"What good thing happened? What nice flowers did they sell at the Hundred Flowers Garden?" Old Mrs. Li joked with her son, pulling him to sit down.
Li Lao Er waved his hand and said to Jia Yin, "Fu Niu'er, the men you sent to the south have returned with a caravan and are already at the archway!"
"Really?" Jiayin jumped up excitedly, quickly tidied herself up, called out to Shuiling, and ran outside.
Old Mrs. Li, still concerned, said to Madam Wen and Hui Niang, "Let's go see what's going on. Old Hei and his men are all capable; I wonder what good things they've found in the south..."
After saying that, she instructed Granny He, "Call Wenjuan too. This child does nothing but eat and sleep all day. If this continues, she will become very fat, and the baby in her belly will be too big to deliver easily."
"I'll have to take her out more often from now on."
Everyone nodded, put down what they were doing, and hurried outside.
Wenjuan was indeed sleeping on the kang (heated brick bed), her face still flushed from the heat. She was wrapped in a thick cloak by Granny He, smiling shyly as she followed the others.
Jiayin was already waiting at the door for Lao Hei and his convoy, which consisted of more than a dozen horse-drawn carriages.
After two months away from home, Lao Hei and his crew had gotten tanned and thinner, but their eyes were incredibly bright.
They all grinned, revealing a set of white teeth, and looked travel-worn.
"Uncle Lao Hei, thank you for your hard work!"
Jiayin didn't check the contents of the car first. Instead, she looked Lao Hei and the others over and made sure they were all there and none of them were missing any limbs. Only then did she feel relieved.
Old Hei and the others had all lived half their lives, and seeing their young master like this warmed their hearts.
The young master always puts their safety first, and that's no exaggeration.
Old Hei and his thirty men bowed in unison, saying, "Princess, we have returned. We have not failed in our mission!"
Jiayin personally helped Uncle Laohei and the others standing in front to their feet, saying, "It's good that you're back safe and sound. Uncle Laohei, you've worked hard! Go back to the Second Village to wash up and eat first, and then come back to unload the goods."
"No, no, Princess, let's unload the goods first!"
Uncle Hei quickly waved his hand and laughed, "Princess, you don't know, we found quite a few good things this time. We'll hand them over quickly so we can be at ease."
"We were so worried about these precious things on the way here, even while eating and sleeping. Now that we're home, we can finally rest easy and snore after giving them to the princess."
Just after she finished speaking, Old Lady Li and the others came out.
Inevitably, there was another round of greetings and pleasantries, creating a lively atmosphere.
Then Lao Hei asked Jiayin to look at the first carriage. "Princess, we originally planned to inquire and collect things along the way. But we happened to meet a merchant who told us that there was a local medicinal herb in Yunzhou Prefecture that looked like the Panax notoginseng you wanted, so we headed straight for Yunzhou."
"Sure enough, we found Panax notoginseng there! We loaded a truck with dried goods and dug up dozens of medicinal seedlings to plant in pots. We kept a close watch on them along the way, and not a single one died. They're all here."
Jiayin took out a piece of Panax notoginseng that looked like dried ginger from the box. It was as big as her palm and looked very ugly.
She looked at the medicinal herb seedlings again and nodded excitedly, "Uncle Lao Hei, this is the medicinal herb I was looking for. Putting everything else aside, bringing back this one alone makes your trip worthwhile."
Old Hei and the other men were all happy; they had exceeded their master's expectations.
Old Hei quickly led Jiayin to see the other vehicles, which were loaded with medicinal herbs that were specialties of Yunzhou Prefecture, such as Gastrodia elata, Polygonatum sibiricum, Baiyao (a type of herb), and even the herb of immortality.
They weren't very knowledgeable about these medicinal herbs and were afraid of missing something, so they brought finished products, as well as seedlings and seeds for almost every type of herb.
The black soil that Jiayin prepared for them played a crucial role.
As long as the medicinal herb seedlings are planted and you pay attention to keeping them warm along the way, none of the seedlings will die, even if you don't water them many times.
This was an unexpectedly bountiful harvest, which delighted Jiayin immensely.
Grandma Li joined in the fun. Although she didn't understand the uses of these medicinal herbs, she was happy because the chubby girl was happy.
As a result, before Jiayin could even say to send the things to the greenhouse in the back, Doctor Zhang actually came running over because he could smell the medicinal herbs in the air.
The old man looked through the several cartloads of medicinal herbs from beginning to end, and he was so happy that he almost danced with joy.
"Hahaha, I'm rich! I'm rich! I even have the herb of immortality, as well as gastrodia elata and white medicine! It's like a godsend! My new wound medicine is sure to be a success!"
He shouted without any politeness, "Hurry up, get the carriage here quickly!"
This is blatant and brazen robbery!
Before Jiayin could speak, Old Lady Li intervened protectively, "Brother, these medicinal herbs were brought back from afar by Fu Niu'er."
"If you need it, just take a portion. You should at least leave more than half for the child, right? Otherwise, if the child gets upset and we stop sending people out in the future, we'll have nothing left!"
"Also, you don't have time to plant these medicinal herb seedlings, so leave them for the children. In case they figure it out, they can plant more at home in the future, and we won't have to make a trip to Yunzhou Prefecture anymore, right?"
Doctor Zhang can be completely unreserved with his young apprentice, but when it comes to Old Lady Li, he still knows he should save face.
He coughed twice and replied, "Okay, just give me some. Even if you send it all to me, Fu Niu can take it whenever she wants."
After saying that, he made up an excuse and ran away quickly.
Everyone couldn't help but laugh, and Hui Niang said, "Uncle Zhang is becoming more and more like a child!"
"Yes, I think Uncle Zhang's hair is even blacker than before, he's really turning back the clock!" Madam Wen didn't see Doctor Zhang often, so she noticed the change more clearly.
Grandma Li quickly waved her hand and said, "Dr. Zhang is an open-minded person who is also focused on medical skills. He has no worries, so he naturally looks young."
"It's fine if we keep this to ourselves. Otherwise, if word gets out, some idiot might come looking for some elixir of immortality, which would cause trouble for Doctor Zhang."
Jiayin hugged her grandmother's arm and listened with a smile.
Actually, it doesn't matter if all the medicinal herbs are given to Doctor Zhang, because she has medicinal herb seedlings and seeds. As long as they are sent into her space, she will be able to have a medicinal herb field in the blink of an eye.
But her grandmother protected her, not wanting her to suffer any grievances or losses, which made her especially happy.
After looking at the medicinal herbs, Lao Hei led Jia Yin to see the other truckloads of goods.
"Princess, these are the most abundant and best-tasting fruits from Yunzhou Prefecture. They were bumped and rotten on the way, so this is all that's left."
"But we brought seeds and saplings with everything, and for two of them we even dug up the roots and buried them in the black soil, and brought those back too. Princess, please take a look and see if we can use them?"
Jiayin looked into the boxes, which were lined with straw and were filled with loquats, mangosteens, lychees, bayberries, tangerines, pomegranates, and even green bananas!
However, just as Lao Hei said, most of the fruit was no longer fresh due to the long journey.
But she wasn't afraid; as long as there was a seed, it could become a "spark" that ignites a prairie fire.
Moreover, the nursery can optimize the seeds, and the fruits that grow from them can taste even better than those produced locally in Yunzhou Prefecture!
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