Chapter 94: Traveling to the Ancient Times to Open a Clinic 8: Going up the Mountain to Dig for Herbs

Shen Qian's request for help was quickly delivered to Gu Jingxing through the secret guards.

Nowadays, most of the medicinal materials in the country are controlled by the Zhou family. Not only medicinal materials, but also some important supplies are in the hands of the Zhou family.

The Zhou family produced a queen mother and a queen. Zhou Shiyong, as the emperor's uncle, was also a first-rank left prime minister. It can be said that he had great power in the court.

Now that Empress Zhou is the only favorite in the harem, and the Zhou family's influence covers the entire country, it would be too conspicuous to want to transport medicinal materials to Anrong under the Zhou family's nose.

There is now a shortage of medicinal materials in the Central Plains and counties to the west. The reasons are complicated, but a large part of it is due to the Zhou family.

It is not impossible for Gu Jingxing to transport a large amount of medicinal materials to Anrong under the nose of the Zhou family, but it does involve certain risks.

But the letter sent back by Wu Hen mentioned that Shen Qian only needed seeds or seedlings of some Chinese medicinal herbs. Her planting area would not be very large, and she would only plant them in the yard in the early stage.

This request was not difficult at all for Gu Jingxing, and he quickly had his subordinates complete it.

Of course, planting Chinese medicinal herbs in the courtyard is not as good as a drop in the ocean. On the one hand, Chen Qian asked Meixiang to go to Shunyi Pharmacy frequently to inquire about the shortage of medicinal materials. On the other hand, he took Lingyuan and Cuiliu to wander around the nearby mountains.

Cui Liu's father was also a traveling doctor, and when she was young, he took her to the nearby mountains to collect herbs.

Cui Liu also grew up in the mountains, so she naturally knew the way.

Chen Qian also recognized Chinese medicinal herbs, and he brought Ling Yuan with him because he was worried that they would encounter wild animals or bad guys on the way, so they would have certain self-defense capabilities.

Although Chen Qian had never seen Ling Yuan's martial arts, he inexplicably had a natural trust in her abilities.

Maybe it’s because she was someone Gu Jingxing personally arranged to be by her side.

Although Cui Liu led the way, it was not easy to go up the mountain to dig herbs.

Chen Qian had just walked for a while when she felt very tired. She had actually forgotten that she was indeed a spoiled young lady from an official family. After her conditioning in the past few days, her physical condition had improved a lot, and some gynecological diseases had also been cured. However, her physical fitness had not been exercised and was still quite weak.

"Girl, you are tired. Let's take a rest first." Cui Liu suggested considerately.

Ling Yuan was originally leading the way, but when she heard this, she turned around and saw that Chen Qian was indeed out of breath and looked very frail.

She hurried over and helped her sit down.

"Girl, can you make it? This mountain road is a little difficult to walk on. How about we take you back first? Cui Liu knows herbs, so I can go with her."

Ling Yuan had mentioned this just now, but it was rejected by Chen Qian.

The mountain is very deep and looks rich in resources, but she can only know what medicinal herbs can be used if she goes there in person.

Even if Cui Liu knew some medicinal herbs, she couldn't tell which ones could be used and which ones could be kept and not picked now, so Chen Qian decided to go up by himself.

And this body also needs mountain climbing exercise.

"I can do it, but my physical strength may slow down the journey."

Ling Yuan stopped trying to dissuade her and said, "Don't worry, young lady. We brought enough dry food today, and the weather is good, so we can walk slowly."

Having said that, she still calculated the time for the return trip down the mountain. Considering the girl's physical strength, they had to get down the mountain before dark, so she would have to remind the girl to go back in advance.

Chen Qian soon reaped the rewards after entering the mountains. Cui Liu was very professional in digging herbs, and with her help, Chen Qian only needed to tell her which ones could be dug directly and which ones needed to be dug away with the soil.

Ling Yuan watched for a while and then learned Cui Liu's method to help dig. The three of them worked together and were very efficient. In half a day, the baskets on Cui Liu and Ling Yuan's backs were full.

However, the few medicines that Shen Qian wanted still could not be found.

That’s right, those herbs have been missing for some time. This mountain is not far from Anrong, and maybe some herbalists have already gone up the mountain to collect them.

After returning home, Chen Qian did not rest for a moment. He divided the medicinal materials he brought back into three parts. He planted the fresh herbs with soil directly on a piece of open space outside the servant's room, other herbs were prepared to make commonly used pills, and the rest were dried and ground into powder for use as medicinal powder.

Ling Yuan had previously planned to have this piece of land paved with floor tiles, but Chen Qian asked her to keep it, and now it was used.

She had asked people to plow the land before going up the mountain today. Now she found farm tools and dug the land with a hoe herself.

The maids were so anxious that they wanted to help, but Chen Qian was not in a hurry to let them do it. He demonstrated and explained: "Each kind of medicinal material has different growth habits. According to their needs, the size and depth of the pits should also be different."

After the maids had all learned it, Shen Qian let them do it. She watched from the side and occasionally gave them some pointers.

"You don't need to water the newly transplanted herbs too much. Observe them later and water them only after you confirm they are alive."

After dealing with this batch of transplanted herbs, Shen Qian went to deal with the rest. She also demonstrated first, and then several maids and servants came up to help.

"The girl is so capable. I never thought I could learn so much about herbs from her!"

Cui Liu couldn't help but say.

Her father was a traveling doctor when he was alive. She had been influenced by him since she was a child and had a natural interest in curing diseases and saving lives, but she never had the opportunity to do so, so she had to give up.

She didn't expect that after becoming a maid in this mansion, she would have the opportunity to follow the young lady to see patients all day long. Now she also has the opportunity to learn about planting and processing medicinal materials. She studied very seriously.

Chen Qian also discovered that among all the maids, Cui Liu had the highest comprehension. She already knew a lot of herbs and was very meticulous in handling them, so she was determined to cultivate them and assigned many important tasks to her.

This trip up the mountain yielded quite a lot, but after Shen Qian counted the herbs, he found that apart from the herbs collected from Shunyi pharmacy and those collected by himself in the mountains, there were still some herbs that he could not get.

Under normal circumstances, Shen Qian could wait and see if the missing medicinal materials could be obtained after a while. However, she had already promised Granny Fang and accepted her five hundred coins. Her periarthritis of the shoulder could not be delayed any longer. Shen Qian lay in bed at night, still thinking of a solution.

It is definitely impossible to get the medicinal materials she wants through ordinary means now. If it were that easy, Qingyu Pharmacy would not be out of stock.

But it’s an unusual way, so how can we buy out-of-stock medicinal materials?

Shen Qian pondered until late at night but didn't expect that the next morning, after she got up, Su Yun came in with freshly made scones: "Girl, try the scones I made. They are definitely not as good as yours, but I think they are not much different from those made by the foreign scones chef!"

Chen Qian cooperated and took a bite. It was indeed delicious. And with her guidance, Su Yun did not put too much cumin, pepper and other spices in the meat today, which did not cover up the original aroma of the mutton.

"That's great indeed. If you set up a stall at the market, you might be able to do better business than that foreign chef."

Foreign land?

Shen Qian suddenly remembered something. When she passed by the market that day, she also saw many vendors from foreign countries selling various items.

"Miss, what are you thinking about so early in the morning?" Ling Yuan passed by carrying a basket of drying medicine and couldn't help but asked with a smile.

Shen Qian called her: "Ling Yuan, among the merchants from foreign lands in the nearby market, are there any merchants selling exotic medicinal herbs?"

Ling Yuan thought for a moment and said, "Yes, but the quantity is not large. I have heard before that the Central Plains do not like to use exotic medicinal herbs."

"Oh? How do you mean?"

"That is beyond my comprehension."

Cui Liu said, "I have heard from my father that the exotic medicine is too strong and not suitable for our constitutions. It is also easy to conflict with our bodies. If it fails to cure the disease, it will be a small matter. But if it makes the disease worse, it will be troublesome."

I see.

Chen Qian said to Ling Yuan, "Find someone who can speak a foreign language to go to the market and ask for me. If you find someone selling medicinal herbs, let me go and take a look."

"That's easy. I speak the foreign language. I'll go find out for you right away, young lady."

"You can?"

"Yes, I have been trained in this area before."

In fact, not only Ling Yuan can speak it, but also the secret guards guarding the courtyard can speak it, because they often carry out tasks of disguising themselves and sneaking into the frontier to gather intelligence, so almost everyone can speak foreign languages.

Not to mention Wu Hen, he was a foreigner born outside the Great Wall. His parents were killed by their enemies, and he was rescued by Gu Jingxing who was passing by with his troops. That's why he followed Gu Jingxing wholeheartedly, and he spoke the foreign dialect quite authentically.

After processing the medicinal materials brought back yesterday, Shen Qian still went to the clinic every day.

Although the key ingredients were missing, Shen Qian still used some alternative herbs to make an external ointment, supplemented by acupuncture and massage. After several treatments, Mrs. Fang said that her shoulder felt much better.

Cui Liu was now Shen Qian's assistant. She instructed, "Grandma Fang, you must remember what Doctor Shen said. Don't think you're feeling better and then go back to do heavy work."

"I know, I know. I'll remember it all."

Although Granny Fang spent some money, the shoulder pain that had tormented her for a long time was quickly cured by Doctor Shen. She was in a very happy mood and told others that she was blessed and had a filial son. Now she didn't even plan to get treatment, but asked him to give her acupuncture and apply medicine, which really worked!

Many elderly people in the countryside have problems with back and leg pain. I heard that it only costs 200 coins to treat one time, and 500 taels of silver can even cure it. Many people come to Shen Qian to ask for help in treatment.

Thanks to Aunt Liu and Mrs. Fang's hard work in promoting Jimin Hall, its reputation gradually spread throughout the countryside.

Shen Qian also took this opportunity to finally accumulate the 10 medical treatments required by the system task.

[Congratulations host, you have completed the task and officially activated the Chinese Medicine Clinic System. Please select the system assistance direction:

1. Diagnostic assistance

2. Treatment assistance

3. Drug auxiliary direction

The system has detected that the host's medical skills no longer require assistance, but there is a shortage of medicine in this world. It is recommended to choose the direction of medicine assistance.

Shen Qian chose 3.

[We've given you a newbie gift pack. You've successfully treated 10 patients and earned 1,000 gold coins. We've also opened the gold coin mall for you.]

Here it comes, the big gift pack for beginners, late but it’s here!

After Shen Qian opened the novice gift package, she found that there were many rare medicinal herbs in it, including century-old wild ginseng, Polygonum multiflorum, nine-leaf Ganoderma lucidum, etc., and there were also many seeds of medicinal herbs, which were all things she needed very much at the moment.

The novice gift package also includes a treasure bag, which is equivalent to a space backpack. You can put medicines purchased from the gold coin mall in it, and you can also put some commonly used tools in it. Whether it is medicinal materials or medical equipment, they are very light after being put in. It can be said to be a portable treasure box.