Chapter 12: Chapter 11 The Punishnt of the Heavenly Dao is Too Severe Chapter 12: Chapter 11 The Punishnt of the Heavenly Dao is Too Severe Ruo Xuan gaped at Mrs. Zhuang who looked as if she had rolled out of the fireplace,
shocked beyond words.
“What did I do to deserve this?”
“Why has the heavens imposed such a harsh punishnt on ?”
Doctor Fang also jumped in fright, “Who got struck by lightning in broad daylight?”
Mrs. Zhuang quickly got up, ignoring the pain, and pointed at Ruo Xuan’s nose as she scolded, “Stop spouting nonsense! These dicinal materials are freshly procured, how could they possibly have worms?”
Doctor Fang: “…”
Ruo Xuan furrowed her brows slightly, “I’m not spouting nonsense. They have worms and are moldy. Moldy dicinal materials won’t cure illnesses but will kill, you deserve to be struck by lightning!”
She found that when humans lie, they always say ‘Stop spouting nonsense’, such foolish words!
Isn’t this the equivalent of admitting guilt?
Mrs. Zhuang’s face changed, “Shut up! Stop spouting nonsense! You haven’t even seen the dicinal materials, how would you know there are worms?”
Ruo Shan quickly walked towards the dicine cabinet.
Mrs. Zhuang, startled, rushed to take those packs of dicine away.
Doctor Fang rushed in ahead of her, “Stop right there!”
Mrs. Zhuang’s heart skipped a beat: “Dad, are you actually believing a little girl’s words?”
It’s over!
She had seen that these dicinal materials were half the price, just worm-infested but not poisonous, and their dicinal properties were still intact, so she bought them to make so extra money for herself.
She had planned to sneak them in while the old man was away, unnoticed.
Even if the old man discovered them later, it would be Ruo Shan’s fault, and she would have an excuse to drive Ruo Shan away.
All her plans were ruined because this idiotic family suddenly showed up.
Doctor Fang, as if he hadn’t heard, systematically checked each package with a more and more displeased expression.
She hurriedly explained, “Dad, could there really be sothing wrong with these materials? Oh my! It must be the dicine rchant who deceived . Dad, you have to believe , I was deceived too!”
“How fake is that? Who would believe that? It’s not like I don’t have a brain.” She didn’t believe a single word.
Selling worm-eaten and moldy dicinal materials, that’s endangering lives, especially the moldy ones.
No wonder the Divine Lord Xuanyuan said one should not harm others, good deeds are rewarded and evil deeds punished, the Heavenly Dao has its own retribution.
The punishnt of the Heavenly Dao truly lived up to its reputation!
Too terrifying!
Doctor Fang was fuming, trembling as he pointed at Mrs. Zhuang, “You are trying to kill people, ruining the century-long reputation of Fang dical Clinic in one fell swoop!”
The eldest daughter-in-law was also from Apricot Forest Household, initially thinking that she could help out the oldest son in the future and make Fang dical Clinic flourish and prosper, but she ended up doing such a thing.
Doctors fear unethical behavior the most!
Mrs. Zhuang stubbornly retorted, “Dad, I really didn’t know!”
Doctor Fang grew even more disappointed and didn’t want to hear any excuses, “Go kneel in the temple hall!”
Only when she realized her mistake would he allow her to get up.
This ti, he must teach her a harsh lesson.
Mrs. Zhuang: “Dad, …”
Seeing her attempting to argue further, Doctor Fang bellowed, “Are you not going yet?”
His anger was palpable!
Where had Mrs. Zhuang seen Doctor Fang this angry before?
She was so frightened that she dared not say another word, she shot a venomous glance at Ruo Xuan and Ruo Shan.
One day, she would drive away this ungrateful Ruo Shan!
Mrs. Zhuang left enduring her pain.
She had been struck by lightning and was covered in burns that hadn’t been treated yet!
She touched her own terribly painful head, and a flurry of ash fell off, leaving a smooth bald spot on top of her head in an instant!
“Ah!” Sothing dawned on Mrs. Zhuang, and she scread as she ran away!
Ruo Xuan looked at Mrs. Zhuang, whose head was now partially bald, touched her own little hair bun, “Lightning is truly frightening. I must never get struck!”
Doctor Fang had no intention to deal with her, the moldy dicinal materials still needed to be handled.
He said to Ruo Shan, “Burn all these herbs, they can’t be used. Dump whatever cabinets have these herbs added to them, do not use them. Herbs are for healing and saving lives, those with insects and mold affect the potency, or even cause stomach upset. Our dical clinic absolutely cannot use them!”
“Yes,” Ruo Shan responded imdiately, hurrying to dispose of the bug-infested herbs just as Zhuang had added more to the cabinets.
If not dealt with promptly, the insects could spread to other cabinets and cause trouble.
A family scandal should not be publicized, so Ruo Shui tily suggested leaving.
Doctor Fang nodded, “You’ve seen sothing embarrassing, thank you, Xuanbao, for the warning, or else the consequences would be unimaginable. A minor hit to the clinic’s reputation is one thing, but causing death is far worse.”
Ruo Shui busied himself, saying, “It’s only right, luckily it was discovered in ti, and the herbs hadn’t been sold. Doctor Fang’s compassion and skills are truly admirable! Everyone feels very safe coming to the Fang dical Clinic.”
Ruo Xuan looked seriously at Doctor Fang’s face and warned with a stern little face, “Grandfather Fang, be very careful with the herbs! An ant hole may collapse a great dike; evil unchecked may destroy oneself.”
Doctor Fang hadn’t expected Ruo Xuan to say such a thing, probably recalling sothing she’d heard from adults, rembered! It was shocking enough that she rembered it, he praised her, “Xuanbao is really clever, Grandfather Fang will certainly be careful.”
Doctor Fang, having practiced dicine for decades, naturally knew the significance of proper dication.
This ti it was Zhuang who had made the mistake, their Fang dical Clinic had never had such an incident before.
He had originally planned to let Zhuang gain so experience by being responsible for purchasing herbs, but now it seed impractical. He decided to punish Zhuang by making her kneel in the ancestral hall for two days and forbidding her from interfering with the procurent of herbs.
Struck by lightning but not knocked unconscious, Zhuang fainted outright when she learned she’d lost the authority to procure herbs and her source of inco had been blocked!
*
After leaving the clinic, Ruo Shui went to the Cloth Store planning to buy cotton to make a cotton jacket for his daughter. There was no new cotton available, so he gave up on that and instead bought a pound of pork belly and a pound of bones before pushing his cart out of the city.
Ruo Xuan sat on the cart, sunbathing while watching Liu count the remaining coppers.
Two coins to enter the city, ten spent on wontons; five for candied haw; one hundred and six for grains; thirty for at and bones, and including the doctor’s fees plus the money spent on dicine for his uncles, a total of 1,510 coins were spent, of which ten were the doctor’s fees. It was this cheap because he only paid what the herbs cost at wholesale.
After counting, Liu happily said, “We spent a total of 1,663 coins, and we have seventy-two left. We should be able to sell the persimmons for a tael of silver tomorrow.”
Ruo Shui nodded, “We’ll save the money we get tomorrow to buy new cotton.”
Shaxi County is in the South, where cotton cannot be grown, and it has to be transported from the north and is particularly costly.
Now that it was autumn, the mountains were plentiful with wild fruits, and there was more ga, he decided to hunt in the mountains more often and earn more to make new cotton jackets for his wife and mother.
Ruo Xuan suddenly understood why her father was reluctant to eat wontons.
Money was hard to co by and they couldn’t afford it!
With such costs associated with treating illnesses, she decided it would be better for her to cultivate and treat her uncles herself!
But the Divine Monarch said one should not use Immortal Technique directly for healing; it must be disguised with dicine.
Ruo Xuan quietly infused a few packets of herbs with a trace of spiritual energy, sniffed them, and asked, “Dad, Mom, herbs are so expensive, why don’t we gather them from the mountain?”
She could sll the earthy scent emanating from the herbs and knew most of them were available on the mountain!
And the mountain near their village had them too.
Only two or three types of herbs carried a strong icy scent, non-native and characteristic of the northern icy atmospheres.
Liu laughed, “Though the mountain has herbs, not everyone can identify them; after all, the herbs from the clinic co chopped, unrecognizable. Only those who have worked as attendants in clinics understand them, like your fifth uncle, but he is still learning and does not have ti to gather herbs.”
The reason herbs were costly was that the knowledge was scarce, there weren’t many gatherers, and not all over the mountains are herbs, and entering deep mountains was dangerous, hence the high cost.
So those herb rchants who know how to cultivate herbs, they really make a fortune!
Upon hearing this, Ruo Xuan imdiately said, “I know herbs! Dad, Mom, let’s go to the mountain now to gather herbs! We might as well catch a rabbit or a goat to eat!”
Understanding plants, how could she have survived a hundred years at the barren Ruoshui Riverbank? It was because she knew the characteristics of various plants and how to create their poisons to protect herself, otherwise, she would have long been nibbled away by a rabbit spirit.
Ruo Xuan’s gaze fell on the mountain beside the official road, this mountain was full of silver!
Faced with his daughter’s expectant eyes, Ruo Shui thought she just wanted to eat at and didn’t realize she recognized herbs, considering his beloved daughter had more than once said she wanted rabbit at, mutton.
Ruo Shui glanced at the sky; it was still early and there was ti for a trip up the mountain. If he could catch two or three ga animals, he could also bring them to sell in the city the next day.
“Alright, let’s go up the mountain to catch rabbits!”
Ruo Shui pushed the cart and returned ho.
At this ti in the afternoon, besides Lei Popo sitting in the yard weaving baskets, no one else was ho.
Seeing his precious granddaughter return, Lei Popo imdiately put down her bamboo strips and stood up, “Xuanbao is back! Grandma gives you a hug!”
He put down the cart and said to Lei Popo, “Mom, Wenyu and I are taking Xuanbao up the mountain to catch rabbits. I’ll put away the grains when we return.”
Ruo Xuan said, “Grandma, Xuanbao will catch rabbits for you to eat!”
Liu said, “Mom, it’s still early, I’m going up the mountain to gather so wild vegetables. Wait for to co back for dinner.”
With that, the couple hurriedly grabbed their tools and went up the mountain.
Lei Popo only had ti to remind them to “take good care of Xuanbao,” before the couple disappeared from sight.
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