before the city gates closed.

Upon returning to the manor, Xie Yang was watched by Li Shi as she sat into a bathtub with water at a suitable temperature.

An Incense Cage was burning in the bathroom, so it wasn't cold at all; after soaking for a short while, her forehead began to bead with light sweat, and after being quickly dried off, she was tucked into a soft quilt warmed by a hot water bottle.

Xie Yang was tightly wrapped in the warm quilt, with only her head allowed to peek out, and she couldn't help but laugh and cry: "Mother, I'm perfectly fine, I didn't catch a cold."

Li Shi firmly disagreed with her sitting up: "It will be too late once you start feeling unwell."

"Mother, I know medicine."

"A physician cannot treat themselves."

"..."

Isn't she quite good at talking back?

However, the feeling of being cared for and pampered was not bad at all.

At this moment, the hot soup ordered by Si Fujin from the small kitchen arrived before the one from the main kitchen.

Li Shi ordered someone to place a small table on the bed, let Xie Yang sit inside the quilt, wrapped her upper body in a thick cotton robe made of new cotton, and let her drink the soup while sitting on the bed.

The more Xie Yang thought about it, the more amused she became: "Does Father get this treatment too?"

Li Shi, perhaps seeing there were no outsiders around, rarely complained: "Your father has a Warm Pavilion there; he wouldn't be cold even if he didn't wear anything."

"Oh? Is that so?"

The door curtain was lifted, and who else could it be but Si Ye?

Xie Yang: "..." Pfft!

Li Shi... Li Shi was already so embarrassed that her head was almost buried in her chest.

After returning to the manor, Si Ye first went to the front courtyard study to handle some official business, and only headed to the Main Courtyard after the Fujin sent someone to urge him to have dinner.

On the way, he thought of Haiyin, worried that she had been cold and tired today and might have caught a cold, so he came to Li Shi's place to check first.

Just as he entered Li Shi's courtyard, he saw smoke rising from the west Ear Room of the Small Side Courtyard and, thinking it was on fire, hurriedly ordered Su Peisheng to take men to put it out.

He hadn't expected it to be a false alarm.

It wasn't the Ear Room on fire! It was clearly smoke being vented from the Fire Kang flue!

And on that Fire Kang, six identical flower seedlings were neatly arranged.

What kind of flower seedlings were so precious that they needed a separate Fire Kang built to keep them warm? And needed separate maids and matrons to guard them?

A thought flashed through Si Ye's mind.

This thought made him urgently want to verify it.

Thus, he strode into Li Shi's room, not expecting to hear this off-the-wall conversation between mother and daughter.

He glanced with a half-smile at Li Shi, whose ears were red with shame and who dared not look up at him, but he said nothing in front of his daughter; besides, official business was more important.

"You still have the leisure to tease your father; it seems you are in good spirits. Since that is the case, why not chat with Father about the flower seedlings on the Fire Kang in your Ear Room?"

"..."

In the end, these six pots of flower seedlings were preserved, but her Small Side Courtyard consequently became a high-security zone within the manor.

Si Ye seemed even more worried than she was that the Immortal Grass seedlings might suffer a mishap; he not only dispatched two female secret guards disguised as maidservants to take turns guarding the Ear Room, but also sent trusted guards to secretly secure the four directions of the Small Side Courtyard to prevent the seedlings from being stolen out of the manor.

Fortunately, the guards were all protecting from the shadows, and the maidservants disguised as female secret guards were also assigned to assist her in the name of Li Shi. If it were done openly, wouldn't it be like declaring "there is no three hundred taels of Silver here"? Who wouldn't know she had a treasure here?

Fortunately, winter passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, spring arrived with warmth and blooming flowers.

The weather turned warm, and there was no longer a need to guard the Fire Kang every day to watch over the Immortal Grass seedlings.

Xie Yang changed them into larger pots, and just like before, she moved them to her bedroom at night and carried them to the courtyard during the day to enjoy the sunlight and dew.

She simply trained the two female secret guards to become gardeners, and the other flowers and medicinal herbs in the garden were also handed over to them.

Xie Yang herself continued to go to the Taiyi Shu during the day to learn acupuncture and medicinal cuisine from Imperial Physician Chang, massage from Liu Taiyi, and medicinal pastes from Zhang Taiyi.

On the first day of every month, she would go to the city gate with the senior apprentice on duty to provide free medical consultations and distribute the various medicinal pills she had made, upgrading the quality of the Spirit Spring.

If the weather was good on her days off, she would also go to the martial arts field with Chang Peilan to practice riding and archery.

Of course, she did not neglect her own Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden Technique.