After asking the question, Shen Yuan suddenly paused, "Sorry, I forgot you can't speak."
When the man was teaching her how to pick the Crane Blood Flower, Shen Yuan realized that he hadn't spoken because he didn't want to, but because he was mute and couldn't speak.
"Can you write?" Shen Yuan sat up from the ground, found a straight branch and handed it to him. "My name is Shen Yuan, Yuan as in 'yuanhua cao' (芫花草, meaning citronella flower). What about you? What's your name?"
As she spoke, Shen Yuan took out the half-piece of gold from her bosom.
The man in blue looked at the piece of gold, and his hand, which had been hanging in his sleeve, unconsciously rose.
But the girl simply waved the gold medal in front of him and asked, "Is this 'Ling' your name? What's your surname?"
The man silently withdrew his hand, picked up a twig, and wrote two words on the ground: Xiao Ling.
Upon seeing the character "Xiao," Shen Yuan's pupils constricted sharply, her expression instantly turning cold, and her gaze towards Xiao Ling became exceptionally sharp.
"Where are you from? Are you from the capital?"
Xiao Ling didn't expect Shen Yuan to react so strongly, as if she had some deep-seated hatred for people with the surname Xiao.
He clearly hates the person with the surname Xiao the most.
Xiao Ling remained silent for a moment, then wrote the two characters "Jinling" on the ground.
It turns out that Xiao Ling is from Jinling. Jinling City is not far from Jian'an City, which explains why she met him here.
Well, although Xiao is the imperial surname, there are countless people with the surname Xiao in the world. She can't suspect that he is a member of the royal family just because he has the surname Xiao.
Moreover, she had stayed in the princess's mansion in her previous life, but she had never heard of the name Xiao Ling.
The emperor of the Great Yan Kingdom had few children. Although he had nine children, only three survived: Princess Jingwan Xiao Yunyan, Crown Prince Xiao Yuncheng, and the sixth prince Xiao Yunfei, who was favored by the emperor and granted a fiefdom at the age of six.
The three of them were born of the same mother, the Empress.
That's why Xiao Yunyan lived such a spoiled, willful, and lawless life in her previous life.
After resting on the mountaintop, Shen Yuan carried a bamboo basket and helped Xiao Ling down the mountain.
The gold medal Xiao Ling gave her was worth at least a pound, and he gave her ten taels of gold. Considering the amount of money, Shen Yuan decided to go all the way and completely heal Xiao Ling's injuries before sending him away.
Shen Yuan helped Xiao Ling down the mountain, and then carried the two baskets of medicinal herbs she had hidden in the cave to the foot of the mountain. She asked Xiao Ling to watch over the herbs and the Crane Blood Flower, while she went to a nearby village to rent an oxcart.
The two returned to Jian'an City in an oxcart.
Granny Liu stared in astonishment at the three baskets of medicinal herbs and the baby boy on the oxcart, her jaw nearly dropping to the floor. Hadn't their Yuanyuan gone into the mountains to gather herbs?
Why did you bring back a beautiful baby boy?
The boy looked young, probably only eighteen or nineteen, but he had a handsome and dashing face, with an air of nobility about him, unlike an ordinary person.
Granny Liu thought to herself: We've picked up a good one!
This young man looks very strong and capable!
She's hundreds of times better than that frail Chu Yuning!
Shen Yuan had no idea what Granny Liu was thinking. She said to Granny Liu, "This young master Xiao is injured. He gave me money to treat him. The woodshed in the courtyard on the first floor is empty, so let him stay here for the time being. He can leave once he has recovered."
“Okay!” Granny Liu readily agreed.
"You've been in the mountains all night, you must be hungry. Grandma will go and make you something delicious!"
After Liu Mama finished speaking, she went into the kitchen.
Shen Yuan glanced at Xiao Ling, "Your wounds need to be cleaned and re-medicated. I'll go boil some water for you. You should wipe yourself down and change your clothes first!"
Xiao Ling nodded.
Shen Yuan followed Liu Mama into the kitchen, boiled a pot of water, and then went to the clothing store across the street to buy Xiao Ling a set of clothes.
Prices in Jian'an City were a bit high for Shen Yuan. The cheapest men's clothing cost five taels of silver, which was almost enough to buy rice from five acres of land!
Shen Yuan's clothes didn't even amount to five taels of silver!
Hearing the shopkeeper's price, Shen Yuan felt a pang of heartache, but when she thought of the ten taels of gold Xiao Ling had given her, she gritted her teeth and bought the outfit.
When she got home, the hot water in the kitchen had just boiled. Shen Yuan took the clean clothes, the wooden bucket full of water, and the medicine for her injuries into the woodshed.
Then he went to sort out the medicinal herbs he had brought back from the southern foothills of the mountain.
She spread out the herbs that needed to be dried in the sun on a winnowing basket rack in the yard. She chose this shop because it had a large yard, which made it convenient for her to dry the herbs.
As for the Crane Blood Flower that she picked, both plants still had soil on them and were not yet withered. Shen Yuan looked at the flowers and thought for a moment that she might try to cultivate them.
No clinic in the city has fresh Crane Blood Flower. If she could grow this flower in a flowerpot and display it in the pharmacy, it would definitely attract a lot of attention.
Shen Yuan thought it was a good idea, so she immediately found a flowerpot, dug up half a pot of black soil from outside the backyard, planted the Crane Blood Flower in it, and then filled it with pebbles.
Finally, based on the environment she saw in the valley, she placed the flowers in a cool, dark place inside the shop.
Having done all this, Granny Liu walked out of the kitchen with a smile, carrying a porcelain basin.
"Come and eat, everyone! The fragrant braised pork is ready!"
Shen Yuan set up a small wooden table in the courtyard and helped Granny Liu serve the dishes.
In less than half an hour, Granny Liu had prepared four dishes and a soup: stir-fried vegetables and tofu, stir-fried eggs with perilla, fried radish balls, hot and sour pork liver soup, and her specialty braised pork belly.
"Go and call Young Master Xiao!" said Granny Liu.
Shen Yuan agreed and was about to call Xiao Ling when the door to the woodshed creaked open. Xiao Ling, who had just washed up, came out of the woodshed wearing the robe that Shen Yuan had just bought at the ready-made shop.
He had an outstanding figure, and the indigo cloud-patterned robe he wore looked as if it were tailor-made for him, exuding elegance, grace, and extraordinary nobility.
Standing at the door of the woodshed, I felt completely out of place in this environment.
Shen Yuan clicked her tongue. If she had known Xiao Ling looked so good in clothes, she should have bought him two more outfits!
As soon as Xiao Ling came out, he saw that the table was full of fragrant and tempting dishes.
Before taking a bath, Shen Yuan gave him two Qi-boosting pills. After taking the medicine, his body was not as weak as before, but he was still extremely hungry when he saw the food.
He hasn't eaten for three days!
"Child, sit down and eat!" Granny Liu invited Xiao Ling to sit down.
She had just learned from Shen Yuan in the kitchen that Xiao Ling had aphasia and could not speak. Her heart ached even more for this handsome young boy.
Xiao Ling sat down as instructed.
Granny Liu picked up a piece of braised pork from the porcelain bowl and placed it in Xiao Ling's bowl, saying, "You've suffered such a serious injury, eat more meat to replenish your strength!"
Braised pork belly is made with pork belly and has some fat on it. Xiao Ling doesn't like fatty meat, but seeing the old lady's kind face, he couldn't bear to refuse and put the meat into his mouth with a frown.
To his surprise, there was none of the greasiness and porky smell he expected. Instead, it had a tender texture and a rich, oily aroma. This piece of meat was practically melt-in-your-mouth tender. Paired with the tiger-skin green peppers thickened with a gravy, it was simply delicious!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
