Seeing that Jiang Yao was still talking in her sleep, Jiang Shuwan suppressed the throbbing veins on her forehead.
"His Majesty is away on summer vacation and hasn't returned yet. The Empress and Consort Gao are in charge of the entire capital. People from our Marquis's residence can't even get into the dungeon, let alone leave the city to seek justice from His Majesty!"
"Then I will wait for His Majesty to return."
"Alright, His Majesty is already on his way back to the capital and should arrive in about two days."
"Great! I knew there was always a way out."
"Second Miss, you're amazing. I thought you would agree to Miss's plan immediately, after all, you've been tortured like this in just half a day. I didn't expect you to be able to hold on for two more days." Qingxing looked at Jiang Yao in utter shock, as if she had never met her before.
"Second Miss, I looked down on you before."
"You're a real man!"
"..."
"..."
Jiang Yao cried, her cries were tragic and heartbreaking.
"I'll give it to them, I'll give it to them, okay? Waaah, what did I ever do to deserve this? I finally racked my brains to come up with a way to make ice, and before I even earned a few taels of silver, it was all taken away..."
"My life is so miserable..."
Jiang Yao whispered the secret of the saltpeter into Jiang Shuwan's ear.
She couldn't withstand the torture. She had only kept quiet because she was afraid they would get the prescription and kill her to cover it up.
"that's all?"
"It's that simple? You're not kidding me, are you? My mother said it's a magical technique."
As Jiang Shuwan wrote down the method for making ice with saltpeter on the paper, she didn't forget to pretend to be a complete novice.
Jiang Yao looked disdainful.
"There are no magic tricks in this world, it's just science and technology. Ha! You bumpkin, it's terrible to be uncultured."
"Okay, I will tell my mother that you called her a country bumpkin."
"..."
Jiang Shuwan wrote down the method for making ice with saltpeter on a piece of paper. Just as she finished writing, two groups of people came to the cell, all of them masked and carrying large knives at their waists.
Upon seeing them, Jiang Yao instinctively shrank back.
"Big sister, please save me, I'm scared."
Qingxing was also very scared, but the little girl still stood in front of Jiang Shuwan, "W-what do you want to do? This is the Kyoto government office..."
Jiang Shuwan remained calm. While she asked Qingxing to help Jiang Yao out of the cell, she lit a tinderbox.
The moment the note was placed in the tinderbox, the man in black froze in his motion to draw his knife.
"Everyone, we agreed beforehand that we would release the person once we received the prescription. We can't go back on our word!"
"Yes! If you break your promise, I will kill myself, and then you will get nothing."
Jiang Yao also knew that they needed to unite against a common enemy at this time, so she followed closely behind Jiang Shuwan.
Hearing them say that, neither side dared to move and could only let them walk out step by step.
"Your Highness, have you thought this through? Giving this prescription to the wrong person could be fatal!"
"Ha, don't try to scare us. Do you think our Empress can't even save a woman's life? Don't worry, Madam Crown Prince, as long as you give us the prescription, your sister's life will be safe."
"How dare they go against Consort Gao!"
"I think you're the ones who've followed the wrong master. The Empress's Madam is the true mistress of the empress's palace."
The two sides engaged in a heated debate, each wanting Jiang Shuwan to give them the prescription.
However, Jiang Shuwan didn't give them any. She kept the slips of paper on a tinderbox all the way. She only breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her third uncle waiting for them in a carriage after they left the dungeon.
Grabbing Jiang Yao and hurrying forward, Jiang Shuwan urged Jiang Yao and Qingxing to get into the carriage while smiling at the two menacing groups.
"Heroes, we, the Marquis's Mansion, cannot afford to offend the people behind you, nor do we want to take sides."
"If you want the prescription, you can take it yourselves!"
After saying that, he threw the note away. Both sides' eyes turned red and they rushed to grab it. Jiang Shuwan took the opportunity to drive the carriage back to the mansion.
Upon returning to the manor, the gates were locked tightly, and the manor's guards, along with the maids and servants, all stayed awake until dawn.
That night, Madam Pei's courtyard was also brightly lit.
No one in the entire mansion dared to sleep.
Outside, the sounds of battle were deafening, and blood flowed like a river.
I don't know who won, but it's dawn anyway.
"Am I safe now?" Jiang Yao asked, her eyes half-closed. She was wrapped up like a dumpling, and Pei Lingyu was taking care of her by the bedside with heartache.
"Not yet. Your older sister said that no matter which side gets the prescription, the other side will not let it go."
"What! Then I've just given the prescription a lonely gift?"
"...?"
"It means you gave it to me for nothing, and now you want to settle accounts with me."
"Don't worry, the prescription has already spread throughout the capital."
"What? Jiang Shuwan distributed my prescription?"
Jiang Yao, on her deathbed, was startled awake; the news had already spread throughout the streets and alleys.
In the teahouses, groups of three or five people were talking about this.
"Have you heard? This morning, all the shops of the Pei family were sending out ice-making recipes early in the morning."
"I heard that the recipe is amazing. Just stir the saltpeter into the water and the water turns into ice."
"My goodness, this is practically divine magic!"
"No way, no way, you actually dared to eat that ice? Haven't you heard that ice is unclean and people have died from eating it?"
"Then don't eat it. It's so hot. Who wouldn't want to eat some ice to cool off? Besides, I've eaten ice before. My whole family has eaten it and nothing happened to us. I think someone is just jealous of the Jiang family's good business and is deliberately framing them."
"Some unscrupulous merchants are just wicked and always trying to frame this person or that person. If you ask me, the young lady of the Jiang family did a great thing. You know, we used to be so lucky to get ice. A bucket of ice cost two or three taels of silver, it was like robbery."
"Jiang's Ice Shop only costs three hundred coins for a bucket, which makes it affordable for us ordinary people even if we tighten our belts. Not to mention that now that they have made the recipe public, everyone can make ice at home."
"Ice prices have plummeted. Forget about eating ice, you might even be able to put ice in your house to keep cool. Oh my, just thinking about it is exciting! We poor folks can finally live the life that only nobles have!"
Upon hearing this, those who had been hesitant were immediately persuaded.
"What you said seems to make sense. Her business is doing just fine, it's not like she's not making money. What would she gain by poisoning the ice?"
"Then what are you waiting for? Go buy saltpeter!"
As they talked, they slammed a coin on the table and then all ran to the pharmacy.
"What!"
"The saltpeter is sold out?"
"Is it really all gone? We really need saltpeter, please sell us some, boss."
"Go away, go away, it's sold out, it's sold out a long time ago. I don't know what happened, so many people came to buy saltpeter early this morning, and I didn't see any signs of them being sick!"
Saltpeter has the effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, relieving heat and constipation, and reducing swelling. The pharmacy owner got up early to do business and had no idea that the prescription was being distributed.
"Oh dear, I'm a step too late..."
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