Chapter 26
Meanwhile, in Yunzhou.
Sixteen hundred boxes of water purification tablets had been divided into two batches for transport to the capital.
The remaining four hundred boxes were to be transported to General Lu’s location on the way back to the capital.
This item was crucial for military campaigns and improving the entire army’s strength.
Naturally, Li Heng wouldn’t hand everything over to the other party, even though General Lu was now his man.
“Your Highness, everything has been inventoried and we can depart.” Liu Zheng came to report.
“Good.” Li Heng nodded, stepping on the wooden stairs to board the carriage.
Times had changed. Those forces in Yunzhou who previously didn’t cooperate and dared not sell grain despite having it were now in his hands.
And through disaster relief and epidemic prevention, his reputation among the people had risen, but he had also become a thorn in the side of that person in the capital.
Even though the special envoy dared not speak carelessly for self-preservation, that person wouldn’t remove the thorn from his heart because of this.
That person had always preferred another son, not to mention that news of his encounter with a mysterious expert had long reached the capital.
As long as he didn’t return, that person’s heart would remain uneasy.
As the carriage was about to leave the city, passing by that alley entrance, Li Heng pulled up the curtain inside the carriage and gazed at the gradually distant buildings.
Lost in some thought, it was only when the alley entrance was completely out of sight that he lowered his hand and resume proper posture.
Fortunately, he could still enter that shop even reaching the capital.
The carriage arrived at the city where General Lu was stationed on the second day and when General Lu was told to dismiss everyone except trusted deputy generals, he was puzzled.
What kind of item had His Highness brought that required such measures?
When Zhong Jing carried in cardboard boxes and then took out white bottles from inside, both General Lu and the deputy general were dumbfounded.
The bottles were exquisitely made, completely leak-proof when capped, and these never-before-seen bottles weren’t even afraid of being dropped.
“These are called water purification tablets, given by that mysterious expert.”
Zhong Jing had Liu Zheng take out his glass bottle, ignoring Liu Zheng’s pained expression as he poured slightly turbid river water into it.
Then, under the puzzled gazes of General Lu and the deputy general, he dropped a water purification tablet into the water.
The tablet in the water began to bubble, and seeing this scene, General Lu marveled in his heart at the magic.
“Can this really purify water? Looking at it, the water’s color hasn’t become clearer?” He voiced his doubts.
Zhong Jing continued explaining: “Water purification tablets cannot remove floating impurities in water, but after sitting for half an hour, they can eliminate disease-causing elements we cannot see. To remove the impurities, you need charcoal and clean cloth.”
During wartime and marches, boiling water was impractical due to unsustainable consumption of firewood and manpower, so they drank directly from rivers and wells, with illness or health depending entirely on luck.
General Lu observed the water that had stopped bubbling carefully. Could this thing really be so effective?
But remembering the miraculous medicine his son had used last time, he still had some faith.
His deputy general leaned in to smell it. There was no strange odor, and taking a small sip seemed fine.
He specifically found his nephew, who had been suffering from diarrhea after drinking raw water two days ago, and had him drink all the water.
This young man had just arrived from the capital and hadn’t toughened up yet, so they could see whether it was useful in a few hours.
Li Heng rested here for one night. The deputy general’s nephew indeed had no problems, and that evening, the deputy general found several more people to test it.
Having witnessed the benefits of this item firsthand, General Lu sought out Li Heng early the next morning.
“Your Highness, could we obtain more of these water purification tablets?”
Although it seemed like a lot, it would be used up quickly, so naturally, he wanted to keep more as preparation for future needs.
“This item is rare. Keeping everything in one place would be risky if something went wrong, so some were left in the capital and can be transported here when needed.”
General Lu pondered His Highness’s words and found them reasonable. Keeping everything in one place wasn’t safe.
However, he also knew that such important items would definitely be strictly controlled in distribution and use, so he said nothing more.
Just as the major customer continued their journey to the capital, the calligraphy Shen You had taken to the antique street for mounting was also ready.
She brought it back to hang on the wall, with Zhong Jing’s traded painting hung behind the tea table.
Afterward, she unpacked her express delivery, took out tools, and began working under the desk lamp.
Before restoring the hairpin, she needed to first study the original craftsmanship to achieve perfect restoration.
She also had some obsessive-compulsive tendencies. If something wasn’t done well, she would rather dismantle it and start over than tolerate mistakes.
The hairpin originally used very fine silver wire, so she had bought similar ones at the antique street, but they were so thin that they would break with slight carelessness.
This was delicate work, which meant that after several hours, she had barely managed to repair one section.
The afternoon had also passed. Just as she realized that it was nearly 7 o’clock, her phone suddenly rang. She thought it was food delivery, however when she saw the caller ID, she didn’t want to answer.
It was her sister-in-law.
She took a deep breath, then answered the call.
“Xiao You, have you eaten yet?” The other end greeted her warmly and pleasantly.
“About to eat.” Shen You didn’t want to waste time and asked directly, “Is there something you need?”
“Nothing much, it’s just that we’re driving to Jiangcheng tomorrow, and arriving around six in the evening. Shall we have dinner together? Your parents asked us to bring you some things, so we can deliver them to you.”
Shen You frowned.
She really didn’t want to meet, but since there were items her parents had asked them to bring, she couldn’t possibly not go.
Regardless, she couldn’t let them know where her antique shop was located.
When she had spoken with her parents initially, she hadn’t been to this place yet and had only said it was near the antique street.
Later, discovering that the shop could connect to ancient times, she didn’t dare reveal the specific address.
“Sister-in-law, how about this: after three hours on the road, you’ll be tired too. I’ll book a restaurant, and you can drive directly there to eat.” Shen You said.
“That works too. Send me the address tomorrow.”
“Alright.”
Shen You hung up, went out to get her food delivery, and only after she had finished dinner did she open her phone to look for suitable restaurants.
Although she had studied in Jiangcheng, she didn’t like going out and exploring everywhere, hence her familiarity with Jiangcheng was limited to a few specific areas.
The restaurant had to be far from the shop, not too expensive, yet not too shabby either, or these people might say who knows what when they returned.
She didn’t care, but her parents still lived in the county, and the guarantee incident had already caused enough embarrassment at her father’s workplace.
In the end, she chose a restaurant in the commercial plaza downtown that served Jiangcheng specialty dishes.
It was more than ten kilometers from the shop, perfect.
She called to book a small private room then sent the address to her sister-in-law.
An Lifeng replied quickly, asking whether the restaurant was far from her shop and whether it would be convenient for her to get there.
Shen You automatically ignored the first half of the sentence and typed: It’s convenient.
An Lifeng, holding her phone, felt relieved: That’s good, see you tomorrow.
Naturally, that girl didn’t have a car, so she definitely wouldn’t book a restaurant too far away. Which meant they could visit her shop after dinner conveniently.
The relative who left Shen You the inheritance was also their family’s relative.
An Lifeng just couldn’t understand it.
Shen You was just a young girl who would eventually marry into someone else’s family and benefit them.
So why give the shop to Shen You instead of her husband?
Although she’d heard that the shop was very old, it was still property after all!