Chapter 58: Pharmacy
Jiang Ran has always been a restless sleeper, but he was still surprised when he woke up and found himself lying on his side, taking up most of the bed.
Oh my God, could she have developed sleepwalking again?
Jiang Ran suddenly stood up and hissed in pain. Her hair and Lu Weiqing's hair were tangled together, somewhat like a love knot.
She untied it carefully, afraid of waking Lu Weiqing.
But she didn't know that Lu Weiqing was the culprit. He woke up early and felt a little regretful when he saw her solving the puzzle.
After she left the house, Lu Weiqing turned over and sighed, "A heart knot, how could she not like it?"
After Jiang Ran finished washing up, she didn't ask him to get up. She started to boil medicine and left breakfast for Lu Weiqing, thinking that he was injured and should rest more.
Seeing her calmly decocting the medicine, Lu Zhaoyang came over and asked, "Aran, aren't you going to teach your brother a lesson?"
"Lesson? Teach him what?"
Lu Zhaoyang looked at her expression, as if he really didn't know, and said exaggeratedly: "He didn't even go to court today!"
"What's the big deal? He's injured, shouldn't he take a few days off?"
Jiang Ran replied that it was what he deserved. How could he work for the emperor if he was injured?
Lu Weiqing is not made of iron. With such a serious injury, he needs a few days to recuperate.
"A Ran, you really don't know? Big brother has been suspended!"
Jiang Ran dropped the palm-leaf fan in his hand. "What's going on? He's not a military officer. He was injured while protecting His Majesty. How can we punish him?"
Lu Zhaoyang told Jiang Ran the news he had obtained.
It turned out that the emperor issued an edict last night, welcoming Jiang Ruyue into the palace and conferring the title of Consort Ru on her. He also acknowledged the identity of the third prince, saying that he had been in poor health since childhood and had been raised in a Buddhist temple under the guidance of a high monk. Only now did he recognize his ancestors.
Lu Zhaoyang covered his mouth and whispered, "It's rumored outside that the assassination was the work of the prince."
The emperor sent him off to provide disaster relief and took the third prince on a spring hunt. The crown prince was so anxious that he wanted to usurp the throne. However, his plan failed, and instead the third prince and his mother gained power. Even the queen was implicated and confined to her house.
"What does that have to do with your eldest brother? He and the prince have nothing in common."
Jiang Ran became anxious when he heard this. Isn’t this an unexpected disaster?
Lu Zhaoyang sighed. As for why Lu Weiqing was suspended, there were different opinions.
Some said that the emperor saw Lu Weiqing draw his sword and thought he was in league with the crown prince, so he suspended him. Others said that Lu Weiqing had a close personal relationship with the former leader of the Jinwu Guard who had been executed, and that the emperor was angry with him.
"In short, he was suspended."
"Aran, there's no telling when my brother will be able to return to work. If you dislike him..."
Just as Lu Zhaoyang was about to call out to Brother Cricket, he heard a sinister call from behind.
"Zhaoyang——"
"Hey, I had an appointment with that, this, someone, so I was in a hurry to go out, so I left." Lu Zhaoyang was caught on the spot. He found an excuse and slipped away in shame.
Lu Weiqing and Jiang Ran stood opposite each other, neither of them looking very sad, their expressions still as calm as usual.
"Is what Zhaoyang said true?"
"Yes, I'll suspend you for a month first." Lu Weiqing said frankly, as if he was talking about someone else's business.
Seeing that Jiang Ran was a little worried, he joked, "If I am dismissed, I will probably have to rely on my wife in the future."
"That's fine. But the Jiang family doesn't keep idle people. From now on, I'll have to trouble Prime Minister Lu to open the business with me."
Seeing that he still had the mind to joke, Jiang Ran thought the matter was not serious, so he agreed happily.
Unexpectedly, Lu Weiqing actually helped her to take care of the business seriously. Every time she went out to check the accounts, he followed her, under the pretext of learning in advance and having more ways to make a living.
Jiang Ran complained in his heart that with the Lu family's wealth, he would never go bankrupt even if he lived for eight lifetimes.
But seeing that he understood everything immediately and could really help her a lot, she didn't refuse.
That day, after they went to the incense shop, they stopped by Ji'an Hall and met three strange people.
They claimed to be drug dealers from Ganyang. They wore gray-brown round-necked, narrow-sleeved shirts and had big beards. Each of them carried a bundle, claiming that it contained "fine materials". Because they were in a hurry to go back, they found a big drug store to sell them at a low price.
When Jiang Ran entered the store, he saw the owner of the drugstore checking the goods and about to give them the money.
"What kind of fine material is so expensive?"
The fine material is expensive and used in small quantities, but it has unique therapeutic effects and medicinal value. Most small pharmacies do not have the financial resources to buy it. Even a pharmacy of the size of Ji'antang does not dare to stock up too much.
Jiang Ran saw that the shopkeeper asked for five hundred taels. According to the rules, when doing business with these foreign drug dealers, in order to avoid problems with the medicinal materials, he always paid half in advance and the balance would be settled when they came to sell medicinal materials next time.
No matter how you calculate it, these three packages of medicinal herbs cannot be sold for one thousand taels.
"Miss, I've tested all of these ingredients, and they're indeed of extremely high quality. They include salvia miltiorrhiza, white atractylodes, agarwood, deer antler, Fritillaria cirrhosa, Panax notoginseng, and cordyceps. If calculated, they're worth seven or eight hundred taels."
Seeing her coming, the shopkeeper did not dare to be careless and told her the whole situation.
Jiang Ran opened the bundle and took a closer look. It was truly rare to find so many treasures.
"Yes, boss, such good quality is in great demand everywhere. If we were not in a hurry to return to Ganyang, we would not sell it to you at a discount." The drug dealer standing in the middle saw that she was the one in charge, and quickly turned to talk business with Jiang Ran.
Jiang Ran became suspicious when he heard him speak Ganyang dialect.
Ganyang is the most famous medicine capital in the south. There is a saying that "Ganyang white peony flies to the sky", which means that the pharmacist can cut the soaked white peony into a thin layer of only 0.1 mm, which will float like snowflakes when blown gently.
Most Ganyang people make a living from medicinal materials, and most of them sell precious medicinal materials to the north. When talking about business, everyone speaks standard northern Mandarin.
"Ji'an Tang is one of the largest pharmacies in Chang'an. Don't you three plan to do business with us long-term?"
Generally, drug dealers only make a trip every two or three months, and are willing to pay half in advance. Finding regular customers saves them the trouble of asking for prices everywhere.
"I have some family matters, so I won't be doing business for the next six months. Boss, how about four hundred and fifty taels for the whole thing?"
Seeing Jiang Ran's hesitation, the drug dealer took the initiative to lower the price by fifty taels, just to get rid of the three bags of herbs as soon as possible.
Four hundred and fifty taels, if you are really a serious businessman, it is probably not enough to break even.
Jiang Ran had a plan in mind and said in a gentle voice, "With so many medicinal herbs, it will take our Ji'an Hall a year or two to sell them. Let me think about it."
"Miss, this..." The shopkeeper was about to speak up to help, but Jiang Ran stopped her with a raised hand.
"Excuse me, where are you three staying? If we want to buy something, the shopkeeper can come to you." Jiang Ran didn't say anything definite.
The drug dealer felt that she probably didn't intend to buy it, but still holding on to a glimmer of hope, he told her that they would be at Tongfu Inn for the next few days.
"Tongfu Inn in Kuanzhai Alley?"
"Exactly."
The three drug dealers packed up their bags and went to ask the next drug dealer.
Lu Weiqing and Jiang Ran looked at each other and reached a consensus - there was something wrong with these three people.
Even Lu Weiqing, who is not an expert in this field, noticed the problem, so the shopkeeper should not have failed to notice it.
They packed up and left. The shopkeeper seemed extremely heartbroken that the deal hadn't been done. But he dared not speak out against Jiang Ran's decision.
Now that he was there, Jiang Ran started to check the accounts.
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