"Okay! I agree, but this matter can only be discussed after I have accomplished my mission!"
Zhu Yuan said calmly, watching Bai Caoshi intently without taking his eyes off him.
The herbalist gritted his teeth and nodded in agreement.
It was much later than he expected, but it was better than no hope at all.
In the evening, Yuan Huizhou and Xiao Yizhi returned home from school. Zhen Wanwan made them ginger soup and gave them a bath.
The whole family sat down to eat, along with the lively and energetic herbalist.
Yuan Huizhou and Xiao Yizhi secretly saw Bai Caoshi while he was unconscious.
Now, seeing him lively and energetic eating at the table, one or two people looked at him curiously.
Even though my baby and my sweet baby can only drink milk, we still need to maintain a sense of ritual when it comes to their meals.
The two women were held beside him, nursing, while he looked at the herbalist.
The herbalist, who was being treated like a monkey, felt no discomfort whatsoever.
His eyes and heart were filled with the food on the table.
"Ah! This is so hot! But I feel great after eating it!"
He ate the spicy chicken made with extra spice, his mouth watering from the heat, yet unwilling to stop.
Zhen Wanwan looked at the cute-looking but rude man opposite her, and the corner of her mouth twitched involuntarily.
This person eats without any regard for their image!
Hmm...very down-to-earth, watching him eat makes me feel quite hungry.
Zhu Yuan acted as if the Herbalist didn't exist, and as usual, he thoughtfully served Zhen Wanwan food and picked out fish bones for her.
Xiao Yizhi leaned close to Yuan Huizhou's ear and said, "Young Master, who is this person? His appetite is too good! I wouldn't even dare to eat this spicy chicken like that!"
As he spoke, Xiao Yi looked at the herbalist with admiration, and couldn't help but take a sip of herbal tea to cool down.
Zhen Wanwan ate her meal with great interest while watching the live mukbang broadcast.
You know what, seeing people with good appetites eating made her eat a few more bites today!
Zhu Yuan straightened her head and said patiently, "Eat your meal first, then we'll look at it."
Zhen Wanwan was amused by him; he spoke as if it were the simplest thing in the world.
On the other side, the adorable babies who couldn't yet enjoy the food suddenly found the milk in their mouths tasteless.
They really want to eat meat too!
The meal at Baicaoshi ended with empty plates.
Zhen Wanwan was worried that he might overeat and upset his stomach.
But then I thought that since he was a doctor, he should be able to cure me.
After washing up, Zhen Wanwan lay down on the bed to sleep. Rainy days are perfect for falling asleep to the sound of rain.
Just then, Zhu Yuan entered the room, and Zhen Wanwan helped him brush off the water droplets hanging on his shoulder.
"My husband is not receiving guests tonight?"
Zhen Wanwan knew that Zhu Yuan was so busy every day that he barely had time to rest.
Before the rain, he traveled back and forth between the government office and his home every day, and at night he would organize the intelligence sent by the spies.
It's been raining these past two days, but he still has to meet with guests during the day and listen to intelligence at night.
This self-discipline left Zhen Wanwan in awe.
With her carefree nature, asking her to get up early to work and work overtime at night would be like killing her!
Looking at the slightly haggard man in front of her, Zhen Wanwan wondered if she should give him a pill.
Zhu Yuan looked at Zhen Wanwan tenderly: "There's nothing urgent tonight. It's chilly at night, and you're dressed too lightly, so please go to bed first."
With that, Zhu Yuan sent Zhen Wanwan to bed and went to the next room to wash up.
He washed quickly and came out in no time.
Zhen Wanwan waited for him eagerly, and as soon as he lay down, she skillfully snuggled into his arms.
The two snuggled together, creating a beautiful and happy scene.
Suddenly, Zhen Wanwan asked in confusion, "By the way, during the day you said that if the Divine Physician of Herbs treated me, you would grant him his request! Husband, what does he request?"
Zhen Wanwan looked up at Zhuyuan, quietly waiting for his answer.
Zhu Yuan paused slightly, gently brushing away the stray hairs from Zhen Wanwan's head, revealing her fair forehead.
"This is a long story, let me tell you first, my wife!"
"Does Madam still remember what I said? In my early years, I had a special background. I was first brought into the palace by the late emperor, and then I was driven out of the palace."
"After being driven out of the palace, I was adopted by a loyal servant. After his death, I was six years old and had no means of survival, so I had to beg for a living."
Hearing this, Zhen Wanwan felt a pang of sadness. Despite having only heard snippets of what he had said, she still felt sorry for him.
Thinking of that experience, Zhu Yuan's eyes deepened, and a faint killing intent swept across them.
"Back then, there were many vagrants who often bullied me because I was all alone. Then one day, someone took me away. That person... was the master of the herbalist!"
Zhen Wanwan could sense that Zhu Yuan was clearly disgusted when he said his last words.
She suddenly felt a little reluctant to listen any longer.
But Zhu Yuan still spoke, his expression much more indifferent.
“His master took me back and taught me many skills, using me as a test subject for medicine… This continued until I was fifteen years old. That year, I was in the prime of my life, while he was already old and frail. So I took advantage of his unpreparedness and killed him!”
Zhen Wanwan was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but call out, "Husband!"
Zhu Yuan snapped out of his reverie and realized with a start that he had said something he shouldn't have.
He looked at Zhen Wanwan with some panic, worried that she would be afraid of him because of this.
To everyone's surprise, Zhen Wanwan gently smoothed out his furrowed brows with heartache.
“My husband, I didn’t know you had suffered so much before. Now that I’m here to protect you, no one will dare to bully you.”
Zhu Yuan felt a warmth in his heart, and his anxiety finally subsided.
"Won't you think I'm ungrateful for killing the master who taught me my skills?"
Zhen Wanwan looked at Zhu Yuan disapprovingly, her brows furrowed slightly as she asked, "If I'm not mistaken, that person brought your husband back with ulterior motives. He wasn't sincere in accepting you as his disciple, so what's the point of talking about master-disciple affection?"
"Furthermore, to be more precise, he is guilty of child abduction, which is punishable by imprisonment! Moreover, he used you as a test subject, disregarding your life. What kindness has such a person shown you?"
At this point, Zhen Wanwan's eyes turned cold, and she said calmly, "If I were you, I would kill him too!"
Zhu Yuan gripped Zhen Wanwan's hands tightly; what the lady said was completely unexpected.
"By the way, that herbalist is that man's apprentice. Did he come to you to avenge his master?"
Zhen Wanwan felt a cold sweat run down her back. She had been able to treat Bai Caoshi and Zhu Yuan peacefully before, not knowing their relationship.
Now that she knows there's a grudge between the two, her heart begins to clench.
Zhu Yuan stared at the roof for a few seconds in silence, then explained to Zhen Wanwan, "Master Baicao has always been aloof and arrogant, looking down on everyone. Although that person is his master, their relationship is just so-so."
"He didn't come to Guangling County to find me, but to ask me for something!"
Zhen Wanwan blinked her big eyes and listened attentively to Zhu Yuan's words.
"After I killed that man, I found a key on him..."
"Is that key very important? Otherwise, the Herbalist wouldn't have traveled so far to find you."
Zhen Wanwan said decisively that Kyoto is heavily guarded now, and other forces are keeping a close eye on it.
The fact that the two of them came despite the danger suggests that this key is very important to the herbalist!
Zhu Yuan gave a faint "hmm" and explained in a low voice, "Besides his superb medical skills, that person also likes to collect rare books. He spent a lot of money to build a secret room specifically to hide these books, and it is said that he also hid a treasure map."
Upon hearing the words "treasure map," Zhen Wanwan's eyes lit up, and she asked, suppressing her excitement, "Is this treasure map real?"
Zhu Yuan chuckled helplessly and shook his head, saying, "No, after he died, I went in and searched the place. There were only books and some gold and silver inside. I took the gold and silver and used it to hire a group of guards for myself."
Zhen Wanwan sighed in disappointment, but she was still very interested in hearing about Zhu Yuan's rise to power.
"If that's all there is, why is the herbalist so obsessed with this key?"
She doesn't think the herbalist is someone who likes rare herbs that can't be eaten or drunk.
In the darkness, a cold killing intent flashed in Zhu Yuan's eyes, but it was quickly concealed, and Zhen Wanwan did not sense anything unusual.
"What he wanted wasn't those things, but to find the truth..."
"the truth?"
Zhen Wanwan was increasingly confused. What truth could be worth all this effort, even at the cost of sacrificing her freedom, to side with someone she had a grudge against?
"Husband, stop beating around the bush and just tell me everything clearly."
Zhu Yuan paused, then helplessly pulled the blanket up for her and said softly, "The Herbalist wants to know about his origins. Unlike me, he's been with that person since he was a child..."
“After I went there, I was often beaten, scolded and bullied by them. One day I overheard that person talking to his friend. His friend said, ‘Isn’t he afraid that Master Baicao will seek revenge on him in the future?’”
“That person was very perceptive, so I didn’t dare to linger and left in a hurry. I didn’t expect to see the herbalist eavesdropping as well, and I knew that he must have heard something as well.”
"And judging from his expression, he must have heard something even more confidential."
The scene from that day flashed through Zhu Yuan's mind: the herbalist squatting helplessly in a corner.
He was doing things in a daze during the day, and as a result, he was beaten up by that person.
That beating left the herbalist bedridden for more than half a month.
He was also given a stronger dose of the drug by that person and almost didn't make it through.
Thinking of that painful experience, Zhu Yuan's body trembled slightly.
Zhen Wanwan keenly noticed this scene, and she hugged Zhu Yuan back, wanting to bring him a bit of warmth.
"My husband! It's all in the past now. I'll take care of things from now on."
As night deepened, the rain began to fall softly.
After an unknown amount of time, Zhen Wanwan fell into a deep sleep, holding Zhu Yuan in her arms.
Zhu Yuan looked at his wife in his arms, and the murderous aura around him dissipated considerably.
What he didn't dare say was that a dark man still lived inside him.
When faced with pain he cannot bear, it will provoke his tyranny.
He didn't know about this at first; the other person discovered it by accident.
To this end, he deliberately used all sorts of cruel methods to torture himself, just in order to study his own 'freak'.
In that man's words, he was born a tyrannical demon.
It turned out that what that man said was true; he would be exceptionally excited on the battlefield and secretly gloat during the interrogation of prisoners.
But after meeting Zhen Wanwan, and being by her side, I felt exceptionally calm.
It seemed that she possessed a comforting power, and it was only when he was by her side that he felt like a normal person.
If he could stay by his wife's side, he could also suppress the evil force within him.
For him, that was the happiest thing.
The following day, the torrential rain that had lasted for two days and two nights finally stopped.
After finishing her breakfast, Zhen Wanwan went for a stroll in the fields outside the house.
The villagers who were busy working on the ground all greeted her when they saw her.
"Master! You've arrived! This year's harvest is truly bountiful!"
"Yes, yes! Look how big the rice grains are!"
An old farmer had a face full of wrinkles, but he couldn't hide the joy in his heart.
"These past two days have been raining heavily, and I was worried that the crops in the fields would be ruined and we'd end up with nothing! Luckily, the landlord was farsighted and dug a ditch for us early on to divert the rainwater away..."
"Yeah yeah…"
Seeing the people around her welcoming her, Zhen Wanwan smiled faintly.
"A bumper harvest is a good thing, all thanks to everyone's meticulous care..."
Zhen Wanwan walked to an irrigation canal and quietly added well water.
And you know what? After she started adding well water to irrigate the farmland, the rice grains visibly became fuller and denser.
After she finished draining the water, she took a short trip to the mountains and saw that a patch of green leaves had already sprouted on the ground.
Within Anqing Prefecture, most people make a living by growing rice, while those in the mountains generally only grow vegetables for their own consumption.
She specially paid people to clear the land and planted it all with sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn.
This hillside has many abandoned and newly reclaimed areas, all covered with green leaves, looking very refreshing.
"Ah Yue! Use a hoe to dig out a sweet potato for me!"
Zhen Wanwan pointed to the sweet potato leaves in front of her, and A Yue picked up a hoe and stepped forward to start harvesting.
"Dig the soil deeper, so you don't damage the sweet potatoes!"
Ah Yue nodded, exerted brute force, and reached the ground in just two or three hoe strokes.
Seeing the bunches of big, thick sweet potatoes, Zhen Wanwan's face lit up with a wide smile.
She stepped forward herself, pulled out the sweet potatoes with her hands, and casually rubbed the mud off them.
"Eight or nine sweet potatoes grew from just one vine, and they're so big!"
A-Yue was deeply shocked by what she saw.
"My lady! What kind of fruit is this? And it's growing on the ground!"
This was a revelation for A-Yue; she had never seen fruit growing on the ground before!
And they look really big! I just don't know if they're sweet.
Zhen Wanwan smiled slightly and said, "This is not a fruit! This is called a sweet potato, which is a type of grain. We won't have to worry about not having enough to eat anymore!"
A-Yue opened her eyes wide and imitated Zhen Wanwan by rubbing off the mud from the sweet potato.
She weighed the grain in her hand; it was very heavy!
Thinking about what Zhen Wanwan had said, she asked in confusion, "I have never seen or eaten this kind of grain before."
Zhen Wanwan raised an eyebrow, thought for a moment, and said, "Then let's have this for dinner tonight! Dig up a lot so everyone can try it when we get back."
"Oh right! Dig up some potatoes too, and I'll go pick some corn over there!"
Zhen Wanwan got right to work. A Yue was strong, so she left A Yue to dig sweet potatoes and potatoes while she went to pick corn.
I plan to broaden their horizons tonight.
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