The two returned to their lodgings.
When Biaozi saw that they had returned, he stood up by the fire and waved to them.
"You're back!" Biaozi laughed loudly. "The rabbit is roasted, hurry up and eat!"
During his time with Lu Qiqi, Biaozi was overjoyed to find that Lu Qiqi wasn't afraid of his big beard.
I always wanted to share the wild fruits I picked in the woods with her.
Lu Qiqi tried one, and it was so sour it almost made her front teeth fall out. She never took another fruit from Biaozi again.
This upset Biaozi for quite a while, and he refused to share his chicken leg with her anymore.
When Gu Shaoqing saw Biaozi, he remembered what had just happened. He walked side by side with Lu Qiqi and said softly, "Princess, can you keep what happened earlier a secret?"
Gu Shaoqing's tone even carried a hint of pleading.
Lu Qiqi said calmly, "That's natural."
She understood Gu Shaoqing's concerns. If his bodyguards knew that he had been humiliated today, he would likely find it difficult to command respect in the future.
Gu Shaoqing received a satisfactory answer and smiled happily.
“Here, this rabbit leg was specially saved for you,” Biaozi said, tearing off the rabbit’s right hind leg and handing it to Lu Qiqi.
After she took it, he stared at her intently.
Lu Qiqi touched her face. "Is there something dirty on my face? Why are you looking at me like that?"
Upon hearing Lu Qiqi's words, the two people present immediately changed their expressions.
Li Changlong instantly shielded Lu Qiqi behind him.
Gu Shaoqing quickly apologized to Lu Qiqi, and then scolded Biaozi, "What's wrong with you? How can you stare at a young lady's face like that? It's impolite. I'll have my mother give you a good talking to when we get back!"
Upon hearing that he was going to be punished by his teacher's wife, Biaozi looked aggrieved and said angrily, "I just checked whether she was crying or not, and you're complaining about that!"
Lu Qiqi, holding the plump, juicy rabbit leg, was momentarily speechless at Biaozi's words, and asked, "Why do you think I would cry?"
Biaozi glanced cautiously at Lu Qiqi, then lowered his head again, afraid that Gu Shaoqing would go back and complain, "Master's wife said that the young lady is made of water and will cry when she encounters something she is afraid of."
"I see," Lu Qiqi said with a light smile. "I wasn't scared, and I didn't cry."
Upon hearing Lu Qiqi's words, Biaozi chuckled and picked up the rabbit meat to eat.
A dozen or so people can't get enough to eat with just two rabbits.
Li Changlong cooked a pot of congee, which was served with savory and succulent rabbit meat; it was truly delicious.
After Biaozi finished eating, he remembered that he hadn't fed his horse yet, so he stood up, patted his backside, and went to feed the horse.
After Biaozi left, Lu Qiqi hesitated for a moment before asking, "Young Manager, is Biaozi always like this?"
Gu Shaoqing paused for a moment before realizing what Lu Qiqi had asked.
He glanced at Biaozi, who was feeding horses not far away, and said in a low voice, "When Biaozi was ten years old, he had a high fever that wouldn't go down. At that time, the escort agency's business was in a bad state. There were more than a dozen children in the house, and they couldn't even afford to eat, let alone call a doctor."
"Back then, Biaozi relied on his big physique and wouldn't tell my parents when he got sick, always thinking he could tough it out on his own."
"When my parents found out, they were lucky to have survived. But they never expected that I would end up like this."
Lu Qiqi remembered that Biaozi had once delivered goods, and she guessed that this was why someone had taken advantage of the situation.
Otherwise, even a novice镖师 (bodyguard/escort) wouldn't fall for such a trap full of flaws.
After finishing his meal, Gu Shaoqing thought it over and decided to leave.
There were many bandits on Tiger Mountain, otherwise he wouldn't have wanted to pay homage to the mountain chief and give gifts to Old Master Gu.
“Miss Lu, let’s leave here first,” Gu Shaoqing said, looking around, “in case Old Gu changes his mind.”
Lu Qiqi shook her head. "Let's rest here today. If we leave right after we finish eating, it will make Elder Gu think that we tricked him with the imperial edict, which will make things more difficult."
"Besides, they missed Mondays these past few days. After we leave, they'll probably have a hard time getting into Tiger Mountain's territory."
What she said made sense, so Gu Shaoqing didn't say anything more and silently acquiesced to her decision.
After filling her stomach, Lu Qiqi went to find Doctor Luo and Doctor Huang.
Having found the two, Lu Qiqi explained her purpose.
"We will definitely need a large amount of medicine on our way to the border, and the wounded soldiers will certainly need a lot of hemostatic drugs."
Doctor Huang understood. "Is the village head going to take us to gather herbs?"
"Exactly!"
Doctor Luo snorted, "Let's go gather herbs. How long will it take the three of us to find enough to treat a wounded soldier in this desolate forest?"
Upon hearing this, Doctor Huang hesitated and looked at Lu Qiqi, "That makes sense. We might as well head to the border as soon as possible."
Lu Qiqi smiled faintly, "There is a ravine nearby, and the bottom of the ravine is full of Panax notoginseng. You don't need to bother looking for it."
Upon hearing this, Dr. Huang's eyes immediately lit up.
Border regions are harsh and unpredictable, so local medicinal herbs are scarce, and the region relies entirely on supplies sent by the imperial court.
With war breaking out and countless soldiers killed or wounded, medicine was bound to be a scarce commodity.
Even a skilled cook can't cook without rice; without medicine, even the doctors were helpless.
If a large amount of Panax notoginseng can be dug up here, it can stop the bleeding of wounded soldiers and reduce the death toll.
Before Doctor Huang could utter any more nonsense, Doctor Luo said succinctly, "Lead the way."
So, Lu Qiqi took Li Changlong and two doctors to dig up Panax notoginseng.
Using her memories from six months ago, Lu Qiqi quickly found the mountain hollow.
For some reason, no one has come to dig up the Panax notoginseng in this mountain valley.
Lu Qiqi deduced that when they fled the famine, no one probably knew that this thing was edible, or perhaps they were so focused on escaping the famine that they had no time to think about anything else, which is why the Panax notoginseng growing all over the mountain valley was able to grow safely for another year.
When Doctor Luo saw the Panax notoginseng growing in the ravine with small red fruits, the corners of his mouth unconsciously curled up.
All four of them had experience digging for Panax notoginseng, so they didn't need Lu Qiqi to teach them how to distinguish the age of Panax notoginseng and whether it would affect its medicinal value.
Lu Qiqi deliberately kept her distance from them and found a small plot of land to dig up Panax notoginseng.
She dug up all the Panax notoginseng in order, leaving the larger roots outside and storing the smaller roots directly into her spatial storage.
That way, it will be convenient for her to plant directly in the space, since the space will be upgraded and there will be an extra plot of land.
Perhaps the more she plants, the faster her space will upgrade.
Thinking this way, Lu Qiqi dug even more enthusiastically.
Doctor Huang and Doctor Luo looked at so many medicinal herbs as if they had fallen into a treasure cave.
They dug away with great enthusiasm, not noticing anything behind them.
Before long, the four of them dug up four large piles of Panax notoginseng.
After a year, the growth of this Panax notoginseng was slow and it did not grow much larger.
Lu Qiqi deduced that it was because the drought occurred when they fled the famine, and even after rain, the situation could not recover quickly.
It looked like the Panax notoginseng in the mountain valley was about to be completely harvested by them.
Lu Qiqi keenly heard the low growl.
The voice wasn't loud, but it was very familiar.
Lu Qiqi suddenly stood up and looked in the direction of Doctor Luo.
A huge creature covered in patterns walked steadily toward the two doctors!
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