Aunt De thought for a moment, but seemed to forget, so she turned to ask Zhang Zongde and the village chief, "Did the old barefoot doctor say that sandalwood slices can't be eaten with ginseng slices?"
Then, she murmured softly, "His half-baked medical skills are only good for treating colds and such. Maybe he doesn't even know that sandalwood and ginseng soup are incompatible?"
The village chief felt this question was completely pointless. "Aunt De, as you just said, which family in our village has the spare money to buy ginseng slices?"
“Village chief, that’s not how it works,” Fang Yan explained. “Our village used to have landlords and wealthy gentry, didn’t it?”
“Yes, there are, and more than one.” It was Zhang Zongde who spoke.
However, he couldn't understand why Fang Yan brought this up.
"For landlords and wealthy families, it was not difficult at all to stock up on ginseng slices at home."
Fang Yan continued unhurriedly, "When the old barefoot doctor started practicing medicine in his early years, were those landlords and wealthy people still around?"
"He is indeed still alive. He even went to those households to take their pulses and prescribe medicine."
As if his words had opened the door to memories.
The village chief suddenly slapped his forehead, "Oh right, I remember now, he also treated Old Lu's cold in the south of the village, and the medicine he prescribed was also Zitan Bai."
"Old Lu is very wealthy. Not to mention ginseng slices, he also has better tonics at home."
Moreover, since getting older, Old Lu has become very afraid of death and pays great attention to health preservation. Whenever he feels even slightly unwell, he likes to take tonics in order to improve his health.
Aunt De clearly knew Old Lü as well, and she chimed in, "Of course, I heard that Old Lü uses ginseng slices to make tea every day."
At first, Zhang Zongde didn't know why Fang Yan brought this up.
However, when he heard her mention the words the old barefoot doctor had said when he first started practicing medicine, he understood Fang Yan's intention in saying those words.
So, when he got there, he chimed in, “A-Lu does indeed drink ginseng slices in water from time to time, and he has indeed taken the sandalwood root powder prescribed by the old barefoot doctor, but he has been living a good life. If it weren’t for that calamity, he might have lived to be over a hundred years old.”
"so!"
Fang Yan concluded, "The old barefoot doctor not only knew that sandalwood and ginseng soup could not be used at the same time, but he must have also told the old man surnamed Lü in the south of the village about it."
"The reason he didn't tell every household is probably just like what Aunt De said earlier: ordinary families are so poor that they can't even guarantee their basic needs, let alone have the spare money to buy ginseng slices. So it would be pointless for him to say it, so he simply didn't."
Does that mean that ordinary families would never take these two things together just because they can't afford ginseng slices?
Who knows, maybe one day we'll dig some up on the mountain, or maybe some relatives or friends will give us a few pieces?
It is said that doctors have a benevolent heart.
But the old barefoot doctor, as a healer, so disregarded life. Even if it was just empty talk or a few words of advice, would it kill him?
In an instant, Fang Yan lost all good impression of the old barefoot doctor.
"The old barefoot doctor was indeed the kind of person..." Aunt De recalled, "He was not very patient and didn't like to talk. If you asked him a few more questions, he would get impatient and wouldn't care whether you lived or died."
Fortunately, this kind of person isn't very capable; throughout their life, they can only help villagers with things like fevers and colds. Otherwise, the trouble would be much greater.
After hearing what Aunt De said, Fang Yan's impression of the old barefoot doctor worsened. "Is it possible that the old barefoot doctor actually knew how my mother-in-law died?"
Is it even possible that he told Zhang Laowu about this method of killing people?
"Is it even possible that he was involved in this?"
Of course, her guess was not entirely due to her bad impression of the old barefoot doctor.
However, the old barefoot doctor's poor reputation makes her guess more convincing.
However, Zhang Zongde shook his head, "Although the old barefoot doctor has a bad temper, his character is still acceptable. It's impossible that he was involved in this matter."
"Whether it's him or not, it doesn't matter."
Anyway, the old barefoot doctor is dead, so even if it is found out, there's nothing we can do about it.
Most importantly, this search process is extremely time-consuming.
Fang Yan didn't want to waste the time. "We need to ask privately now if anyone saw my mother-in-law taking both sandalwood powder and ginseng soup while she was sick."
“Logically speaking, Zhang Laowu is dirt poor, so he absolutely cannot afford to buy or produce ginseng slices.”
Aunt De said, "But when Xue Wanxue married into the family, her dowry included ginseng, which her mother said was given to her to help her recover during her postpartum period."
very good!
Fang Yan almost snapped her fingers. "You can find sandalwood white as long as you go into the mountains. So, Zhang Laowu can easily find both of these things."
The village chief understood what Fang Yan meant, looking at her face with a joyful smile as if she were about to solve the case.
He felt it was necessary to remind her, "Even if Zhang Laowu can find both of these things, even if someone saw Xue Wanxue drink the Zitan Baihe ginseng soup back then, as long as there is no evidence, Zhang Laowu will not admit it even with just witness testimony."
“It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t admit it,” Fang Yan said nonchalantly. “Then let him live in fear and paranoia every day, and never be able to live a peaceful life again.”
It doesn't make sense; his first wife, whom he killed, is already a skeleton.
But this murderer, who killed people, was enjoying life while draining the blood and bones of his son born to his first wife.
Fang Yan had indeed considered bringing Zhang Laowu to justice if Xue Wanxue's death was indeed his doing.
After these two or three recent "confrontations," Zhang Laowu has demonstrated a cautious and cunning approach in the Fang Yaojin incident.
Fang Yan had given up hope of bringing him to justice.
Even in harming her, he was so careful and slippery, like an old mudfish, repeatedly escaping from the clutches of the law.
Moreover, Xue Wanxue's case is murder, a death case!
Once discovered, the punishment will be life for life.
He will only be more careful and cautious, and will not allow anyone to find evidence.
Also, this happened a decade or two ago.
She's not a professional detective.
Where is she supposed to find evidence from 10 or 20 years ago?
So, Fang Yan has changed her mind. Since it's difficult to get rid of this old mudfish, she'll use her own methods to avenge Xue Wanxue, as a way of thanking her for giving birth to such a handsome son as Zhang Jizhou.
That's why she has such an adorable little fish.
However, her method...
I need to call Zhang Jizhou tomorrow and discuss it with him, so as not to scare him.
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