In the evening, Shen Nian came back, and after dinner, the two sat on the kang in the warm room and talked.
"Brother Shen, did you know that there are refugees outside the city?"
“Yeah, I know.” Shen Nian nodded.
"Does the emperor know?" Xia Tian raised his hand and pointed his index finger upwards.
"I'm not sure. But the Emperor has received reports of disasters in the south."
The emperor had discussed this matter during the morning court session this morning, saying that the south had suffered a poor harvest due to the lack of rain for several days, and officials in the south had also submitted reports of the disaster.
"Oh, I'm glad to know." Xia Tian felt relieved. "However, Brother Shen, you should tell the emperor about the refugees arriving in the capital when you go to court tomorrow morning. What if the emperor doesn't know yet?"
Then he told them about the refugees he encountered in Lingwu Temple today.
What she was worried about now was that the refugees had already left the capital, while the emperor had only received a report on the disaster in the south, but the severity of the disaster was still unclear.
What if some officials who are in office but do nothing conceal the information or deliberately lie about the extent of the disaster, it will affect timely disaster relief.
Winter is almost here, and the weather is getting colder day by day. Many refugees will probably freeze to death without food or clothes.
By telling the emperor, we can respond sooner and arrange for people to resettle the refugees as soon as possible.
“Yeah.” Shen Nian nodded in agreement.
"Did you encounter any danger when you went to Lingwu Temple today?"
With so many refugees, Lingwu Temple is probably not safe anymore.
He had just returned and went straight to Jinglan Garden. Mu Feng didn't find a chance to report to him.
"It's okay, we've brought guards."
"That's good. Try not to leave the city during this period."
"Okay, got it."
The next day, after Xia Tian finished paying his respects in the morning, he said goodbye to the Second Madam and left the house.
When I saw those ragged refugees yesterday, I remembered that I was so busy stockpiling food that I forgot to buy some cloth, cotton, etc.
In winter, warm clothes are also very important.
While the refugees haven't entered the city yet and many people haven't realized this, she buys a batch and makes some cotton clothes and shoes in advance.
There are also pills that need to be made, but it is not possible to rely on just a few people in my own yard. The noise will easily arouse speculation from people in the mansion.
She went to the second courtyard of Linglong Lane first.
Uncle Chen and Aunt Chen saw her coming and greeted her with smiles on their faces.
"Madam, are you here?"
"Well, everything is alright here?"
"It's okay, everything is fine here." Aunt Chen replied with a smile, "It's just that there's nothing going on in the mansion, and the servants are all quite free. Madam, is there anything else you need to do?"
"Don't tell me, I came here today just to arrange something for you."
"Madam, please speak." When Uncle Chen and Aunt Chen heard Xia Tian say this, the smiles on their faces became even bigger.
There has been nothing happening here for so many days, and they are all worried that one day the lady will think they have nothing to do and send them away.
When the restaurant opened, Uncle Chen helped with purchasing for a few days. Now that other people have been assigned to the purchasing work, he came back here to continue working as a housekeeper.
But there is no master here, just servants like them, so there really isn't much to do.
Now that I have something arranged, I feel much more at ease.
"Aunt Chen, take someone to the street to buy some coarse cloth, cotton cloth, and cotton." Xia Tian asked Ningxiang to count out two thousand taels of silver notes for her. "Buy more coarse cloth and cotton cloth, and less fine cotton cloth. Remember to buy some needles and thread as well."
Aunt Chen took the banknote and asked in surprise, "Madam, are you going to make cotton-padded clothes?"
"Yeah." Xia Tian nodded. "I'll spend all the money I have, but I'll go to a few different stores when I buy it. I'll also buy dark, stain-resistant coarse cloth."
"Okay, ma'am." Aunt Chen took the silver and went out.
Xia Tian looked at Uncle Chen who was standing aside and staring at her eagerly, and couldn't help laughing, "Uncle Chen, where are the herbs you sent last time?"
"It's in the side room in the backyard. Don't worry, ma'am, it's all well kept."
"That's good." Xia Tian nodded with a smile. "Uncle Chen, take someone to buy a few large pots and we'll set up a few stoves in the yard. I'll have you boil the medicine here and make the pills later."
"Okay, ma'am, I'll go right away." Uncle Chen took the banknote and left happily.
Finally there is work to do, Uncle Chen walks with a breeze.
Seeing that they were all out, Xia Tian took Ningxiang and Cuiyun to the pharmacy where they bought herbs last time.
The shopkeeper saw her coming and quickly came out from behind the counter to greet her with a smile, "Madam, are you buying herbs again this time?"
Xia Tian bought a lot last time, and the shopkeeper still remembers her.
"Hmm." She walked forward with a smile, and asked as she looked him over, "Boss, where is Doctor Duan?"
She also wanted to ask Dr. Duan for other recipes for making pills.
"Doctor Duan is out seeing patients. Madam, please wait a moment. He will be back soon." The shopkeeper led Xia Tian into the guest room in the backyard and asked the waiter to serve tea.
This lady is his big customer. She never bargains for medicinal herbs and often buys a lot at a time.
Seeing the shopkeeper's enthusiasm, Xia Tian explained his purpose as soon as he sat down. "Shopkeeper, do you still have the herbs I bought last time?"
"Yes, yes. I wonder how much Madam wants this time?"
"Just the same as last time." She said with a smile.
"Okay, no problem, I'll arrange for someone to weigh it right away."
After the shopkeeper finished speaking, he went out in a hurry.
Xia Tian was puzzled. Why did he seem worried that the herbs wouldn't sell? Could they be fake?
But then I thought that it wouldn't be the case. This pharmacy is a relatively large store in the capital, and it has many chain stores in the capital. It would not sell fake medicines and ruin its reputation.
In fact, she was wrong. The reason why the shopkeeper was in such a hurry was that after she bought medicine twice last time, he secretly bought some more of the medicine she wanted.
Most of the money circulating in the shop was tied up in this batch of medicine. The shopkeeper had thought she might need more, but he hadn't seen her coming, and he was a little anxious.
After all, if there are too many medicinal materials in stock and they cannot be sold out, it will not be conducive to the operation of the pharmacy.
When they saw her coming, they were naturally very enthusiastic.
I'm afraid that this batch of medicine will end up in my hands.
After a while, the herbs were ready and Doctor Duan came back.
Xia Tian asked Dr. Duan to check the herbs one by one to see if there were any problems. She still trusted Dr. Duan's character.
Doctor Duan didn't refuse. He carefully identified each herb before nodding, "No problem."
Xia Tian asked Ningxiang to pay the money and asked the shopkeeper to arrange someone to deliver it to the address she had sent it to last time.
I also asked Dr. Duan about some commonly used prescriptions, such as frostbite ointment, cold medicine formulas, etc.
Then he asked the shopkeeper to prepare medicinal materials for her according to the prescription.
Fortunately, these medicinal herbs are always available in the pharmacy. The owner kept some for the normal operation of his own shop, and packed the rest and sold them to Xia Tian.
Anyway, it is convenient for him to purchase goods here. If he sells more, the boss will reward him more.
In the summer, I asked the shopkeeper to deliver it to the old place.
There was nothing to do here, so she left first.
I guess Aunt Chen will be back soon.
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