Chapter 96 Affection

That morning, Li Sanniang did nothing but practice sewing and knotting pork with silk thread.

Why not use catgut?

It's not that this stuff isn't being mass-produced yet. Li San Niang planned to use the catgut she borrowed from her father when she demonstrated it in front of the doctors in the alliance.

Apart from surgeons, most doctors don't carry this around all the time. After all, apart from surgeons, most doctors are skilled in pulse diagnosis and prescription, and only a few have special skills. There are very few experts like Dr. Liang, the former head of the Imperial Medical Bureau, and Dr. Gao, who are skilled in acupuncture.

As mentioned earlier, this skill really requires a lot of talent.

So how could Li San Niang bear to practice with catgut? She used silk thread that she got from Li Da Sao.

Speaking of catgut, if Li San Niang really teaches the suturing technique to surgeons in the future, then not only the Imperial Medical Academy, but also other doctors who are willing to learn will have a great demand for catgut. Wouldn't that drive an entire production line?

For example, sheep farmers, sheep traders, sheep slaughterers, thread makers, thread sellers, and so on.

Li San Niang even thought that the best sheep gut sutures were made from the intestinal mucosa of lambs that were seven or eight months old. The best place to raise sheep was the grassland, which was the place where the people of the Western Regions lived.

If we want to achieve lasting peace and stability, the best option is not through war, but through commerce.

If border residents increase the number of sheep they raise, they will naturally reduce the number of horses they raise, which will reduce the number of cavalry. If there are fewer cavalry, how can war be waged?

Furthermore, if border residents had a safer way to obtain money, who would really want to risk their life to fight?

The upper class among the border residents may not know, but the lower class certainly wants to live a peaceful life.

Li Sanniang cleared her mind of these tangled thoughts and said to Li Erxiong, who was also practicing beside her, "Erxiong, I think your speed has improved a lot today, and even your lines are neater. You'll be giving a lecture at the league again in a few days, and you'll be the best role model then!"

Brother Li put down his tools, compared the pork he had just sewn with that of Sister Li, shook his head and then nodded, saying, "It's still quite a bit worse than yours. However, with practice, as long as you concentrate and become skilled, it is indeed a skill that ordinary people without much talent can master."

"In that case, it would be best to recommend it to Physician Sun. A skill that even a novice apprentice with some basic knowledge can master in a few days of practice, isn't that good? This is a skill that can save lives from serious injuries."

When Li San Niang mentioned Sun Yijian, the surgeon at the Imperial Medical Bureau, it reminded Li Erxiong of what Li San Niang had mentioned before about needing alcohol with disinfecting properties to purify wine.

"I wonder what the Bad People think about the alcohol issue you mentioned? It's been several days, why haven't we heard anything yet?"

"I don't know. I'll ask my elder brother when he gets back."

Night falls.

When Brother Li returned home from his shift, he was greeted with warm greetings from Brother Li Er and Sister Li San. One of them pushed aside Brother Li Da to bring him a basin of warm water, while the other pulled Brother Li Er aside and looked at Brother Li with a solicitous smile. After Brother Li washed his hands and face, she handed him a towel.

Brother Li naturally noticed the two's eagerness to please. He smiled and winked at Sister-in-law Li, who was watching all this with a smile on her face. He also showed a smug look on his face, enjoying the service from his sister-in-law.

Sister-in-law Li chuckled as she brought the meal she had prepared for her brother-in-law to the table. Brother-in-law Li remained calm and slowly finished his dinner, avoiding direct eye contact with his sister-in-law who clearly had something to ask him.

Li San Niang was even more impatient than Li Er Xiong. She quickly handed Li Da Xiong a bowl of red bean soup and took the opportunity to ask, "Big brother, we went to Mr. Bu Ke's place a couple of days ago to talk about the alcohol. Have you heard anything back in the last two days?"

"Yes, elder brother, did Mr. Bu Ke say who in the Imperial Medical Bureau is one of our own? Should we make some contact with him?"

Brother Li had already guessed that Brother Li's second brother and Third Sister's eagerness tonight was for the alcohol. He finished his red bean soup before speaking: "So far, we haven't received any news from Mr. Bu Ke. However, I repeated Third Sister's words to Mr. Bu Ke that day, especially emphasizing the many uses of this alcohol that Third Sister mentioned. I think Mr. Bu Ke took it to heart on the spot. It's only been two days. The more important the matter, the more time it takes to mediate. You two can rest assured, they will contact us naturally. Third Sister's lecture is in three days, right? I think it will be in the next couple of days. Just wait patiently."

Thus, Li Erxiong and Li Sanniang were relieved of their anxiety.

Before the siblings could exchange a few more words, Li Da Xiong and Li San Niang both looked toward the entrance of the front hall.

Seeing the two of them like this, Li Er listened carefully. Since they were in the courtyard and not far away, Li Er listened carefully and heard someone knocking softly on the front hall door.

The three exchanged glances and naturally guessed that it must be Qi Zhidie who had come to visit.

Li's father, who was in the main hall with Li's mother instead of in the main courtyard, didn't hear any knocking. But when he saw the three siblings laughing and playing in the courtyard, he turned to Li's mother and said with a touch of pride, "Look at you, you're all in your forties. In another two years, you'll be old enough to be grandfathers and great-aunts. Yet you're still playing like little children."

Li's mother smiled helplessly and remained silent. She knew Li's father's proud nature. He was proud that his three sons had a good relationship and that he hadn't forgotten the bond they shared since they were children just because he had started his own family.

Over there, Brother Li had already called Brother Li to go open the door.

British Duchy.

Xu Jingzhen was looking at the information about Prince Heng that she had bought from a shop in Chang'an that sold information.

Previously, Xu Jingzhen used divination three times to confirm her marriage with Li Sanniang, and the result was always negative.

He didn't really think it was impossible, so he changed his approach. He wanted to find out what Li San Niang had gone through in her previous marriage before she divorced and returned home with her daughter. Xu Jingzhen wanted to find some valuable information from it and see if he could use it as a starting point to seek a marriage between himself and Li San Niang.

So he spent money to buy information about Li San Niang's ex-husband, Wang Ziheng, from a shop that specialized in selling information.

You can probably guess what this shop specializing in selling information is. Yes, it's run by the Bad Guys. Besides making money, it's also another stronghold for the Bad Guys in Chang'an. They sell information and naturally collect information, making it a channel for intelligence gathering.

It was only two pages long, less than a page and a half long, but it contained all the important events in Wang Ziheng's life from childhood to the present.

Xu Jingzhen concluded that he was just an ordinary man who was somewhat lecherous, womanizing, pleasure-seeking, and lacked ambition.

When Wang Ziheng was young, he relied on his father and mother, especially his mother who doted on her youngest son. After his father passed away, he relied on Wang Dalang and didn't have any major problems.

She was seduced a few times by her widowed cousin, and they ended up having sex. She was so naive that her cousin tricked her into letting the pregnant Li San Niang see the two of them entangled together. This caused Li San Niang to lose heart and become disappointed, so she divorced him and took her daughter home.

Xu Jingzhen pointed to the last two lines with her finger, feeling somewhat surprised.

Who would have thought that just over a month after Wang Ziheng divorced Li Sanniang, he would marry his cousin, who is now pregnant.

However, the intelligence report that Xu Jingzhen bought stated that his cousin had an affair with a herbal medicine merchant from Qizhou while she was pregnant. The report specifically noted that it was difficult to determine whether the child in his cousin's belly was Wang Ziheng's or the merchant's, and that the final birth month would be needed to make a calculation.