Chapter 30: The Hospitable Little Village

Yin Zhen saw Jiang Lili staring at her child’s ears and smiled. “Dabao has quite unique features, doesn’t he? The abbot of Lingxi Temple once said that Dabao looks like a Buddha statue. He’s a child with great blessings.”

Jiang Lili’s heart stirred. “Has the child been named?”

Yin Zhen shook her head. “No, the mistress still doesn’t have any children, so it has been delayed.”

Jiang Lili understood. Since the mistress (wife) didn’t have any children yet, a concubine’s child wouldn’t have the right to name the baby.

Jiang Lili didn’t ask further. She bent down to listen to Dabao’s heartbeat.

Yin Zhen watched curiously as Jiang Lili placed some unfamiliar items on Dabao’s body. She felt a bit worried, but she held herself back. Since she had entrusted her child to Miss Jiang, she had to trust her.

Meanwhile, some of the watching exiles looked at Yang Yunzhao, who was confidently and calmly conducting the consultation, and then at Jiang Lili’s odd actions. They couldn’t help but shake their heads.

However, they didn’t dare to speak ill of Jiang Lili, so they all praised Yang Yunzhao, hoping to get on her good side. After all, who could guarantee that they wouldn’t fall ill during the journey?

“This Miss Yang is truly outstanding, as expected of a lady-in-waiting. She’s thorough in everything.”

“A woman of great stature. Just by looking at her demeanor, one can tell she’s a master in medicine!”

“Miss Yang is really a role model for women!”

Yang Yunzhao basked in the praises of others, her vanity greatly satisfied. After all, in the palace, she was always the one being scolded and overshadowed by others.

Jiang Lili, however, ignored them, focusing on the time as she put away the thermometer.

After taking the temperature, not long after, the class monitor called Jiang Lili for a video call.

Jiang Lili thought that the vice class monitor was quite fast, so she quickly answered the video call and asked the class monitor to check the child’s symptoms.

[Class Monitor: The child is weak due to malnutrition and has caught a cold from getting chilled.]

After sending the list of medications and usage instructions to Jiang Lili, the class monitor added a note.

[Class Monitor: In the future, just message me directly for voice calls. I’ve muted the group messages.]

Jiang Lili replied with a heart emoji: [I’ll be disturbing you in the future, Class Monitor!]

[Class Monitor: It’s not a disturbance.]

The message was as cold and concise as ever.

Jiang Lili forwarded the list of medications to Xiaopang.

By this time, Xiaopang was already waiting in the pharmacy. Upon receiving the list, he immediately started purchasing the items.

Jiang Lili turned to Yin Zhen and said, “Wait here for a moment, I’ll go up the mountain to gather some herbs.”

She needed to find a place to take the herbs out.

Jiang Lili didn’t dare to go into the mountains alone. Just as she was about to summon Xin Che, she turned around and found him already beside her, giving her a strong sense of security.

Jiang Lili and Xin Che were preparing to enter the forest to “gather herbs” when Yang Yunzhao quickly stood up and followed them. “Cousin, are you going to gather herbs? Wait for me!”

“Cousin, I’m afraid to go into the mountains alone.”

When Jiang Lili saw Yang Yunzhao approaching, she felt like she was facing a great threat!

She hurriedly told Xin Che, “Quick, cover your mouth and nose, and keep your distance from her!”

Although Xin Che didn’t understand the reasoning behind it, he unconditionally trusted her.

So he immediately covered his face and, with Jiang Lili, quickly retreated, putting a good distance between them and Yang Yunzhao.

Yang Yunzhao saw how Xin Che avoided her like a venomous snake and blushed, stepping forward. “Cousin, what are you doing? I’m going into the mountains to gather herbs to trade for a cart for my aunt.”

Each step she took forward, Xin Che took three steps back.

Xin Che’s voice came from afar, making his already distant tone even colder. “Lili can treat illnesses as well. Why do you need to compete with her?”

Yang Yunzhao was furious. “Cousin, she has caused trouble all along the way and even made Aunt faint. Why are you still listening to her!”

“Besides, if you take me with you, you’ll find the herbs faster. I can help you oversee things.”

She shouted in vain, but Xin Che and Jiang Lili had already disappeared from sight.

Yang Yunzhao stomped her feet in anger. That fox Jiang Lili! Who knew what kind of charm she had used.

After entering the mountains, Yang Yunzhao realized that while there were many herbs, she couldn’t tell them apart. Normally, the herbs were already sorted at the Imperial Medical Academy, and all she had to do was come and collect them.

Now, having to gather them herself was much more difficult, and without tools like scales, she could only roughly estimate their weight.

Half an hour later, Jiang Lili had already finished administering the medicine to Yin Zhen’s Dabao, and Yang Yunzhao, panting, finally came down from the mountain.

At this point, her hair was disheveled, her face was smeared with dirt, and tears were still visible on her cheeks.

While gathering herbs, she had seen a small piglet sleeping and thought about taking it to roast, but was chased by the wild boar mother and almost knocked over.

In the end, she had tumbled down the mountain, barely escaping a dangerous situation.

Yang Yunzhao shot a fierce glare at Jiang Lili.

Seeing Yang Yunzhao’s appearance, Jiang Lili’s almond eyes widened. Had she fought with the herbs during her gathering?

Wang Zifu and the other officers saw the scene and quickly stepped forward to thank her. “Miss Yang, thank you for your hard work in gathering the herbs!”

“Let’s head to the nearest village at the foot of the mountain and borrow a pot from the locals to brew some medicine.”

The officers had their supplies taken by the bandits, and all that remained was the cart. They would still need to go to the county office to request funding from the officials.

By this time, the exiled group had finished resting and set off towards the small village at the foot of the mountain.

Jiang Lili had just given Dabao a dark, strange-looking pill and some water, which made everyone more convinced that Jiang Lili was unreliable and simply fooling them.

In reality, Jiang Lili had only given him chocolate and cold medicine.

Yin Zhen had been worried at first, but by the time they neared the village at the foot of the mountain, Dabao’s face was no longer as hot.

Yin Zhen was overjoyed but also wondered if it was just her imagination, so she decided to wait until they entered the village to observe further.

The exiled group had traveled six or seven miles when the village and its inhabitants came into view.

Children playing with mud at the village entrance were surprised to see so many people coming to their village, and they immediately shouted loudly into the village, “Grandpa, grandma, uncles, aunts, someone’s here!”

Soon, adults appeared at the village entrance.

“So many people.”

“Hey, you’re from the exiled group, right?”

An elderly man with a kind face, led by the children, came in front of the exiled group. “I am the village chief of Langyan Village, Yan Ziping.”

Wang Zifu cupped his hands in salute. “Yes, I am Wang Zifu, the captain leading the exiled group. We encountered bandits on the way and suffered quite a loss. I was wondering if the village chief could grant us the favor of staying overnight.”

Fearing the man might refuse, he hurriedly added, “As for the cost, I’ll retrieve the funds from the government office and return them to you, or if you’d prefer, you could send someone with me to the office.”

“The money isn’t the issue; I trust you,” Yan Ziping waved his hand. “You’re all in such a state. Hurry up and come into the village to rest!”

“Our village may not be rich, but we live off the mountains, and we can still host some guests.”

Yan Ziping’s son, Yan Zhong, also took out some citrus fruits to offer them and led everyone into the village.

When Wang Zifu mentioned borrowing a pot to brew medicine, Yan Zhong led them to the largest house in the village, the Langyan Village ancestral hall, where all the important matters in the village were discussed.

“There’s a small kitchen here in the ancestral hall, and everything can be used.”

Yan Zhong made arrangements for everyone to sit down. “You all stay here for a while. The village chief is calling a meeting to assign places for you to stay.”

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