Chapter 846 Feeling Uneasy

The first day of the second lunar month is the Zhonghe Festival.

The second day of the second lunar month is also the She Ri Festival, which is the birthday of the Earth God.

These two days signify that the earth has thawed, the weather is warming up, the off-season for farming is over, and it's time to start working in the fields.

This day holds significance for families with land outside Chang'an, and it is also a very important day for those without land.

Li Ersao, carrying a basket, led Jiang Shengnan, who was also carrying a basket, out the door. The two of them were going out to buy things.

The festival is naturally all about eating and drinking. As Li's mother said, "Buy some good meat, cook it well, and have a lively celebration to welcome the beginning of the new year."

This day should have been a day off for officials, but Brother Li was not free today as he was on duty outside.

Under the direction of their mother and sister-in-law, Li Erlang, along with Li Sanlang, Li Silang, and several other children, worked diligently at home, cleaning, chopping wood, and fetching water.

Li Ersao and Jiang Shengnan each spent two copper coins to board a horse-drawn carriage. After a swaying and bumping ride of more than half an hour, they finally got off and arrived at the door of a rice shop that the neighbors said had the lowest grain prices.

"Shengnan, let's go buy some grain first. If the price is right, we'll buy it and store it at the shop. We can come back for it after we've bought everything we need."

"Yes, I'll do whatever Auntie says."

Li Ersao was very satisfied with Jiang Shengnan's obedience and led the way to the rice shop.

Jiang Shengnan's face remained expressionless, but she was thinking to herself, "I'll listen to Mother (Sister-in-law Li). As a junior, I'll just go along with whatever you say."

After buying the rice and told the shop assistant they would come back to pick it up later, Li Ersao and Jiang Shengnan left the rice shop one after the other, carrying their baskets, and headed towards the meat stall.

Before she could even pick out and buy the meat, Li Ersao was stopped on the street by someone calling out to her.

"Oh, are you from Doctor Li's family?"

Even though Jiang Shengnan has been married into the Li family for over a year, she doesn't actually go out much, and she doesn't know much about the Li family's social interactions.

So she looked curiously at the woman opposite her, who was already wearing a peach-pink spring dress and had a delicate gold hairpin in her hair, even though it wasn't spring yet.

Li Ersao was stunned for a moment, and it took her a couple of breaths to react and respond to the woman's words: "Oh, my husband is a pharmacist at the Herbal Medicine Hall, and you are, madam?"

The woman wasn't embarrassed at all when she saw that Li Ersao didn't recognize her. She simply grabbed Li Ersao's hand and led her to the tea stall on the side of the street.

"Wang Po, bring me a pot of sweet soup."

When the sweet soup was served, the woman poured a bowl for Li Ersao and Jiang Shengnan before pouring one for herself.

"Drink up! Granny Wang's sweet soup is famous all over the street."

Don't be shy, it's my treat.

Li Ersao was certainly not short of a sip of sweet soup, but she still looked at the woman with a questioning gaze.

So the woman quickly stepped forward to explain, "Oh dear, you must have forgotten about me."

Last autumn, my elder sister gave birth to a son, and I took my youngest son, Fugui, to visit her.

The child was greedy and choked on the dumpling. It just so happens that my brother-in-law's house is on the street behind your herbal medicine shop.

If it weren't for Doctor Li's method that saved my son Fugui that day, making him cough up the dumpling, I don't even want to think what would have happened.

I also wanted to keep the money, but Doctor Li refused. He even told me not to let the little boy eat food that could cause choking, and gave me a lot of advice.

"Have you forgotten? It was you, young lady, who poured me a glass of water to calm my nerves that day."

The woman smiled gratefully at Jiang Shengnan and said this.

When the woman said that, not only did Li Ersao remember it, but Jiang Shengnan also vaguely recalled it.

At this moment, Li Ersao realized that the doctor Li the woman was referring to was not Li's father or Li Erxiong, but Li Sanniang!

"Are you talking about that little boy with a mole on the corner of his mouth?" Jiang Shengnan clapped her hands together and asked the woman.

"Yes, that's right. My son Fugui has a black mole on the left corner of his mouth."

Once the person was identified, the atmosphere at the table became lively, and Jiang Shengnan finally dared to reach for the sweet soup on the table to drink, as she had indeed been thirsty on the way.

"I was originally thinking of going to my older sister's house to inquire about it. These past few days, everyone in the city has been talking about the princess's son who was hanged. I was worried that something might have happened to Doctor Li."

What a coincidence to run into you all! How is Dr. Li doing?

Li Ersao felt very strange. She didn't expect that while she was out buying meat, she would run into someone asking how Li Sanniang was doing.

She wondered why no one had come to ask if Li San Niang's family members, who had been living in fear with her, were alright.

Jiang Shengnan noticed that Li Ersao's expression was a bit off, and the woman opposite her was also getting anxious as she hadn't received a reply.

"Oh dear, Dr. Li, were you perhaps injured by that scoundrel?"

Seeing that Li Ersao still didn't answer, Jiang Shengnan quickly replied to the woman, "No, no, my sister-in-law is fine and not injured."

Upon hearing this, the woman patted her chest and said, "That's good, that's good. Such a good doctor as Dr. Li shouldn't have been hurt by that villain. Fortunately, the officials caught the villain and sentenced him."

"Okay, that's good."

After drinking the sweet soup and exchanging a few more words, the woman got up and left.

After the woman left, Li Ersao, who hadn't drunk a drop of sweet soup and whose bowl was now completely cold, couldn't keep up the act any longer. With a dark face, she stood up and said without turning her head, "Hurry up, or we'll waste this time. Who knows if Butcher Zhu will have any good meat left?"

Jiang Shengnan felt something was off, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. However, she already knew how to get along with Li Ersao, so she quickly got up and responded before following Li Ersao to the butcher's stall.

When the sun was high in the sky, Li Ersao and Jiang Shengnan's baskets were full of things. They then went to the rice shop to get grain bags, hailed a donkey cart by the roadside, and headed back to the Li family home.

When they got home, Li San Niang had already arrived with Lu Zhu'er, Qiu Xiang, and Lao Shi. Li San Niang had also brought a lot of food.

As soon as Jiang Shengnan saw Li Sanniang, she thought of the woman she had met on the street earlier that day.

She glanced discreetly at Li Ersao's back as she carried her basket into the kitchen, then looked at Li Sanniang, who was helping Li Dasao pick beans. After thinking it over, she still didn't say anything.

However, after lunch, Jiang Shengnan still found a moment to talk to Sister-in-law Li alone and told her about the woman she and Sister-in-law Li had encountered on the street while shopping that day.

“Mother, I feel like something’s off with Second Aunt. She seems very unhappy.”

I didn't dare ask at the time, but I've finally found some time to talk to my mother about it."

Li Da Sao and Li Er Sao had been together for over ten years. How could she not imagine what Li Er Sao was thinking when she heard what Jiang Shengnan said?

However, Li Ersao felt that her family had been implicated by Li Sanniang again, and she was very unhappy and dissatisfied.