...
Inside the Medicine King Valley in Beiliang, Wuma Zinan, the second son of the Valley Master, was relaying a message to his father: "I heard that the Xigui San we sent to the Nanyang Imperial Palace ten years ago has not been of any use."
"Speak louder, I can't hear you!"
Wu Ma Ziheng, the eldest son of the Valley Master of Medicine King Valley, glared at his younger brother with displeasure. He was sitting next to the Valley Master and was very unhappy with his brother's behavior of whispering.
Wu Ma Zinan repeated himself helplessly. He knew his brother liked to meddle in palace affairs, so he didn't want him to hear it.
"Forget it, we can't interfere in things that happen in the palace."
The Valley Master frowned as he spoke.
"How's the new drug development going?"
"Right now, the Medicine King Valley in Shu is riding high, and that old fellow from the East is still quite formidable."
Originally, there was only one Medicine King Valley. Later, the old valley master gradually lost the ability to manage and control it. After the old valley master died, Medicine King Valley gradually split up.
However, since they were originally from the same medical family, apart from their different surnames, the names their elders gave their children were very similar, so that they could look after each other when traveling around.
The relationships between the various Medicine King Valleys are quite complex, involving both competition and comparison, as well as an inseparable bloodline.
"Yes, we can't let the Medicine King Valley of Shu Kingdom outdo us!"
"If we're talking about the Medicine King Valley in the world, then naturally our Northern Liang Valley ranks first!"
Ziwu Ma Ziheng said with great confidence.
"The wheat vine has been cultivated for more than ten years and is now quite mature."
Wuma Ziheng ignored his younger brother and pointed to the purple five-petaled flower blooming on the ground.
"The wheatgrass grown ten years ago, if taken for a long time, can cause abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, low-grade fever, severe spinal pain and difficulty in movement, and sometimes coma or death."
"Because the symptoms were so obvious, I made some modifications."
Ziwu Ma Ziheng plucked a medicinal herb and said.
"Now, it is possible to make people slowly weaken and die."
"Yes, very good."
The Valley Master looked at the strangely shaped herb with satisfaction.
"We don't need to worry about things in the palace; we just need to focus on developing the new medicine."
The Wu Ma family all nodded in agreement. Their goal was to become the strongest in Medicine King Valley and the premier Medicine King Valley.
"Yes, Father."
The two brothers reached an agreement on this matter.
...
On Rizhao Street in Nanyang, the Xie family steward hurried towards the Xie residence. His expression was serious and solemn, as if he had discovered something extraordinary.
Inside the Xie residence, Xie Jun leaned back on a soft couch. The theft from the storeroom had dealt him a heavy blow, and he hadn't visited the beautiful courtesan of the Yihong Courtyard for several days.
"But what did you find out?"
Xie Jun gritted his teeth and dismissed all the maids serving him.
Don't let me catch you, or I'll make you pay!
[Damn it, how dare they mess with us! They're really asking for trouble!]
"Found it."
"Tell me who did it! I'll skin him alive and drink his blood!"
The steward nodded mysteriously: "Master, the cloth shop owner sent a letter saying that the steward of the Wen family used our family's silver notes to buy cloth."
"As soon as I received the news, I rushed over there."
"I just checked at the cloth shop, and it is indeed a bank note from our household."
As the Xie family steward spoke, he took out a silver note worth one hundred taels of silver from his pocket.
"The Wen family? It was the Wen family who did it?!"
Xie Jun was confused; he stared blankly at the butler.
Are you sure you didn't make a mistake?
The Wen and Xie families had always been on good terms, and their sons often spent time together.
Besides, they all receive salaries from the imperial court and are all officials of the second rank. Why would the Wen family take money from the Xie family?
"My lord, I didn't believe it at first either. After all, you and Lord Wen are good brothers who drink and eat meat every day and embrace a woman."
After saying this, the butler immediately realized he had said too much and quickly changed the subject.
"I also went to the jewelry stores and wine shops that are on good terms with our household and checked the silver notes that the Wen family has spent."
"It's from our household."
The butler spoke with such certainty that Xie Jun had no choice but to believe him.
[Could it be to cover his brother-in-law's gambling losses?]
Xie Jun's brows furrowed deeply; he had always considered Lao Wen a close brother.
I never expected to be stabbed in the back by my brother.
Xie Jun felt a little uneasy.
"Master, look." The steward handed the silver note to Xie Jun and pointed to a wet spot.
Xie Jun held the silver note up to his eyes and examined it carefully.
He clenched his fists, feeling as if a heavy stone was pressing down on him, making it hard to breathe.
"Damn it, it really is that damned bastard!"
"I even considered him a brother!"
"They think I'm a fool!"
These banknotes originally looked very similar, but Xie Jun had specially ordered someone to tamper with them so that as long as they got wet, the Xie family's seal would appear on them.
In the capital, apart from the Xie family, no one could produce such banknotes.
"Sir, what do you intend to do?"
The butler bent down and stood to the side, asking.
"what to do?"
Xie Jun remained silent.
If these silver notes were legitimate government salaries, that would be fine, with witnesses and physical evidence to prove it; he wouldn't care about falling out with the Wen family.
However, the key point is that these banknotes are not legitimate banknotes, so they cannot be reported to the authorities.
If investigating this matter leads to other issues, he'll be in deep trouble.
"Go and tell the young master to stay away from the people of the Wen family."
A while ago, I heard that my son had mocked the eldest prince. Now that I think about it, it must have been someone from the Wen family who instigated it.
What exactly is the Wen family up to?
If the Xie family offends the heir apparent or the Prince Rui's mansion, the consequences will be dire.
What exactly did I do, or rather, what did the Wen family want to achieve?
How could they try to harm me like this!
Xie Jun may never know that this matter has nothing to do with his good brother Wen, but is a prank by a boy with thinning hair, who wanted to sow discord between the Xie family and the Wen family, so that they would not be in cahoots and do the same thing every day.
...
In Nanyang, it was drizzling outside. The palace maids and eunuchs in Fushuang Palace carried the clothes and bedding that had been drying outside into the side hall.
In the front hall, Yun Duoduo was chatting with Yun Yishu. It was raining today, so Yun Yishu didn't go to inspect the shops. Instead, he came to Fu Shuang Palace to discuss matters with Yun Duoduo.
"Princess, the Second Prince has arrived," Ah Xiang said at the door.
"He's lost his hair? Let him in quickly, and have the imperial kitchen send over some beef jerky."
Her second nephew is bald and loves to eat beef jerky.
"Yes, this servant will take care of it right away."
"Ninth Aunt!" A clear, childlike voice rang in my ears.
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