Chapter 197: News of Medicinal Materials

From ancient times to the present, there has never been a shortage of emperors who believe in religion.

Believing in Buddhism, following the Dao, swallowing elixir pills, styling themselves as Daoist Lords, and indulging in it all.

Precisely because of this, Prince Yong feels that his belief in mysterious arts is not a problem at all.

He is extremely wary of witchcraft and curses, and naturally, he also believes that such arts would be effective when used on others.

For hundreds or thousands of years, the golden age of witchcraft has long since passed, and the political effect it can have among the upper echelons has greatly diminished.

However, Prince Yong feels that it is still of some use.

If I can't kill you, I will curse you!

If I can weaken you, I will find a way to weaken you!

It is better than being completely helpless; at the very least, it is quite comforting psychologically.

Only after watching with his own eyes as the witchcraft master used witchcraft to prick a straw effigy and cast a spell on Wen Gu from afar did Prince Yong return, satisfied.

While Prince Yong was indulging in pricking straw effigies, the Du Family was busy boasting to the outside world.

They announced to all parts of Jizhou that their family had made progress in researching the Evil Plague!

Who doesn't know how to boast?

Others don't know if what you say is true or false, and even if it is news from Xinzhou, the locals have no way to verify it.

While boasting, they held large-scale sacrificial Dharma Assemblies, shifting the public's focus onto the rituals.

The Dharma Assembly held by the military camp was even more extravagant, with more stunning visual effects.

This method was indeed quick to take effect; the wavering and slight unrest in many people's hearts gradually quieted down.

With the Bai Family as a cautionary tale, the Head of the Family of the Du Family was much more cautious this time.

After the restlessness in Jizhou was suppressed, he summoned the family descendants together again and warned them: "Now is a time of internal trouble and external threats, don't you dare cause trouble for me!" Many in the Du Family had become severely inflated, especially the Du Family descendants who frequently ran about outside; their behavior became increasingly ostentatious and unscrupulous. Ever since the Du Family declared itself a clan and carved out a territory, the idea that "I have special privileges, my life is precious" grew stronger and stronger in their minds.

We are all superior people now!

This inflated mentality caused quite a few incidents, and now that the Head of the Family of the Du Family had warned them repeatedly, that group finally settled down a little.

Emerging from the Du Family mansion, Du Shiyi and Du Ba walked together.

As the two chatted and laughed, Du Shiyi flattered him unobtrusively.

Their ranking was based on this generation within the family; Du Shiyi could only be considered the nephew of the Head of the Family, but because he performed well, he was assigned some power. Du Ba was different. He was the illegitimate son of the Head of the Family, had no real ability, and held no real power, but his mother was favored, his maternal family was quite capable, and the Head of the Family doted on him a bit more. With Du Shiyi's intentional effort, the two cousins usually got along fine.

Du Shiyi listened to Du Ba complain about the frustration of being restricted recently.

A few days ago, Du Ba had beaten a servant of the Yao Family, and it was said he was beaten into a serious condition.

It was just that later, due to the Bai Family affair, Du Shiyi had not paid attention to what happened afterward, so he asked:

"How is it over at the Yao Family?"

Du Ba said dismissively: "How could it be? Just those two or three people, what kind of waves can they stir up?"

"What about that servant?" Du Shiyi asked, "I heard that after you beat that servant, someone reported it to the Head of the Family."

Du Ba got angry just mentioning this: "I just beat a servant, that group of people only knows how to report me!"

The ones who took this matter to report to the Head of the Family of the Du Family were also Du Family descendants.

That is how it is when there are many people in a family; resources are limited, there are many people, and there is infighting and scrambling, stepping on others whenever there is a chance.

Du Shiyi, concerned, reminded him: "Be more cautious next time. The Head of the Family is also considering the face of the Yao Clan."

The "Yao Clan" Du Shiyi spoke of refers to the family of the Imperial Academician Yao Youzhi, which is in the Dong Clan.

And the "Yao Family" they were talking about just now is the family of Yao Youzhi's seventeenth son, which is in Jizhou.

They do not hold the "Yao Family" in high regard, but they still have to be wary of the Yao Clan of the Imperial Academician Yao.

The Imperial Academician is equivalent to a Vice Prime Minister.

Back in the capital, the Imperial Academician Yao was also a famous person.

What he was famous for was not how high his official rank was, but that he was exceptionally capable of procreating!

The Du Family ranks according to family order, which is why they can have so many numbers.

But in the Imperial Academician Yao's family, they are all his own biological children!

The Imperial Academician Yao came from a humble background, entered officialdom through the imperial examinations, and climbed up by accumulating seniority.

He served as an Imperial Academician, which is the old emperor's private confidential secretary.

Later, he was promoted to Imperial Academician, which is the Vice Prime Minister.

An absolute high-ranking official!

But there is no shortage of high-ranking officials in the capital; what he is famous for is being exceptionally capable of procreating!

The Imperial Academician Yao has decent ability, he is just rather lecherous.

The policy has requirements for the number of wives and concubines in an official's household, but it does not restrict anything else.

The Imperial Academician Yao did not keep mistresses outside, but he had many concubines; some he bought himself, and some were gifted by others.

When he was a "confidential secretary," the old emperor even gifted him concubines when he was in a good mood!

Concubines have no status; they are "servants." But the children born to concubines can be acknowledged.

In different eras, the laws are different.

The mainstream thought of this era is to acknowledge bloodlines.

The idea of those in power is to disperse property to prevent one family from becoming too powerful.

Aside from being ranked lower in certain privileges compared to legitimate sons, illegitimate sons receive no less of the family wealth.

The family property accumulated by the Imperial Academician Yao is enough to support so many descendants.

With so many children, the Imperial Academician Yao only cares about those with excellent aptitude. As for the others, in his eyes, they are just numbers, and he cannot even match them to their names. The two Du brothers walked to the side and continued to chat about the Yao Family's affairs.

"Yao Shiqi is not talented enough, and he died in the mountains in the south long ago. Yao Old Man has long forgotten about the ones here; there is no need to care at all. Besides, he is in the Dong Clan, can he manage the affairs of our Du Clan?" Although they said this, they both knew that official families are sometimes like this; whether they manage it or not, you should not go too far and slap them in the face. The Imperial Academician Yao took his clansmen to the Dong Clan, but there are still old friends and acquaintances in Jizhou; he might not be able to take care of things usually, but if something really happens, sending a message is still possible. Even the Du Family has to show some consideration. "I only beat a servant of the Yao Family, I didn't touch those orphans and widows. Even if it was reported to my father, my father only handled it lightly!" Du Ba was very confident. The two walked and chatted about the old affairs of the Yao Family, mainly complaining about the Imperial Academician Yao.

"If you ask me, Yao Old Man just can't compare to Lao Zhuo. Look at Prime Minister Zhuo, how well he is doing in Xinzhou! How high his prestige is! And Yao Old Man? He went to the Dong Clan and didn't make a single splash!" Du Ba babbled. "The Imperial Academician Yao is a man of great composure," Du Shiyi said cautiously.

"No wonder he couldn't beat Lao Zhuo when competing for the Prime Minister position back then!" Du Ba said with contempt.

Back when competing for the position of Prime Minister, the probability of Yao Old Man rising from a participating minister to Prime Minister was very high, and many in the imperial court were optimistic about him.

But what was the result?

It was equivalent to Yao Old Man holding a fast-track ticket, running toward the destination amidst cheers, yet he damn well couldn't outrun Lao Zhuo!

Having failed the competition, no matter how calm Yao Participating Minister appeared on the surface, it was impossible for him to truly accept it calmly. Plus, with the constant cold mockery and sarcasm from those around him, Yao Old Man had a moment of negligence, caught a cold, and nearly lost his old life. What was even more devastating was that while Yao Participating Minister was bedridden, he never expected that—

Prime Minister Zhuo had to return to his hometown to observe mourning, and the Prime Minister position he had just snatched up became vacant.

Yao Participating Minister struggled to turn things around, but his illness delayed the timing, and the people in the imperial court competing for it were too fast, leaving him no chance.

Therefore, people in the court laughed at him again, saying all his energy was spent on having children, and he couldn't grasp either of the two opportunities to rise to Prime Minister!

"But I have to say, this man is quite good at surviving!" Du Ba sighed.

At the beginning of the chaotic times, how many high-ranking officials in the capital perished in it, and the Yao Clan also suffered many losses.

Yao Old Man survived and took the remaining clansmen to the Dong Clan.

Even with the losses, relatively speaking, he still had many surviving children, and many grandsons and granddaughters. Yao Old Man didn't care for his mediocre sons. Therefore, Yao Old Man didn't care at all about the family of Yao Shiqi, who was far from the clan. What's more, Yao Shiqi had already perished in the south, and Yao Old Man cared even less for the remaining daughter-in-law and granddaughter. The Du brothers felt it was a great pity when they talked about this.

"Before the world turned chaotic, Yao Shiqi went south to collect medicinal herbs, just wanting to bring rare medicinal herbs from the southern mountains back to the capital so that Yao Old Man could arrange a better position for him. Sigh! It's a pity, if only he were still alive!" If Yao Shiqi were still alive, those medicinal herbs he brought back could all be for their She Family!

Who isn't short of medicinal herbs now?

Especially the treasure-grade ones from the deep southern mountains; every bit used is a bit less, and every family treats them as treasures.

One can still find them in the north, but can one go to the south?

In places that are warm even in winter, Plague Ghosts are too active! Who dares to go?

Because they talked about the Yao family, the next day, Du Ba, being bored, came to the Yao family's courtyard again.

It was a simple courtyard; the stone and earth wall was not tall, and the wooden door was dilapidated and had gaps.

Du Ba originally intended to kick it open as usual, but thinking of his father's recent warning to them, he had the guards knock on the door instead.

The guards were not polite either; *bang, bang, bang*, they knocked as if the door were about to fall apart.

"Coming, coming, coming! Who is it? Are you rushing someone to their death?"

A servant woman with skin tanned dark and hands full of rough calluses, but looking quite strong, opened the door, looking as if she were about to scold whoever was outside. Once she saw who was standing there, she was first startled, then overjoyed: "Young Master Ba! You've come just in time. My Miao Niangzi's illness has yet to heal; are you here to deliver medicinal herbs?" As she spoke, she reached out to grab the other's arm.

Looking at the mud stains on the servant woman's hands, Du Ba was startled and stepped back, saying to the guards, "Stop her!"

The guards dutifully blocked her, but the servant woman was too strong and kept trying to move closer.

The guards didn't dare to draw their blades directly, as the Head of the Family had just warned them. Thus, the guards could only look at Du Ba.

Seeing that things were going wrong, Du Ba called the guards and left quickly.

Forget it, forget it, don't get involved with these unlucky things!

The servant woman was still shouting loudly at the door: "Young Master Ba, do you have medicinal herbs?"

Du Ba ignored her.

He thought to himself: There's no damn medicine, go wait for death, you lot!

Seeing that the people had walked far away and the onlookers had also withdrawn their gazes, the servant woman returned to the courtyard and closed the door properly.

The exaggerated joy on her face was completely gone, replaced only by deep worry.

The servant woman returned to the room and said to the young woman inside: "That Du Ba really didn't dare to make a move!"

The young woman was the wife of Yao Shiqi, the Miao Niangzi who was ill as the servant woman had just mentioned.

She did indeed look sickly, and she had indeed been ill for a long time.

Her illness required medicinal herbs for proper care; ordinary herbs were ineffective, but who would be willing to take out good herbs to help outsiders now? It was precisely because of this that those who initially suspected they were hiding news of medicinal herbs also dismissed their suspicions.

When Du Ba had watched the Yao family to test them, it was because he thought that if Yao Shiqi were still alive, or if Yao Shiqi had died but the news of the medicinal herbs had reached his wife's hands, this Miao Niangzi would definitely use it to exchange for benefits! But Miao Niangzi had been ill all along, showing no signs of improvement, and had not produced any news. Thus, everyone stopped paying attention.

Even the Yao Clan had completely given up on this family.

At this moment, Miao Niangzi, looking sickly, leaned against the bedside.

"The situation in Jizhou is not good now; they will certainly exercise some restraint," she said.

The room was quiet for a while.

She asked, "Where is Shan Mi?"

"Shan Mi" was her daughter's nickname.

Shan Mi is what people in some places call a dragonfly; it is a dialect term, having only a phonetic evolution and no written characters. When writing letters, it would usually be written as "Shan Mi" or other homophones; as long as the family understood, it was fine.

Dragonflies have some beautiful and auspicious meanings, so Yao Shiqi used this as his daughter's nickname.

The servant woman replied, "The young miss fell asleep while reading a picture book."

A faint smile appeared on the young woman's pale face. She stood up, supported by the servant woman, and headed toward the small room in the back.

Although housing was limited now, they had still set aside a small room as a children's study.

In the small room, a young girl with her hair in double buns was sleeping on the table.

A picture book was pressed under her arm.

This was brought over by a caravan from Xinzhou; it told the story of using spirit fire for Exorcism, and one could also learn a lot of knowledge about exorcising evil and avoiding plagues.

This picture book was very popular in Beidi, and many families with the means would buy it, whether for their children to read or for themselves; it was both entertaining and educational. It was just that recently, the She Family had been cracking down on Xinzhou publications, and they would even destroy the picture books, burning them if found.

So they could only hide in the room and read them secretly.

Lady Miao quietly watched her daughter's sleeping face. A moment later, she walked over, slowly crouched down, and gently untied the Rope-woven Exquisite Ball ornament hanging from her daughter's waist, replacing it with another one. The two Exquisite Ball ornaments looked extremely similar; both were made from the same piece of silk, twisted into rope form and woven together.

Miao Niangzi dismantled and shredded the replaced Exquisite Ball, threw it into the stove, and watched the flames burn it to ashes.