257 Qinghe County

Ping An looked at the city gate at dusk and said, "Qinghe County, that's a nice name."

There were rare dark clouds in the sky in the afternoon, but they gradually dissipated. Only a little rain fell sparsely, but not enough to wet the ground. Everyone was disappointed.

But it’s always good if God is willing to rain. Who knows, it might rain heavily next time.

Sun Sicheng smiled and said, "I have been here several times. This county is most famous for its bluestone jade. The stone is blue in color and as smooth as jade. The color is very beautiful. I bought a lot and brought it to Beijing to give as gifts."

"Is it cheap?"

Sun Sicheng smiled and said, "The big and good ones are not cheap. The best ones cost more than a thousand taels. The average ones cost more than ten or several taels. The cheapest ones can be bought for a few dozen coins. It's not certain. Tomorrow we will pass by Qingshi Town, which is where these are truly produced."

Ping An sighed, "Bluestone Jade is still so expensive, it's almost the same as jade, I don't want to buy it."

He is a person who likes all kinds of stones very much, but if they are sold at the price of jade, then the meaning of collecting them is completely lost.

Sun Sicheng changed the subject: "We will be in Yunzhou the day after tomorrow. When we get there, I will let them go first. Since the battle is so intense, we can't stay in Yunzhou for long. Let Wanli and the others quickly direct the people to set up the machines. You and I have to make some catgut. There is only a little left in Yaogu."

Ping An nodded, "Six or seven people can make it quickly. We will only use these stitches on parts that are inconvenient to remove, and try not to use them on external injuries."

The carriage entered the city gate and Jixiang was already waiting there.

"Master, we are staying at Qinghe Inn. Those people have booked two other inns, which are much cheaper."

"Well, I'll go here by myself, you take the yamen runners there, and we'll leave at dawn tomorrow." Sun Sicheng looked at the sky and saw that it was not too late, so he said to Ping An, "Do you want to walk around the streets? There is a street that is mostly filled with bluestone jade ornaments."

Ping An shook his head: "No, let's go to the inn to wash up and eat. I don't want to spend so much money on a decoration."

"I've already told you there are cheaper ones. Forget it, let's go back and rest. This inn is the best in the county. You can go out for a walk at night if you want."

The carriage stopped at the door of the inn.

Wanli said, "Master, I will take Xu Lin to the street to stock up some goods and will be back soon."

Sun Sicheng nodded. They would have to travel a long way tomorrow, and would have to eat steamed buns for both meals. With more than 150 people, they would need at least 600 or 700 steamed buns, which would have to be made by several steamed bun shops working together.

"Tell the owner of Baicaotang that I will leave tomorrow and will not go to his place."

Wanli laughed: "Then Shopkeeper Bao will curse in the streets."

Sun Sicheng also laughed: "If I go to his place, he will curse even more. Never mind, just tell him I will come over in the evening."

Manager Bao was his grandfather's servant. He came to the Sun family when he was five or six years old. Now he is almost sixty years old, but he is still the manager of the county clinic and is in very good health.

He has two sons. Baicao Hall in Yunzhou Prefecture is now managed by his eldest son. His younger son likes to wield swords and arrows and is in charge of a medical valley in Yunzhou City. The whole family is people that Sun Sicheng trusts very much.

Sun Sicheng had intended to release them from slavery a long time ago, but the Bao family themselves were unwilling to do so. After much persuasion, he finally released the indentures of all the third generation of the Bao family two years ago. However, even after the indentures were released, the grandchildren of the old shopkeeper Bao still work in the Sun family's businesses.

"My Lord, I'll go now."

The old couple, Manager Bao, live in the backyard of Baicaotang. Most of the houses in the county town are empty. Their sons and grandsons are all in the provincial capital and are rarely back home as they are busy.

This time, Sun Sicheng was going to have a talk with the old man. As he was old, he wondered whether he should go to the provincial capital to retire now, or go to the capital, but that would require him to wait until he returned.

Jixiang had already arranged the rooms and meals for the evening. Except for Ping'an, his master, Ming Wanli and He Jin, the others all shared a single room with four people.

The single room is large and the kang is spacious. There are two superior rooms and the rest are medium rooms. Sun Sicheng basically does not allow his subordinates to live in inferior rooms or large bunk beds, unless it is really inconvenient, then they will occasionally live in inferior rooms.

As soon as Ping'an arrived at the room, he asked the waiter to prepare warm water for him to wash up. His whole body was covered in sweat and felt sticky and extremely uncomfortable.

The master and the disciple had just finished taking a bath, and Ping'an rubbed their clothes with water. He did these small things conveniently and rarely asked others to do them.

Ping An wiped his long hair, which was the thing he hated the most.

"Master, if I cut my hair to one inch long, will anyone scold me?"

Sun Sicheng rolled his eyes at him and said, "Then just shave your head and become a monk in the temple. I have never heard of anyone who dislikes his hair. Your hair is given to you by your parents. Don't you know this? Besides, didn't I secretly shave some for you a few months ago?"

Ping An suddenly heard someone coming upstairs with his power: "Maybe someone is looking for a master, either Uncle Ming or Xiao Wu."

"Sir, can I come in?"

It was indeed Ming Wanli.

Ping An opened the door: "Uncle Ming."

Ming Wanli was a little out of breath. "Master, Master Ping'an, I just went to Uncle Bao's place. It happened that Master Chen from the county town came with his only son to seek medical treatment. Uncle Bao diagnosed that it might be intestinal abscess and didn't dare to admit him. When he saw me and learned that you were here, he hurriedly asked me to invite you to take a look. The child is only a teenager."

"Intestinal abscess? Intestinal abscess is not easy to treat. Early medication can eliminate inflammation, but if it's too late, I'm afraid there's no cure."

"Dong dong dong", He Jin came up jogging, followed by someone.

"Master, this Mr. Chen must come to see you."

Master Chen knelt down with a thump, and He Jin was unable to pull him up. He put his hands on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly: "Master, please save my son. Master, please save my son. Chen Fugui kowtows to you."

"Hurry up and tell me what's going on."

Only then did Mr. Chen stand up. Ping An saw that this man was no more than forty years old, plump and chubby. At this moment, his chubby face was full of tears.

"My son has had occasional abdominal pain for two months, but it usually goes away after a while. We took him to see a doctor, but they couldn't find anything wrong with him. A few days ago, the pain was a bit severe in the middle of the night, so the court doctor gave him some painkillers, and he was gone in an hour. I wanted to take him to see a doctor the next morning, but the child didn't want to, saying he just had a stomachache.

This afternoon, he suddenly felt so much pain that he was brought back from the county school by the servant. I went to Qingshi Town early this morning. His mother let him do what he wanted. He took painkillers again, but there was no effect. Instead, the pain got worse. I just got home at that time and quickly took people to ask Doctor Bao for treatment.

But Doctor Bao diagnosed that it was probably a severe intestinal abscess. My dear, when we were at our wits' end, we saw your butler who said that my son was not going to die. Please, save my son."