Li Nan chimed in, "That's right, Mother. Although brothels pay a lot of money, we can't cheat people. If you sell a set of clothes for five taels of silver, that's enough for a poor family to live on for a year, not to mention the ten taels."
“Haha,” An Shuyi laughed, “Huahua, there are actually people who don’t believe in your abilities and even say you’re lying.”
Xia Hua was speechless. Did she need to lie? Not to mention that the fabrics at Shu Shu's place were the best, the colors were unique in the world, and the pearls were cheap there, but expensive in the world.
A single pearl that's only eight millimeters in size sells for over fifty taels of silver in a jewelry shop. The pearls she set in her jewelry, though not as big, were numerous. How could she be lying?
"I won't argue with you this time since you don't understand. Wait until I finish making the clothes, then we'll see if I've lied to you. Hurry up and go move your things."
The two were so frightened that they ran inside quickly, not daring to look back. Mother/Auntie, how terrifying!
Seeing them go in, she said, "Shushu, I'm going in to move some things. You wait for me outside." She then went into another room, took out a very large transparent box, and then took out several bags of pearls of different sizes, as well as those sparkling decorations.
After the boxes were full, they carried them outside, but put them down as soon as they got outside. "Wenqing, Li Nan, come and help us carry these things." They were too heavy.
"They're here!" After the two women put the things in the carriage, they came over to unload the boxes. "Mother, what's all this stuff in there? It's quite heavy!"
"Don't worry about anything else, just move it quickly." After saying that, he went to move the other things.
After everything was moved, both carriages were full. An Shuyi and Xia Hua could not sit inside the carriages and could only sit on the carriage shafts outside.
As soon as they arrived in the village, a horse-drawn carriage stopped there. They assumed it was there to pick up ice and didn't pay any attention. They took the goods to the workshop and told Wenqing and Li Nan to quickly take down the saplings and soak them in water.
The sun is so scorching! It's made all the saplings wilt along the way. I don't know if they'll even survive in this heat.
"Sister-in-law, you're back?" Village Chief Lin called out from afar.
Xia Hua originally wanted to say something to him, but seeing the prefect behind him and the two yamen runners following him, she swallowed her words. She thought that the prefect's arrival was too sudden and had frightened Mu Tou. No wonder they were in such a hurry when they returned.
"They're back. Have someone move all the saplings down and put them away properly. Don't touch those sacks."
Village Chief Lin breathed a sigh of relief. "Auntie, I'll have someone go and move it. You two rest."
Xia Hua said to the people running up behind her, "The Prefect is here. Speak, what is it?"
The prefect was already unhappy about being left behind, but when he saw the two women return, his stern face softened. "Madam Xia, Madam An, it's like this, didn't you say that you would come to us if we needed medicinal herbs?"
An Shuyi looked at him. "Haven't you found the medicinal herbs yet?" That's impossible. In this vast city of Jinnan, you can't even find ten kinds of medicinal herbs.
"No," the prefect explained helplessly, "When I gave the prescription to the doctor, he started administering the medicine that very night. The two ladies' medicine was also very effective. The next day, the cholera patients were not as badly affected as the day before."
“I also asked the officials below to buy back all those medicinal herbs, but there were simply not enough. The number of cholera cases among the people of Jinnan City was starting to rise. Remembering what the two ladies had said, I shamelessly came here.”
"Moreover, I have already submitted a memorial to the Emperor, and it may not be long before all the medicinal herbs from various places are sent to Anhe Prefecture and Taiyuan Prefecture."
An Shuyi nodded, "We have medicinal herbs, we can give them to you. There are villages in Jinnan City where cholera has appeared, so don't be stingy with the herbs, have the soldiers deliver them, otherwise remember to wear a mask."
Seeing the prefect nod, he continued, "Before the cholera outbreak ends, no one is allowed to enter or leave Jinnan City except for the soldiers who deliver medicine. The villagers should also be kept under control to prevent them from wandering around. They should not drink the river water, and the excrement of those who have contracted cholera should be properly disposed of and disinfected."
"Thank you, Madam An, Madam Xia. On behalf of the people of Jinnan City, I thank you." After saying this, the prefect bowed deeply to them.
Xia Hua said, "The medicinal herbs and disinfectant are on the carriage. I'll have someone send them to you... Li Nan, take this to the master. Wear this mask."
"Mother, am I going?" Li Nan looked at his mother in disbelief. Wasn't there a cholera outbreak in Jinnan City? Why was his mother still letting him go? Wasn't she afraid that he would get infected too?
"If you're not going, am I the one who should go? Hurry up, you won't get infected easily. Even if you do, I have medicine, I won't let you die. Hurry up, you still have to do the accounting when you get back, I don't have time to waste with you."
"I'm not going!" Li Nan muttered softly.
"Mother, Aunt, let me go!" the eldest son said from the side.
An Shuyi nodded, "Okay, you go. Don't worry, it's not that easy to spread, don't be afraid... Prefect, my son will go with you to deliver the medicine to the city gate, and you can have the soldiers carry it later."
"Thank you both, madams. I will send you the money for the medicine after the cholera outbreak is over. I'll take my leave now." After saying this, the prefect got into his carriage.
The eldest son jumped into his own carriage and drove it behind the prefect's carriage.
An Shuyi turned to Village Chief Lin and said, "Wood, after work tonight, tell the villagers of Xinglin Village not to come for the next few days. We'll let them know when they should come."
"The workshops are operating as usual these days. The village gate is closed, but there is a wooden sign on the gate that says Taoyuan Village is not open for business these days. The opening time will be announced later."
"Understood, sister-in-law, I'll make the arrangements in a bit," Village Chief Lin replied.
After Xia Hua finished speaking, without mentioning the saplings, she said, "Wood, how much land in the village hasn't been planted with crops yet?"
"Sister-in-law, we'll finish planting today." But it might be a little later.
"After we finish planting today, we'll start planting fruit trees tomorrow morning. Everyone will go and plant the ones that are submerged in water on the hillsides. We'll cut down the grass and cut down the bigger trees."
Although it's a hillside, there's no land to plant on, so we'll just have to make do. After planting, we'll dig around the plant, and it'll definitely survive.
Village Chief Lin nodded, "Okay, sister-in-law, then I'll have them plant a little more tonight." With that, he hurriedly left.
"No need to rush, you can plant them tomorrow if you can't finish." But Village Chief Ke Lin had already run off with his short legs.
"They're rushing this wood too much. I never said I was in a hurry to finish planting it."
An Shuyi walked over and said, "Who cares? He's always like this. We'll get used to it. We still have time. You finish drawing that dress first. The young women and wives need to make it tonight. I'll go find two stones and have Changyu make a millstone when he's not busy."
"A long fish?" Xia Hua looked at him, puzzled. "He can make a stone mill?"
"Yes, Linjia Village used to have that, but it was for milling grains. He knows how to do it."
"Alright, you go find it, I'll go draw the diagram." After saying that, the two parted ways and went their separate ways.
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