Chapter 44 From a very, very long time ago, Qin Ren knew...
Qin Ren understood very early on that in such a feudal society, it would be difficult for a merchant like him to protect himself, let alone protect others.
Take the Liu family's situation this time, for example. If it weren't for Liu Yu's prior planning, it would have been a different story.
Given Qin Ren's status, at most he would let Liu Qingyue escape through the passage, and then he would help her break into the prison cart and rescue her mother.
As for others, such as Liu Yuze, Qin Ren had no way to guarantee their safety.
Because they had long realized that it was difficult to survive in ancient times with only money; in fact, having too many rare treasures might even lead to their own demise.
When Qin Ren opened the shop, he had already planned to gain some power for himself.
Only when he has a certain amount of power can he bargain with others and deal with sudden crises.
Wen Lingzheng: "What big business?"
"The Crown Prince's father is the Marquis of Zhenbei, who commands the Zhenbei Army to guard the border. I think the army should need alcohol more than those vehicles."
Since this concerned the army and the battlefield, Gu Liu, upon hearing this, asked first, "What is alcohol?"
Seeing that he was interested, Qin Ren said, "Alcohol is a kind of medicine for disinfecting wounds that I saw overseas. If this can be used on the battlefield, it can reduce the mortality rate of soldiers."
Wen Lingzheng: "Wait? What does 'disinfection' mean? And what does 'mortality rate' mean?"
"These are all overseas dialects. Disinfection means that when a person is injured, besides bleeding, the wound also harbors many bacteria. These bacteria are invisible to the naked eye, but they can cause the wound to become inflamed and suppurate. Once a wound becomes inflamed and suppurates, it can easily lead to death. The mortality rate is..."
Qin Ren explained it to them in a rambling manner, but because his Mandarin of Nanning was not particularly fluent, they didn't quite understand his explanation.
Wen Lingzheng was an impatient person, and he was too lazy to listen to any more explanations, so he asked Qin Ren urgently, "Then can this alcohol you mentioned save a person 100% of the time?"
"Not necessarily. We can only say that there will be more survivors, but we can't guarantee that 100% of them will survive."
"That's not such a powerful thing."
Upon hearing this, Qin Ren sighed inwardly. Yes, in ancient times, human life was the least valuable thing.
He originally planned to test them with alcohol first, and if they were decent people and could give him what he wanted, he would then bring out more good things.
Seeing that Lingzheng didn't seem very interested, he realized that true nobles didn't care about the lives of ordinary soldiers.
However, Wen Lingzheng wasn't interested, but Gu Liu, who was standing to the side, was quite interested.
"This stuff is pretty good, but I wonder how I can get my hands on it?"
He didn't care much about the lives of ordinary people, but he cared a lot about the lives of useful generals.
Even if alcohol can't guarantee the survival of the generals he cares about, as long as their chances of survival are greater than before, it's still a good thing for Da Yong.
Also, he thought Qin Ren was a capable person.
He learned face reading from his master when he was young and believed that he had a certain ability to judge people.
The moment he saw Qin Ren, he knew this guy was no ordinary person.
Keeping him might bring good luck to him and his elder brother.
Qin Ren: "I have some here, I can give it to you first. As for wanting more alcohol, I can teach you how to make it."
Wen Lingzheng: "You make it sound so miraculous, who knows if it really works?"
Upon hearing this, Qin Ren glanced at Wen Lingzheng and said, "You can send them to the army and let the military doctors try them. The effect will be quite obvious."
How many do you have here?
Qin Ren took out two bottles of alcohol from his backpack; the kind he took out was medical alcohol specifically for disinfection.
"What use are just two bottles? Do you expect me to send someone to the border just for these two bottles?"
"You can also let others try it. Two bottles may not seem like much, but it's enough if it's just for experiments."
Before Wen Lingzheng could speak again, Gu Liu reached out and took the item from her.
Upon seeing this, Qin Ren immediately reached out his hand to Gu Liu. He was a businessman, and a businessman would never allow himself to suffer a loss.
Wen Lingzheng didn't dare let Prince Ying pay for it himself, and Prince Ying probably didn't have the habit of carrying money. He quickly took out a money bag from his body and handed it to Qin Ren.
Wen Lingzheng muttered, "You're really bold, daring to even ask for our money."
As Qin Ren opened the money pouch and looked inside, he said, "I'm a businessman; I don't do business at a loss. And you'll see later how beneficial it is to do business with me."
Seeing his confidence, Gu Liu smiled and said, "If this alcohol really works, what reward do you want from His Majesty?"
Alcohol is good, but given the scarcity of grain in ancient times, it certainly couldn't be used on a large scale.
Qin Ren was definitely embarrassed to ask the emperor to grant him a title of nobility just for taking a bottle of alcohol.
If I'm not granted a title, the other minor official positions are of little use. It's better to ask for more gold and silver first.
If he asked for more gold and silver, he could buy a better house in modern times, and maybe even get Liu Qingyue an ID card.
"Of course it's silver. I'll have to ask the young marquis to help me get more reward money so that I can buy my own house in the capital."
Because Qin Ren had been so arrogant before, Wen Lingzheng thought he would want to become an official.
He had already decided in his mind that if Qin Ren dared to say anything outrageous, he would immediately take the opportunity to give him a good scolding.
Unexpectedly, this person was sometimes quite sensible, not as clueless as he had imagined.
Qin Ren was then forced to stay behind and was placed alone in a carriage.
His carriage was right behind Wen Lingzheng and Gu Liu's carriage.
Behind his carriage were the carriages of Liu Qingyue and Liu Yuze.
It wasn't until two days later that Liu Qingyue learned that Qin Ren had been captured by Wen Lingzheng.
When he learned about this, his first reaction was to want to see Qin Ren.
Unfortunately, their carriage was guarded by soldiers, making it difficult even to use the restroom, let alone see Qin Ren.
Just as Liu Qingyue was getting anxious, Qin Ren came to visit her.
It's no secret that Qin Ren and Liu Qingyue know each other.
When Qin Ren went to Wen Lingzheng to say he wanted to see Liu Qingyue, Wen Lingzheng gave him a strange smile.
Wen Lingzheng: "You treat him quite well, daring to get closer at a time like this."
Thinking back to how he had forced Liu Qingyue to find Qin Ren within three days, and how the young man had cried in fear, Wen Lingzheng felt that their relationship was quite close.
Qin Ren ignored his teasing and asked him if he could see Liu Qingyue.
Wen Lingzheng thought about it and realized that this person was useful to Prince Ying, so she should still give him some face.
Wen Lingzheng: "Okay."
Because Wen Lingzheng agreed, Qin Ren not only successfully met Liu Qingyue, but also managed to get rid of the soldiers guarding Liu Qingyue.
When Liu Qingyue saw Qin Ren coming over, she was really startled.
He leaned against the car window and asked in a low voice, "You, how did you get here? Were you arrested by them?"
Qin Ren replied calmly, "I suppose so."
He was indeed arrested, but Gu Liu treated him fairly politely, seemingly wanting to take him on as a retainer, so he didn't make things difficult for him along the way.
Liu Qingyue's eyes were a little red. He looked Qin Ren up and down, very worried that Qin Ren had been bullied.
"Are you alright? Did they hit you?"
"No, I'm useful to them, and they treat me fairly well."
Yes, as long as he has the ability and skill, even if he becomes a prisoner, he won't be made too difficult by others.
Unless the other party is stupid, they wouldn't be willing to lay a hand on him.
Qin Ren didn't run away because he realized that Gu Liu was a smart guy.
"Then...if you're no longer useful, will they hurt you?"
"How could that be? I will always be useful to them, so you don't need to worry."
Hearing Qin Ren's arrogant words, Liu Yu, who was sitting in the carriage, finally couldn't help but lift the curtain and glance at him.
Qin Ren nodded slightly to Liu Yuze, but showed no intention of speaking to him.
He opened his backpack, took out a paper bag, and handed it to Liu Qingyue in the car.
Qin Ren: "I'm not a free person either, so you should be careful with your food on the road."
Upon hearing this, Liu Qingyue's face flashed with embarrassment.
He wasn't afraid of Qin Ren laughing at his large appetite; he was just worried that his brother and mother would overthink things.
He quickly took the things while glancing back at his brother and mother in the car.
Liu Qingyue explained softly, "Brother Qin is a very good person; he's kind to everyone."
In other words, he's not only this attentive to me, so please don't overthink it.
However, it was clear that his explanation was very weak, because his brother and mother looked at him with very complicated expressions.
After Qin Ren left, Qi Shi took Liu Qingyue's hand and asked, "You, you really have nothing going on?"
Liu Qingyue was a little annoyed. Seeing his brother frowning and staring at him with a serious expression, he explained anxiously, "No, really no, I, I'm still a virgin."
Qi seemed uneasy, so she reached out and lifted his sleeve to peek at him. Only after confirming that the mark of virginity on his arm was still there did she secretly breathe a sigh of relief.
Seeing that her mother's attitude had improved a bit, Liu Qingyue carefully opened the paper bag that Qin Ren had handed to her with her back to her brother.
The paper bag contained four pieces of donkey-hide gelatin cake, two pieces of white chocolate, six pieces of dried mango, and two pieces of eight-treasure cake.
In addition to these, there was a transparent bag inside the paper bag containing a vacuum-packed piece of braised beef and a braised chicken leg.
Liu Qingyue hadn't eaten meat in a long time, and seeing such a large piece of beef made her mouth water.
Liu Qingyue carefully looked back at her mother and brother before taking out the piece of braised beef.
Da Yong has beef, but he can show it off without drawing too much attention.
Liu Qingyue, holding the beef, said, "Brother, let's heat this up and eat it. My mother and I haven't eaten meat for several days. When I was at my uncle's house, I was either locked up or forced to kneel in the ancestral hall. They didn't treat me well in terms of food and drink either. I haven't had any meat in a long time."
Liu Qingyue deliberately made herself sound pitiful, because she was worried that her brother wouldn't allow her to eat the things Qin Ren gave her.
Because in her brother's eyes, Qin Ren was an outsider, and Liu Qingyue, as an unmarried young man, could not just take things from an outsider.
Looking at his pitiful appearance, Liu Yuze knew he was pretending to be pitiful, but she still couldn't help feeling a little sorry for him.
Back in the capital, when had Yue'er ever been so controlled, even when eating meat?
"Go."
Hearing that her brother had agreed, Liu Qingyue went out and borrowed a ceramic pot for heating food from a soldier.
He didn't dare to stay outside in the heat, but instead took the earthenware basin back to the carriage to heat it up.
They had smokeless charcoal in their carriage, which Liu Yuze bought from the guards with silver.
This charcoal was originally intended to be used to keep warm at night.
The beef smelled so good that even with the carriage windows and doors closed, the aroma still wafted out after it heated up.
Fortunately, the soldiers guarding them had gone to eat, so they weren't drawn over to investigate.
Liu Qingyue used a dagger to divide the beef into three portions.
He gave one portion to Qi Shi, one portion to Liu Yuze, and cut the rest into small pieces for himself, starting to stuff them into his mouth little by little.
Qi Shi only took one bite, but seeing that Liu Qingyue was like a little glutton, she gave hers to Liu Qingyue.
"You eat it, Mother doesn't really like beef."
Although the beef tasted really good, Qi didn't really like eating beef.
Liu Qingyue initially declined, but eventually took it and ate it herself.
His mother didn't like to eat meat; she preferred sweet foods to meat.
After eating her beef, Liu Qingyue took out a piece of Eight Treasures Cake from the paper bag.
He had eaten this Eight Treasures Cake before, and Qin Ren said it was good for women's health.
He took out a piece and gave it to Madam Qi. Madam Qi didn't stand on ceremony with her child. She took it, took a bite, and said with a smile, "He's so thoughtful. He even prepared so many delicious things for you on the way."
Liu Qingyue really wanted to praise Qin Ren, but when she noticed Liu Yuze watching him, she didn't want to show that she cared too much about Qin Ren.
For some reason, he didn't want his brother to know that he and Qin Ren were very close, and he didn't want his brother to know about Qin Ren's special abilities.
Meanwhile, on the other side, after Qin Ren returned, Wen Lingzheng came to find him.
Wen Lingzheng asked, "Do you have any other valuables on you that you can show me?"
Qin Ren looked down at him upon hearing this. Wen Lingzheng knew that Qin Ren was greedy, so she had no choice but to take out another money bag from her body.
The money pouch he had given Qin Ren contained twenty taels of silver and three gold leaves, which were intended to be used to buy those two bottles of alcohol.
This time, the money bag he gave was full of gold leaves, nine in total, which was quite generous.
Qin Ren looked at the gold leaf inside and, quite unusually, gave him a smile.
He rummaged in his backpack, pulled out a glass bottle, and tossed it to Wen Lingzheng.
When Wen Lingzheng saw that he only gave her a bottle, she immediately said with dissatisfaction, "I gave you so much gold, and this is all you give me?"
This is way too dark!
Qin Ren: "This is medicine, and it's extremely precious. It's very difficult to obtain even overseas."
Wen Lingzheng: "What medicine?"
Qin Ren: "Fever reducer."
"Fever reducer?"
"Yes, literally, it's a fever reducer. Your Highness can carry it with you; it might save your life in a critical moment."
In ancient times, a simple cold could be fatal.
Qin Ren's statement that fever reducers can save lives is not an exaggeration.
Wen Lingzheng seemed a little skeptical of him, so she simply took the medicine and went to find someone to test it on.
It just so happens that one of the prisoners they were escorting had developed a high fever due to being frightened and chilled.
The child's mother pleaded with the guards several times, but the soldiers couldn't find her a doctor. Besides, everyone in the Liu family was now considered a criminal, so even if someone knew medicine, they wouldn't step forward to save her.
Just as the woman was holding her child, looking utterly hopeless and thinking that her child was about to die from a high fever,
One of Wen Lingzheng's guards suddenly came over with a white pill.
The other person put the pill into the child's mouth and then instructed the soldier guarding the prison cart to keep an eye on him.
"Come and tell me when your fever goes down."
The woman was unsure what the other person had fed her child. At first, she was very nervous and scared, but later she noticed that the child's condition had improved considerably.
The soldiers also prepared hot water for them. After the children drank more hot water, their high fever subsided significantly within half an hour.
Upon seeing this, the soldier immediately informed the guard, who then came over that evening to give the child the medicine again. By the next day, the child's fever had completely subsided.
Wen Lingzheng was quite surprised to hear this news; she hadn't expected the fever reducer to be so effective.
He looked at the bottle in his hand and then decided to hand the medicine to His Highness Prince Ying.
This medicine works very quickly and is very suitable for treating high fever.
Furthermore, Qin Ren said that this kind of medicine is very precious and extremely difficult to obtain even overseas.
Since the item is so precious and rare, instead of keeping it for himself, it would be better to present it to His Highness Prince Ying.
Gu Liu smiled when he received Wen Lingzheng's gift; no one would complain about having too much of something that could save a life.
Whether he can use it or not, it's always better to keep it as a precaution.
"You're very thoughtful. By the way, people with extraordinary abilities like Qin Ren are rare. If we treat him with a little more courtesy, he might come in very useful."
“I know, I’ve been pretty good to him. It’s only been a few days and he’s already swindled so much money out of me. Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.”
"It's good to know. Right now, my brother is in dire need of all kinds of talents. There aren't many people like him who are capable, discreet, knowledgeable, and greedy for money."
Gu Liu felt that greed wasn't a bad thing; what he feared most were people with great abilities who had no flaws or needs. Such people were unpredictable, making one feel constantly uneasy, as if using them as a weapon would only result in accidental cuts.
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