Chapter 118 Pretending

Upon hearing this, Lin Shujing immediately retorted angrily, "Nonsense!"

“Our Xue’er is exceptionally intelligent; how could she, Yun Zhao, be compared to such a vicious child?”

Pei Jishi took her as his disciple simply because he had never seen our Xue'er before. He waited until they arrived in Jiangnan.

"Have your father ask the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner of Jiangnan to introduce you to someone. Then he'll know who to take as your apprentice!"

Ling Xuerou immediately threw herself into her arms with delight, a triumphant smile spreading across her face in the shadows.

"Mother is so good to Xue'er!"

That evening, Yuan Hongyang had the medicinal herbs moved to the inn where the Ling family was staying.

However, he was also cautious and had the people moving the goods call Ling Xuerou over so he could watch her personally check the goods.

In her past life, Ling Xuerou would learn anything Yun Zhao knew in order to defeat him.

Therefore, identifying these simple medicinal herbs was no challenge for her at all.

"Bupleurum, ephedra... you have far too few medicinal herbs, and they are all just common ones. Compared to Medicine King Valley, you are far inferior!"

She meticulously listed the medicinal herbs she had brought, and deliberately included Medicine King Valley in the end.

After hearing this, the people at the pharmacy became more convinced of her identity as a disciple of Medicine King Valley.

"As expected of the young princess who comes from Medicine King Valley, she can recognize hundreds of herbs at such a young age!"

The shopkeeper was a master of flattery, completely winning over Ling Xuerou.

After the shopkeeper left, Ling Ruofeng asked curiously, "Where did Xue'er learn all this?"

“The Princess Consort of Jin is not in good health. There is a physician in the palace, so Xue’er often follows the physician to learn, hoping that if she learns more, the Princess Consort of Jin will treat her better.”

As she spoke, Ling Xuerou lowered her head, looking pitiful.

Ling Ruofeng and his wife immediately remembered that she had said that when they were in the Prince of Jin's mansion, the Princess of Jin often tormented her.

The two men's expressions immediately turned ugly.

“The Prince of Jin’s mansion is really going too far. One of them is bullying me in the court, and the other is bullying you in the mansion. Even his daughter is trying to push you into the water in the Marquis’s mansion!”

"Xue'er, don't be afraid. Even in exile, your father is still more powerful than them! When we reach Lingnan, I will avenge you!"

The reason he was quickly convicted and exiled was because the Fifth Prince wanted to protect his subordinates.

Even if he is exiled, those who were with him must still provide him with some protection.

Ling Xuerou felt a little happier after hearing this.

Hmph, so what if she's exiled? It's still better than Yun Zhao's entire family dying on the road!

When the night was deep and quiet, a team quietly left An County, taking away all the medicinal herbs from the county!

The next day.

Luo Qing woke everyone up early, preparing to lead his men into An County.

"Quickly, let's go to the market and buy some things."

Luo Qing took out some loose silver and stuffed it into Luo Hao's hand, telling him to take people to make purchases.

Seeing this, Gao Minglang quietly nudged his eldest son.

"Go quickly and go with the constable to buy some things!"

Gao Yuan looked at him with some difficulty: "Father, we don't have any money on us..."

They had previously bought meat from the Xu family, and that money was given to them by government officials.

Now that Luo Qing knows that the Gao family has been rejected by the Qi family, he will naturally no longer give them money.

"Master, didn't you say before that the Xu family needed our help and would try to curry favor with us? Why do we still need to make purchases?"

Yao Xinrui asked.

"Look at Luo Qing back then, wasn't he the same? Now that he's turned on you, forget about sleeping in a nice room."

They wouldn't even give us a sip of hot water. Some things are safest only if you hold them in your own hands.

Gao Minglang was scared; he felt it was too dangerous to be unarmed.

"Okay, A-Yuan, just go directly to Xu Qingyi and ask her for the money. She won't dare refuse."

Gao Yuan felt ashamed to do this, but he couldn't disobey his father's orders, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and go over there.

Having understood his purpose, Xu Qingyi looked at her family and asked for their opinions.

Yun Zhao had plenty of silver, but people only become more and more greedy.

She can't just give him whatever he asks for; when will this ever end?

How many do you want?

Yun Zhao looked up and asked.

Gao Yuan turned his face away somewhat embarrassedly: "The officials are going to make purchases, and we want to go with them to buy some necessities."

"But aren't you eating and living with us? Why do you need to buy separate tickets?"

Yun Zhao asked curiously.

Takagaki could never bring himself to say that he wanted to keep things for himself.

Especially when he looked into Yun Zhao's clear and bright eyes, he couldn't bring himself to say such shameless things.

However, Wei Jingchen understood what they wanted to do.

He bent down and whispered in Yun Zhao's ear, "Lord Gao probably doesn't believe you."

If you want to control some essential daily necessities that you'll need long-term, perhaps you could try negotiating with the Gao family.

Let's see if they can give them some silver and tell them to figure things out themselves later.

"From now on, I'll just stay and eat with you, without taking any money. You can't have it both ways."

Yun Zhao understood what the Gao family wanted to do, and since Wei Jingchen had already said so, she readily agreed.

"Brother Gao, how much silver do you want?"

Yun Zhao asked playfully.

"I'm just going to buy some daily necessities. I'll still eat and live with you all the time. I think a dozen or so taels of silver should be enough."

Gao Yuan thought to himself, "It's just buying some things to keep myself safe. His father can't possibly let him ask for tens or hundreds of taels of silver, can he?"

The eldest son of the Gao family still has some conscience.

Yun Zhao then said, "Brother Gao, you see, we don't actually have much money."

Why don't you ask Uncle Gao if he'll settle this with a hundred taels of silver?

Or will you just stay and eat with us from now on, and not need anything else?

Takagaki was unaware of the deal between his father and them.

But judging from his father's words, he wanted both money and to eat and drink with the Yun family.

Having been directly exposed, Takagaki gave a somewhat embarrassed smile.

Even he, as the son, wanted to curse this as shameless.

"Then I'll go ask my father for his opinion!"

He then turned back to Gao Minglang and told him everything Yun Zhao had just said.

Upon hearing this, Gao Minglang's expression immediately turned somewhat unpleasant.

Although the Yun family consisted of only orphans and widows, they were not people he could easily manipulate.

Moreover, the eldest son of the Wei family has a good relationship with Yun Zhao, which was probably his idea!

Gao Minglang pondered carefully, and seeing this, Gao Yuan suggested, "Father, it will still take more than half a month to get to Lingnan from here."

After we get the silver, we'll buy some necessities and provisions for the journey, and save the rest for later.

"Going to Lingnan will allow us to get through the initial period without income, which is safer than constantly relying on others, don't you think?"

One hundred taels was certainly nothing to the Gao family in the past.

But for the Gao family now, that number is already out of reach.

After hearing his eldest son's words, Gao Minglang nodded.

Then he added, "Let me discuss this with them."

Upon hearing this, Takagaki finally breathed a huge sigh of relief.

He simply didn't have the face to ask the Xu family to do anything.

Since his father was willing to negotiate himself, Takagaki was naturally more than happy to oblige.