Chapter 229 Saltpeter

"This humble lady pays homage to the Madam. May the Madam be blessed with good health and happiness."

After seeing Feng Qingsui, Qi Yuzhen bowed respectfully.

"I shouldn't bother you during your time of mourning, but five days ago I was injured by a homemade firecracker. Although I've sought medical attention, the injury hasn't healed. Now the pus has spread to the bone, and the doctors at the clinic are helpless. So I've taken the trouble to come to your house and ask for your mercy, Madam."

After hearing this, Feng Qingsui looked at her slightly stiff right arm and asked, "Is your right arm injured?"

"Exactly."

Qi Yuzhen replied.

"That day, after I lit the fuse, I walked thirty feet away, thinking I was safe enough. Unexpectedly, the firecracker was far more powerful than I had anticipated, and fragments flew forty or fifty feet away.

"Seeing the debris coming, I raised my hands to protect my face. My right arm was hit by several fragments. Although all the fragments were removed and I applied medicine, it still festered and festered."

Are firecrackers so powerful?

A hint of surprise flashed across Feng Qingsui's eyes.

After examining Qi Yuzhen's injuries, she asked, "Did the previous doctor scrape any flesh when treating you?"

Qi Yuzhen shook his head: "I just took out the fragments and applied medicine."

"There should still be gunpowder residue."

Feng Qingsui said.

"It will heal only after all the dead flesh has been removed, and it may leave several large scars."

Qi Yuzhen laughed and said, "My life is about to end, leaving a few scars is nothing. Please, Madam, let me go."

Feng Qingsui gave her Ma Fei San, and then used a knife to cut out all the rotten flesh on her right arm. He made sure that there was no gunpowder residue in the remaining flesh and blood before applying medicine and bandaging it.

Then he picked up his pen and wrote a prescription for internal use.

When Qi Yuzhen regained consciousness, she handed her the external and internal medicine prescriptions, explained how to use them, and warned her, "Don't let them touch water until the scab forms."

Qi Yuzhen is very grateful.

"Thank you, Madam, for saving my life. I will never forget it!"

Then he asked, "How much is the consultation fee and medicine cost? I will give it to you later."

Feng Qingsui smiled and said, "Don't mention the consultation fee or the medicine cost. I have a question that I would like to ask you."

Qi Yuzhen hurriedly said, "Madam, please feel free to speak. I will tell you everything I know."

"Why are your homemade firecrackers so powerful?"

Feng Qingsui asked.

Qi Yuzhen replied, "The higher the saltpeter ratio, the more explosive the gunpowder. I was careless for a moment and purified the saltpeter, but still made it according to the original ratio, which led to the accident."

"You have never used saltpeter of this purity to make firecrackers before?"

Qi Yuzhen nodded and said, "I have been purifying saltpeter according to the method my mother taught me. The gunpowder made from saltpeter is very easy to get damp, which causes fireworks to become mute."

"I thought it might be because the saltpeter had too many impurities, so I pondered it for a while and came up with a better way to extract the saltpeter."

"The saltpeter produced by the new method is far purer than before. Excited, I immediately used it to make firecrackers..."

Feng Qingsui listened to her explanation quietly. At the end, he asked, "Would you like to sell your new method of extracting saltpeter? I don't make fireworks or firecrackers. I just want to use it to make medicine and see how effective the higher-purity saltpeter is."

"This simple method has caught Madam's eye, it's a stroke of luck. I will now explain the process to Madam."

Qi Yuzhen immediately dictated the recipe and asked Feng Qingsui to write it down.

As for money, she naturally refused to accept it.

"Madam, you have helped me many times, and you have never expected anything in return. I am only doing my bit this time, so how dare I accept money?"

Feng Qingsui did not insist.

Before Qi Yuzhen left, she warned: "The firecrackers are too powerful and will be suspected of manufacturing weapons. If the government finds out, they may be charged with treason."

Qi Yuzhen's expression changed slightly.

"I will pay attention to the proportions. Thank you, Madam, for your advice."

She was so focused on making fireworks and firecrackers that she forgot about the government regulations and almost crossed the line.

You have to be careful and cautious.

She has elderly parents and young children to take care of, so she has to cherish her life.

After saying goodbye to Feng Qingsui, she took a hired carriage back to her own courtyard.

As soon as I entered the yard, I heard two children calling "Daddy" in a baby voice. I looked up and saw Wen Jiming sitting on a straw mat playing with the two children.

She walked over.

When the two children saw her, they immediately left Wen Jiming and walked towards her tremblingly.

"Walk slower."

She quickly squatted down, opened her left arm, and welcomed the two children.

"Mother~"

"Hiss~"

When Yoyo threw herself into her arms, she accidentally touched her wound, causing her to gasp in pain.

Wen Jiming's eyes darkened: "Are you injured?"

His eyes fell on her right arm.

Qi Yuzhen's expression returned to calm, "I just got a little hurt."

Wen Jiming took Youyou, who was clueless and trying to grab her right arm, into his arms and frowned, asking, "Were you injured by the fireworks?"

Qi Yuzhen: "So what?"

"You should change your profession." Wen Jiming's face darkened. "Eight out of ten craftsmen making fireworks and firecrackers are injured, and countless people have lost all ten fingers."

"As a woman, wouldn't it be better for you to open a rouge and powder shop or a jewelry store than a fireworks workshop? Why take the risk?"

"But I like working with gunpowder."

Qi Yuzhen replied.

"I want to make the best fireworks for Daxi."

Wen Jiming pried open Yoyo's chubby little hand that was pulling at his hair, and stared at her with a scorching gaze: "Have you ever thought about what would happen to the two children if something happened to you?"

Qi Yuzhen was silent for a moment, then replied, "The rate of muskets exploding is extremely high among those manufactured by the Ordnance Department. You need to inspect the muskets and verify the gunpowder ratio, which could also put your life in danger. Why do you want to stay at the Ministry of War?"

Wen Jiming: "..."

"These are two different things, how can you confuse them?"

His brow furrowed even more.

"I can only obey His Majesty's orders. I have no choice. You have a choice but are unwilling to take it."

"You don't have no choice." Qi Yuzhen said calmly, "You can resign and go into business, or become a teacher in a college, or manage the family business. You don't have to stay in the officialdom."

"My so-called choice is to stay in a large house, manage the household, or run a shop that I have no interest in, just to make a living."

"When you made your choice, you didn't consider the child, but when I made my choice, I could only consider the child? Who gets to choose?"

When I heard it, I was slightly stunned.

"I want to raise two kids, but I also want to be myself."

Qi Yuzhen continued.

"I do need to reflect on this injury, but I won't give up my ambitions because of it."

"When I gave birth to Youyou and Luming, I nearly died in childbirth. What kept me alive with all my might wasn't the thought of 'what will happen without our two children?' but rather the thought of 'I, Qi Yuzhen, have finally come into this world. I can't just die like this.'"

Before, she only vaguely felt that she should not live in vain. After she started making fireworks, she gradually realized that she liked tinkering with the proportions of gunpowder and liked the wonderful reactions between objects, water and fire.

She is willing to spend her whole life pondering these things.

She looked down at Luming in her arms and said calmly, "I hope I am not only their mother, but also the star that illuminates their way forward."