Chapter 191

Du Ruo was not the type to let herself be taken advantage of, so she immediately bit him back.

After biting him, she gave him a coquettish glare, "Yes, yes, yes, the Chief Constable is mighty. This little woman knows she was wrong and won't dare do it again."

Jiang Li was so amused by her appearance that he nearly broke his composure, his expression shifting from overcast to clear.

Sigh, having a wife who is too beautiful also brings troubles; there are always some blind lechers coveting her, and since he cannot stay by her side every moment, how could he not be worried?

When it comes down to it, he could only blame himself for having no power or influence; otherwise, how would those people dare to harbor such thoughts?

Jiang Li secretly made up his mind.

For his wife, he had to give it his all!

"By the way, Husband, there is one thing I don't understand. Why were those people grabbing for the vermilion brush today?" Du Ruo's puzzled inquiry reached his ears.

They had already touched a corpse; didn't they find it dirty?

Speaking of this, Jiang Li found it somewhat amusing, "It is merely human nature at work. I heard that a brush used by the executioner to nod at a severed head has the effect of exorcising demons and suppressing evil; hanging it in one's home can ensure the safety of the household. Especially those who have done evil deeds and have a guilty conscience need it to bolster their courage, which is why they were scrambling to buy it."

So that was it; Du Ruo finally understood.

She didn't believe in such mystical things at all; in this world, the only thing that can truly drive away ghosts and ward off evil is a righteous spirit.

If you do no evil in your life, you won't fear a ghost knocking at your door in the middle of the night.

After the idle chatter, the couple packed their belongings, filled their stomachs downstairs, and then paid the bill and left the inn.

Jiang Li led Du Ruo straight to the Ben Cao Tang.

As soon as Doctor Sun saw Jiang Li, he began to curse, "You heartless brat, you didn't bring the old man along to make money when you had the chance, keeping it all for yourself. I truly wasted my affection on you!"

As he spoke, he reached out his palm toward Jiang Li, "Pay up!"

Jiang Li placed the bank notes he had prepared long ago into his hand and laughed, "I will always keep in mind the kindness Doctor Sun has shown me. Here is a total of six hundred taels; please keep it safe."

"I am not as black-hearted as you; I said I didn't want interest, so I don't."

Doctor Sun took out a one-hundred-tael bank note and stuffed it back to him, saying huffily, "Unlike you, knowing which side would win and yet refusing to tell me."

Jiang Li put on an innocent face, "You didn't ask, either."

Doctor Sun: "..."

How was he supposed to ask? At the time, when Jiang Li came to borrow money from him, he looked so worried that it made him think the case was very tricky and that Jiang Li was borrowing money to grease palms.

He had even specifically borrowed double the amount, fearing there wouldn't be enough money to get the person out.

It turned out this brat had used it to place a bet!

And he won!

Tell me, isn't that infuriating? Just tell me, isn't it?

Doctor Sun really wanted to punch Jiang Li a few times, but he forced himself to hold back, his gaze falling on Du Ruo beside him.

Eh? He looked Du Ruo up and down, his eyes full of astonishment.

"Jiang Li's wife, so this is what you look like." Originally, he only knew Du Ruo's face was ugly because she had been poisoned; later, hearing the poison was cured, he had been mentally prepared, knowing she would be better-looking than before.

But he truly hadn't expected her to be beautiful to such an extent!

Doctor Sun had served as an imperial physician in the palace for so many years and had seen countless beauties, many of whom were peerless and stunning, but Du Ruo's appearance still shocked him.

His mood was complex; for a moment, he didn't know whether to be happy or worried.

Given the current strength of the Jiang family, it would likely be very difficult to protect such a stunning beauty...

Seeing Doctor Sun staring at her, frowning and smiling by turns, Du Ruo and Jiang Li exchanged a look, both feeling somewhat puzzled.

Du Ruo curtsied to Doctor Sun and said with a smile, "It has been a while since I last saw you, Doctor Sun. How is your health?"

Doctor Sun came back to his senses and huffed, "As long as your husband doesn't anger me, I am quite well."

Ah, how did the topic circle back to that again?

Du Ruo's eyes rolled, "How about this, Doctor Sun? I'll help you vent your anger. You write a prescription for a laxative for me, and when I get back, I'll feed it to my husband until he's exhausted from diarrhea. How about that?"

Doctor Sun was stunned and couldn't help but look at Jiang Li with sympathy.

"Forget it, I'll forgive you for the sake of you having married a tigress."

In truth, he was just saying that; he had never had any interest in gambling, and even if he knew the Jiang family would win, he would not deign to get involved.

Besides, he was not short of money; he had a share in this large Ben Cao Tang, and combined with the many rewards he had received while serving in the palace, it was enough for his retirement.

Speaking of the palace, Doctor Sun remembered something.

"By the way, Jiang Li's wife, the top-quality ghost-supervising-mail you sold to our Ben Cao Tang earlier, except for the half we kept for ourselves, the rest has already been sent into the palace."

Into the palace? Du Ruo was surprised at first, then understood.

It made sense; medicinal herbs of such high quality would naturally be prioritized for the nobles.

But it was over one hundred and sixty catties; half would be eighty or ninety catties. Could the palace consume that much?

As if guessing Du Ruo's thoughts, Doctor Sun sighed, "You don't know, but this top-quality ghost-supervising-mail was a timely rain for the palace."

He explained the ins and outs of the matter.

Although the current Emperor has many offspring, with over a dozen princes and princesses, the most favored is the legitimate princess born to the Empress, namely the Princess Consort Roufu, Zongzheng Yuheng.

This legitimate princess has been exceptionally intelligent since childhood, able to write poetry and paint at the age of three, and her speech and conduct are dignified and appropriate, which is why she is deeply loved by the Emperor and treated like a treasure.

Unfortunately, extreme intelligence often leads to harm; although she is the center of all affection, her constitution is very poor, suffering from headaches and dizziness that have long been incurable.

It is said that she had another episode a few days ago, which was particularly severe, and the Emperor and the Empress were extremely worried.

Just as this batch of top-quality ghost-supervising-mail arrived, the Chief Imperial Physician used it immediately, and the effect was unexpectedly good!

After the princess used the medicine, her condition improved significantly, and the frequency of her episodes decreased.

The Emperor was overjoyed and thus made an exception to grant the title of Prince Yu to the Thirteenth Prince...

"Wait, what does that have to do with the Thirteenth Prince?" Du Ruo's mind couldn't quite keep up.

"Oh, it's like this: that batch of ghost-supervising-mail was purchased at a high price by the Thirteenth Prince and finally sent into the palace."

Doctor Sun was also very strange, "This Thirteenth Prince has a perverse personality and has always been unreliable; he even pulled the beard of the Imperial Uncle in public. The Emperor does not like him, so he has not been granted a title since coming of age. I didn't expect him to do something reliable this time."

Jiang Li's eyes flickered, but he said nothing.

The Thirteenth Prince is unreliable? He didn't think so.

Based on his previous contact with the Thirteenth Prince, that gentleman is very deep in schemes and is definitely not a fool; I fear the whole world has been deceived by him.

Serving a monarch is like sleeping with a tiger; who wouldn't have some means of self-preservation? Perhaps this is the helplessness of being a descendant of the royal family.

Doctor Sun finally got to the point, "Jiang Li's wife, so much of that top-quality ghost-supervising-mail was sent into the palace, and plus what was given to the various branches, there is very little left. Do you have any more?"

Du Ruo thought for a moment, then shook her head, "I don't have any more either."

Ghost-supervising-mail cannot be planted again, otherwise, it would likely invite disaster.

After all, the act of artificially cultivating ghost-supervising-mail is truly too tempting and easily attracts the attention of powerful and influential people above, which would be counterproductive in the end.

Doctor Sun was not too disappointed, as it was within his expectations.

Having returned the money and finished their chat, the young couple said their goodbyes and returned to the county office.

Jiang Li helped his wife onto the carriage and headed toward Longquan Village.

Not long after leaving the city gate, they saw from afar a cart stuck in a mud pit, with two people pushing and pulling, struggling to drag it out.

However, whether the pit was too deep or the two people were too weak, no matter how hard they tried, the wheels didn't budge at all.

"Giddyap!" Jiang Li cracked his whip and passed by without looking aside.

Some people are just not worth helping; saving Lin Qingshuang from drowning back then was the biggest mistake and the thing he regretted most in his life.