Chapter 57
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Luo Ziya stood in the courtyard holding a coarse cloth bundle, her gaze forward filled with surprise mixed with several parts joy. She had escaped from her original home and settled in Linzhou.
Today, while passing a dead-end alley, she was mysteriously compelled to glance inside. Then the familiar wooden door and lamplight made her freeze in recognition.
She hurried home to fetch her belongings and rushed over without catching her breath the entire way.
Meeting Shen You’s inquiring gaze, she entered the shop and placed the cloth-wrapped item on the table, opening it.
Inside was a wild ginseng root with thick, robust stems that appeared to be quite aged.
“What is this?” Shen You asked in confusion.
“Miss helped me that day, which gave me today’s life.” Luo Ziya’s eyes were exceptionally bright.
“I have nothing valuable to repay you with. This ginseng root was something I gathered from the mountains two days ago. It’s already four to five hundred years old.”
“Redeeming your hairpin doesn’t require such a precious item.” Shen You said.
That dragonfly hairpin wasn’t profitable to sell, so she had always kept it in the shop. Redeeming it at original price wasn’t problematic.
Luo Ziya shook her head. “I know the rules about dead pawns. This ginseng is a token of gratitude for Miss.”
Ginseng of several hundred years was worth far more than those ten taels of silver – even selling it for five hundred taels would have people fighting to buy it. Modern artificially cultivated ginseng had poor medicinal effects, and wild ones with such great age were nearly impossible to find.
Shen You felt uncomfortable taking such a valuable item for nothing, so seeing the worry transparent in her eyes, she asked, “What difficulties have you encountered?”
Luo Ziya’s expression froze, seeming not to expect Shen You to ask this. After hesitating for a moment, she finally spoke.
“My father found me. He sent silver to the county office and united with others to cause trouble at the medicine shop.”
“That person’s health was already poor and required good medicine to sustain his life. Grandfather didn’t even charge consultation fees, and their family still owed over ten taels for medicine. We hadn’t even asked for payment, yet they turned around claiming Grandfather’s prescribed medicine killed the person. With a clear conscience, we fear no shadows. I will definitely seek justice!”
Those people were now placing the corpse outside the medicine shop to cause disturbances. She knew her father was manipulating everything behind the scenes.
This was the ancient version of medical disputes, where bribing officials meant they could abandon all reason.
Shen You considered this. “Is your location close to the capital?”
Luo Ziya wondered why the shopkeeper suddenly asked this but still answered seriously, “A day’s carriage ride would reach it.”
“Good. I’ll accept these items. Take this to the capital and go to the residence of Loyalty and Prosperity Earl Liu’s family. Someone will help you.” Shen You produced a bottle of essential balm.
“Also, this is medicine specifically for external injuries, and this is for reducing fever. Don’t let outsiders know about these medicines.” Shen You gave her some special-effect medicines and finally returned Luo Ziya’s hairpin.
Luo Ziya stared blankly at the items arranged on the table and the repaired hairpin, her eyes reddening as she looked at Shen You gratefully.
Shen You merely waved her hand. “The ginseng you brought is sufficient payment.”
Luo Ziya left the shop with endless gratitude. Upon reaching her home’s exterior, she hid behind the wall and observed several people wearing mourning clothes sitting on the ground wailing, demanding explanations.
“Heaven-damned place! It’s this medicine shop, they prescribed wrong medicine and killed my son!”
“Their medicine costs three taels of silver per dose! This is murder for money!”
Onlookers were all watching the spectacle, whispering about the medicine shop. When she had left earlier, everything was fine, but now the medicine shop had closed its doors, and officials had arrived to take people back to the yamen for investigation.
Luo Ziya gripped the hairpin her mother had left behind tightly. She didn’t return home, knowing that entering would make leaving very difficult. Instead, she turned directly to find a carriage bound for the capital.
*
[Received gift from customer ‘Luo Ziya’: one wild ginseng root. Your shop level has reached lv3 and can unlock more content.]
Shen You noticed the sudden increase of 50 in operational value – random entrance customers provided such high benefits to the shop.
The screen displayed: Shop Level lv3 (140/200)
Construction degree 50 : storage compartment capacity had expanded again. A second page appeared under the dimensional map, still showing a question mark but available for unlocking.
Since fixed entrances could only have one, however Shen You wasn’t in a hurry. Wen Zhi hadn’t come yet. If she switched now, people might think she had run away.
She found a large box and packed the ginseng inside carefully, then went online to research extensively about preserving traditional Chinese medicine.
In the next second, big data algorithms showed her videos of people discovering that wild ginseng collected years earlier was just an empty shell when they tried to use it – the inside had been completely hollowed out by insects.
At legitimate major pharmacies, 25-year-old wild mountain ginseng cost four figures, while century-level national inspection premium grade went to auctions, with transaction records exceeding ten million.
Her specimen appeared comparable in quality.
Shen You didn’t understand traditional Chinese medicine. After examining it for a while, she wondered curiously whether the effects were really that good.
She had heard it could replenish vital energy and boost immunity, though some people claimed it was useless.
She broke off a small section of root fiber, washed it, and following online instructions, placed it directly in her mouth to chew. It had a light herbal fragrance and slight bitterness. She seemed to feel nothing particular.
She paid no more attention and continued with her work. Then, that evening, she suddenly had a nosebleed.
Just as she set down her tools and reached for tissue to wipe it, the wind chimes sounded.
The moment Wen Zhi entered the shop, he immediately saw the flustered Shen You and the bloodstains on the tissue.
“What happened to you?” He was obviously puzzled by this situation.
Shen You waved her hand. “It’s nothing.”
Wen Zhi glanced at the item in the box on the counter and instantly understood – she had eaten ginseng. He chuckled softly. “Eating it this way, are you planning to spend the entire night restoring antiques?”
Shen You looked toward the phoenix crown on the table. At this moment, she hadn’t yet realized the severity of the situation and proactively brought up business matters.
“I can set access permissions here now.”
The subtext was: I’m just waiting for the fire-proof cloth.
“What a coincidence, I’ve also brought the item.” Wen Zhi placed the cloth on the table and continued, “In Great Qi, no one knows how to make this type of cloth anymore. The surviving quantity is limited. Except for this piece, the old emperor had everything else made into clothing.”
Even if they were newly made, unworn clothes, thinking they belonged to the old emperor would probably disgust her.
“Then this piece is?” Shen You asked curiously.
Wen Zhi’s lips curved upward. “There wasn’t time to make it yet.”
Shen You cleaned her hands with wet wipes before taking the cloth from the table. It looked somewhat different from modern ordinary asbestos cloth. This fire-proof cloth felt soft to the touch with excellent texture and a subtle luster.
“Fire really can’t burn this?” Shen You grew increasingly curious as she examined it.
Wen Zhi propped his chin on his hand, smiling a devastating smile. “Actually, I’m curious too. Shall we try?”
After saying this, he stood and took Shen You’s lighter used for incense, then burned the fabric carelessly without concern.
“Hey!”
Shen You instinctively reached out to grab his wrist. Even if it wasn’t really fireproof, this item held great value.
However she was still a step too late, as the dancing flame had already touched the soft fabric.
She looked at the area that had been burned and found that not a single trace remained. Her heart filled with incomparable shock.
This was genuine ancient fire-proof cloth, now in her very hands! Anyone in the collecting world would be unable to contain their excitement!
Her thoughts were entirely on this rare treasure before her eyes.
Wen Zhi lowered his gaze toward the slender hand grasping his wrist.
And for some unknown reason, he didn’t move and simply let her be.